The National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) says it has applied for 5,000 hectares of land to grow medicinal plants, roots and leaves that are local to Kwara environment.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Sen. Ibrahim Oloriegbe, (Kwara Central) made the disclosure in Ilorin on Monday during a training conference for phytomedicine practitioners.

The conference was tagged Developing Nigerias Phytomedicine for Healthy Population and Assured Economic Prosperity.

He said that the conference was to assist the country in its research and quest to develop phytomedicines and vaccine to fight diseases and COVID-19.

He added that the benefit would not only be useful to Kwara, but to other NIPRD state offices in a bid to develop quality and economic phytomedicines in the country to fight various diseases.

Oloriegbe said that the objective of the phytomedicine training in Kwara was to ensure the safety and health of Nigerians who patronise locally produced medicines.

He said it is our duty as policy makers to ensure quality medicines; see to how we can empower our local medicine practitioners and ensure they use what are of quality to produce their medicine.

He explained that producing medicine locally would help to save the countrys foreign exchange.

You can see that when COVID-19 rages, we were moved to import drug from Madagascar. What they use for the drug is artemisia and Nigeria has better artemisia, he said.

He added that if the country encouraged and developed its local medicine, it would not only empower phytomedicine practitioners, but boost the nations resources.

The senator also raised an alarm over the way some people coming into the country were granted entry without being made to follow COVID-19 protocols at the various entry points.

The senate would have to step in to ensure that due process is followed when people come into the country from any of the entry points, he said.

The Director General of NIPRD, Dr Obi Adigwe, said phytomedicine was a good source of medicine that could help to improve peoples access to health and social economic development.

He noted that over the years, the phytomedicine potential of the country has been neglected. Countries like China and India in Asia are making billions of dollars from phytomedicines.

It is rather ironical that the quality of phytomedicine ingredients in Nigeria and other African countries are better than those of these countries.

Source: NAN News

Nigeria Troop

The Defence Headquarters says the troops of Operation Whirl Punch have eliminated an unspecified number of armed bandits in an encounter at Tashan Kare in Niger.

The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. John Enenche, in a statement on Monday, said the success was in continuation of aggressive clearance operation to rid the North Central of criminal elements.

Enenche said that the troops acted based on credible intelligence on the attack by bandits.

According to him, troops swiftly mobilised to the scene and made contact with the bandits.

The gallant troops engaged the armed bandits with superior fire power killing unspecified number, while others fled in disarray into the bushes.

Sadly troops suffered three casualties, while two others were wounded in action.

The Military High Command congratulates the gallant troops for their professionalism and encourages them to intensify the onslaught against the enemies of our country, he said.

Source: NAN News

Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila

By Folasade Akpan
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila andsome African Speakers of Parliaments say there is an urgent need to push for debt cancellation for the continent from multilateral and bilateral partners.

A statement issued in Abuja on Monday by Lanre Lasisi, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, said that the speaker convened a virtual meeting ofAfrican Speakers of Parliaments seeking toestablish the Conference of African Speakers and Heads of Parliament (CoSAP).

The body, which he said would facilitate increased collaboration among Speakers, Heads of Parliament and National Assemblies across Africagot a boost.

The African speakers will also seek to advance the African development agenda within and outside the continent in conjunction with both the executive arms of government as well as African regional institutions.

The virtual meeting had in attendance Hon. Tagesse Chafo, Speaker, House of Peoples Representatives, Ethiopia,Mr Aaron Oquaye, Speaker of Parliament, Ghana, Mr Justin Muturi, Speaker, National Assembly, Republic of Kenya.

Others were Mr Donatille Mukabalisa, Speaker, Chamber of Deputies, Rwanda and President Moustapha Niasse, AFP, President, National Assembly, Senegal.

According to Gbajabiamila,development across the continent has become stunted due to the heavy burden of the debts.

He also said that the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) had compounded the issue for the continent, considering the socio-political and economic consequences of the disease.

