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FG Begins Emergency Ambulance Service

By
Olasunbo Okoromi
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The Nigeria Government will begin the pilot phase of the emergency ambulance services on Friday in Abuja to facilitate access to first aid and healthcare in life threatening situations.

The Chairman of the National Emergency Medical Treatment Committee (NEMTC), Dr Felix Ogedegbe said this in Abuja during a Bi-Weekly Ministerial Media Conference anchored by the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire.

According to him, the National Emergency Medical Service and Ambulance System (NEMSAS) committee was inaugurated four years ago and mandated to work on the rollout of an ambulance service for Nigeria.

He said that the aim was to ensure that Nigeria got to the point of joining other countries in the world that have national emergency medical services.

Ogedegbe said that with this system, Nigerians that need emergency medical care could call a three-digit number and have the response made to them immediately.

He said that the nation was known for negative health indices leading to high mortality rates, which most times were as a result of the inability to access medical care on time.

Ogedegbe said that several trials had been carried out in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as the pilot state and that a call to 112 goes straight to the emergency communication centre, which then goes to the medical dispatch system to get the ambulance to respond to the emergency.

He urged all states to emulate the readiness of the FCT and ensure all requisite structures and new medicines are proficient and empowered in an expedited rollout. The operational arm of the third disbursement gateway, designated in the National Health Act (NHA), with five percent of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund for Emergency Medical Treatment meant to provide urgent health service to Nigerians.

It addresses a serious weakness in Nigeria’s health system, which makes no provision for physical and financial access to First Aid and healthcare in case of life threatening emergencies of any type. The Federal Ministry of Health in February signed a multi sectorial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and inaugurated of the Implementation Manual for operationalising NEMSAS.

Pres. Buhari Swears-In Ariwoola As Chief Justice Of Nigeria

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
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President Muhammadu Buhari has sworn-in Justice Olukayode Ariwoola as the substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria.

Justice Ariwoola took the judicial oath of office on Wednesday in a brief ceremony at the Council Chambers before the commencement of the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council meeting.

The ceremony was witnessed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Secretary to Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr Folashade Yemi-Esan.

Others were the justices of the Supreme Court, Governors of Oyo and Ondo states, Sheyi Makinde and Rotimi Akeredolu.

Justice Ariwoola was appointed as Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) on June 27 this year, following the resignation of his outgone predecessor, Justice Tanko Muhammad, on health grounds. The new CJN has been serving in an acting capacity since then.

In his first interaction with the media shortly after he was sworn-in,  the CJN appealed to politicians to allow the judiciary function properly as the 2023 elections approach while promising reforms at the country’s apex court.

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, who also spoke to Journalists, expressed gratitude to President Buhari on behalf of the people and government of the state for appointing one of them as Chief Justice of Nigeria.

Meanwhile, President Buhari is presiding over a virtual meeting of the Federal Executive Council with some Ministers physically attending with others attending from their various offices in Abuja.

Before the commencement of the meeting, the council observed a minute of silence in honour of former Minister of Special Duties, Vincent Ogbulafor, who served as Minister under the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo.

Primary Health Care Boss Commends President Buhari On Award Received

By
Olasunbo Okoromi
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The Executive Director National Primary Health Care Development Agency in Nigeria, Dr. Faisal Shu’aib says the National award given to him by President Muhammadu Buhari is a call for more service in advancing the course of healthcare delivery in Nigeria.

Dr Shu’aib made the remark shortly after he received the award of Officer of the Order of the Niger OON, among the 447 recipients of the National Honours in Abuja on Tuesday.

According to Dr Shu’aib, “the award is not just for him but for the entire staff of Primary Health Care Development Agency nationwide.”

He encourage the staff of the agency, considering the award as the commitment of the agency to promoting Primary Heath and a call to offer more service to Nigerians.

Dr Shu’aib told the staff that working with them was a great honour in moving the agency forward.

He thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for the award and for supporting the agency.

Speaking on behalf of development partners Dr Folu, congratulated Dr Faisal Shu’aibu for the honour given to him and urged him to do more.

Also, speaking on behalf of the Directors in the Agency Dr Eric Nweze, expressed happiness for being part of the successes recorded in promoting Primary Heath Care in Nigeria.

He urged the Directors and Staff of the Agency to consider the award given to their boss as a call to diligent service to humanity.

He encouraged the awardee not to rest on his responsibility but continue to the commitment to advancing the course of services to humankind.

He said; “Integrity, selflessness, dedication and Godliness were attributes that led to the success.”

