The Government of Oyo State Nigeria, in collaboration with a waste management consultant, Mottainai Recycling, has commenced the fumigation of dumpsites to eliminate communicable diseases and epidemics in the state.
Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Abiodun Oni, who disclosed this on Monday in Ibadan, said that the exercise had been flagged off at Lapite dumpsite, Ibadan, on Saturday.
The commissioner, represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mrs Modupe Adeleye, said that the exercise was aimed at protecting the immediate and surrounding communities where the dumpsites were situated.
He expressed government’s commitment to protecting public health and minimising the discomfort the dumpsites might be causing the neighbouring communities.
Dumpsite
Oni appealed to residents of the state to refrain from any act that might have negative effects on the environment.
According to the commissioner, the fumigation exercise would play an important role in the waste management chain in the state.
“There is no gainsaying the fact that dumpsites are prime breeding sites for communicable diseases and vectors, such as rodents, mosquitoes and flies, which tend to exacerbate the prevalence of waterborne diseases, such as typhoid and cholera, among others.
“The exercise will help us attain a cleaner and safer environment,” he said.
Oni urged residents to ensure prompt payment of their waste disposal services and desist from dumping wastes in unauthorised places.
The Kaduna State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), said its operatives have arrested no fewer than 302 suspected drug traffickers in the first quarter of 2022 in Kaduna.
Umar Adoro, Commander of NDLEA in the state, disclosed this to newsmen on Tuesday in Kaduna.
Adoro said the 302 suspected drug traffickers consisted of 291 males and 12 females.
He listed the drugs seized during the period under review to include, cannabis sativa at 2158.649 kg, cocaine at 1.061 kg, and heroine at 0.042 kg.
Others he said, included tramadol 1828.604 kg, methamphetamine 0.023 kg, and psychotropic substance 773.186 kg.
“In total, the substances seized are 4761.542 kg.
He disclosed that out of the 302 suspects, 155 were under counselling, 74 had been charged to court, 26 were convicted, 39 were pending investigations, and eight had been transferred to sister security agencies.
Adoro said the operatives also recovered two locally made refiles, one locally-made pistol, four pump action guns, 275 cartridges, and two live ammunition.
He urged the public to be mindful of suspicious movements of goods in their communities, and provide useful information to the agency to enable it to curb the influx and consumption of hard drugs.
He also appealed to parents to closely observe their wards’ activities.
He reassured the public of NDLEA’s commitment to eradicating illegal drugs in society to the barest minimum.
The Senate has amended the Electoral Act 2022 to allow statutory delegates to participate and vote in party conventions, congresses and meetings.
In an accelerated passage, the lawmakers amended Section 84(8) of the law – which initially allowed only elected delegates of a party to participate in the conventions or other meetings.
The legislation, sponsored by the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, scaled first, second and third readings at plenary on Tuesday.
Leading the debate, Omo-Agege noted that the initial section of the bill was an error on the part of the legislature.
Section 84(8) of the Electoral Act does not provide for the participation of what is generally known as statutory delegates in the conventions, congresses or meetings of political parties, he explained.
“Section 84(8) provides for the participation of elected delegates in the conventions, congresses or meetings of political parties held to nominate candidates.
“This was an unintended error and it can only be corrected with this amendment.”
Corroborating his debate, Uche Ekwunife and Sabi Abdullahi said the “error happened inadvertently” and was not the intention of the National Assembly.
The bill was thereafter passed in the committee of the Whole.
After the passage, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, said the Electoral Act “has a deficiency that was never intended and the deficiency will deny all statutory delegates in all political parties from participating in congresses and conventions.”
Dr Ramatu Aliyu, Minister of State for FCT, has solicited various waivers, grants, tax holidays, rebates and other related incentives as part of measures to boost the creative industry.
Aliyu made the call while delivering a lecture at the ongoing 2022 Zuma Film Festival.
The festival has the title: “Post COVID-19 funding policy framework partnerships between the FCTA and the Nigerian Film Corporation, for the Nigerian film industry through rebates, location incentives, tax credits and film grants.”
She argued that the only major way government could make the creative industry attractive to investors and major players was to introduce waivers, grants, tax holidays, rebates and other related incentives.
Aliyu lamented that lip service had been paid to the quest for a film industry development fund over the years, adding that the film industry needed a better understanding of the tax laws and how they apply to the industry.
She, however, assured stakeholders that the present administration was leaving no stone unturned toward ensuring that the tax environment was investment-friendly.
The minister said that an investor-friendly tax environment would certainly attract foreign investment because tax incentives available within a nation’s tax environment constitute veritable opportunities for local and foreign investors to build on.
