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By Sola Ogundipe The Lagos State AIDS Control Agency, LSACA, has commenced the training of executives of the Nigeria Automobile Technician Association (NATA) Lagos State Chapter on HIV prevention amid COVID-19 pandemic This is in line with the global epidemic control of HIV/AIDS by 2020 through the UNAIDS 90-90-90 initiative which means: 90 percent of the people living with the virus should know their status. 90 percent of HIV positive individuals should be initiated on antiretroviral drugs, 90 percent of individuals on antiretroviral drugs should achieve viral suppression, and for total eradication in 2030. Addressing the participants at the event, the CEO of LSACA, Dr. Monsurat Adeleke said the State Governor has approved and released funds for the sensitisation and awareness campaign amongst the NATA Lagos Chapter. She said the community was a critical sector of the State economy with a significant Adolescent Youth Population that is contributing to the Gross Domestic Product.

run-away COVID-19 patient By Chioma Obinna A new study has shown that three-Quarters of the 200 million Nigerians are at risk of Non-Communicable Diseases, NCDs, amidst coronavirus pandemic. The study also found that men are more at risk than women. The year-long study which commenced in 2019, by WellNewMe in collaboration with Novartis was aimed at determining Nigerians risks for developing chronic diseases as part of the disease activities for World Hypertension Day. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), people with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, or cancer are at higher risk of complications of COVID-19. READ ALSO:  Covid-19: Health workers protest nonpayment of allowances The result of the study released weekend revealed that a total of 1,900 people were enrolled for the pilot, and 1,269 of them completed the assessment as part of the pilot. The participants were drawn from different parts of Nigeria i

Deal with only corporate freight forwarding firms – Olayiwola Shittu By Godwin Oritse EXECUTIVE Secretary/CEO of Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Hassan Bello, has said that a well structured freight forwarding practice will checkmate quarks and decongest the industry. He lamented the proliferation of quacks and lack of professionalism in the freight forwarding industry, saying that the country needs only a few freight forwarders that are well capitalized. Bello, who stated this while speaking with journalists in Abuja last week, said the business of freight forwarding must be restructured with a view to streamlining both the operators and the standard of services. He stated, “Working with freight forwarders has exposed us to very many important things. They are vital to ports operations, also truckers. But freight forwarding must be professionalized and consolidated. READ ALSO ‘I wanted to fortify my son against Fulani herders’ attack, but local bulletproof charm failed’ “Th

Seme Border By Godfrey Bivbere FOLLOWING the closure of the nation’s border since last year, Nigerians in Ghana have resorted to direct delivery of their importations to other West African countries instead of routing such imports through Nigeria, a measure that will result in loss of import revenue to the nation. Hitherto, traders usually get their goods from markets in Lagos and moved them by road to West African countries, but with the closure of the border however, moving cargo from Nigeria became impossible resulting in the traders seeking alternatives. The first effort as reported by Vanguard Maritime Report  late last year was  groupage  shipment from Nigeria to Ghana by sea which did not work out as a result of the time frame for the goods to arrive at destination. READ ALSO Court convicts UNIILORIN student over accommodation fraud A source also told  Vanguard Maritime Report  that the delay then was deliberate as the Ghanaian authorities ensured that the goods did not

National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) By Godfrey Bivbere AS drug trafficking by sea increases globally, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has stressed the need for the Federal Government to strengthen the Agency to effectively combat the illicit drug trade. This is even as the Agency indicated that there has been a rise in the volume of drug trafficking in the West African sub-region. The NDLEA made the call in Lagos during the commemoration of this year’s International Day Against Drug Abuse And Illicit Trafficking on Monday. READ ALSO: 774,000 jobs: NASS C’ttee can’t give us directives — Keyamo Director, Seaports Operation of NDLEA, Omolaja Faboyede, noted that drug trafficking through the sea has been a security problem for all countries of the West African region because it involves the movement of large quantity of drugs. According to him: “It increases the level of insecurity and drug related crimes. Nigeria must have the political will to tackle t

By Ozioruva Aliu – Benin City The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the 2020 governorship election, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu on Tuesday, condemned the reported non-payment of three months allowance due to the Edo State COVID-19 mobile screening team by the state government. A statement on Tuesday by the Director of Communication and Media of the Ize-Iyamu Campaign Organisation, John Mayaki described the actions of the Edo State Government towards the screening team as “callous, inhumane, and unacceptable”. The workers had protested the non-payment of their allowances after they were disengaged. READ ALSO:  PDP to Ize Iyamu: You are no match to any of our aspirants The statement read: “We observed today with concern the protest staged by young men and women of our state engaged by the Obaseki-led Edo State Government to form the mobile team that conducted screenings for COVID-19 in Edo State over Governor Godwin Obaseki’s refusal to pay their due allowances for three f