On behalf of Health Union members, Mr Kingsley Yahya extolled Shu’aib achievements in promoting Primary Heath Care and his effort in building the capacity of staff as well as welfare packages.

FG To Partner With Oyo On Integrated Measles Campaign

By
Olasunbo Okoromi
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The Federal Government has declared its readiness to partner with the Oyo State Government and other healthcare stakeholders to reduce child mortality and morbidity across the state, by embarking on integrated measles campaign for children between 9 months and 5 years.

The integrated campaign, which includes measles and polio immunisation, would cut across all the 33 local government areas in the state.

The Executive Secretary, Oyo State Primary Healthcare Board, Dr Muyideen Olatunji, who disclosed this at a news conference held in Ibadan, the state capital, noted that the vaccination exercise would commence on the 20th of October, 2022.

Olatunji, who was represented by the Director of Public Health, Oyo State Primary Healthcare Board, Dr Johnson Osoko, assured that the vaccines were completely safe to be administered

He explained that the idea of including other health interventions to the vaccination exercise was strategically programmed in line with the state government’s drive to ensure qualitative health care delivery to people at the grassroots.

The Programme Manager, Oyo State Emergency and Routine Coordination Center, Dr Adeyemi Adewole, noted that officials for the mass measles vaccination campaign had been well trained and as such there was no need for any anxiety or skepticism during the exercise, adding that there would be fixed posts and mobile points to allow for better coverage.

He stated that “The fixed posts would be our various health facilities, the vaccines will be available there. Then the mobile points will be places like markets, schools, where people can easily access. So if you have a child that is between the ages of 9 months and five years, you can just bring the child up for measles vaccination. Also other vaccines are available that will be administered. They can give vitamin A supplementation just to make sure the child is well protected.”

In their various goodwill messages, representatives from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), UNICEF and other partners, were unanimous in harping on the need for collaboration to ensure reduction in infant mortality and morbidity rate in the state.

They urged the media to help sensitise the public through the dissemination of well-established information.

Research shows that about one in every six children in Nigeria dies before age five due to poor access to basic and improved healthcare services, resulting in high rate of child mortality and morbidity.

U-23 Team Begin Training Ahead Of Tanzania Qualifier

By
Emenike Agu
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The U-23 national team held their first training at the Lekan Salami Stadium in Ibadan on Tuesday, ahead of their 2023 Africa U-23 Nations Cup qualifier against Tanzania.

Coach Salisu Yusuf took charge of the session with a bunch of the invited players already in camp.

The Nigerian U-23 team will prepare for eight days, before jetting out Oct 18 for the first leg in Dar es Salaam, scheduled for the weekend of October 21-23, 2022.

A final squad for the game will be selected before the team depart.

Nigeria host Tanzania for the second leg at the Lekan Salami Stadium Ibadan on October 29.

The U-23 Africa Cup of Nations will be staged in Morocco June 2023.

The competition serves as qualifiers for the men’s football event of the Olympic Games, with the top three teams advancing to Paris 2024.

Tobi Amusan Nominated For Women’s World Athlete Award

By
Emenike Agu
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The world 100m hurdles champion and world record holder, Tobi Amusan, has been listed among the 10 nominees for the Women’s World Athlete of the Year organised by World Athletics.

The athletics body made this known in a press release published on their website on Wednesday, October 12.

The body had further mentioned that the 10 nominees had been selected by an international panel of athletics experts, from all six continental areas of World Athletics.

Amusan alongside Kenyan’s Faith Kipyegon, who is the current World 1500m champion and Diamond League 1500m champion, were the only Africans to nominated.

The statement read, “This week marks the opening of the voting process for the 2022 World Athletes of the Year ahead of the World Athletics Awards 2022.

“World Athletics is pleased to confirm a list of 10 nominees for Women’s World Athlete of the Year. These athletes were selected by an international panel of athletics experts, comprising representatives from all six continental areas of World Athletics.

“It has been another memorable year for the sport and the nominations reflect some of the standout performances achieved at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22, one-day meeting circuits and other events around the world.”

The athletic body also added that fans would also be able to vote online via the World Athletics social media platforms and the top five finalists would be announced on Monday, October 31.

“The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family will cast their votes by email, while fans can vote online via the World Athletics social media platforms. Individual graphics for each nominee will be posted on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube this week; a ‘like’ on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube or a retweet on Twitter will count as one vote.

“The World Athletics Council’s vote will count for 50% of the result, while the World Athletics Family’s votes and the public votes will each count for 25% of the final result.

