Friday, April 6, 2018
Video - Nigeria looking to achieve rice self-sufficiency by 2020
Nigeria is the world's 2nd largest importer of rice. The government is now looking to support local farmers and has set a goal of achieving self-sufficiency in rice production by the year 2020. Some economists feel that target may be a little ambitious.
Video - President Buhari authorizes $1 bln to boost military offensive
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has authorized the release of $1 billion for the procurement of weapons to boost the military offensive against Boko Haram. Defence minister Mansur Dan Ali said the decision was made on Wednesday at a meeting between president Buhari and his military chiefs.
Ex-president Goodluck Jonathan not aware of Cambridge Analytica involvement in elections
Nigeria’s former president Goodluck Jonathan was “not aware” of any attempts by political consultancy Cambridge Analytica to interfere in elections in 2007 and 2015, his spokesman said on Thursday.
The UK-based political consultancy is facing allegations that it improperly accessed data from social media website Facebook to target voters prior to the U.S. presidential election and Britain’s Brexit referendum in 2016.
In Nigeria, a government committee is looking into claims that SCL Elections, a Cambridge Analytica affiliate, organized rallies to dissuade opposition supporters from voting against Jonathan’s then-ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in 2007.
“Goodluck Jonathan was not aware of such attempts, if there were any,” said the ex-leader’s spokesman Ikechukwu Eze in a statement.
“The whistleblower who originated the allegation has been consistent in associating it to an unnamed businessman, who was neither linked to the party nor to the Jonathan campaign,” Eze said.
The government investigation announced on Monday will also look into whether Cambridge Analytica’s work for the election campaigns of the PDP broke Nigerian law “or infringed on the rights of other parties and their candidates”.
PDP candidate Umaru Yar’Adua won the 2007 presidential ballot. He died in office in 2010 and was succeeded by his deputy, Goodluck Jonathan.
Unlike in Europe and the United States, where data-privacy laws provide a level of protection to consumers, many Africans have little or no recourse if a data breach occurs because often legal and regulatory safeguards do not exist.
Thursday, April 5, 2018
Video - Nigerian playwright pushing for social change, equality
A woman playwright is pushing for social change in Nigeria through her performances. She wants African women to join global movements for gender equality. And she's calling her initiative "Hear World". Take a look.
142 have died from Lassa fever in Nigeria since January
Lassa fever has killed 142 people in Nigeria since the start of the year, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said on Thursday, reporting a rise of 32 fatalities in a month.
"Since the onset of the 2018 outbreak, there have been 142 deaths," it said.
Cases have been recorded in 20 of Nigeria's 36 states, it said.
"Eight states have exited the active phase of the outbreak while 12 states remain active," it said.
On March 6, the NCDC reported 110 deaths in 18 states.
Last month the World Heath Organization (WHO) said the epidemic had reached record highs and promised to support efforts to contain it and treat those affected.
The NCDC said the southern states of Edo, Ondo and Ebonyi were worst-hit.
"WHO and NCDC have scaled up response at national and state levels," it added.
Lassa fever belongs to the same family as Marburg and Ebola, two deadly viruses that lead to infections with fever, vomiting and in worst-case scenarios, haemorrhagic bleeding.
The name comes from the town of Lassa in northern Nigeria where it was first identified in 1969.
The virus is spread through contact with food or household items contaminated with rats' urine or faeces or after coming into direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person.
It can be prevented by enhanced hygiene and avoidance of all contact with rats.
More than 100 people were killed in 2016 in one of the nation's worst outbreaks of the disease, affecting 14 states, including Lagos and the capital Abuja.
"Since the onset of the 2018 outbreak, there have been 142 deaths," it said.
Cases have been recorded in 20 of Nigeria's 36 states, it said.
"Eight states have exited the active phase of the outbreak while 12 states remain active," it said.
On March 6, the NCDC reported 110 deaths in 18 states.
Last month the World Heath Organization (WHO) said the epidemic had reached record highs and promised to support efforts to contain it and treat those affected.
The NCDC said the southern states of Edo, Ondo and Ebonyi were worst-hit.
"WHO and NCDC have scaled up response at national and state levels," it added.
Lassa fever belongs to the same family as Marburg and Ebola, two deadly viruses that lead to infections with fever, vomiting and in worst-case scenarios, haemorrhagic bleeding.
The name comes from the town of Lassa in northern Nigeria where it was first identified in 1969.
The virus is spread through contact with food or household items contaminated with rats' urine or faeces or after coming into direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person.
It can be prevented by enhanced hygiene and avoidance of all contact with rats.
More than 100 people were killed in 2016 in one of the nation's worst outbreaks of the disease, affecting 14 states, including Lagos and the capital Abuja.
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