Jaiz Bank Plc and Muslim Public Affairs Centre (MPAC), have scheduled a national webinar to discuss the implications of the global pandemic on this year’s hajj and the options for Nigerian muslims.
A statement today, May 11 by the program coordinator, Almak Media, said the interactive lecture will be delivered by the chairman and chief executive officer of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Alhaji Zikrullah Kunle Hassan.
The statement said that the two-hour Zoom lecture will be held on May 17 from 11am, adding that it will address critical issues on the options for hajj and umrah at a period of global pandemic.
It said that the Managing Director of Jaiz Bank, Mallam Hassan Usman will give a remark on how the bank could support creative initiatives on hajj and other areas of the economy.
It said that participants will have the opportunity to ask questions on the implications of the global pandemic on the performance of muslim holy pilgrimage which is the fifth pillar of Islam.
The statement quoted Jaiz Bank as declaring supporting for the webinar in furtherance of its mandate as Nigeria’s first and leading Non-Interest Bank, NIB.
Among key participants expected on the webinar are chairmen of states pilgrim boards, private travel operators, hajj flights carriers, and Muslims from across the country.
The End of coronavirus on the crust of mortals could have its elimination fully incepted very soon as scientists from Rome’s Lazzaro Spallanzani Hospital, who are specialists in studying infectious diseases, said that they have successfully developed a vaccine which neutralises the novel coronavirus in human cells.
This was disclosed when Chief Executive of Takis, Luigi Aurisicchio, the firm working on the treatment, told Italian news agency that tests carried out on mice created antibodies after just one vaccine, which they expect to also work in human trials.
“This is the most advanced stage of testing of a candidate vaccine created in Italy,” Aurisicchio further added that “as far as we know we are the first in the world so far to have demonstrated a neutralisation of the coronavirus by a vaccine”.
The Italian researchers aim to make the vaccine “available to everyone”.Human trials are expected to take place after the summer, he told the outlet.
While the researchers are developing the vaccine with “Italian research with an all-Italian and innovative technology, tested in Italy” he noted that the vaccine, if successful, will be made available to all citizens.
“In order to reach this goal, we need the support of national and international institutions and partners who may help us speed up the process.”
The researchers worked on developing a vaccine which centred around the coronavirus’s ‘spike’ DNA protein which it uses to latch on to and enter human cells, and so far the trials are proving very promising.
However the vaccine is currently facing observation on its immunity duration. Meanwhile in the United Kingdom, human trials have begun on a vaccine developed at Oxford University’s Jenner Institute, As scientists claimed that the vaccine would be made available in September.
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Alhaji Zikrullah Kunle Hassan has declared that the commission will give a categorical statement at the end of Ramadan as to whether the 2020 hajj will be conducted.
The Chairman who spoke on a network programme of a Radio station, “HAJJ: A Spiritual Journey,” said that while it was impossible for the commission to make a definitive statement on whether or not the pilgrimage would take place this year, there is possibility that as soon as the coast is cleared from the Saudi end, the Commission will immediately announce its own decision.”
I can be able to give you a definite answer after the Ramadan, which is in two weeks time when the Saudi Arabia authorities would have agreed on whether it would hold and if it would hold. Of course talk is ongoing. The modalities and everything about 2020 Hajj.
I will tell Nigerians.” Alh Zikrullah, who expressed optimism that the opening of the two Holy mosques in Makkah and Madina could be a pointer to the hope that Hajj 2020 may take place, said that with the event of the last few days of the opening of the Holy mosques to worshippers, “it gives us a ray of hope and glad tidings that Hajj could take place this year.”
According to him, the commission is not in a position to declare whether the pilgrimage will hold. “We depend on other variables.
For instance even the Nigeria Airspace is closed for the next four weeks, which is also applicable in Saudi Arabia. Even if we want to fly now there’s no way we can do that unless the Airspace is opened.”
He however added that notwithstanding the decision of the Saudi authorities, the commission would not compromise the health and well-being of Nigerian pilgrims.”We will not endanger the life of any of our citizen. We will take whatever decision in good faith. We won’t be reckless about trying to perform the Hajj by all means possible.”
