The dead has been announced of the former Minister of Women affairs, Aisha Alhassan.
Alhassan, who was popularly known as ‘Mama Taraba’, died from an unknown illness.
She was a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) before defecting to the United Democratic Party (UDP) in September 2018.
She decamped after resigning from the Buhari administration
The deceased battled a protracted illness in her last years.
Alhassan contested the Taraba 2015 governorship election under the Platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) but lost to incumbent Governor Darius Ishaku, who ran under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Shortly after her loss, President Muhammadu Buhari named her Minister of Women Affairs.
However, she left under controversial circumstances as the APC failed to clear her for the 2019 gubernatorial election.
… As New report Sounds Alarm On Global Shortage Of 900,000 Midwives
The 2021 State of World’s Midwifery report by UNFPA has revealed that, there are shortage of 900,000 midwives globally. Fully investing in midwives by 2035 would avert roughly two-thirds of maternal, newborn deaths and stillbirths, saving 4.3 million lives per year.
According to the report , Millions of lwomen and newborns are lost, and millions more experience ill health or injury, because the needs of pregnant women and skills of midwives are not recognized or prioritized.
The report reads in parts; “The world is currently facing a shortage of 900,000 midwives, which represents a third of the required global midwifery workforce. The COVID-19 crisis has only exacerbated these problems, with the health needs of women and newborns being overshadowed, midwifery services being disrupted and midwives being deployed to other health services. “These are some of the key takeaways from the 2021 State of World’s Midwifery report by UNFPA (the UN sexual and reproductive health agency), WHO (World Health Organization), International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) and partners, which evaluates the midwifery workforce and related health resources in 194 countries. “The acute shortage of midwives is exacting a terrible global toll in the form of preventable deaths. An analysis conducted for this report, published in the Lancet last December, showed that fully resourcing midwife-delivered care by 2035 could avert 67 per cent of maternal deaths, 64 per cent of newborn deaths and 65 per cent of stillbirths. It could save an estimated 4.3 million lives per year.”
The report of continued; “Despite alarms raised in the last State of the World’s Midwifery report in 2014, which also provided a roadmap on how to remedy this deficit, progress over the past eight years has been too slow. The analysis in this year’s report shows that, at current rates of progress, the situation will have improved only slightly by 2030. “Gender inequality is an unacknowledged driver in this massive shortage. The continued under-resourcing of the midwifery workforce is a symptom of health systems not prioritizing the sexual and reproductive health needs of women and girls, and not recognizing the role of midwives – most of whom are women – to meet these needs. Women account for 93 per cent of midwives and 89 per cent of nurses. “Midwives do not just attend births. They also provide antenatal and postnatal care and a range of sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning, detecting and treating sexually transmitted infections, and sexual and reproductive health services for adolescents, all while ensuring respectful care and upholding women’s rights. As numbers of midwives increase, and they are able to provide care in an enabling environment, women’s and newborns’ health improves as a whole, benefitting all of society. “For midwives to achieve their life-saving and life-changing potential, greater investment is needed in their education and training, midwife-led service delivery, and midwifery leadership. Governments must prioritise funding and support for midwifery and take concrete steps to include midwives in determining health policies”. However, the President of the International Confederation of Midwives , Dr. Franka Cadée, said that, “As autonomous, primary care providers, midwives are continually overlooked and ignored. It’s time for governments to acknowledge the evidence surrounding the life-promoting, life-saving impact of midwife-led care, and take action on the SoWMy report’s recommendations. ICM is committed to leveraging the strength of our global midwife community to carry forward these powerful findings and inspire country-level change. However, this work is not possible without commitment from decision makers and those with the resources to invest in midwives and the quality care they provide to birthing women.” Similarly, the UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Natalia Kanem, stated that, “The State of the World’s Midwifery report sounds the alarm that currently the world urgently needs 1.1 million more essential health workers to deliver sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn and adolescent health care, and 80 per cent of these missing essential health workers are midwives. While adding that, a capable, well-trained midwife can have an enormous impact on childbearing women and their families – an impact often passed on from one generation to the next. At UNFPA, we have spent more than a decade strengthening education, enhancing working conditions and supporting leadership roles for the midwifery profession. We have seen that these efforts work, but they need greater investment.” Meanwhile, the WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, added that, “Midwives play a vital role in reducing the risks of childbirth for women all over the world, but many have themselves been exposed to risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. We must learn the lessons the pandemic is teaching us, by implementing policies and making investments that deliver better support and protection for midwives and other health workers. This report provides the data and evidence to support WHO’s longstanding call to strengthen the midwifery workforce, which will deliver a triple dividend in contributing to better health, gender equality and inclusive economic growth.”