“With the return to democracy in 1999, several waivers, grants, tax holidays, rebates and incentives were given to super industrialists, helping them to wax strong from available statistics.
“It therefore becomes very logical for us to try these same measures which have worked in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors and see if they wouldn’t also succeed in the creative industry sector.
Aliyu, however, reiterated that the FCT Administration was poised to provide all the necessary incentives that would attract major players in the film industry into the nation’s capital city.
The Director-General and Chief Executive, Nigerian Film Corporation, Dr Chidia Maduekwe, pointed out that the Nigerian Film Corporation Annual Lecture series remains one of the corporation’s platforms used to contribute to the evolvement of policy frameworks.
“Policy documents and frameworks are, by no means, mere directional intent; they are key navigational and instructional compass which provide clear and distinct objectives as well as the means to achieving them.”
Maduekwe called for policy framework that would not only provide the needed opportunities, but which could exacerbate the needed impetus to grow the Nigerian creative economy.
While recognising some of the challenges facing the film production chain in the country, the NFC boss called for adequate and appropriate return on investment for film and other creative works.
“We are aware that securing locations for film shoot that will depict Nigeria in its beautiful state don’t abound. Where they do, filmmakers find it difficult to access them.
“We believe, however, that with the existence of a policy framework, accessibility to film locations will be achieved with ease,” he stressed.
The Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN) says it generated N582 million from tickets sold across the country in April.
This was disclosed in an interview, with its national president, Patrick lee.
Comparing the sales with April 2021, there is an increase of 50 per cent.
22 Nollywood films shown in April accounted for 43 per cent of ticket sales, whereas 19 Hollywood films accounted for about 54 per cent with two films grossing over N50 million.
Lee also said that comparing March with April, ticket sales improved by about 68 per cent, with April having the highest box office figure since January.
South Korea’s new president, Yoon Suk-yeol, said on Tuesday that North Korea’s weapons programmes pose a threat but that he is ready to provide an “audacious” economic plan if the North is committed to denuclearisation.
Yoon gave the remarks in his inauguration speech after being sworn in at a ceremony in Seoul. He won a tight election in March as the standard bearer of the main conservative People Power Party, less than a year after entering politics following a 26-year career as a prosecutor.
Yoon, will face two major problems as he takes office: a belligerent North Korea testing new weapons and inflation threatening to undermine an economic recovery from two years of COVID-19 gloom.
He has signalled a tougher line on North Korea, warning of a preemptive strike if there is a sign of an imminent attack and vowing to strengthen the South’s deterrent capability.
But his speech was seen as focused more on his willingness to reopen stalled denuclearisation talks with Pyongyang.
“While North Korea’s nuclear weapon programs are a threat not only to our security and that of Northeast Asia, the door to dialogue will remain open so that we can peacefully resolve this threat,” Yoon said.
He added that If North Korea genuinely embarks on a process to complete denuclearisation, we are prepared to work with the international community to present an audacious plan that will vastly strengthen North Korea’s economy and improve the quality of life for its people.
Former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez is expected to plead not guilty to U.S. drug and weapons charges in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday following his extradition last month from the Central American country.
U.S. prosecutors have accused Hernandez, a former U.S. ally, of receiving millions of dollars from drug traffickers in exchange for protection from arrest while leading Honduras from 2014 until January of this year.
Prosecutors said Hernandez used the money to enrich himself and finance his political campaigns. He faces three criminal counts, including conspiracy to import cocaine as well as weapons possession.
Hernandez has denied the allegations, portraying himself as a fierce opponent of drug cartels and accusing traffickers of smearing him to get revenge and lighten their sentences. Raymond Colon, a lawyer for Hernandez, said his client is innocent and called the case a “vendetta masquerading as a prosecution.”
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan declined to comment. Hernandez is expected to plead not guilty at an 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) arraignment before U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel.
Honduran police arrested Hernandez pursuant to a U.S. extradition request in February, the month after he left office.
He was flown to the United States from the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa on April 21 aboard a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration plane. A U.S. judge later ordered Hernandez detained pending trial.
The Philippines woke to a new but familiar political landscape on Tuesday, after an election triumph by Ferdinand Marcos Jr. paved the way for a once unimaginable return to the country’s highest office for its most notorious political dynasty.
Marcos, trounced bitter rival Leni Robredo to become the first candidate in recent history to win an outright majority in a Philippines presidential election, marking a stunning comeback by the son and namesake of an ousted dictator that has been decades in the making.
Marcos fled into exile in Hawaii with his family during a 1986 “people power” uprising that ended his father’s autocratic 20-year rule, and has served in congress and the senate since his return to the Philippines in 1991.
