Television Nigerian

Arsonists could be at work in the Wednesday morning fire that engulfed the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation in Abuja.

The building, otherwise known as Treasury House, was substantially damaged by the fire and vital equipment, documents and even computer hard drives destroyed, contrary to earlier reports.

Preliminary post-fire investigations by a team of investigators from the Fire Service concluded that the incident was a sabotage.

TheNigerian learnt that one of the officers shocked at the level of the damage to the building told his boss: “Sir, there are very significant damages to vital departments too; Federation Accounts Expenditure Capital, in addition to Administration Maintenace; Human Resources; Insurance; ICT. All GIFMIS backup records are gone. Hard drives burnt. Every record is gone. Oga, this was sabotage.”

The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation among other functions, keeps the accounts of the Federation and disburses revenue accruing to the country to the three tiers of government on a monthly basis in the ratio prescribed by the constitution.

The incumbent Accountant General, Alhaji Ahmed Idris is from Kano State and has been in the saddle since June 2015.

No cause of the fire has yet been given by the government, though a statement on that is expected any moment from now.

Misery fire incidents at public buildings have been part of governance in Nigeria so to speak for as long as anyone can remember, with accounts and records departments often the ones to get burnt.

One of the most memorable of such public buildings burnt was the then NECOM House in Marina Lagos.

Then the tallest building in Nigeria, the house belonged to defunct Nigeria External Telecommunications (NET) later known as NITEL.

It was burnt sometime in 1983 on a day then President Shehu Shagari was jetting our of Lagos to India on a State visit. Shagari was heavily criticized by the opposition and general public for not calling off the trip to attend to the incident.

He was accused of junketing while the nation was on fire.

President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to comment on the Treasury House Fire.

Facts have emerged about how armed hoodlums looted a COVID-19 relief material store within the secretariat of Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area (LCDA), in Lagos on Wednesday, April 1, 2020.

Contrary to the denial by the Lagos State Government that no such took place, an official of the LCDA, who is an aide to the Council Chairman confirmed the incident.

The aide, (name withheld), told TheNigerian that the commissioner for Tourism, Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile–Yussuf, brought bags of rice and other food stuffs to be distributed to the Community Development Associations (CDAs), Community Development Councils (CDCs), the league of Imams, members of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and other residents who were around when she brought the foodstuffs.

“She asked those she met on the ground to queue up so they all can have access to the food. Then we discovered that the hoodlums came and tried to mob her to collect what she brought. She then applied wisdom to prevent violence.” Said the aide.

According to the source, the Commissioner was reported to have suspended the distribution and returned the remaining of the items to the Council’s secretariat in the evening of Wednesday, April 1, 2020.

She had to suspend the distribution because she could see that if she continued, the hoodlums would damage and destroy too many things including the school she used.

The next day, Thursday, April 2, 2020, the hoodlums mobilized in large numbers, went to the secretariat and began destroying doors and offices to gain access to the store where the Commissioner had instructed the food be kept for distribution.

The aide said the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Okeodo Police station and the Area Commander, Area P command saved the secretariat staff from being harmed and the building from being further damaged by the violent mob who brought cutlasses, knives and other weapons to fight anyone or force who stands in their way.

As at press time, the Lagos State Police command PRO had not yet responded to the text message he requested from our reporter.

According to some residents who pleaded anonymity, the incident experienced by the Okeodo Local Council would soon become the fate of all and any Local Government through which the Lagos State government intends to share items meant to feed Lagosians during the covid-19 lockdown order because, as they claimed, many Lagosians are hungry and they would not have patience for the manner in which the state officials are sharing the food items.

The COVID-19 relief operation was designed to bring some respite to feed the hungry during this period of the 14-day stay at home order by the Federal Government as it battles the coron virus.

The food items are being distributed via the Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to provide respite to residents living in communities within their jurisdictions.

By Toby Prince

All 11 people who had been diagnosed with coronavirus in Greenland have now recovered, making it the only country at the moment with no active cases.

The national medical office in Denmark reported this week that the 11 confirmed cases of the virus have since been cleared up, with all those who tested positive now recovering.

The numbers were reflected on websites that were tracking coronavirus cases around the globe, leaving it as the only country without cases of the virus as cases surged elsewhere.

