Dennis

  The World Health Organisation (WHO) said, on Monday, that the Omicron coronavirus variant carried a very high risk of infection as more countries closed borders, casting a shadow over economic recovery from the two-year pandemic.   A three-day special session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) kicked off on Monday to discuss pandemic preparedness and response, amid concerns about the spread of the new Omicron variant. The WHA normally meets in May but a special session was called for in a decision adopted by the WHO member states.   A draft resolution currently under review stops short of calling for the establishment of a “pandemic treaty” or a “legally binding instrument”, which proponents say would beef up the international response to pandemics.   The WHO, therefore, advised its 194-member nations that any surge in infections could have severe consequences, but said no deaths had yet been linked to the new variant.   “Omicron has an unprecedented number of spike mutations, some o

  Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that not only is the capacity of the public sector critical for national development, efficient civil service is also vital for the running of governance and for quality public service delivery.   Osinbajo stated this on Monday at the commissioning of the new multi-billion-naira civil service secretariat complex in Asaba, Delta State capital, which was named after the Asagba (traditional ruler) of Asaba, Prof. Chike Edozien.   Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, disclosed this in a statement titled, ‘An efficient civil service crucial for national development, governance–Osinbajo.’   The Vice President, who was received at the Asaba airport by the Delta State governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, noted that “the civil service is the very tip of the spear of governance, and optimal public service delivery requires an efficient civil service.   “Such a public service requires training, and capacity building b

  The Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim, has called on prospective corps members of the 2021 Batch ‘C’ Stream II Orientation Course in Lagos State to use the NYSC platform and social media to promote unity and attain greatness.   Ibrahim stated this on Monday during his visit to the NYSC Lagos Orientation Camp in Iyana-Ipaja.   He advised the corps members to shun criminal activities, saying their parents looked forward to seeing them becoming self-sufficient.   “Make use of the NYSC platform to attain great heights. You all have potentials and some of you will be great in life, but the road to get there is not easy, you need to show commitment and be diligent. Obey instructions, do not give your parents hypertension, and do not give us hypertension. Be careful of the social media, do not use it to promote disintegration, hatred and blackmail. Use it to promote national unity and to improve yourself,” he said.   Ibrahim also advised

Medical experts have warned that Nigeria risked travel bans with Canada’s detection of Omicron variant of COVID-19 in two travellers from Nigeria.   Virologists, including the  Chairman of the  Expert Review Committee on COVID-19, Professor Oyewale Tomori, who stated this in separate interviews with Newsmen, lamented that the variant of the virus in Nigeria was detected in Canada.   Tomori  berated the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control for its failure to coordinate genomic sequencing of samples of coronavirus obtained from laboratories across the country.   He said although there were laboratories, which could do the genomic sequencing of coronavirus  in Nigeria, the NCDC had been bypassing them and taking samples to South Africa.   It was gathered on Monday reported that the Canadian government announced that it detected  cases of the omicron variant from two travellers from Nigeria, which was through the genomics sequencing of the virus that the variant of the disease could be detec

  Nigeria and other African countries have sealed trade-related investment deals worth $42.1 billion at the recently concluded second Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF 2021) held in Durban, South Africa.   According to the latest tally released by the IATF Advisory Council, the figures captured additional data submitted by Trade Promotion Agencies of Algeria, Nigeria and South Africa.   Organised by African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), the African Union (AU) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, Council noted that the value of trade and investment deals was the outcome of more than 500 business deals concluded during the fair.   The organisers noted that IATF 2021 thus surpassed its pre-set target of $40 billion in trade and investment deals, going well beyond the $32 billion in transactions closed at the first edition in Cairo, Egypt in 2018.   The expected number of participants and exhibitors were also exceeded. Against a target of 1,100 exhibitors, IAT

The National Information and Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) have forged an alliance that could enable Nigeria to benefit from the yearly $4.7 trillion exportation of digital services.   This alliance is in line with the Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Pillar of the NITDA’s 2021-2024 Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP) recently launched.   This was made known during a press briefing hosted by the immediate past NEPC Executive Director, Segun Awolowo to commemorate the consolidation and partnership between the two organisations.   The NITDA Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa, who was represented at the event by the Acting Director, Corporate Planning and Strategy (CPS) Dr. Aristotle Onumo, said the partnership is aimed at facilitating the exportation of digital services, adding that more partnerships of this nature from the public and private sectors would bring out synergy, exchange of ideas and knowledge sharing among them.