We all agreed that Africas debt burden had become an existential threat to our societies, our economies and the future and we need to do something about this and treat it as a continent-wide priority.

It is safe to say that the burden of debt servicing, vis--vis spending on education and health care for example, is a threat to our continents stability and development, especially in the era of COVID-19.

When we find ourselves having to make policy choices between paying debts or saving lives, we know something is not morally right.

As democratically elected representatives of our people, we cannot be silent, we must speak up and we must act. And the time to act is now, he said.

The speaker added that there was the need to reflect on the processes that led to Africas heavy indebtedness in the first place and the role parliamentarians could play to address it.

He also said that the speakers and heads of parliaments should reflect on the assurances they as parliamentarians could give their borrowers if their debts were cancelled, adding that the freed-up resources would be invested in social and economic development of citizens.

If we want debt cancellation, we must be able to build the confidence of the borrowers that the cancellation will indeed save lives and livelihoods across the continent, and we, as Speakers and Heads of our parliaments, will ensure that is indeed the case, he said.

On the need for the establishment of the Pan-African Speakers Conference, Gbajabiamila said that collective efforts at tackling challenges facing the continent had become expedient.

According to him, the motive behind the initiative is that each year they identify a theme, issue or challenge that is pan-African in scope and meet to deliberate on how to work together across parliaments in Africa to tackle these continental issues and challenges.

As heads of our respective parliamentary entities, it will also be a good platform to share experiences and expertise in different aspects of our legislative duties pertinent to the growth, development and sustenance of our economies and our societies; and on ways to enhance the capacity and impact of our parliaments on our democracies and the lives of the peoples we all represent.

We have spent decades learning from the rest of the world, now we must begin to learn from one another, he said

Agreeing with both initiatives, Mr Tagesse Chafo, Speaker, House of Peoples Representatives, Ethiopia, said that though almost every government on the continent had been trying to seek debt forgiveness, this should not, however, stop the parliaments from contributing to the efforts through a platform such as this.

As representatives of our people, we are to come together, advise and campaign about the issue, we dont have to keep quiet because debt cancellation would be good for the resuscitation of our economies that have been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also, Mr Aaron Oquaye, Speaker of Parliament, Ghana said that the debt burden was essentially a common challenge on the continent, as most African countries had to depend on foreign loans to execute their national budgets.

He, however, noted that the Speakers group, in its efforts to push for debt cancellation must be able to convince the creditors about accountability if they hoped to succeed.

Donor agencies are interested in accountability because they are confounded about the issue of corruption, and we must be able to give the assurance and that is why the speakers Conference is critical, he said.

He added that if nothing was done, there may be no economy to service the loans.

Mr Justin Bedan Muturi, Speaker, National Assembly, Republic of Kenya, also emphasised the need for the initiative, adding that, the coronavirus pandemic had undermined most African economies because conditions attached to most of the loans had been eroded by the consequences of the pandemic.

On her part, Mrs Donatille Mukabalisa, Speaker, Chamber of Deputies, Rwanda, noted that already, African countries depend on and were heavily burdened by loans even before the pandemic.

She, however, added that the group must be clear about the kind of debt it was seeking to address and from which partners.

While President Moustapha Niasse, AFP, President, National Assembly, Senegal, regretted that the pandemic had affected all economies on the continent negatively, he suggested that opinions of members of the forum must be sought on how to solve the issues between suspension or cancellation of debt.

We must be convinced that we have a job to do at the level of parliament, he added.

It was also agreed that a Communique would be released in the first week of September, while the campaign for implementations of the plan of action would begin in the second week of September as well.

According to the forum, the third week of September would be devoted to the planning for the 2021 conference by the secretariat.

While it was decided that Nigeria would host the maiden edition of CoSAP chaired by Gbajabiamila, the new body is expected to meet again in the first week of September to approve the plans and swing into action.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

NCDC Boss

By Abujah Racheal
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), has warned Nigerians to beware of scammers posing as the centre to defraud unsuspecting citizens.

