NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA
Economy/Business

NEPC trains 6, 500 entrepreneurs on export trade in Enugu

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By Emmanuel Acha
The Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) says it trained no fewer than 6, 500 entrepreneurs in six Community Trade Groups in Enugu State in 2020.

The Southeast Regional Coordinator of the council, Mr Arnold Jackson, disclosed this on Tuesday, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu.

Jackson said that notable among the trade groups that were trained was the Cashew Community Trade Group in Udenu Local Government Area of the state.

He said that no fewer than 6,000 members of three trade groups, namely, farmer group, processor group and pickers were trained under the cashew value chain.

Jackson said that the move was in line with the diversification policy of the Federal Government.

The coordinator said that the council had in line with its one state one product policy, identified Enugu State as having comparative advantage in cashew production.

He said that such policy was aimed at empowering entrepreneurs to enable them to participate in the promotion of non-oil export in Nigeria.

Jackson, however, said that the state was also doing well in cassava production and spices, adding that the various programmes of NEPC had impacted positively on the active entrepreneurs in the state.

He said that the council would give the operators of small scale businesses the needed exposure to explore international markets.

The coordinator said that with the coming into effect of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), goods produced by local entrepreneurs would in principle reach no fewer than 1.2 billion people in about 54 countries.

He said that the AfCFTA was a noble initiative aimed at increasing the volume of trade among African countries, which currently stands at about 20 per cent.

“With the AfCFTA, local entrepreneurs can choose to supply about 90 per cent of their goods in the international market and reserve 10 per cent for the local market,” Jackson said.

The coordinator said that the council, as part of its efforts to encourage local entrepreneurs in the state, had concluded arrangements for the establishment of Export Promotion Clubs in the state.

Economy/Business

1m Nigerians to benefit from COVID-19 Cash Transfer- Osinbajo

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By Folasade Akpan
No fewer than One million Nigerians are to benefit from the Federal Government’s COVID-19 Cash Transfer Project which aims to lift the urban poor affected by the pandemic out of poverty.

The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, said this on Tuesday in Abuja while inaugurating the COVID-19 Rapid Response Registration (RRR) Cash Transfer Project.

According to him, the project is a national initiative to build a shock responsive framework for capturing and registering the urban poor and vulnerable populations across Nigeria.

Osinbajo said that the new register complements the already existing platforms under the World Bank supported National Social Safety nets Project (NASSP).

“As of Dec. 31, 2020, we have identified and registered about 24.3 million poor and vulnerable individuals into the National Social Register; equivalent to about 5.7 million households.

“Through this project, we are currently injecting about N10billion directly into the hands of about two million poor and vulnerable households every month.”

According to him, the initiative is about the largest evidence-based effort by any administration on poverty reduction and its impact on the lives of the poor is huge.

“This is by way of improving the livelihoods of the beneficiaries through enhanced household purchasing power, smoothening consumption, increasing savings and acquisition of household assets and improving the local economy.

Osinbajo said that the RRR was designed to focus mainly on the urban poor wards selected using scientifically validated methods of satellite remote sensing technology, machine learning algorithm and big data analysis.

“This social protection method of targeting is the first strategy to be developed and tested in the Sub-Saharan Africa region and Nigeria will be the first country for its implementation.

“With the RRR, which uses a wholly technology-based approach, we are primed to achieve an end-to-end digital foot-print in cash transfers for the urban poor.

“Which also helps us achieve our financial inclusion policy under the Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access programme (EFInA).”

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the first set of 3,115 beneficiaries have already received N5,000 each cash transfer and the programme will continue until it reaches the one million target.

The cash transfers will be received by the beneficiaries for six months.

Also at the event, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, said that the RRR would provide the gateway to many social development initiatives.

“This is because it uses innovative advancements in technology, in combination with ground-truthing processes, to generate an early response system.

“By design, the register also links to other databases such as banking information of respondents and national identity numbers.

“It is a process that is advanced in unifying national databank towards the delivery of social development in Nigeria.

“There is no doubt that in future, as has been demonstrated in the previous presentation, we will be reverting to the process used here and the register itself, to aid emergency assistance and support social protection activities in Nigeria.”

According to her, with the inauguration of the project, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development now has the database that can provide evidence for impact tracing for most social development projects in Nigeria.

In his remarks, Mr Shubham Chaudhuri, the World Bank Country Director said the COVID crisis hit Nigeria very hard, especially on the socio economic front.

“Even in the absence of the crisis, we were projecting that perhaps another seven million Nigerians were at risk of falling into poverty over the next two years.

“With the COVID crisis and the economic pressures that have resulted, we are now projecting that that number could rise to close to 18 million.

“So, I think it should be pretty obvious that this kind of scale up effort is absolutely critical to the overall COVID response,” Chaudhuri said.

