Metro

Seven months not enough to fix decades of rot in Nigeria —Tinubu

Published

10 months ago

February 2, 2024

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has once again told citizens that his administration needs more time to fix the myriads of problems it inherited from previous governments, noting that seven months in office were barely enough for him to turn things around.

Tinubu, who made the plea on Thursday through the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris Malagi, in an interview on a national television programme, said though the administration was not out to make excuses, it was also apt that Nigerians should lower their expectations as it continued to work to change the dire conditions the country was currently facing.

“I want you to remember that the President is seven months old in office. I am not going to make excuses that seven months is just a short time,” the minister said.

“But for a long-term plan, you need a lot more time to put structures in place. But, of course, as you trudge along, there will be shocks, turbulence, and occasional dislocations that you would find. But the vision of the president is very clear: he wants to take Nigeria to the desired prosperity.”

He assured Nigerians that Tinubu, along with his team, was working day and night to see that the country was taken to the desired place of prosperity.

“He works day and night to achieve that. Every day, all the ministers and everyone else are working in that direction, but the results are not seen yet. We ask Nigerians to be a little more patient.

“I know it’s difficult, especially when people are finding it hard to purchase food items as a result of these policies, but the government is doing a lot to address them”, he said.

The minister added that the Nigerian vision was to have a nation that was safe, secure, equitable, and one that prioritized merit.

But he, however, argued that it was going to be a tedious journey for Nigeria, adding that only the building blocks could be laid in seven months for the country to get to the desired level.

Idris also defended the removal of fuel subsidy by Tinubu during his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023, despite the rising cost of living and inflation which have trailed the removal, arguing that things could have been worse if the subsidy had not been removed.

“You’re premising your argument on the fact that this problem just started yesterday. The foundation of our economy had taken a beating a long time ago.

”The substructure of our national economy has been one that cannot hold a meaningful substructure on it.

“So, it is important that Nigerians recognise that the President and his team would have to go back to reset that and that is why from day one, he said, ‘look, subsidy issue has to go’.

”He had to expect that there would be this pain, of course. He anticipated that Nigerians would encounter some difficulties but it would be worse if that subsidy did not go.

”It would have been difficult to carry out any meaningful development. We needed to free up resources”, he argued.

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Metro

Morocco’s Mpox test gets African CDC endorsement

Published

11 hours ago

November 17, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A major step forward in Africa’s response to the continuing epidemic was taken Thursday when the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) revealed that it had endorsed Morocco’s locally created mpox test.

A “major milestone” for African public health systems, the new real-time PCR test can identify mpox pathogen DNA in tissue, saliva, and blood samples, improving the continent’s capacity to address new health risks.

The Africa CDC announced the clearance on X (previously Twitter), highlighting the validity and effectiveness of Morocco’s mpox test.

The support is in line with the African Union’s overarching goal of enhancing public health self-sufficiency in order to anticipate and effectively address disease risks.

This development follows three months ago when the Africa CDC declared the mpox epidemic to be a public health emergency.

Previously known as monkeypox, mpox is a disease that infects animals and people by intimate personal contact. Symptoms include fever, muscular pains, and characteristic skin lesions.

Alongside the CDC’s work, Abbott Molecular Inc.’s Alinity m MPXV assay, the first mpox diagnostic test, was authorised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) last month.

This diagnostic tool provides an additional means of monitoring and managing the virus by identifying mpox from swab samples.

Approximately 1,100 people have died and over 50,000 instances of mpox have been recorded throughout Africa this year, with Central Africa experiencing the highest number of cases and fatalities.

Metro

Mpox immunisation scarcity slows Kinshasa’s epidemic fight

Published

12 hours ago

November 17, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A lack of mpox vaccine doses has prevented the Democratic Republic of the Congo from starting a campaign in the capital, Kinshasa, the response commander has confirmed. However, the number of cases nationwide is still rising, particularly among youngsters.

In mid-August, a new strain of pox started to spread from the Congo to neighbouring countries, prompting the WHO to declare a global health emergency. However, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, donors have been hesitant to turn their pledges into cash and vaccines.

The head of operations for Congo’s mpox control program, Cris Kacita, stated on Tuesday that the country needed more than 162,000 doses of vaccine to start a vaccination campaign in the capital, but that 53,921 doses were still available for use in prisons, where inmates are at greater risk because of unsanitary conditions.

The capital, which is home to about 20 million people, has so far been less impacted than other parts of the nation. In six other provinces, vaccination campaigns are now underway.

Along with additional shipments from Germany and the African Union, France has committed to providing 100,000 doses.

He added the arrival of vaccines was also delayed by the administrative process, which includes sending an official request, manufacturing, creating documentation and gaining import authorisations.

“As long as we don’t have the necessary quantity, it’s going to be complicated to launch (vaccination) in the 14 health zones,” Kacita told Reuters, referring to areas of Kinshasa.

According to a health ministry study, from October 28 to November 2, 1,017 new suspected cases were registered nationwide in Congo, including 45 confirmed cases and 16 fatalities.

Since children are almost four times more likely than adults to die from the new strain of mpox, the charity Save the Children warned on Wednesday that targeted vaccines were necessary to halt the virus from spreading quickly among children.

“Children are especially vulnerable to mpox – they explore by touch and taste, don’t always understand health guidance, and have weaker immune systems than adults,” Katia Vieira de Moraes LaCasse from Save the Children said.

According to Africa CDC data, there have been over 42,000 suspected cases of Mpox in the continent, with 1,100 deaths reported so far this year.

The Mpox virus can spread from person to person via intimate contact and also from place to person through objects and surfaces that a person infected with Mpox has touched.