Source: NAN

The Congo and World Health Organisation (WHO) have hit the outbreak of Ebola with quick response to contain the deadly disease.

I think with this rapid response we will be able to contain it, WHO emergencies director for Africa, Ibrahima Soce Fall, told the Media on Wednesday.

Very clearly the U.N. agency learned its lesson from the crisis, he added.

Ebola is endemic to Congo, a vast country whose eastern Ebola river gave the deadly virus its name when it was discovered there in the 1970s.

This is the ninth time Ebola has been recorded in Congo and comes less than a year after the last outbreak killed four people.

At least 17 people have died around the village near the northwestern town of Bikoro where the virus was detected this week, health officials said.

WHO is conducting an investigation to see how many people may have come in contact with the infected .

The organisation is prepared to use a new experimental vaccine if needed, said Fall.

Six months after an Ebola outbreak was confirmed in West Africa in March 2014, the World Health Organisation declared an international emergency and called for help.

The disease went on to ravage three countries and kill over 11,000 people.

On Tuesday, Democratic Republic of Congo confirmed two cases of the viral disease.

That same day, WHO helicoptered in a team of experts to the scene and released one million dollars in funding.

The agency was criticised for its slow response to the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, which was the largest in history.

In the past we didnt have this emergency system.

Its completely different, Fall said, adding that this response was also faster than that in Congo last year.

The cases were first reported on May 3, and medical teams supported by WHO and medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) went to take samples two days later.

That seems to me to be about as fast as you can reasonably expect, said Jimmy Whitworth, a specialist in epidemiology and public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Whitworth said the situation was worrying, but Congo may be better prepared to detect and manage Ebola than other countries since it has had more experience.

If people exposed to the disease are identified and quarantined rapidly, it can likely be contained in an isolated area, he added.

Bikoro lies not far from the banks of the Congo River, an essential waterway for transport and commerce.

It runs past capital Kinshasa and Brazzaville, capital of neighbouring Congo Republic. (Reuters/NAN)

Source: NAN

Source: NAN

By Sheila Offiong
The Royal school of Educational therapy foundation (RSETF) Abuja organised an art exhibition to celebrate the achievements of its students.

The foundation offers Educational therapy and related services for children and adults with developmental disabilities such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome, Dyslexia and Intellectual Disabilities.

The exhibition showcased the talents and intelligence of the children.

NANTV crew was at hand to capture the highlights of the event.

Source: NAN

By Muhammad Nasir Bashir

The Jigawa Primary Healthcare Development Agency (JSPHCDA) says it is targeting 1.6 million children for immunisation against polio in the state.

Dr Kabiru Ibrahim, the Executive Secretary of the agency, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Dutse on Sunday at the sideline of the ongoing exercise in the state.

Ibrahim said enough personnel had been engaged to conduct the exercise simultaneously across the 27 local government areas in order to ensure that all children under five years are immunised against the diseases.

He said the agency had received enough Oral Polio Vaccines (OPVs) from the Federal Government for the smooth conduct of the exercise.

The executive secretary said all necessary arrangements had been concluded for smooth conduct of the exercise.

Ibrahim sought the support and cooperation of traditional and religious leaders as well as other stakeholders towards the successful conduct of the exercise.

He urged parents to present their children for the immunisation at designated centres in their respective communities for the exercise.

He commended the traditional rulers, religious leaders and other stakeholders for their cooperation in ensuring the smooth conduct of the immunisation.

The executive secretary, who expressed satisfaction at the level of compliance by parents, also appealed to them to cooperate with immunisation officials for a hitch-free exercise.

I personally inspected the exercise in many centres and I was impressed with the level of turnout of children.

So far, the exercise is going on smoothly across the state.

We thanked all stakeholders for the successes recorded in the exercise so far, Ibrahim said. (NAN)

Source: NAN

A Los Angeles woman filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against Chris Brown and a fellow rapper, alleging she was repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted at Browns home during a drug- and alcohol-fueled party last year.

The woman, identified only as Jane Doe, said she was lured to the singers house following a concert at a nightclub on February 23, 2017 and was raped several times by Lowell Grissom, who performs under the name Young Lo.

