The West African Examination Council has warned that its timetable for the 2020 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination that will be released after the coronavirus pandemic break may not leave room for long preparations for candidates.
The council said it had therefore made available several online resources for candidates and pupils sitting for its terminal examination, adding that it was working on making online tutorials available for them.
The Head, WAEC Public Affairs , Mr Damian Ojijeogu , in an interview with news correspondent, said there might not be time for candidates to begin preparations when the council brings out its new timetable after the pandemic .
He said , “ The turn- out of the use of our online resources by candidates has been encouraging . We have been getting great feedback . Even those who could not log in initially have been assisted to do so . All the subjects are covered .
“ When the lockdown period is over , we will release the new timetable . It is not good that the candidates are idle at home. So , the online resources will help them to revise and it will assist them to avoid the mistakes of those who have written our examination in the past.
“ There may not be enough for candidates to prepare for the examination after the pandemic . Those who need online tutors are being provided with such . We hope the pandemic will end and life will return to normal . ”
Recall that WAEC, on March 20 , announced the postponement of its school certificate examination until further notice due to the COVID- 19 pandemic .
The council had noted that the new dates for the examination, which was earlier scheduled for April 6 , would be communicated to schools and other education stakeholders in due course .
“ This decision is a demonstration of the organisation ’ s concern and support for the various protocols being put in place by the federal and state governments of Nigeria and the governments of the other member countries to check the spread of the disease .
“ The earlier released timetable for the conduct of the examination is hereby suspended until further notice . We wish to assure all candidates, schools presenting candidates for the examination, all stakeholders and indeed , the general public that this decision will be reviewed once the health situation improves , ” the council said .
The recent announcement of plan to give Nigerians two months of free electricity as part of palliatives for COVID- 19 is nothing more than propaganda that cannot work, the Transmission Company of Nigeria has said .
The TCN faulted the announcement by power distribution companies that the Federal Government and the National Assembly would pay for the proposed two – month free electricity for customers .
Discos made the announcement through their umbrella body , the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors .
Reacting to the development in Abuja , the Managing Director of the TCN, Usman Mohammed, said , “ There is this information that went round that power is going to be free.
“ I don ’ t know where that information came from .
“ But I can tell you that there is nothing like power is going to be free because the Federal Government cannot make power free. The Federal Government does not own the power . ”
Mohammed explained that the Federal Government only owns the TCN while the generation and distribution companies were largely owned by private investors.
He said , “ In the electricity industry , apart from transmission , which is just the transporter, all the other chains do not belong to the Federal Government. So I cannot understand how somebody will concoct that information . ”
Mohammed argued that those peddling the information were merely sharing propaganda that would not work.
He said , “ But these are some of the people involved in propaganda who brand information that is very unnecessary , to be honest .
“ I think at this stage what we need to do is to sustainably supply electricity and that is what we are doing. ”
The TCN boss further stated that in the last two weeks that most parts of Nigeria had been on lockdown , operators in the power sector had worked and performed well .
However , the House of Representatives and electricity distribution companies raised a joint committee on the proposed two -month free power supply .
Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila , who presided over a meeting in Abuja with the companies and other officials , said the joint panel would work out modalities for the proposed two – month bill waiver for the most vulnerable people in the country.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation says northern Nigeria remains a high – risk region for the spread of COVID- 19 due to its weak primary healthcare system .
Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation, Mark Suzman, said this during a conference call with select African journalists .
Responding to a question on how the pandemic could affect northern Nigeria , Suzman said northern Nigeria remains a high – risk region just like any other part of the world with weak healthcare systems.
He said , “ We have worked extensively in the North because it is the poorest part of Nigeria . It does have sort of the weakest overall health infrastructure and facilities and that is also why the region has the highest child and maternal mortality rate.
“ Those characteristics are shared by several African countries including in the region that is comparable to the challenges in the other parts of the Sahel and other parts of the continent .
“ I don ’ t think there is anything sort of specific you call out other than the risks are obviously greater when you do have a very weak , underlying primary healthcare structure and system in place . ”
Meanwhile , the foundation has increased its funding to Africa by $ 150 m .
“ The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced an expansion of its funding for the global response to COVID- 19 . The increase includes an additional $ 150 m of grant funding plus a commitment to leverage the resources of the foundation ’ s Strategic Investment Fund , which could be deployed to catalyse the rapid procurement of essential medical supplies and help life sciences companies secure financing to produce COVID- 19 products .
“ In announcing the funding, the foundation called on world leaders to unite in a global response to COVID- 19 to ensure equitable access to diagnostics , treatments , and vaccines , ” it said in a statement .
The United Nations on Thursday delivered a fresh batch of medical equipment and other vital supplies to Nigerian government to further aid its fight against the Coronavirus pandemic .
