Sudan and Egypt at the weekend expressed optimism over talks with Ethiopia on its controversial mega-dam construction on the Nile.

Active News Africa gathered that talks between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan were suspended last week after Ethiopian authorities insisted on linking them to renegotiating a deal on sharing the waters of the Blue Nile.

Egypt and Sudan viewed the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dam project as a threat to vital water supplies, while Ethiopia considers it crucial for its electrification and development plans.

South Africa, which holds the presidency of the African Union is mediating negotiations.

South Africa had urged the countries to “remain involved” in the talks, which is now expected to bear fruit.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli at the weekend made his first official visit to Sudan since the formation of a transitional government in Khartoum last year.

Following his talks with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, a joint statement was issued saying that “negotiations are the only way to resolve the problems of the dam”.

The two leaders said they were “optimistic regarding the outcome of the negotiations” held under mediation by the African Union, according to the statement.

“It is important to reach an agreement that guarantees the rights and interests of all three nations,” it said, adding that a “mechanism to resolve (future) disputes” should be part of any deal.

GERD has been a source of tension in the Nile River basin ever since Ethiopia broke ground on the project in 2011.

Egypt and Sudan invoke a “historic right” over the river guaranteed by treaties concluded in 1929 and 1959.

But Ethiopia uses a treaty signed in 2010 by six riverside countries and boycotted by Egypt and Sudan authorising irrigation projects and dams on the river.

Madbouli was accompanied to Khartoum by a delegation including Egypt’s ministers of water and irrigation, electricity, health, and trade and industry.

During his visit on Saturday, Madbouli is also expected to meet with General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan’s ruling sovereign council, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, council deputy chief and military general.

Hamdok’s office said the visit aimed to improve cooperation between the two neighbouring countries. (AfricaNews.)

Health authorities in Nigeria’s commercial city of Lagos State have confirmed its first case of coronavirus (COVID-19) and reported it to the Federal Ministry of Health.
Nigeria on Friday announced the first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus in sub-Saharan Africa.

“The case is an Italian citizen who works in Nigeria and returned from Milan, Italy to Lagos, Nigeria on the 25th of February 2020,” Health Minister Osagie Ehanire said in a statement on Twitter.

“The patient is clinically stable, with no serious symptoms, and is being managed at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos.”

In a release singed by the Lagos State Commissioner for Health Prof Akin Abayomi on behalf of the governor Jide Sanwo-Olu, “this an Italian citizen who entered Nigeria on the 25th of Feburary from Milan, Italy for a brief business visit.

“He fell ill on the 26th February and was transferred to Lagos State Biosecurity Facilities for isolation and testing.

“COVID-19 infection was confirmed by the Virology Laboratory of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, part of the Laboratory Network of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. The patient is clinically stable, with no serious symptoms, and is being managed at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos.

“The Government of Lagos State under the governor as the COVID-19 Incident Commander, through the Lagos State Ministry of Health, has been strengthening measures to ensure that any outbreak in Lagos is controlled and contained quickly in collaboration with the multi-sectoral Coronavirus Preparedness Group, led by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

“We have immediately activated the State Emergency Operations Centre to respond to this case and implement firm control measures.

“I wish to assure all Lagosians and Nigerians that we have been strengthening our preparedness since the first confirmation of cases in China. We will use all the resources made available by the state and the Federal Government to respond to this case.

“We are working to identify all the contacts of the patient, since he arrived in Nigeria. Please, be reminded that most people who become infected may experience only a mild illness and recover easily, but it can be more severe in others, particularly the elderly and persons with other underlying chronic illnesses”, the state ministry of health noted.

Citizens were advised to stay indoors if they feel unwell with symptoms, such as fever, cough and difficulty in breathing.

They were urged to call Lagos State Emergency hotlines 08023169485 or 08033565529 or 08052817243 which are available day and night.

The Conservator-General (C-G) of the National Park Service, Dr. Ibrahim Musa Goni has condemned the maltreatment of a stray manatee, an animal found in Delta State, describing it as cruel and barbaric.

Goni made the condemnation in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja by the Media Assistant to the C-G, Yakubu Zull.

He said the herbivorous animal otherwise known as Sea Cow, was seen in a trending video being dragged on the ground in a street in Delta state by some youths.

The C-G said that the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified them as vulnerable in the Union’s red-list of threatened species in the World.

He also said that Nigeria’s Endangered Species Amendment Act of 2016 also prohibits the hurting of such species of animals.

“It’s illegal to hunt, capture or trade Manatee in Nigeria, they are endangered species and therefore should be protected as part of our environment.

“The animal was tied and being dragged hard by some people while it struggled, which was really cruel and barbaric”, he said.

He, however, called on the Delta State government to investigate the incidence, arrest and prosecute those behind the cruel act.

“They should be punished so that it would serve as a deterrent to others. The amendment act provides for the punishment of any such offender”.

He also called for more awareness campaign in the State and the coastal regions across the nation to educate the people on the need to protect endangered species.

“We need a total reorientation of the general public on the need to respect environmental laws, for the good of the environment and humanity.

“Such rare, wild animals are treasured animals and of utmost importance all over the world and special care must be taken to protect them because of their biodiversity and ecological value, to Nigeria and the World at large.

“We must all work together to manage our wildlife to ensure that they do not go extinct, as a result of over-exploitation”, he said.