The British government, on Monday, unveiled a package of measures to support businesses for the agriculture, food and drink industry, which have been greatly suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dubbed as bounce back plan, it introduces a new programme of physical and virtual events that have been tailored to help a variety of businesses and exporters, including an overseas virtual buyer trial, a Smart Distance Selling Process and a package of Ready to Trade exporting masterclass webinars.

Jointly launched by the Department for International Trade (DIT) and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the plan will offer immediate support to help businesses in the industry develop their trade activity overseas, said an official statement.

Leveraging DITs existing E-exporting Programme, the department also launches a new SME (medium-sized enterprise) e-commerce accelerator pilot to increase the level of international e-commerce backing for SMEs in the food and drink industry.

The plan will provide unprecedented help for small and SMEs and allow them to capitalise on trade agreements being negotiated by DIT with Japan, the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, it said.

The plan will also see the introduction of Defras first agri-food counsellor serving the Gulf, read the statement.

The measures introduced today will support producers, manufacturers and agri-tech companies across the food supply chain.

More trade is absolutely critical to helping the UKs agriculture, food and drink industry recover from the impact of coronavirus.

It will also get the industry ready to capitalise on the opportunities that are being opened up by the series of free trade agreements that my department is negotiating around the world, said Graham Stuart, Minister for Export in the DIT.

According to official figures, the agriculture, food and drink industry contributed 121 billion ( billion) to Britains economy in 2018, supporting around four million jobs.

In 2019, Britains food, feed and drink exports were worth 23.7 billion (.4 billion), up 4.9 per cent from 2018. (Xinhua/NAN)

Source: NAN News

The African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) has singled out the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for recognition in the industrys fight against the spread of coronavirus pandemic.

A statement issued by Mr James Odaudu, Director of Public Affairs, Ministry of Aviation, on Tuesday in Abuja, quoted a letter sent to NCAA by the Regional aviation regulatory body as saying that NCAA excelled over others.

According to the letter, NCAA is the only state civil aviation regulator recognised for its significant contribution to the African Union Commission High Level Task Force (HLTF) on COVID-19.

AFCACs Secretary General, Tefera Mekonen, on behalf of the commission, recognised and thanked the Director General of the NCAA, Capt. Musa Nuhu.

The commission further thanked the Authoritys General Manager of Aeromedical Services for its significant contribution to the work of the AUC Task Force, it said.

The letter said NCAA DG chaired the ECOWAS experts committee on transport, trade and logistics that developed a report, submitted to the ministerial committee chaired by the Nigerian Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika.

It said HLTF was set up in recognition of the need to have a strategic and coordinated response to COVID-19 impacts on the African aviation sector, under the leadership of the African Union and coordinated by AFCAC.

HLTF brought together all African aviation stakeholders including ICAO, AFRAA, Airports Council International-Africa, IATA-Africa, CANSO-Africa, Africa Centre for Disease Control, RECs, UNECA and AFI group.

In order to address the different evolving phases of the pandemic to the African aviation sector, the HLTF addresses the short, medium and long term restart and recovery of the aviation sector.

Source: NAN News

Coronavirus

By Oluwabukola Akanni

Temitope Alonge, the Deputy Chairman of Oyo State COVID-19 Task Force, says higher Vitamin D levels due to constant exposure to sunlight may be responsible for the lower death rates and severity of COVID-19 in the country.

Alonge said this while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on treatment protocol adopted by the state in management of COVID-19 patients.

Alonge, a former Chief Medical Director, University College Hospital, Ibadan, said that there was a link between levels of vitamin D, which plays a role in our immune function, and respiratory health.

According to him, the task force has also started a study that discovered that Vitamins D level played a major role on severity and complications of COVID-19.

Vitamin D has been looked at, it has two major functions, one is called endocrine and the other one is called autocrine.

The endocrine function assists in the absorption of calcium which helps build the immune system and keeps you strong, thats what most people think Vitamin D is for, but in fact Vitamin D receptor is expressed on immune cells.

The autocrine function of Vitamin D is that it stimulates the cells to produce antibodies as required.

