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The Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control , Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu , said Nigeria needed to stock more of the RNA extraction kits to cater for the expansion of its COVID- 19 testing capacity .

Writing on his twitter handle , @ Chikwe _I , Ihekweazu , he gave specification of the test kits Nigeria was looking for and preferred manufacturers .

He said , “ We ’ re desperately looking for more RNA ( Ribonucleic Acid ) extraction kits as we expand # COVID19 testing . Product : Total viral RNA extraction kits (preferably spin column and with a lysis buffer ) . Manufacturers : Qiagen , ThermoFischer , SeeGene , Inqaba , LifeRiver etc. ”

The centre earlier said it had added two more laboratories to the existing 13 laboratories established in the country, but Ihekweazu ’ s tweet raised the fear that Nigeria might lack enough kits to test suspected cases for COVID- 19 .

During a briefing of the Presidential Task Force for COVID- 19 in Abuja on Tuesday , the NCDC DG had said that the centre would increase Nigeria ’ s COVID- 19 testing capacity to 4000 per day across the country with 2000 samples to be done per day in Lagos State .

The NCDC DG’ s call for more kits came amid increasing criticisms that the centre was not responding to demands of Nigerians , who desperately sought testing .

The President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari ( retd . ), has received briefing from the Minister of Health , Dr Osagie Ehanire ; and the Director General , Nigeria Centre for Disease Control , Chikwe Ihekweazu , on the latest development on coronavirus and the reported strange disease in Kano State .

Ehanire , who spoke to State House correspondents on the outcome of the closed – door meeting in Abuja , said they briefed the President on the activities and overall positions of the Presidential Task Force on COVID- 19 .

The briefing of Buhari by the minister and the NCDC boss came barely 24 hours before the expiration of the 14 -day extension to a lockdown in Lagos , Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory to combat the pandemic .

The President had, on April 13 , announced a 14 – day extension to a lockdown in the three territories to combat the deadly virus .

The minister said the PTF presented to the President its advice and recommendations on way forward as regards the ongoing fight against the spread of the deadly virus in the country.

He said , “ We also brought the overall summary apposition of the Presidential Task Force which as you know comprises of not only the health ministry but other ministries. ”

According to Ehanire , the country is winning the fight against the pandemic as all relevant health institutions have agreed to work together to achieve the desired goal of defeating the novel coronavirus .

He said , “ We have developed a strong strategy as we are working with other experts groups like the NCDC and relevant health organisations . So , we are also working with the states and the governors . ”

The minister , who also spoke on the reported strange disease in Kano, said his ministry had been communicating with relevant agencies , as well as the Kano State Government with a view to addressing the health problem .

He said , “ We will continue to build up our testing strategies . At the moment , 14 testing centres have been activated across the country.

“ We want to bring the test closer to every state . Everybody is working very hard to solve this problem . I can see that some people are already procuring Rapid Diagnostic Test Kits .

“ They don ’ t work as far as we know . So , I will really recommend that we all stick to the national strategy, build on it, support its expansion and together we will get on top of the pandemic . ’’

The West African Examinations Council has denied cancelling the 2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examination for school candidates .

The Head of National Office , WAEC, Nigeria , Mr Patrick Areghan , in a statement urged Nigerians to disregard the fake publication circulating on social media .

He said , “ Our attention has been drawn to a fake publication circulating in the social media , to the effect that the West African Examinations Council had cancelled the conduct of the WASSCE for school candidates , 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and was , therefore , set to refund the sum of N22 , 500 . 00 to candidates who had enrolled for the examination.

“ The publication is patently false and deceitful . It is nothing but the handiwork of mischief makers who are out to defraud innocent and unsuspecting candidates and their parents / guardians. This piece of news is certainly not from the West African Examinations Council . It falls short of the Council ’ s style , language and factual details . They got it all wrong .

“ The examination was supposed to start in Nigeria on April 6 , 2020 and not April 15 , 2020 , as stated by the authors. The examination fee is N13 , 950 . 00 only , not N22 , 500 . 00 . It is, therefore , not reasonable to refund candidates an amount higher than what they had paid to register for the examination. ”

Areghan added that the examination body has not announced the cancellation of the 2020 WASSCE but only announced a postponement until normalcy is restored .

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has vowed to reopen schools by September and allow many businesses to resume in a week’s time as the country emerges from a near-total shutdown.