The centre said it was not giving money to people neither will it ask for money in exchange for employment.

The Head of Department, Surveillance and Epidemiology Department, NCDC, Mrs Elsie Ilori, gave the warning during the PTF briefing on Monday.

She said that the centre was currently investigating the ongoing scams and pledged that the culprits would be brought to book.

On delay in getting COVID-19 test results, Ilori explained that the NCDC was working with states on a digital platform, which would be launched soon in FCT to ensure seamless and speedy delivery of test results.

She, however, decried the situation where some Nigerians do not provide accurate information making it difficult to get in touch with them when their result was ready.

Ilori also said that the centre was also working to make testing process seamless by activating more laboratories across the country.

She noted that Nigeria moved from five laboratories in march to 64 laboratories, six months into the response.

Today, we have activated atleast one lab in 33 states and the FCT, she added.

Source: NAN News

COVID-19 updates by NCDC

beginning next week in an effort to understand the extent of the outbreak of the virus in Africa.

Source: NAN News

Scam message on WhatsApp

A that convinces users to hand over their personal details is just one of many that have seen Australians lose almost million this year.

Scams doing the rounds on WhatsApp, Instagram and TikTok have affected a staggering 17 per cent of Australians since the coronavirus pandemic and associated lockdowns in Australia, a report by software security provider, NortonLifeLock, has revealed.

The research shows cyberrose during the COVID-19 lockdown as social media use soared by 62 per cent and hackers targetted Australians.

One woman in her 20s, who did not want to give her name because she was too embarrassed, said she only realised she had fallen for the WhatsApp numbers scam in June when a friend contacted her.

Scammers used her WhatsApp account to send messages to her contacts asking for a six digit code that is then used to log the WhatsApp account on a new device.

Thiswould allow the scammers to then impersonate the unsuspecting user.

When she found out she had been scammed into handing out her details, the woman changed her passwords and went to the bank and closed her accounts.

She was upset she had to explain to her friends not to reply to her hacked messages after she had already fallen for it.

Cyber security expert Mark Gorrie said a staggering 17 per cent of Australians were a victim of cyber crime during the first few months of the pandemic.

The scams include romance and online dating scams where people ask for money, investment scams and puppy scams where sellers disappear after receiving the money.

Were seeing more and more young people targeted who might think theyre too smart to be scammed. They are targeted through social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, Mr Gorrie explained.

The attacks on social media often look like advertisements and trick people into believing they are buying a product that in reality does not exist.

Look for spelling mistakes or poor grammar, generic greetings or email URLs that dont match the company in the email. If someone is sending you an unusual request or offers too good to be true, its a red flag, he said.

How they scam you!

Source: NAN News

COVID-19

Irelands Health Minister says he has not discussed with his public health team about implementing other local lockdowns as the governments intention remains to lift two-week restrictions in the counties of Kildare, Offaly and Laois.

The countrys health officials would meet on Monday to decide if further measures were needed to slow a sharp increase in the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) that the government and officials had described as deeply concerning.

Nothing like that has been proposed at the moment.

The plan is for the restrictions for the three affected counties to be lifted midnight on Sunday.

Thats still the intention, Stephen Donnelly told national broadcaster RTE. (Reuters/NAN)

Source: NAN News

Policemen on duty

By Kola Adeyemi

A 32-year-old man simply identified as Murtala Dare, has been arrested by police in Lokoja for allegedly killing his friend during a scuffle.

Spokesman of the Police Command in Kogi, DSP William Aya, told newsmen on Monday in Lokoja that the suspect was arrested at a hideout in the early hours of Monday.

Aya said that Dare, a welder, killed his friend, Lukman, at Jackies area in Lokoja at about 9 p.m. on Aug. 16.