Nigeria Customs Service By Eguono Odjegba THERE are indications that the management of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, is currently investigating some of its officers believed to have enlisted in the Service with forged state of origin and date of birth; both of which are standard official requirement for regular evaluation of personnel. The development is coming on the heels of reported discovery of discrepancies in the personal data of officers across the rank and file in which two deputy comptrollers general, DCG, are believed to be involved.  But constitutional and legal experts have posited that any attempt to pursue issues of state of origin beyond tolerable limits could backfire since citizens’ right under indigenisation law protects them against sanction. They noted that the official emphasis is on nationality and not on state of origin. “If the said investigation is on falsification of age, those involved have case to answer, because it is criminal to do so. It is not

By Adeola Badru THE hope of Salami Akinjide, a 6-year old boy, fulfilling his dream to become a medical doctor may be dashed, if nobody cares about his current health status. At six, Salami, a nursery two pupil of D-Way Group of School, Ologuneru, Ibadan is brilliant, meticulous and intelligent. Also read: Five Doctors, three support staff test positive for COVID-19 in Benue He was diagnosed to have a hole in his heart, hence urgent surgery is required to save his life. He is expected to have the surgery and treatment at Obafemi Awolowo Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, Osun State. The cost of the treatment, surgery and drugs are estimated to be N5million. He father, Ismail Akinjide, a shop attendant and his mother, Oluwatosin Akinjide, a stylist, are struggling to put food on their table for survival, let alone affording the medical bills. His mother, Oluwatosin who spoke with Vanguard, was on her kneel while profusely crying for held from Nigerians. She said: “Please don’t allow m

NIMASA By Godfrey Bivbere THE former President of Indigenous Ship-owners Association of Nigeria, ISAN, Isaac Jolapamo, has said that the new management at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, should focus more on the development of local shipping capacity to help maximise potentials of the sector for the benefit of the nation’s economy. Earlier last week while briefing the media on his first 100 days in office, the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, had said that his regime has already prioritised shipping development as one of the three key focus in his three-S strategy. Speaking with Vanguard Maritime Report in Lagos, Jolapamo said regulation and other activities that the agency had been focusing on in the past has benefitted neither the industry nor the nation. He added that the best way to go is to set an annual target of ship acquisition for the country. The former ISAN boss pointed out the NIMASA can achieve this in two ways; either b

SHIP owners are turning towards second hand ships in the post-pandemic era, at least for now, turning their backs on new building orders. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Allied Ship broking said that “on the dry bulk side, the relatively good momentum in the SnP market continued for yet another week, with both the activity being noted and buying appetite seemingly re-emerging at a fast pace. As of the past week, we experienced a good flow of transactions in the bigger size segments too (and for more modern units), helped (to some degree at least) by the strong upward trend noted in freight rates during the same time frame. All-in-all, with a far more bullish attitude currently being portrayed in terms of forward returns, we can expect things to ramp up further in the near-term. On the tanker side, total activity noted seems to be on a softening path as of the past few weeks, given the relatively mediocre number of vessels changing hands. Whether this is circumstantial or a n

•Prof Umar Garba Danbatta By Prince Osuagwu, Hi-Tech Editor The Nigerian telecom sector may soon herald fresh transformation as new guiding principles have started to unfold gradually. Barely a month after the current Executive Vice Chairman, EVC of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Prof Umar Danbatta was reappointed, the man is beginning to give an indication that a new sheriff is in town. From his actions since his reappointment, Danbatta  has been passing message to industry operators that it is no longer going to be business as usual. First, a week after his reappointment, the chief regulator quickly announced the unveiling of a new strategic management plan, SMP. He said the action was in line with his objective of creating a seamless strategy to augment effective management and regulation of the telecommunications sector. Why SMP? Hi-Tech checks revealed that the SMP leverages on the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy, NDEPS, as well as the new Nati

AFCON Next year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon has been postponed until 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Confederation of African Football announced Tuesday in a video conference. CAF president Ahmad Ahmad said African football’s governing body took the decision as “health was the main priority”. African countries have suffered to varying degrees from the pandemic with South Africa the hardest hit among those south of the Sahara, recording more than 144,000 cases, while Egypt has suffered the worst in North Africa with over 66,000 infections. “The peak of the pandemic has not been reached yet,” Ahmad added. The CAF Champions League will round up its matches in September while the Confederation Cup will wrap up towards the end of this year with a ‘Final Four’ expected to take place in Morocco. These last two competitions were interrupted in March ahead of the semi-finals phase. READ ALSO:  Nigeria can’t win 2021 AFCON – Gernot Rohr Ahmad also announced the cance

