Good day, good citizens of Nigeria, here are headlines from Nigerian Newspapers that may interest you today, Thursday, December 2, 2021.
1. Omicron: Canada bars Nigerians, fear spreads as NCDC records three cases [Punch Newspaper]
Virologists on Wednesday expressed concern that there was a high risk of community transmission of Omicron variant of COVID-19 in the country.
The virologists, including a professor of Medical Virology at the University of Maiduguri, Marycelin Baba, who stated this in separate interviews with The PUNCH while reacting to detection of three cases of the Omicron variant in the country, called for community testing.
The experts stated these as Canada placed travel bans on Nigeria, Egypt and Malawi.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control had on Wednesday morning announced the discovery of three cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
2. Govt bars unvaccinated civil servants, military issues directive [Punch Newspaper]
The Federal Government has threatened to sanction unvaccinated civil servants, who returned home after they were barred from entering their offices on Wednesday.
The Technical lead of the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, Dr Mukhtar Muhammed, who disclosed this in an interview with one of our correspondents, said the adamant civil servants would be sanctioned according to the civil service rules. Read more.
3. #EndSARS report: Lagos govt defends White Paper [The Nation Newspaper]
Mixed reactions have continued to trail the Lagos State government White Paper on the report of the #EndSARS Judicial Panel of Inquiry (JPI).
Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN) maintained that the report on the Lekki shooting was unreliable.
But, legal luminary Prof. Paul Ananaba (SAN) dismissed the controversy over the report as unnecessary, saying that government should be held accountable for the White Paper. Read more.
4. Omicron: NCDC to push for mass vaccination, not travel ban [ThisDay Newspaper]
As countries around the world try to figure out ways to deal with the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said it will not join countries imposing travel ban on some nations and regions. NCDC said, instead, it would encourage more Nigerians to get vaccinated, while enhancing surveillance and vigilance.
Director-General of the centre, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, disclosed this yesterday on “The Morning Show”, a prime-time television programme on the Arise News Channel. Adetifa confirmed that the country now had cases of the new virus strain. Read more.
5. FG puts electricity subsidy cost at N1tn [Vanguard Newspaper]
The Federal Government has hinted that its subsidy on electricity tariff is about N1.0 trillion between 2019 and 2021.
The amount represents the gap between the Cost Reflective Tariff (CRT) and Allowable Tariff (AT) which peaked at N28 per unit of electricity supplied to consumers.