So the abilities to produce these antibodies are already inside of you and your cells have it.

But they wont produce it until they have a trigger by Vitamin D3, the active form which forms from when the natural ultraviolet (UV), light interferes with a product in our skin.

In our study on micronutrients status of some patients at the Olodo Infectious Disease Centre, we discovered that when a few patients did not turn negative quickly, when we added Vitamin D 100,000 to 200,000 International units, within five days they became negative.

So in effect, a Vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased autoimmunity, as well as an increased susceptibility to viral infections, he said.

Alonge said that they were beginning to isolate and analyse the genetic composition of Coronavirus strain that was circulating and causing infection in the country in order to know if it was different from others.

So the question is that are we actually being protected from the high deaths experienced in the Western countries by the Vitamin D we have in abundance in Africa.

Ordinarily what the western world was saying was that we were going to be picking dead bodies from the streets.

The damage that we have seen in other parts of the world is monumental and we are now beginning to sequence the genome of this particular ribonucleic acid (RNA), single strand virus to find out whether the strain we have is different.

We are also looking at what you call antibody mounting; you will be amazed that what we saw from the patients at the ISON experiences place, a testing centre in Ibadan, was that a lot of them already had antibodies.

We need to start thinking of the autocrine function of Vitamin D which is freely available because of our warmer climate and take cognisance of the fact that we have some inherent immunity against COVID-19 due to the abundance of sunlight.

We are working on this hypothesis and hopefully we will be able to sequence the particular strain of coronavirus in various localities in Nigeria and at the same time look at other co-factors that give us some degree of resistance to the virus, he said.

According to him, while the skin manufactures the Vitamin D when exposed to sunlight, elderly people should consume Vitamin D fortified foods.

For the younger people you should be able to take enough Vitamin D from the sun, maybe by spending an hour or two in the sun before 12 noon.

Salmon is a very rich source of vitamin D apart from the one you get in the sun.

A lot of people from low income communities eat more of salmon and they are probably going to survive this much more than those who out of sophistication have taken themselves off Salmon, he said.

Speaking on the states treatment protocol for COVID-19, he said, that the anti-malarial drug Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), Zinc, Vitamins D and Vitamin C are being used for COVID-19 patients.

According to him, Zinc, Vitamins D and Vitamin C are also used as pre-exposure prophylaxis drugs for healthcare personnel handling COVID-19 patients.

We are doing the best we can and we are having what we call a coherent and cohesive management protocol, it is not one man knows it all, it is a collective reasoning between infectious disease experts and expertise.

What Hyroxychloroquine does is to reduce inflammation; it is not that we are using it to treat the virus like many people think, no antiviral drug has been proven to be foolproof.

All we are doing is to reduce inflammation and make sure our patients dont get to the point where they will have respiratory failure.

We were very blessed that an 83-year-old man whose computed tomography (CT), scan showed features of COVID-19 recovered completely and went home without need for oxygen, he said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Gov. Akeredolu of Ondo state

By Ayodeji Alabi

Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has relieved Mr Allen Sowore, Special Assistant on New Media to the embattled Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi, of his appointment with immediate effect.

This is contained in a statement issued on Tuesday in Akure by Mr Olusegun Ajiboye, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor and made available to newsmen.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that Ajayi had been at loggerheads with his boss, Akeredolu, for some time before he finally resigned from the All Progressives Congress and joined the Peoples Democratic Party.

Ajayi, however,maintains that he remains the deputy governor of the state in spite of his leaving the All Progressives Congress.

The statement advised Sowore to submit all governments property in his possession to the Chief of Staff to the Governor. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

NAFDAC DG, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye

By Aderogba George
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) will collaborate with indigenous scientists in the development of drugs or vaccines against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country.

Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, NAFDAC Director-General, said the agencys interventions would allow for documentation of such initiatives for global recording as potential vaccines or drugs that is in process or safety testing.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Abuja, she said that the agency would open its doors to the team of Nigerian scientists that declared they are working on a vaccine for COVID-19.

It will be a great thing if Nigeria develops her vaccine, but all the steps stated above will have to be followed, she said.