Conte told La Repubblica newspaper that he will spell out the full details of how Italy will ease its way out of the world’s longest active coronavirus lockdown by the start of next week.

He has reportedly been presented with a cautious proposal that involves a gradual lifting of restrictions over the course of May.

Italy’s official death toll of 26,384 is Europe’s highest and only second globally to the United States.

But its number of cases has been ebbing and Italy believes its contagion rate — reported at between 0.2 and 0.7 — is low enough below the key threshold of 1.0 to try and get back to work.

“We cannot continue beyond this lockdown — we risk damaging the country’s socioeconomic fabric too much,” Conte told La Repubblica.

Italy’s schools were closed before most other businesses and will now be one of the last to reopen.

He said the return to school was filled with peril because many teachers were older and at greater risk of catching the virus.

“Schools are at the centre of our attention and will reopen in September,” the premier said.

Conte explained that resuming tuition before then involved “a very high risk of contagion”.

Ondo State has recorded another three coronavirus cases .

This occurred barely 24 hours after a policeman from Lagos State tested positive for COVID- 19 in the state .

The governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu , disclosed the new cases on his Twitter handle .

Akeredolu disclosed that one of the three new cases was one of the four suspects arrested and arraigned over the killing of Mrs Funke Olakunrin, the daughter of the leader of the Afenifere , Pa Reuben Fasoranti.

Akeredolu said , “ We have confirmed three other cases in Ondo State . One of the cases involves one of the recently arraigned suspects in the murder of Mrs Funke Olakunrin, Pa Fasoranti ’ s daughter .

“ The Commissioner of Police has been duly informed and the line tracing of police officers and others in the SARS facility , where he was kept has started and their specimens are being collected.

“ The suspect has been isolated from others and will be moved to the IDH for treatment . The commissioner of Police has assured the state that there will be adequate security around the IDH premises to prevent his escape and while on treatment , he will be manacled to the bed . ”

The governor said he will expatiate on all cases in his weekly press briefing on Monday .

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God , Pastor Enoch Adeboye , has advised Nigerians to obey the lockdown order of the President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari ( retd . ), as part of measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

Recalled that the Federal Capital Territory Abuja as well as Lagos and Ogun States have been on lockdown since 11 pm , March 30 , following the President ’ s directive that residents of the state , excluding essential service providers , stay at home and observe social distancing .

Subsequently , some governors of the 28 states affected by the pandemic have also ordered lockdowns in their territories.

The 78 – year- old cleric during a sermon broadcasted online urged residents in the country to stay at home and not endanger their lives.

He gave the advice while preaching on a topic tagged ‘ Power ’ with texts taken from Acts 1 : 4 – 8 .

He said , “ There are categories of power . There is political power . Ecclesiastes 8 : 4 says where the word of a king is, there is power . You put it in the modern language, where the word of the President is , there is power .

“ If you don ’ t believe that , just check what is happening now. The President sits in his house and makes a decree or pronouncement, everybody stay at home , and if you love yourself , stay at home . ”

According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control as of Saturday night , over 1000 cases of the novel virus have been reported in the country including over 30 fatalities and above 200 recoveries .

Nigeria Minister of Power, Alhaji Saleh Mamman has dismissed the speculations that the federal government will pay two-month electricity for Nigerians as part of palliatives to citizens to cushion the effect of the lockdown due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

Mr. Mammam revealed this to BBC Hausa in an interview published on its twitter handle @bbchausa and monitored by news correspondent.

According to him ” this matter has not been concluded yet, we are only looking at the possibility of doing so, the fact is, you see this power supply the first thing we do when the government declared this lockdown because of COVID-19 is to ensure there is stable power supply for people to be more comfortable staying at home.

The Minister said “you see there are first those generating this power, then those transmitting it as well as those distributing the power to various household, those generating this power are hundred business private business people that own all of their equipment and it is strictly business.

Mr. Mamman further explained that ” if you talk about paying electricity bill for citizens, the first question you ask is who are those that fall under the category of beneficiaries, you know we have over eighty million people who don’t have access to electricity in Nigeria and we have over two hundred millions Nigerians so if you decided to pay bill for one hundred and twenty million people, the question is who are you paying for, those privileged people in Maitama Victoria Island and other highbrow areas or those with companies and doing businesses and making profits while you abandoned the less privilege who don’t even have access to the electricity.

