Author: Chronicle Editor

The six southwest states – Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti – have agreed to reopen schools next month to enable Senior Secondary School 3 pupils to sit for the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). But the Federal Government on Wednesday reiterated its advisory that schools should remain shut and not take part in the examination conducted by the West African Examination Council (WAEC). At a virtual meeting organised by the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission yesterday, commissioners for Education in the six states, special advisers on Education and State Universal Education Board (SUBEB)…

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced 643 confirmed new coronavirus cases in the country on Wednesday. The 643 cases announced by the Centre for Disease Control takes the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 34259. The NCDC also announced the discharge of 207 patients from isolation centers across the country with six new deaths reported. Lagos state, the epicentre of the virus in Nigeria topped the number of confirmed cases with 230 new cases taking the total number of confirmed cases in Lagos alone to 12941. Nigeria announces 463 new coronavirus cases Oyo state recorded 69…

The Lagos State Government has opened a portal to recruit doctors, nurses and other health workers as it moves to tackle the shortages at state-owned hospital. The recruitment process is aimed at filling the void in 27 general hospitals for optimal healthcare delivery across the state. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said on Tuesday that the approval was given for the Health Service Commission to employ over 760 health workers of which 400 would be doctors in line with the government’s commitment towards addressing shortages of health workers. He noted that the exercise would be done in batches to ensure compliance with…

The United Kingdom on Wednesday announced a new ‘Health and Care Visa’ policy that could attract the doctors, nurses and health workers in Nigeria and rest the world. The UK halted visa issuance since the outbreak of COVID-19 but has now reopened the migration window for care professionals, social workers and their families, to bolster its National Health Service (NHS). The new visa policy aims to make it cheaper, quicker and easier for healthcare professionals to come go to UK, beginning from August. Findings show that UK is one of the leading destinations for migrating Nigerian health workers. Estimates have…

The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio has denied sexually assaulting the former acting MD of the Interim Management Committee, of the Niger Delta Development Commission, (NDDC) Joi Nunieh. Akpabio who has been at loggerheads with Nunieh said her accusations were false and malicious. In a press statement on Wednesday signed by his media aide, Anietie Ekong, Akpabio described her claims as concerted vicious campaign against his person. “The attention of the Honourable Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, CON has been drawn to a cornucopia of false, malicious, and libellous press interviews granted by…

US infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci has described recent efforts by the Trump administration to discredit him as “bizarre” and “nonsense”. “Ultimately, it hurts the president to do that,” Dr Fauci said in an interview with The Atlantic. “It doesn’t do anything but reflect poorly on them.” On Sunday, a White House official shared a list detailing past apparent erroneous comments by Dr Fauci. But on Wednesday Mr Trump insisted he had a “good relationship” with him. “We’re all in the same team including Dr Fauci,” he said. “We want to get rid of this mess that China sent…

South Africa’s cases of COVID-19 crossed 300,000 on Wednesday, the most in Africa and among the 10 highest in the world. Africa’s most industrialised nation recorded a rise of 12,757 cases on Wednesday to reach 311,049 confirmed COVID-19 cases, its health ministry said in a late evening statement four months since the first case was confirmed in the country. South Africa has tested about 2.3 million people so far and has had 4,453 deaths since March 27, the statement said. President Cyril Ramaphosa put a lockdown into effect on March 27, shutting shops, requiring people to stay at home and…

Billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates are among many prominent US figures targeted by hackers on Twitter in an apparent Bitcoin scam. The official accounts of Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Kanye West also requested donations in the cryptocurrency. “Everyone is asking me to give back,” a tweet from Mr Gates’ account said. “You send $1,000, I send you back $2,000.” Twitter said it was a “co-ordinated” attack targeting its employees “with access to internal systems and tools”. “We know they [the hackers] used this access to take control of many highly-visible (including verified) accounts and Tweet on…

Liverpool’s hopes of setting a new points Premier League record ended when the champions suffered only their third defeat of their stellar campaign at Arsenal. Jurgen Klopp’s side – who will receive the trophy after the game with Chelsea at Anfield next week – needed to win all of their remaining games to eclipse the tally of 100 points set by then champions Manchester City two seasons ago. And they looked on course when Sadio Mane gave Liverpool a fully deserved lead after 20 minutes when he slid home Andrew Robertson’s cross. Arsenal were then allowed back into the game…

Harry Kane passed 200 club goals in his career as Tottenham Hotspur beat Newcastle United to boost their Europa League qualification hopes. The victory – which takes Spurs up to seventh – is the first time Jose Mourinho has won a Premier League game at St James’ Park in his eighth attempt. The visitors led in the first half when Son Heung-min drilled a low shot into the bottom corner moments after the drinks break disrupted Newcastle’s dominance. Dwight Gayle almost levelled when his header hit the post and Matt Ritchie blasted an equaliser home 11 minutes after the restart.…