Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazak of Kwara State has demanded the immediate sack of the medical team of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) for alleged professional misconduct in the way they treated a new case of coronavirus patient in the State.
“We demand immediate suspension of Professor Alakija Kazeem Salami and every other official of UITH whose professional misconducts brought us down this path pending further investigation, even as we step up our efforts to contain this virus.”
The governor, who briefed news men today, April 7 on the controversy surrounding a case of coronavirus carrier that sneaked into the State from abroad and later infested his wife before he died, said that the government is utterly disappointed at the sheer blatant disregard for protocol and ethics and breach of trust that played out in the UITH case, thus endangering the lives of millions of people and casting undeserved aspersions on the effort of the administration to fight this virus.
“We insisted at this point that cover up of any kind helps no one as COVID-19 is not a death sentence. It is a global pandemic that requires all sincerity, openness and joint efforts to combat.
“We request the Honourable Minister of Health to kindly use his good office to probe this unpardonable behaviour at the UITH and prosecute any of these officials as appropriate to restore confidence in the institution. We demand everything that would ensure this never happens again!”
Governor Abdulrazak recalled that one of the two coronavirus cases in the state was that of a wife of a man who recently returned from UK, secretly came into the state, had secret treatment administered on him by a professor of medicine, and eventually died at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) without any prior formal communication to the State Technical Committee on COVID-19.
“We realise this is no time to pass the bulk. However, we reject in totality suggestions in some quarters that the state government was complicit, had prior knowledge of the suspected case at UITH, or that the isolation centre was not functional.
“These claims are not only far from the truth but they are also irresponsible.
“We state that the government or the committee was never informed of the case by the UITH authorities until after the death of the husband of the COVID-19 patient. Claims that the patient was taken to our isolation centre were a tale by the moonlight. If we concede that he was indeed brought there, how come nobody ever contacted the committee or the government of such a suspicious case to be attended to?
“His treatment was completely shrouded in secrecy. When the government was eventually notified of the suspected case after death, the teaching hospital was specifically directed not to release the corpse until samples were taken from him.
“This clear advice was parried as the body was hurriedly interned without the government knowing. The question is: who authorised such release knowing how dangerous this was?”
The Governor was compelled by the prevailing situation to signe the newly prepared Kwara State Infectious Diseases (Emergency Prevention) Regulation 2020 to provide legal backings for the local management of the global health situation.
He stressed that this is an emergency and the regulation, built around some enabling laws like the Quarantine Act of 2004, which empowers him to invoke various drastic measures in the days ahead, if occasion call for it.
Highlights of the regulation include sanctions for anyone caught endangering public safety in whatever form or seeking to unfairly profit from our collective vulnerability and need for essential commodities at this time.
Governor Abdulrazak vowed to “double down” in the ongoing aggressive sensitisation of the public across all media platforms, especially radio and social media, on the danger of this virus and a need to prevent community transmission.
“We need everyone to join this public advocacy in their various locality without exposing themselves or others to danger.”
He asked the people of the state not to panic because “this is no time to panic. It is no time to play politics. We are in this together. Please stay calm. We will do everything to keep you safe. But we need everyone to play their own role. Stay at home, except you are on essential duties. Keep social distancing. Avoid crowd. Prioritise personal hygiene. Eat well and rehydrate yourself. And finally, do not spread unverified news.”
President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed sympathy to the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson over his admission into an Intensive Care Unit as a result of the worsening coronavirus conditions he’s been ridden with.
Boris Jonson | Credit: The Union Journal
A statement today, April 7, by the senior special assistant to the President on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, quoted Buhari as wishing Boris Johnson a quick recovery and restoration to full health.
President Buhari expressed solidarity with the bed ridden British leader as he battles coronavirus personally, “and with the British people as their country battles the devastating effects of the pandemic.
President Buhari prayed that Prime Minister Johnson will soon be well enough to resume his great leadership of his country at this most trying time in global history.
Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello has approved the appointment of a woman, Professor Marietu Ohunene Tenuche as the acting Vice Chancellor of the Prince Abubakar Audu Unversity, Anyigba.
Professor Tenuche, two-time Deputy Vice Chancellor of the institution, replaces Professor Mohammed S. Abdulkadir, who has been asked to proceed on terminal leave.
In a statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. (Mrs.) Folashade Arike Ayoade, the governor also approved the appointment of Dr. Salisu Ogbo Usman as the Acting Rector of Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja.
Dr. Usman also replaces Professor M.S Atureta, who has been relieved of his appointment due to the non compliance on the state policy of single treasury account (STA).
The statement said that both appointments take immediate effect.
The statement wished the out-going appointees the best in their future endeavour and stressed that all handing and taking over “should be completed immediately.
Nigerian government has announced that it is seeking to borrow about $6.9 billion from international lenders, including the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank.
Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed who made this known in Abuja today, April 6, said the money will help counteract the impact of coronavirus on the economy.
She said the country has asked for $3.4 billion from the International Monetary Fund, $2.5 billion from the World Bank and $1 billion from the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The IMF, which has received requests for help from about 80 nations including 20 in Africa, is making about $50 billion available from its emergency financing facilities to help countries cope with the crisis. The World Bank has approved a $14 billion response package, Reuters reported.
Zainab Ahmed, had in March, said that Nigeria was ready to cut down its 2020 budget of $34.6 billion to about $4.9 billion due to low oil prices and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic has reduced global demand for fuel.
The minister said that the budget would assume an oil price of $30 a barrel from $57, and production of 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) rather than 2.1 million bpd.
“The emerging health and economic risks resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and decline in international oil prices pose existential threats to Nigeria’s economy, healthcare system, national security, as well as the lives of our citizens,” she said.
According to the finance minister, Nigerian government had provided 102.5 billion naira to support the healthcare sector. At least 6.5 billion naira have been allotted to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
Lagos state, which has most of the cases of coronavirus, had also received 10 billion naira in emergency funding.
Chadian President, Idriss Deby has asked the factional leader of the outlawed Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau to surrender as his days are now numbered and will soon be smoked out and killed in his hideout.
President Deby, who made this point as he addressed his countrymen shortly after leading his army in an offensive against the terrorists that left about 100 killed, stressed that Shekau has the chance to surrender now or risk being smoked out of his hideout in Dikoa and he would be killed the same way some of his commanders were killed.
The leader, who spoke in French, said that Shekau cannot hide forever, and that soon, he would be given the same treatment he had been giving to his victims.
Federal Government, through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has made it clear that subsidy on petroleum products is gone forever in the country, especially, with the recent reduction of the pump price of petrol from N145 to N123.50.
The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, who spoke in Abuja on a live television programme on AIT said: “What I mean is going forward, there will be no resort to either subsidy or over recovery of any nature. NNPC will play in the market place; it will just be another marketer in the space.”
Kyari admitted that as it stands, the country cannot accurately ascertain the quantity of the product it consumes everyday because while the agencies of government saddled with the job know how many trucks leave the depots every day, it is impossible to track where they are taken to.
This position of the NNPC is coming at the backdrop of announcement early this year by the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, of the federal government’s provision of N450 billion for ‘under-recovery’ of cost. The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) however, put it at N750.81 billion, about N300.81 billion higher than the amount announced during the public presentation of the 2020 budget details.
The NNPC boss dispelled insinuations that the country’s crude oil currently has no international buyer, saying that given the quality of the resource Nigeria produces and the relatively short distance to its international buyers compared to its competitors, Nigeria has an advantage.
He said that the current fall in the international prices of crude had given the country an opportunity to ‘liberalise’ the downstream oil industry, which implies that the price Nigerians get all white products from crude oil will now be determined by market forces.