She also alleges that another unidentified woman at the party assaulted her, forcing her into performing oral sex.

The assault was all the more gruesome, the lawsuit alleges, as the attacker identified as Doe X was menstruating at the time.

This is one of the most horrific cases involving alleged sexual assault that I have ever seen, Gloria Allred, one of three lawyers representing the woman, said in a statement.

Our client, Jane Doe, has been severely traumatized by what she was forced to suffer.

According to the lawsuit, following a concert at 1 Oak club in West Hollywood, the plaintiff and her roommate went to an after party where they met Grissom and Brown and had their phones confiscated.

The suit says that the plaintiff later ended up at Browns home as she was told by Grissom she could retrieve her cell phone at that location, where the party was continuing.

Our client alleges she was forced to go to Browns home because she perceived that she would only be able to retrieve her phone there, Allred said.

The lawsuit said that the 29-year-old rapper provided alcohol and drugs, including cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana, at his home.

He also gave each female guest a clear capsule filled with white powder and instructed them to take it to have a good time, the suit alleges, adding that the plaintiff refused to take the drug.

Wants justice for herself

The complaint says that at one point, the plaintiff was led to a bedroom where several women were having sex with Grissom and Brown.

Plaintiff refused to undress and made it clear that she did not want to engage in any sexual activity with anyone, according to the document.

It said that the plaintiff was subsequently repeatedly raped by Grissom and assaulted by Doe X. She was later allowed to leave the room by Doe X, who instructed her to take a shower.

Plaintiff looked in the mirror and was horrified to see that she was covered in Doe Xs blood because Doe X had been menstruating, the suit states.

It said the victim eventually was allowed to call a ride-sharing service and went to a rape treatment center and to the police where she reported the assaults.

She filed this lawsuit because she wants justice for herself, but she also wants to warn other young women about the potential danger to themselves if they have their phone taken away and if they go to Chris Browns house, Allred said.

Brown and Grissoms publicists could not be immediately reached for comment.

Contacted by AFP, Los Angeles police said there was no open investigation at this time regarding Chris Brown.

The pop star over the years has had several brushes with the law.

He was convicted in 2009 of beating fellow singer Rihanna, his then girlfriend, who was forced to miss the Grammy Awards that year.

In 2016, he was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon after a bizarre hours-long standoff with police in Los Angeles.

Source: NAN

By Busayo Onijala

Media personality, Tolu Oniru Demuren, popularly known as Toolz has launched a lingerie line for fuller-0bus- size women.

She said that the brand, Sablier, would cater for the needs of fuller bust women.

She disclosed this through her Instagram page @toolzo.

Toolz said in the post, super-excited to announce that I have launched Sablier- a premium lingerie line for fuller bust women.

It took a few years of blood, sweat and tears, but so thankful to God that its finally here.

Our sizes are from 34D and go up to 42J for now.

She also said that the prices of the products would be affordable.

Toolz got married to Tunde Demuren, a pilot, in May 2015.

Source: NAN

Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights!

Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights!

Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights!

Get up, stand up, dont give up the fight!

Preacher man, dont tell me

Heaven is under the earth

I know you dont know

What life is really worth

Its not all that glitters is gold

Alf the story has never been told

So now you see the light, eh!

Stand up for your rights. Come on!

The above excerpt from Bob Marleys song, `Stand up, Get up could not have been more propitious any other time than nowin a world replete with human rights abuses, racism, poverty among others.

No doubt, many reggae artists today draw their inspirations from the icon whose style of music continues to rub off on various genres of reggaeroots, rub-a-dub, ragamuffin, dancehall, lovers rock among others.

Bob Marley was the first third-world global superstar and the artist responsible for bringing reggae to mainstream audiences.

Marleys unforgettable music alone would have earned him a place in music history, but his status as a moral and religious compass to countless admirers and followers set him above many other such celebrities.

