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Ebonyi Molecular Laboratory centre will be the hub of Science in Nigeria — DG NCDC
Jacob Ogodo, Abakaliki.
A new Molecular Laboratory which was built by the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki in Ebonyi State has been commissioned.
Commissioning the project, the Director general of NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu expressed hope that the Center would be the hub of Science in Nigeria.
The Laboratory, located at the Viral Research, Treatment and Control Centre of the AEFUTHA, was built by the NCDC and equipped by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Health.
Dr Ihekweazu urged the management of the hospital to ensure the capacity building of the workers for optimum use of the Laboratory.
The Board Chairman of AEFUTHA, Dr Tijjani Ramalan, in his remarks said the project was challenging, but expressed happiness it had been successfully completed and put to use.
Ramalan who said the laboratory would take the hospital to the next level, noting that the project was one of the giant steps towards making the hospital the world medical tourism centre.
Dr Emeka Onwe Ogah, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, commended the NCDC boss for the numerous assistance and support the hospital had been receiving from the NCDC, especially for building the molecular centre for the hospital.
Ogah also commended President Muhammad Buhari-led Federal Government for assisting the hospital to equip the molecular laboratory, noted that the centre would tremendously enhance the operations of the hospital.
He, however, appealed to the Federal Government to convert the Viral Research, Treatment and Control Centre of the hospital to a regional centre, since, according to him, it is the only centre, currently serving South-East and South-South regions of the country.
The Ebonyi State Commissioner for Health, Dr Daniel Umezurike, described the building and commissioning of the AEFUTHA molecular laboratory as a milestone, and commended the NCDC for making it possible.
Umezurike assured that Ebonyi State Government would continue to support the hospital in the best way it could.
Head of Mission Nigeria, Dr EwalD Stals, who described the Laboratory as a world class, expressed happiness that their partnership with the hospital was working.
Obasa said this in an interview with the newsmen on the sidelines of the launch of the Ibile Muslim Community Zakat and Sadaqah Foundation in Lagos.
He said that there was need for such legislation.
The foundation was launched at a public presentation sponsored by Lotus Bank in Lagos.
It aims to empower less privileged Muslims and alleviate poverty by promoting Zakat, Sadaqah, and Waqf.
Obasa explained that the proposed law would empower the state government and foundations like the Ibile Muslim Community Zakat and Sadaqah Foundation to regulate aid soliciting.
According to him, the law will also ensure donations reach the needy without them having to beg on the streets.
He noted that the rising number of beggars in Lagos necessitated this regulation.
“We are looking at how we can manage such situations to stop beggars from parading the streets of Lagos begging for alms.
“Following such legislation, anyone caught begging on the streets or aiding such, particularly among children, would also be sanctioned according to the law,” Obasa said.
Speaking on the foundation’s launch, Obasa highlighted the benefits of Zakat, which helps both payers and beneficiaries by eradicating poverty.
“It is important for anyone blessed by God to reach out to the less privileged.
“This should start from the immediate family and extend to every other member of society.
“The essence is to make everyone equal, or at least to move people from poverty and make them feel comfortable,” he added.
Sheikh Sulayman Nolla, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Ibile Muslim Community Zakat and Sadaqah Foundation, emphasised the foundation’s goal of unifying all Muslims in Lagos.
Nolla, also the Grand Chief Imam of Lagos, noted that the foundation serves all, regardless of religious background, and aims to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor by pooling resources.
Mrs Kafilat Araoye, Managing Director of Lotus Bank, stated that the bank is supporting the foundation financially, technically, and administratively, ensuring adherence to Sharia and Islamic finance principles.
Araoye stressed the need for permanent solutions to poverty rather than temporary palliatives, given the country’s current economic realities.
Zakat is the third pillar of Islam, requiring eligible Muslims to donate a portion of their wealth annually to aid the poor.
It is typically 2.5 per cent of a Muslim’s total savings and wealth above a minimum amount, or “nisab,” each lunar year.
Sadaqah is a voluntary charitable act, while Waqf is an Islamic endowment of property for charitable or religious purposes.
The Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) on Sunday advised Nigerians not to engage in panic buying of fuel for stockpiling purposes.
Its Executive Secretary, Mr Clement Isong, gave this advice in an interview with the newsmen due to the ongoing queues at filling stations across Lagos.
Isong explained that the shortfall of product in most stations was due to adverse weather and hunderstorms that delayed ship-to-ship (STS) trans-loading, among others.
Others, he said, included berthing at jetties, truck load-outs and transportation of products to filling stations, creating a disruption in station supply logistics.
He noted that the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) had also warned that the loading of petrol should be avoided during rainstorms and lightening.
Isong emphasised that petroleum products were flammable and required transportation, dispensation, consumption and storage in strictly controlled and regulated manners.
“Any deviation from these regulations poses significant danger and risks, including fatalities.
“We wish to reiterate that there is no cause for alarm. We strongly urge Nigerians to avoid panic buying or stockpiling of petrol.