According to her, it takes time to develop a vaccine and NAFDAC will be the first to be informed of any such developments in the country.

That testing will involve use of the virus and then animals. If all goes well, the researchers will then plan for clinical trial which will take a long time from 18 months to years.

NAN reports that a team of Nigerian Universities Scientists, under the aegis of COVID-19 Research Group, on Friday announced the discovery of the vaccine at Adeleke University, Ede, in Osun.

Dr Oladipo Kolawole, Leader of the team, said the vaccine was being developed locally in Africa for Africans.

Kolawole, a Specialist in Medical Virology, Immunology and Bioinformatics, however, said the vaccine would also work for other continents when unveiled.

He said that the group had been working extensively by exploring the SARS-CoV-2 genome from African countries to select the best possible potential vaccine candidates.

He said that after trying out some selected processes of vaccine development, the researchers were able to choose the best potential vaccine candidates for the SARS-CoV-2 and had made the possible latent vaccine constructs.

On how soon the unnamed vaccine would be unveiled to the public, Kolawole said that it would take a minimum of 18 months.

Source: NAN News

President Muhammadu Buhari

By Ismaila Chafe
President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Abuja cautioned that the ambition for Eco regional currency can be in serious jeopardy, unless member states complied with agreed processes of reaching the collective goal.

The president also expressed concern over the decision of francophone countries that form the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) to replace the CFA Franc with Eco ahead of the rest of Member States.

Mr Femi Adesina, the Presidents spokesman, in a statement, said the president delivered Nigerias position on the new regional currency at a virtual extraordinary meeting of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ).

According to Adesina, the meeting discussed the implementation of the ECOWAS Monetary Cooperation Programme (EMCP) and the ECOWAS Single Currency Agenda.

President Buhari said: Your Excellencies, you all are familiar with the history of the Eco thus far, so I will not bore you with that. We reverted to a single track approach, giving up Eco which is the original idea of the WAMZ so the ECOWAS-wide programme could thrive.

In this regard, we have made remarkable progress including the adoption of the Exchange Rate regime, the name and model of the common Central Bank and the symbol.

We have urged our Ministers towards an expeditious path to success. It, therefore, gives me an uneasy feeling that the UEMOA Zone now wishes to take up the Eco in replacement for its CFA Franc ahead of the rest of the Member States.

This is in addition to deviating from the Community Act on a consistent attainment of convergence in the three years running up to the introduction of the currency, and our subsequent reinforcing directives.

I am informed that the French Ministers have approved a bill to reform the CFA Franc and most, if not all of the UEMOA Member States, have already passed legislations in their various Parliaments to that effect.

It is a matter of concern that a people with whom we wish to go into a union are taking these major steps without trusting us for discussion.

The Nigerian leader assured ECOWAS leaders of Nigerias commitment to the ECOWAS single currency.

He urged them to critically consider the recommendations made by the Convergence Council and take a common position to safeguard the West African Monetary Zone from the pitfalls of a questionable union.

He affirmed Nigerias support for a monetary union with the right fundamentals, which guarantees credibility, sustainability and overall regional prosperity and sovereignty.

According to the President, Nigeria also believes that given the potential contractions and even losses from the global Covid-19 pandemic, member states cannot but be too cautious about ensuring compliance with the set standards.

We cannot ridicule ourselves by entering a union to disintegrate, potentially no sooner than we enter into it.

We need to be clear and unequivocal about our position regarding this process. We must also communicate same to the outside world effectively. We have all staked so much in this project to leave things to mere expediencies and convenience.

My dear colleagues, Heads of State and Government, It is obvious that we are at a crossroads.

We must proceed with caution and comply with the agreed process of reaching our collective goal while treating each other with utmost respect. Without these, our ambitions for a strategic Monetary Union as an ECOWAS bloc could very well be in serious jeopardy, he said.

In the light of the caution raised by Nigeria and some other West African countries at the meeting, ECOWAS leaders resolved to convene an enlarged meeting of the regional bloc on the single currency issue.

