Metro

My govt is addressing Nigeria’s challenges, Tinubu insists

Published

3 months ago

August 26, 2024

Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu, has insisted that despite what many people may think, his administration is taking the necessary steps to address the numerous social and economic challenges facing the country.

Tinubu, who made the assertion at the opening ceremony of the Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference in Lagos on Sunday, restated the commitments of his government towards alleviating the sufferings of ordinary Nigerians.

The president, who was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, went on to highlight some the measures and policies being undertaken by his administration to address the economic challenges, noting specifically that the collapse of the multiple exchange regimes had helped to check corruption.

Tinubu’s claim came following the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, advocating for a new social contract in Nigeria where policies in the economy and society are sacrosanct and must not be touched or changed when administrations change.

“A very important part of the explanation for why we’ve not been able to succeed is lack of policy consistency. Successive administrations fail to continue good economic and social policies put in place by predecessors. Allowing politics to frame policy, what we can call the not-made-in-my-administration syndrome.

“We all understand that where policies are bad and not working, of course politics should intervene. But where things are working to the good, we ask, why fix what is not broken? To minimize the volatility of economic and social policy and to set our country on a steady growth and development path, rather than an episodic growth path, I have become increasingly convinced that Nigeria needs a social contract.

“By this, I mean a fundamental cross-party, cross-society agreement that certain things in the economy, in the country, in policy and in society are sacrosanct and shall not be touched or changed when administrations change.
“Every one of us here in this room knows that Nigeria today is not where it should be, that our country has not progressed as it should have.

“That is why, more than 60 years after independence, the NBA and all general conferences are still looking at things like rebuilding Nigeria.,” the former minister had stated.

Commending Dr. Okonjo-Iweala’s speech on the need for a new social contract between the government and the people, the President said:

“Fellow Nigerians, it is appropriate to refer to the recent landmark position of the Supreme Court granting financial autonomy to the local government councils in Nigeria.

“I commend the upheaval for its consistent sustenance of the tenets of democracy and good governance in the polity.

“Expectedly, this will spur the much-desired developments at the grassroots level, while I remain confident that more of such strategic and reform-oriented legal interventions will be achieved.”

Related Topics:Challenges Featured Hardship Nigeria President Bola Tinubu Sufferings

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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.