61% of Nigerians approve Jonathan’s performance – Survey

The latest governance poll conducted by the NOIPolls Limited indicated that 61 percent of adult Nigerians have approved the job performance of President Goodluck Jonathan last month, especially in the area of improved electricity supply to some households.

The results showed that while 41 percent approved of it, 20 percent strongly endorsed the President’s performance.

More findings according to the polls revealed that slightly more than half 51 percent of adult Nigerians experienced an improved state of power supply to their households within the past one monthThis rating currently being at par with the rating obtained in January 2014, represents a 1-point drop from July’s rating which was recorded at 62 percent.

According to NOIpolls, “an assessment of the President’s performance on key elements of his transformation agenda in the month of August revealed that the President received an average three rating in his performance on Job creation, power, economy, education, health, agriculture & food security,

“Transportation and Foreign Policy & Diplomacy except for Security, which he performed poorly. Still based on his transformation agenda, the month of August saw a push in the President’s performance on Power and Economy to an average rating (3) following a continuous poor rating since February 2014.

“This figure illustrates the highest positive rating recorded in power supply from the inception of the NOIPolls power monitoring polls in January 2013. These are some of the key findings from the Governance Snap Poll conducted in the week of August 25th 2014.

“These results represent the eighth in the 2014 monthly series of governance polls conducted by NOIPolls to gauge the opinions and perceptions of Nigerians regarding the approval rating of the President, the performance of the President on key elements of his transformation agenda, and the state of power supply in the country.

The firm explained respondents to the poll were asked three specific questions on job performance of President Goodluck Jonathan over the past 1 month and that the results revealed that 61 percent of adult Nigerians surveyed approve of the President’s performance where 41 percent approve and 20 percent strongly approve.

“A total of 26 percent of the respondents assessed disapprove of the President’s performance, where 18 percent disagree and 8 percent strongly disagree. Furthermore, 13 percent remained neutral as they neither approve nor disapprove.

On zonal analysis, the NOIPolls said “the South-East and the South-South zones accounted for the largest fraction of respondents who approve of the President’s job performance with 89 percent and 74 percent respectively. The North-Central and North-West zones have the highest proportion of respondents who were neutral with 20 percent and 17 percent.

“Also, the North-East zone and the North-West zone have the largest proportion of respondents who disapprove of the President’s job performance with 41 percent and 38 percent respectively.

“Monthly trend analysis of the President’s approval rating reveals that the President’s approval rating remained almost stable with a slight decline by 1-point to stand at 61 percent in August 2014.

This current result and that obtained in January 2014 both represent the second highest rating since NOIPolls started its governance poll in January 2013. Likewise, the average rating of the President’s job performance after 8 months is at 56.5 percent, this implies that the President performed above his 8- month’s average by 5-points.

 

Ebola Scare In Bayelsa: Negligent Health Workers Abandon Accident Victim To Die In Pain:

An accident victim who was rushed to the the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Yenagoa on Monday reportedly died for lack of medical attention, as health workers declined to attend to the patient who passed away early Tuesday.

According to investigations by Sahara Reporters, the death has been traced to the fear of Ebola amongst health professionals at the facility.
Mr. Bernard Akpedi, Public Relations Officer at the FMC, had confirmed on Tuesday that medical services were restored to the hospital following the suspension of strike by non-medical workers on Monday, but asserted that the death had nothing to do with the Ebola virus.

On August 12, 2014, the workers, under the auspices of the Joint Health Sector Unions, embarked on an indefinite strike over outstanding promotion arrears.
According to Akpedi, the victim, a middle-aged woman,was brought to the hospital by good samaritans, and that her condition was being managed by the hospital before her death.

However the health workers, including doctors on duty at the casualty unit of the hospital, said that there were no protective kits to handle the patient, who remained in pain.

A medical worker who spoke on condition of anonymity said that health workers who resumed work on Monday came to meet the patient but were scared due to the Ebola disease. “Nobody had the courage to help the victim especially as we did not have any idea of the case history, and we did not have the necessary protection to handle this type of case. Nobody wanted to take unnecessary risk.”

The health worker furthered: “Our safety has to be guaranteed first because no one can endanger his life, that is the truth about it we just resumed from strike yesterday and one of the issues under contention was our paltry hazard allowance of N5,000 Naira, amongst other issues. Who will risk his or her life for N5,000?”
It was also gathered that the morticians were hesitant to handle the remains of the patient until a senior official of the hospital intervened.

Speaking on the scare, Dr. Ebitimi Etebu, a member of Bayelsa Task Force on Ebola Virus Disease, said that the state was adequately prepared to contain the outbreak of the disease.

