The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs Disaster Management and Social Development is spearheading the advocacy for putting in place disaster risk reduction measures in public and private spaces.

The Minister Sadiya Umar Farouq made the call today while marking the 2020 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction which is celebrated all over the world on October 13.

According to Umar Farouq, the advocacy is to raise awareness among public and private organizations as well as the general public on how to prepare for and mitigate the risks of fire incidents in high rise buildings, high occupancy public and private buildings as well as workplaces and ensure that they have fire and emergency evacuation plans in place while practicing fire exit drills periodically.

“To demonstrate this, the Ministry, in collaboration with other first responders in disaster management, is organizing the first ever fire evacuation drill in the Federal Secretariat Building.

The drill will take place on Friday October 23, 2020. This is because, in 2020 alone, Nigeria has witnessed over 20 fire incidents in both public and private buildings. Fire hazard is thus, one of the major disaster risks in Nigeria.

“The purpose of the fire exit drill slated for next week, is to ensure the efficient and safe use of the exit facilities available at the Federal Secretariat Buildings in case of an emergency.

Such drills ensure orderly exit under control and prevent the panic that has been responsible for loss of lives in major fire disasters.

“While we are focusing on fire hazards today, the Ministry will continue to evolve strategies which address not just single hazards like fire and floods but also those that respond to systemic risks generated by industrial accidents like pipeline explosions and gas leakages”.

The Minister called on individuals to pass on to their various homes and offices, lessons that will be learnt from next week’s fire exit drill, to make Nigeria disaster risk free.

The theme for this year’s celebration is ‘Disaster risk governance’ .

The Ministry, since its establishment on August 21, 2019, has been initiating policies and programs that will build resilience towards disaster risk reduction in Nigeria.

Fire drills can also expedite the institutionalization of disaster risk governance.

The International Day of the Girl Child celebration has continued here in Imo State. On Tuesday, the 13th of October 2020 saw an absolutely successful girls event held by Albertiqs Foundation at Graceland Event Centre, Egbada, Owerri.

Speakers ranged from Hon. Uju Onwudiwe (Igolo), Member representing Njaba, Hon. Ijeoma Nwafor, Josephine Orji  Paralympics Gold Medalist and several other formidable women.

The event was full of formidable women who all have successful careers especially in male dominated fields. They all spoke strongly on the current expectation from the society in terms of gender parity.

The Chair of the Board of Albertiqs Foundation who happens to also be, The Special Adviser on Diaspora to the Governor of Imo State Hon. Cllr. Celia Osakwe-Hibbert admonished the young girls represented from different secondary schools, that the women emancipation ”we all have been calling for is finally here under the current Government and all that needs to be done is for all women in Imo to grab this change with both hands.”

She further stated during a panel session on how proud she is to see a sign Language Interpreter, women on wheel chairs and several other women from the Disability community.

“When I took over a few months ago as the Chairperson of Albertiqs Board, I introduced inclusion and diversity today we stand proud to showcase to the world that indeed change is possible!

The SA Diaspora, continued to explain to our reporter that she is not surprised to see that a Diasporan owned Foundation is raising the bar very high!”

Albertiqs Extra Helping Hands Foundation is one of the leading foundations in the South East on Women’s Empowerment. Albertiqs now also focuses on Women living with Disabilities.

Hon. Chidi Olujie, current and youngest ever National President of Deaf in Nigeria was present at this event, he applauded Albertiqs Foundation for putting ‘inclusion’ high up in their practices.

A national group under the aegis of I Belong To One Nigeria Initiative, a national group promoting unity and national integration, has condoled with its Awardee, Hajiya (Dr) Asabe Shehu Yar’Adua and the entire Yar’Adua family over the death of Hajiya Rabi Dada, mother-in-law of her late husband, General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua. 

The group in a condolence message on Monday to the widow of the late General who is its National Unity Ambassador, prayed Allah to give the entire family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

Describing the passing of her husband’s mother in law as very sad, the condolence message signed by the National Coordinator of the group, Comrade James Ezema, urged the family to have consolence in the fact that their late mother-in-law lived a good life worthy of emulation.

“Looking back, Hajiya Rabi’s hands of goodness left indelible mark in the lives of people within her area of influence.

“That is the kind of life that should be emulated by all Nigerians as part of efforts to make the country a better place for all”, the group added.

Dr Asabe Shehu Yar’Adua is a recipient of the groups Sardauna-Azikiwe National Unity Award for her contributions to poromoting unity in the country.

