AFRICAN ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2014: NIGERIA COMES SECOND

 Nigeria Comes Second As South Africa Wins Tops Table

The gold medal in the female 4x100m relay race was not enough to push Nigeria ahead of South Africa in the medals table of the 2014 African Athletics Championship.

South Africa finished tops instead with ten gold, five silver and four bronze medals, while Nigeria finished second with eight gold, nine silver and seven bronze medals.

Kenya completed the top 3 with 7 gold, 8 silver and 10 bronze medals.

Congratulations to Team Nigeria!

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ALIKO DANGOTE DONATES N150MILLION TO FIGHT EBOLA IN NIGERIA

Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote has donated
N150million to help in the fight of the spread of the
Ebola virus in Nigeria.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Dangote
Foundation, Mrs Adhiambo Odaga announced this at
a media briefing at the Ministry of Health, Abuja on
Monday. She said the money will be available for the
establishment of an Ebola emergency operation
centre in Lagos.
“After bilateral discussion with the honourable
minister and his team, Dangote foundation has
funded the establishment of the Ebola emergency
operation in Lagos, that is being done through
grant from the foundation of just a little over
N150 million,” she said. Continue...
"The strategy that our chairman is deploying is
the strategy to respond and to commend
government for the effort, and to show that all
Nigerians are concerned. We will continue to
discuss with the ministry about what additional
support can be offered.
“And we also have been approached by several
parties who are interested in partnering with the
government, and we would continue that
discussion.”
Odaga relayed Dangote’s call to all Nigerians to join
the federal government in the fight against Ebola,
expressing optimism that the disease would be
contained.
“The choice of the emergency operation centre as
an investment for Dangote Foundation is based
on the fact that is the critical platform through
which the government is coordinating all that is
happening to ensure that the crisis is contained,”
she added.

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BOKO HARAM CRISIS: NIGERIA'S SOLDIERS' WIVES PROTEST

Boko Haram crisis: Nigeria soldiers' wives protest
Government troops are trying hard to defeat the well-armed insurgents

"The wives of Nigerian soldiers have protested against their husbands being sent to fight militant Islamist group 'Boko Haram", a demonstrator has said.

The protest which was at the main military barracks in north-eastern Maiduguri city came as the government vowed to re-take Gwoza town from the militants.

Hundreds of people were killed when Boko Haram seized Gwoza last week, the area's senator, Ali Ndume, said.

Boko Haram is fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria.

The BBC's Abdullahi Kaura Abubakar in the capital, Abuja, says he understands that about 100 women protested at the Giwa barracks in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.

'Throat slit'

It is the latest sign of growing dissatisfaction with the military top brass, he says.

Soldiers have repeatedly complained Boko Haram has superior firepower and they are in position to confront the militants.

In May, some soldiers opened fire on their commander, Maj-Gen Ahmed Mohammed, at Maiduguri's Maimalari barracks, blaming him for the killing of their colleagues by Boko Haram fighters.


Who are Boko Haram?
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has been designated a terrorist by the US government
Founded in 2002
Initially focused on opposing Western education - Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language
Launched military operations in 2009 to create an Islamic state
Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria - but also attacks on police and UN headquarters in capital, Abuja
Some three million people affected
Declared terrorist group by US in 2013

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NIGERIA: HOW LAGOS NURSING MOTHER GOT INFECTED WITH EBOLA VIRUS - DOCTOR

A medical doctor has described how a nursing mother who is one of the confirmed cases of the Ebola virus in Lagos contracted the disease while attending her antenatal care at First Consultant Hospital in Obalende, Lagos where the first victim of Ebola virus in Nigeria, Patrick Sawyerr, died. The lady was confirmed to have the deadly disease after testing positive at the NNPC staff clinic on Muri Okunola street in the Victoria Island area of Lagos.

