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COVID-19: Nigeria to receive 3.92m doses of AstraZeneca vaccines end July

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COVID-19: Nigeria to receive 3.92m doses of AstraZeneca vaccines end July

The Federal government has disclosed the country may receive another shipment of 3.92 million Astrazeneca vaccine will arrive Nigeria between late July and early August.

This was disclosed during a media briefing in Abuja on Tuesday by the Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib while giving an update on the COVID-19 vaccination administration.

According to the health agency boss, the government has resumed vaccination of a new set of first dose which was earlier halted due to shortages of vaccines in anticipation of the receipt of the next batch of Astrazeneca vaccines.

“We now have information that Nigeria will get 3.92m doses of Oxford/Astrazeneca by end of July or early August. As we receive additional information on the exact dates in August, we will provide an update regarding timelines and details of this,” he said.

On the assessment of the impact of Astrazeneca vaccine so far, Shuaib said a recent research from Public Health England (PHE) showed that the Indian (Delta) variant B.1.617.2 is 92 per cent susceptible to Oxford/Astrazeneca.

He said it is comforting to know that the vaccine used in Nigeria can protect against this variant that caused high morbidity and mortality in India.

“However, it underscores the need for us to ramp up our vaccination to more Nigerians.

As you all are aware, hesitancy towards the second dose is very tied to the continued misinformation and disinformation about COVID-19 and the vaccination programme globally and locally,” he said.

He enjoined the media not to relent in bringing to bear on COVID-19, the sheer patriotism and professional prowess “you demonstrated in our collective and successful fight against polio in Nigeria”.

Shuaib said the goal of government is to do everything possible to educate, combat misinformation and engender confidence in the safety and effectiveness of vaccines and ensure all Nigerians have clear information on how, where, and when to get the vaccine.

While commenting on the outcome of the recent meeting of the G7 meeting, Shuaib said the leaders of major and rich countries are becoming increasingly aligned with the thinking that the inequities cannot continue.

“Not only because it is a moral failure but because it is strategically unwise for their own efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic. On the final day of the summit, leaders committed to delivering at least 1 billion coronavirus vaccine doses to the world over the next year. While this will not close the enormous gap that exists today, it is a positive step and we welcome the new focus.

“Additionally, President Biden announced on the eve of the summit that the US will purchase 500 million doses of the Pfizer-bioNTech vaccine and donate them to low- and middle-income countries through the next year.

“This pledge is by far the largest yet by one country. These doses will be distributed via Covax. We welcome this announcement and encourage other nations with the means to follow the US’ example so that we, as a global community, can move forward from COVID-19 swiftly,” he said.

In addition, the Shuaib said Mastercard Foundation has pledged to donate $1.3 billion for vaccines in Africa over the next three years in partnership with the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Country Representative, Dr. Water Mulombo, said that COVAX plans to announce another round of dose allocations where Nigeria may receive further allocations.

He said WHO’s position on the AstraZeneca vaccine remained the same: that the benefits of vaccination are far greater than the risk of the rare side effect.

“The vaccine remains a valuable tool in the fight against severe COVID-19,” he said.

‘You can literally charge it anywhere’ Osinbajo says as he test drives Nigeria’s first locally-assembled electric car

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‘You can literally charge it anywhere’ Osinbajo says as he test drives Nigeria’s first locally-assembled electric car

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, on Tuesday, test-drove the first locally-assembled electric car, Hyundai Kona.


The vehicle, a product of Stallion Motors, was first launched in November 2020 by Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos.

Jelani Aliyu, director-general of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), had, in February 2021, unveiled the vehicle in Abuja.

On Tuesday, Osinbajo drove the car during an exhibition tour of made-in-Nigeria products at the opening ceremony of a five-day Nigeria@60 Expo, held at the Eagle Square, Abuja.


At the event, which was organised by the inter-ministerial committee on Nigeria@60, in collaboration with Business Visa and Training Company Limited, Osinbajo said he was impressed with the innovation and is hopeful of a bright future for Nigeria.

“A very good drive. Fantastic! It just shows what is possible. I am glad to see that this is an assembled-in-Nigeria electric car,” he said.

“You can literally charge it anywhere. I think it is a very fantastic innovation, fantastic product, and I can tell because I drove it.”


Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation, said the event was aimed at showcasing what Nigeria can produce with local raw materials.

“To complement the efforts of the federal government at ensuring that we produce what we eat and eat what we produce, in this context, we are to produce what we use and use what we produce,” Mustapha said.

‘Let us have six vice-presidents; one from each region’ – David Umahi suggests

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‘Let us have six vice-presidents; one from each region’ – David Umahi suggests

Ebonyi state Governor, David Umahi has suggested that Nigeria be restructured in a way that one vice-president will represent each geo-political zone.