He urged members of the public to disregard rumours of the disease spreading to Bayelsa.
He said that a suspected case which had symptoms similar to that of Ebola was found to be otherwise.

“There is no cause for alarm, the one suspected case at the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital which presented symptoms similar to Ebola turned out negative.”

He further added that medical emergency crews were able to identify and properly report suspected cases to monitoring centers. “Ambulance workers have been trained and ready to convey any suspected case to the designated surveillance centers. There is no other pending case,” Etebu said.

Credit: Sahara reporters

JUST IN: Hand over Sheriff, Ihejirika to ICC, APC tells Jonathan

Nigeria’s main opposition party, All Progressives Congress, APC, has demanded the immediate trial, by the International Criminal Court, of two former Nigerian officials named by a government-appointed negotiator as the sponsors of Islamist group Boko Haram.

At a press conference Tuesday, the APC called on President Goodluck Jonathan to hand over former governor of Borno state, Ali Modu Sheriff, and former Chief of Army Staff, Azubuike Ihejirika, to the International Criminal Court, ICC, to face trial over their alleged sponsorship of the group.
The National Chairman of APC, John Oyegun, who spoke at the National Secretariat of the party in Abuja, said his party expects the president to “summon courage” and “do the right thing”.

“Now that the cat has been let out of the bag and the real sponsors of Boko Haram have been exposed, we hope President Jonathan will summon the courage to do the right thing: Hand over the identified Boko Haram sponsors to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for investigation and prosecution,” Mr. Oyegun said.
“There is no doubt that Boko Haram has committed crimes against humanity in its scorched-earth campaign against unharmed citizens, and the most appropriate body to investigate and try the sect’s sponsors is the ICC.

“According to Article 17 of the Rome Statute that set up the ICC, and to which Nigeria is signatory, the ICC is a court of last resort, expected to exercise its jurisdiction only if states themselves are unwilling or unable genuinely to investigate and prosecute international crimes,” Mr. Oyegun said.

An Australian negotiator, Stephen Davis, appointed by the Nigerian government to help rescue more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram, has accused the former army chief and former governor as the major sponsors of the deadly sect.
Messrs Sheriff and Ihejirika have denied the allegation.
Details later.

Woman tests positive to Ebola as Nigeria seeks drug from Japan

A medical doctor and a pharmacist who were quarantined at the Rivers State Ebola treatment centre have been discharged, having tested negative to the deadly disease.

They were among the personnel who managed the late Dr. Ikechukwu Sam. Enemuo at his SamSteel Hospital  in Port Harcourt when he became symptomatic of Ebola disease. He died penultimate Friday in another hospital.

The doctor and pharmacist were his workers. They had feverish conditions as high as could suggest the disease, and were quarantined on Saturday alongside Enemuo’s hospital room mate at Good Hart Hospital where he died. Their test results were negative and they have been released from the centre, but the ex-Good Hart patient was not that lucky. She tested positive to the virus and is receiving treatment at the centre.

Commissioner for Health Dr. Sampson Parker, in a situation report he released yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, said the late Enemuo’s sister in-law, simply identified as Chinyere, who was with him during his illness,  had been admitted at the quarantine centre.  She ran off to Abia State after the death of her in-law, but has been brought back by the Ebola Emergency Operation Committee (EOC). She became feverish in Port Harcourt and was isolated. Her test result is being awaited.

The Commissioner said over 200 contacts of the late Enemuo had been traced and put under watch; 50 of them are classified high-risk and 60 are in hiding. He appealed to them to come out, so they could be monitored for their safety and that of the public. The disease, said Parker, could be treated if discovered on time .

Parker noted that the contacts that ran to Imo and Benue states had been  called back  to Port Harcourt, but that of Akwa-Ibom could not be reached. He said the assistance of the State Security Services (SSS) in Akwa-Ibom State had been employed to track and send her back to Port Harcourt.

The commissioner said four doctors, eight nurses and six expatriates, all volunteers, are working at the centre while another batch is under going training to join them.

Parker said the Federal and State governments were not relenting in their efforts to ensure that the virus does not claim more lives in the country. Three medical doctors, including Enemuo, have died of the virus.

The late Enemuo contracted the disease when he treated a Nigerian diplomat, Oluibukun Koye, who had contact with the index case,  Liberian-American Patrick Sawyer.

Koye sneaked into Port Harcourt from the Lagos Isolation centre where he was placed under watch. He is alive and well.