NAN reports that the target groups are small businesses, street vendors and petty traders as well as low-wage employed individuals and families.

It also covers daily labourers earning wages by engaging in construction and other forms of daily wage-based activities, employees of businesses involved in services and workers in different industries and manufacturing firms.

Others are taxi drivers, street dwellers, orphans and vulnerable children, people living with disabilities and vulnerable families living in slum areas.

The project provides a sustainable framework that supports humanitarian disaster risk response delivery system and shock response in future emergencies.

Sports

NFL nominates first female referee for Super Bowl

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This year’s NFL Super Bowl will feature a woman referee for the first time, as Sarah Thomas joins head referee Carl Cheffers, the league announced on Tuesday.

“Sarah Thomas has made history again as the first female Super Bowl official,” NFL EVP of football operations Troy Vincent said in a statement.

“Her elite performance and commitment to excellence has earned her the right to officiate the Super Bowl. Congratulations to Sarah on this well-deserved honour.”

Thomas is at the end of her sixth season in the league and will be one of seven officials for the championship game on Feb. 7 in Tampa Bay.

On Sunday it will be determined which two teams will face off.

The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL) in the U.S. and has always been played on the first Sunday in February.

Health

NCDC announces 1,301 new COVID-19 cases for Tuesday

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By Abujah Racheal
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has recorded 1,301 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infected people in the country to 113,305.

The NCDC disclosed figures on Tuesday on its official website.

The public health agency said that 1,261 patients had been discharged from isolation centres after testing negative to the virus.

The NCDC noted that the discharges included 702 community recoveries in Lagos State, 157 in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and 143 in Plateau.

“So far a total of 91,200 patients have been discharged following their recovery from COVID-19,” NCDC said.

It reported 15 COVID-19-related deaths in the last 24 hours across the country.

The Nigeria’s public health agency said that the new cases were recorded in 21 states and the FCT.

It, however, said that a total of 1,464 patients died from the disease.

NCDC said that Lagos recorded the highest number of new cases with 551, followed by the FCT 209, Oyo State 83 and Plateau State 65.

Other states were Kaduna (64), Enugu (61), Rivers (44), Ondo (39), Benue (37), Akwa Ibom (31), Kano (19), Delta (18), Gombe (18), Ogun (16), Edo (15), Kebbi (10), Ebonyi (nine), Jigawa (four), Osun and Zamfara three each, Borno and Nasarawa, one each.

The NCDC said that a multi-sectoral national Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) activated at Level 3, is coordinating response activities nationwide.

Meanwhile, the agency urged the public to stem the rate of infection by avoiding close contact, wearing cloth face masks in public places and practising good hygiene.

“Avoid close contact. This means avoiding close contact within about six feet, or two meters with anyone who is sick or has symptoms.

“ Also, keep distance between yourself and others. This is especially important if you have a higher risk of serious illness.

“Avoid sharing dishes, glasses, bedding and other household items if you are sick. Clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces daily.

“Stay home from work, school and public areas if you are sick, unless you are going to get medical care. Avoid public transportation, taxis and ride-sharing if you are sick.

“If you have a chronic medical condition and may have a higher risk of serious illness, check with your doctor about other ways to protect yourself,” it advised.

Health

WHO panel calls for up scale in COVID-19 alert, response

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By Cecilia Ologunagba
Some experts appointed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) say the global system for pandemic alert and response is “not fit for purpose,”emphasising the need for a new framework in the wake of COVID-19.

The experts, Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, in an interim report presented on Tuesday, said countries should use technology to inform people about the disease.

They found critical elements to be “slow, cumbersome and indecisive” in an era when information about new disease outbreaks was being transmitted faster than countries could formally report on them.

“When there is a potential health threat, countries and the WHO must further use the 21st century digital tools at their disposal to keep pace with news.

“They should keep pace with news that spread instantly on social media and infectious pathogens that spread rapidly through travel,” said Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and Co-Chair of the panel.

“Detection and alert may have been speedy by the standards of earlier novel pathogens, but viruses move in minutes and hours, rather than in days and weeks,” she said.

The panel was established to review lessons learned from international response to COVID-19, which first emerged in Wuhan, China, in Dec. 2019.

Nearly 94 million confirmed cases and more than two million deaths have been reported globally as of Tuesday.

The panel’s second progress report said countries were slow to respond to the new coronavirus disease, noting that there were lost opportunities to apply basic public health measures at the earliest opportunity.

Although WHO declared on Jan. 30, 2020 that COVID-19 was a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the panel found many countries took minimal action to prevent spread both within and beyond their borders.

“What is clear to the panel is that public health measures could have been applied more forcefully by local and national health authorities in China in January.

“It is also clear to the panel that there was evidence of cases in a number of countries by the end of Jan. 2020.

