NURTW: We may increase fares over interstate travel COVID-19 guidelines

The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) says it may increase fares over new guidelines issued by the federal government on interstate travel.

On Monday, the federal government lifted the ban on interstate travel starting from July 1, but mandated temperature checks for every passenger and crowd control at motor parks. Vehicles are also required to carry only fifty percent of their capacity.

Kabiru Yau, NURTW acting general secretary, said the directive for motorists to carry fewer passengers on a trip will reduce their income. He asked the federal government to subsidise the operation cost of the motorists.

“We thank the federal government for lifting the ban. It is a welcome development because it is over three months that our members have been out of jobs and without income,” he said.

“At least, our people will now start working and get something to feed their families. But at the same time, due to the spacing in the vehicles which will require the drivers to carry only nine or ten instead of the usual 18 passengers, the income of the drivers will be reduced.

“So we want the government to help subsidise the cost of those passengers that we will not be carrying or we will have to increase our transport fares. This is because the money that will be generated from the reduced number of passengers will barely cover the cost of fuel for the journey.

“So, what is the gain? What will you give to the owner of the vehicle? So, the government should please help us look into this matter.”

- THECABLE

France warns W. Africa instability risks reversing gains against jihadists

Mali and Burkina Faso must guarantee at a summit this week that their domestic political problems do not reverse fragile military successes against Islamist militants in the Sahel region, a French presidential source said on Monday.

Former colonial power France has deployed thousands of soldiers in the arid region south of the Sahara desert since 2013, and now has 5,100 troops there. But attacks by groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State have been on the rise.

Leaders of the G5 Sahel states of Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger and Mauritania will meet French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Nouakchott on Tuesday to assess recent military victories and plan next steps.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who is set to confirm a contribution to a special forces unit in the Sahel, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will also take part by video call.

But there are fears that recent advances may be derailed amid political instability in the Sahel.

“All the progress that’s been made is fragile and can be put into question if the political momentum does not follow,” the French official said ahead of a summit.

“We see that in the Burkina and Mali context...So (what’s at) stake is to put in guarantees so that these electoral contexts don’t weaken the gains that have been achieved.”

Burkina Faso will hold legislative and presidential elections in November in which incumbent President Marc Roch Kabore is expected to seek a second term against opponents challenging his approach to tackling militants.

In Mali, there are growing concerns about instability in recent weeks after thousands of people took to the streets for the second time in a month to demand President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita step down.

Keita, in the middle of his second five-year mandate after a 2018 election, has struggled with an surge in militant attacks. 

- REUTERS

US left out as European Union reopens borders to 15 countries

The European Union has excluded the United States from its initial "safe list" of countries from which the bloc will allow non-essential travel from Wednesday.

The 27-member bloc gave approval on Tuesday to leisure or business travel from 14 countries beyond its borders, the Council of the EU, which represents EU governments, said in a statement.
The countries are Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay.

China has also been provisionally approved, although travel would only open up if Chinese authorities also allowed in EU visitors. Reciprocity is a condition of being on the list.
Russia, Brazil and Turkey, along with the United States, are among countries whose containment of the virus is considered worse than that of the EU average and so will have to wait at least two weeks. The bloc will carry out fortnightly reviews.

The move is aimed at supporting the EU travel industry and tourist destinations, particularly countries in southern Europe hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The list needed a "qualified majority" of EU countries to be passed, meaning 15 EU countries representing 65% of the population.

It acts as a recommendation to EU members, meaning they could potentially set restrictions on those entering from the 14 nations and will almost certainly not allow access to travellers from other countries.

The EU's efforts to reopen internal borders, particularly among the 26-nation Schengen area which normally has no frontier checks, have been patchy as various countries have restricted access for certain visitors.

Greece is mandating Covid-19 tests for arrivals from a range of EU countries, including France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, with self-isolation until results are known.

The Czech Republic is not allowing in tourists from Portugal and Sweden.

British residents can also travel to many EU countries, although non-essential travellers to Britain are required to self-isolate for 14 days. 

- REUTERS

Fernandes will become a Man Utd 'legend' like Beckham and Ronaldo - Xavier

Fernandes will establish himself as a Manchester United great, according to former Portugal defender Abel Xavier.

Bruno Fernandes joined United from Sporting for €55 million ($50m) in January and had an immediate galvanising impact on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side.

The 25-year-old has three goals and as many assists in seven Premier League appearances, with United unbeaten in 14 matches across all competitions and yet to taste defeat with the mercurial playmaker in their ranks.

Xavier has expressed his belief that his compatriot can go on to be remembered alongside the likes of David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo by the Old Trafford faithful if he continues on his current trajectory.