To forestall Ebola’s spread, the remains of Enemuo and several others at the University of Port Harcourt (UPTH) mortuary would be buried in Port Harcourt this week, under the supervision of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Parker classified the bodies as high-risk, adding that they would not be allowed to leave Port Harcourt.

He said: “Dr. Enemuo’s sister in-law, who ran off to Abia State after the death of her in-law, has returned to Port Harcourt. She has become symptomatic and now at the treatment centre.

“Results of the three patients we earlier admitted at the centre are out; two of them tested negative, one tested positive. The two persons who tested negative have been discharged and have left. However, we will repeat the test after 21 days.

“The one tested positive person shared room with late Enemuo at the Good Hart Hospital.

“As we continue together in this fight, it is important that you be vigilant. In fact we screen ourselves in our Ebola Emergency Operation Committee (EOC) meetings now, in-case there was any error made in the field.

“Country Director of World Health Organisation(WHO) and Director of National Centre for Disease Control were with us in the meeting and we have decided that within this week, Enemuo’s body and other high-risk bodies in UPTH mortuary will be buried according to WHO protocol, meaning that they will not leave Port Harcourt.

“The government will not allow the movement of either Enemuos’ body or any of those considered high-risk to leave Port Harcourt. They will be buried under the supervision of WHO, officials of the Ministry of Health and other officials, so that we don’t expose the relatives to danger.

“We will take care of all the safety measures, families/relatives of the bodies will all be there to do whatever rite they want to do for their deceased, but we will not allow them to touch the body. Management of the bodies will be strictly under WHO protocols.

“And I can tell you here that none of the people involved in managing Ebola patients both here (Port Harcourt) and Lagos has had any issue; there is high mark of safety for Nigerians in this business.

“Let me assure you again that Ebola Virus Disease is not a death sentence, in as much as we get those that have contracted it early.

“We still want to encourage those persons that are listed that we have not seen, to come up. We have a lady that went to Akwa-Ibom State from the hotel; we are still to get to her, we’ve sent her trackmen through the SSS officials to Akwa Ibom, the one that went to Imo State returned yesterday, she is still ok, but we don’t want to take chances. We don’t want to fall into the same trick Oluibukun Koye played us here in Port Harcourt.”

At the treatment centre are four doctors, eight nurses and six expatriate officials (Doctors without Border) – all volunteers. The number is still counting, because we have sent in more volunteers for training before they could be allowed to go to the treatment centre.

Parker added: “We have earlier trained over 500 people on Ebola management in our on-going training for health officials in the state, but we considered it necessary to yet train those that have volunteered at the centre before we can allow them to operate.

“Like Enemuo wore protective gadgets, but the issue is not wearing it to do the job; the issue is on removing the gears; that is the point at which the infection is contracted.”

Reacting to a statement credited to the Minister of State for Education Nnyesom Wike, on the disease in Rivers State, Parker described him as “an apology”.

Wike reportedly said the spread of the disease into the state was as a result of the government’s insensitivity. The commissioner expressed regrets at Wike’s statement, saying that the state made a big mistake by nominating him to the Federal Government for ministerial appointment.

He said how the virus entered the state was common knowledge, adding: “The best thing is to ignore him, because if I don’t ignore him, it means that he does not even respect his boss the President of Nigeria. The only thing I will say is that maybe we will apologise to the President for nominating him for minister. This is because everybody is now aware of how we got into this challenge; so if a minster of state does not still know, I’m getting very worried that we have done disservice to the government.

“His colleague in the cabinet, the minister of health, has made a broadcast, where he explained how the whole thing happened, not commissioner for Health , but the minister.

“I don’t know what he means by insensitivity. This is a government that before the outbreak, we had spent so much money to go for personal protective equipment, sent officials to go and see how the thing is done, came back and been training members of staff, in case it happens. As at today we have trained more than 500 staff in preparation for Ebola, and someone is saying it is insensitivity.”

Parker went on: “We are not kind of mood and we should not mix politics with what we are doing. Other people are asking us what they can do to help; that is what he should do, he is a Rivers man and should be concerned about the challenge in the state now and rally round the government to face the problem, irrespective of our party affiliation.

“Nobody can fault the health system of Rivers State. Nobody can throw stone on it, because it is unbeatable.

“We are not talking of mass failure in WASC; we are faced with something else now, so we are not talking about that.” He said.

NATION

SHOCKING:MAN KILLS FATHER OVER CIGARETTE IN EDO STATE

A   22-year-old man was yesterday paraded in Benin, Edo State, for allegedly killing his father.