In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday , UN ’ s Resident Coordinator in Nigeria , Edward Kallon , said that the supplies were funded by APM terminals .
According to him , the supply is made up of 10 , 000 test kits , 15 oxygen concentrators, various personal protective equipment ( PPE ) , vaccines , IEHK/ PEP kits and other vital health supplies .
“ For the UN , the supplies will support the Nigerian Government’ s COVID- 19 Response Plan and UNICEF ’ s work with children and families in Nigeria .
“ The supplies will also support the Government of Nigeria , through the National Center for Disease Control , to prevent and respond to the COVID- 19 pandemic in affected states across the country.
“ The supplies are co- financed by the European Union (EU ) and IHS Nigeria , the Nigerian subsidiary of IHS Towers , ” it said .
The UN hinted that additional COVID- 19 response supplies were expected in a UN joint flight to be delivered to Nigeria in the coming days .
It noted that the Personal Protection Equipment would protect medical personnel and ancillary staff who were the first responders in the frontline , providing care and treatment to people affected by the virus .
“ We know that to limit the spread of the virus , it is important to test as many people as possible , especially those with recent travel history and those who came into contact with travelers.
“ These test kits will support Nigeria ’ s drive to control the transmission of COVID- 19 infections and support the government ’ s ongoing strong efforts to protect the country from an escalating pandemic, ” Kallon said .
He recalled that since the outbreak of coronavirus in Nigeria in late February, the UN has been supporting Nigeria to respond to the pandemic through risk communications and community engagement , infection prevention and control , epidemiology /surveillance and management of coronavirus cases.
He added that the UN was also working with government and other partners to develop and disseminate messages , infographics and audio -visual material informing the public about the risks of COVID- 19 across the country, and how to protect one .
“ Working closely together with government and other partners , including the private sector, is the surest way of preventing and containing the COVID- 19 pandemic.
“ We are grateful for the support of the EU and IHS in getting these vital supplies to strengthen the UN’ s efforts in helping the Government of Nigeria to address the COVID – 19 challenge , ” Kallon said .
Countries that want to lift coronavirus restrictions must meet a row of conditions to prevent another surge of infections , Director – General of the World Health Organisation , Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , said on Thursday .
In his weekly address to Geneva-based diplomats , Tedros said that easing social and economic curbs “ must be done extremely carefully. ”
“ If done too quickly , we risk a resurgence that could be even worse than our present situation, ” he warned .
First , governments must ensure that the spread of the novel coronavirus is under control .
According to new WHO guidelines, this means that health authorities must know the origin of every single case and cluster of infections .
Also , National health systems (like the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control ) must be able to find , test , isolate and treat every new case , and all recent social contacts of every infected person must be tracked down.
In addition , Tedros stressed that countries that want to ease their curbs must minimise infection risks in hot spot settings such as hospitals and nursing homes .
As a fourth condition , Tedros said that preventive measures must be in place in workplaces , schools and other essential locations .
This includes physical distancing , hygiene etiquette and , possibly , temperature measurements , according to the new WHO guidelines.
Another condition is that countries must also manage the risk of importing new cases from abroad , by detecting infected travellers , and by quarantining those who arrive from hot spot countries .
Lastly , Tedros said it is important that “ communities are fully educated, engaged and empowered to adjust to the ‘ new norm’” of behaving in ways that prevent new infections .
The President of Nigeria , Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd . ) , had on Monday extended the lockdown in the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos and Ogun states by an additional 14 days to contain the spread of coronavirus in the country .
Buhari had, on March 29 , ordered the lockdown for an initial period of 14 days , while several states had also introduced similar restrictions.
The President , who made the announcement in a televised speech on Monday evening , maintained that the Federal Government had a two -step approach to tackling the virus .
According to him , the approach is, first , to protect the lives of Nigerians and residents living in the country and , second , to preserve the livelihoods of workers and business owners .
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has said that the best stimulus package Nigerian government can give to its citizens at the moment is free electricity supply.
This came as the House, the Executive arm of government and the stakeholders in the power sector had agreed to set up a joint implementation committee on the proposed two-month free power supply to the poor and vulnerable Nigerians.
It will be recalled that the Speaker had in the previous weeks had series of meetings with stakeholders on how to cushion the effect of coronavirus pandemic lockdown through free power supply.
At the latest meeting on Wednesday were the Minister of Power, Mamman Sale; the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), James Momoh; Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari; Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), Marilyn Amobi, as well as representatives of Distribution Companies.
Others were the Leader of the House, Alhassan Ado Doguwa; Chief Whip, Rep. Mohammed Tahir Monguno; Deputy Leader, Rep. Peter Akpatason; Deputy Chief Whip, Rep. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha; Minority Leader, Rep. Ndudi Elumelu, and the Chairman, House Committee on Power, Rep. Magaji Da’u Aliyu, among others.