Source: NAN News

By Ifeanyi Nwoko
The President of the ECOWAS Court, Justice Edward Asante has said that the lack of political will on the part of member states to enforce its judgment was limiting its effectiveness,

Briefing newsmen during a virtual news conference on Tuesday, Asante said that aspect of enforcing judgments of the court does not rest with the court but with member states.

According to him, the Member states were yet to play their part enshrined in the protocol, noting that even those who have met the requirements still disregard judgments of the court when they are served.

The enforceability aspect of judgments has not been given to the court, it has been given to member states and member states have to have the political will to be able to enforce the judgments.

Initially, by the amended protocol they have to appoint representatives in their various countries who will have to receive the judgements of the court and make sure they enforce them within their countries.

It is only five member states who have appointed the representative, even then, those who have appointed, judgment is served on them and it still depends on the political will of the government, he said.

He expressed worry that if the precedence continues, there may be no need for the court to continue existing if its judgments are not obeyed by member states.

As a way out, he proposed that the protocols be amended such that judgement creditors are allowed to enforce the judgment in their countries through the local courts.

He also called on the media and civil society groups to also play their part to advocate in the countries for the effective implementation of the rulings of the Community Court of Justice.

The way out is for them to amend the protocols and rules of the court such that a judgement creditor can enforce it in the country by filing the judgement in the court system of his/her country and then proceed to enforce it.

So it is also the duty of the journalists and civil society in our countries to rise up and ensure that their ministers who pass these laws and recommendations to the president are upheld.

You have to let them know that people are getting disillusioned by the judgement of the court because if the court gives judgment and it cannot be enforced then what is the use of the court.

Source: NAN News

By Francisca Oluyole

The Ministry of Environment says it will collaborate with Australian Government to address some environmental issues affecting Nigeria.

Mrs Sharon Ikeazor, the Minister of State for Environment made this known while receiving the Australian High Commissioner, Ms Claire Ireland on Monday in Abuja.

Ikeazor said that the Australian high commission had being working closely with the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Mines and Steel where they share ideas on environmental and mineral resources issues.

Bear in mind that Australian and Nigeria are common wealth Nations, we come together to tackle climate change crisis and come up with solution.

The Australia High Commission has done a documentary about mentoring and having young girls in leadership position, so that the young girls can take over from us when we expire, she said.

Speaking, Ireland said that both countries have similarities on environment, climate, soil and natural resources, such as minerals, saying both countries have a lot to share with each other.

I am the first female high commissioner in Nigeria and environment is an area I have passion for, I am looking for opportunity to work together and also support women.

Australian has large coastal line and we have mangrove issues like Nigeria but we have the experience in restoring mangrove, which we will also share with Nigeria, she said.

Source: NAN News

By Grace Alegba

The Lagos State Materials Testing Laboratory (LSMTL) on Monday began Non-Destructive Test (NDT) on government-owned school buildings.

Dr Afolabi Abiodun, LSMTL General Manager led a delegation of government officials and other stakeholders to Omole Senior Grammar School, Ojodu where the test took off.

NAN observed that engineers from the laboratory used a pundit machine and other equipment to test the structural integrity of the beams and pillars of the school.

Abiodun, in his speech, said the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administrations T.H.E.M.E.S agenda placed priority on education.

He said that the evaluation of structural stability of the school buildings to ensure safety in schools and the built environment was a reflection of the place of education.

The general manager said that the first phase of the exercise includes Non-Destructive Test (NDT) test on 25 selected primary and secondary schools across the state for two weeks.

Abiodun, while listing schools from all divisions in the state to benefit from the exercise, said it would also be extended to private schools.

Government is starting with a target of 50 schools in Ikeja alone, the general manager said.

He said that the initiative would be extended to all the five divisions in the state.

The non-destructive test we are conducting is diagnostic in nature and will reveal structural defects, if any, in the school buildings.

The report of our findings will be forwarded to Mr governor for necessary action.

This exercise also positions the state government as a model in the post-construction audit culture and I, therefore, urge all the stakeholders in the built environment to emulate this to ensure safety, he said.

Abiodun urged the public to patronise the LSTML to ensure that they test their construction materials to guarantee integrity to avert building collapse.

