Author: Chronicle Editor

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced that 10,000 persons have been tested for coronavirus (COVID-19) in Nigeria. The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, who disclosed this at the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, on Thursday in Abuja, urged people to stop playing the game of numbers by comparing Nigeria’s testing capacity with that of countries like South Africa, Ghana etc. According to him, “We have a very good strategy around testing. Until recently, we had about 5,000 test but last week, we have moved from 5,000 to 10,000 tests. We are…

Africa registered a 43% jump in reported COVID-19 cases in the last week, highlighting a warning from the World Health Organization that the continent of 1.3 billion could become the next epicenter of the global outbreak. Africa also has a “very, very limited” and “very, very strained” testing capacity, John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in his weekly briefing on Thursday. The surge in infections on the continent is almost certainly under-reported and even higher in reality, say medical experts. WHO’s recent report painted a grim picture for Africa, one of the last…

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced 108 new cases of coronavirus in Nigeria as the numbers continue to swell in the last four days taking the new total to 981. The Centre for Disease Control also announced three more deaths on Thursday. “One hundred and eight (108) new cases of COVID-19 have been reported; 78 in Lagos, 14 in FCT, 5 in Ogun, 4 in Gombe, 3 in Borno, 2 in Akwa Ibom, 1 in Kwara and 1 in Plateau. “As at 11:30 pm 23rd April there are 981 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in Nigeria. Discharged:…

Chelsea footballer Antonio Rudiger has launched a campaign to raise money to buy face masks for market traders in Sierra Leone. Rudiger says he hopes they will help protect them and stop the spread of coronavirus. He tweeted that his foundation would be partnering with Mary-Ann Kaikai of Madam Wokie Fashion and the charity Lunchbox Gift to provide 60,000 face masks: I am pleased to announce that my Foundation Antonio Rüdiger For Sierra Leone will be partnering with @madam_wokie and @LunchBoxGift to provide 60,000 face masks to low income market traders in Freetown, Sierra Leone. This will hopefully reduce the…

President Muhammadu Buhari sends his best wishes to Muslims in the country and all over the world as they begin this year’s 30-day fast, following the sighting of the moon. “I congratulate all Muslims as they commence this year’s Ramadan fast which is depicted by self-denial, universal brotherhood, austerity and helping relatives and needy people,” says the President. President Buhari describes Ramadan 2020 as a challenge, falling as it is in the period of the global pandemic, which has spread to more than 200 nations, with virtually all countries advising citizens to avoid large gatherings and have their prayers and…

United Bank for Africa Group (UBA) Plc has released its unaudited results for the first quarter ended March 31st, 2020, showing double-digit improvement across all its major income lines. The bank leveraged on modest growth in both interest and non-interest income as well as increased efficiency to deliver an impressive 8.5 percent year-on-year growth in profit before tax in the first three months of 2020, to N32.7 billion compared with N30.2 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2019. Again, UBA sustained its strong profitability recording an annualized 20% Return on Average Equity (RoAE). Driven by a year-on-year growth in interest…

Presidents of West African countries under the aegis of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government have appointed President Muhammadu Buhari Champion of the COVID-19 response. The appointment took place Thursday at the Extraordinary ECOWAS Summit on COVID-19 which was held via teleconferencing under the Chairmanship of His Excellency, Mahamadou Issoufou, President of the Republic of Niger. During the teleconference, President Buhari called on fellow ECOWAS leaders to look beyond the challenges posed by the COVID -19 pandemic and tap into various opportunities that it presents for the betterment of lives in Member States: “In every challenging situation such as…

The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development (FMHDSD) was established in 2019 as a special intervention ministry for humanitarian affairs, management of disasters and social interventions. It was created on August 21, 2019 with a mandate to: develop humanitarian policies and provide effective coordination of national and international humanitarian interventions, ensure strategic disaster mitigation, preparedness and response, and manage the formulation and implementation of equity focused social inclusion and protection programmes in Nigeria. Headed by Honourable Minister Sadiya Umar Farouq, it is at the forefront of the Covid-19 intervention as the ministry saddled with providing palliatives…

Givefood.ng, a coalition of partners committed to tackling the feeding challenge triggered by the lockdown declared by the Federal and state governments to curb the spread of COVID-19, has announced an initiative to provide one million meals to Nigerians every week. This plan was disclosed in a statement issued by the coalition while announcing its launch. According to Kola Masha, founder of the coalition and Chief Executive Officer of Babban Gona, the partners will provide a technology-enabled logistics solution to help those who want to direct their resources to the most vulnerable, while ensuring the availability of food packs at easily…

Bundesliga is now eager to return to action with plans to play spectator-free games in May.