Funding

A former Commissioner of Police, Mr Lawrence Alobi, has blamed the prevailing security challenges in the country on corruption, inadequate funding and bad governance orchestrated by successive governments.

The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Comrade Phillip Shaibu, on Friday praised Governor Godwin Obaseki for his pragmatic leadership, purposeful administration and uncommon vigour.

European Union leaders took a break Monday morning on their fourth day of talks aimed at agreeing on a $2 trillion budget and funding to help member states cope with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ART), a non-governmental body has thrown its weight behind the Federal Government’s plan to concession four of the country’s airports.

In furtherance of the Spotlight Initiative programme to eliminate violence against women and girls, which kicked off in February this year, an NGO, Project Alert on Violence Against Women, midweek, held a Webinar on Covid-19 & Sexual and Gender-based Violence Response in Lagos.

The Senate on Tuesday considered a critical bill which seeks to boost advanced healthcare service delivery in Nigeria to act as safeguard and response to medical emergency in the future.

Academic Staff Union of Universities has said a request by the Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, that lecturers who have been denied their salaries should submit their Biometric Verification Number (BVN) to effect the payment was illegal.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s son, Mohammed, is finally free of coronavirus (Covid-19) and has been discharged from Gwagwalada Specialist Hospital, Abuja.

To mark the World Malaria Day, experts have reiterated the need for Nigeria to develop stronger and robust healthcare systems which can withstand pressure in the face of any pandemic such as COVID-19 through improved budget and invest­ment in infrastructure, espe­cially health research.

Nigeria, which is reeling from the twin hits of the oil price collapse and the new coronavirus pandemic, requested the emergency funding under the Fund’s Rapid Financing Instrument.

The International Monetary Fund is looking to triple its concessional financing for the poorest countries to over $18 billion to help them respond to the novel coronavirus pandemic, Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Wednesday.

Chadian President, Idriss Deby Itno, has threatened to end the deployment of his troops beyond national borders, a move freighted with potential consequences for the campaign against Islamist insurgents in the Sahel.

Illegal mining and trading are fuelling worsening violence on mine sites, the governor of Democratic Republic of Congo’s gold-rich Ituri province said, after armed robbers killed four people, including three Chinese nationals, at a gold mine.

A professor in the Department of Wildlife and Ecotourism Management, University of Ibadan, Lameed Gbolagade, has advised Nigeria to look inward for a cure and vaccine against coronavirus and other forms of viral infections.

Innoson Motors has approached the Nigerian government for a loan as it prepares to start producing ventilators and other medical equipment to support the country’s beleaguered public health infrastructure, the company told newsmen Wednesday.

Mr Aliko Dangote, President, Dangote Industries Ltd., and Mr Herbert Wigwe, Managing Director, Access Bank Group, are spearheading a coalition of private sector organisations to support governments’ ongoing efforts at tackling the coronavirus (COVID-19) menace.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) says it has reached concrete proposals with the Federal Government on the ongoing warning strike embarked upon by the union.

In order to build local capacity to compete favourably with scientifically advanced economies the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has supported the call to set aside one percent of the nation’s budget to boost research and innovation.