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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has reported that 147 new cases of Covid-19 and 4 deaths were confirmed in Nigeria on Wednesday, October 28 2020.
The 147 new cases are reported from 12 states- Lagos (82), FCT (20), Rivers (9), Kaduna (8), Plateau (8), Benue (5), Edo (3), Kano (3), Nasarawa (3), Taraba (3), Ogun (2), and Bauchi (1).
As at Wednesday, October 28 there are 62371 cases confirmed. 58095 cases have been discharged and 1139 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The former Minister of Finance in Nigeria, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has emerged as the new Director General of the World Trade Organization. She is the first female and first African Director-General of the WTO.
In a keenly contested election, Okonjo-Iweala beat her rival, South Korean Yoo Myung hee, with a wide margin. She polled 104 votes from 164 member countries to defeat Myung Hee at the final stage of the race.
Okonjo-Iweala received widespread support from Africa and other continents before the election which took place today October 28.
Her victory comes days after European Union member nations backed her candidacy against Ms. Myung hee, who was supported by the United States.
The official announcement is expected to be made by the WTO at 3pm Nigerian time today.
Okonjo-Iweala, 66, served as Nigeria’s first female Finance and later Foreign Affair minister, and has a 25-year career behind her as a development economist and international finance expert at the World Bank, eventually becoming its number two.
She is also on Twitter’s board of directors and is a special envoy for the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 fight.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have dismissed one of its officers, Corps Assistant Illiya Ibrahim of the Gwagwalada Division Abuja, for partaking in the looting of Covid-19 palliatives discovered in a warehouse in Gwagwalada, Abuja.
On Monday, a mob stormed the warehouse and carted away the palliatives. A video that made the rounds on social media, showed the officer grabbing his own palliative.
In a statement released on Tuesday, October 27, Ekunola Gbenga who is the Media Assistant to the Commandant General NSCDC, Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu, said Ibrahim was dismissed for joining the hoodlums in looting Covid-19 palliatives discovered in a warehouse in Gwagwalada, Abuja.
”The recommendation was given after the officer was charged under the public service rule which is related to unbecoming conduct of officers.
“This disciplinary measure was taken after series of investigations and deliberations by the junior disciplinary committee and recommendations were made to the management,” Ekunola said.
“The CG appreciates officers and men of the Corps including members of the public for providing useful information that has continue to assist the Corps in identifying unfit individuals within the ranks for appropriate action. He tasked the personnel to remain committed, resolute and firm in the discharge of their duties,” the statement read.
Official statement released by the Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) reads thus:
“Members of the Private Sector-led Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) wish to call for calm, amidst the looting of COVID-19 palliatives meant for distribution in various State Government warehouses across the country.
The Coalition is deeply concerned by the recent events and is urging those involved in the wanton destruction of public and private property to immediately desist from these raids, in order to allow the States to proceed with peaceful and fair distribution of these palliatives to the neediest and most vulnerable in our society.
Over the past few months, the Private Sector, through CACOVID, has been working with all State Governors, the FCT Minister, and the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, to procure, deliver and distribute these food relief items to almost 2 million most vulnerable families (over 10 million Nigerians) across the 774 Local Government Areas of the country, as part of the private sector’s support to the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The sheer scale of this nationwide food programme and the timing of the orders and deliveries, which coincided with the lockdowns and reduced movement across the country, compelled CACOVID to roll out distribution in a staggered manner, with States classified in three timed phases, to enable orderly delivery to the needy.
At the time CACOVID embarked on the palliatives effort in April 2020, we decided to procure the food directly from the manufacturers, to avoid a distortion of prices in the market. The food package was designed such that each of the nearly 2 million vulnerable families received: a 10kg bag of rice, a 5kg bag of garri/maize flour/semolina, one carton of pasta, two cartons of noodles, 5kg of sugar and 1kg of salt.
Unfortunately, the very large size of the order, and the production cycle required to meet the demand, caused delays in delivering the food items to the States in an expeditious manner; hence the resultant delay in delivery of the food palliatives by the State Governors.
For instance, Rice had to be milled, semolina and maize flour had to be processed, noodles and pasta had to be manufactured, and sugar had to be refined. As such, the first deliveries could not start until June. However, as of October 2020, a sizable portion of the items had been delivered but yet to be distributed by the Governors.
Although various States and the FCT had commenced flag-off of the distribution of the food items since early August 2020, some could not conclude the distribution as they were yet to receive complete deliveries of the items allotted to them. In the interest of transparency and accountability, CACOVID will, in due course, be providing the full delivery schedule and flag-off dates by each state.
Prior to these events, CACOVID had worked with the States through the Nigerian Governors’ Forum to determine:
i) the number of households per State;
ii) the States and FCT to provide clean and secure warehousing for the food;
iii) the composition of the State and Local Government Committees (including CSOs, religious organisations, LGA Chairpersons, Ward Leaders, media representatives, security services, CACOVID representatives); and
iv) clear distribution guidelines to ensure equitable distribution of the food amongst the neediest.
Given that the States and Local Government authorities oversee all relief efforts in their jurisdictions and know their citizens best, we had worked with each Governor and the Minister of the FCT, utilising a combination of our protocols and their existing structures and processes to ensure food items reach the intended beneficiaries. We also appointed an independent monitoring team to ensure that the items would be delivered as intended.
We are aware that official flag-off and handover of the palliatives has taken place in 28 States and the FCT, and State governments have been distributing at various paces. As of today, October 26, 2020, some States have confirmed completion of their distribution.”
The Nigeria Governors’ Forum has denied allegations that Governors hoarded COVID-19 palliatives meant to be distributed to Nigerians.
