NIGERIAN NOTCH

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) says Nigeria will stick with AstraZeneca vaccine based on its epidemiological and equity assessment done by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib, made the disclosure at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 briefing on Monday in Abuja. “As earlier communicated, Nigeria is no longer expecting the 100,000 doses of the Pfizer/BIONtech vaccine through the COVAX facility but has been allocated about 16 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. “This was based on epidemiological and equity assessment done by WHO. “These vaccine will be arriving in batches, starting by late February, “ Shuaib said. He noted that Nigeria was considered one of the countries ready to receive the Pfizer vaccine but, because the distribution intended to achieve public health value, it was not practical to provide every capable country with the vaccine due to its limited quantity. “This necessitated...

Valentine’s day is around the corner and Nigeria’s telecommunications giant, Globacom has laid up an exciting offer for its subscribers to enjoy the season of love. This special valentine promotion will offer Glo customers up to 36GB of free data to share with their loved ones. The offer, which was announced yesterday in Lagos, stated, “This offer is available to subscribers who purchase two smartphones from any of the GloWorld outlets spread across the country. Customers will in turn receive free data on their Glo SIM ranging from 3GB to 36GB, which can be used over the next six months.” The network further explained that the data bonus to be offered will be determined by the price of the particular smartphones purchased. Models of handsets that are available for purchase include iPhones, Samsung, Nokia, Infinix, Tecno, Vivo, Imose and Itel. The promotion will commence on February 8 and end on February 22, 2021. “We expect that our customers will be engaged in a lot of online activiti...

The minister of State for Education Hon Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, has commended the organizers of African Code Challenge Competition for their in built reward mechanism for every task and activity with regards to Robotics and artificial intelligence. The minister was however delighted that the resolve to expand robotics programmes in all the 104 Federal Unity Colleges is yeilding the desired results. He stated that, with the training of traninees for the 104 FUCs in preparation for the fourth coming national competition on robotics and artificial intelligence, the sky is the starting point to what the children will be able to achieve going forward. He however noted that the award ceremony is a affirmation of hard work and team spirit, because the African Code Challenge Competition is aimed at providing support and inspiration for inter disciplinary teams of 8-16 years old students who are knowledgeable in coding,  from the scratch,which inspires innovative and critical thinking in stud...

.......As Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba task Principals to remind steadfast in restructuring the educational sector. The minister of State for Education, Hon Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba has harped on the need for principals of Federal Unity Schools in the country to remind steadfast, in restructuring the educational system, especially during these trying times in the country. The minister made the appeal during the 2020 annual general meeting of principals of Federal unity colleges today at Chida Hotels, at  Jabi in Abuja. The theme of this year's meeting, "Restructuring our Educational system," the minister said is apt, going by the fact that it has become imperative at ensuring that quality education is delivered to maximize student performance, towards achieving conformity to the social needs of the country. He went on to state that, the present system which his ministry is envisioning for learning in the country, is to ensure that education is modified by reforming learning, cur...

 _Pledges To Purchase Primary Election Form for Him_ The umbrella body of all support groups affiliated to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the National Coalition of PDP Support Groups has thrown its weight behind the governorship bid of Nigerian business mogul and philanthropist, Valentine Ozigbo.  This high-powered endorsement, which was announced on Wednesday, February 4, 2021, at a press conference held at Parktonian Hotel, Awka, comes weeks after Ozigbo's governorship bid was endorsed by the Association of Past President Generals of Anambra State (APPAS). The delegation, which its Chairman, Chief Basil Nwolisa led, revealed that the coalition arrived at the decision after consulting widely and carrying out due diligence on all the aspirants interested in contesting the November 6 gubernatorial election on the platform of the PDP.  Chief Nwolisa said Anambra State needs a corporate and management expert, hence, their choice of Valentine Ozigbo who is a proven corp...

