Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has reaffirmed the state government's commitment to providing assistance for the completion of the new accident and emergency ward at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Umuahia. The governor made this pledge during a recent visit to the health facility, where he met with Professor Azubuike Onyebuchi, the chief medical director.

Recognizing the pressing need for improved medical infrastructure, Governor Otti's visit aimed to gain firsthand insight into the conditions at the hospital and demonstrate his empathy towards patients undergoing various treatments. The current accident and emergency ward, which is notably undersized and inadequately equipped, struggles to accommodate the substantial volume of patients seeking care on a daily basis. To address this challenge, a new wing is under construction to enhance the facility's capacity and capabilities.

It's noteworthy that the Federal Medical Centre in Umuahia plays a pivotal role as the sole functional public medical institution in Abia State equipped to manage a wide spectrum of cases, including emergencies, secondary, and tertiary health concerns.

During his visit, Governor Otti went beyond words of assurance, pledging personal involvement in supporting the patients he encountered. His commitment extended to personally covering the medical expenses for the individuals he met during his tour of the facility.

In response to Governor Otti's visit and compassionate gesture, Professor Azubuike Onyebuchi, the chief medical director, expressed profound gratitude. He lauded the governor's kind-heartedness, characterizing his willingness to personally engage and address the needs of patients as unprecedented and deeply commendable.

Governor Alex Otti's commitment to advancing healthcare infrastructure and his direct involvement in supporting patients exemplify a compassionate and proactive approach to governance. As the new accident and emergency ward takes shape under the governor's backing, the prospects for enhanced medical services and improved patient experiences at the Federal Medical Centre in Umuahia appear promising, setting a positive precedent for the region's healthcare landscape.

The Coalition Alliance Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) says it has so far spent N43,272,562,831 on the acquisition of medical equipment, medical supplies and food palliatives for vulnerable Nigerians.

The coalition made up of Bankers Committee, comprising the Central Bank of Nigeria, Deposit Money Banks and key stakeholders in the private sector was set up in March 2020 to support the federal government in improving the capacity of health institutions in dealing with COVID-19 and providing palliatives for Nigerians.

A statement by the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele at a press briefing on the response of the bank to the pandemic said the coalition received donations worth N39,646,100,039.00 billion from over 200 well-meaning Nigerians and corporate organizations

Emefiele said the sum of N4,194,262,899 billion was spent on building Isolation Centers while N9,017,561,723 went to the procurement of medical supplies.

‘‘Medical equipment such as PCR test kits for suspected cases of COVID-19 were procured along with other required medical items at a cost of N9,017,561,723.

CACOVID provided palliatives food items to 1.7m households or 8 million Nigerians. A total of N28,767,590,517 was spent procuring these food supplies.

Emefiele claimed the palliatives were acknowledged and disbursed by various state governments who received them.

The CBN governor said the coalition has further pledged to support the rehabilitation of the Nigeria Police the wake of the End SARS protest violence.

‘‘To further strengthen the security apparatus in the country, CACOVID has committed to providing over N100bn to procure equipment and gadgets for the Nigerian Police Force over the next 2 years; as our contribution to fully modernize the Nigerian Police.

The governor, however, appealed to the private sector to rally round CACOVID in raising the funds needed for its many interventions.

Source:dailypost

According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control NCDC, 179 of the new cases were discovered in Lagos alone. 20 in Kaduna, 15 in Katsina, 15 in Jigawa, 13in Borno, 11 in Ogun, 8 in Kano, 7 in FCT, 4 in Niger, 4 in Ekiti, 3 in Oyo, 3 in Delta, 3 in Bauchi, 2 in Kwara and 1 in Edo.

Nigeria now has 5445 confirmed cases of the viral disease. 1320 patients have so far been discharged while 171 deaths have so far been recorded.

The figures released by the federal statistics authority Destasis, also showed revisions to 2019 fourth-quarter figures from zero growth to a contraction of 0.1%. This meant that Germany's GDP growth has been negative for two successive quarters, the technical definition of a recession.

The first quarter figures are only a partial indication of how much the Coronavirus pandemic has harmed Europe's largest economy.

