FG Begins Training of 250 Volunteers to Contain Ebola in Liberia, Guinea & Sierra Leone.Read More

The Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) on Monday started training volunteers to be sent to help to contain the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The Permanent Secretary of FMoH,  Linus Awute, made the disclosure at the opening of The Ebola Containment Training in Lagos.

Awute, represented by Abdulsalami Nasidi, Director, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), said that there were 504 volunteers.

Nasidi said the first batch of the trainees were 250 people drawn from all over the country, adding that almost 98 percent of them participated in containing the EVD in Nigeria.

“They are mostly from Lagos and Rivers states. In addition, Lagos is contributing 28 doctors who are not part of the training to join in the containment,’’ he said.

Awute said the first ever EVD in West Africa started in Guinea and was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) in March 2014.

He said: “Since then, the outbreak has spread to Liberia, Sierre Leone, Nigeria and Senegal.

“This current outbreak attributed to EV Zaire strain is the most extensive outbreak of Ebola, affecting multiple countries, including Nigeria.

“The total case counts and deaths are well beyond the cumulative total of all cases from previous known outbreaks, since its discovery in 1976’’.

He noted that a confirmed outbreak of EVD was declared in Nigeria on July 22.

“An effective multi-sectorial response was mobilised to contain the outbreak . The nation is now without a case of EVD and has been declared free by WHO on Oct. 20.

“Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea still harbour this deadly disease along the West African Coast.

“In view of this, all the ECOWAS countries are still at risk since our borders are not restricted and WHO has not announced closure of borders.

“These Ebola infected countries are our neighbors and we need to assist them so that the coast can be free of the disease,’’ he said.

He commended the health workers for having shown the spirit of togetherness by making up their minds to assist our neighbouring countries.

Awute tasked the volunteers to be law abiding and diligent in their duties.

“The Federal Government is solidly behind you and we have made arrangements for your insurance in case of any eventuality.

“The Nigerian government and African Union have guaranteed that all volunteers will be paid their full allowances in dollars.

“In addition, life insurance will be provided incase of disability, injury and possible deaths,’’ he said.

“We will also make our isolation centre active throughout your stay outside the country.

“The government has declared that we are providing our treatment centre for any Nigerian or volunteer from any country to be flown into Nigeria at Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja,’’ he said.

Also, Jide Idris, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, said that the the country was still vulnerable.

He said that the state government had decided not to disband the structure on Ebola but would always build upon it.

“We will continue public enlightenment and Nigeria must continue this effort to contain Ebola worldwide because we still stand the risk.

“You are our ambassadors, so do well. You must adhere to stipulated standard guidelines,’’ Idris said.

Tamuno Parker, the Rivers Commissioner for Health, said: “We have established what should be good standards in the management of public health challenges.

“If we apply the practices and strategy used in containing EVD in Lagos and Rivers, we should be able to eradicate EVD in the region.

“The Rivers State Government is also supporting with 5,000 Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs) to be worn by the volunteers.

“We can’t say we have contained and controlled the war against EVD in Nigeria if these countries around us are still being ravaged by EVD. We wish you safe arrival back,’’ he said.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

OMG...Picture of....(Malia Obama) is really growing into a beautiful young woman

NBC released this photo of 16 year old First Daughter Malia Obama...and I'm sure you know what the people are saying....hehe. But she's under-aged so let's not focus on that. But you can imagine the beauty she'll turn into in a few years...

Samuel Eto'o and Georgette Wedding In Pictures

Samuel Eto and his wife Georgette arrived Monday in the small town of Capiago Intimiano near Milan for a civil ceremony to formalize their wedding 

The marriage was celebrated by the Mayor of the municipality of Capiago Intimiano, a small town between Como and Cantu (in Italy).

The former Chelsea player who now plays for Everton, formalized the long union with the Ivorian Georgette, with whom he had four children.


The former captain of Cameroon ended his international career at the end of the 2014 World Cup where Cameroon catastrophic recorded three defeats in the group stage synonymous with his departure from Brazil.Samuel Eto'o and his teammates had been accused of lack of patriotism.

Samuel Eto'o is the only African to have won three (03) times the European Champions League (with tripled championnat- Spanish Cup champion's league Fc Barcelona), to receive four times the balloon African gold.

The Cameroonian marksman won twice the African Cup of Nations (CAN 2000 and 2002). Also, he won the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. It remains to this day, the top scorer in the national team.

