Monday, February 17, 2020

Video - Nigeria secures $1mln U.S. grant for gas power plant



Nigeria has received more than $ 1 Million from the United States Trade and Development Agency to set up a gas power plant in Abuja. Africa's largest crude oil producer is looking to stop decades of gas flaring and to make far better use of its huge gas reserves to close its enormous electricity deficit.

Armed Herdsmen Kill 30 in Northern Nigeria’s Kastina State

At least 30 people were killed and several others injured on Friday in attacks by herdsmen in Nigeria’s northwestern Kastina state, the police said. In Tsauwa village, about 21 people were burned to death and some houses razed, while nine were shot in Dankar, the state’s Commissioner of Police Sanusi Buba said by phone Sunday. A suspect was arrested on Saturday and an investigation is under way, he said.

The villagers had an earlier disagreement with herdsmen, who made a reprisal attack, according to the commissioner.

“No one in the country has a right to take laws into his hands by the way of self-help or revenge,” President Muhammadu Buhari said in an emailed statement. “There is no place for violence in a decent society.” Attacks in northern states of Nigeria have led to a spate of kidnappings and raids, forcing people from their homes. The region has also been the epicenter for Islamist militants attacks, which pose a major security challenge for the West African nation’s government.

By Tope Alake

Bloomberg

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Former Nigeria captain Joseph Yobo appointed as assistant coach

Nigeria have appointed former captain Joseph Yobo as assistant coach of the senior national team.

The 39-year-old will work with manager Gernot Rohr and replaces Imama Amapakabo in the technical crew, according to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

His country's second most capped player, Yobo won the first of his 100 caps for Nigeria against Zambia in Chingola in 2001.

Yobo, who represented his country at the 1999 Under-20 World Cup, skippered the Super Eagles to Africa Cup of Nations success in South Africa in 2013.

The former Everton, Fenerbahce and Norwich City defender played in six Africa Cup of Nations tournaments between 2002 and 2013 in a 14-year career.

He featured in three World Cup tournaments in 2002, 2010 and 2014, playing ten matches at the World Cup finals in total - the most appearances for the West African nation on the biggest stage.

Yobo became the first African to captain Everton in October 2007 and made more than 250 appearances for the Toffees, helping them qualify for the Champions League in 2005 and playing in the side that lost the 2009 FA Cup final to Chelsea.

By Oluwashina Okeleji

BBC 

Death toll from Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria jumps to 70

The death toll in Nigeria from an outbreak of Lassa fever has risen to 70 as confirmed cases shot up, according to authorities.

The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the Nigerian agency responsible for the management of disease outbreaks, said in its week six update on Thursday that eight new deaths from Lassa fever were reported in three states.

"Four new healthcare workers were affected in Ondo, Delta and Kaduna states," the NCDC said in the update.

It said the number of suspected cases has "increased significantly" compared with the situation in mid-January, from more than 700 to 1,708.

Confirmed cases have also shot up to 472, it said.

Lassa fever is a disease spread to humans through food or household items contaminated with rodent urine or faeces.

In 80 percent of cases, the fever is asymptomatic, but for some, the symptoms include high fever, headache, mouth ulcers, muscle aches, haemorrhaging under the skin and heart and kidney failure.

It has an incubation period of between six and 21 days and can be transmitted through contact with an infected person via bodily fluids and excretion.

Effective treatment

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the antiviral drug ribavirin appears to be an effective treatment for Lassa fever "if given early on in the course of the clinical illness".

Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation with about 200 million people, has five laboratories with the capability to diagnose the disease.

Lassa fever belongs to the same family as the Ebola and Marburg viruses but is much less deadly.

The disease is endemic to the West African country and its name comes from the town of Lassa in northern Nigeria where it was first identified in 1969.

It infects between 100,000 and 300,000 people in the region every year with about 5,000 deaths, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Previously, cases of the disease have been reported in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Togo and Benin.

The number of cases usually climbs in January due to weather conditions during the dry season.

Al Jazeera

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Video - Mysterious disease in Nigeria kills 15



We're staying in Nigeria, where an unknown disease has killed 15 people in the northern part of the country. Medical experts say the disease does not appear to be Ebola, Lassa fever or corona-virus. With more details here's Ifiok Ettang reporting from Jos.