Author: Chronicle Editor

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has shut his palace in Ile-Ife, Osun state to curb spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). The Ooni in a statement yesterday by his Director of Media and Public Affairs, Moses Olafare, said: “The palace is shut and all social and cultural activities have been suspended, only visitors with essential mission will be allowed in. “The easiest solution is for everyone to stay at home. COVID-19 is not a respecter of anybody, and does not honour anybody. This is the first time in a long while that the world is having a common problem, we…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has ensured the completion of two separate abandoned projects by Fariq Interbiz Limited, worth N305,000,000 (Three Hundred and Five Million Naira) in Wasagu and Dirin-Daji communities of Kebbi State. The intervention followed a whistleblower information that the Commission received where it was gathered that the Federal Ministry of Water Resources awarded the contracts to the company to construct two comprehensive water supply units, one in Wasagu and the other in Dirin-Daji communities. The contractor, having received a reasonable percentage of the total contract sum, abandoned the project uncompleted. EFCC lists Surebet247, 34 other…

In the latest attempt to end fraud related tax in the lottery and betting industry in Nigeria, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has uncovered the identity of Thirty Five (35) lottery business operators who do not have core licenses or permits to operate. The 35 illegal companies’ names were unraveled during an investigation that was carried out on the operations of lottery companies in the country, supported by a document from the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, NLRC, based on request from the EFCC. The illegal companies are: Emerald Bets International Limited (Emerald Bet), Saharabets Sports Ltd (Surebet247), Bimm…

The UK government has ordered 10,000 ventilators from Dyson to help deal with the coronavirus crisis. The firm, headed by British inventor Sir James Dyson, said it had designed a new type of ventilator in response to a call on behalf of the NHS. The order is still subject to the devices passing stringent medical tests but that is expected to happen quickly. Dyson has had hundreds of engineers working round the clock to design the ventilators from scratch. Blitz spirit It hopes to build the ventilators at scale from its UK base in Wiltshire – using aircraft hangars that…

China has announced a temporary ban on all foreign visitors, even if they have visas or residence permits. The country is also limiting Chinese and foreign airlines to one flight per week, and flights must not be more than 75% full. Although China reported its first locally-transmitted coronavirus case for three days on Friday, almost all its new cases now come from abroad. There were 55 new cases across China on Thursday – 54 of them from overseas. What are the new rules? The Chinese Foreign Ministry said it was “suspending the entry of foreign nationals” because of the “rapid spread of…

The US now has more confirmed cases of coronavirus than any other country, with more than 85,500 positive tests. According to the latest figures collated by Johns Hopkins University, the US has overtaken China (81,782 cases) and Italy (80,589). But with almost 1,300 Covid-19-related fatalities, the US death toll lags behind China (3,291) and Italy (8,215). The grim milestone came as President Donald Trump predicted the nation would get back to work “pretty quickly”. How did the White House react? Asked about the latest figures at a White House briefing on Thursday afternoon, President Trump said it was “a tribute to the…

Mexican protesters have shut a US southern border crossing amid fears that untested American travellers will spread coronavirus. Residents in Sonora, south of the US state of Arizona, have promised to block traffic into Mexico for a second day after closing a checkpoint for hours on Wednesday. They wore face masks and held signs telling Americans to “stay at home”. Mexico has fewer than 500 confirmed Covid-19 cases and the US over 65,000. The border is supposed to be closed to all except “essential” business, but protesters said there has been little enforcement and no testing by authorities. The blockade…

By President Muhammadu Buhari President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, 26 March wrote Nigerians, briefing them on the efforts by the government on COVID-19 and what the new stimulus plans were. Read President Buhari’s letter below: Over the last few days I have received extensive briefings on the state of the nation as it relates to the Covid-19 pandemic, from the relevant Federal Government agencies as well as the Lagos State Government. Accordingly, I approved the following: The immediate release of a 10 billion Naira grant to Lagos State, which remains the epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak in Nigeria. This grant…

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed that 14 new cases of coronavirus have been discovered in Lagos and Abuja. The disease control centre made the announcement on Thursday evening as the total number of confirmed cases rises to 65. “Fourteen new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Nigeria. Two cases in the Federal Capital Territory  and 12 in Lagos. “Of the 14, six were detected on a vessel, three are returning travellers into Nigeria and two is close contact of a confirmed case. The NCDC did not explain how the remaining three persons contracted the virus.…

President Muhammadu Buhari has commended the unity of purpose in fighting spread of COVID-19 in the country, particularly the willingness for self-isolation, social distancing, and contributions of public spirited individuals and institutions who consistently mobilize resources to supplement efforts of federal and state governments. The President also extolled state governments, religious bodies, health workers, federal government agencies, including security outfits, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria for rising to the occasion to protect the country and its citizens, assuring that the government will remain steadfast in deploying more resources to lessen the burden of the…