“Voting for the World Athletes of the Year closes at midnight on Monday 31 October. At the conclusion of the voting process, five women and five men finalists will be announced by World Athletics.

“The winners will be revealed on World Athletics’ social media platforms in early December.”

Indian Authorities Stop Production Of Cough Syrup Linked To Gambian Deaths

By
Olasunbo Okoromi
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India has stopped the production of cough syrup at a factory of Maiden Pharmaceuticals after World Health Body, W.H.O reported the medicine may be linked to the deaths of dozens of children in the Gambia.

India’s health minister in Haryana state, Anil Vij, said authorities halted production after an inspection of a Maiden factory near the town of Sonipat in the state revealed 12 violations of good practices.

The W.H.O said last week that laboratory analysis of four Maiden products – Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup – had “unacceptable” amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, which can be toxic and lead to acute kidney injury.

India’s health ministry said last week that samples of all four Maiden products that had been exported to the Gambia had been sent for testing to a federal laboratory and the results would “guide the further course of action as well as bring clarity on the inputs received/to be received from WHO.”

Gambian police, in a preliminary investigation report on Tuesday, said that the deaths of 69 children from acute kidney injury were linked to the cough syrups made in India and imported via a U.S.-based company.

There were earlier reports that quoted the Haryana drugs controller as saying that Maiden did not perform quality testing of propylene glycol, diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, while certain batches of propylene glycol did not have the manufacturing and expiry dates.

Diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol are used in antifreeze and brake fluids and other industrial applications but also as a cheaper alternative in some pharmaceutical products to glycerine, a solvent or thickening agent in many cough syrups.

Maiden says on its website it has an annual production capacity of 2.2 million syrup bottles, 600 million capsules, 18 million injections, 300,000 ointment tubes and 1.2 billion tablets at three factories.

It said it sells its products at home and exports to countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The cough syrups had been approved for export only to the Gambia, India says, although the W.H.O says they may have gone elsewhere through informal markets.

Rangers Played Masterclass With Nigerian Midfielder, Aribo

By
Emenike Agu
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Glasgow Rangers have had their fair share of gaffes and successes in the transfer market over the years, as they have failed to get the best out of players and unearthed gems in recent transfer windows, writes www.footballfancast.com.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst has only had two windows in charge at Ibrox, but may already feel like he has brought in a star or two in Antonio Colak and Rabbi Matondo, whilst the likes of Ben Davies, Malik Tillman, and Ridvan Yilmaz, among others, still have more to offer.

His predecessor, Steven Gerrard, enjoyed a host of successful windows during his time at Rangers, as he snapped up the likes of Ryan Kent, Calvin Bassey, and Ianis Hagi.

Another diamond the current Aston Villa boss unearthed was central midfielder, Joe Aribo, who he signed from Charlton in the summer of 2019. He was out of contract with the League One outfit but Rangers had to pay a compensation fee of £300k due to his age.

At the time of the move, Gerrard claimed that the dynamo had interest from Premier League and Championship clubs in England, which means that the Gers fought hard to win the race for his signature.

The midfielder did not take long to settle into life at Ibrox, as he made 49 appearances in all competitions during his first year at the club, including 27 in the Premiership.

He then played 42 matches, with 30 coming in the Scottish top-flight, in the 2020/21 campaign as Rangers won the title under Gerrard.

Ezri Konsa previously claimed that the ex-Liverpool midfielder played a huge role in Aribo’s development, saying: “Having Gerrard as his manager at Rangers, that has made him go up another level.

“Joe’s style is unique. When I was with him at Charlton, he did remind me for a while of a left-footed Yaya Toure. But you don’t get a lot of midfielders like Joe, there aren’t many around.

“Like Toure, for a tall guy he’s got such great feet. But that languid style he’s got is actually fairly unique in the game.”

The English manager left Glasgow in November of the 2021/22 season, but Aribo’s form did not falter as he adapted to van Bronckhorst’s style of play and remained a key member of the squad.

He ended the campaign with a whopping 57 appearances in all competitions as the Dutch head coach continually relied upon him throughout the year. Aribo scored nine goals and provided ten assists from midfield as he caught the eye on the pitch which meant that he ended his third season at Rangers with 26 goals and 25 assists in 148 matches in total.

The Nigerian phenomenon was rarely injured and was a consistent performer for Gerrard and van Bronckhorst over those three years, which earned him a move to Southampton in the summer just gone for a fee rising to £10m.