Asa meets Lenny Kravitz

Nigerian singer Asa was pictured with Lenny Kravitz backstage during Struttour in Parais. Credits to Mathieu Bitton for this epic photoshoot. Ride on Asa

NINE-year-old 'supermodel' Kristina Pimenova

Kristina Pimenova has been dubbed 'the most beautiful girl in the world.' She is too young to be modelling and too young to be a supermodel.

Kristina Pimenova has been modelling in her native Russia since the age of three.

She's featured in campaigns for Dolce & Gabbana and Roberto Cavalli, her Facebook fan page has over two million 'likes' and her Instagram account has over 200,000 followers.

Critics say the girl is being sexualised and have pointed to comments on her photos which border on creepy and inappropriate, referring to her as 'hot' or a 'babe'.

Although she only models children's clothing, and wears little - if any - make-up in her professional shots, photos which involve her wearing shorts or little skirts osaseye agree that she's too young to be a supermodel.

'Creepy pic for a child,' writes one commenter of a candid photo of Kristina wearing leopard print hot pants, while another, seemingly male user, wrote: "I like it."

In response to one comment about Kristina's 'sexy legs', another wrote: "Treating a child like a adult, taking adult style photos is so wrong.

"You are sexifying your daughter and parents like you are the reason why girls grow up to have many issues... also there are so many sick ppl out their that look at these in sexually ways."

Big Brother Hotshots: Sheillah, Trezagah, Ellah & Goitse Evicted before Competition’s Final Leg this Week!

                                    Trezagah from Mozambique & Goitse from Botswana

It’s just one week left till the Hotshots edition of Big Brother Africa 2014 draws to a close!

In yesterday’s eviction, Sheillah, Trezagah, Ellah & Goitse fell just one week short of a shot at the USD 300 000 prize on Big Brother Hotshots as they were sent home in a heart-stopping quadruple eviction on Sunday night. Their departure means that 8 housemates are left in the game – and one of them must be named as the winner next Sunday!

Viewers must now choose between, in alphabetical order, Butterphly (Zimbabwe); Idris (Tanzania); JJ (Zimbabwe); M’am Bea (Ghana); Macky2 (Zambia); Nhlanhla (South Africa); Sipe (Malawi) and Tayo (Nigeria) – and get voting! Next week’s 2-hour live show will start an hour earlier, at 19:00 CAT, to pack all the drama of season 9 into one sizzling episode.

Ellah from Uganda

Macky2 revealed his Head of House ‘add’ decision to the housemates, with Ellah declaring “I knew it” as he’d explained that he’d based his decision on who he felt was a strong competitor. The Ugandan was spared – in the first round of evictions, at least – as IK revealed that Sheillah and Trezagah had been evicted. Joining him on stage, the Motswana said that she’d known ‘something was up’ when she wasn’t nervous for the first time, this week. She declared that her ‘thing’ with Nhlanhla as “very complicated” and that it wasn’t “a relationship“. Trezagah said he felt “so bad” at falling so close to the final and explained that he’d moved during the ‘freeze task’ – the only reason he was up for eviction in the first place – because he thought the task was over, and that he was being pranked again.

IK went back into the house and revealed that someone else was going to be evicted. He read out two more names – Ellah and Goitse – taking the number of evictees to four. The Ugandan could consider herself particularly unlucky to be sitting on the stage with IK, rather than sipping celebratory champagne inside the house with the finalists, as she never received a single nomination on Monday and was only up for eviction because Macky2 had added her to the list. She showed her annoyance when she told IK that she just wanted to punch Macky2 – though she also said she was proud of him for making a bold decision. Goitse said she was feeling “super awesome” and that she was looking forward to using her newfound fame to help her explore dancing, acting, writing, poetry, presenting “and everything“.

Sheillah from Botswana

Five housemates were tied on 1 country vote apiece after Africa voted this week, so the tie-breaker rule came into effect, sending the four contestants with the lowest percentage vote for all countries, home. Since JJ picked up a higher percentage vote, he was spared and sent into the final. Conversely, Tayo picked up the most country votes (4), followed by Idris (3) and Sipe (2).

Sipe won the StarMeter prize this week on the back of the question: “Which of the Big Brother Hotshots housemates do you think has what it takes to win?”. Big Brother celebrated the work done by the Friends of the Global Fund Africa this week, naming them as winners of the USD 100 000 ONE Africa Award – in keeping with the housemates’ theme for the past week.

