Polio, a constatant threat to Nigerian Children

Current polio situation

Nigeria would have been counting down to being declared polio free but has been cut short following the discovery of a new polio virus type 2 in Bauchi State recently.

The country had remained polio free for over 25 months as at October 2018, since the last four cases of the wild polio virus was discovered in the North East in 2016, but it will remain a polio endemic nation following this recent discovery.

As the risk factors accounting for all strains of polio continue to exist, experts say the journey to a polio free Nigeria may be within reach but still daunting. 

According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative website, Nigeria has never stopped circulating the indigenous wild polio virus and is also affected by the circulation of vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) outbreaks.

Recently, a WHO State coordinator, Adamu Ningi, said the polio virus type 2 was found at Gwallaga mosque area linking three wards of Makama B, Hardo and Dankade of Bauchi State.

The appearance of the type 2 virus has been blamed on several years of low Routine Immunization (RI) coverage and insufficient population immunity to the virus. 

The Executive Director, National Primary Health Development Agency, Dr Faisal Shuaib says the type 2 strains are largely from environmental samples, but still presents similar symptoms. 

Eradication efforts and success

For over two years, no case of the wild poliovirus was reported in Nigeria; that apparent success was attributed to a number of reasons but mostly to the drop in the number of children lacking access to polio vaccines. 

In June 2018, Nigeria’s Health Minister, Prof. Isaac Adewale, said “Fewer than 100,000 children now lack access to vaccines and 30 per cent of inaccessible areas in the North East are now being accessed with the help of the military.’’

In March 2017, Nigeria keyed into a regional polio immunisation campaign targeting about one hundred and sixteen million under five children across West Africa.

There was also an intensive outbreak response campaigns in two phases which commenced in May, September and October 2018.

To also boost population immunity, government scheduled a Fractional Injectable Polio Vaccine (fIPV) campaign across 92 targeted LGAs in November 2018. 

According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Nigeria has continued to conduct acute flaccid paralysis surveillance strengthening activities in response to the circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2. 

Outbreak response to wild polio virus is also in force, including efforts to address surveillance in parts of Borno state.

The most rewarding of efforts is the Nigeria/GAVI joint investment of over $3Billion in support of routine immunisation and health system strengthening, according to the National primary healthcare development agency

What Nigeria must do

Despite successes, eradicating polio in Nigeria will require greater effort.

According to experts, increased surveillance remains a first in the list of many solutions

Innovative immunisation strategy is another tool needed to bridge the gap isolating children in high-risk areas.

Community sampling to identify children who miss vaccination and detect immunity gaps in populations that have previously been inaccessible must also be employed. 

But most importantly Nigeria must eliminate the risk of complacency amid perceived success.

According to the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti  ‘‘ Polio eradication requires political commitment and adequate resources.’’

For now Nigeria remains a polio endemic nation, it can only loose that title if it stays free of the wild virus and its infections for three years consecutively.

'Woman blows herself up' in Tunis

At least nine people were injured when a woman blew herself up in the centre of Tunisia's capital, Tunis, the interior ministry says.

Eight of those hurt in the explosion on the Habib Bourguiba avenue, which runs through the middle of the city, were police officers.

The ministry has described the blast, near the Municipal Theatre, as a "terrorist explosion".
No victim deaths have been reported at this stage.

Pictures from the scene show a large number of emergency service personnel in the area.

The attack comes at a time when the country's vital tourism industry is starting to show signs of recovery, more than three years after two deadly terror attacks decimated visitor numbers.

The first, an attack on the capital's Bardo Museum in March 2015, left 22 people dead. Just a few months later, in June, another 38 people were killed in a resort in Sousse.

READ MORE:https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46017905

NNPC, others yet to remit $22.06bn, N481.75bn to Federation Account

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiary, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, and other companies in the oil and gas sector have yet to remit a total revenue of $22.06bn and N481.75bn to the Federation Account.

Latest report on the summary of unremitted revenue, losses and unreconciled differences from operations and transactions in the oil and gas sector released in Abuja on Monday by the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative showed that the NNPC alone had yet to remit a total revenue of $19.04bn and N424.57bn.

Providing a breakdown of the unremitted revenues by the other firms, the report stated that oil and gas producing companies were still withholding $152.69m and N5.2bn; companies involved in offshore processing contracts, $498.6m; and NPDC, $2.38bn and N51.95bn.

READ ALSO: ‘I was no longer indispensable’ at Real Madrid, says Ronaldo

The NEITI report stated that the total losses to the federation arising from crude oil production, processing and transportation was $3.04bn and N60.99bn.

It said unreconciled differences arising from the allocation, sale and remittance of proceeds from domestic crude allocated to NNPC was N317.48bn.

Boards have no power to suspend CEOs of parastatals, says SGF

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, on Monday said governing boards of federal agencies or parastatals have no power to remove Chief Executive Officers appointed by the President.

He said such boards may, however “articulate infractions, investigate wrongdoing and make recommendations to government through the supervisory ministry.”