“Public health containment measures should have been implemented immediately in any country with a likely case. They were not,” they said.

The report also outlined critical shortcomings at each phase of response, including failure to prepare for a pandemic despite years of warning.

“The sheer toll of this epidemic is prima facie evidence that the world was not prepared for an infectious disease outbreak with global pandemic potential, despite the numerous warnings issued that such an event was probable,” it said.

Education

Unilorin re-opens hostels

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By Fatima Mohammed-Lawal
The University of Ilorin on Tuesday announced the reopening of hostels on campus, following the resumption of academic activities.

Prof. Lanre Ajibade, the Dean, Student Affairs Unit of the university, announced the reopening of the hostels in a statement in Ilorin.

Ajibade stated that further to phased reopening of the university for physical activities, hostels have been reopened to students on campus.

He explained that the hostels would be opened on Jan. 24, for those having outstanding examinations and Jan. 31, for final year and postgraduate students.

“Students, in this category, in the first phase of reopening will only be allowed into the hostels after providing required details in the online form; http://bit.ly/unilorin-hostel-capturing.

“Students are expected to come with minimum of five re-usable face masks and, avoid crowded environment under any disguise.

“It should be noted that no visitor will be permitted in the hostel while common rooms remain locked,” he said.

Ajibade also stated that “students who have symptoms of any ailment are advised to please stay off the campus and make necessary report through their Faculty Sub Dean to the Student Affairs Unit”.

He added that this was to act responsibly for the safety of all.

General News

COVID-19: Kano directs civil servants to stay at home until further notice

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By Aisha Ahmed
The Kano state government has directed all civil servants to stay at home from Tuesday, until further notice, following the increase in cases of COVID-19 in the country.

The directive is contained in a statement issued by the Commissioner for Information, Mr Muhammad Garba.

The state government also imposed a fresh ban on the activities of viewing and event centres across the state.

Garba, however, explained that workers on essential services such as healthcare service providers, fire service, water board, teaching staff, security guards and the media were exempted from the order.

The commissioner reaffirmed government’s commitment to work with relevant stakeholders, including Islamic scholars and traditional rulers to ensure compliance with the COVID-19 Protocols.

The state government further warned that security agents would not hesitate to take stern measures to ensure compliance with the directive.

NAN reports the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said that Kano recorded 26 new cases on Monday, bringing the total to 2,617.

The centre also said that Kano reported 70 deaths while 2,214 cases were discharged.

Education

Kaduna State varsity, ABU, others announce plans for resumption

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By Philip Yatai
The Kaduna State University (KASU) is to reopen on Jan. 25 for the 2019/2020 second semester academic session, while Ahmadu Bello University, Federal College of Education, Zaria and Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic disclosed plans for resumptions.

KASU Vice Chancellor, Prof. Muhammad Tanko, who was represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration), Prof. Yohanna Tella, made this known in Kaduna during a stakeholder’s meeting on the reopening of schools.

The meeting was organised by the Kaduna State Ministry of Education and attended by heads of tertiary institutions in the state, private school owners, parents and government officials.

He said that the university proposed a six-week lecture if allowed to open on Jan. 25.

He added that virtual lectures for large classes of more than 50 students would be conducted for students in the lower levels and physical lectures for small classes of 50 students for those in higher levels.

“We have also planned practical classes in batches of fewer than 25 students for smaller classes and 45 for larger classes. The examinations for 100 level and 200 level students will be computer-based,” he said.

The vice chancellor said that the Student Affairs Division Protocols Enforcement Task force would ensure the fumigation and general sanitation of the hostel’s environment.

He said that arrangements had been made for regular waste disposal, availability of disinfectants at toilet facilities, constant water supply, availability of hand sanitiser and face masks.

“We will also train and sensitise our staff and students on COVID-19 safety awareness and the need for social distancing. We equally planned to develop and implement hygiene protocols for food and service vendors on campus and employ more cleaners in the hostels for regular toilet cleaning,” Tanko added.

On clinical services, the vice chancellor said that the university would provide adequate basic and essential medications, particularly isolation centre and screening services for suspected cases.

Prof. Muhammad Fatihu, Dean Student Affairs, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, said that the university would resume in phases to prevent overcrowding in the campus.

Fatihu said that university, with more than 43,000 undergraduate and 11,000 postgraduate students could not afford to ask all the students to resume at the same time without putting them at risk.

“We have decided to phase the resumption for the continuation of the First Semester 2019/2020 academic session by dividing the semesters into two.

“Half of the students will resume and conclude the semester before the second batch resume, while the first batch are at home.

“This we believe will help curb the spread of the virus, while all COVID-19 protocols will be strictly adhered to. We will consider normal school hours when normalcy is restored,” he said.