Umahi made the suggestion in an interview with Channels TV, on Monday, saying that the adoption of six vice-presidents will be a major step towards restructuring the country.


“Well, I have a different view about this restructuring thing. My position about restructuring — for example: there are certain valid suggestions that have been made, to have six vice-presidents in the country,” he said.

“Each one is kind of coming from each of the geo-political zones. Tension will go down. This is very important.”

He also advocated for what he described as “administrative restructuring”, in which more powers and responsibilities will be devolved to sub-national governments.


“Now, I will recommend administrative restructuring, which is making sub-national governments to be strengthened — devolving power and responsibilities to sub-national governments; abolishing the local governments,” he added

Umahi also claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari has done more projects in the south-east than the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) achieved in its 16 years in power.

According to him, the rising insecurity in the country is a seed planted during the administration of the PDP.

“Mr president has done more projects in the south-east, than we had in 16 years of PDP. The insecurity that they used against APC is a seed that was sown in 16 years of PDP administration and so it started germinating, bearing fruit at the time they were still in power,” he said.

Just In: Inflation rate declines to 17.93% in May

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Just In: Inflation rate declines to 17.93% in May

Inflation rate has declined for the second time running in 20 months – The consumer price index which measures inflation dropped for the second consecutive and it now stands at 17.93 per cent (year-on-year) in May 2021.

The National Bureau of Statistics disclosed this in its Consumer Price Inflation report for May on Tuesday. It stated that the latest figure drops by 0.19 per cent.

This is the second decline in the inflation figures in the past 20 months. The inflation rate had peaked at 18.17 percent in March.

Also, the food inflation also reduced to 22.28% pe rcent on a year-on-year basis from 22.78 per cent in April. While Core Inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce stood at 13.15% in May 2021, up by 0.41% when compared with 12.74% recorded in April 2021.

More details shortly …

CBN agrees to mint Gambian currency

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CBN agrees to mint Gambian currency

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has agreed in principle to mint The Gambian Dalasi.

CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, agreed to the currency minting proposal from the Governor of the Central Bank of the Gambia, Mr. Buah Saidy, who led a delegation to visit him on Tuesday.

Emefiele said Nigeria has a lot of capacity in currency printing as she has been minting since the 1960s and “we are willing to assist in printing your currency.

“We can be extremely competitive in terms of cost,” he said.

Earlier the Gambian Central Bank Governor said his country is running very low on currency and wants to learn how to manage their currency need annually leveraging Nigeria’s wealth of knowledge and experience.

He said currently, they placed an order for two years currency minting deal abroad but they are considering also minting from Nigeria if Nigeria is willing.

On its part, the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Plc said it is ready if both parties come to a deal.

#TwitterBan: ‘Jack Dorsey asked people to donate money via bitcoins for #EndSARS protesters’ – Lai Mohammed

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#TwitterBan: ‘Jack Dorsey asked people to donate money via bitcoins for #EndSARS protesters’ – Lai Mohammed

Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said Twitter and its founder, Jack Dorsey, are liable for the losses the country suffered during the EndSARS protest.

Lai Mohammed stated this on Tuesday when he featured on “Politics Nationwide,’’ a Radio Nigeria call-in programme.

Mohammed alleged that Dorsey raised funds through Bitcoins to sponsor the EndSARS protest while his platform, Twitter, was used to fuel the crisis.

He said when he made the allegations earlier, Nigerians did not take him seriously until an online media outfit carried out an investigation and fact-checking.

The minister said the online publication confirmed that Dorsey retweeted some of the posts by some of the coalitions supporting the EndSARS protest.

He said it was also confirmed that the Twitter founder launched fundraising asking people to donate via Bitcoins.

The minister said Dorsey further launched Emoji to make the EndSARS protest visible on the microblogging site.

He said Dorsey also retweeted the tweets of some foreign and local supporters of EndSARS.

“If you ask people to donate money via bitcoins for EndSARS protesters then you are vicariously liable for whatever is the outcome of the protest.

“We have forgotten that EndSARS led to the loss of lives, including 37 policemen, six soldiers, 57 civilians while property worth billions of naira were destroyed.

“164 police vehicles and 134 police stations were razed to the ground, 265 private corporate organisations were looted while 243 public property were looted.

“81 warehouses were looted while over 200 brand new buses bought by Lagos State Government were burnt to ashes,’’ he said.

The minister said it was unfair to conclude that the operation of Twitter was suspended indefinitely because it deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s message.

He said the government was unambiguous that the action was taken because the platform was being used to promote the views of those who wanted to destabilize the country.

Mohammed added that Twitter consistently offered its platform to promote agendas that were inimical to the corporate existence of Nigeria.

“Twitter has become a platform of choice for a particular separatist promoter.

“The promoter consistently used the platform to direct his loyalists to kill Nigerian soldiers and policemen, run-down INEC offices and destroy all symbols of Nigeria’s sovereignty.”

