​NGO, Water aid Launches Clean Family Campaign in Kaduna State

Water Aid Nigeria in partnership with Aid Foundation on Tuesday inaugurated its Clean Family Campaign in Kaduna State to promote hygiene in households.

The State Team Lead, Idowu Adebayo said at the inauguration in Kaduna that the campaign would also support the state government’s commitment to end open defecation by 2025.

Adebayo explained that the main objective of the campaign was to influence the adoption of hygiene at critical times by family units.

This, according to her, will lead to improved wellbeing of households and ensure clean environment.

She added that the campaign would also support government and development partners’ efforts in tackling COVID-19 pandemic and other infectious diseases like cholera and diarrhoea.

“Through media engagements and visual messaging, the campaign has been designed to educate people and promote the constant practice of specific behaviours during the pandemic and beyond.

“The campaign will promote hand washing with soap at critical times, use of clean toilets, respiratory hygiene, social distancing and cleaning frequently touched surfaces,’’ she added.

Mr Emmanuel Bonet, the Executive Director, Said Foundation said that the campaign would be implemented in 14 out of the 23 local government areas of the state.

Bonet said that currently, jingles on hygiene were being aired in five radio and two television stations in the state, adding that it would run for 120 days.

According to him, hand washing facilities are being installed in churches, mosques, markets, schools and hospitals and other high-density areas in the 14 benefiting LGAs.

He explained that the facilities were non-touch and user-friendly for children and persons living with disability.

“We are also producing three billboards with different messages on COVID-19, use of face mask, and regular hand washing and would be installed in the three Senatorial Zones in the state.

“We will also distribute information, education and communication materials in primary healthcare centres to educate people on the importance of good hygiene practices.

“We will equally distribute hygiene packs to 5,000 poor and vulnerable households selected from the state Social Register,’’ he said.

He commended the state’s Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA) for providing the space for the needed partnership to sensitise households on attitudinal change toward hygiene.

The Director-General of RUWASSA, Mr Ahmed Munir described hygiene as the “first line of defence’’ against infectious diseases like the coronavirus disease.

Munir, represented by Malam Muhammad Ali, Secretary and Legal Adviser of the agency, said that lack of access to water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure makes the practice of hygiene difficult.

This, according to him, results in negative consequences on health, livelihoods, gender equality and socio-economic outcomes.

“It is against this background that we are inaugurating the Clean Family Campaign to motivate communities and healthcare facilities toward practising specific hygiene behaviours.”

Gov. Nasir El-Rufa’i thanked the Water Aid and Aid Foundation for the support, saying it would go a long way in supporting the state in attaining open defecation free status by 2025.

El-Rufa’i, represented by Dr Hamza Abubakar, the Executive Secretary, Kaduna State Primary Healthcare Board, reiterated government’s efforts to provide water and sanitation facilities in all communities in the state.

​PDP, APGA Reps defect to APC

Rep. Aliyu Yako (PDP, Kano) and Rep Danjuma Shiddi (APGA, Taraba), have defected to the APC. Announcing their defection on Tuesday in Abuja, Rep Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives, said the duo attributed their defection to divisions in their former parties.

Gbajabiamila said that Yako confirmed that he was leaving the PDP because of leadership crisis and division in the party in Kano and in his local government.

He added that Shiddi in his own case said his defection was due to uncertainty propelled by division in the party, adding that such division would not allow him to further his political aspiration.

Yako represents Kiru/Babeji Federal Constituency of Kano while Shiddi represents Ibi/Wukari Federal Constituency of Taraba.

Reacting to the development, Rep. Ndudi Elumelu, the Minority Leader of the House said that there was no division in Kano’s PDP.

“I am not aware there is division in PDP in Kano and yesterday I spoke with the PDP chairman having foreseen this defection move, and the chairman confirmed that there is no crisis, issue or division in Kano’s PDP,’’ he said.

Elumelu added that the APC would be encouraging illegality if it allowed the duo to defect from their respective parties to the APC.