Though experts had expected a contraction of around 2%, the drop is not as bad as in some of its neighbours, such as France which has seen a decline of 5.8%, and Italy which reported a 4.7% fall. This was aided by Germany's 16 states' decision to allow factories and construction sites to stay open, as well as an unprecedented rescue package by the government.

Germany had imposed restrictions due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and this remained in place through early May. It also drastically reduced exports and consumer spending.

Employment figures remained stable in the first quarter. The coronavirus outbreak had only a "modest" effect on employment between January and March, the agency said, partly thanks to Germany’s reduced-working-hours program, which allows firms to keep workers at home without laying them off.

Speaking to CNBC Africa, Onyeagwu stated that one of the most immediate impacts of the Pandemic is the fact that the oil price crash will have negative implications for banks’ revenue targets.

“In terms of banking, the drop in the price of crude is affecting directly the exposure that banks have created in the oil and gas sector. Revenues are challenged now, no doubt. And you have a situation where revenues are challenged, the obvious next step will be for you to restructure,” Onyeagwu stated.

He also noted that the situation will remain very challenging until there is a vaccine to remedy the virus. For now, efforts are being made to flatten the curve by preventing further spread of the virus. And while this effort continues, banks are not expecting much growth. He said:

“In this moment too, as far as banking is concerned, we are also going to experience the fact that we don’t expect a situation where there will be growth in loan books. Loan growth will be challenged. World Bank’s screen now is on different sectors of the economy and how the COVID impacts them restructuring the loan book. The Central Bank has even given a dispensation to this effect, asking banks to come up with the  various proposals they have for the restructuring of the loan book.”

He then disclosed that there have been some positives arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. According to him, Zenith Bank has recently witnessed a massive increase in the number of businesses being transacted through various digital channels. Apparently, customers who were hitherto disinterested in digital banking are now showing interest.

The Zenith Bank CEO then clarified that the pandemic is not only affecting the banking industry alone. It affects every aspect of the economy, he said.

“In a situation where you have a lockdown of the economy, if you lock down all the agents, there is no way business volumes will not be bad or impacted.”

Zenith Bank’s profit before tax rose by 3% to N58.7 billion in the first quarter of 2020, according to an earlier article published by Nairametrics.

Khloe publicly called out Jordyn Woods after she was filmed partying with her baby daddy Tristan following the birth of their first child together, True Thompson. As a result, Jordyn, who was a good friend of the Kardashian family, became estranged from the family.

Khloe also broke up with Tristan but they have now reconciled and are reportedly quarantining together. Khloe even recently discussed freezing her eggs with Tristan's sperm to ensure a second baby on a recent episode of the family's reality show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

Well, for some reason, social media users believed Khloe is pregnant with her and Tristan's second child and they took to the platform to criticize her.

They called her a clown and a hypocrite for shaming her sister's best friend Jordyn. They also accused her of making Kylie let go of her best friend, while Khloe refused to let go of the man who cheated with the same best friend.

The Good American co-founder has now reacted.

She tweeted: "I don’t go on social platforms much these days AND this is one of the main reasons as to why I stay away. The sick and hurtful things people say. I am disgusted by so many things I am seeing. SMH people swear they know everything about me. Including my uterus. Sick.

"The nasty things you’re saying about me over A RUMOR! I have seen so many hurtful/despicable stories and tweets about me over a false story. And if it were true.... it’s MY LIFE, NOT YOURS.

"Funny how picky&choosy some can be with who and how you feel others should live their lives. I believe people should focus on their own lives/families, put energy into bettering the scary world we are currently living in, and try projecting positivity as opposed to nastiness."

The revised Medium Term Expenditure Framework and the 2020 budget has been approved by the Federal Executive Council.

The revised budget is based on $25 per barrel of crude oil at a production rate of 1.94 million barrels per day.

Recall that the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed said that the revision will be based on declining international oil prices and the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. She had also hinted that the federal government will drop the oil benchmark from the initial $57 per barrel to $30.

President Buhari has appointed former Minister of External Affairs, Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, as his Chief of Staff.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation Mr. Boss Mustapha announced the appointment before the commencement of the Federal Executive Council meeting this morning, May 13th.

