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Covid-19 Vaccine: Nigeria’s Disqualification, Shameful, Unpardonable -PDP
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described as shameful and unpardonable that a nation as important as Nigeria is being excluded from Covid-19 vaccine intervention of the World Health Organization (WHO) owing to the incompetence and corruption of the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.
The PDP specifically noted that in spite of the billions of naira the APC administration claimed to have spent on the Covid-19 effort, it was unable to provide the minimum standard requirement of vaccine storage at the requisite -70 degrees Celsius.
The party said that Nigeria’s exclusion by the World Health Organization (WTO), from the list of nations to receive Covid-19 vaccines following the inability of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to provide the simple vaccine storage requirement has further vindicated its stand that the APC-led administration is a total failure.
A statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, said that the embarrassing situation further confirmed its position that the APC administration is completely incapable of carrying out simple governance tasks, which is the reason the nation is in her present social and economic dire straits.
The PDP said; “Only last month, our party alerted the nation and tasked the Buhari administration on its lethargic approach to the issue of Covid-19 vaccine and other therapeutics; a caution which was dismissed by the APC and the Buhari administration.
“Nigerians can now see that the claims of commitment by the APC administration are mere media hypes that add no value beyond announcement of figures of infected persons, deaths, recoveries, discharges and issues of local protocols without decisive effort towards epidemiology, researches, production of equipment, therapeutics and other technical requirements, such as vaccine storage to stave off the pandemic in our country.
“This development has also confirmed our insistence that the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Covid-19 is a mere circus group of incompetent politicians, and has no capacity to tackle the spread of the pandemic in our country.
“It also validates the widespread call for the dissolution of the PTF. It is indeed sad that because of the corruption and incompetence of the APC administration, our dear nation, which was once a clear continental leader and global competitor in all fields, has fallen so low that it cannot provide simple vaccine storage in a time of pandemic,” the PDP said.
It continued; “Against this ugly backdrop, our party restates our call for immediate dissolution of the PTF on Covid-19 to pave way for a concerted private sector driven effort in the fight against the pandemic, since the Buhari administration has failed the nation.
“Our party urges all well-meaning Nigerians in the public health, pharmaceutical, manufacturing and logistics sub-sectors to immediately rally to rescue our nation from this horrible situation”.
The PDP, therefore, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to accept the ineffectiveness of his administration and seek help from more capable hands as well as adopt the PDP proactive model in fighting the dreaded Ebola virus disease, as a sure measure to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.
Earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) had said it allocated about 320,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to four African countries – Cape Verde, Rwanda, South Africa, and Tunisia.
Nigeria and other African countries were not included in this batch of vaccine allocation to fight the ravaging Coronavirus on the continent.
WHO said that the 320,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which had already received its Emergency Use Authorization, had been allocated to the four African countries that had the capacity to store and distribute doses at minus 70 degrees Celsius.
“About 320,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which has already received WHO Emergency Use, have been allocated to four African countries – Cabo Verde, Rwanda, South Africa, and Tunisia – which have the capacity store and distribute doses at minus 70 degrees Celsius”, according to WHO in a statement on the United Nations news website.
The WHO statement, however, said the joint UN-led COVAX initiative aims to start shipping about 90 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to Africa in February, which is expected to be the continent’s largest ever mass vaccination roll-out campaign in recent history.
The Federal Government of Nigeria had earlier set the end of January as target date for the arrival of 100,000 COVAX vaccines but later said it would arrive in February.
The country also assured that it had adequate storage facility to hold more than the Covid-19 vaccine doses being expected from WHO-led COVAX initiative.
In the statement, WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, said that the deployment was a “critical first step” to ensure countries access to vaccines.
“Africa has watched other regions start Covid-19 vaccination campaigns from the side-lines for too long. This planned roll-out is a critical first step to ensuring the continent gets equitable access to vaccines”, Moeti said.
Moeti also said that the announcement of the commencement of shipment was to enable African nations to fine-tune their planning for Covid-19 immunization campaigns.
He urged the countries to finalize their immunization plans.
“We urge African nations to ramp up readiness and finalize their national vaccine deployment plans. Regulatory processes, cold chain systems and distribution plans need to be in place to ensure vaccines are safely expedited from ports of entry to delivery”, she added.
“We can’t afford to waste a single dose,” she said.
Nigeria had said last week that it was planning to seek additional supply of Covid-19 vaccines from Russia and India to shore up the supply expected from WHO.
Also Nigeria is collaborating with other countries under the auspices of the African Union to secure 670 million vaccine doses for the continent which will be distributed in 2021 and 2022 as countries secure adequate financing, according to WHO.
The rollout of the AstraZeneca/Oxford AZD1222 vaccine is subject to the vaccine being listed for Emergency Use by WHO, which is currently reviewing the vaccine and the outcome is expected soon, according to the agency.
WHO had said that the final shipments will be based on production capacities of vaccine manufacturers and the readiness of countries.
It further stated that recipient countries were required to submit finalized national deployment and vaccination plans to receive vaccines from the COVAX facility.
The statement said initial 90 million doses will support countries to inoculate 3 per cent of the African population most in need of protection, including health workers and other vulnerable groups in the first half of 2021.
It added that “as production capacity increases and more vaccines become available the aim is to vaccinate at least 20 per cent of Africans by providing up to 600 million doses by the end of 2021.”
The Rivers State Chief judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi has granted pardon to six inmates standing awaiting trial at the Port Harcourt maximum correctional center.