He said there was a subsisting Supreme Court judgment that disallowed elected members from defecting from the party on whose platform they won election to defect to another party.

He called on the speaker to declare their seats vacant for defecting to another party.

Gbajabiamila insisted, however, that the defection letter he read maintained that there was disunity and factions in Kano’s PDP and at his local government level.

He said that Elumelu had no right to say there was no division as stated by the defector since he had no proof to back his claim.

He jokingly told Elumelu that he had a feeling that the minority leader would soon defect to the ruling APC, an idea which Elumelu instantly rebuked.

Rep. Tobi Okechukwu (PDP, Enugu) in his contribution, said that the facts relied upon by the PDP defector were erroneous, adding that there was no division in Kano’s PDP

He also said that the defection was illegal and backed Elumelu’s submission on the Supreme Court judgment. (NAN)

​COVID-19: Nigeria now in middle of second wave — LUTH Doctors

Resident Doctors at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, on Monday warned that Nigerians should be wary of COVID-19 second wave as some patients discharged of COVID-19in the past are coming down with the virus again even as they posited that recent event suggests the country is in the middle of another pandemic.

Briefing journalists, President of ARD LUTH, Dr.Judith Jolayemi called on all citizens of Nigeria, organizations, institutions, and the government to return to the status quo by reinstating the previously initiated precautionary actions towards preventing the spread of the virus.

Jolayemi said: “Schools after vacating this month maybe considered to remain closed until the epidemic curve begins to reverse. Government at all levels should continue to enforce laws regarding adherence to safety protocols, scale-up covid-19 testing, improve infrastructure and services across boarding including the airports and ensure the delivery of Covid-19 vaccines at the earliest time possible.”

Speaking, a Senior Registrar at the LUTH COVID-19 Isolation Centre, Dr Folarin Opawoye, Nigerians attitude towards the non-pharmaceutical guideline are making the country lose the gains it achieved in the past.

Opawoye who spoke during a COVID-19 Awareness briefing as part of the Association’s Week regretted that despite the successes recorded in the fight against COVID-19, the majority of the cases they are seeing suggest huge community transmission.

“The reality is that reopening of the airport is not the major factor but what we are doing to ourselves. When you want to access COVID-19 response, I think we have done a good job because compare to what was predicted and what is going on in other parts of the world. However, we can’t rest on our success because it’s not about how we started but how we end.”

Opawoye warned that people must do their part to avoid another lockdown, “Lockdown can be challenging especially in this environment because of socio-economic indices of the people. A lot of people have to go out every day before they can eat.

“But there are so many other things we can do without going through the lockdown, if everybody is wearing their nose mask, social and physical distance, avoid unnecessary gathering and travelling as recommended by NCDC.

He disclosed that doctors are tired of managing COVID-19 patients. “There was a time we have more than 100 cases on admission at the same time, you can imagine doing ward round for them that is very hard, we can’t go back to that time, so we are pleading with everybody.

“The reality with Covid-19 is that you can’t predict who will have a negative outcome. For instance, we have discharged 98 years old and lost five years old. If you say it is people with an underline condition that are at risk, you don’t know what you are carrying in your body because many people don’t go for a routine check. We have seen many healthy people that died from covid-19. We have seen people who have it and those who contracted it from them died.”

​Kano state Assembly Speaker, Majority leader resign

Speaker of the Kanno State House of Assembly, Alh Abdulaziz Garba Gafasa and the Majority Leader of the House have resigned.

The Speaker announced his resignation in a letter he signed, titled ‘Notification of Resignation’ and dated 14th December 2020 addressed to the Clerk of the House and office of the Permanent Secretary.

Also, the Majority Leader, in a one-paragraph letter also addressed to the Clerk of the House did not state the reason why he took the action.

However, the Speaker said his resignation was based on personal conviction, while he thanked members of the Assembly for the support they showed him while he was in charge.

Details later…