Marcos’s runaway victory in Monday’s election now looks certain with about 98% of the eligible ballots counted in an unofficial tally showing he has nearly 31 million votes, double that of Robredo.
An official result is expected around the end of the month.
Though Marcos, 64, campaigned on a platform of unity, political analysts say his presidency is unlikely to foster that, despite the margin of victory.
Philippine stocks fell 3% on Tuesday before paring losses. The drop tracked weaker global equities, though analysts cited uncertainty over what policies Marcos might follow.
Many among the millions of Robredo voters are angered by what they see as a brazen attempt by the disgraced former first family to use its mastery of social media to reinvent historical narratives of its time in power.
US law enforcement agencies are beefing up security for Supreme Court justices after a leak suggested they may overturn legalised abortion.
The US Marshals Service said on Monday it was helping the agencies normally tasked with the judges’ protection.
A protest was held on Monday night at Justice Samuel Alito’s house in Alexandria, Virginia. Activists chanted: “Abort the court, while Rallies were held outside the homes of two other justices this weekend.
On Saturday night, a group of about 100 people marched from the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to Chief Justice John Roberts’ house nearby in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
The US Marshals Service said the decision to back up the justices’ security detail came “in response to increased security concerns stemming from the unauthorised release of the draft opinion”.
A draft opinion leaked last week suggests a majority of the Supreme Court would overturn US women’s federally protected right to abortion.
Such a move would hand the issue of abortion rights over to individual US states, many of which are planning laws to ban the procedure.
The court’s final ruling is expected in June.
The leaked document, penned by conservative Justice Alito, called the 1973 Roe v Wade decision – which legalised abortion across the US – “egregiously wrong from the start”.
The World Health Organisation has supported the Federal Government of Nigeria in launching the National Essential Diagnostics List.
The WHO list of essential diagnostic tests (EDL) is a World Health Organization priority list of medical tests that provides guidance for individual countries on which tests to use and which not to. It was first published in 2018, then revised in 2019, and a third edition was published in 2020.
The EDL aims to provide evidence-based guidance to countries to create their own national lists of essential diagnostic tests and tools, anticipating that the EDL would complement the List of Essential Medicines and enhance its impact.
Tests in community settings where there is no laboratory, are divided into general tests and tests that are disease-specific. Diseases that can be tested for in the community without laboratory facilities include: Chagas disease, cholera, COVID-19, diabetes mellitus, hepatitis B and C, HIV, influenza, malaria, Streptococcal pharyngitis, sickling disorders, syphilis, tuberculosis and visceral leishmaniasis.
Where there is a health care facility with laboratories, tests are divided into either general tests or disease-specific tests for clinical laboratories, and disease-specific tests for blood screening laboratories. For each group of tests, the EDL specifies the test’s name, purpose, assay format and type of specimen.
The WHO Public Health Emergency Advisor, Dr. Alexander Chimbaru, disclosed that following increased recognition of the importance of diagnostic testing in healthcare, particularly as it plays a major role in achieving Universal Health Coverage, the World Health Organisation developed an Essential Diagnostics List to address the lack of access to tests and testing services in many countries.
Chimbaru further noted the WHO Essential Diagnostic List, which was first published in 2018, was a list of recommended in-vitro diagnostics that should be available at the point of care and is intended as a guidance document for countries to create their own national list based on their local context and needs.
EDL
“The overall goal of the EDL is to improve access to testing, diagnostic capacities during the outbreak, affordability of test, regulation, and quality of the diagnostic test.”
“The National Essential Diagnostic List is anticipated to complement and enhance the impact of the Essential Medicines List, which has recorded a great improvement in availability and affordability of medicines and quality of patient management.”
In his remarks, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said the flag-off of the dissemination of the Nigeria National Essential Diagnostics List marks another giant stride towards achieving the core mandate of the Federal Ministry of Health which is “to develop and implement policies to strengthen the national health system for effective, efficient, accessible and affordable delivery of health services in partnership with relevant stakeholders.”
Ehanire pointed out that policies and guidelines were developed to address needs and situations, adding that Nigeria was committed to attaining globally agreed Sustainable Development Goals and Universal Health Coverage.
“Over the past few years, there has been increased recognition of the importance of diagnostic testing in healthcare, and especially in achieving the goal of UHC, but until recently, there have been few strategic efforts designed to develop the evidence base on which policymakers can rationally increase and improve access to diagnostic testing.”
“To this end, after about four decades since the existence of the Essential Medicines List, WHO has seen the need to develop an Essential Diagnostics List,” he said.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