In his opening remarks, Gbajabiamila said the essence of the meeting was to proffer means of alleviating the socio-economic effects of COVID-19 on Nigerians during and after the crisis period through the supply of power.
He said, “We are here to find out how we go about it. I’m happy that in my previous engagements with the NNPC GMD, he was very interested.”
“Whatever the issues are within the power supply chain, they have to be dealt with and set aside, but how we deal with the issue at stake is why we are here today.
“This is not about technicalities or blaming any part of the power supply value chain; it is just about how we find a solution.
“The objective is very simple: we are asking people to stay at home for several days or weeks, so we need to make their stay at home comfortable. We need to help the poorest of the poorest at this time in Nigeria.
“How we go about it is why we are here today. So, the mandate is very simple with all the stakeholders here. I believe that the best stimulus that we can give our people right now is the supply of electricity to the very vulnerable households.
“Even if we agree that this proposal as an investment scheme according to the power sector stakeholders, I think we need to keep our eyes on the ball. What is that ball? Get to the end-user, who is the beneficiary of that investment scheme
“I wouldn’t want to look at it as the DisCos or GenCos or even the Transmission Company as the beneficiaries. For me, the ultimate beneficiary is the Nigerian people.
“If that is what the investment scheme takes, to supply power, it may not be 100 per cent, but let’s say 70 or 80 per cent, then we would have succeeded.
“So, we set up a group that will look into all the possibilities and implications and come up with a solution, so that the Nigerian poor can be taken care of during this period”.
The Speaker, however, expressed his disappointment over the non-existence of the Power Consumer Assistance Fund by NERC.
He said the Fund would have served the purpose it was meant for, at this point, if it were in existence.
After being informed that the fund had not been set up, the Speaker citing Section 83 of the Electricity Power Sector Act said the authorities had acted at variance to the extant laws.
“We have broken the law because the law mandated it; it is not optional. It is the Act that mandated its establishment.
“If that had been set up, way back, perhaps we would have had the fund with which to assist this proposal. This is the kind of time that this fund was anticipating.
“I think we should look into setting up this fund because we don’t know when next this kind of issue may come up”, he said.
In his remarks, the Minister of Power, Mamman, said the Executive arm is ready to contribute its part to the success of the proposal, saying, “We will give all the support as well as technical advice toward the realization of this objective. We are ready whenever our input is needed”.
On his part, the NNPC GMD, Kyari, who noted that the issue of gas supply to the GenCos is critical to power supply in the country, said the proposal is workable if the issue of who is to carry the burden of cost and margins in the supply value chain is settled and agreed on by all the parties.
Saying that note had to be taken of the actual beneficiaries of the two-month free supply palliative because not every Nigerian falls into the category of the poorest, Kyari pointed out that the existence of the industrial sector should be of concern at the end of the crisis period.
Kyari said though 100 per cent uninterrupted power supply is impossible because not enough is generated due to the COVID-19 crisis, he assured that gas supply would not be an issue, as 100 per cent supply is guaranteed once the debt issue is addressed.
The DisCos assured that they can deliver the mandate as soon as all the details were worked out and agreed on.
Ninety persons have tested negative for COVID – 19 in the Federal Capital Territory.
The FCT Administration stated , that the individuals , who were tested for coronavirus in Mpape community, Abuja , during the community active case search , all returned negative for the disease .
Disclosing this to newsmen correspondent, the media aide to the FCT minister , Malam Sani Abubakar , said , “ As FCTA continues community active case search in various communities of Abuja , results of 90 clients from Mpape community testing , have all returned negative for coronavirus . ”
The FCT Administration had commenced the community testing in Mpape as part of measures to curb community transmission of COVID- 19 .
The Director, FCT Public Health Department , Dr Josephine Okechukwu , stated that the exercise involves sensitization and sample collection of eligible clients with a history of cough, fever , catarrh , chest pain and difficulty in breathing.
According to her , the case search would be extended to Gishiri , Utako and Mabushi on Wednesday and Thursday ( today ) .
Lagos discharges 16 coronavirus patients
Sixteen COVID- 19 patients undergoing treatments at the Lagos State isolation centres have been discharged .
Lagos State Commissioner for Health , Professor Akin Abayomi , made this known via his Twitter handle .
This , the commissioner said , has brought the total number of discharged patients in the state to 85 .
He tweeted , “ 18 new cases of # COVID19 Infection were confirmed in Lagos on 15 th of April, 2020 .
“ The cheering news , however , is that 16 fully recovered # COVID- 19 patients have been discharged following further screening that confirmed their status negative .
“ The total number of discharged # COVID19 patients in Lagos is now 85 . ”
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control had on Wednesday evening announced that 18 new cases were recorded in Lagos .