Mustapha made the clarification at an induction programme for governing board members of federal parastatals, universities and medical centres organised by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms, in conjunction with the Department for International Development, a United Kingdom government department responsible for administering overseas aid.

The clarification came at the time the dust raised by the recent decision of the Governing Board of the National Health Insurance Scheme to suspend Prof. Usman Yusuf as the Executive Secretary is yet to settle.

The chairman of the board, Ifenne Enyanatu, had on October 18 announced Yusuf’s indefinite suspension, saying the board consulted and got the approval of the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, on the matter.

Yusuf had however rejected the suspension, saying it is only the President that can suspend him.

Although he did not specifically mention the NHIS saga, Mustapha said the Federal Government was concerned that most governing boards have not understood their roles in the corporate governance of the agencies they superintend.

So far, he said the government has noticed some infractions on the side of such boards.

PUNCH

President Buhari emphasises free, fair, elections in 2019

Ahead of the 2019 general elections, President Muhammadu Buhari again on Monday said his emphasis at all times was for free and fair elections.

“I emphasise free and fair elections at all times,” presidential spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, in a statement quoted the President as saying while receiving the Governor-General of Canada, Julie Payette, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Buhari said Nigeria’s democracy was steadily improving with deeper understanding of the culture and tenets among the people, and strengthening of the institutions that guarantee free and fair elections.

He said he saw the evolving strength of democracy in the country by contesting for presidential elections three times before winning at the fourth trial in 2015.

The President told his guest that Nigeria had been learning from the mistakes of those who practised democracy for a longer period and by looking inward at its own peculiarities.

He added that the bilateral relations with Canada will continue to be improved considering the huge interest of the country in Nigeria and growing economic ties, with many Nigerians schooling and working in the country.

Buhari noted that Canada played a brotherly role in helping displaced persons in the North East, following Boko Haram insurgency.

In her remarks, the Governor-General said Nigeria and Canada enjoyed a warm and strong partnership that has translated into ease of migration, large trade relations and cultural exchanges.

Payette, who is an astronaut, said it was important for nations to pool resources together to start exploring the benefits of space in providing solutions to some problems on earth.

PUNCH

German Chancellor, Angela Merkel to step down in 2021

Germany's Angela Merkel has said she will step down as chancellor in 2021, following recent election setbacks.

"I will not be seeking any political post after my term ends," she told a news conference in Berlin.

She also said she would not seek re-election as leader of the centre-right CDU party in December. She has held the post since 2000.

The CDU was severely weakened in Sunday's poll in the state of Hesse, the latest in a series of setbacks.

Both the CDU and its national coalition partners, the Social Democrats, were 10 percentage points down on the previous poll there.

The election comes just weeks after Mrs Merkel's Bavarian sister party, the CSU, suffered huge losses in a state parliament vote.

Parties like the left-leaning Greens and the far-right, anti-immigration AfD have grown in national support following the 2017 general election, as backing for the major centre parties has waned.

BBC

Angela Merkel 'to abandon key CDU party role'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has told her CDU party that she will not run for re-election as its chairwoman in December, sources say.

Her decision comes after her party suffered heavy losses in regional elections that threatened the stability of the governing coalition.

Mrs Merkel has been chair of the CDU since 2000, becoming one of its longest-serving chairpersons.
She has led Germany as chancellor since 2005 - and wants to stay in that post.

However, news of Mrs Merkel decision could spark a race within the CDU to find her successor as chancellor.

The position is usually determined in Germany's federal elections, the next of which are provisionally scheduled for 2021.

What has Angela Merkel said?

Mrs Merkel has reportedly told leaders of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party that she will step aside from the leadership election bid after the centre-right party and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) both took a hit in ballots in Hesse state at the weekend.

However, she said that she would like to remain in the post of Germany's chancellor until 2021, local media report.

This would be in contrast to Mrs Merkel's previous position, in which she has linked the party leadership role to the chancellorship - meaning that she would only remain chancellor if she was party leader.

BBC

Lion Air: How could a brand new plane crash?

A lot of attention has focused on the fact the plane, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, was brand new. This is the first major incident involving that kind of plane.

Details so far have been scant and the cause will not be confirmed until a full investigation has been carried out.

Plane crashes are often the result of a combination of factors - both technical and human - but could the fact that the plane was so new have played any part?

READ MORE: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46014260

Lion Air crash: Boeing 737 plane crashes in sea off Jakarta

A Lion Air Boeing 737 passenger plane with 189 people on board has crashed into the sea shortly after taking off from the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

Flight JT 610 was headed for Pangkal Pinang, in the Bangka Belitung Islands, when it lost contact.
Rescuers have recovered some remains and there is no sign of survivors.

The cause of the crash, involving a new plane in operation since August, remains unclear. Lion Air is Indonesia's largest low-cost carrier.

The incident is reported to be the first major accident involving a Boeing 737 Max - an updated version of the 737.

"The plane crashed into water about 30m to 40m deep," Search and Rescue Agency spokesman Yusuf Latif told AFP news agency. "We're still searching for the remains of the plane."