Edo State Commissioner of Police,  Foluso Adebanjo, said the suspect, Bestman Momodu, was reported to have killed his father, Zuberu  Momodu at Ubiane in Aviele town.

He said investigation revealed that the accused stabbed his father with a cutlass over an argument on a missing stick of cigarette. He said the suspect has confessed to the crime. The police also paraded 68 suspects for offences including rape and defilement, armed robbery, murder, kidnapping, illegal possession of firearms among others.

The state commissioner of police called on residents of the state to be extra vigilant, especially during the EMBER months, when he noted crimes are usually on the increase.
He said the command is ready to contain crime and appealed to the people to assist with useful information.

Lack of visionary leaders, bane of Nigeria’s development —Atiku

Former vice president Atiku Abubakar has said that lack of resources is not responsible for Nigeria’s relative under-development but lack of visionary leaders is the cause of poor governance in the country.

Speaking in Owerri, as Chairman at the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governors Progressive Governance Lecture Series, the former vice president said Nigeria has the resources, but needed “leadership, vision and determination to make things work.”

In his address, Atiku said the outbreak of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Nigeria has brought to the fore Nigeria’s emergency management response strategies.

He added that the arrival of the virus disease calls for urgent need for adequate investments in healthcare, infrastructure and service delivery across the country.

Addressing the inconsistency between Nigeria’s resources and its performance, Atiku said the statistics are disturbing and that the outbreak of Ebola had only exposed the underbelly of our healthcare system.

Despite the vast resources and human capital in the country, he regretted that the doctor-to-patient ratio in Nigeria is 1 to 6,400, which is far below the World Health Organisation (WHO) standard of 1 to 600.

He also lamented that at 50% access to improved water source and 35% adequate sanitation for Nigerians, the country is among the lowest in the world.

On infant and maternal mortality rate of 74 and 630 respectively, the former vice president said the figures put Nigeria among the worst. “Health is not a privilege, but a right, which every citizen in a modern society is entitled to,” he said.

He explained that security and healthcare are critical areas posing urgent and grave challenges to Nigeria, adding that emphasis on healthcare education is no less important, and that it is embarrassing that in the 21st century, Nigerians would be resort to crude solution of “soaking ourselves in salty water to fight Ebola virus.”

The former vice president also lamented the fact that “highly qualified and experienced medical professionals who were trained at public expense but chose to practice abroad.”

Atiku said there should be creative solutions to deal with this situation of investing heavily in healthcare professionals who end up serving abroad.

He explained that in a federal system, states should introduce policies that would attract doctors to serve their needs adding that “there is no justification for workers everywhere in the country to earn the same salaries.”

#BRINGBACKOURGIRLS GROUP DEMANDS FG’S RESPONSE TO CLAIMS ON BOKO HARAM SPONSORS

The #BringBackOurGirls campaigners have called on the Federal Government to respond to the claims by a Boko Haram negotiator that former Borno governor Ali Sheriff and former Chief of Army Staff General Azubuike Ihejirika are sponsors of insurgents.
The Australian man, Dr. Stephen Davis, made the allegation in an interview with Arise TV.

The group, in a statement jointly signed by Mrs Oby Ezikwesili and Hadiza Bala Usman yesterday, said: “It is surprising that following the revelations and claims by Dr. Davis, the Federal Government has not provided any specific responses or reactions. We seek clarifications from the Presidency on the following pertinent issues that have come out of the Davis interviews: What was the nature of the mandate given to Dr. Davis to be a negotiator working for the rescue of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls?

“When the President re-established contact with Davis in the wake of the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls, what was the support given to the negotiator to facilitate the release of the hostages? What did the Presidency do with all the information provided by Davis in relation to the negotiations?

“What were the reasons for rejecting the peace deal, which Davis worked out with the insurgents during the tenure of the late General Owoye Andrew Aziza, especially as the said rejection led to a spike in the insurgency and the escalation of kidnappings as typified by the case of the Chibok schoolgirls?

“Given the alarming allegations about Boko Haram sponsors and funding processes involving prominent Nigerians and a significant institution like the Central Bank, does the Presidency intend to do a thorough verification, as well as reveal the outcome of its findings to Nigerians?

“Is the Presidency going to act decisively at this point in time to ensure the release of the abducted girls given the heart-breaking account of the ordeal they are passing through at the hands of their captors?”

‘Grave concerns’ over food shortages in Ebola-hit nations -UN

The United Nations warned on Tuesday of “grave food security concerns” in the west African countries hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak as the deadly epidemic caused labour shortages and disrupted cross-border trade.