He added that with full liberalisation, many things, including determining how much of the product Nigerians consume daily will come to bear, predicting that the pump price of fuel will fall further in the next few weeks.
“As at today, there’s no subsidy, no under-recovery. It’s zero forever. What I mean is that going forward, there will be no resort to subsidy or under-recovery of any nature. NNPC will play in the market place. We will just be another marketer in the space. But we will be there to ensure security of supply,” he said.
The NNPC boss, who also fought off allegations that the organisation remains one with no commitment to transparency, noted that NNPC was not an opaque organisation, disclosing that every month, the corporation publishes its financial transactions or standing for public consumption.
According to him, “With price liberalisation, this (actual consumption) will be sorted out and we will know our real consumption. So, now what we call consumption is how much of these products get into the fuel stations and is actually bought by cars and generators. But the market will take care of that.
“As soon as this situation (Covid-19 pandemic) abates and we are able to go into real market conditions, it will be a consideration of commerce and we will have no challenge.
“But I know we are transitioning to a full market situation and the forces of demand and supply will regulate the prices, while avoiding the possibility of abuses that can come out. Ultimately, the market forces will take shape in a way that everybody will benefit from it.
“In terms of expecting lower prices associated with crude oil price decline, the product price tallies behind the crude oil prices. If crude oil prices collapse today, the reality of those prices will come in two or three weeks. From production to delivery takes three to four weeks and therefore, it is only at that time that you see the impact of changes in price.
“But as we go forward, the impact will come because the product we see today were produced three to four weeks today. In that three weeks you will see further commensurate decline in prices of products. Not what we expect today.”
The GMD noted that Nigeria has continued to push for an ambitious production of three million barrels per day of crude oil, adding that as of last Sunday, the country succeeded in producing about 2.3 million barrels which had not happened in years.
“As at yesterday (Sunday) for the first time in very many years, our production was 2.3 million barrels . This will grow and as we approach the 3 million these companies (local) will grow capacity. The local companies are quicker and more responsive because many of the international partners require sign off from their head offices before they can take action.
“The 2.3 includes condensates. There is no challenge with buyers because the buyers now have more choice of quality and distance of delivery and this will determine which oil is bought. As you are aware, our major source of trade is Europe and Asia.
“At times like these when crude oil prices go down, what buyers do is to buy the cheap crude and take them into storage. So, the way to get this is that when they don’t return cargoes, because he has a legitimate right to come back after six days to say he doesn’t want the cargo.
“But none of our partners has come back for that though it is well past the six days, which means that they have found a home for our crude, which could mean taking them to storage because the vessels can be used as storage.
“Three days ago, we were at about $20, but today, we are at $33, and we think that this will level out to $30 at the end of the year on the average.
“When we say our crude is stranded it doesn’t mean they didn’t buy it, but the issue was whether they will have a place to take our crude to. It means they are treated as stranded. Because they will not come back for more in May or June because they can’t find a home for the ones they have bought.
“The changes in circumstances which have pushed the price to $30.2 as at this morning, even when people are still home, means that things will change,” he said.
He added that as a result of divestment by the international companies, local oil companies were becoming more active in the industry, but said that the NNPC was not looking at a situation where there will be zero partnership with foreign companies.
Kyari noted that when there are low prices, the NNPC will focus on assets that bear less cost, indicating that as of today, the corporation knows the assets to shut in if the need arises.
“The market is like voodoo market, I don’t see the price going lower. The key issue is demand. Covid-19 will subside and countries are already returning to life. I don’t see it going down. The realities will return and it will rebalance the market and leave it outside $30,” he said.
He advised the federal government to continue to borrow and cut costs, explaining that the only way out of a possible economic recession was to ‘spend our way out’.
“Recession is avoidable, we can spend or borrow our way out of it. That’s what every country does, spending on infrastructure, cutting cost and borrowing more,” he argued.
He reiterated that there’s enough supply of petrol totalling 2.5 billion litres in the country, which will tentatively keep the country afloat for 60 days, but said the country needs far less for now because of the restriction of movement.