As the EU Observer reported, the pandemic had yet to strike hard in Greenland, the largest island in the world with a disparate population of 57,000 and a limited health care system.

All of the cases so far had been in the capital city of Nuuk, and those infected had gone into quarantine and since recovered.

It is not clear if the virus could return anytime soon, as the report noted that the city is closed entirely, with no one entering or leaving without permission.

Local officials have even closed off the city to private boats and snowmobiles.

Similar restrictions are in place across the country, with no flights or ships entering the island without special permission and travel only allowed between the small cities and villages on the island.

The report noted that there is a historic precedent for the stringent measures officials have put in place, noting that Greenland has been susceptible to outbreaks of disease in the past.

“A grim history of deadly epidemics brought to Greenland in the 18th and 19th century by European colonizers has fueled fears that the coronavirus, if not checked, will fast reach the many small outlying villages, thereby creating urgent and impossible demands for emergency air transport and intensive care in Greenland’s small hospitals,” the report noted.

After the coronavirus outbreak first started in China late last year, it moved across the world and a new epicenter grew in Europe, with tens of thousands of cases reported in Italy and Spain.

Experts have predicted that some measure of social distancing will need to remain in place in those countries hit by the virus until a vaccine is available for widespread distribution, which could take anywhere from 12 to 18 months.

It is not clear if officials in Greenland expect to keep the island free from the virus during that time, as the country’s fishing industry requires trade with Europe and North America.

The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, has said that the corporation plans to stop being involved in the management of the nation’s refineries after their rehabilitation.

Group General Manager, NNPC Public Affairs Division, Kennie Obateru, in a statement on Wednesday, said Kyari revealed this as a special guest on a TV programme.

He said that after completion of the ongoing rehabilitation exercise, the services of a company would be procured to manage the plants on an Operations and Maintenance (O & M) basis.

“We are going to get an O&M contract, NNPC won’t run it. We are going to get a firm that will guarantee that this plant would run for some time.

“”We want to try a different model of getting this refinery to run. And we are going to apply this process for the running of the other two refineries,” he said.

Mr Kyari explained that the plan, ultimately was to get private partners to invest in the refineries and get them to run on the NLNG model where the shareholders would be free to decide the fate of the refineries going forward.

He stated that this model, which was totally different from previous approach, would guarantee the desired outcome for the refineries.

He added that the decision to finally end the fuel subsidy regime was in the interest of ordinary Nigerians.

According to him, this would free up funds for the various tiers of government to develop basic infrastructure in the education, health, transport, and other sectors.

“Subsidy is elitist because it is the elites that benefit from it. They are the ones that have SUVs, four, five cars in their garages.

“The masses should be the ones to benefit. There are many things wrong with the under-recovery because it makes us to supply more than is needed.

“This makes the under-recovery to be bloated because we unwittingly subsidize fuel for the whole of West Africa. That has to stop,” he said.

The NNPC boss explained that the removal of subsidy would automatically correct the distortions it created in the market such as products arbitrage and smuggling.

He said that it would also provide the needed impetus for the NNPC to establish retail outlets in neighbouring countries.

On the agitation in some quarters for a reduction in the price of kerosene, he said the corporation’s focus was rather on how to migrate all those who were still using kerosene for domestic cooking to the use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) also known as cooking gas.

According to him, apart from LPG being a cheaper fuel than kerosene, it is also safer and more environment-friendly.

He said the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, was championing policies to deepen the adoption of LPG for domestic consumption.

Bayelsa State Government has relaxed its COVID-19 lockdown measures for the period of the Easter to enable Christian faithful fully participate in the celebration.

This followed an appeal by the state organs of the various Christian bodies. Governor Douye Diri stated this during an enlarged meeting with members of the COVID-19 task force, security agencies and leadership of the Christian and Muslim communities in Government House, Yenagoa.

In a statement by his acting Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, the governor emphasised that the relaxed measure was specific to church services during the Easter celebration.

He said churches with large congregation would be permitted to have 50 persons during services while 20 worshippers would be allowed for smaller churches.

He cautioned them to adhere strictly to all the preventive measures, including social distancing of at least two metres and washing of hands with soap and running water.

The governor noted that after the Easter, the lockdown would revert to status quo to ensure public health and prevention of the COVID-19 in the state. He said the stay-at-home order for civil servants and all other earlier measures have been extended for another two weeks.