According to him, Dare and Lukman were hanging out in the area alongside other fun seekers when an argument led to an exchange of blows between the two friends.

However, Dare was said to have overpowered Lukman, smashed him to the ground and brought out a knife with which he was said to have slaughtered his friend.

Other people around were said to have immediately called in policemen from the nearby A Division headquarters but Dare fled the scene before the arrival of the police.

Aya said that the manhunt launched by policemen later yielded result when Dare was apprehended in a house where he was hiding.

The police spokesman said investigation into the incident had commenced, adding that the suspect would be charged to court as soon as the investigation was concluded. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Aderogba George

Seventy-one young Nigerians trafficked to Lebanon and seen in a video that had gone viral where they were crying for help had been rescued and arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, early Monday.

Mr Bitrus Samuel, the Head of NEMA Abuja Operation Office, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

He said that the girls were the second batch of the more than 150 Nigerian girls who were trafficked to Lebanon in search of greener pastures.

NAN reports that early in the month, 94 victims that constituted the first batch were received at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

Samuel said that the latest victims would be going from the airport to the hotel where the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) would profile their records.

The agency would quarantine the girls as a precaution against coronavirus pandemic.

Also, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Ferdinand Nwonye, said that the rescue came after a video footage of the stranded Nigerians appealing to the Federal Government and well-meaning Nigerians to come to their aid went viral on the Internet.

The spokesman said the ministry had several discussions with Mr Houssam Diab, the Ambassador of Lebanon to Nigeria, before the Lebanese Government agreed to release the girls to the Federal Government.

He said that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, was very sad when he saw the video footage.

He had to summon the Lebanese Ambassador, and both leaders had a series of engagements that led to the release of the girls.

Nwonye said that following the discussions between the two leaders, the Lebanese community in Nigeria through the facilitation of the Nigerian mission in Beirut chartered a flight, paid the flight tickets for these girls to return to Nigeria.

NAN reports that various government officials from NAPTIP, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Nigeria in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) respectively were on ground at the airport to receive them.

Also, Mr Akinloye Akinsola, the representative of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), said that some Nigerians employed as domestic workers in Lebanon had complained of maltreatment from their Lebanese employers.

He said that sequel to the complaints; the Lebanese Ambassador to Nigeria had suspended the issuance of working visas to Nigerians seeking to do domestic work in Lebanon.

He said the suspension had become imperative so as to stem the tide of the maltreatment.

Akinsola said that the commission had started the procedure for proper harmonisation in line with best practices relating to orderly migration.

He said that the discussion was with the Ministry of Labour and Employment and the House of Representatives Chairman on the Diaspora, Mrs Tolulope Akande-Shodipe. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Anambra accident claims 2 lives

By Lucy Osuizigbo-Okechukwu

Two persons were confirmed dead in an accident involving a bus and two motorcycles near Odumodu junction along Awka-Onitsha expressway, Anambra, on Sunday night.

Mr Andrew Kumapayi, the Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), confirmed the incident to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka on Monday.

Kumapayi said that the accident, which occurred around 7 p.m., was caused by speeding.

The FRSC boss noted that 13 people, eight male adults and five female adults, were involved in the accident, which claimed two lives.

According to him, the crash involved a Toyota Hiace bus with enlistment number AAA863XJ, and two motorcycles with registration numbers NSK808QT and AAl863XJ.

The bus driver and the riders of the motorcycles were reportedly on top speed and had a head-on-collusion which caused the death of two male adults, while three female adults sustained injuries.

The victims were rushed to Iyeanu hospital in Ogidi and the dead victims were handed over to their families after being confirmed dead by the doctors, he said.

Kumapayi said that the Nigeria Police Force took the vehicle and motorcycles to their station for further investigation.

While condoling with the families of the dead, he warned motorists against excessive speeding, especially within built-up areas.

According to him, road traffic crashes are avoidable, if drivers are careful.(NAN)

Source: NAN News