Good morning Nigeria, welcome to Naija News roundup of top newspaper headlines in Nigeria for today Saturday, 6th February 2021.
1. Okonjo-Iweala Clear For WTO Job As South Korea Withdraws Candidate
The South Korean candidate for the World Trade Organisation director-general position, Yoo Myung-hee, has withdrawn her candidacy.
The development has seen Nigeria candidate who has the support of other African countries, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala the sole candidate left in the race.
Yoo Myung-hee is the minister of Trade in South Korea and also the country’s candidate for the top job at the WTO following the resignation of Roberto Azevedo.
2. Many Nigerians Think Government Is Lying About COVID-19 – Lai Mohammed
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed says many Nigerians have no respect for the COVID-19 protocols put in place by the government.
He noted further that this is what is responsible for the unsafe practices many Nigerians indulge in by failing to use nose masks, observe social distancing and other guidelines, adding that it is also responsible for the rising number of infections on a daily basis.
The Minister, therefore, disclosed that in order to correct some of the wrong conspiracies about COVID-19 and the vaccine, that is why top public officials like the president, the vice president, governors, lawmakers and frontline health officials would be among the first batch of Nigerians to receive the vaccine.
3. FG Suspends Emirates Airlines For Violating COVID-19 Protocols
The Federal Government has suspended Emirates Airlines from operating in the country over violation of COVID-19 protocols.
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) made this known in a letter dated February 4, 2020, and signed by its Director-General, Captain Musa Nuhu.
According to the letter which was addressed to the Country Manager of the Airlines in Nigeria, the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 suspended the airlines for continuous airlift of passengers from Nigeria using Rapid Antigen Test (RDT) conducted by laboratories that are neither approved nor authorized by the appropriate regulatory bodies.
4. Tension As IPOB Burn Down Ebonyi Police Station
Suspected members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have attacked and burnt down the Onicha Divisional Police Headquarters in Isu community.
Naija News reports that the IPOB members attacked the police station around 3:25pm on Thursday burning down the buildings in the station and four patrol vans.
Confirming the attack in a statement, Police spokesperson, Loveth Odah, said one Police officer sustained machete cut injuries from the attack.
5. What I Saw In Zamfara Forests – Sheikh Gumi Reveals Details Of Meeting With Bandits
A renowned Islamic Scholar Sheikh Dr. Ahmed Mahmoud Gumi has revealed details of his meeting with notorious bandits operating in Zamfara State.
Gumi, who briefed Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State at Government House on Thursday, said that “what is currently happening in Zamfara is insurgency and not banditry”.
He stated that the bad treatment from the people of the state have completely turned the bandits into insurgents.
“In most of the bandits and Fulani camps we have visited in Zamfara, I come to understand that what is happening in the state is nothing but an insurgency,” he said.
6. CBN Bans Banks From Dealing With Cryptocurrency Traders
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ordered banks in the country to shut down the accounts of cryptocurrency traders.
The CBN in its directive, told Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Other Financial Institutions (OFIs), and Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFIs) local financial institutions to stop any transactions in crypto or facilitating payments for crypto exchanges.
The apex bank in the circular signed by Director of Banking Supervision, Bello Hassan, and Director, Payments System Management Department, Musa I Jimoh warned that disobedience to the directive will attract sanctions.
7. COVID-19: Dangerous African Countries You Must Avoid [Full List]
The deadly COVID-19 is taking its toll on Africa, especially in this second wave of the virus, with many people being infected and many dying.
As at February 3, 2021, a total of 3,609,468 cases of Coronavirus have been reported in Africa, with 92,909 deaths recorded.
Nine countries form the COVID-19 hotbeds in the continent, accounting for 80.79 percent of the infections and 86.38 percent of COVID-19 deaths in the continent.
8. How Obasanjo Attacked CAN Chairman, Called Him An ‘Idiot’ – Presidency
Presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, has narrated how former President Olusegun Obasanjo humiliated a former chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Yakubu Pam.
In his article published on Thursday, titled ‘The priest and the president’, Adesina claimed Obasanjo had called Pam an idiot in 2004 when the former president visited Plateau to mediate in the religious crisis rocking the state.
The crisis had claimed several lives and led to the destruction of properties, while a state of emergency was declared in the north-central state.
9. 2023 Presidency: Why I Can Never Disrespect Tinubu – Wike
Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike of Rivers state has revealed why he can never disrespect the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Wike, in a statement on Friday, signed by his media aide, Kevin Ebiri, said he can never malign the former Lagos state governor because he is an elder statesman and he holds him in high esteem.
The PDP leader stressed that that irrespective of political affiliation, he will never say or do anything to tarnish the hard-earned reputation of Tinubu.
10. Families Of Alleged Six Slain Soldiers Drag Army, Buratai To ICC – Lawyer
The former Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai, has been dragged to the International Criminal Court by the families of six soldiers who were allegedly secretly tried and executed by the Nigerian Army in Abuja, according to their lawyer.
The lawyer, Barrister E. R. Okoroafor, who spoke with SahareReporters noted that the army authorities and Buratai would be served the court papers in the coming week.
He further stated that he was at the ICC in the Hague, the Netherlands, where he personally filed the suit, he added that he does not expect the military to admit the development.