Author: Chronicle Editor

Britain should not give Oxford/AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine to under 30s where possible, Britain’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said on Wednesday, due to a very rare side effect of blood clots in the brain. Wei Shen Lim, COVID-19 Chair for JCVI, said that based on the available data and evidence, the committee has advised that it is preferable for adults aged under 30 with no underlying conditions to be offered an alternative to the AstraZeneca vaccine where available. He said that for younger people, where the risks of hospitalisation were much lower, the risk/benefit calculation of the Oxford/AstraZeneca…

More than 80 prisoners who escaped from the Owerri Correctional Centre, Imo state have voluntarily returned, The Nation learnt on Wednesday. According to the prison officials: “About 17 of them returned on Tuesday and on Wednesday, we saw more than 20 returning back. “But they are mainly those on awaiting trial, those who have less prison terms and those who are about to complete their terms, have returned so far”. About 42 of the inmates returned as of Monday evening, taking the total number of returnees to 80. ”The problem we are having, and this is not peculiar to the…

The outgoing Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu has handed over to his successor Usman Alkali Baba. The ceremony took place at the Force Headquarters, Abuja. Wailing won’t stop Buhari from foreign medical trips -Aide He handed over after Vice President Yemi Osinbajo decorated Baba with his new rank in the State House, Abuja. More to follow…

Nigeria’s largest mobile operator, MTN, increased the salaries of its staff in 2020 by about N4.5 billion according to findings by Nairametrics Research. The telecom firm reported a total increase in its salaries and wages from about N25.79 billion in 2019 to about N30.2 billion in 2020, representing about 17% bump. On average, MTN paid N16.4 million per staff per annum in 2020 compared to N13.79 million per staff in 2019 representing an 18.9% increase. This is also because its headcount dropped by about 26 people. A deep dive into its annual reports also reveals the salary increase was across…

FIFA suspended Pakistan’s membership Wednesday and ordered an unrecognized committee to vacate the national football federation’s headquarters in the country. Pakistan football has been run by a FIFA-appointed committee since 2019, but members were evicted from their Lahore office last week by a group claiming to have held legitimate elections. “The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has been suspended until further notice,” FIFA said in a statement from its headquarters in Zurich. “PFF representative and club teams are therefore no longer entitled to take part in international competitions until the suspension is lifted.” The ban means Pakistan — whose last international…

President Muhammadu Buhari has the right to continue seeking medical care overseas, his aide Lauretta Onochie has stated. https://twitter.com/Laurestar/status/1379682901650989056?s=20 She was reacting to criticism of the President’s medical checkup in London amid the ongoing nationwide strike of resident doctors. Many Nigerians have berated Buhari for not investing in healthcare, saying he would have been treated back home had he done that. His presence at the Abuja House in London has been rocked with protests by some Nigerians in the UK. Reacting to the criticism and protests, Onochie said nobody can take away Buhari’s right to his physicians of over 40…

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday decorated the new Acting IG of Police, Usman Alkali Baba at the Presidential Villa. President Muhammadu Buhari had on Tuesday announced the appointment of Baba as the successor of outgoing Mohammed Adamu. Adamu had his tenure extended by three months after he reached the mandatory service years for retirement. Osinbajo visits Imo, condemns prison break

The Federal Government on Tuesday formally received the 100,000 doses of the Covishield COVID-19 vaccine promised by the Government of India. The Covishield vaccine, which is the AstraZeneca vaccine produced by Serum Institute of India, and certified safe and effective by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has a 63 per cent effectiveness rating against the virus. Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on covid-19 Boss Mustapha during his briefing in Abuja, said: “As you are aware, Nigeria received 3.92 million doses of the COVID-19 Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine on 2nd March, 2021. These vaccines represented…

FIFA has banned Chad from global football until further notice over government interference in the running of the country’s football federation. The move comes after the minister of youth and sports dissolved the Federation of Chad Football Associations in March. After the announcement by the Chadian government, the Confederation of African Football disqualified the national team from last month’s final two rounds of qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations. Chad do not have any upcoming international fixtures having been knocked out of 2022 World Cup qualifying by Sudan in 2019. An official statement from football world’s governing body said: “the Bureau of…

Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh is expected to extend his two-decade rule of the tiny Horn of Africa nation as the country heads to the polls Friday. Guelleh, 73, is facing political newcomer Zakaria Ismail Farah, his only rival after traditional opposition parties decided to boycott the election. A businessman specialised in the importation of cleaning products, Farah, 56, is seen by observers as unlikely to pose a significant challenge to the strongman who has been in power for 22 years. Djibouti is a largely desert country strategically situated on one of the world’s busiest trade routes and at the…