Chukwudi Akasike, Port Harcourt

A 33-year-old journalist with the Silverbird Television, Mr Nkansa Johnson, has called on the management of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital to release the corpses of his set of twins to him for burial.

Johnson, whose babies died after they were born on February 5, 2020, while being kept in the incubator, told our correspondent on Sunday that the management of the hospital wanted him to settle over N200,000 after he had already exhausted all he had to keep them alive.

He stated that while one of the set of twins died a week after birth, the other was lost about a month after .

Johnson, a native of the Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, expressed surprise that his babies were kept in the mortuary because the management of the hospital wanted him to pay more, even when none of them was alive.

He explained that he had spent over N200,000 so far to ensure that the set of twins survived and had no money left to settle medical bills, even as he described the experience as painful.

Johnson stated, “I am not happy because I took my pregnant wife to the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital on January 27, 2020. She was admitted because she was ill. When the doctors checked her, they told me that they would be able to handle the situation.

“They did all they could and later told me that she was okay, but she could not be discharged and that she would be in the hospital with them pending when they would confirm that she was fully okay.

“Along the line, labour started and the doctors swung into action. From there, she was delivered of a set of twin girls. It was not up to nine months when she put to bed. So, they said the babies had to be incubated. They put the babies in the incubator.

“After a week, one of the babies died in their hands. They did not give me any good explanation when I asked them why the baby died. They told me that since the babies were delivered prematurely, their survival was based on luck.

“The UPTH doctors promised that they would try their best for the second baby, so that I could have that one. They took the corpse of the first to the mortuary. I then asked them why they would take a seven-day-old premature baby to the mortuary.

“They said that I would pay the bill of the baby that died for the seven days she spent in the incubator. They now began to struggle to save the life of the other baby. So far, with all the tests and other expenses, I have spent over N200,000. Now, I lost the second baby in their hands.

“They still took the body to the mortuary again for me to come and clear the bills. My appeal to the hospital is that it should release the corpses of my babies to me. I have spent all I have and yet the babies did not survive. These babies are too tender to be in the mortuary.”

He added that apart from purchasing five pints of blood, he had to pay to use the hospital’s toilet and ran out of cash as a result of too many bills to pay.

Johnson said, “At the hospital, I paid a lot; I paid for even where to urinate whenever I was in the hospital. I also slept outside, where I was seriously bitten by mosquitoes. I also paid for where I went to excrete and where I took my bath.

“Before you buy a pint of blood at the UPTH, you have to pay N6,000; that one, they say you are just paying it to them. You have to run a test for N4,900 and then buy a pint of blood for N12,000. With all this, you are spending over N20,000 for a pint of blood instead of N12,000. It is really painful.”

When contacted, the Public Relations Officer, UPTH, Mrs Elabha Meni, urged Johnson to visit the Social Welfare Unit of the hospital to officially appeal for the bodies of the babies to be released.

She stated, “We have a Social Welfare Unit. In terms of waiver, everything is supposed to be channelled through the unit. We have to pick up the case history and everything.

“So, it is not something that we do on the telephone. Let him come and we will go to the Social Welfare Unit together. Then, we will get the children’s folder to see what he has paid. So, we can make an appeal on his behalf.

The Price of Being a Celebrity; These Are What Funke Akindele Has Lost Over a Needless Birthday Party.

I once told my friends that, if you want to live a quiet and private life, don’t ever aspire to become a celebrity. You can’t be a celebrity and still want to live a private life. It is not just possible because, celebrity status and publicity are like a Siamese twins, you no fit separate them. 

 As a result of a needless house party to celebrate her husband’s birthday, Funke Akindele has lost (and will still lose more) these.

 She lost her ambassadorial role with Dettol. Dettol yesterday announced that, “as a responsible organization and brand Dettol does not condone any breach of the guidelines on COVID-19. As an organization we are concerned at the turn of events. We will continue to support NCDC and the Nigerian govt to fight COVID-19”. This suggest that, the organization has terminated the contract they had with Funke Akindele with immediate effect.

Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) disowned her. Prior to the viral video of the house party, Funke Akindele had been the face of Dettol Nigeria/NCDC campaigning for social distancing and other preventive measures against the pandemic. This ‘denial’ from NCDC means that, the actress lost every opportunity of becoming the agency’s ambassador all for a needless house party.

She will face penalty of either 1 month jail term or a fine of N100k. since she has already pleaded guilty, herself and her husband risk a one month jail term or pay a fine of N100k each. But if the judge didn’t give them option of the fine, it means both couple will have to spend a month at the correctional centre just for a needless party.

