Author: straightnewsng.com

Nigeria has recorded 220 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of confirmed infections in the country to 2,388. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control made this known via its Twitter handle on Saturday. It also announced that fatalities from coronavirus-related complications have increased to 85. A breakdown of data from the NCDC showed that 17 patients died of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours in Nigeria. The data also showed that no new state reported a case in the last 24 hours. It tweeted, “220 new cases of #COVID19: Lagos – 62, FCT – 52, Kaduna – 31, Sokoto…

The former Minister of State for Environment during the administration of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, Ime Okopido, is dead. Okopido, a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria is said to have died last week, a close family source confided in Straightnews. A close family source told Straightnews that until his death, he was living in his house, Ewet Housing Estate, Uyo. The deceased is survived by a wife, children and a brother- Ini Okopido, the state Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC). An indigene of Ikot Akpan Anwa in Ika local government area of Akwa Ibom State, he…

By Akanimo Sampson Significant levels of lockdown-related disruption over six months could lead to a projected seven million unintended pregnancies. It could also leave 47 million women in low- and middle-income countries unable to use modern contraceptives, and result in an additional 31 million cases of gender-based violence. These are the outcome of a new analysis by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and partners. Going by the analysis, a clear view of the toll of the COVID-19 pandemic is only beginning to take shape. But, experts estimate the human cost could be extraordinary. Without a doubt, the economic and…

By Akanimo Sampson Over the next six weeks, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is expecting to transport an equivalent of 37 Boeing 747 planeloads from China and Malaysia to 130 countries around the world. Once the service is fully up and running, as many as 350 cargo and another 350 passenger flights could fly every month. This is because the UN agency is setting up a logistics backbone for global COVID-19 efforts. This is happening as Nigeria’s zooming tally raced to 2,170 confirmed positive cases on Friday. The founder of DAAR Communications Plc, Raymond Dokpesi, and some of…

ExxonMobil has swung to a loss for the first quarter after a writedown of almost $3 billion (£2.4b) on the value of its oil reserves because of a collapse in US oil prices. The US oil company reported a loss of $610 million for the first quarter of the year following the outbreak of coronavirus, compared to a profit of $2.4 billion in the same months last year. The financial slump includes a $2.9 billion writedown to the value of its oil reserves after oil prices tumbled by more than 70% this year due to the sudden drop in demand…

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Akwa Ibom Council of Nigeria Labour Congress is deeply concerned about the dearth of medical personnel in the health-care system of the state. In particular, the state NLC is worried by one medical doctor to 16,000 patients’ ratio (1:16,000) in Akwa Ibom against the doctor-patient ratio of 1:1,000 recommended by World Health Organisation (WHO). Painting the gloomy picture of the health sector at Workers Solidarity Centre, Atan Offot, Uyo, Sunny James, the state NLC Chairperson, said the state health sector is plagued by a scarcity of essential staffers in all departments of the service. James who…

The Akwa Ibom Council of Nigeria Labour Congress may head on a collision course with the state government if what the union sees as “Illegal Deductions from Workers Salary/Over-taxation,” is not resolved. The state NLC Chairperson, Sunny James raised the red flag on Friday during the partial observance of 2020 International Workers’ Day in Akwa Ibom State with a few members owing to the social distancing order of the COVID-19 pandemic. James, a comrade in his five-page address said “We have confirmed that various amounts ranging from N700 to N7,000 were illegally deducted from the salaries of public servants in…

Henceforth, the use of face masks by persons in public places is compulsory in Akwa Ibom State. In a statewide radio and television broadcast on Saturday morning, Governor Udom Emmanuel who said he was adhering to the guidelines from the Federal Government further announced a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the state from 8 p.m to 6 a.m effective Monday, May 4. Emmanuel who announced the relaxation of some restrictions put in place as the government works to curtail the spread of coronavirus pandemic said: “markets will be opened three times a week (Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays) between 10 a.m to 4…

Nigeria has recorded 238 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 2,170. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control announced this via its Twitter handle on Friday. It also said that 10 persons died of coronavirus-related complications in the country on Friday. It tweeted, “On the 1st of May 2020, 238 new confirmed cases and ten deaths were recorded in Nigeria. No new state has reported a case in the last 24 hours. “Till date, 2,170 cases have been confirmed, 351 cases have been discharged and 68 deaths have been recorded in 34 states and…

The COVID-19 pandemic has marred the celebration of the 2020 International Workers’ Day globally owing to order for people to strictly observe social distancing as a way of curtailing spread of the virus. The day is in memory of the comrades who lost their lives in the Haymarket in Chicago, the United States during the struggle for an eight-hour working day in 1885 while COVID-19 burst in Wuhan, China in December 2019. In Akwa Ibom State, this year’s workers’ day was partially observed at Workers Solidarity Centre, Atan Offot, Uyo with less than 10 persons while Nigeria Labour Congress and…