Also, Dr Jibril Lawal, Registrar, Federal College of Education Zaria, said that the college would use radio to deliver lectures to its students as part of strategies to decongest the school.

Lawal said that the physical lectures would be staggered, explaining that while some students would listen to lectures via radio, others would be attending lectures in classes in controlled numbers.

“This will be rotated among the students from different levels until each level has four weeks of extensive lectures and continuous assessment.

“We will, thereafter, create a period for each level to write the first semester examination for the 2019/2020 academic session. This is what we will continue to do until the situation improves,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Kaduna Polytechnic, Nuhu Bamali Polytechnic, Zaria, College of Education Gidan Waya and other tertiary institutions in the state also considered resumption in phases.

Defence/Security

NDLEA intercepts 21.9kg of cocaine in Abuja Airport

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By Ibironke Ariyo
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja has intercepted 21.9kg of Cocaine.

This contained in a statement signed by the NDLEA airport Commander, Mr Kabir Tsakuwa on Monday in Abuja.

The statement signed by the agency’s Spokesman, Deputy Commander of Narcotics (DCN) Jonah Achema, the illicit substance concealed in two suit cases was the largest single seizure by the Command.

He noted that the two unaccompanied and unclaimed suit cases were discovered after the arrival of Ethiopian Airline, ET 910 in Abuja from Addis Ababa.

According to him, during the inward clearance of the flight, the vigilant officers of the Command became suspicious on noticing that the two suit cases were abandoned on the conveyor belt without any of the passengers claiming them.

Tsakuwa directed the officers to keep an eye on the suit cases and informed the Airline and its handlers of NDLEA’s interest in the luggage.

According to him, after few days of not claiming the luggage, we formally contacted the station Manager of Ethiopian Airline and the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO Aviance) being the handler for the Airline, indicating the suspicion of the agency of the luggage.

“I placed a standing order that NDLEA should be invited before the luggage would be released to the owner or in the event that the luggage would be returned to the point of embarkation.

“After many weeks of no claim by the owners, we informed the Airline on the need for search to be conducted on the unclaimed suit cases.

“The Airline officials, including the baggage handler along with the Department of State Services, Aviation Security and Nigeria Customs Service were invited to NDLEA Office where the search was conducted.

“The first unclaimed suit case was searched and found with three blankets out of which two contained parcel of transparent nylon which housed whitish substances suspected to be hard drugs.

”Field test proved positive for cocaine and weighed 10.750kg.

“The second unclaimed suit case contained twenty-two packet shirts, one parcel of drug was concealed in each of the shirts and covered with a blue carbon paper containing a transparent nylon.

“The substance was also field tested and proved positive for cocaine and weighed 11.150KG. The second suit case had a baggage tag with a name Nze Lusaka U. The drug seized made a total of 21.9kg,” he said.

Tsakuwa said that investigation was ongoing and that the Command was currently liaising with Ethiopian Airline to get more information in order to unravel the identity of the couriers.

Foreign

U.S. VP-elect to resign from Senate

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Resignation
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will resign from the Senate on Monday, according to a Harris aide.

The Californian Democrat’s resignation comes two days before she becomes the nation’s first female vice president, and the first person of colour to hold that office.

Harris has notified Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom that she will resign Monday, her aide said.

Newsom announced in December that he would appoint Secretary of State Alex Padilla to her Senate seat, and Padilla intends to run for a full Senate term in 2022.

Padilla said on a Friday press call that it is `very likely’ he will be sworn into the Senate on Wednesday, Inauguration Day.

Padilla will be the Golden State’s first Latino senator.

But Harris’ exit also means that no Black women will be serving in the chamber.

In her new role as vice president, Harris will serve as president of the Senate and cast tie-breaking votes.

After Democrats won a pair of runoffs in Georgia earlier this month, the Senate will be evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. Harris’ tie-breaking vote gives Democrats the majority in the chamber.

Harris has already been utilising her relationships on Capitol Hill as President-elect Joe Biden’s administration looks to quickly fill top Cabinet posts.

Harris’ aide said she has made calls regarding Retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin’s nomination to be the next secretary of defence.

Austin needs a waiver to lead the department because he has not been out of the military for the required seven years, and some Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee oppose granting the waiver.

Elected to the Senate in 2016, Harris is leaving the chamber with two years left in her first term.

In her short time in the chamber, the former prosecutor and California attorney general grabbed headlines for pointed questioning at Judiciary Committee hearings.

She was a loyal Democrat in the Senate but also worked across the aisle on issues such as overhauling the bail system, supporting historically Black colleges and universities and making lynching a federal crime.

On Wednesday, Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor, the first woman of colour to serve on the high court, will reportedly administer the oath of office to Harris.

ABC News reported that Harris will be sworn in on two Bibles, the first from a family friend that Harris used when she was previously sworn into office, and the second from the late Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court justice.

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