Ugandan Reggae & Ragga star Bebe Cool performed ‘Love You Everyday’ and Fally Ipupa almost brought the house down with ‘Original’.
Voting opened immediately after the show and runs until 06:00 CAT on Sunday. Voters must now choose who of JJ, Tayo, Idris, Butterphly, Macky2, Sipe, Nhlanhla and M’am Bea they want to win Big Brother Hotshots! The more you vote for your favourite housemate, the better their chance of being named as the winner of Big Brother Hotshots next week.

Kano State Government Commends NEMA’s Prompt Response to Blast’s Victims

The Kano State government on Sunday commended the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for its prompt response and support to the victims of the Friday bomb blast.

The Commissioner for Health, Abubakar Labaran, gave the commendation in Kano when NEMA’s Director-General, Alhaji Mohammed Sani Sidi, visited victims of the blast at the Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital, Kano.

‘’I want to use this opportunity to thank you for the support we have received from you so far.

‘’We still have many victims on admission in our hospitals but essentially we need emergency drugs and other consumables, which have since been exhausted.

‘’We have 48 victims in this hospital, we have some at Nasarawa, Dala Orthopaedic and Aminu Kano Teaching hospitals.

‘’We are able to contain casualties and most of the dead ones. So the situation is calm now,’’ he said.

The commissioner also the general public for coming to donate blood since the incident happened.

‘’We called on members of the public to come and donate blood and thank God people have responded positively,’’ Labaran said.

Earlier, the Director-General of the agency who was represented by the Director, Search and Rescue, Air Commodore Otegbede Charles, said he was in Kano to assess the situation.

‘’The director-general mandated me to come and meet with the state government officials on what the agency can do to further alleviate the sufferings of the victims currently on admission.

He condoled with the government and people of Kano over the unfortunate incident.

NAN reports that the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi II, had also paid a similar visit to the victims at the Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital.

The Emir returned to the country on Saturday after getting the news of the bomb blast which occurred at the Central Mosque at his palace.

Photo Credit: Yahoo News

Economic Ties: Nigeria, States of Jersey Set for Bilateral Relations

Nigeria is set to establish bilateral relations with the States of Jersey, the biggest territory in the Channel Islands, with a focus on economic ties.

Jersey is a dependent territory of the English Crown but has an autonomous status of self- government, although primary legislation passed by the parliament requires approval by The Queen in Council.

The Island is noted for its vibrant and transparent financial services which remained its main source of revenue.

The Europe Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports on Sunday in London that the Jersey government had indicated interest on economic relations with Nigeria during a state visit by Dalhatu Tafida Nigerian High Commissioner to the UK.

Tafida who led a nine man delegation to the Island was received by the Lieutenant Governor of Jersey John McColl, who briefed the group on the history of Jersey and its administrative, fiscal and legal system.

The High Commissioner also met Michael Birt the Bailiff of Jersey, who also briefed the delegation on Jersey’s relations with the UK and its parliamentary system.

In the same development, Tafida in a meeting with Geoff Cook, Chief Executive Officer of the Jersey Financial Services Commission said that “Nigeria operates a free market economy with a robust macro economic outlook”.

“Nigeria’s GDP has grown above 6.5 per cent per annum in the last six years”

” The array of investment opportunities that abound in the country and generous incentives available to investors in all sectors of the economy “

“continue to make it a global investment destination” .

According to him, opportunities in the banking sector remains untapped even though most Nigerian banks have massive investments with branches abroad.

” Despite the success story, about 40 per cent of Nigerians remain unbanked.

“while the banks are not lending enough to the real sectors to galvanize economics development”

“This therefore offers huge opportunities in the banking and financial services sector of the economy” Tafida stressed .

In his remarks Cook who led a team of financial experts said that Jersey had £1.2 trillion to invest across the world and the focus is on Africa” because that is the continent of tomorrow”.

While speaking on the opportunities abound in Africa, cook stressed the need for more investment of its GDP in other to realise its full potential.

” Africa needs to invest more of its GDP, currently 66 per cent of Africa’s GDP comes from Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, Algeria, and Angola “

” Out of this total only 23.5 per cent is currently invested, it needs to invest 37 percent of its GDP”

He further said that Jersey would create awareness on the opportunities in Nigeria, and encourage its investors to key into them.

NAN reports that the during the two day state visit Tafida held meetings with Ministers of External Affairs, Health and Social Services as well as a tour of the Jersey Museum and Durrell Wild Park.

Photo Credit:  Getty Images/John McColl