The General Manager advised residents whose buildings were over five years to use the services of the laboratory to reduce incidence of building collapse in the state.

He thanked the principals of the Omole Senior and Junior Grammar Schools for their support to ensure the inauguration took place in their school in spite of the short notice.

Mrs Bosede Adelaja, Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Education, who represented the Commissioner, Mrs Folashade Adefisayo, thanked the governor for the initiative.

Adelaja said that the governor had demonstrated that he was a caring father to authorise testing of schools as part of his zero tolerance for building collapse in the state.

I know it is going to cost the state government a lot of money to get these tests done. This is another giant stride for us in education, she said.

She thanked the general manager for reducing the levies for private schools to ensure they get their buildings tested for the overall good of children and Lagos residents.

Also, Mr Olujimi Hotonu, Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry Infrastructure of Works and Infrastructure, said that the state placed high premium on quality control and assurance of roads and buildings in the state.

Hotonu said that the ministry would not hesitate to take action to ensure rehabilitation or demolition of defective buildings, depending on the state of the facilities, to ensure safety.

He said that the tests would be extended to other private and public buildings across the state to reduce incidence of building collapse.

The National President, Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Mr Kunle Awobodu, called for urgent action against some buildings found to be defective during a previous exercise some years ago.

Awobodu, the immediate past President of the Building Collapse Prevention Guild, said that several buildings that failed structural integrity tests on the Lagos Island were still standing.

He said that NIOB was committed to prevention of building collapse in the nation and would join in monitoring the tests of schools.

The Executive Chairman, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB), Mr Wahab Alawiye-King, also commended the governor for the exercise, aimed at providing conducive environment for learning.

Also, Permanent Secretaries of all the education districts in the state present at the event took turns to share their thoughts on the exercise.

Source: NAN News

By Funmilola Gboteku

The British Government says it has donated a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Machine to Nigeria Government to speed up testing for COVID-19 in the country.

The British High Commission to Nigeria made this known in a statement on Monday in Lagos.

The commission said that the machine was presented to theDirector-General,Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, and the Immunisation Team Lead and current Officer-in-Charge of WHO Nigeria, Dr Fiona Braka.

An official of the commission, Karl Holmes, said in the statement that the machine was procured using some of the 661,000 Pounds UK Aid funding commitment that the British Government made to the Nigeria branch of WHO in 2020.

According to Holmes, the PCR machine is the most accurate laboratory method for detecting, tracking and studying the Coronavirus.

Holmes said that the machine would enhance the NCDCs COVID-19 testing capabilities in Nigeria, and increase the nations capacity to carry out at least three thousand tests per day.

The official said that the UK Government and the Federal Government had been collaborating closely in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria since January.

Holmes said that UK had also been working closely with authorities across Nigeria, including the NCDC to support preparedness, planning and wider public health response efforts to contain the spread of the virus.

The official said that the UKs response was aligned with the government of Nigerias efforts at both the national and state levels.

According to the Holmes, UK has been supporting Nigerian authorities with technical assistance, direct financing and by flexing existing health portfolio to help with Nigerias planning to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The procurement of this new PCR machine complements the UK Governments ongoing financial and technical support to Nigeria for the provision of diagnostic reagents.

It also shows our support on Biosafety training and certifications through our International Health Regulations (lHR) Strengthening Project led by Public Health England.

We hope this machine and other support will contribute to the wider efforts to strengthen testing in Nigeria.

These efforts have been steadily expanding over the last few weeks and we welcome this progress. The UK remains committed to supporting this and other pillars of the response, Holmes said.

The statement also quoted the NCDC Director-General, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, as saying that the tool would enable the country to test millions of people within few months.

We are glad to be getting such huge support and technical advice from our partners, including the UK Governments Department for International Development (DFID).

This new PCR Machine, which is a small part of our bigger testing strategy, will help us drive toward our goal of testing over two million people in the next three months, Ihekweazu said.

He said the country would now be able to play an even bigger role in meeting its target.

Ihekweazu said Nigeria would work with international colleagues to address the current pandemic as swiftly as possible and ensure health and prosperity for Nigerians, especially the vulnerable.

Source: NAN News