Answering a question by one of the callers on the program, Alh Zikrullah said that with coronavirus pandemic, the Commission has embarked on extensive collaborative effort with the Federal Ministry of Health on the sensitization of intending pilgrims to ensure they are acquainted with the basic rules of engagement like social distancing, use of face mask and personal hygiene so that they don’t contact the virus nor serve as a catalyst for its spread.
He outlined some of the efforts put in place in the area of sensitization of pilgrims through the mass media, including publication of leaflets and flyers and the directive to state pilgrims welfare boards and agencies to explore the radio and television as well as the new media to educate the intending pilgrims in their domain.
The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, the body that processes students for admission into universities ad other higher institutions in Nigeria, has found 195 candidates wanting in the 2020 exmination it conducted. The body also delisted nine examination centres in the country.
In its weekly bulletin released today, May 10, the examination board said that out of the 1,945,983 candidates who sat for the 2020 examination, cases of examination misconduct have been made against the erring candidates.
According to the board, the misconduct by the candidates include examination by proxy, connivance to cheat, smuggling of phones and electronic devices into the examination hall, attempt to cheat, unruly behaviour, double registration, tampering with exam documents, forceful entrance, faking of vital documents.
It said that most of the candidates listed were either indicted for examination by proxy or connivance to cheat.
Imo State, with 25 candidates, ranks top among states with the highest number of candidates indicted. Anambra ranks second with 16 candidates, while each of Enugu, Kano and Kaduna has 15 candidates on the list. Plateau has 13.
JAMB said that it had also deregistered nine examination centres, one for conniving with candidates to cheat, and the other eight for technical deficiencies.
The centres delisted are St. Anthony Comprehensive Secondary School, 83b Omuma Rd, Off Ama-Ogbonna, Aba, Abia State (Technical Deficiency); St. Josephs Institute, 20/22, Amaigbo/Mgbemena Lane by CIC, Uwani, Enugu, Enugu State (Technical Deficiency); Federal College of Education, Okene, Kogi State (Technical Deficiency); H. S. P. S. CBT Centre, Bishop Oyedepo Street, Opposite Omu-Aran Police Station, Alaka Junction Omu-Aran Kwara State (Technical Deficiency) and Darman Model College CBT Centre, 1 Holy Child Way, By Alakija Bus Stop, Mile 2 Badagry Expressway, Satelite Town (Technical Deficiency).
Others JAMB centres deregistered are Lafia Knowledge Centre, Bakah Sidi, Adjacent National Open University, Jos Road, Lafia Nasarawa, Nasarawa State (Technical Deficiency); Solid Rock Girls Academy, Ibadan Expressway, Opposite FGGC Sagamu, Ogun State (Technical Deficiency); Sejdom Global Ventures Limited, Beside Adelayo Academy, Alaagba, Iyana Church, Ibadan, Oyo State (Technical Deficiency) and MS World ICT Institute of Information Technology, No 84, Airport Road, Opp Chediya Uku, Nomansland,Kano, Kano State (Connived with Candidates to cheat).
A senior member of the Kano traditional council, the Dan’iya of Kano, Alhaji Yusuf Bayero, is dead. He was the district head of Dawakin Kudu Local Government Area.
Bayero, who died today, May 10, of an illness not yet ascertained, was said to be the first district head of Ajingi Local Government Area in the history of Kano state.
This came on the heel of the death of commissioner for Lands and Housing in Sokoto State, Sirajo Marafa Gatawa.
His death was made known today a family source, who said the late commissioner died at an undisclosed hospital in Sokoto after a protracted illness.
Confirming his death, his niece in a social media post said: “Another painful lost this evening, my uncle, Hon. Marafa Gatawa is dead.
“May Allah have mercy on him and forgive his sins.”
President Donald Trump of the United States of America has hit back at his predecessor, Barak Obama, who yesterday, described his government’s handling of the raging coronavirus crisis as “absolute chaotic disaster.”
Trump insisted today, May 10: “we are getting great marks for the handling of the Coronavirus pandemic, especially the very early BAN of people from China, the infectious source, entering the USA.”
President Trump, on his Twitter handle said: “compare that to the Obama/Sleepy Joe disaster known as H1N1 Swine Flu. Poor marks, bad polls – didn’t have a clue!”