By Emmanuel Okogba The Nigerian Bar Association has called on popular social media comedian, Lasisi Elenu to exercise caution in the way he represents the profession in his line of work. The multi-talented comedian who depicts different characters in his skits recently added that of being a lawyer to his catalogue. Lasisi adds humour to his imaginary court proceedings with high-sounding words while quoting non-existent parts of the constitution. Reacting to his latest video, Habeeb Lawal, Assistant National Publicity Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association wrote “We beg to use you as a point of reference to all other comedians. Lawyers have awesome sense of humour, as such we enjoy your jokes & appreciate the creativity. “However, if you must represent our profession in your works kindly ensure you properly adorn the wig, bip & gown. “We acknowledge your right of expression, but NOTE that we also reserve the rights to take all necessary steps to guide against the ridic

By Prince Osuagwu Apparently keeping with its tradition of providing springboard for start-ups and budding organisations with social economic impact, global search engine, Google, has launched a platform to help not-for-profit organisations, NPO scale their objectives past awareness and financial hurdles. Tagged Google for Nonprofits initiative, the tech giant aims to use the platform empower qualified not-for-profit organizations with free premium services, including access to a collection of premium apps at no cost. Google says such tools are the same tools large enterprise corporations use to gain traction in the businesses. It said that a qualified NPO can gain access to programs such as Google Ad Grants, G-Suite for Nonprofits, YouTube’s nonprofit program, and more which will assist such organizations to work more quickly and efficiently to reach a wider audience, spur more supporters to take action, and tell their story in a more compelling way. Nonprofits can qualify for a

Frank Lampard said Tuesday that Chelsea had not made a bid for free agent Angel Gomes and was tight-lipped over a link with West Ham midfielder Declan Rice. Manchester United have confirmed London-born Gomes, 19, is leaving Old Trafford, with the highly rated attacking midfielder’s services now in high demand. Chelsea have been linked with a swoop for the England Under-20s star, but Blues boss Lampard rejected any interest out of hand. Asked if Chelsea had made a bid for Gomes, Lampard told a press conference: “Yes, I can elaborate to the point that it’s never been mentioned at my end, so that’s it.” And when asked if there is any interest, Lampard added: “No.” Fourth-placed Chelsea will head to West Ham for Wednesday’s Premier League clash looking for a sixth straight win in all competitions, and a fourth since the resumption of football after the coronavirus lockdown. READ ALSO:  Angel Gomes set to leave Man Utd as contract runs out The Blues continue to be linked with a summ

President Muhammadu Buhari PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari appears dead serious about his intention to stop the allocation of precious foreign exchange to food importation by promoting local production. But there are contradictions that must be sorted out. Buhari’s newest initiative which could help stave off hunger crisis as a result of the coronavirus pandemic (which necessitated massive lockdowns) and the crash in the price of crude oil is the resuscitation of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority, NALDA. The authority was created by former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida in 1992, had gone defunct due to our usual policy inconsistency. Director-General of the revived NALDA, Paul Ikonne, recently unfolded government’s plan to empower the 77,400-member Buhari Young Farmers Network in the 774 local governments within the next six months under a business model and in collaboration with the state governments. There is nothing new in this programme. Virtual

By Juliet Umeh Chief Executive Officer of an identity verification technology company, VerifyMe Nigeria, Mr. Esigie Aguele, has said that trust should be the new currency for any business that hopes to thrive in the post-COVID-19 era Aguele said that as businesses are coming to terms with the realities of Covid-19 pandemic, business leaders need to build trust-based processes across their systems in order to thrive after the pandemic. He said: “It has become increasingly clear that trust is a major economic driver that enables faster and more cost-effective transactions. This makes it imperative for businesses to consciously invest in processes and systems that establish trust in every action, relationship and transaction.” He noted that trust will enable businesses to attract the right kind of partners in order to achieve their goals, arguing that it will be a grave mistake for organisations to continue to view trust from the lens of a token social virtue. READ ALSO:  COVID-19:

Timo Werner Chelsea bound Timo Werner has suggested that several top European clubs were chasing his signature before he opted to make the switch to Stamford Bridge. The German rounded off his four-year spell at RB Leipzig with a match-winning brace at Augsburg on Saturday, taking his Bundesliga goalscoring tally up to 28 for the season as Die Roten Bullen finished 16 points behind champions Bayern Munich in third. Werner agreed to join Chelsea at the start month and recently confirmed he won’t take part in Leipzig’s Champions League campaign in August. Instead, he’ll join up with Frank Lampard’s squad on 1 July. ALSO READ:  COVID-19: US-based Nigerian invents equipment that detects infected lungs And in a recent interview with German news outlet Sportbuzzer, Werner revealed his decision to join the Blues was a relatively simple one, despite attracting the interest of Europe’s elite. “I agreed a few weeks ago,” he said. “The whole thing was quite unproblematic because I had a