A combined team of security operatives night killed about eight suspected militants of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) while repelling an attack on the Orlu Divisional Police headquarters in Imo State, on Thursday.
Newsfocusng gathered that the security operatives also recovered seven vehicles the attackers came in for the operation.
The incident is coming less than 24 hours after Abutu Yaro, the new police commissioner, assumed duty.
The gun duel between security operatives and the attackers lasted several hours as the military sent reinforcement from the 34 artillery brigade, Obinze, in Owerri, the state capital.
Residents of Orlu and its environs were in panic mode while the gun duel lasted.
“We slept with our hearts in our hands last night,” a resident of the area, who preferred not to be mentioned, told our correspondent.
The gunmen allegedly set ablaze an Armoured Personnel Carrier at Umuna junction in Orlu town.
Our correspondent couldn’t reach the Police Spokesperson in the state, Orlando Ikeokwu at the time of filling this report but a police source confirmed the incident.
He said the corpses of the hoodlums and their vehicles had been brought to the state police headquarters in Owerri.
Armed men overran the police headquarters in April and set many detainees free.
The Service Chiefs on Thursday told senators the challenges confronting them as they battle to halt the worsening insecurity in the country.
They gave the disclosure while briefing the Senate during an Executive Session on how they are grappling with lack of adequate equipment and low capacity.
The closed session which lasted for about four hours, enabled the military and security chiefs to exchange ideas with senators.
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Lucky Irabor, Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Ibrahim Attahiru, Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo and Acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Alkali Baba Usman attended the session.
Others are the Directors-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) Maj-Gen S.A. Adebayo, and Directorate of State Services (DSS), Yusuf Magaji Bichi.
It was learnt that the CDS briefed the Senate on behalf of the Service chiefs, while the IGP and heads of intelligence agencies elaborated on the internal security crises.
Sources said the capacity problem of the Air Force, which lacked fighting assets until the Buhari government started buying equipment was listed.
The senators were also told that the Air Force lacked trained pilots until the recent acquisition of fighter jets. Training of pilots also recently resumed.
The Air Force is expecting the delivery of Tucano fighter jets ordered by the government in July to boost its operational capacity.
The senators also learnt of the capacity problem the army suffered after former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on assumption of office in 1999, retired all officers who had served in political positions.
It took the army a long time to get out of the effect of this action, because some of the brightest officers who were retired could not transfer their knowledge before exiting service.
The financing of the multi-faceted battles the military is fighting and the lack of funding for the police were also discussed, it was learnt.
Senate spokesman Ajibola Basiru spoke on what transpired when he briefed reporters after the meeting.
Basiru said: “Today (yesterday) the Senate played host to the key leadership of the Nigerian security apparatus.
“The Chief of Defence Staff who led the Service Chiefs, that is, the Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff and the Chief of Air Staff and the Director of Defence Intelligence, the DG of National Intelligence Agency, the Director General of SSS and, of course, the Inspector-General of Police.
“At an executive session, they briefed the Senate comprehensively on the state of security in the country, analysis of the various operations and theatre of activities that they are engaged in, the topography across the six geopolitical zones, the complexities and the challenges that are being faced and ways by which they believe the parliament can work together with the Executive and the heads of security agencies to ensure we rein in the atmosphere of insecurity and ensure a long-lasting peace and security for our country.
“The Senate leadership expressed our gratitude for their forthrightness, for their being very open to us and we are committed to ensuring that all necessary legislative and appropriation support is given to all the relevant agencies as may be subsequently requested. I think that is what transpired in summary at the closed session.”
According to Basiru; “We did not talk about money. We did not talk about figure. We had a high-level discussion on general challenges and requirements for us to have an efficient and effective security.
“The details of whatever will go into supplementary appropriation can only be worked upon by the ministry of finance, which is an Executive arm together with our relevant Committee and such are not matters that we will go into details.