"My view of Bruno is that he is going to be one of the major players for Manchester United over the next years," the ex-Liverpool full-back told Stats Perform News.

"The way he plays, the way he controls the moments of the game... I think from what I know about the fans, they will love him for many years like they loved many legends from the past like Cristiano, David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand, Eric Cantona, Paul Scholes – all these legendary players.

"Bruno I think will end up in this gallery of players."

One man whose standing has not been quite so lofty since returning to Old Trafford from Juventus in 2016 is Paul Pogba.

The France international's performances have been a frequent matter of debate, while injuries have decimated his 2019-20 campaign.

Pogba is back to full fitness now, however, and Xavier believes he and Fernandes can enjoy a fruitful midfield alliance.

"Pogba is compatible with him because Bruno Fernandes is a clever player," he said.

"He can adapt, he is flexible. I think he is a player who is very easy to manage for the coaches. Man United will be strong.

"We are not just talking about a great player but a player with a lot of personality.

"It is not easy to arrive to a different place like England, with a lot of history and a lot of comparisons in his position, and make a complete impact.

"He had a little profile. He was accepted, he made the difference. I think that Man United are building the team around him."

United are scheduled to face Brighton on Tuesday in the Premier League, where they will aim for a victory to go level on points with Wolves and close to within two points of fourth-placed Chelsea.

- GOAL 

Coronavirus: ‘Worst is yet to come’, warns WHO chief

The worst of the Covid-19 pandemic could be “yet to come”, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned, as the number of reported cases across the globe continues to climb.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, said that some countries had experienced a “resurgence” in cases after reopening their economies, adding that the pandemic is “speeding up”.

He called for greater cooperation between world leaders to help limit transmission of the disease as countries begin reopening their borders following months of lockdown.

“The worst is yet to come. I’m sorry to say that, but with this kind of environment and condition, we fear the worst,” Dr Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing on Monday.

“And that’s why we have to bring our acts together and fight this dangerous virus together. Some countries are now experiencing a resurgence of cases as they start to reopen...”

Dr Adhanom Ghebreyesus’s comments came as the number of global coronavirus cases edged towards 10.5 million – six months on from when the pandemic first broke out in Wuhan, China.

More than 500,000 people have died after contracting the novel virus, according to official figures, with cases surging in the Americas, Russia and India.

Peru and Chile have seen cases surges in recent weeks. Brazil has now reported more than 1.3 million cases, while officials in the US have logged close to 2.6 million infections.

Infections have so far remained relatively low in much of Africa and Asia outside of China, although experts fear cases in the two continents are yet to peak.

“The virus still has a lot of room to move. We all want this to be over,” Dr Adhanom Ghebreyesus added. “We all want to get on with our lives, but the hard reality is this: this is not even close to being over”.

“With 10 million cases now and half a million deaths, unless we address the problems we’ve already identified at WHO, the lack of national unity and lack of global solidarity and the divided world which is actually helping the virus to spread... the worst is yet to come.”

He also said that it is “a lame excuse” for any country to claim that contact tracing “is difficult” after the WHO warned as early as March that testing would be the key to containing the pandemic.

Dr Adhanom Ghebreyesus’s message remained “test, trace, isolate and quarantine”.

A resurgence of infections in Texas and Florida led officials in the states to reimpose some restrictions on businesses earlier this week.

Officials declared a state of emergency in Brazil capital Brasilia on Monday following a spike in cases – just weeks after the nation had begun to resume business

In the UK meanwhile, health secretary Matt Hancock was on Monday night forced to put Leicester back on lockdown following hundreds of new infections in recent weeks.

Leicester mayor Sir Peter Soulsby has suggested the new lockdown in the city should have been brought in much sooner, as shops there closed on Tuesday while schools must shut from Thursday.

Speaking on the BBC’s Today programme, he said: “The secretary of state announced that he believed there was an outbreak in Leicester the best part of two weeks ago.

“Since then, we’ve been struggling to get information from them (the government) about what data they had, what led them to believe there was a particular problem here, and struggling to get them to keep the level of testing in Leicester.”

But Hancock insisted the government had not been too slow to act in Leicester, but that targeted action had not worked and so a wider lockdown was required.

“People knew 11 days ago because I set it out that there was an outbreak in Leicester, and we were working on it before then,” he said.

“And I’d been talking to the council and working with public health experts and Public Health England, and we’ve been monitoring and we’ve been putting in place the targeted action that has worked in other cases.

“In this case, it hasn’t worked over that period and so we needed to take further action which we took last night.”