“Our commitment for supply is continuing. No danger of supply disruption. Supply is guaranteed. If any filling station is not open, it’s because there’s no customer, not because they don’t have supply.
“We know the number of trucks that leave the depot, but no record of final destination of these trucks. As you are aware, cross border racketeering still happens.
“But with what is going on, there is no incentive for cross border profiteering. We can now create retails stations in neighbouring countries. The numbers that get out of our station do not reflect our consumption. What we know is what comes out of the fuel depots,” the GMD said.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has alerted Nigerians that cyber-criminals are taking advantage of the current coronavirus pandemic to defraud citizens, steal sensitive information, or gain unauthorized access to computers or mobile devices using various techniques.
According to a statement today, April 6 by the Director of Corporate Communications of the apex bank, Isaac Okorafor, some of the cyber-criminal activities include what he called Phishing campaigns, using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse.
He said that by this method, cyber-criminals would send out emails claiming to be from health organizations such as the Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC) or the World Health Organization (WHO) and that the email may contain a link which, if clicked, steals login credentials or other confidential information from the victim’s computer or mobile device.
Another method, Okorafor said is called Relief Packages in which the criminals send messages via social media or emails asking people to click on links to register in order to get their coronavirus relief packages from the Government or other organisations.
“They simply use this to get confidential information from unwary victims. Relief package scams also come in the form of phone calls asking people to provide their banking details to receive relief packages.”
He said that impersonation is another way by which thecriminals place calls to individuals claiming to be staff of their banks and asking them to get mobile apps that would help them get through this pandemic period.
“Such mobile apps are however used to steal information from the victims’ mobile phones among other things. Criminals have also produced COVID-19 maps, which steal
information in the background.
“To ensure that bank customers and citizens do not fall victim to these cyber-crimes, please observe the following precautions:
i. Beware of and verify emails or phone calls claiming to be from NCDC, WHO or
Government, especially when such emails request your banking information or to
click on a link. Visit official websites of relevant organizations for desired information;
ii. Avoid clicking on links or attachments in emails that claim to have more information
regarding the COVID-19 pandemic;
iii. Avoid downloading mobile apps from untrusted sources; and
iv. Obtain relief package or other information from trusted news media.
“While we work to keep safe physically and prevent further spread of the virus, members of the public should endeavor to apply caution in order to beat not just the COVID-19 Virus but also the cyber-criminals seeking to take advantage of its spread for nefarious acts.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria will continue to monitor and investigate these activities and
provide updates as they occur.”
The CBN chief spokesman admitted that this trend is not peculiar to Nigeria as there has been a rise in coronavirus-related cybercriminal activities all over the world.
“Our priority is to ensure that Nigerian banking customers are aware of the ongoing trend to prevent them from falling victim to such cybercrimes.”
The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has been admitted to hospital for tests, 10 days after testing positive for coronavirus, Downing Street has said.
He “continues to have persistent symptoms of coronavirus”, a spokeswoman said – including a high temperature.
It was described as a “precautionary step” taken on the advice of his doctor.
The prime minister remains in charge of the government and urged people to follow its social distancing advice.
“On the advice of his doctor, the prime minister has tonight been admitted to hospital for tests,” the spokeswoman said.
“This is a precautionary step, as the prime minister continues to have persistent symptoms of coronavirus ten days after testing positive for the virus.”
She added: “The prime minister thanks NHS staff for all of their incredible hard work and urges the public to continue to follow the government’s advice to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.
Johnson has worked from home since it was announced that he had tested positive for coronavirus on 27 March.
He chaired a coronavirus meeting via video-link on Friday morning.
He was last seen in public applauding the NHS and other key workers from his flat in Downing Street on Thursday.