Gambari takes over from late Abba Kyari who died on April 17, following complications from COVID-19 infection.

The new Chief of Staff was born on November 24, 1944 in Ilorin, Kwara State, and served as Minister for External Affairs when President Buhari was military Head of State between 1984 and 1985. He holds the record of being the longest-serving Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations (January 1990 to October 1999), and altogether served under five Heads of State and President. Ibrahim Agboola Gambari

He was subsequently appointed by the former Secretary-General of United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, and the chairperson of the African Union Commission as Joint African Union-United Nations Special Representative for Darfur in January 2010.

On March 4, 2013, he was named by the Kwara State governor, AbdulFatah Ahmad, as the pioneer Chancellor of the Kwara State University.

Gambari attended King's College, Lagos. He subsequently attended the London School of Economics where he obtained his B.Sc. (Economics) degree (1968) with a specialization in International Relations.

He later obtained his M.A. (1970) and Ph. D. (1974) degrees from Columbia University, New York, USA, in Political Science/International Relations.

He is married with children and grandchildren.

Nigeria is set to receive Republic of Madagascar's herbal drug 'COVID Organics (COV)', which the country's leaders said cures and prevents Coronavirus.

The Nation reported that Nigeria’s consignment has been sent to Equatorial Guinea from where it will be airlifted to Abuja. It was gathered that African countries were divided into zones for ease of transportation, leading to freighting of Nigeria’s consignments to Equatorial Guinea.

The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has been notified of the offer from Madagascar and arrangements are being made to bring Nigeria’s allocation to Abuja.

While some health officials are pushing for clinical trial of Covid Organics before being used in the country, there is reportedly pressure on the Federal Government by different medical and scientific organizations to allow the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) subject the drug to further analysis.

The Nation source said;

“The consignments of the drug are being distributed to different countries in Africa based on zonal grouping. We have been told that Nigeria’s consignment is in Equatorial Guinea from where it will be airlifted to Abuja.

“When the herbal drink is brought into the country, we will know the next step. But some medical and scientific organisations are pressurising that the drug be subjected to clinical trial.

“Some countries like Tanzania, Congo-Brazzaville, Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea have subscribed to the drugs. Also, while South Africa has offered to conduct a scientific analysis of the drug, Senegal said it will subject it to clinical trial.

“I can assure you that the Federal Government will take the best decision on the drug in the overall interest of Nigerians.

“Before any food or drug can be administered in this country, there are certain protocols that must be followed. The government will not circumvent these protocols. We want solution; we want the best for Nigerians.”

Recall that on April 28, the Chairman of the PTF on COVID-19, Mr. Boss Mustapha said the nation was ready to give Madagascar’s herbal drink a trial.

Mustapha said at that time;

“I want to assure you that whatever is happening in the world, we are mindful of it and we are keeping a tab.

“I was reading of the experiences in Madagascar– of why everybody is drinking some solutions that have been prepared. This morning I was sharing with my wife, and I told her that probably I would request that Mr. President allow us import a plane load for a trial.

“We are all navigating an unchartered cause. Nobody has ever been on this road. So, every attempt to find solution that would bring succour to our people, be rest assured that this task force is very responsible and we would do everything to ensure that we get what will benefit our people, what will help them in the processes that we find ourselves today.”

This is coming after the World Health Organisation (WHO) maintained that the efficacy of the drug was unproven.

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The Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced that a total of 248 new cases of Coronavirus has been confirmed in different states in the country.

A breakdown of the new cases across states in the country is as follows; 81-Lagos, 35-Jigawa, 26-Borno, 26-Kano, 20-Bauchi, 13-FCT, 12-Edo, 10-Sokoto, 7-Zamfara, 4-Kwara, 4-Kebbi, 2-Gombe, 2-Taraba, 2-Ogun, 2-Ekiti, 1-Osun, 1-Bayelsa.

The NCDC also rectified an error it made in its announcement on Saturday May 9. According to the health agency, FCT recorded 13 discharged cases and 2 deaths on May 9, 2020 and not 32 discharge cases as earlier announced.

As at Sunday May 10, Nigeria has a total of 4399 cases of Coronavirus. 778 patients have been discharged and 143 have been recorded.