In a video chat with supporters on Friday, Obama had criticized Trump’s handling of the coronavirus, saying: “it has been an absolute chaotic disaster.”
He added: “when that mindset of ‘what’s in it for me’ and ‘to heck with everybody else’ — when that mindset is operationalized in our government.”
During the 2009 swine flu pandemic, 12,469 people died in the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated.
The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has assured investors of the security of their investments in the country despite dwindling revenue from the sale of crude oil globally.
Speaking at the weekend in Abuja, Emefiele said investors interested in repatriating their funds from the country are guaranteed to get their money, notwithstanding the drop in the revenue from crude oil.
He said that the apex bank had put in place policies to ensure an orderly exit for those that might be interested in doing so.
He, however, urged investors to be patient as such repatriations are processed, owing to the bank’s policy of orderly exit of investments.
Recalling a similar situation that occurred in 2015 over declining revenue, Emefiele said that the CBN was able to settle all commitments in an orderly manner.
According to the Governor, the foreign exchange available would be devoted to strategic importion or service obligations that are priority.
Speaking on the plans of the Bank in tackling the economic impact of the COVID-19, he said the CBN, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, was committed to galvanizing the manufacturing sector in a bid to reset the economy.
Emefiele said that CBN had met with the banks, manufacturers in the health sector and the larger manufacturing group, he said the challenge posed by the pandemic necessitated that, as leaders, the fiscal and monetary authorities must work together to moderate the health and economic impact of the COVID-19.
According to him, coronavirus presented Nigeria with an opportunity to reset the economy and as such there was need for the country to prepare itself to get the manufacturing sector to work, while the banking sector supports the economy.
With the revenue drop from crude, the CBN Governor said Nigeria had no choice but to diversify its economic base.
He said the time had come for Nigerians to produce what can be produced in the country and consume what is produced in the country.
If the gods want to punish a people, they either invoke plagues on the land or deploy agents of slaughter as leaders. The gods are not happy with Rivers state, obviously, hence the affliction by Nyesom Wike.
The state had a chance of averting this ruination in 2019, but it did not take it.The recent brutish actions of Wike in Rivers really knock me into wondering whether the governor superintends over a parallel country. Wike has taken deeper gulps from the chalice of malice, absolutism and despotism. He is now running wild and untamed.
In April, the governor ordered the arrest of two Caverton pilots for allegedly violating the lockdown measures in the state. After their arrest, the pilots were arraigned at a magistrate’s court and remanded in prison until May.But Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, torpedoed this arbitrary action, saying aviation matters are strictly on the exclusive list of the federal government.
Caverton protested against the remand of its pilots, and said the federal aviation authorities granted it the permission to fly into Rivers state.And at a press briefing organised by the presidential task force on COVID-19, Sirika corroborated the position of the logistics company, accusing the security agents who arrested the pilots on the governor’s order of “displaying ignorance”.Wike has carried on as a law unto himself in Rivers. He is the judge, the jury and the executioner in the state.
On Thursday, he made a proclamation in his accustomed cadence like an emperor of Persia – to auction cars seized during the lockdown in Rivers. He said: “The defaulters will be tried by the Mobile Courts and I have told the Attorney General, all the impounded vehicles must be auctioned.
By tomorrow, the Honourable Attorney General would have advertised those vehicles and we will auction them.’’
On Saturday, bulldozers riding on the dispatch of Wike moved into hotels, which reportedly violated the lockdown measures, mowing them down. How addled can a man be by brute power?Really, it is depressing seeing how some Nigerians cheer the governor on in his inebriation. We have become so habituated to abuse and tyranny that we bless our violators and curse our liberators. What is happening in Rivers state violates every sense of decency, normality and rationality. It is a farrago.
As a matter of fact, it is more telling that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which releases windy and vacuous press statements now and then, accusing President Muhammadu Buhari of tyranny, does not think it fit to call its transgressing members who are governors to order.
Nigerians witnessed how Ben Ayade, governor of Cross River and a member of the PDP, harassed, hounded and incarcerated Agba Jalingo for criticising his government. They are also seeing how the administration of Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom is punishing Kufre Carter, a journalist, for criticising a commissioner in the state.