“Of course, everybody know that security is a serious matter for which you cannot take with levity when it comes to ensuring appropriate appropriation for that. We are ready to receive supplementary budget.
“We don’t have any doubt that there is synergy among the various security agencies. In fact, from the nature of the briefing that we received, it reassured us as elected representatives of the people that there is indeed a synergy.
“In any event, even the success that has been made which we were apprised of is like security is something you only feel the impact when there are breaches.
They continued ; “Nobody will give you credit for security situations you have been able to address and attended to. For instance, we have a tremendous status quo report that a lot had gone into stemming the tide of insecurity in Nigeria.
“Perhaps, if not for that synergy and the efforts that have gone in terms of operationalising and putting the Nigerian security organisation, particularly the Air Force in proper shape, perhaps we would have being in a more terrible situation.
“So, the story is about how far we have gone but then there is room for improvement and we are committed to that improvement.
On whether the Senate is satisfied with the plan of the security agencies to ensure security in the country going forward, Basiru said: “After listening to the briefings, I personally became upbeat that a lot of work had gone into addressing the problem of insecurity and from the various perspectives that were brought into the discussion which is very frank, clear and without any form of duplicity, it became very clear that Nigerian security agencies are not only looking at the internal dimension of the challenge we have, we look at all ramifications both in terms of the political context, economic context and international context to the development. There were even perspectives as to what happened recently in Chad.
“So it was a very thorough discussion and I also believe that the forthrightness of the leadership of the security agencies showed the seriousness that they attached to that duties.
“So, I believe that going forward, the confidence has been built between the security chiefs on one hand and the Nigerian parliament on the other hand and that would be a good signal of what we expect in the future.”
Experts have identified hand hygiene as an effective and cheap way to prevent infections in Nigeria especially at the point of care.
They made this public when Federal Medical Center (FMC), Jabi in collaboration with Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), commemorates World Hand Hygiene Day!, in Abuja.
The global campaign slogan is ‘Seconds save lives – clean your hands’ with the global theme for 2021 is ‘Achieving hand hygiene at the point of care’.
Speaking during the campaign, the Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu said hand hygiene is very effective and cheap way of preventing spread of infectious diseases.
The DG who was represented by Dr Chinwe Ochu at the occasion said it is imperative spread of infectious diseases at the point of care. She lamented that some health care workers have lost their lives over being infected at point of care, which is unacceptable.
” We should all be committed to zero infection at the point of care and the only way we can achieve this is through hand hygiene. And NCDC is committed and cannot do it alone. All hand must be on desk in order to achieve this”, he said.
Also, Chairperson of the Infection Prevention Control Committee, (IPCC), Dr Nkolika Uwaezuoke said the save lives: clean your hands annual global campaign was launched in 2009 by the world health organization as part of a major global effort to improve hand hygiene. She said that the campaign is celebrated annually on the 5th of May and has come to be known globally as the “world hand washing day”
“The main aim of this campaign is to maintain global promotion, visibility and sustainability of hand hygiene within the healthcare settings and to bring people together in support of hand hygiene improvement around the world, adding that the hand care hygiene day therefore focuses on the importance of improving hand hygiene within the health setting”.
Meanwhile, Prof. Sa’ad Ahmed, the Medical Director of FMC, Jabi, in his address at the occasion said issues of infectious diseases is a major concern to the whole world and therefore it is imperative for all hands to be on desk to prevent spread of diseases by making hand hygiene a priority.
According to him, “The whole essence of this campaign is to create awareness the importance of hand hygiene.
” Most infectious diseases are transmitted by hand. From the point of care , there is a circle of transmission of infectious Diseases and it is imperative to break the circle by simple things like hand hygiene. We must stop the transmission by having the highest hand hygiene”.
The Federal Government has hinted that it expected to raise about $250 million from the private sector to float it proposed national carrier, which is now at the stage of procurement phase.
This was made known by the Ministry of Aviation in a publication titled, ‘Status of the Road Map/PPP Projects’.
The publication stated that the next steps would involve the commencement of procurement phase by placing adverts for request for qualification in the national dailies and foreign media.
The federal government explained that the establishment of a national carrier would enable Nigeria gain optimal benefits from Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA), take full advantage of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) and introduce competition, leading to competitive fares and services as well as to generate employment.
