Business

UK Pledges £105m To Assist Nigeria, Others Tackle Omicron

Published

3 years ago

December 31, 2021

The United Kingdom (UK) has pledged the sum of £105million to help tackle Omicron in Nigeria and other African countries.
The British High Commission, Abuja, said in a statement that the £105million of emergency aid will help countries most in need to tackle Omicron and other COVID-19 variants, with a particular focus on Africa.
The British High Commission also said funding will help millions of people by supporting measures to reduce transmission, scale-up testing, and boost oxygen supplies.
It added that the UK has now fulfilled its pledge to donate 30million Coronavirus vaccine doses by the end of 2021, marking the one-year anniversary of the UK becoming the first country to approve the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
“The UK Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, has pledged up to £105million of UK emergency aid to help vulnerable countries tackle the Omicron COVID-19 variant, with a particular focus on Africa. The vital aid will be delivered through trusted partners, such as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), and will:
“Scale-up testing – especially in parts of Africa where testing rates for COVID-19 remain lowest – allowing health systems to track and respond to the spread of the virus more effectively. This is in addition to the UK’s world-leading genomic sequencing support.
“Improve access to oxygen supplies for ventilators – a surge in demand for oxygen is a significant risk for some countries.
“Provide communities with hygiene advice, products and access to handwashing facilities and support deep cleaning in schools, health centres and other public places. This will build on the successful global hygiene campaign between UK aid and Unilever which has reached over 1.2billion people since its launch in 2020.
“Fund the UK’s ground-breaking science and research into the spread of variants like Omicron to enable innovative evidence-based policy responses in low and middle-income countries.
“Ready the UK’s own expert emergency teams for deployment overseas to crisis hotspots, including with new medical equipment,” the British High Commission said.
The British High Commission further said the Government of the United Kingdom has also confirmed that over 30million vaccines have been delivered so far as part of the UK’s pledge to donate 100million doses to the world, benefitting more than 30 countries, including Nigeria.
“Doses donated by the UK have reached four continents and provided vital protection from COVID-19 in countries including Nigeria, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana and Rwanda. Of the more than 30million doses now donated so far, 24.6million have been received by COVAX for delivery to countries and 5.5million have been shared directly with countries in need. The UK has so far donated to Nigeria over 1.2m doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines through COVAX in 2021. Millions more vaccines will be sent to Nigeria and other countries in 2022, including 20million Oxford-AstraZeneca doses and 20million Janssen doses.
“The UK has been at the forefront of the global response to COVID-19. Today’s announcement builds on the £1.3billion in UK aid committed to the international health response early on in the pandemic, supporting vaccines, health systems and economic recovery in developing countries. The UK Government has also invested more than £88million to support the development of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, and the UK became the first country in the world to approve the jab a year ago today.
“In Nigeria, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) supported the improved capability and capacity of the NCDC for COVID genomic sequencing, which has now conducted more than 2000 tests compared to about 400 tests six months ago. The UKHSA is also building the diagnostic capacity in Nigeria for common childhood diseases, such as pertussis (whooping cough) and other diseases of public health significance. The UKHSA is also supporting the development of national and subnational health security plans, including building the technical and leadership capacity within the NCDC. The UKAid funded Lafiya programme has also supported the procurement of £2million worth of PPE kits, protecting more than 5,000 health workers in the five Northern States: Borno, Yobe, Kaduna, Kano and Jigawa.
“Thanks to AstraZeneca’s commitment distribute the vaccine on a non-profit basis, 2.5billion doses have been used in more than 170 countries, two thirds of which are low- and middle-income countries,” the British High Commission added.
Following the pledge, Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss said: “The UK is providing vital assistance to help tackle the spread of new variants around the world. This is key to securing our freedom and ending this pandemic once and for all.
“I am proud that we have also delivered over 30 million vaccines to benefit our friends around the world this year. The UK is helping other countries most in need. No one is safe until everyone is safe.”
Also speaking, Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid said: “The global pandemic has challenged health systems around the world and the best way to overcome this awful disease is to unite and stand side by side with our international partners.
“By supporting countries with the UK’s ground breaking science and research into the spread of variants, improving access to oxygen and scaling up testing we will help those most in need chart their course out of the pandemic. I am proud that we have already delivered over 30 million vaccines to our friends abroad. The UK, as a global leader, is helping other countries most in need. No one is safe until everyone is safe.”
The Chief Executive Officer of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Dr Seth Berkley, said: “We welcome the UK’s commitment in new funding to protect the most vulnerable, particularly in Africa; the UK’s continued focus on COVAX and equitable global access to COVID19 vaccines, both through early financing commitments made at UNGA 2020, as well as meeting the Prime Minister’s G7 commitment to dose sharing – the 30million target set by the end of 2021.
“We look forward to operationalising the remainder of the UK’s dose sharing commitment via COVAX in 2022, while we also work with the UK Government on continuing to support Gavi’s ambitious 2021-2025 routine vaccination programmes, of which the United Kingdom is the largest funder through the PM’s commitment made at the UK-hosted Global Vaccine Summit in June 2020.”