Rescuers have recovered body parts from the sea. Items believed to belong to passengers have also been found in the water, including baby shoes, ID cards and driver's licences.

"We need to find the main wreckage," Bambang Suryo, operational director of Indonesia's search and rescue agency said. "I predict there are no survivors, based on body parts found so far."

BBC

Yoruba youths warn Tinubu against supporting Buhari

A group of Yoruba youths known as the Yoruba Youth Socio-cultural Association has warned Asiwaju Bola Tinubu against supporting President Muhammadu Buhari reelection in 2019.

The President of the YYSA, Mr Olalekan Hammed, made the position of the group known in a statement made available to our correspondent in Osogbo on Sunday.

He said it had become obvious that the All Progressives Congress and Buhari did not value the contributions of Tinubu towards the party and the emergence of Buhari as the President in 2015.

READ ALSO: Kaduna state curfew relaxed, airlines, NRC begged to resume operations

Hammed said the position of former President Olusegun Obasanjo that Tinubu did not hold any post within the APC was justifiable, saying Buhari had written the Independent National Electoral Commission to state that he was the national leader of the APC.

The statement said, “The fact that President Muhammadu Buhari deliberately wrote INEC to affirm his position as the APC national leader vindicates the former President Obasanjo who had sometime challenged the former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to state his roles in the APC as the national leader of the party.

“Constitutionally, APC has no reasonable provision for him (Tinubu) in the party and he has been used and dumped.

“It would have been better and respectable, provided Mr Buhari did not write to INEC or talk about the issue. The letter he wrote to the electoral umpire to attest that he is the party’s national leader was aimed at ridiculing Tinubu.

“Yoruba people understand body language more than any other tribe in Nigeria. There is no sense in staying with people who do not appreciate your presence or feel your impact. 

The YYSA implores Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to think twice before supporting Buhari’s re-election bid. 

There is no difference between someone who steals your property and someone who shows no gratitude for all the favour rendered to him.”

PUNCH

Kaduna state curfew relaxed, airlines, NRC begged to resume operations

The Kaduna State Government has relaxed the 24-hour-curfew imposed on the metropolis and its environs in the wake of the tension generated by the killing of the Agom Adara, Dr Maiwada Galadima, by suspected kidnappers.

A government statement through the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the state govenor, Mr Samuel Aruwan, on Sunday, said the curfew would now commence from  dusk to dawn(5pm to 6am) as against the 24-hour period.

Tension mounted as the news of the murder of the paramount  ruler of Adara filtered into the state capital on Friday morning.

The chief with his wife were abducted penultimate Friday while a police orderly and three palace guards attached to the traditional ruler were killed.

Two days later, the wife was released while the kidnappers held her husband.

However, six days later, the Agom Adara was killed and his corpse dumped near the bush along the Kaduna-Abuja highway at Kateri.

The body was taken to the St. Gerard’s Catholic Hospital, Kakuri in the state capital, forcing the government to reinstate the curfew earlier imposed on the state.

The governor’s spokesman, who said the review of the curfew was with immediate effect, requested that airlines and the Nigerian Railway Corporation should “promptly resume services to Kaduna State.”

It said residents were free as from 5pm today, Sunday, 28th October 2018 to pursue their legitimate activities unhindered.

The statement reads, “The Kaduna State Government has relaxed the curfew in Kaduna metropolis and environs with immediate effect. Residents are free to pursue their legitimate activities from now till 5pm today, Sunday, 28th October 2018.

“From tomorrow, Monday, 29th October 2018, the curfew is relaxed from 6am to 5pm, daily. Residents of Kaduna metropolis, Kasuwan Magani, Kajuru, and Kateri now join the people of Kachi in having free movement during daytime hours.

 “Banks and markets are expected to reopen and deliver services as usual. The Kaduna State Government has also requested the airlines and the Nigerian Railway Corporation to promptly resume normal services to Kaduna.”

 Meanwhile, the Arewa Consultative Forum on Sunday condemned the brutal murder of the Agom Adara by suspected kidnappers in Kaduna State.

The northern body described the killing as unfortunate, especially at a time normalcy was returning to the state in the wake of the communal clash in Kasuwan Magani.

It called on the Federal Government and the state government to institute a high-powered commission of inquiry to unearth the circumstances surrounding the killings across the land.

The ACF, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Muhammad Ibrahim-Biu, also called on the security agencies and the state, to strengthen its intelligence dragnet to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of the heinous acts.

The statement read in part, “The Arewa Consultative Forum is shocked, grieved and sad with the news of the gruesome murder of Agom Adara.

“This cruel act of the abductors was barbaric, despicable and offends the tenets of all religions and common decency. It is therefore condemned by all peace-loving people across the globe.

“The ACF once more calls upon the security agencies and the Kaduna State Government to strengthen its intelligence network and track down the perpetrators of the gruesome murder of the Agom Adara and many other innocent persons that were abducted and killed by these criminals and ensure that they are brought to book.

“We urge the government to not only strengthen its peace building process but also sustain it in order to ensure durable peace in the state.”

PUNCH