Chief Ndubisi Nwobu is the chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Anambra State. In this interview, he speaks on the coming governorship election in the state, and the chances of his party; among other salient issues. As Anambra governorship election draws closer, what is the level of preparation of your party towards taking over the state? We have a lot of plans, which will be unfolded as days go by. As we speak, in December, 2020, we did comprehensive evaluation of party structure and party leadership to examine how committed and prepared the party leadership are for PDP takeover of the state. Soon, we are starting mobilization and sensitization tour of all the local government areas of the state. Thereafter, we will be going into training programme for party leaders and operatives. After that, we go into another stage of contact and mobilization, reaching out to prominent citizens of the state, and telling them why PDP is best suited to come back to power in the state. After that,...

Dr.  Joseph Ugbaja is the Acting Chief Medical Director of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital, Nnewi. In this interview, he speaks on how Nigerians can manage the second wave of COVID-19, and his priorities as Acting CMD. As the chairman, taskforce on COVID-19 in the teaching hospital, what do you think is the best approach to tackle the second wave of the coronavirus, which they say, is deadlier? We handled the first wave of the pandemic effectively, and we are now experiencing the second wave. During the first wave, Nigeria did very well, leading to lower rates of death and mortality. All the key institutions did their best, starting from the ministry of health, the PTF, NCDC, and various others. But the second wave is a lot different in terms of severity, rate of infections, and rapid of evolution of symptoms. The second wave hit very hard because, it came at a time when we in the south east were in the Christmas and New Year festivities. For the past one month, a lot of peopl...

Ajax’s Cameroonian international goalkeeper Andre Onana has been suspended for one year for doping, the Dutch club said on Friday. The club said in a statement Onana had “mistakenly” taken his wife’s medicine which had led to the banned diuretic Furosemide appearing in his urine. Onana posted on social media said that “everything was the result of a human mistake.” “I mistook a medicine containing a substance banned by WADA for a simple aspirin,” he wrote on Twitter and Instagram.  He said he considered the punishment “excessive and disproportionate as it has been acknowledged by UEFA that it was an unintentional mistake.” Onana and Ajax both said they would appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Ajax said they had hoped Onana would receive a shorter ban because the substance was “arguably” not a performance booster. “On the morning of October 30, Onana was feeling unwell,” the club said in a statement. “He wanted to take a pill to ease the discomfort. Unknowingly,...

Kenyan Peter Waweru Kamaku will officiate the final of the Total African Nations Championship (CHAN) between defending champions Morocco and Mali on Sunday, 7 February, 2021, at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium, Yaounde. Waweru, a lecturer of the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, will lead the team of match officials as the curtains on the sixth edition of the tournament, designed exclusively for footballers in their domestic leagues, fold up. Earlier, he officiated the quarter-final clash between Mali and Congo, which the former won 5-4 on penalties after a barren stalemate in regulation time. He will be assisted by compatriot Gilbert Kipkoech Cheruiyot and Cameroonian Carine Atezambong Fomo whilst Alioum Alioum, also from Cameroon, will serve as the fourth official. The Video Assistant Referees (VAR) team will be led by Bamlak Tessema Weyesa of Ethiopia, and supported by Janny Sikazwe (Zambia) and Elvis Guy Noupue Nguegoue (Cameroon). Following their triumph on ho...

Nnewi, the industrial hub of Anambra state had it's own taste of Valentine Ozigbo WALK4HEALTH program on Saturday, February 6, 2021 under the platform of his  non-governmental organization- Valentine Chineto Ozigbo (VCO) Foundation, which is the third in a series of such health and fitness exercise programme tagged, “VCO Walk4Health”.  The well-attended event saw over one thousand residents of Nnewi indigenes gather to  walk a distance of about five kilometers, with Valentine Ozigbo taking the lead procession from  St. Andrew DCC in Nnewi, through a designated route before returning to the takeoff point. VCO Walk4Health is a health awareness initiative, aimed at promoting healthy living habits and the spirit of community, which is a program sponsored by Valentine Ozigbo, a gubernatorial aspirant under the platform of the PDP in the 2021 Anambra elections.  The event featured brisk walk, motivational talk from PDP leaders in the state, free medical checkup, and d...