He said “you see this free electricity bill will be paid with taxpayers money and you want to serve the interest of the privileged Nigerians, then the less privilege and the vulnerable what are going to do for them? He queried.

The minister also affirmed that it will be a very difficult task for government to pay the two-month electricity bill for citizens, stressing that putting the bill together will amount to over a hundred billion naira.

He said “every month what we pay as electricity bill, I mean what the distribution company are paying with the little support from government is a little above fifty billion naira monthly.

Mr Staleh Mamman said he has explained to members of the National assembly that initiated the idea of free electricity for Nigerians citizens and if they insisted, they should come up with ideas to go about the action.

Vanguard

The Chairman of the Nigeria Governors ’ Forum , Dr Kayode Fayemi , has urged the President , Major -General Muhammadu Buhari ( retd ) , to support the governors ’ decision on inter – state lockdown as part of efforts to curb the spread of the virus .

Fayemi , in his letter to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation , Mr Boss Mustapha , who is also the Chairman , Presidential Task Force on COVID- 19 , said the President should note the exclusion of the movement of essential supplies such as foods, beverage, medical and pharmaceuticals, petroleum supplied and agricultural products .

He added that it was the decision of the governors that Buhari should include compulsory use of face masks by Nigerians when in public places .

“ The NGF would want the following incorporated into Mr . President ’ s pronouncement : Inter – state lockdown excluding movement of essential supplied such as foods, beverage, medical and pharmaceuticals, petroleum supplied and agricultural products .

“ Internal free movement but with restrictions on large gathering and assemblies , overnight curfews , compulsory use of face masks/coverings of the public , ” Fayemi said .

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has directed that the State Secretariat reopen for workers from level 13 upward to resume work on Monday 27 April 2020.

According to him, “The State Secretariat will be reopened on Monday, April 27th, 2020. Only civil servants at level 13 and above with separate offices will resume.”

“The following guidelines are in place to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19 within the secretariat:

“There will be new security measures in place including having only one gate to serve as entrance and exit. All other gates will be closed.”

He also directed that all meetings will be held online and that no visitors are allowed except absolutely necessary.

Other measures Makinde put in place to check COVID-19 in Oyo State include hand washing facilities in strategic locations around the secretariat; one 100ml hand sanitizer and face mask will be given to each officer; bush canteens around the secretariat will remain closed. Officers are encouraged to bring their own food for lunch.

“Posters and banners will be in conspicuous places round the secretariat to revalidate guidelines for resumption.”

He also disclosed that the dusk to dawn curfew in the State will be relaxed from 7 pm – 7 am, to 7 pm – 5 am in a bid to accommodate farmers this planting season. Noting that, “The farmers are being sensitised on how they can stay safe as they farm during this period.”

“The palliatives to be provided by the Oyo State Government are now ready. Based on our data, they will be distributed to 90,000 households identified as the poorest of the poor and 30,000 targeted vulnerable households.”

“The Oyo State Government will start taking delivery of the one million face masks being produced from tomorrow. These face masks will be distributed for free to market men and women, artisans, and civil servants.”

“Finally, the patients at Agbami Chest Centre, Jericho will be moved to the Infectious Disease Centre, Olodo in order to upgrade the facilities at Agbami,” the governor added.

Vanguard

Award-winning actress, Toyin Abraham, sat with host, Chude Jideonwo, to talk about her experience with depression and suicidal thoughts on the premiere episode of #WithChude which aired recently on TVC Entertainment.

In the episode, Toyin shared how she went about her everyday life while dealing with depression. “I gave everything I had out and moved into a hotel. If anyone wanted to come and visit me, I would tell them to come, and we would be in the same room. I would later go to another room and stayed there by myself. There was a time I told someone that I could actually jump the Third Mainland Bridge, it was that bad,” she said.

“I actually thought to myself that ‘if you die now Toyin, you would become more popular than you are now’.”

When asked where her family was through all of this, she said, “I just didn’t want to see them. I didn’t want to get attached to them. I am from a Christian home and I used to smoke cigarettes and they didn’t approve, and I also didn’t want to get close to them because I thought I would die soon and so they won’t miss me.”

“I am a dove. My fear is gone now. Long gone. I talk about it to people now. I have the face, I have the story that God wants to use to touch many lives.”