The NCDC said , “ Thirty – four new cases of # COVID19 have been reported as follows : 18 in Lagos , 12 in Kano, two in Katsina , one in Delta , one in Niger.
“ As of 11 :20 pm on the 15 th of April, there are 407 confirmed cases of # COVID- 19 reported in Nigeria . 128 have been discharged with 12 deaths .
“ Number of states with confirmed cases of # COVID- 19 : 19 + FCT. Currently , Lagos has 232 cases, FCT- 58 , Osun – 20 , Kano- 16 , Edo- 15 , Oyo – 11 , Ogun – nine , Katsina – seven , Bauchi – six , Kaduna – six , Akwa Ibom – six , Kwara- four, Delta – four , Ondo – three, Enugu – two , Ekiti – two , Rivers -two , Niger- two , Benue – one , and Anambra – one . ”
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has warned Nigerians to prepare for the transmission of the coronavirus to more states .
The Director- General of the NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu , who appeared on
Sunrise Daily , a live programme on
Channels Television , noted that , though there are bound to be more cases , the goal is to build a more efficient public health infrastructure.
Ihekweazu said , “ What we are trying to achieve, and it’ s very important for Nigerians to understand , is a landscape where we can continue our work in responding, while we restart parts of the economy .
“ We are responding to something , at the moment, across 22 states . But it will grow to almost every state in Nigeria . There is no reason it won ’ t . It is a respiratory virus .
“ So , what we are trying to achieve right now, in the short term , is not to stop transmission because we know that will be very difficult to do . No country in the world has achieved that . ”
The International Criminal Police Organisation has said it uncovered a € 1 . 5 m face masks scam involving Germany , Ireland and the Netherlands with a portion of the money wired to Nigeria .
According to a statement by Interpol Secretary General , Jürgen Stock , compromised emails were used in the “ highly sophisticated fraud ”.
The global shortage of face masks amid the coronavirus pandemic had made the German authorities to vigorously seek to procure the essential personal protective equipment .
It started in mid- March when German health authorities contracted two sales companies in Zurich and Hamburg to procure EUR 15 million worth of face masks.
They later got an email from one of the contacted companies, explaining that their request cannot be met , unfortunately.
But in the mail , the contacted company referred the German health authorities to a company in Spain selling face masks, posting the URL of the company ’ s site in the body of the mail .
But unknown to prospective buyers , the site was fake and their legitimate email addresses had been compromised .
The Interpol explained that the newly contacted Spanish company , through a chain of emails , initially claimed to have 10 million masks, only for the delivery to fall through .
“ As a consolation , they then referred the buyers to a ‘ trusted ’ dealer in Ireland . The Irish middleman promised to put them in touch with a different supplier , this time in the Netherlands .
“ Claiming to have a strong commercial relationship with the company , the man provided assurances that the alleged Dutch company would be able to supply the 10 million face masks.
“ An agreement for an initial delivery of 1 . 5 million masks was made , in exchange for an up – front payment of EUR 1 . 5 million .
“ The buyers initiated a bank transfer to Ireland and prepared for delivery .
“ Just before the delivery date , the buyers were informed that the funds had not been received and that an emergency transfer of EUR 880 , 000 straight to the Dutch supplier was required to secure the merchandise .
“ When the buyers realized they had been duped , they immediately contacted their bank in Germany , which in turn contacted INTERPOL ’ s Financial Crimes unit , setting off a race to intercept the funds and follow the money trail .
“ The Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service quickly tracked down the EUR 880 , 000 which had been transferred from the German company .
“ Nearly EUR 500, 000 of those funds had already been sent to the United Kingdom , all of which was destined for an account in Nigeria. ”
Stock said the operation has already led to the arrest of two suspects in the Netherlands and more arrests would be made .
The Governor of Cross River State , Prof . Ben Ayade, has distributed stimulus package to vulnerable persons and citizens in the 18 local government areas of the state .
Distributing the items at CROSPIL in Calabar , Ayade said he had already approved N 30 , 000 as monthly stipend for beneficiaries of the automatic employment given to 8 , 000 youths between the ages of 18 and 35 starting from Tuesday next week.
He said , “Distributing food is not the real palliatives, the real palliative is in giving people jobs. Palliative which is temporal is for poor and vulnerable people who cannot fend for themselves .
“ We are starting the real palliative on Tuesday . Whether you are a gardener or cleaner ; whatever you can do , we will give you a job but we can only pay you N30 , 000 . If you know you need it and want to earn that amount, please put down your names and phone numbers ; you will be contacted .
“ The food will be shared through our traditional rulers to all the 18 LGAs. We want it to get to the grass roots; this is not about political party , it is about governance . We will also give to churches and various religious organisations to distribute because they know the people well. ”
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