- UK INDEPENDENT 

COVID-19 : Edo response team protest over unpaid stipends

Workers in the Edo state COVID-19 response team on Tuesday protested none payment of their stipends.

The protesters blocked the entrance gate to the office of the Hospital Management Board, HMB, in Benin City, the state capital.

One of the leaders of the protesters, Ojeme Emmanuel said some of them have only collected staggered days stipends for the number of days worked for in the month of April. He said none of the workers has collected the full month as earlier promised by the state government representatives.

‘Bros they agreed to pay us 3,000 per day which amounts to #90,000 per month but none of us here have ever received such an amount of money as stipends.

‘what we have in Edo as a government is a funny one, you can imagine a government that does not want to pay those who worked for them. We had over four of our colleagues right inside the isolation centre. The COVID-19 response team faced a lot of dangers.

‘The government said they have spent over one billion naira on COVID-19 but are unable to pay those that actually did the job.

At the time of filing this report, the State Commissioner for Health Dr Patrick Okundia said he would have to meet the Deputy Governor of the state and the representative of the team before he can respond.

- DAILY POST

14m out-of-school children may become terrorists, kidnappers – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has warned that the 14 million out-of-school children in Nigeria may become terrorists, kidnappers, and armed robbers if their education is not taken seriously.

Obasanjo’s warning was published the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) bulletin on Monday, revealing that in the next 10 years, these out-of-school children could become perpetrators of heinous crimes and constitute a nuisance in the society.

This is coming months after education minister, Adamu Adamu had also said there were 10 million out-of-primary-school children but that the figure could rise to 14 million when added to those out of junior secondary schools.

Obasanjo called on policymakers and key players in the education sector to brace up for challenges as well as ensure that the quality of Nigeria’s education meets the UNESCO Education for All (EFA) standard.

“If we don’t take care of these 14 million out-of-school children in the next 10 years or so, they will be the terrorists, armed robbers, and kidnappers of the future,” he said.

The former president also said that quality education in Nigeria should not always be about the number of universities available.

“It should be about whether they’re doing what they should be doing, whether they meet the needs of the industry where they are situated, or whether they are delivering quality education,” he said.

“We should be preoccupied with what product is coming out and not about the number or the size. America has varsities with multi-campuses where student populations number in the thousands.

“I used to be a member of the Board of Trustees of Wilberforce University with a total population of 1,500, a small university but one which is making meaningful and impactful contributions.

“We should build on what we have now, improve on them. A population of over 200 million people having 170 or more universities is not too many for me as what matters are content and quality

“And the ability to turn out appropriate products for market and industry. If that is achieved, then universities could be said to be doing what they should be doing and we should hail them for it.”

- PM NEWS

Police: How kidnappers killed doctor, his son and friend after receiving N7.5m ransom

The Nigeria police force says it arrested two suspects in connection with the kidnap and death of Audu Benedict, a medical doctor.

Benedict, 70, was kidnapped alongside Iramon, his son, aged 32; and Samaila Akenjinba, his associate, aged 30; while travelling from Takum in Taraba state to Abuja on March 10, 2019.

For several months, the abducted persons were in captivity despite paying ransom to their abductors. But they were later killed.

In a statement on Monday, Frank Mba, police spokesperson, said two suspects have been arrested in the connection with the incident.

He identified the suspects as Henry Terkula, 25, and Terhile Tsavbe, a 30-year-old indigene of Benue state.

Mba said the criminal gang received N7.5 million as ransom, including the forced issuance of a N500,000 cheque which was cashed in a bank in the state.

He said despite the ransom paid, the suspects killed the victims and buried them at Gawa in Katsina-ala LGA of Benue state.

“Police Operatives of the Intelligence Response Team arrested two (2) suspects for the kidnap of a Medical Doctor, Audu Benedict, his son and one of his associates in Katsina-ala LGA, Benue State while travelling from Taraba State to Abuja on 10th March, 2019,” he said.

“The suspects, Henry Terkula Gwa ‘m’ 25yrs from Donga LGA of Benue State and Terhile Tsavbe, ‘m’ 30yrs from Gawa village, Katsina-ala LGA of Benue State were arrested on the 6th and 11th June, 2020.

“Investigations revealed that the criminal gang collected 7.5 million naira as ransom from the families of the victims as condition for their release.

“The suspects forced the late Dr Audu Benedict to issue them a cheque of N500,000 which they cashed in a commercial bank in Gboko town, Benue State. Subsequently, the suspects killed the three (3) victims and had them buried in a shallow grave at Gawa in Katsina-ala LGA of Benue State.

Mba added that “efforts are being intensified to arrest other suspects still at large and the police team is on the verge of exhuming the remains of the slain victims”.

- THECABLE