By Ikenna Osuoha

An Abuja-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Save Our Heritage Initiative, says women equality is imperative for global sustainable development.

Its Chief Executive Officer, Ms May Ikokwu, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on  in Abuja.

Ikokwu, who spoke in commemoration of the 2021 International Women’s Day (IWD), decried all forms of practices that promote discrimination and repression against women.

She called for total compliance with the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) which prescribed that women and girls everywhere must have equal rights and opportunity.

She added that “marginalisation of women must stop. At school, women perform just as well as men, representing about 50 per cent of the population, yet at work you don’t get so many women in top positions.

“In politics also, it’s just a handful of women in both the Senate and House. How many governors and deputy governors are women in Nigeria?, anyway we are gradually getting there.”

The SOHI chief executive wondered why women could not be given equal opportunities to be able to live free of violence and discrimination.

According to her, women’s equality and empowerment is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, but also integral to all dimensions of inclusive and sustainable development

Ikokwu, who lauded few women with outstanding accomplishments such as Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and Amina Mohammed, said women were not to be seen only but their voices should also be heard.

She added that “the abuse and second class place reserved for women should end.’’

NAN reports that March 8 every year is set aside for the commemoration of International Women’s Day (IWD).

The 2021 theme is “Women in Leadership: Achieving an Equal Future in a COVID-19 World.’’ (NAN)

By Abujah Racheal

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced 371 new cases of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), bringing the total number of infections in the country to 158,906.

The NCDC disclosed this on its official Twitter handle late Monday.

The agency also registered 13 additional COVID-19-related deaths, raising the total fatality in the country to 1,982.

The institute said the new infections were registered across 16 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the past 24 hours.

It added that Lagos topped the list with 102 infections, followed by Enugu with 65,  then Edo with 56, and FCT with 23 of the new cases.

Other states with new COVID-19 infections were  Ogun-20, Osun-18, Bayelsa-18, Rivers-15, Kaduna-14, Plateau-10, Oyo-eight,  Bauchi-7 Kano-5 Delta-4, Nasarawa-3, Niger-2, and Ekiti-1.

The agency said 461 people had been successfully treated and discharged from different isolation centres across the country within the past 24 hours.

“Our discharges today include 104 community recoveries in Lagos State managed in line with guidelines,” it said.

According to NCDC, the total number of recoveries in the country stands  at 138,502 while the number of active cases in the past 24 hours stood at 18,588.

Meanwhile, a multi-sectoral national emergency operations centre (EOC), activated at Level 3, continues to coordinate the national response activities in the country.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the country has conducted more than 1.6 million COVID-19 tests as of March 8.

As the number of people infected with the virus keeps growing in countries across the West African sub-region, the Nigeria government is leaving no stone unturned in efforts to curtail further spread of the virus.

Nigerian authorities declared an initial 2-week lockdown on March 30, 2020 in three of 36 states of the federation (Lagos, Ogun, and Abuja), and on April 13, 2020 extended the lockdown by another 2 weeks, thereby  restricting the movement of more than 200 million people. (NAN)

By Abujah Racheal

Dr Solomon Chollom, a Jos based Virologist, has urged Nigerians to give the COVID-19 vaccine a chance in the country, saying that vaccines save lives.

Chollom told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja that so much had changed about life and living since the  SARS COV2 (COVID-19) virus pandemic hit the world.

“With daily figures of infected cases and mortalities due to the virus rising and falling unabatedly, experts and authorities rolled out response strategies that get updated as knowledge and information about the virus improves.

“Some response measures that have been put forward to fight the virus include quarantisocial distancing; lockdown; testing and treatment amongst others.

“These measures have played significant roles holding down the pandemic, they are not as potent as vaccines.”

According to the virologist,  a vaccine is a biological propagation which when administered, teaches the body system to fight off infectious diseases.

He said that an effective vaccine is one which is safe and efficacious.

“This data is generated from clinical trials and reviewed by regulatory agencies before a vaccine a certified for human use.

“With the pandemic still raging on especially with the emergence of new variants, across the world, it is clear that the response strategy implemented so far is still weak and inadequate hence the need to look the way of vaccines.

“Experts believe that vaccines and vaccination will strengthen the weakness in the global response and eventually end the pandemic,” he told NAN.

According to him, hindsight from history has shown that vaccines play significant roles in eradicating deadly diseases in the past.

He said that diseases including small pox and bubonic plague and polio in the recent past were clear examples.

“In view of this, vaccines against COVID-19 need to be given a chance to bolster our response framework,” she said.

NAN reports that Nigeria on March 2, 2021, took delivery of nearly four million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine as part of an overall 16 million doses planned to be delivered to the country in batches over the next few months.

The vaccines are being provided by COVAX, an unprecedented global effort to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Upon arrival, samples were handed to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) NAFDAC for further examination.

It was later certified to be safe and effective for use.

Nigeria commenced the COVID-19 vaccination, beginning with healthcare workers who are often at the risk of exposure to infections being the first responders to patients.(NAN)

By Justina Auta

The National Centre for Women Development (NCWD) says it is mobilising women and girls to exercise their civil rights by using their numerical strength to occupy decision-making positions and empowerment.

The Director General, NCWD, Mrs Mary Ekpere-Eta, made this known while briefing the media in Abuja on Monday in commemoration of the 2021 International Women’s Day (IWD).

The IWD is annually celebrated around the globe on March 8, in recognition of the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and also a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.

This year’s edition has “Women in Leadership: Achieving an Equal Future in a COVID-19 World” as its theme.

Ekpere-Eta said available statistics negate the claim that more women voted than men in the 2019 general elections, as report shows that only 11,897,180 women voted out of the 26,348,429 accredited voters during the election.

She attributed the poor representation of women at both elective and appointive positions to patriarchy, political violence, insurgency and others, which plummeted the number of women casting their votes.

She added that “the NCWD is mobilising women and young girls in Nigeria, especially at the grassroots on the need for them to know the power of their civil rights.

“And use of their one vote to empower women and put them in decision making positions for good governance.”

According to her, the centre mobilises women and girls through media publicity and sensitisation to enable them to occupy political or appointive positions.

She added that “the centre is also working with the National Bureau of Statistics to ensure documentation of Gender Based Violence (GBV) issues and track incidences in the country with a view to end the practice.

“One important area of focus for us is the documentation of unpaid care work in Nigeria, which we are currently carrying out in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics to reduce the burden of unpaid care work on women,” she said.

The NCWD boss, therefore, urged unity to end Sexual/Gender Based Violence, patriarchy, discrimination against women and others.

She said the IWD provides an opportunity to call out gender bias and inequality, seek out and accelerate women’s achievement and advocate for increased participation of women in development and decision making.

She noted that the NCWD had empowered over 7000 women and youths with various skills and equipment and trained over 2000 women and girls in various skills through the Federal Government Post COVID-19 Programme. (NAN)