Robert Nesta Marley was born on Feb. 6, 1945 in Nine Mile, Saint Ann, Jamaica. His mother, Cedelia Booker, was an 18-year-old Jamaican girl and his father, the non-present Norval Sinclair Marley, was a much older white English sea captain.

Bob and his mother moved to the tough Trenchtown area of Kingstown when he was ten years old.

Music was already the focal point of Bobs life by the early 1960s. He was recording and playing gigs with friends Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh, and they were enjoying moderate success in Jamaica. Marley was also writing original songs. Johnny Nash had a minor hit with Bobs Stir it Up while Eric Clapton later had a much bigger one with I Shot the Sheriff.

Success outside of Jamaica for Bob Marley and the Wailers, as they were now styling themselves, finally came in the mid-1970s, with hits including No Woman No Cry, Exodus, Waiting in Vain, Jamming, and Is This Love.

But Marley was much more than a Rastafarian Dylan writing catchy songs about the pressing issues of his times. During the late 70s, Jamaica was an island undergoing immense social and political upheaval.

Bob used his considerable influence in an effort to promote peace and find a middle ground between rival political factions in his country. He was the victim of an assassination attempt for his troubles.

He traveled the world, not only as a touring musician, but also as a goodwill ambassador for Jamaica and the Rastafarian religion. In 1978, he made his first trip to Ethiopia, the spiritual home of Rastafari, and stayed on a settlement donated by Emperor Haile Selassie I.

Two years later, Bob Marley and the Wailers were invited to perform at the Zimbabwe Independence concert by the brand new nations brand new president. Bobs song Zimbabwe had been an anthem for the soon-to-be-ex-colony of Rhodesia.

Marley was a hero to countless Africans and was seen as an inspirational and unifying figure.

In 1977, Marley learned that he had a type of melanoma in one of his toes. His doctors recommended amputation, but Bob refused for religious reasons and instead simply had the toe nail and nail bed removed in hopes that would remove all the cancer. It didnt. The disease metastasized throughout his body.

In 1980, he agreed to seek a somewhat controversial treatment at the clinic of Dr. Josef Issels in Germany. Issels Combination Therapy, which has been labeled ineffective by the American Cancer Society, was indeed ineffective in Marleys case.

Bob wanted to die at home in Jamaica, but the trip back was too much for him. He passed away in a Miami hospital on May 11, 1981.

Bob Marleys death stopped Jamaica in its tracks. He was awarded the countrys Order of Merit, Jamaicas third highest honor, for outstanding contribution to his countrys culture.

The government provided him a state funeral ten days after his death as the Honorable Robert Nesta Marley O.M., with Prime Minister Edward Seaga and the Opposition Party Leader Michael Manley in attendance.

The streets were lined with countless thousands of mourners who watched Bobs funeral procession wind from Kingston to Marleys mausoleum in his birthplace of Nine Mile.

Bob Marley was laid to rest with a soccer ball, his Les Paul guitar, and a bud of marijuana.

Source: NAN

By Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma,
`Dont scatter your sand until you mold your blocks, is an adage employed recently by a foremost entrepreneur, Mrs Ibukun Awosika, to strongly tell female creative professionals to save money and create wealth for the rainy day.

The occasion was Women in Entertainment Wealth Management Series organised by FirstBank to educate and encourage women in the entertainment industry on the need to build wealth.

It was a gathering of celebrities such as Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Chioma Chukwuka Akpotha and Ufoma McDermott at the Victoria Crown Plaza on Victoria Island, Lagos.

FirstBank organised the event to serve as a tool to help the professionals to manage their incomes more effectively in peak and off peak seasons.

According to the bank, the event was borne out of the need for wealth creation and management, especially by the creative female professionals.

FirstBank says it seeks to provide the women with the principles of wealth management, investment and savings through its female proposition product, FirstGem.

FirstGem, an account designed specifically to meet financial needs of women was officially launched in December 2016.

It was designed to suit women from age 18 to achieve their financial goals and aspirations and encourage more women to save to be able to invest and build personal wealth.

Since the launch, the initiative has encouraged over 10,000 women to actively build a healthy savings culture, according to the organisation.