Business

Expert Tasks Government On Civil Maritime Security Unit

Published

21 hours ago

February 5, 2025

The Tide

As part of measures to ensure safety along waterways in Rivers State, a Marintime safety and security expert, Capt. Eke Ifeanyi Laurence, has called for the establishment of a civil maritime And Safety unit in the state.

Laurence, who said this in an exclusive interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt, said the unit should be stationed in jetties across the state.

He said the outfit will not only check insecurity along the maritime environment, but also create both direct and indirect jobs for the teeming unemployed youths of the state.

“My message to the Governor of the state is for the State Government to help train the youths on maritime safety and security, and engage them positively”, he said.

He argued that once this is done the happenings along the waterways, especially the incessant boat mishaps and piracy will be reduced to the barest minimum.

“All of you know about what is happening now, every day you wake up, the first news you hear is boat mishaps.

“Boat capsizes in Bonny, boat capsizes in Nembe, boat capsizes in Andoni. Boat mishaps all over the state and people are dying every day and goods worth millions being lost.

“So, I want the present Government to train our youths and establish a civil maritime safety and security unit. It will be all over the jetties”, he stated.

Lawrence stated the benefits of the proposed agency to include, monitoring and enforcement of compulsory wearing of lifebuoys or life jackets by boat passengers and drivers, generation of over twenty thousand direct and fifty thousand indirect jobs, and bringing the benefits of the Federal Government’s blue economy programme to the state.

He said Rivers State, which is the second largest maritime state in the country after Lagos, should be able to upgrade safety along its maritime environment to international standard, noting that the trend of sea piracy along the Gulf of Guinea is on the rise

According to him, “Rivers State should play a crucial role in preventing the citizens from dying, and goods from getting lost every day”.

The expert, who is the President of El Bravo Marine And Coast Guard Services Limited, said the proposal will also check the incessant fire incidents in Nembe waterside that have cost many lives and other water fronts in the state.

John Bibor

Business

Bayelsa Recommits To Infrastructure, Sectoral Dev … Rakes In N227.185b From IGR

Published

21 hours ago

February 5, 2025

The Tide

The Bayelsa State Government has expressed willingness to continue infrastructure and sectoral development of the state under the leadership of the Senator Douye Diri-led “Prosperity Assured” administration.

Speaking to newsmen, last Friday, in Yenagoa, the state capital, during the October–December 2024 monthly transparency briefing, the State Commissioner for Information, Strategy and Orientation, Mrs. Ebiowou Koku-Obiyai, said the exercise became imperative as Government was ready to update the citizenry on the income and expenditures of the state.

She noted that all ongoing projects under the Governor Diri-led administration would be completed, urging citizens of the state to see and appreciate efforts the Government was making in the provision of critical infrastructure projects and sectoral development in all spheres of the state.

“Transparency briefing, so far so good, is all about reporting back to the citizens of the state the income and expenditures of the Government under the watch of our Dear Governor, the distinguished Senator Douye Diri.

“As a Government we’ve a direction, and if you watch closely you’ll better understand where the Government is going. We’ve earmarked critical projects to execute and key among these projects is the nine storey, new State Secretariat complex, which would make workers more productive and their jobs more worthwhile.

“We’ve issues with power, and very soon we’ll also have our own independent power plant to solve the problem of incessant power blackout in the state”, she said.

Rendering stewardship of financial accruals to the State for the three months of October, November and December 2024, the State Commissioner for Finance, Mr Maxwell Ebibai, gave details of the receipt and expenditures.

He said in October, Statutory allocation was N509milliin, Derivation was N8.335million, VAT N5.291billion, exchange rate gains -N11.28billion, non-oil revenue – N905m, electronic transfer levy -N175m, while total gross inflow from the Federation account allocation committee (FAAC) for the month, according to the Commissioner, amounted to N26.514billion, just as he said FAAC deductions gulped 1.735b.