Abubakar Shekau, leader of Boko Haram terrorist organization, has pleaded with his fighters not to run away from battle after many of them were killed and weapons confiscated by the Chadian Army. In his usual video clip delivered in a sober voice, Shekau, said: “People of Chad, leave us alone, this operation is not approved by the Qur’an. It is not the will of the Prophet Muhammed but if you want to continue, God will help us too because he is bigger than you. “To my fighters, take heart. It is I, Abubakar Shekau, your leader.” He spoke in Hausa language.
The Chadian Army had killed score of Boko Haram terrorists in its ongoing offensive, code-named: Operation Wrath Of Bohoma, led by the country’s President, Idriss Deby. Chad, with the help of the Israeli Army, has mapped out the entire Lake Chad region containing both natural and artificial islands for the operation already yielding results. The battle at Kelkoua, bank of the Lake Chad, saw the killing of many Boko Haram terrorists while bunkers hiding key commanders were discovered and destroyed.
One would ordinarily have dismissed the “controversy” around 5G technology and the strange connection with COVID-19 being stridently pursued by some people as ignorant rants occasioned by the morbid fear of the rampaging Coronavirus, but with the prevailing circumstances of fear and tension, I have elected, as one familiar with the workings of the telecommunications industry, to say something.
Several years ago, I was part of a global campaign by mobile telecommunications operators to debunk a widely held belief that telecommunications base stations emitted radiations that led to Cancer. As an organization, my employers then spent a lot of money on an awareness campaign to explain that the radiations from telecommunications base stations were within the safe limits and definitely not injurious to health. It worked then and saved the operators a lot of trouble. I hope I succeed this time in helping to clarify this particular issue and stop these manipulative charlatans in their tracks. It has to be stated,though, that times like these are fertile moments for mischief-makers and conspiracy theorists to peddle their virulent wares taking undue advantage of the fears and vulnerability of the people, especially the ignorant and the illiterate. So, while we are keeping safe, we must remain vigilant and ever ready to challenge Fake News and outright lies wherever and whenever.
First, let’s discuss 5G. What is it? To understand 5G, we must first understand G. G stands for generation. So, 5G means 5th Generation Mobile Technology. Most mobile telecommunications operations are currently running on 4G (4th Generation LTE and high-speed mobile internet). Before now, we have had 3G (voice and mobile data) and 2G (digital voice) and 1G (analog voice), of course. It must be admitted that the mobile telecommunications industry is probably one of the most innovative and fastest developing of all. Perhaps, the other will be television and aviation. Lest I digress, 5G is the next level, after 4G, and will “elevate the mobile network to not only interconnect people, but also interconnect and control machines, objects, and devices”, according to Qualcomm. Continuing, the technology research and development company says: “5G will deliver new levels of performance and efficiency that will empower new user experiences and connect new industries. 5G will deliver multi-Gbps peak rates, ultra-low latency, massive capacity, and more uniform user experience.”
5G is similar to 4G but it has much better speed, low latency and has capacity to take more users. It has the capability to enhance the broadband we know today to do more, connect more people and devices and generate more revenue.it is indeed super-fast and has a much smaller cell site than what we already know. And that is no surprise as the world seems to be going smaller, especially in the world of technology. Comparably, 5G is a unified platform that is more capable than 4G.
Here’s how Qualcomm classified the advantages of 5G:
A. Enhanced Mobile Broadband: 5G will not only make our smartphones better, but it will also usher in new immersive experiences, such as VR and AR, with faster, more uniform data rates, lower latency, and cost-per-bit.
B. Mission-Critical communications: 5G will enable new services that can transform industries with ultra-reliable/available, low latency links—such as remote control of critical infrastructure, vehicles, and medical procedures.
C. Massive Internet of Things: 5G will seamlessly connect a massive number of embedded sensors in virtually everything through the ability to scale down in data rates, power and mobility to provide extremely lean/low-cost solutions.
D. A defining capability of 5G is also the design for forward compatibility—the ability to flexibly support future services that are unknown today.