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Reputational Damage: As a public figure, Funke has done a great damage to her career as it will be hard for people to believe her or take her advice serious again because, she will be seen as someone who advises against something and go ahead to do that thing. This may also hinder her getting an ambassadorial role with other organization or brand as she is opposite of what she preaches.

All these loss for a party she could have celebrated low-key and still remain at peace with everyone while also keeping her status as face of Dettol Nigeria.

She could have also keep the video to herself instead of releasing same to the public. Although the actress cum producer has apologize and tried to explain the reason for the house party, the deed has been done and the damaged control won't be that easy.

Anyway, for every actions, there is always a reactions. To be famous and retain the status of celebrity, there are prices to pay.

Funke Akindele is learning the HARD WAY

Nigerian student in US dies of coronavirus few weeks before graduation

A 25-year-old Nigerian student in the US of the Western Michigan University in Detroit has died on Saturday after contracting the 

Virus with 2 weeks till his Graduation 

Two nurses and a doctor have been confirmed to have tested positive for Coronavirus at a hospital in Abuja, Nigeria's capital.

The health workers, who are staff of a government hospital in Abuja, were part of medical personnel that attended to an infected person brought into the hospital.

A senior medical worker at the hospital told SaharaReporters that, "The patient was rushed to the hospital and as our job demands, we have to save life first and that was what we did.

"The person was attended to and stabilised by the medical team.

"A test was soon conducted and the result came out positive.

"The hospital thereafter asked all those who attended to the patient to undergo tests to determine their status and at the end of the day, the three tested positive for the virus.

"They are currently in isolation at the Gwagwalada Specialist Hospital."

Speaking further, the senior health worker lamented the lack of quality Personal Protective Equipment for them, adding that government must invest in the protection of health workers at the frontline of the battle against the virus.

He said, "The unfortunate thing is that the government is not providing us with what to work with. It is sad that our PPE are not up to the world standard and can be penetrated by viruses.

"Some of us (health workers) have to use our personal funds to purchase gloves as we do not trust the ones government supplied.

"Nigerians should please remember us in their prayers and government should provide us with what we really need to work."

Nigeria currently has 81 confirmed cases of Coronavirus and one recorded death.

According to the diplomatic community, infections could rise to more than 10,000 in the coming weeks as there are at least 5,000 persons, who had come in contact with infected persons in Nigeria already.

Chioma Adeleke,  Fiancee of David Adeleke Popluarly Known As Davido Tests Positive For Covid 19.

Davido took To his Instagram Handle @davidoofficial to share the news saying That him and the 39 others who Returned from London Tested Negative To the Virus Including his Son. He is Currently under Self-isolation and quarantine for 14 days

The governor of Bauchi state, Bala Mohammed, has said he is doing great in isolation after testing positive for the deadly coronavirus.

Mohammed who disclosed this information on his official Facebook page on Friday, March 27, thanked everyone for their love and concern he has received.

While giving an update on his condition, the governor noted that he is not showing any symptoms of the virus. He urged the people not to relent in prayers as this phase will be over shortly.‬

Amidst the growing coronavirus pandemic, about 20 countries are yet to report a case of the virus.

Despite not having a single case, preventive measures have been put in place by these to ensure the virus does not spread to them.

There are seven continents: Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, North America, South America, and Antarctica. Antarctica is least inhabited with a population of between 1,000 and 5,000 depending on season. There is no reported case of the virus there so far.

Africa

According to worldometer, which gives real time statistics on the outbreak, in Africa, as Friday afternoon, eight countries have not recorded a single case while 46 have confirmed cases. There are more than 2700 confirmed cases in Africa, 75 deaths, and 208 recoveries.

The eight countries are Botswana, Burundi, Lesotho, Malawi, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan. Notwithstanding their zero cases, they have put in place safety precautions to ensure their preparedness in fighting the virus.

Botswana started its preparation for a lockdown. Botswanan president, Mokgwetsi Lasisi, reportedly said, “Please prepare yourselves for the imminent lockdown. Our experts, led by Dr Masupu with Prof Alexandra advises us to restrict the movement of people so we are better able to trace and treat any case that occurs”.

Burundi has suspended all international flights; Lesotho has placed restrictions on movements from the midnight of March 29 to April 21. Non-essential travels are prohibited.

Malawi has in place a national contingency plan to prepare and prevent the virus. So far, the government of Malawi has released $3.2 million for the immediate expenditures. The plan is to secure almost $20 million.