“The national carrier project will be private sector driven, with government holding not more than five per cent of the shares. The private sector consortium may comprise reputable international airlines, such as Qatar Airways, leasing companies, aircraft manufacturers (OEMS), financial and institutional investors,” the publication stated.
It noted that government would provide the required support by creating enabling environment in terms of sustainable policies, allocation of BASA, routes provision, financial guarantees and ensuring fiscal incentives to sustain the success of the airline.
Government explained that the project development phase has been completed with the development of the outline business case (OBC) and subsequent issuance of compliance certificate by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), adding that the next step would be placement of request for qualification (RFQ) in local and international media.
Speaking on aircraft leasing company, the federal government said the leasing company would provide leasing opportunities for Nigerian and African airlines in order to boost fleet size; alleviate the problems of aircraft leasing and the attendant high insurance premium charges.
“The aircraft leasing company has been structured as a joint venture between the government and the private sector and its business objectives will be to initially lease aircraft from international lessors and subsequently sub-lease to African airlines and in the future acquire and own its aircraft.
“Government is considering providing financial guarantee and ensuring fiscal incentives to facilitate the success of the leasing company,” the Ministry said.
Government also said it is at advanced stage in the procurement phase and that a preferred partner has been selected and negotiations would soon commence, adding that the next move would be to commence negotiations with the preferred bidder.
On airport concession, the federal government said the concession of the four major airports in Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt would help fast-track, upgrade and enhance their operational efficiency, profitability and reposition them to operate competitively.
“The project is being structured as a terminal concession under Public, Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement between the government and the private sector, were the private investor will be required to upgrade, manage and operate the airport terminals over the concession period,” the Ministry of Aviation said.
On the status of project development, government said the development phase has been completed with the development of the Outline Business Case (OBC) and subsequent issuance of compliance certificate by the ICRC.
The next step on airport concession would be placement of request for qualification for local and international media.
These three major projects were what the President Muhammadu Buhari said his administration would accomplish in the aviation sector.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Thursday handed over the Port Harcourt Refineries Companies (PHRC) to the contractor, Tecnimont SPA for its rehabilitation.
The Group Managing Director, Malam Mele Kyari made this known at the kick off meeting of the rehabilitation of PHRC in Port Harcourt Thursday said, “We shall from time to time visit to see the progress of work outside, and sooner than later we shall come on to commission the work.”
Kyari, who was represented at the occasion by the Chief Financial Officer, Mr Umar Ajiya, added that, “We will support all that is necessary to be done to expedite the rehabilitation, we are ready to support your contract to secure the necessary approvals internally within Nigeria.”
PHRC operates two refineries; the old refinery with a nameplate capacity of 60,000 barrels per stream day (bpsd) and new refinery with an installed capacity of 150,000 bpsd making it 210,000bpsd crude processing capacity.
“This is the most transparent contract and we expect the contractor to be excellent with the work. We expect 90 percent operational values after the rehabilitation of the refineries in production capacity, ” he added.
Earlier, the Chief Operating Officer, Refineries and Petrochemicals, NNPC, Mustapha Yinusa Yakubu, said that what happened on April 6, 2021 was the signing of the Engineering, procurement and Construction (EPC) but the kick off meeting signified the beginning of the rehabilitation of the refinery.
According to him, out of the 3000 expected employees for the project, only 70 expatriates are expected to be engaged, the rest will be Nigerians.
Managing Director PHRC, Dikko Ahmed, said host communities remained major stakeholders in the project.
Masu Alberto, the representative of the contractor, Technimont SPA said that the journey started in 2017 with an integrity test of the refinery.
Federal Government has set up a panel to probe the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, made this known in a statement on Thursday.
We had earlier reported how Hadiza Bala Usman was suspended as Managing Director of the authority.
An aide of Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation, had disclosed this to our correspondents, saying it had not been made official at the time.
Another source in the Transport ministry which supervises NPA, hinted that there has been no love lost between the Minister, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, and Usman in recent times.
The source, who is also an aide to the Minister, said Amaechi has been worried over the overbearing nature of Usman.
“Yes, the MD was suspended earlier on Thursday but the minister will give full details on Friday.
“The minister and some members of staff of the ministry are presently in Jos for a programme and he is scheduled to brief the press on the issue.
But in his statement, Shehu said Buhari had approved a panel of inquiry on NPA and directed Usman to step aside.