  Report reaching Bayelsa Daily Online desk has it that Four suspected armed robbers are now cooling their heels at the Delta State  Police Command. Police Public Relations Officer, Bright Edafe, in a statement said the suspects were apprehended in Asaba on Sunday and 42  rounds of live ammunition and cartridges were recovered. His words “On November 26, 2021, the anti-crime patrol team attached to the Ekpan Police Station, while on a visibility patrol and stop and search, flagged down a motorcycle with three occupants by Benjonesin Hausa Market along the NPA Expressway, Warri. “The suspects alighted from the motorcycle and one of them surprisingly shot at the team. But the team was strategically positioned and returned same. “During the gun duel, one of the suspects, Yusuf Ibrahim, 27, was shot in his left foot, which brought him down. He was arrested along with the rider of the motorcycle, Hashimu Garba, 30, of Mami Market, Effurun, while the third suspect escaped.” Edafe said items

  Operatives of the Koluama division of the Bayelsa State Police Command have arrested a man identified as Richard Okon, for alleged possession of illegal firearms in Koluama 2 of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the State.   Bayelsa Daily Online gathered that the suspect, was apprehended by vigilant youths and  was  handed over to police while on his way to a burial ceremony in the area with high profile personalities expected to attend.    The suspect in a confessional video, claimed to be working with a nephew to Chief Security Officer to the Senator representing Bayelsa Central Senatorial.   Okon, who also claimed that the gun in his possession belonged to the nephew and he was asked to bring it to the venue of the burial ceremony before he was apprehended by  the  community boys  who accused of plotting to kill Chief Sele-epri Matthew, a prominent indigene of the area and Chairman of the eight host communities of Chevron Nigeria limited exploration activities in Southern Ija

Herdsmen have been warned  to abide by the existing anti-grazing law in Bayelsa State  or risk being arrested and prosecuted. State Deputy Governor,  Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, gave the warning at a meeting with the Chairman and members of the State Traditional Rulers Council in Government House, Yenagoa, on Thursday. Ewhrudjakpo said government had provided the enabling environment including designated grazing site at the Bayelsa and therefore would not tolerate any criminal act on the part of herdsmen. Responding to the concerns raised by the council on the influx of herdsmen into the state, the state number two citizen said government was aware and had put in place all necessary machinery to enforce the state anti-grazing law. Ewhrudjakpo maintained that government was taking  proactive measures to avoid any situation that is capable of causing violence and bloody clashes, as witnessed elsewhere in the country. On the proposed conference for traditional rulers in the state, the deputy go

The Bayelsa State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the weekend, received another batch of defectors from the opposition  of the All Progressives Congress (APC) The decampees from Agrisaba in Nembe Local Government Area led by Comrade Ebinabo Jumbo, explained that their decision to leave the APC for the PDP was largely informed by Governor Diri's disposition towards the unity and development of the state. Comrade Jumbo noted that in less than two years in office, the prosperity administration under Governor Diri had shown genuine commitment to good governance through its people-oriented policies, programmes and development projects in an unbiased manner. Another reason for their defection to the PDP, according to Jumbo, is that it has become crystal clear to them that the APC has no direction and vision for Bayelsa. The former APC stalwart said he and his teeming supporters worked for the party for several years and have realized that the APC only thrives on decept

  The mother of Princess Adeola Ogunwusi, daughter of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, has refuted the claims that the king raised her daughter as a single parent.   This comes as a response to the Ooni’s post on his official Instagram and Facebook pages when he celebrated Princess Adeola’s birthday on October 18, 2021.   It was earlier reported that Oba Ogunwusi stated that he raised Adeola after having the child at age 19.   However, Omolara Olatubosun, the mother of the child, has stated that Oba Ogunwusi was not present in the child’s life, especially in the first 10 years.   Olatubosun journalists that the only time the monarch saw their child after her birth was at a wedding.   She said, “The first time he saw the child was at the hospital after I had given birth. He came with a letter of apology and spent only about five minutes. He didn’t see her again until four years later.   “When she was four, he begged me to allow Adeola to be the flower girl at his sister’s w

  The Federal Government may deduct at least N2.4tn from the Federation Account to fund the N5, 000 cash palliative that will be handed over to 40 million poor Nigerians after the fuel subsidy has been removed next year.   This is just as Bayelsa Daily online learnt on Thursday that the list of poor Nigerians on the Federal Government’s National Social Register had surpassed 42 million and may hit 43 million by December, which implies that the figure to be spent on the subsidy palliative may hit N2.58tn in one year. Yunusa   Abdullahi,   the   Media   Adviser   to   the   Minister   of   Finance, Budget   and   National   Planning,   Zainab   Ahmed,   on the telephone on Thursday on how funds for the N5,000 palliative would be sourced, referred Newsmen to a statement by his principal after the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday.   In the statement, Ahmed noted that the funding would come from FAAC allocations. FAAC which is headed by the Minister of Finance, comprises Commi