The six lucky inmates granted pardon on Tuesday by the state Chief Judge included Nwekeala Chizoba, Samuel Emmanuel, Aniete Kelvin, Ebube Fubara and Goddey Okpara who were on awaiting trial as murder suspects and have all spent between 10 years to seven years in the custody without a proper information filed against them in the court.
Justice Amadi during a special gaol delivery exercise last Tuesday at the Port Harcourt Maximum Correctional Centre opined that the special gaol delivery was part of activities lined up to commomerate the 2024/2025 legal year in the State and restated the commitment of the state judiciary in decongesting the correctional centre and ensuring that those inmates who are not supposed to be there are removed from the custody.
The state chief judge stressed the need for all stakeholders to work together to build a society that supports rehabilitation and gives a second chance to anyone or group of people who have fallen short of the expectation of the law and have been punished accordingly.
He stressed that the National Judicial Council(NJC) encourages judges to pay more attention to criminal matters to enable them to decongests the correctional facilities, noting that since his assumption into office, his administration has been able to reduce the number of inmates in Nigerian Correctional Centres and the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre in particular, to less than 2,000 as against the over 4,000 inmates previously in the faculty.
According to him, “as they release the deserving inmates, they affirm their commitment to justice, compassion and rule of law but that they must not forget the fundamental principles of justice delivery system which is truth and fairness, integrity and equality before the law.”
I encourage you all the released inmates to return to your families and become better citizens. You must not engage in action that will return you all back to prison. Let me say that while the judges show empathy to you all, it does not absolved individuals from being held accountable for actions against individuals, corporate organisations and state which the law frowns at, ”he stated
The Chief Judge thereafter stood down the exercise to enable the DPP to intervene to case files following the fact that majority of the persons listed to benefit from the exercise are facing murder charges and adjourned to a date that will come before December.
Earlier in his goodwill message, the outgoing state Comptroller of Nigerian Correctional Centre, Port Harcourt, Felix Lawrence, who was recently promoted to the rank of Assistant Controller General, commended the state judiciary led by Chief Judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi for their continuous effort aimed at ensuring justice and decongesting the facilities.
Other activities lined up for the event included special church service at St Paul’s Cathedral , Anglican Communion, Rebisi Port Harcourt, inspection of guard of honour by the state Chief Judge mounted by officers of the Nigerian police and a special court session held at the ceremonial court hall.
By: AkujobiAmadi
The Director General of Rivers State Bureau on Public Procurement (RBoPP), Dr. Ine Briggs, has explained that the Sir Siminalayi Fubara administration plans to enforce transparency in governance through public procurement.
Speaking at a one-day Public Procurement Enlightenment workshop organised in collaboration with the State Local Government Service Commission for newly elected chairmen, vice chairmen, secretaries and leaders of legislative assemblies, Dr. Briggs said it is key for grassroot development.
She stated that the Sir. Fubara administration plans to reduce wastage and at same time infuse efficiency in public expenditure.
The RSoPP DG said the local government political office holders remain key drivers in the new vision hence the workshop is to arm them with knowledge on how to execute projects in tandem with needs of the people.
“ Your role in the prudent management of public resources is, therefore, not just administrative it’s the cornerstone of delivering the dividends of democracy. Every procurement decision you make must reflect a commitment to fairness, transparency and accountability” Dr. Briggs submitted.
One of the key goals of the administration she further reminded the participants was to use their offices to foster economic growth through public procurement.
She warned that the law establishing the agency empowers it to penalise defaulters, but that what is more important is voluntary compliance to the laws.
In addition to that, she said urged the local government council leaders that champion the practice and implementation of public procurement law.
On his part, Acting Chairman of Local Government Service Commission, Pastor GoodLife Ben Iduoku averred that the aim of the workshop is to arm key stakeholders in the local government system to generate new ideas, innovation and strategies in tandem with government policies and programmes.
The workshop dealt on various topics on procurement planning, methods, Understanding Bid Process, including types of Construction Contracts and law.
Some participants were awarded excellence and meritorious awards as part of the programme.
By: Kevin Nengia
The 19th anniversary of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Rivers State Chapter, recently ended in Port Harcourt in grand style, with participants from various schools including proprietors, the academia, civil society groups and top government functionaries charting the way forward for educational improvement.
The 19th NAPPS anniversary christened, ‘Innovation and Adaptation: Transforming Challenges Into Opportunities’ was held at Casoni Hotels, Port Harcourt.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Rivers State Chapter of the association, Dr. Jaja Adafe Sunday expressed gratitude to the members and executives for their untiring efforts towards the achievements of the body.
He sought the intervention of government on the lingering crisis on the economy as it is affecting the running of schools.
He decried high cost of things including fuel and raw materials which has adversely affected the running of schools and payment of teachers.
Dr. Sunday hinted that the current economic situation in the nation is biting hard on the operations of schools, saying inflation, removal of fuel subsidy, fuel scarcity, poor electricity supply, tariffs and lack of government grants are some of the challenges faced by schools, and urged the members to brace up to the challenges, as it is the panacea to building a brighter future.
Guest speakers from the health sector and the academia thrilled the gathering on the essence of basic education which they said is the key to national development.
Former Dean of the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Professor Azuru and the Chief Medical Director of Meridian Hospitals, Dr. Odo Iyke were some notable guest speakers who delivered lectures at the occasion.
Some distinguished proprietors also got special recognitions and awards.
The 19th anniversary cake was cut by the Rivers State NAPPS Chairman with representatives of the state government assisting.