Oppression buffet đ±
Hi,
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities announced that restrictions on flights from Nigeria and 11 other African countries imposed to âmanage the Omicron variant of COVID-19â will be lifted today! Yay!
In todayâs edition:
Nigeriaâs disease pallet is expanding
FG is taking on loan sharks and NLC is taking on FG
Delta state residents claim unfair electricity charges
Kano suspends all private schools
A coup has occurred in Burkina Faso
Nigeriaâs disease problem
Along with COVID-19, Nigeria is battling malaria, cholera and Lassa fever. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control confirmed that in the past 3 weeks, theyâd recorded 115 cases, 26 of whom died.
The NCDC says most people who get Lassa fever donât show symptoms, but those who do experience severe bleeding and organ failure.
They believe the disease spreads faster in the dry season, as infection numbers typically climb around the start of the year.
Thankfully, this one isnât very contagious from person to person (doesnât mean it canât happen o). Lassa virus is typically transferred to humans from the pee or poop of Mastomys rats. Usually through contaminated food and surfaces. Call your fumigator đ©
The NCDC has set up emergency response centres to address the increasing Lassa fever cases.
COVID update
Travelling soon from Lagos and needing your PCR COVID-19 test, or want to get quick test results? Want to get a single-dose vaccine soon? Then, the governmentâs got you.
The Lagos state says that from today, the cost of COVID tests in private clinics will reduce from N50,400 to 45,250. Also, the FG has bought more Johnson & Johnson vaccines to cater primarily to people in rural areas.
Fraud, corruption and everything ugly
Loan sharks vs FG
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) say theyâre working with the Nigerian police force to look into online loan platforms (loan sharks), some of which have been selling customersâ data.
In November 2021, NITDA partnered with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to address the increasing rates of data privacy abuse by money lending organisations.
In August last year, NITDA slammed a fine of N10 million on loaning platform Soko Loan. They were found guilty of invading usersâ privacy and illegally tampering with private data.
Electricity
The Guardian reports that some rural areas in Delta State are without electricity because Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) has assigned bills they consider too expensive to reflect their electricity usage accurately. As a result, they canât/wonât pay the bill, so the provider shut off their electricity supply.
The BEDC continues to use the estimated billings system to give them high, seemingly unreasonable electricity charges.
The estimated billing system is when the electricity company guesses how much youâve been using and gives you a bill based on their discretion.
Guardian reports that many people in these areas have applied for prepaid meters, but BEDC claims the FG has halted distribution.
Delta State Commissioner for Energy, Mr Jonathan Ukodhiko, suggested that BEDC at least provide one meter in every community- let them sort out a structure themselves.
But the BEDC Corporate Communications Officer in Asaba, Delta State, Mrs Esther Okwuodima Okolie, said they are focused on the cities for now. She said can appeal unfair charges if they want.
Petrol
The Nigerian government has suspended the petrol subsidy removal âindefinitelyâ. Reason? They have ârealisedâ the timing is âproblematicâ, and it will worsen the suffering of Nigerians.
This decision is the foundation of their latest consideration to expand the 2022 national budget.
According to the Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, N3 trillion is the amount required to continue to subsidise petroleum products for the extension. Right now, they have N443 billion.
The Nigerian Governorsâ Forum (NGF) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) disagree. They think that the historical and recent petrol balance sheet isnât balancing.
They accused the NNPC of mismanagement of funds and have decided to work together to investigate the NNPCâs budget claims.
The Peopleâs Democratic Party (PDP) also want in on the investigation action.
Unrelated but not really: Nigeria was ranked 154th of 180 countries on the corruption perception rating in 2021. In 2015, Nigeria was ranked 136th; 136th in 2016; 148th in 2017; 144th in 2018; 146th in 2019, and 149th in 2020.
More on the FG failing citizens
Countering LASEMAâs claim that no one died, evidence confirms that at least 46 people were killed in the 21-storey building that collapsed on Gerard Road, Ikoyi on the 1st of November 2021.
One survivor, a labourer at the site, was interviewed in one of the hospital where he was recuperating. According to him, the building engineer caused the calamity.
âI was working with my colleague. I have been told not to tell anybody. That day, we were working on the first floor, Engineer Kola and Engineer Ola told us there is one pillar on the first floor, the pillar was cracked, the engineers told us to break the pillar so that they could fix another pillar there because the pillar is really big they have confidence that nothing would happen to the pillar if they set another one. Suddenly we heard a noise, the thing (pillar) started to shake, I and Monday (another labourer) ran when we saw that the pillar was starting to shake. When I was running, I fell down I was struggling to come outâ
Hanifa Abubakarâs death compels the government to do their job
Last week, we reported the story of Hanifa Abubakar, a 5-year-old who was kidnapped and murdered by Abdulmalik Tanko, her teacher at Noble Kids Academy in Kano. Since the case broke, everyone from Buhari to the Kano state government has weighed in.
Following the teacherâs arrest, the Kano state government has decided to withdraw all private schoolsâ operational licences for revaluation.
The government intends to set up a special committee to recertify private schools based on categories they will decide.
Armed attackers invade THISDAY
Ten years after suicide bombers hit THISDAY offices in Abuja and Kaduna, some unknown attackers invaded the newspaperâs Abuja office in the early hours of Thursday.
Like the suicide bomber, the armed attackers came in through the back fence of the companyâs premises.
The companyâs private security said the attackers subjected everyone on duty, mostly the production staff members, to inhuman treatment â threatening to kill all of them if they attempted to alert policemen.
Victims said they left after about 45 minutes and vowed to come back again in the days ahead.
In the 2012 event, the suicide bomb killed 2 security staff.
Whatâs happening in Burkina Faso?
A coup has occurred in Burkina Faso. The army announced that they had overthrown the government to tackle the security situation.
The army said the takeover is âa decision taken to allow our country to get back on the right track and gather all its forces to fight for its territorial integrity, its role of the CEMA and its sovereigntyâ.
They promised that the president )and everyone else who had they had to arrest to achieve a successful coup) is being âdetained in a dignified mannerâ.
Meanwhile, Nigeriaâs Federal Government assures Nigerians that they are âworking to ensure peace in Zamfaraâ and âdoing all it canâ to rescue abducted school children.
Other news
The management of Dowen College in Lagos has announced the retirement of several of its principal officers including Olumide Phillips, the schoolâs founder (The Cable)
Nestle said they will start paying cocoa farmers cash if they send their children to school rather than out to tend crops as part of a push to purchase all of its cocoa through a fully traceable, directly sourced supply chain by 2025 (Reuters)
Nigerian police violated laws in awarding 10 contracts worth N3 billion contract to companies owned by the same person (Premium Times)
Buhari says he has given military order not do spare terrorists (Arise)
Early marriage and teen pregnancy preventing girls education in Akwa Ibom (Premium Times)