He noted that, total net inflow after FAAC deductions stood at N24.779billion, while other receipts were N86.431billion, making sum total of receipt in the month N101.2billion, with outflows gulping a total of N16.971billion.

Ebibai also declared net balance upon the outflows as N94.238billion, noting that actual recurrent payment took N5.284billion, capital expenditure totalled N38.355billion, while the sum total of both capital and recurrent expenses made in the month amounted to N43.64billion, and balance after capital and recurrent expenditures stood at N50.598billion.

The Finance Commissioner further stated that total balance carried from September to October was N135.446billion, while balance at the close of November was N186.44billikn respectively.

In November, according to the Finance Ministry, gross receipt from FAAC was N37.982,141,546billion, while deductions at FAAC gulped N1.734billion, leaving balance after FAAC deductions at N36.247,717,577billion.

Other receipts for the month of November, including Internally generated revenue (IGR), was N39.254,383billion; cumulative receipt from FAAC and other receipts for the month stood at N75.5billion, while total outflows in November, was N24.275billion; balance before capital and recurrent expenses stood at N51.226billion; the balance after capital and recurrent expenses was N8.302billion; actual capital expenditure gulped N35.8billion; actual recurrent expenditure took N7.1billion, making the sum total of capital and recurrent expenses N42.9billion.

“Balance brought forward from October was N186.44billion, total balance as at the end of November was N194.346billion. Balance at the end of December receipts and expenditures ended in the negative.

“Gross receipts from FAAC in the month stood at N52.269billion, statutory deductions was N1.783billion, revenue from IGR and other sources totalled N35.990billion, while sum total of receipts in the month amounted to N86.476billion.

“Outflows gulped N17.543billon, balance from FAAC and other receipts before capital and recurrent expenses was N68.932billon, while actual capital expenditure took N62.8billion, recurrent expenditure gulped N6.889billion, bringing total expenditure for the month of December to a total N69.7billion, leaving a negative balance of N773million.

“Balance brought forward from November was N194.3billion, total balance as at January 2025 is N193.573billion”, the Finance Commissioner declared.

Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa

Business

NDYC Seeks NDDC Commercialisation … Uncompleted Projects Completion

Published

21 hours ago

February 5, 2025

The Tide

A non-governmental organization, the Niger Delta Youth Coalition, (NDYC), is set to write to the National Assembly for amendment of the Act establishing the Niger Delta Development Commission, (NDDC) to enable it go into the establishment of large scale farming, to meet up its huge financial needs in developing the region.

Founder and National Co-ordinator of the NDYC, Prince Emmanuel Samuel Ogba, who disclosed this in an interview in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said if amended, it would enable the NDDC to be commercialized in various sectors of its activities, particularly in agriculture, for internal generation of funds to augment its soaring financial needs.

Prince Ogba, an economist and politician, said to this end, his organization would send a private bill to the National Assembly seeking to amend the 2001 Act establishing the NDDC.

He noted that with the present economic challenges in the country, and to provide food for the populace, there is urgent need for the NDDC to be empowered by law to go into agriculture.

Ogba said, “if this happens, it would also provide more employment opportunities for the youths, as most of them would work in the farms, including staff of the Commission”.

The NDYC boss expressed the belief that such additional funds would enable the NDDC to partner with other relevant organizations in agriculture and also help in completing uncompleted projects executed by the NDDC several years ago by past managements of the Commission.

Prince Ogba recalled that by analysis some years back, the NDDC required about five trillion Naira as against a budget of N1.9trillion to complete numerous uncompleted projects of the Commission, adding that such situation was an impediment to its efforts to meet the increasing challenges to accomplish an integrated development of the peoples of the Niger Delta region.

He, however, applauded the present management of the NDDC led by Samuel Ugbuku for carrying out the completion of projects that were not completed by the commission.

He noted that with the NDDC going into food production and processing of farm produce, in a space of three years, the Niger Delta region would have enough food for the region to feed its over thirty million people and the rest of the country.

The current management of the NDDC has completed and commissioned a considerable number of uncomplete projects across the nine states in the region with its mandate to facilitate the rapid, even, and sustainable development of the Niger Delta into a region that is economically prosperous, socially stable, ecologically regenerative and politically peaceful, to offer a lasting solution to the socio-econimic difficulties of the Niger Delta region.