On Saturday, Mary Akpan, mother of the detained journalist, was denied access to see her son by the DSS in the state. The distressed mother said her ‘’son did not commit any crime. Even families of armed robbers are permitted to see their son in a cell and see how he is doing’’.Painting her picture of despondence keenly, mama said she does not ‘’have money, he gives me the small money I use to eat because I retired since 2016 and the governor refused to give me my gratuity, I’m being fed by my son’’. Her son has spent more than 14 days in detention without any charge.
This is not how to govern a people. One thing is clear; the only irritation of the PDP with the Buhari administration is lack of access to power. The PDP should desist from issuing hypocritical statements and purge itself of the same vermin in the APC. The party has no moral ground to attack the ills of another like it. The PDP must call its governors to order now.
Fredrick Nwabufo is a writer and journalist.Twitter: @FredrickNwabufo.
Former President Barack Obama has launched a scathing attack on President Donald Trump, especially on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which he described as a disaster and “absolute chaotic disaster.”
In a leaked web call Friday night with former members of his administration, Obama said that the Justice Department’s decision to drop charges against Michael Flynn, the former Trump national security adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in the Russia probe, endangers the rule of law in the US.
In the audio, first obtained by Yahoo News, Obama urged former staffers to join him in rallying behind Joe Biden as he prepares to take on Trump in the November presidential election.
Obama told his former staffers: “what we’re fighting against is these long-term trends in which being selfish, being tribal, being divided, and seeing others as an enemy — that has become a stronger impulse in American life,”.
“It’s part of the reason why the response to this global crisis has been so anemic and spotty,” Obama said.
“It would have been bad even with the best of governments. It has been an absolute chaotic disaster when that mindset — of ‘what’s in it for me’ and ‘to heck with everybody else’ — when that mindset is operationalized in our government,” he said.
Obama said that the dropping of charges against Flynn was ominous.
“That’s the kind of stuff where you begin to get worried that basic — not just institutional norms — but our basic understanding of rule of law is at risk,” he said.
Obama endorsed Biden’s candidacy last month and has said he would be deeply involved in his campaign against Trump.
He told the Obama Alumni Association: “I am hoping that all of you feel the same sense of urgency that I do.”
The United States by far leads the world in the number of coronavirus infections, at nearly 1.3 million, and deaths, with more than 77,000.
Trump has been criticized as essentially abdicating any leadership role in guiding the country through one of its worst crises in a century, leaving states on their own to grapple with the pandemic and even bid against each other to obtain critical medical equipment on the open market or abroad.
Critics say Trump, after first downplaying the threat posed by the virus, squandered precious time in February as the pathogen spread in America and his administration did little to stock up on testing kits and other medical gear or to develop a cohesive national strategy.
With an eye to re-election, the president has also been blasted as putting his own political interests before human life by aggressively pushing states to reopen their devastated economies without a clear blueprint for how to do it safely.
The Nigerian army personnel have announced the arrest of 28 foreign informants leaking operational secrets to the Boko Haram terrorists. According to intelligence, the suspects who are of local and foreign nationals are currently under investigation.
The development came on the heel of attacks by the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) on the military post in Diffa, in the Niger Republic, along a border area with Nigeria this week. PRNigeria had obtained the video of the said attack as was also reflected in the Islamic State’s ‘Amaq News Agency, showing their fighters storming a Nigerien army post in Diffa and allegedly captured war spoils afterwards. The two minutes, five seconds video was published on May 4, 2020, hours after it issued a report on the incident in an official IS communique, claiming that theirs “fighters killed five Nigerien soldiers and wounded others when they attacked the post on May 3”. The video footage also showed some scenes from the clash, where the fighters entered the post on foot and in vehicles, taking weapons and ammunition. But information obtained by PRNigeria from intelligence sources noted that the military camp was virtually empty before their arrival as the troops were out on counter-insurgency operations along the Lake Chad axis. According to the sources, the few soldiers on ground retreated because of the large number of terrorists. “The military intelligence has so far arrested 28 notorious informants who were leaking troop movements to terrorists. The suspects, under interrogation, have provided useful information that could lead to major crackdown on local collaborators and supporters in that axis,” the source said. PRNigeria also gathered that Chadian troops have stopped participating in regional Counter-Terrorism joint military operation under MNJTF. Recall that President Idris Deby, at the end of a Chadian major offensive against Boko Haram in April warned that his troops would no longer take part in military operations outside the country’s borders. The offensive was launched after about 100 Chadian troops were killed in a terrorists attack on a base at Bohoma in March 2020 With the seeming withdrawal of Chadian troops, the activities of terrorists are unabated in the Lake Chad region and the Sahel. The Nigerian and Nigerien troops have sustained aerial attacks and ground operations against ISWAP and Boko Haram Terrorists.