Every attempt to persuade Twitter to deny its platform to this separatist leader was not taken seriously,’’ he said.

Bread prices increase by 30% as N350 bread now sells N550

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Bread prices increase by 30% as N350 bread now sells N550

Weeks after announcing an impending increase in the cost of bread, biscuits and bakeries by 30 percent, the Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria (AMBCN) has finally effected the price increase.

According to a report by Nigerian Tribune, a family loaf of bread which used to sell for N350 in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja now sells for N550.

Prices on other loaves have also been increased by 30% of their original price.

When the AMBCN announced a 30% increase in May, they cited higher cost of production as the reason behind the increase.

According to the association, the price increase was necessitated by the sudden increase in the costs of production as well as prices of sugar, butter, yeast and flour and other baking materials.

“In the last six months, one truck of flour that we used to buy at less than N6m is now N9m,” the association said in a statement released on the day of the meeting.

Corroborating the complaints of AMBCN, the Managing Director of Foods and Foods, makers of Bon bread, Maria Cardillo, revealed that the cost of producing bread was becoming unsustainable in the country because of the instability of prices of raw materials.

She noted that due to increasing cost in production, the company reviewed the price of its family loaf “last year from N350 to N400. But we realized that in less than one year that margin has been greatly eroded. And don’t forget in all of this, there’s increase in power and fuel cost, and all of this will go into the final product.

“So now we actually have no choice. It’s either we shut our doors or we increase the bread by 30 per cent as it has been on the news recently, we really don’t have a choice, but we have been holding meetings and trying to see what we can do because we are also parents and we have children and families,” she said to Nigerian Tribune.

“We know what is going on in the economy of the country, and we are trying to see how the 30 per cent increase will affect people, how many people can afford this move from N400 to N500.

“But I will not be surprised if this trend continues when the flour mills keep increasing the flour price. And they continue to increase sugar price, bread may move from N500 to N600 and ahead.”

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EFCC Boss, Abdulrasheed Bawa, says he has been receiving death threats

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EFCC Boss, Abdulrasheed Bawa, says he has been receiving death threats

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, says he has been receiving death threats since he was appointed chairman of the anti-graft agency.

He spoke on Tuesday when he featured in Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ programme.

“Last week, I was in New York, as all Nigerians are aware of. A very senior citizen received a phone call from somebody that is not even under investigation. What he (the caller) said to him on phone is that; he is going to kill the EFCC chairman, the young man.

“He said, ‘I am going to kill him. I am going to kill him’. This is to tell you how bad it is. It is actually real. Corruption can fight back.”

When further asked if he meant he has been receiving death threats, the EFCC chairman said, “Yes”.

The President had in February 2021 named 40-year-old Bawa as the new EFCC chairman to replace the embattled ex-acting chairman of the anti-graft commission, Ibrahim Magu.

Soyinka: Nigeria may not celebrate another Democracy Day

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Soyinka: Nigeria may not celebrate another Democracy Day

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has warned that the country may not celebrate another Democracy Day if the system of government is not decentralised.

Soyinka states this on Monday when he featured in an interview on an Arise TV program, Arise News.

In the interview which focused on Democracy Day, the Novel Laureate complained that the country is on a suicide slide, and he advised President Muhammadu Buhari to take action against the challenges that has stirred defiants demonstrations.

“And that is what’s happening to people in the streets. That’s why they are moving, that’s why they are demonstrating; that’s why they are defying even threats from the police and the government – If you demonstrate, we will do this, if you do this, we will deal with you, we will talk to you in language which you understand – it does not wash with anybody any longer. Because if a nation is on a suicide slide, the people who feel that they do not deserve that kind of suicidal plunge have a right to say they are getting off this plane before it nosedives,” he said.

When quizzed if Nigeria can continue as one amid the calls for secession, Soyinka answered, “Not if it continues this way. Not if it fails to decentralise. If Nigeria fails to decentralise, and I mean to decentralise as fast as possible, manifestly and not as rhetoric, then Nigeria cannot stay together.

“Again, it is not Wole Soyinka saying this. Everybody has said it: ex-heads of state have said it; politicians have said it; analysts have said it; economists have said it, and sometimes we get tired.

“I am saying this whole nation is about to self-destruct and I am not the only one saying it, except Buhari and his government listen and take action, we would not celebrate another Democracy Day come next year.

“Take for instance the position of the Southern governors on open grazing, at least 50 per cent of a nation are saying that within this democratic dispensation we are operating, we are saying on behalf of our people, we do not want open grazing anymore and then somebody sits in Aso Rock and says to them, I am instructing my Attorney-General to dig up some kind of colonial law, which arbitrated between farmers and herders.