Speaking anonymously with Punch, the doctor said;
'The lady attended ante-natal at First Consultant prior to the arrival of the Liberian, Mr. Patrick Sawyer. She was delivered of her baby at the hospital after which she was discharged. A few weeks later, Mr. Sawyer came around and was attended to by health workers. He was first treated for malaria, then typhoid, before there was high index of suspicion. He tested positive for Ebola and died. Then the woman, who gave birth at the hospital came back to the hospital for her baby’s immunization. The nurses who attended to Sawyer also attended to her. When she visited the place again last week, she discovered the place had been shut down for proper fumigation as a means of control against Ebola.” he said. Continue...

Seeing that the hospital has been shut down, the lady who had started showing signs of fever proceeded to the NNPC staff clinic which was close by.
'She was first treated for Malaria. However, after some medical tests, there was a high suspicion of Ebola haemorrhagic fever. On Friday, the Lagos State’s emergency response team on Ebola virus came around and took her to the Infectious Diseases Hospital,” he added.

The management of the hospital after confirming she had the deadly virus immediately shut down the hospital indefinitely.


Confirming the doctor's report, the Medical Officer of Health, Iru-Victoria Island Local Council Development Area, Dr. Wale Akeredolu, said the woman's baby has been quarantined and is under surveillance
“The baby has also been quarantined to see if after the incubation period of two to 21 days, she would manifest the symptoms of Ebola.” he said

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NIGERIA: EFCC ARRESTS TWO BANKERS FOR N661MILLION FRAUD

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested two bankers for allegedly stealing the sum of N661,000,000 (six hundred and sixty one million Naira) from their employers.
The duo, Samuel Obende, a Branch Manager, and Rabiu Alhasan Dawaki, Head of Operations, both of the Bello Road Cash Center of Union Bank Plc in Kano, abused their positions to perfect the heist. They were saddled with the responsibility for the evacuation and supplying of cash to about seventeen branches of the bank in Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, and Jigawa States. Continue...

In the course of carrying out their duties, they fraudulently conspired and stole the sum N661, 000, 000 (six hundred and sixty one million Naira only).
In an effort to conceal the illegal act, they fabricated accounting entries, which deceitfully showed that all the monies were sent to the respective branches.
Investigation into the fraud continues.

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EBOLA: NIGERIANS BEG OBAMA TO GIVE INFECTED LAGOS NURSE THE VACCINE

Nigerians on different social media platforms on Saturday asked President Barack Obama to give a vaccine, ZMapp, being developed in the United States to treat a Nigerian nurse, Justina Ejelonu, reportedly infected with Ebola.

 On such websites as Facebook and Twitter, the petitioners begged Obama to release the vaccine to Ejelonu and other Africans suffering from the virus. The petitions were made on the White House website. Ejelonu, who is one of those that were infected with the Ebola virus after treating the Liberian victim, Patrick Sawyer, has said she did not have direct contact with Sawyer’s body fluids. The deadly virus, which leads to death in humans within days from infection, is transmitted through sweat, urine, blood, and other fluids from the body. Ejelonu recounted her encounter with Sawyer in a report on a website, www.southeastnigeria.com.

 According to the website, she said she had checked his vitals and helped him with food because he was too weak, and that the mode of transmission could be from touching the same surfaces as the Liberian. She said, “I never contacted his fluids. I checked his vitals, helped him with his food (he was too weak). I basically touched where his hands touched and that’s the only contact — not directly with his fluids. “At a stage, he yanked off his infusion and we had blood everywhere on his bed. But the ward maids took care of that and changed his linens with great precaution. Every patient is treated as high-risk. If it were air borne, by now wahala for dey (there would have been trouble). I still thank God.” Ejelonu added that the workers’ uniforms and Sawyer’s bedding were burnt afterwards, saying the staff were under surveillance and off-duty till August 11. She said, “Our samples have long been taken by the World Health Organisation and so far, we have been fine. Kudos to my hospital management because we work professionally with every patient considered as high-risk — that’s the training.” The health worker noted that if it were a public hospital, the outcome might have been different, adding that she was however grateful to the Lagos State Government and the Federal Government for their support.