“This behaviour not only creates artificial scarcity but also poses a significant safety hazard,” Isong said.
He added that the delay in loading petroleum products at depots due to storms contributed to the shortfall of stocks in filling stations.
“Many trucks could not load product for over 48 hours during the storm.
“Now that the weather is clear, marketers have begun loading, and all trucks have commenced distribution of fuel to all stations across the country.
“We want to assure Nigerians that there is no scarcity, and they should not stock petrol at home,” he said.
He recalled that Malam Mele Kyari, the Group CEO, NNPC Ltd., had said that the Customs had inaugurated a team named, “Operation Whirlwind” to combat the smuggling of petroleum products to neighbouring countries.
He quoted Kyari as saying that the the team would protect the nation’s economy from the adverse effects of smuggling petroleum products.
Isong also mentioned that illegal smuggling of the product to neighbouring countries had increased the country’s consumption to between 58 to 60 million litres per day.
To address this, he noted that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPCL), had tightened up the supply chain to avoid illegal smuggling.
According to Isong, NNPCL is buying and importing petrol at international prices and selling at a considerably domestic price. newsmen who monitored the situation in Lagos, reported that queues for petrol have resurfaced in parts of the city, with fuel stations packed with vehicles waiting to fill their tanks.
The long queues extended to road networks, causing gridlock in some areas.
Some consumers were also seen queuing at closed filling stations in hopes of accessing the product.
Long queues were observed at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) stations on Ikorodu Road, Fadeyi, Bariga, and the Ogba axis of Lagos.
Similar situations were seen at NIPCO stations in Fadeyi, Surulere, and Ago Palace Way.
In Epe, queues for petrol were prevalent at T-Tap, TotalEnergies, Enyo and Petrocam.
In Ikorodu Town, vehicles were lined up at Mobil, TotalEnergies, NIPCO, and Malo stations at Odogunyan First Gate.
The Enforcement and Monitoring taskforce against illegal courier services and operators in Nigeria, on Thursday, July 4, 2024, stormed Maryland in Ikeja and law school areas of Lagos state, apprehending 32 culprits with their motorbikes confiscated.
Comprising staff members of the Courier and Logistics Regulatory Department (CLRD) of NIPOST, officers from the Force Criminal Investigation Department, armed Policemen from the Lagos Force Headquarters, and journalists. The team had their work cut out for them after some of the culprits attempted to resist arrest.
The enforcement which is for the 2nd quarter of the year is in line with the NIPOST Act aimed at sanitizing the nation’s courier industry and flushing out criminal elements that hide under the business to perpetrate criminal activities. By the provisions of Section 43 of the Nigeria Postal Service Act, Cap N127, laws of the Federation,2004, and the Courier and Logistics Operations Regulation 2024, it is mandatory for any postal, courier, express, delivery dispatch and logistics operators to obtain an operating license from NiPOST to avoid Clampdown and prosecution for illegal and unethical operations.
After a successful operation in Lagos, the team is planning to take the clampdown exercise to other parts of the country.
According to the General Manager of CLRD, Mr. Gideon Oladotun Shonde, their clampdown for the first quarter of the year was successfully carried out in Lagos and 11 other States including Abia, Rivers, Edo, Ekiti, Ogun, Oyo, Lagos, Katsina, Ondo, Kwara, and Delta.
In a statement, Shonde said that, “The postal, express, Courier and logistics industry in Nigeria has been proliferated and infiltrated with so many unlicensed and illegal courier and logistic operators with reckless abandonment for ethical standard and professional conduct.
“There exist unethical sharp practices such as price undercutting, pilfering, broaching, damages, loss and dumping of customers’ items, poaching and subletting of operating licenses with a mountain of public complaints about customers being duped or obtaining money from them under pretense, no traceable office address nor registered brand name. As well as overloading and carriage of items above the stipulated 50 kg.”
Shonde warned everyone aiming to go into the business of courier and logistics to make sure they get the required professional and certification training being offered by NIPOST at a very subsidized rate and also get their businesses fully licensed.
“Every interested private investor in the Courier and Logistics business should follow the due process by obtaining a grant of operating licenses from the federal government, NIPOST”, he said.
“It is a crime against the state to operate on a space that is regulated without proper registration and license”, Shonde added.
Shedding more light on the professional and certification training, he said “The training program is aimed at rescuing the professionally certified dispatch riders and delivery drivers from unwanted harassment or oppression on Lagos or any other road nationwide.
The General Manager pointed out that they have been so lenient with the dispatch riders and delivery drivers by offering them a flexible payment plan to obtain licenses, such that those who cannot pay at a stretch can little by little, till they complete the payment.
‘NIPOST has also been creating awareness through Radio jingles and other media channels on the need for courier operators to get their outfits duly licensed, with up-to-date documentation’. he added.
Lagos Assembly to pass law regulating alms begging – Speaker
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