“This means that he is not listening to what the people are saying, he is not listening to what the government representing them is saying. When I listen to things like that, I really despair. His last interview was instructive, not that there was anything new in it, one was just hoping that this government has transcended that kind of partisan thinking.”

‘Buhari using open grazing to distract Nigerians from increasing fuel price, electricity tariff’ – Shehu Sani

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‘Buhari using open grazing to distract Nigerians from increasing fuel price, electricity tariff’ – Shehu Sani

Shehu Sani, a former Kaduna Central Senator has said the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government is keeping Nigerians distracted from increasing prices of electricity and fuel with the controversial issue of open grazing.

Sani in a tweet on Monday claimed Nigerians should be rather conscious of key issues like increasing foreign debt portfolio, increasing electricity tariff and increasing price of fuel.

He tweeted: “While northerners and southerners attention are diverted to debate on closed or open grazing, the FG is increasing tariff on electricity, jacking up pump price of pms and getting approval for $6Billion foreign loan and N895 supplementary budget, without any challenge from anywhere.”

President Muhammadu Buhari had in an interview on Wednesday revealed that he consented approval to the return of open grazing practiced during the First Republic where herdsmen used designated grazing routes to move cattle to several parts of the country.

The President said he had asked the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, to begin the process of recovering land from persons who have converted cattle grazing routes for their personal use .

The stance of the President has since stirred conversation on cow grazing and incessant crisis of the herders-farmers and the banning of open grazing by Governors of the southern region.

Lagos-Ibadan Railway Service begin operations today

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Lagos-Ibadan Railway Service begin operations today

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has announced that the standard gauge railway service between Lagos and Ibadan would begin full operations on Tuesday.

This is according to a statement issued by the Lagos District Manager, Mr. Jerry Oche, in Lagos.

According to him, the Lagos-Ibadan Train Services will now be available in the mornings from Tuesday.

“The updated timetable for Tuesday to Friday is as follows: Lagos to Ibadan: 8:00 a:m from Mobolaji Johnson Station at Alogo megi Ebute – Meta Lagos. Also, the train will take off from Ibadan to Lagos: 8:00 am from Obafemi Awolowo Station at Moniya.

“The train will take off from Lagos to Ibadan: 4:00 pm from Mobolaji Johnson Station Alagomji, while from Ibadan to Lagos: 4:00 pm from Obafemi Awolowo Station at Moniya.

“The standard gauge train schedule on Saturday from Lagos to Ibadan: 8:30 am from Mobolaji Johnson Station at Alagomeji while the train will leave from Ibadan to Lagos: 8:30 am from Obafemi Awolowo Station at Moniya.

“For Saturday evening from Lagos to Ibadan: 6:00 pm from Mobolaji Johnson Station at Alagomji, while the train will take off from Ibadan to Lagos: 6:00 pm from Obafemi Awolowo Station at Moniya,” Oche said.

He said that the Alagomeji, Abeokuta, and Moniya were still the stop stations of the Lagos Ibadan Train Services.

Recall that President Buhari on June 10, formally inaugurated the $1.5 billion 157 kilometres Lagos—Ibadan standard gauge railway line in Lagos, which is the first double-track standard gauge rail in West Africa after several delays and setbacks.

Partial commercial train services had commenced on the Lagos-Ibadan rail line on December 7, 2020, with only Lagos, Ibadan and Abeokuta residents enjoying the train services. This is because other minor and major stations along that route were yet to be completed.

Proposed Bill considers making a ‘State of The Nation Address’ compulsory for President Buhari

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Proposed Bill considers making a ‘State of The Nation Address’ compulsory for President Buhari

A State of the Nation Address Bill 2020, sponsored by the lawmaker representing Ethiope-East/Ethiope-West Federal Constituency in Delta State, is proposing making it compulsory for every sitting President to address Nigerians on the state of the nation.

The president would also address a joint session of the National Assembly periodically, while the federal parliament could summon him if he failed to come forward to address lawmakers as and when due.

If the bill eventually becomes law, it would be mandatory for President Buhari and successive presidents to address both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The bill read, “Be it enacted by the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as follows:

“The president shall address the joint session aforesaid on such issues including but not limited to national security, the economy, budget performance, foreign policy and social justice.

“Where the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria fails, neglects or refuses to render the state of the nation address within the time stipulated by Section 1 of this bill, the National Assembly may by resolution supported by 2/3 (two-thirds) majority votes of members of the Senate and House of Representatives, summon the president to address the nation pursuant to the provisions of this bill.”

Recall that the House had on March 16, 2021, passed for second reading, a similar bill seeking to amend the Constitution with a new provision to compel a sitting president to appear before the National Assembly whenever he or she is summoned by the parliament.

Sponsor of the bill, Sergius Ogun, has pointed out that the bill was borne out of the refusal by Buhari to appear before the National Assembly last year.

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