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The Nigerian army personnel have announced the arrest of 28 foreign informants leaking operational secrets to the Boko Haram terrorists. According to intelligence, the suspects who are of local and foreign nationals are currently under investigation.
Nyesom Wike: Our Governor Has Gone Mad Again, By Fredrick Nwabufo
If the gods want to punish a people, they either invoke plagues on the land or deploy agents of slaughter as leaders. The gods are not happy with Rivers state, obviously, hence the affliction by Nyesom Wike.
The state had a chance of averting this ruination in 2019, but it did not take it.The recent brutish actions of Wike in Rivers really knock me into wondering whether the governor superintends over a parallel country. Wike has taken deeper gulps from the chalice of malice, absolutism and despotism. He is now running wild and untamed.
In April, the governor ordered the arrest of two Caverton pilots for allegedly violating the lockdown measures in the state. After their arrest, the pilots were arraigned at a magistrate’s court and remanded in prison until May.But Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, torpedoed this arbitrary action, saying aviation matters are strictly on the exclusive list of the federal government.
Caverton protested against the remand of its pilots, and said the federal aviation authorities granted it the permission to fly into Rivers state.And at a press briefing organised by the presidential task force on COVID-19, Sirika corroborated the position of the logistics company, accusing the security agents who arrested the pilots on the governor’s order of “displaying ignorance”.Wike has carried on as a law unto himself in Rivers. He is the judge, the jury and the executioner in the state.
On Thursday, he made a proclamation in his accustomed cadence like an emperor of Persia – to auction cars seized during the lockdown in Rivers. He said: “The defaulters will be tried by the Mobile Courts and I have told the Attorney General, all the impounded vehicles must be auctioned.
By tomorrow, the Honourable Attorney General would have advertised those vehicles and we will auction them.’’
On Saturday, bulldozers riding on the dispatch of Wike moved into hotels, which reportedly violated the lockdown measures, mowing them down. How addled can a man be by brute power?Really, it is depressing seeing how some Nigerians cheer the governor on in his inebriation. We have become so habituated to abuse and tyranny that we bless our violators and curse our liberators. What is happening in Rivers state violates every sense of decency, normality and rationality. It is a farrago.
As a matter of fact, it is more telling that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which releases windy and vacuous press statements now and then, accusing President Muhammadu Buhari of tyranny, does not think it fit to call its transgressing members who are governors to order.
Nigerians witnessed how Ben Ayade, governor of Cross River and a member of the PDP, harassed, hounded and incarcerated Agba Jalingo for criticising his government. They are also seeing how the administration of Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom is punishing Kufre Carter, a journalist, for criticising a commissioner in the state.
On Saturday, Mary Akpan, mother of the detained journalist, was denied access to see her son by the DSS in the state. The distressed mother said her ‘’son did not commit any crime. Even families of armed robbers are permitted to see their son in a cell and see how he is doing’’.Painting her picture of despondence keenly, mama said she does not ‘’have money, he gives me the small money I use to eat because I retired since 2016 and the governor refused to give me my gratuity, I’m being fed by my son’’. Her son has spent more than 14 days in detention without any charge.
This is not how to govern a people. One thing is clear; the only irritation of the PDP with the Buhari administration is lack of access to power. The PDP should desist from issuing hypocritical statements and purge itself of the same vermin in the APC. The party has no moral ground to attack the ills of another like it. The PDP must call its governors to order now.
Fredrick Nwabufo is a writer and journalist.Twitter: @FredrickNwabufo.