Awosika, the Chairman of First Bank Plc, sensitised participants at the Entertainment Wealth Management Series to the need to be disciplined to make a difference in their profession.

Awosika, also the Convener of the wealth management series, says wealth creation is about setting goals, priorities and right principles.

According to the entrepreneur, who spoke on The Anatomy and Mindset of Wealth, there is time and season for everything including time for savings and wealth creation.

Dont scatter your sand until you have molded your blocks, Awosika advises women.

She notes that FirstBank created FirstGem in recognition of the importance of women in driving socio-economic growth and change.

According to her, the initiative has encouraged more than 10,000 women to actively build a healthy saving culture.

The chairman is convinced that savings culture will lead to investment culture.

Awosika is of the opinion that investment culture will avert spending without planning.

She promises that FirstGem will also give access to soft loans (business and personal), annual medical and health programmes, and leadership trainings on women empowerment to be sponsored by First bank.

The entrepreneur emphasizes the need for women to separate needs from wants for enhanced wealth creation.

She urges that women should not engage in frivolities and should know that they cannot afford everything they want.

Even if you have all the money in the world and have not developed the habit of living within certain rules, you will still go broke.

This is why a footballer, basket baller and athlete can earn and accumulate millions of dollars but can still go broke, few years after retirement.

Plan for what you can see, dont plan on what you are expecting, Awosika urges.

Dr Remi Banjoko, Chief Executive Officer, dkbMarkets Ltd., who spoke on Roadmap to Wealth Creation,believes that wealth could be guaranteed by inheritance, ideas and right investment.

Banjoko is convinced that artistes can go bankrupt due to overspending, lack of finance knowledge, poor investment decision and hanging out unnecessarily.

According to him, 60 per cent of adults globally are financial illiterates.

Financial literacy is key for generational wealth, he says.

Banjoko lists seven steps to generational wealth to include knowing how to value money, control money, save money and invest money.

He says the others are knowing how to make money, shield money and share money through charity, mentoring and encouraging people.

He is of the opinion that prosperous people earn compound interest, while poor people pay compound interest.

On long-term investment, controlling and saving money, Banjoko advises investment in fixed income securities,stock market, currency market or foreign exchange market as well as commodity.

According to him, understanding ones investment risk is essential before embarking on any investment.

Banjoko advises investors to widen their investment across a variety of different asset classes and geographical regions by diversifying across shares, bonds andproperty, among others.

This, he believes, will reduce the impact of price change in any of the asset classes on the overall value of their investment portfolio.

He wants artistes to harness their expertise through other streams of income such as screen writing, creative content, establishing internet TV channels such as Iroko TV, establishing film production companies and branding.

One of the participants and a renowned actress, Mrs Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, says many entertainers are investors.

Most of us are investors and creative minds; we live the life.

Cutting down on certain expenses is like cutting out our skins, but personally, I dont go out much; the realistic reason is I cant afford it.

I cant afford the time. I cant afford the expenses. I cant buy a dress for an event knowing I can only wear it once.

Savings and investments have been a struggle and we need something especially for the creative industry because it is a complex business and practicalising savings is complex in our industry.

When others are struggling with just paying bills. We are struggling with paying bills and showing up.

Analysts call on women and all Nigerians to imbibe savings culture and take advantage of relevant products and programmes to create wealth to prepare for the rainy day. (NANFeatures)

Source: NAN

Austrian Dominic Thiem beat Kevin Anderson of South Africa for the first time at the seventh attempt to reach the Madrid Open final for the second successive year on Saturday.

The fifth seed won 6-4 6-2 as he continued with the scintillating form which ended top seed Rafa Nadals year-long unbeaten run on clay the day before.

Anderson, seeded sixth, was playing in his first Masters 1000 semi-final but faded after a solid start.

While Thiem had a 0-6 record against Anderson, the pair had never met on the Austrians favoured clay surface, and the longer rallies suited his heavy baseline game.

Thiem needed a single break of serve in the opening set and broke twice in the second to wrap up victory.

He will meet either Alexander Zverev or Canadian Denis Shapovalov in Sundays final.

Source: NAN