The expenditure involves, “awareness campaigns, training of local authorities, media and health staff, redeploying of health personnel in all border posts, suspension of hosting international meetings, suspension of schools, and institutional quarantine and suspension of visas to citizens of countries that have been hit by Covid-19.”

In Portuguese-speaking Sao Tome and Principe, a state of emergency was declared on March 17.

Sierra Leone has declared a 12-month state of public health emergency which took effect on March 24. Overseas travel has been banned for government officials. A ban was placed on public gatherings of more than 100 persons.

South Sudan, due to fears of the pandemic, has gone into lockdown.

Asia

In Asia, North Korea, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Yemen are yet to report cases although preventive measures have been put in place.

Yemen, where conflicts continue to brew, has been warned by the UN chief to put in place adequate contingency measures.

“This is an evolving situation, one that requires cautions and level headedness regarding the health and well-being of staff, partners and Yemeni communities,” the resident representative said.

A ceasefire is needed to combat Covid-19, the secretary-general added.

Europe

All countries and territories in Europe have confirmed cases. In Europe, there is a more than 247,667 and 13,895 deaths, Italy is the epicenter of the virus in Europe with 80,589 confirmed cases, followed by Spain 57,786.

America

All countries that makeup America have at least a case of the virus.

Oceania

There are 10 countries and 7 territories that are yet to confirm cases.

Australia has the highest number in the continent with a total of 3166 confirmed cases. The countries are Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Samao, Kribati, Micronesia, Tonga, Marshall Islands, Palau, Tovalu, and Naura, while the territories are Guam, Northern Marianna Islands, American Samao, Cook Islands, Wallis and Futuna, Niue, and Tokelau.

It will interest you to know that it is not only Nigerians that speak Igbo, Yoruba and even Hausa… the speakers of these languages are not even related to any Nigerians in other countries.

Today, over 40 million people speaks this language and it has managed to spread oversees years ago as enslaved Igbo people were traded throughout various slave colonies. These colonies were in the United States, Cuba, The Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Belize, Barbados, and the Bahamas

I’m going to show you countries that speak Igbo as their main language.

1. Equatorial Guinea: Igbo is spoken in Equatorial Guinea where it is regarded as a minority language.

2. Caribbean Island: Caribbean indigenes speak Igbo and Yoruba languages fluently, even though they are not related to any Nigerians. A foremost entertainer and music maestro, Tar Ukoh, says many people in the area speak Igbo and Yoruba of the 13th century. Till now he says, the Yorubas still play and enjoy their traditional Yoruba songs, while the Igbos feature their nmanwu, agaba and ekpe masquerades.

From those masquerades, they fashioned out a brand of music they call Wawanco. Their ancestors too were the exponents of the popular Calypso music which is an adulteration of Ka anyi soo nmanwu (let’s join the masquerade troupe).

3. Cameroon: Cameroon also speaks Igbo and it is recorded that about 110,000 people of Cameroon speaks Igbo as their main language according to Evangeliser’s statistics.

4. Jamaicans: In Jamaica the Igbo were often referred to as Eboe or Ibo… Igbo people were taken in relatively high numbers to Jamaica as slaves, so it's no surprise that there's some Igbo language in the Jamaican Patois language.

In Jamaica, “red eboe” is used to describe people with light skin tones with African features. They also celebrate what is called “jonkonu Yam festival” popularly know among Nigerian Igbos as “New Yam Festival”.

Jonkonnu is a masquerade festival held in Jamaica which is attributed to the Njoku Ji or “yam-spirit cult”, Okonko and Ekpe of the Igbo.

Other Igbo speaking countries are: The Dominican Republic, Cuba, Belize, Barbados, and the Bahamas.

Igbo people are great people and should be celebrated always.

12 New Cases Of Covid 19 Have been Confirmed In Nigeria Bringing the Number of Cases to 62. 

JUST IN: 

Five new cases of #COVID19 have been confirmed in Nigeria: 2 in FCT, 2 in Lagos & 1 in Rivers

3 are returning travellers into Nigeria & 2 are close contacts of a confirmed case

As at 11:25 pm 25th March, there are

51 confirmed cases
2 discharged
1 death.

Breakdown of cases by states

Currently;
Lagos- 32
FCT- 10
Ogun- 3
Ekiti- 1
Oyo- 1
Edo- 1
Bauchi-1
Osun-1
Rivers-1

Total: 51 confirmed cases