Rangers got three years of excellent service from Aribo on the pitch and then raked in a whopping £9.7 million profit on the initial £300k they paid for him, which means that it was a masterclass of a deal from a footballing and financial perspective.

2022 Diamond League In Numbers: Amusan, Brume Among 1084 Athletes From 88 Countries Who Participated In Competition

By
Emenike Agu
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Reigning African, Commonwealth and World 100m hurdles champion, Tobi Amusan and World and Olympic long jump medalist, Ese Brume were the only Nigerian athletes who participated in the 13-leg 2022 Diamond League series which climaxed with the final in Zurich in September.

The two were among 1084 athletes from 88 countries who competed in the money spinning competiton according to the statistics released by World Athletics on its website.

Reigning African, Commonwealth and World 100m hurdles champion, Tobi Amusan and World and Olympic long jump medalist, Ese Brume were the only Nigerian athletes who participated in the 13-leg 2022 Diamond League series which climaxed with the final in Zurich in September.

The two were among 1084 athletes from 88 countries who competed in the money spinning competiton according to the statistics released by World Athletics on its website.

The petite Nigerian came second thrice viz in Doha, Qatar (May 13) behind then reigning World Record holder, USA’s Kendra Harrison; Stockholm, Sweden (June 30) and Lausanne, Switserland (August 26) behind reigning Olympic champion, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn.

The 25 year old’s 12.41 seconds African record run at the Paris leg was among the seven area records set in the competition.

Brume, on her part competed only twice in the four qualification meetings, coming second on both ocassions, first in Eugene, USA (May 27) and Stockholm, Sweden (June 30) behind Sweden’s Sagnia Khaddi and Great Britain’s Jazmin Sawyers respectively.

The 26 year old garnered nine points from the two meets to finish seventh in the qualification ranking and missed out on the final in Zurich where only six jumpers qualified to compete for the $30,000 top prize money on offer plus the Diamond League Trophy and a wild card to the 19th World Athletics Championships next year in Belgrade.

Djokovic Would Love To Play At Australian Open: Tournament Chief

By
Emenike Agu
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FILES) In this file photo taken on November 20, 2021 Serbia’s Novak Djokovic arrives for his first round singles match of the ATP Finals against Britain’s Cameron Norrie at the Pala Alpitour venue in Turin. – Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic’s legal battle to stay in Australia and chase a record 21st Grand Slam opened on January 10, 2022, but online access to media was delayed by a computer glitch, a court spokesman said.

Novak Djokovic is eager to play at the Australian Open but it’s up to him to “work out the situation” with the government, tournament chief Craig Tiley said Wednesday, while confirming Russians and Belarusians can compete as neutrals.

This year’s championship was overshadowed by an unvaccinated Djokovic being deported from Australia on the eve of the Grand Slam after a high-stakes legal battle over his visa status.

The nine-time champion from Serbia is currently serving a three-year ban from entering Australia.

It can be overturned at the discretion of the centre-left government, which is different to the conservative coalition in power when he was kicked out. But they have given no indication on whether they would consider this.

Tiley said he spent time with Djokovic recently and the Serbian wanted to return for the first major of the year in January in Melbourne.

“What we’re saying at this point is that Novak and the federal government need to work out the situation. And then we’ll follow any instruction after that,” Tiley told The Age newspaper at the tournament’s official launch.

“I did spend some time with Novak at the Laver Cup. We spoke generally. He said that he’d obviously love to come back to Australia but he knows it’s going to be an ultimate decision for the federal government.

“He’s accepted that position. It’s a private matter between them.”

Opposition politician Karen Andrews, who was home affairs minister when Djokovic was deported, told ABC radio he should not be given special treatment.

“It would be a slap in the face for those people in Australia who did the right thing, got vaccinated, did everything they needed to do if all of a sudden Novak Djokovic is allowed back into the country simply because he is a high-ranking tennis player with many millions of dollars,” Andrews said.

Tiley added that he anticipated no restrictions on players from countries involved in the Ukraine conflict, in contrast to Wimbledon this year, which banned them from competing.

“At this point, Russian and Belarusians will be eligible to play at the Australian Open,” he said.

“The only difference will be that they cannot represent Russia, cannot represent the flag of Russia, cannot participate in any activity such as the anthem of Russia and have to play as independent players.”

Organisers are targeting a record 900,000 spectators at the 2023 event, with one million fans the ultimate goal.

Tiley said the previous attendance record was an estimated 820,000 people, with ticket pre-sales already strong.

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