Guardiola-Artetarteta Mikel Arteta spoke of his respect and admiration for Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, whose advice he still seeks regularly. Arteta worked under the tutelage of Guardiola as his assistant from July 2016 until departing to replace Unai Emery as Arsenal head coach last December. Earlier this month, Arteta had an unhappy return to the Etihad Stadium as the Gunners were beaten 3-0 by City when the Premier League returned from its coronavirus hiatus. He has a chance to avenge that defeat before the end of the campaign after the teams were drawn to face one another in the FA Cup semi-finals, with Arsenal overcoming Sheffield United and City defeating Newcastle United to make the last four. ALSO READ:  Super Falcons striker, Desire Oparanozie joins French Club Dijon Arteta recognises the challenge Arsenal face but acknowledges to win the biggest prizes Arsenal have to overcome the best teams. “We have spoken a few times in recent weeks. Facing them again in

As the coronavirus continues to threaten public health, we have been asked to take up new habits, such as wearing face masks in public, frequent hand-washing and avoiding contact with our faces. But if you just can’t seem to resist the urge, the Vybpro watch could help remind you to keep your hands away from your face. The digital watch and alarm system was created by 15-year-old Max Melia from the United Kingdom. “Watching this pandemic unfold on the news, it was clear the devastating effect it was having on people’s lives across the world,” he tells CNN. “However it wasn’t until I saw the severity of the virus firsthand, when both my parents contracted COVID-19, that I truly appreciated just what we were dealing with.” ALSO READ:  Police parade 26-year-old man for allegedly killing 30-year-old mother of three over sex Max and his mother, Natalie, came up with the idea in 2018 while brainstorming solutions to minimize cold and flu infections. When the COVID-19 outbreak took hold

Rape By Adeola Badru THE Oyo State Police Commissioner, CP Chucks Enwonwu has disclosed that the delay in the prosecution of rape offenses was occasioned by failure of government agencies saddled with a forensic examination to speed up the exercise. He made this known yesterday while receiving the state’s Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Alhaja Faosat Sanni, who led the state Rapid Response Rescue Team on Sexual, Gender-Based Violence, and Child Abuse on a courtesy visit to him. Also read: APC govt interested only in enthroning Hausa/Fulani supremacy — IPOB Speaking further, Enwonwu maintained that his officers were doing their best to fight undesirable elements in the society who were fond of acts of violence to the weaker sex. He said: “Our officers are doing their best to fight undesirable elements in the society who are into the act of violence to the weaker sex, women, battering, defiling the underage, raping women, and adding murder to it.” “Each pla

…..NLC threatens industrial action By Harris Emanuel, Uyo There is a general feeling of discontentment among workers in Akwa Ibom State over the reduction of the minimum wage by the state government. This development has delayed the payment of June salary in the oil-rich state and there are strong indications that workers would down tools in the coming days. Vanguard gathered that the state government slashed the wages to be at par with what the federal government is paying its workers, a development which has infuriated workers and organized labour in the state. A senior civil servant told Vanguard that “print out is yet to be sent out. It is when it’s out and returned before salary is paid, but circular on the reduction has been issued by the state government and it has not gone down well with workers”. ALSO READ:  Court jail’s Airtel customer service representative for facilitating N2.2m fraud State Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Elder Sunny James, accused the st

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has admitted he’s keen for the Newcastle takeover process to ‘conclude shortly’ despite complications. Plenty of objections to the takeover have been raised on moral grounds due to the Saudi’s links with pirate pay television provider beoutQ, and Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s involvement in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018. And before the process can continue, the Premier League have to establish – with absolute certainty – that Saudi’s history with piracy cannot be linked to owners or directors nominated by the consortium. However, chief executive Masters is hopeful of the process reaching a conclusion soon. “All processes have to conclude and I would like the process to conclude shortly,’ he said in front of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee on Tuesday, as quoted by the Daily Mail. “I do appreciate the uncertainty. In a perfect world, takeovers would happen clearly, cleanly and in a timely fash

The Comptroller General of Customs  (CGC) Strike Force Team, Zone A has generated N1.1 billion through the raising of Debit Note, the Assistant Comptroller of the team, Abba Kakudi said on Monday. Kakudi said in Lagos on Monday that the amount was realised from Jan. 1 to June 11. He said that they were able to bring in the amount in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic which affected the movement of goods. The official gave the breakdown of the monthly debit note paid as: January – N142,121,156, February – N275,644,911, March – N191,594,005, April – 282,288,359, May – N120,061,743 and June 1 to June 11 – N92,994,353, all totalling N1,104,704,527. Kakudi said that in the fight against smuggling, the team’s operations led to seizures with a Duty Paid Value of N46, 596, 300. He listed the seized items as: 1, 000 bags of 50kg rice with a DPV of N13, 252,300; 10 used vehicles (Tokunbo) with DPV of N31, 184, 000 and 30 bales of second hand clothing with a DPV of N2, 160, 000. READ ALSO: Cu