In essence, this is technology that will redefine the way we communicate, entertain, shop, and generally love our lives. If you think 3G and 4G changed the aforementioned, 5G will transform them. By the way, there isn’t much more you really need as a user to know about how 5G is delivered to your device, your device or your home, except that you should get ready for new realities-devices, content, apps, lifestyle. Medical scans and other results will also be delivered much faster than ever before. I still treasure the video of the Esophagoscopy test I did 5 years ago! I know Tito and Muna, my twins will forever cherish the video of their first steps and first words! I’m keeping them safely in iCloud! Now to the conspiracies around 5G and the untenable and fallacious connections to the Coronavirus pandemic.
It is customary in times of strife and great difficulties for bad guys with a proclivity for mischief to take undue advantage of the emotions, the fears and the vulnerabilities of others to peddle all sorts of nonsense including Conspiracy Theories. I must say here that people in that business are usually clever, but they are more often than not clever by half. On the issue of the relationship between 5G and Coronavirus, nothing can be more ludicrously deceptive. The choice of this moment to change the narrative against 5G makes it all too obvious. There has been a strategic campaign against the 5G technology driven by business and diplomacy and propagated by an orchestrated campaign to discredit the innovation. How it got twisted to establish a link to Coronavirus is perhaps the most important argument to debunk the fables.
I would rather not rehash the claims and allegations by those who are behind the fallacious pretensions to intellectualism, so we do not lend further currency and even credence to them, but suffice it to say that the Conspirators refer to two theories to support the claim that 5G accelerates the new coronavirus. Firstly, that 5G might suppress the immune system and, secondly, that viruses can communicate through radio waves. Of course, neither of these theories is backed up by evidence and indeed the new coronavirus is also affecting countries and regions where no 5G is currently present. So what are we even talking about?
The most important point here is that those who should know have come out strongly to debunk them. The UK government yesterday came out with perhaps the strongest rebuttal of these figments of the fertile imagination of some self-styled scientists. “There is absolutely no credible evidence of a link between 5G and coronavirus,” the UK’s department of Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) tweeted, noting that “inaccurate information” was being spread online about 5G. The DCMS pointed to research debunking the supposed link between 5G and the coronavirus, as well as links discussing the actual cause of the infection — direct exposure to COVID-19 particles spread through physical contact, not radio waves.
Trade association Mobile UK, a group which represents all of the major UK carriers, issued a statement, calling the conspiracy theory “baseless” and “not grounded in accepted scientific theory’, and noting that “some people are also abusing our key workers and making threats to damage infrastructure.” The statement read in part: “During this challenging situation, it is concerning that certain groups are using the COVID-19 pandemic to spread false rumours and theories about the safety of 5G technologies. The mobile industry is putting 100% of its effort into ensuring that the UK remains connected and the Government has rightly recognised our workers and the mobile operators as critical to the national effort.”
Continuing, it said: “The theories that are being spread about 5G on social media are baseless and are not grounded in accepted scientific theory. Research into the safety of radio signals including 5G, which has been conducted for more than 50 years, has led to the establishment of human exposure standards including safety factors that protect against all established health risks.”
Categorically speaking, there is no evidence that 5G networks are harmful to health.
Like the previous generations of wireless network technology (4G, 3G and 2G), 5G mobile data is transmitted over radio waves. Other types of technology that use radio waves include smart meters, TV and radio transmitters, and radar and satellite communications. Most modern medical laboratory equipment use radio waves, some use nuclear radiation, but they are used within the guidelines. By the way, every medication has recommended dosage. Even too much food and drinks can become injurious to health. This is basically the same principle on which radio waves operate. There are acceptable safe limits, which are determined, specified, regulated and supervised by International Technology Regulatory bodies. That is a universal truth in international best practice. practice.
