The Lagos State government has been advised on the best means of distributing palliatives to vulnerable residents in the state.

Tokunbo Smith, a public affairs analyst told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the state government should adopt the database of the Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA).

He made this known while reacting to the recent increase in the number of Coronavirus cases recorded in Lagos.

”We can leverage Information Technology (IT) for the distribution of palliatives. Fortunately, I am one of the Committee Members of the School Health Information Platform (SHIP). Lagos State has LASRRA. The government can use the database to distribute palliatives.

“They have about 75 percent of residents of Lagos State registered; so why can’t they use it to distribute palliatives.”

Smith said any attempt by the government to relax the lockdown will cause more harm than good. He said while the extension will affect economically, it is better to have a healthy nation.

As of the time of this report, Nigeria has a total of 981 cases. While 197 have been discharged, 31 deaths have been recorded.

The Sarkin Malaman of Sokoto state, Sheik Buhari Siriddawa has passed away.

The elderly monarch died earlier today. His demise was announced on Friday evening by one of his sons, Muhammad Buhari Siriddawa. He wrote;

“I regret to announce the death of my biological father may his gentle soul rest in Jannah Amin”. He was also a senior Imam, renown for his vast knowledge of religious and traditional matters.

More to come….

The post BREAKING: Buhari Siriddawa is Dead appeared first on Politics Nigeria.

The Governor of Osun state, Gboyega Oyetola has appointed news heads of Yoruba Security outfit, Amotekun and the Bureau of Social Services, BOSS.

In a statement on Friday evening made available to POLITICS NIGERIA, Comrade, Amitolu Shittu, a human rights activist will head the newly establish Amotekun Corps, while Mr Richard Tinubu has been selected to head the Bureau of Social Services.

Richard Tinubu and Amitolu Shittu

Tinubu is a trainer and management Consultant, Richard Tinubu, who spent the better part of his working career at an American company, Computing Solutions Outfit, NCR Nigeria Plc.

BOSS is an outfit established by the State government to leverage premium human resources and technological innovation in driving effective monitoring and evaluation of Social Service delivery to ensure public value and fiscal discipline.

Former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been named by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as its Special Envoy for the newly inaugurated Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator.

POLITICS NIGERIA reports that she is to serve alongside British business executive, Sir Andrew Witty in the same capacity, to mobilize international commitment to the initiative.

Director-General of the organization, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, made the announcement during the launch of the ACT Accelerator — via webinar from Geneva.

“I would especially like to thank Sir Andrew Witty and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for agreeing to act as Special Envoys for the ACT Accelerator,” Ghebreyesus said in his remarks.

The initiative is an international collaboration aimed at accelerating the development, production, and equitable distribution of COVID-18 drugs, test kits, and vaccines around the world.

This newspaper understands that this is the fourth international assignment given to Okonjo-Iweala in less than two months.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC has given an update on when the Lockdown will be called off. Director-General of the centre, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu has revealed that due to the increasing number of cases, the lockdown may be in place for a while.

Speaking on Friday, during a media briefing, Ihekweazu called on Nigerians to exercise patients as the government was working hard on eradicating the deadly COVID-19 virus. As at the time of filing this report, Nigeria has over 1,000 confirmed cases.

“We will eventually exit this stage and restart our normal life but that stage is still a while to come and I ask for your endurance, support and patience. Lots of efforts are going on across the world to find new therapy, to find vaccines,” he said.

He also explained that the society needs to be safe and healthy before the economy can be reopened. He also stated that the sacrifices of Nigerians were recognized, adding that perseverance was needed in order to reach a point where the Lockdown can be relaxed a bit.

Preliminary investigations have shown that a whale consumed by some residents of Rivers state recently after it washed ashore has been dead for over a month.

The baby whale found on a beach at Mbisughu in Bonny area of Rivers, which was butchered and eaten by residents had been dead for a month. The sperm whale measuring about 32feet, weighed 3000 MT.

Its carcass was discovered on Thursday, April 23 and was dismembered by locals for food.

The dead whale also raised concerns as to what might have led to its death with many speculating that the rivers were being poisoned with chemical waste from oil and manufacturing companies.

POLITICS NIGERIA gathered that a team from the Bonny Environmental Consultants Committee (BECC) comprising of one Smart Halliday and Godswill Jumbo alongside a special team from the Forward Operating Base (FOB), Nigerian Navy (NN), Bonny comprising the Team Lead, Lt Jonah Gwana, and the Medical Officer, Sub. Lt. Joel Gana, and another team from the Finima Nature Park led by Shittu Usman Akorede, were on ground at the location where the whale was found to collect information and investigate what caused its death.

Wearing of face masks in public places is now compulsory in Lagos state, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has said on Saturday.

During a news conference at the State House, Marina, the governor said the decision is part of measures to curb the spread of Coronavirus in Lagos communities.

Governor Sanwo-Olu said failure to comply with the directive on the use of face masks in public places would met wit stiff penalties and sanctions.

He also appealed to Lagosians to leave the medical-grade N-95 masks for the use of medical workers who need them the most.

Sanwo-Olu, however, urged residents who are not medical workers to make do with simple cloth masks.

He said: “Let me now formally announce that face masks are now compulsory in public places in Lagos State. Failure to use masks in public will invite sanctions and penalties.

”We have commenced arrangements for the production of large quantities of face-masks for the use of the people of Lagos State. This is indeed a great opportunity for many businesses, small and large, in the state, to contribute to the COVID-19 response while also getting a chance to do business and earn money.”

Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano state has announced that 74 new cases of coronavirus have been recorded in the state.

The governor disclosed this known during a press briefing on Saturday.

He said the state government has taken 489 samples and 74 tested of the samples tested positive for the dreaded virus.

“We’ve taken samples of 489 people, out of these number 74 were confirmed positive for the virus,” he said.

More to come…

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Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has said a mass burial will be conducted for dead bodies that are not evacuated from the state’s mortuaries within the next two weeks.

Sanwo-Olu made this known at a news conference on COVID-19 pandemic at the State House, Marina.

The governor said the state government needs to decongest the mortuaries, adding that residents are now allowed to conduct burials.

Sanwo-Olu, however, told the families to adhere to the rules on social distancing when burying their loved ones.

“If we’re unable to see a decongestion of mortuaries across the state within the next two weeks, Lagos state government will now be compelled to seek to have a mass burial and we would not want to force this on anybody, which is why we are asking for the cooperation of all of us,” he said.

“This is not the time when you need to wait for your brother or your sister or your sibling, who is 10,000km or 6,000km away from here for them to come back before you can have the funeral.

“These are very difficult times and I can imagine that families and relatives and siblings will understand that we need to have this and we need to put this behind us.

“So, we are reiterating it again that we’ll give two weeks window and we’ll expect a lot of people to comply after which the state government might have to take other decisions in that manner.”

At least 12 persons have been confirmed positive for Coronavirus in Osun State, POLITICS NIGERIA can report.

The cases were recorded after the government conducted fresh 167 coronavirus tests.

According to the state health commissioner, Rafiu Isamotu, the cases were recorded in Osogbo, Ife, Ede, Ikire and Ejigbo.

This newspaper earlier reported that the state has only one active case left.

But with this development, Osun now has 13 active cases.Only 32 cases have been recorded so far in the state and 19 had been discharged.

Mr Isamotu urged residents of the state not to panic but should continue to comply with the stay-at-home directive of the state government.