Restrictions on movement in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone has led to panic buying, food shortages and severe price hikes, especially in towns and cities, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization said.
“Access to food has become a pressing concern for many people in the three affected countries and their neighbours,” said Bukar Tijani, FAO Regional Representative for Africa.

“With the main harvest now at risk and trade and movements of goods severely restricted, food insecurity is poised to intensify in the weeks and months to come.
“The situation will have long-lasting impacts on farmers’ livelihoods and rural economies.”
The Ebola outbreak has killed 1,552 people and infected 3,062, according to the latest figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO).

At current infection rates, the WHO fears it could take six to nine months and at least $490 million (373 million euros) to bring the outbreak under control, by which time over 20,000 people could be affected.
The food security alert was sounded as the WHO announced a separate Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo has now killed 31 people, although it added that the contagion was confined to an area around 800 kilometres (500 miles) north of Kinshasa.
The WHO had previously given a death toll of 13 for the country.

– Emergency operation –
Quarantine zones imposed in the epicentre of the outbreak straddling the three west African countries will lead to food shortages for “large numbers” of people, the FAO said, with the main harvest season for rice and maize just weeks away.
Production of cash crops like palm oil, cocoa and rubber is also expected to be seriously affected, throwing people further into poverty.
Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone rely heavily on imports for cereals and other commodities.

The closure of border crossings where the three countries meet, as well as reduced trade at seaports, is strangling supply and sending prices soaring, the FAO said.
In Liberia, which has been hardest-hit by the outbreak with 694 deaths, the price of cassava in market stalls in Monrovia went up 150 percent within the first weeks of August, the FAO said.

“Even prior to the Ebola outbreak, households in some of the affected areas were spending up to 80 percent of their incomes on food,” said Vincent Martin, Head of FAO’s Resilience Hub in Dakar, Senegal.

“Now these latest price spikes are effectively putting food completely out of their reach. This situation may have social repercussions that could lead to subsequent impact on the disease containment.”
The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) has launched a regional emergency operation to get 65,000 tonnes of food to 1.3 million people in the worst-hit areas.
“Preventing further loss of human life and stopping the spread of the virus remain the top priorities at this time,” the FAO said.

– Growing border tensions –
The FAO’s concerns have been echoed by the Mano River Union economic bloc, which groups the three countries.
Deputy secretary-general Lynda Koroma, told Sierra Leone state television on Sunday she had toured farms on the country’s northwestern border with Guinea and found farmers were unable to work.

“We should start to look seriously at the food security issue because already the first planting season has been missed, particularly in the east where some cities have been quarantined,” she said.
Fred Lahai, a member of her entourage, told AFP the epidemic was fuelling growing tension between Guinean and Sierra Leonean border officials over the movement of traders across their shared frontier.

“Unofficially, the border is closed and for three weeks now the Sierra Leone Border Unit has been holding talks with Guinean border officials to allow traders to enter but the request has been turned down,” said Lahai, a local government official in northwestern Sierra Leone.
Traders reached by telephone told AFP they had been trying to transport palm oil, onions and other consumer goods to Guinea, but found themselves stranded at the border.

The outbreak of the Ebola virus, transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids, has sparked alarm throughout west Africa but also further afield, with international flights being cancelled and countries scrambling to come up with a cure.
Japanese researchers said Tuesday they had developed a new method to detect the presence of the Ebola virus in 30 minutes, with technology that could allow doctors to quickly diagnose infection.

I am no more an APC member – Tom Ikimi Withdraws membership from wednesday 27 August 2014

A founding member of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Tom Ikimi, has withdrawn his membership from the party.
He said he ceased from being a member of the party from tomorrow, Wednesday, August 27, 2014.

Ikimi, who tried in vain to be the national chairman of the party, accused some leaders of the party, especially former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, of imposition.
The former minister of external affairs stated this in a statement he issued in Abuja on Tuesday.
He however did not say if he would join the Peoples Democratic Party, but merely said he was studying the other political parties in the country.

He said, “I am at the stage of currently critically re-examining the two dominant political parties in our country, which are the APC and the PDP, in both of which I have had close working knowledge.

“I have not ignored the other political parties but in the light of the foregoing I must now search to really ascertain where indeed my true political friends exist. I need to be, at this time of my life where I have friends who share a common vision with me and where my freedom, respect, honor and dignity would be guaranteed.

“Notwithstanding my enormous contributions over the past 12 years or so to building the alternative platform, after very deep thought and the widest consultations I have made the decision to withdraw my membership from the All Progressives Congress from today, Wednesday 27th August 2014.”