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BRITISH AIRWAYS AWARDS CERTIFICATE TO SIX NIGERIAN STUDENTS

Six Nigerian aviation students have returned
home from the UK after successfully
completing the inaugural British Airways’
Leaders of Tomorrow programme, an
internship aimed at promoting excellence in
Nigerian aviation.
The two-week internship included spending a
week with the airline’s commercial team in
Lagos and another visiting various
departments from engineering to revenue
management at its head office, Waterside in
the United Kingdom.
It culminated with Keith Williams, British
Airways’ chief executive, presenting the six
undergraduate students of Nigeria College of
Aviation Technology (NCAT) with global
airline aviation training certificates. They are
Zaria, Abimbola Caulcrick, Fajemisin Peter
Adebola, Adachie Eneojo, Banigo Michael,
Ubong George Itok, and Ogunranti Olaluwa.
Speaking during the presentation, Williams
said the British Airways Leaders of Tomorrow
programme celebrates the aspirations of
young aviation students who represent the
future of aviation in Nigeria. He commended
the winners for their outstanding
performance during the training in Nigeria
and United Kingdom.
“We embarked on the Leaders of Tomorrow
initiative because we recognise how
important a robust and well-run aviation
sector is for any economy and particularly
one with as much potential as Nigeria. We
hope that the knowledge, expertise and
experience we were able to pass on to these
students will contribute to in some small way
to the future of Nigerian aviation,” he said.
Fajemisin Peter, one of the winners who
spoke on behalf of the others after receiving
their certificates, expressed his delight at the
training and thanked British Airways for its
determination to implement the programme:
“On behalf of all the winners, we want to
express our appreciation to British Airways
for doing this for Nigeria. This internship
gave us access to extensive and professional
aviation training, covering both theory and
practice and which was championed by
experts. With what we have learned
throughout the programme, I can confidently
say that we will be going back to promote
excellence in the Nigeria aviation sector.”

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DEADLY EBOLA VIRUS SPREAD TO NIGERIA BY PLANE AND SIERRA-LEONE LOOK FOR KIDNAPPED PATIENT

The Ebola virus that has already killed 660 people across West
Africa has spread to Nigeria after a Liberian man boarded a
plane to the country, the most populous in the continent.
He managed to board the flight despite of having a high fever.
Once on the plane he vomited, before dying in Nigeria.
Upon arrival in the country’s capital Lagos - a megacity home
to 21 million people - the 40-year-old had been moved to an
isolation ward.
Believed to be a government official with the finance ministry,
he had recently lost his sister to Ebola in Liberia, health
officials there said. Authorities are now investigating anyone
who may have come into contact with him.
Nigerian health minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said it was the first
case of Ebola to be confirmed in Nigeria since the start of the
current outbreak in the region. The disease has already hit
Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, infecting 1,093.
In Sierra Leone, officials are hunting the first known resident of
the capital Freetown to test positive for the disease after the
family of the woman forcibly removed her from a hospital in the
city.
Saudatu Koroma, 32, a resident of the densely populated
Wellington neighbourhood, had been admitted to an isolation
ward while blood samples were analysed, health ministry
spokesman Sidi Yahya Tunis. The results came back on
Thursday.
“The family of the patient stormed the hospital and forcefully
removed her and took her away,” Tunis said. “We are searching
for her.”
Fighting one of the world's deadliest diseases is straining the
region's weak health systems, while a lack of information and
suspicion of medical staff has led many to shun treatment.
According to health ministry data and officials, dozens of
people confirmed by laboratory tests to have Ebola are now
unaccounted for in Sierra Leone, where the majority of cases
have been recorded in the country's east.
There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola, which causes diarrhea,
vomiting and internal and external bleeding. It can kill up to 90
percent of those infected, although the mortality rate of the
current outbreak is around 60 percent.
The West African outbreak is the first time that Ebola, which
was first discovered in what is now Democratic Republic of
Congo in 1976, has appeared in heavily populated urban areas
and international travel hubs.

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