The statement read, “President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the recommendation of the Ministry of Transportation under Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi for the setting up of an Administrative Panel of Inquiry to investigate the Management of the Nigerian Ports Authority.
“The President has also approved that the Managing Director, Hadiza Bala Usman, step aside while the investigation is carried out. Mr Mohammed Koko will act in that position.
“The panel is to be headed by the Director, Maritime Services of the Ministry while the Deputy Director, Legal of the same ministry will serve as Secretary. Other members of the panel will be appointed by the minister.”
The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has revealed that when 29 students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna State, were abducted, the plan was to attack and kill the bandits even if it meant some students would die in the process.
He added that Kaduna is currently at war and such would only be considered as collateral damage, a price he would be willing to pay instead of paying ransom
The governor said before this could be done, the bandits hurriedly changed location which led to the students spending over a month in captivity.
He said this on Thursday during a webinar organised by the Africa Leadership Group.
The event which was tagged: ‘Developing a Viable Nation 2’ was hosted by Pastor of Trinity House Church, Ituah Ighodalo.
While responding to a question on his refusal to negotiate with bandits, the governor said, “Two days after the abduction of the Afaka young people, I was assured by the air force and the army that they knew where the kidnappers were with the students and they had encircled (them).
He stated that; “We were going to attack them. We would lose a few students but we would kill all the bandits and we would recover some of the students. That was our plan. That was the plan of the air force and the army… But they slipped through the cordon of the army. That is why they were not attacked.
“We know it is risky, we know in the process we may lose some of the abductees but it is a price we have to pay. This is war, there will always be collateral damage in war and we will rather do that than pay money because paying money has not solved the problem anywhere in the world.”
El-Rufai admitted that he had “lost weight” over the insecurity in Kaduna State which was giving him sleepless nights.
The governor, however, claimed that insecurity in Kaduna was not as bad as Niger, Katsina and Zamfara but the media only focused attention on his state because it fitted into their narrative of ethnic clashes.
El-Rufai said in Katsina and Niger states, entire villages were sacked by bandits but nothing of such happened in Kaduna.
On why he asked former President Goodluck Jonathan to negotiate with Boko Haram to rescue Chibok girls, the governor stated that he only gave that advice because that was the first time such abduction would take place.
He said Boko Haram is driven by an ideology and not by money in the case of today’s bandits.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) through its Education Secretariat on Thursday has said that schools in the nation’s capital are not shut as claimed by a report in one of the dailies.
Speaking on behalf of the administration, the Acting Secretary, Education Secretariat ,Malam Leramoh Abdulrazaq gave this assurance at a press conference in Abuja to allayed the fears of parents, guardians and stakeholders of the safety of their wards in FCT schools.
He said that the security challenges being experienced across the country has been utmost concern to the FCT Administration and has continue to put all efforts and strategies together to safeguard it’s Territory.
He further stated that, FCT Schools which resumed the third term academic session last month had been running smoothly with daily and intensive monitoring and inspection mechanism in place by it’s various departments mandated with such responsibilities.
His said; “No security breach has been recorded in FCT debunking the media reports that FCT Schools have been closed”.
Leramoh , however, stressed that in the face of emerging security challenges, the Education Secretariat has continued to strengthen it’s security personnel and surveillance with strict adherence to security tips and ensure conducive learning environment with full compliance to the COVID-19 protocols.
He therefore called on Parents Guardians and Stakeholders not to relent in complementing the Government efforts and Sustaining the various safety measures the FCT Administration has already put in place reminding them that security is everybody’s business.
He assured them of their ward’s safety under the Education Secretariat custody stressing that, FCT Schools remain safe with effective and efficient learning and teaching taking place unhindered.
Also speaking, the FCTA, Director of Security Services, Malam Adamu Gwary said the FCT Commissioner of Police met last week with other Heads of Security agencies to ensure that all those flashpoints of kidnappers are adequately deployed.
He added that, the FCT Minister , Malam Muhammad Musa Bello also assured the security agencies of support to adequately cover the flash points.
Fielding questions from newsmen on the issue of security in tertiary institutions, he said the Department has created a forum by which all Heads of Tertiary institutions meet regularly, we will now make it monthly to ensure adequate strategies particularly with reference to security in our tertiary institutions.