In a statement released on Monday October 26, the allegation was described as “inaccurate, entirely erroneous and untrue but also mischievous”.
They also reiterated that the palliatives had the CACOVID stamp embossed on them, meaning that their source is unambiguous. The NGF also assured donators of the palliatives that prior to the looting of these warehouses, states had kept full accounts of all the items received and distributed.
The statement read;
“The NGF regrets the loss of lives and property occasioned by the violent protests that erupted, and calls for calm.
“The NGF reemphasises and corrects the impression that palliatives found in warehouses that were broken into in Lagos and some other states were kept in storage for members of the society, especially our vulnerable citizens.
“The erroneous impression in the public domain that these palliatives were hoarded is not just inaccurate, entirely erroneous and untrue but also mischievous, to say the least.
“For the avoidance of doubt, some of the palliatives had the CACOVID stamp embossed on them, meaning that their source is unambiguous.
“As we know, CACOVID operations are mainly domiciled in Lagos, being the headquarters of most of the public-spirited organisations, corporate bodies and individuals that came together to form the Coalition Against COVID-19 -CACOVID.
“Until mid-October, when the NGF had its last meeting, up to ten states had not participated in the flag-off ceremonies for the distribution of palliatives in their states. This was because the items meant for distribution in these states had not been completely received from CACOVID.
“Some other states that still had palliatives in their warehouses chose to keep a strategic reserve ahead of a projected second wave of COVID-19.
“As of a couple of weeks ago, some states were still receiving palliatives from the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.”
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has reported 62 new cases of Covid-19 in Nigeria.
62 new cases are recorded thus: Taraba-18, Ogun-15, FCT-6, Kaduna-6, Katsina-4, Ondo-4, Ekiti-3, Rivers-3, Kano-1, Osun-1 and Sokoto-1.
As at Sunday, October 25 2020, 61992 cases have been confirmed, 57465 cases have been discharged and 1130 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Senior Pastor of Daystar Christian Centre Lagos, Pastor Sam Adeyemi has commended the efforts of young Nigerians who risked their lives protesting for the end of police brutality in Nigeria.
He asked the youth to take time to reflect, move on and to continue pushing for a better Nigeria. He however condemned the looting going on across the nation but noted that those looting were not part of the protesters, among other things.
He took to his Twitter page to appreciate and encourage the youth. See his tweets below:
“1. Dear young citizen. It’s time for everyone to reflect. The massive destruction of properties in Lagos and other cities is so sad. Some want to blame you, but you must not buy that narrative. They know those that introduced violence.
2. Those that looted and destroyed property are also not part of you. They are products of a system that does not value its youths and has left them with little or no hope. They are part of the reason you raised your voice against injustice and want a new Nigeria.
3. What you did in less than a week was a phenomenon. Let me share how I see it. You attracted a mass following across all sectors within a short time because your cause is noble. No sane person should fault your call for justice.
4. Leadership experts believed for a long time that the best way to motivate people to move is to give them a vision of the ideal future. But it has not always worked. People prefer status quo to change.
5. In recent times, they have come to realize that it sometimes works better to tell the story of people’s pain: their livable experiences. You got this right. You generated impetus and galvanised people to act focusing on police brutality.
6. You overcame things that have divided our country and frustrated it’s development including ethnicity and religion, and put up a united front. You practically shared love instead of our culture of prejudice. That was a breakthrough.
7. The power gap between the leader and the led is high in most developing countries. That gap is low in most developed countries. You crushed that gap. You ran an efficient system on a flat structure. Your model of leadership facilitates development.
8. Your flat leadership structure meant no one was dominating another. As leaders you took responsibility and served one another. You were accountable and transparent, announcing income and expenses daily. These have not been part of our leadership culture.
9. You provided “stomach infrastructure”, meeting the basic needs for food and water. You provided healthcare with ambulance services. Some even got free haircuts on the street. Your organization was efficient.
10. You got quick wins. A governor came to meet you on the street (I commend him for this). SARS was dissolved and the government agreed to your 5for5 demands (I commend government for these).
11. Continue to call for a stop to the looting and destruction. Take a deep breath. You created a mini new Nigeria. How do you take things forward and scale up? Please, stay strong online, own your narrative by all means and keep your discussions going.
Senator representing Oyo Central Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Senator Teslim Folarin, has listed the things that were taken from his house by angry youths.
The lawmaker revealed in a statement on Saturday, October 24, that over 1,100 empowerment items such as motorcycles, deep freezers, generators, and grinding machines, among others were looted.
The youths attacked his house at the Oluyole Estate extension in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
He described the looters as “coordinated hoodlums,” adding that the invasion was evil, barbaric and unfortunate, saying that the invaders and looters were not the same youths protesting against police brutality and calling on the government to End SARS.
He described the incident as pure daylight robbery, adding that the attackers broke down doors to rooms in the house to steal valuable assets.
His statement:
“The actions of the hoodlums are condemnable, and it is very disheartening that some bad elements in our society are hiding under the guise of #ENDSARS protests to loot and disrupt peaceful atmosphere in Nigeria,” he said.
“I thank God we did not record any fatality, despite the violent invasion of my Oluyole house, looting of materials and vandalisation therein.
“For the sake of clarification, I have just formally taken receipt of the empowerment materials from a federal agency coordinating constituency projects for federal lawmakers.
“Also, I used my personal money to procure additional materials. I took stock of the materials ahead of a mega empowerment programme scheduled to hold in November 2020.
“Looted materials included over 350 motorcycles, 400 deep freezers, 350 generators, grinding machines, sewing machines, hairdressing and barbing salon materials, vulcanising machines and many more.”