H.E. Amira Elfadil Mohammed, Commissioner for Social Affairs, African Union Commission; H.E. Dr Amani Abou-Zeid, Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy; and Dr John Nkengasong, Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) launched the “Africa Against COVID-19: Saving Lives, Economies and Livelihoods” campaign during the Africa CDC weekly press briefing on COVID-19 on 20th August.

The Saving Lives, Economies and Livelihoods campaign will facilitate the development of a harmonized strategy to protect borders, travellers, economies, livelihoods, and schools in Africa from the risk of increased COVID-19 transmission as countries begin to re-open their borders.

The campaign is being implemented by the Africa Task Force for Novel Coronavirus of the African Union, which includes representatives of the Africa CDC, World Health Organization Africa Regional Office, African Union NEPAD, UNICEF, African Union Member States, public health institutions, and several partners. The objectives are to:

1. minimize the spread of infection within and across borders by creating a unified public health corridor for safe travel within the continent;
2. curtail the impact of COVID-19 on economies and livelihoods through the mutual recognition and acceptance of health information and data across Member States;
3. ensure that schools are reopened safely through the establishment and engagement of a multi-sectoral committee to develop a school opening safety plan.

“In the last two weeks, Africa passed one million cases of COVID-19. Noting that we do not have a vaccine yet, and recognizing the socio-economic effects of the pandemic on Member States, we must continue to be proactive so that we do not lose the precious gains made with the preventive measures. I am therefore proud to announce the official launch of the African Union Africa Against COVID-19: Saving Lives, Economies, and Livelihoods as an effort to use innovative tools, methods and partnerships to prevent further transmission, deaths and socio-economic harm on the continent as economies, borders and schools re-open,” said H.E. Amira Mohammed.

“Transport is a catalyst for many of the big initiatives on the continent such as the Single African Air Transport Market and the Continental Free Trade Area, but transport has been halted around the world, affecting most sectors. It is important to work together as a continent to turn this crisis into an opportunity to improve our systems so we can reopen our economies quickly and safely,” said H.E. Dr Amani Abou-Zeid.

The campaign is supported by a consortium of private sector organizations, including Econet Group and other pan-African institutions that are part of the PanaBios platform. These organizations generously donation of their innovative technology platforms for the campaign.

“That many African organizations such as the African Organisation for Standardisation, Africa Economic Zones Organization, African Tourism Board, Koldchain BioCordon, and several others are supporting the PanaBIOS platform is testament to a newfound spirit of public-private partnerships and to the belief in local innovation that will transform the continent completely,” Dr Edem Adzogenu, Chairperson of AfroChampions said.

“We are excited to be working with African Union Member States, the Africa CDC and our implementation partners by offering the Health Status Report, a mobile-based, global health information platform – powered by secure blockchain technology – that captures a person’s COVID-19 testing data and results”, said Mr Strive Masiyiwa, Executive Chairman of Econet, and African Union Special Envoy for the Continental Fight Against COVID-19.

“This data can be shared by individuals confidentially and at their discretion with relevant government, transport and business entities, in a manner that respects personal data privacy,” added Mr Masiyiwa.

“When we talk about easing the lockdown of economies and border crossings, it’s all about people. It’s about how easily we can facilitate the movement of people while at the same time ensuring critical public health measures are in place,” said Dr John Nkengasong.

The campaign will leverage the African Union’s Partnership to Accelerate COVID-19 Testing (PACT) initiative to scale up testing, contact tracing and treatment in Africa while incorporating innovative indigenous technologies from the private sector to enhance surveillance, digitisation of COVID-19 test results, and data management.

Russia’s health authorities have revealed that the country has successfully concluded the clinical trial of a vaccine against COVID-19 in a group of volunteers, becoming the first country to successfully complete this fase.

“At this stage, the safety of the vaccine was demonstrated. It corresponds to the safety of vaccines that are currently on the market, ” First Moscow State Medical University Sechenov’s Institute of medical parasitology and tropical and vector-borne diseases director Alexander Lukashev said.

The clinical trials started on June 18 in the University of Séchenov with the objective of evaluating the effects against the coronavirus, created by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology.

Telesurtv reports that the vaccine was created without an element of the coronavirus and is presented in a lyophilized form ready to be administered intravenously.

38 people participated in the clinical trials with some presenting some side effects, like a slight fever and headaches that vanished throughout the day.

The first group of volunteers who recieved the vaccine will be discharged on July 15, and the second group on July 20.

The volunteers were under the constant supervision of doctors who evaluated them and currently do not have any health problems. Their health will continue to be monitored for 6 months, according to the scientists.

According to Russia’s Ministry of Health, at least 17 out of 47 prototype vaccines against the novel coronavirus being developed in the country are making serious progress, while three are already holding clinical trials with volunteers.