According to Kate Lewis of Full Facts: “Radio waves are a small part of a wider electromagnetic spectrum of waves, which all emit energy called electromagnetic radiation. Radio waves are found at the low-frequency end of the spectrum and—alongside microwaves, visible light and heat—only produce non-ionising radiation. This means that these waves cannot damage the DNA inside cells, which is how waves with higher frequencies (such as x-rays, gamma rays and ultraviolet light) are thought to cause cancer. To improve the speed and capacity of our wireless technology, 5G uses a higher frequency of radio waves compared to its older generations. The frequency of this new wireless technology remains very low: the maximum levels of electromagnetic radiation measured by Ofcom were about 66 times smaller than the safety limits set by international guidelines. Public Health England states that “the overall exposure is expected to remain low relative to guidelines and, as such, there should be no consequences for public health.”
Continuing, Lewis wrote: “The Daily Star quotes an “activist and philosophy lecturer at the Isle of Wight College” saying that electromagnetic radiation from 5G suppresses the immune system, helping the virus to thrive. As mentioned above, the level of radiation from 5G is far below levels of electromagnetic radiation thought to cause damage to cells in the human body. The second theory appears to be that “viruses “talk to each other” when making decisions about infecting a host”. This is not true. The Daily Star article links to a 2011 research paper which suggested that bacteria may produce electromagnetic signals to communicate with other bacteria. This hypothesis is disputed, and refers to bacteria and not viruses like the new coronavirus.
“The new coronavirus is also spreading in places without 5G networks. There are many parts of the UK that do not have 5G coverage yet, but are still affected by the virus (for example, Milton Keynes and Portsmouth). There are no 5G networks at all in Iran, yet this country has been severely affected by Covid-19 (at the time of writing, Iran had the sixth-highest number of reported Covid-19 cases and fourth-highest number of deaths of 177 countries and regions in the world).”
It is regrettable and highly unfortunate that people should prey on the vulnerability and fears of others in a critical time like this. One would even begin to wonder which generation of mobile technology facilitated the spread of the Spanish Flu aka Influenza, which ravaged the world between 1918 and 1920 and killed over 50 million people worldwide including 500,000 Nigerians! What is even more regrettable is the tendency of otherwise educated, enlightened and widely travelled even influential people to lend credence to these fallacies and flights of academic fantasies by either sharing them without commentary or propagating them as truths and facts.
In the long run we are all dead, so said the fatalistic Social Economist Thomas Keynes. We are already surrounded by televisions, refrigerators, microwaves cookers and ovens, wireless electronics, computers and all sorts of mobile devices in addition to the radiations we experience during visits to medical laboratories for one health-related investigation of the other. Why cause panic with 5G? The law of unity and conflict of opposites presupposes that everything we eat to stay alive ultimately contributes to killing us, one way or the other. It is preposterous to single out 5G technology particularly at this time. I will NOT forget that the United States is not particularly pleased that China beat her to the race for 5G, the reason Huawei Technologies has suffered tremendous (apologies to President Donald Trump) persecution in the hands of the US government. In the end, facts are facts, fiction is fiction. Science is fact not fiction. Stay woke! Be safe! Thank you!
. Oparah, a leading Corporate and Crisis Communication Expert, wrote from Lagos.
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Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazak of Kwara State has demanded the immediate sack of the medical team of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) for alleged professional misconduct in the way they treated a new case of coronavirus patient in the State.
Chadian President, Idriss Deby has asked the factional leader of the outlawed Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau to surrender as his days are now numbered and will soon be smoked out and killed in his hideout.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has alerted Nigerians that cyber-criminals are taking advantage of the current coronavirus pandemic to defraud citizens, steal sensitive information, or gain unauthorized access to computers or mobile devices using various techniques.
The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has been admitted to hospital for tests, 10 days after testing positive for coronavirus, Downing Street has said.
Abubakar Shekau, leader of Boko Haram terrorist organization, has pleaded with his fighters not to run away from battle after many of them were killed and weapons confiscated by the Chadian Army.
5G And COVID-19: Technology, Conspiracy And Ignorance, By Emeka Oparah