2015-01-23 18:29
London - The first batch of GlaxoSmithKline's experimental Ebola
vaccine has been dispatched to West Africa and is expected to arrive in
Liberia later on Friday, the British drugmaker said.
The World
Health Organization said on Thursday the Ebola outbreak in West Africa,
the worst in history, appears to be waning but cautioned against
complacency. The epidemic has seen 21,724 cases reported in nine
countries since it started in Guinea a year ago. Some 8,641 people have
died.
The shipment of an initial 300 vials of GSK vaccine will be
the first to arrive in one of the three main Ebola-affected African
countries, the company said in a statement.
It will be used in the
first large-scale vaccine trials in coming weeks, in which healthcare
workers helping to care for Ebola patients will be among the first to
get it.
Researchers hope eventually to enrol up to 30,000 people in the trial, a third of whom would get GSK's candidate vaccine.
The
vaccine, co-developed by the National Institutes of Health in the
United States and Okairos, a biotechnology firm acquired by GSK in 2013,
is now being tested in phase I safety trials in Britain, the United
States, Switzerland and Mali involving around 200 healthy volunteers in
total.
"Initial phase I data...are encouraging and give us
confidence to progress to the next phases...which will involve the
vaccination of thousands of volunteers, including frontline healthcare
workers," said Moncef Slaoui, GSK's Global Vaccines chief.
The
vaccine uses a type of chimpanzee cold virus to deliver safe genetic
material from the Zaire strain of Ebola, the strain responsible for the
unprecedented West African epidemic.
Data show the vaccine is safe
in people, including in a West African population and in a range of
dose levels, GSK said. It has now chosen the most appropriate dose for
the Liberia trial.
Slaoui stressed that GSK's shot, like other
candidates from a NewLink Genetics and Merck collaboration, and from
Johnson & Johnson and Bavarian Nordic, remains in development and
cannot be deployed unless and until it proves safe and effective.
Commenting
on progress against the outbreak and on developing vaccines, Jeremy
Farrar, director of Britain's Wellcome Trust health charity, said: "This
is certainly not the time for...efforts to be reduced. There is no
doubt that we need vaccines and therapeutics for this epidemic and to
try to prevent and respond to the inevitable future epidemics."
Saturday, 24 January 2015
Party disowns presidential candidate
The party, in a petition to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), said Kelani was suspended from the party since May 8,2014.
The party noted that since Kelani was suspended, he is not qualified to organize a valid national convention to elect, select, or ratify the name of any person or himself as the presidential candidate of the party.
The party stated that it did not hold any national convention to warrant the emergence of Kelani or any other person.
The party maintained that it has no presidential candidate in the poll .
Read more at ThisDay.
21 Chibok girls recieve scholarship to continue studies
2015-01-23 18:29
Yola - 21 Chibok girls have received scholarships to further their studies at the American University of Nigeria, DailyIndependent reported.
The girls were previously students at the university before they were captured by terrorist group, Boko Haram. After their escaped, they were given tutorials to catch up on assessments needed to enroll for the new year.
However the President of the university, Margee Ensign, stated that despite the North Eastern parts of the country being terrorised, parents are still bringing their children for admission.
The university is working together with the Adamawa Peace Initiative to help the girls get education.
For more on this story visit DailyIndependent
Yola - 21 Chibok girls have received scholarships to further their studies at the American University of Nigeria, DailyIndependent reported.
The girls were previously students at the university before they were captured by terrorist group, Boko Haram. After their escaped, they were given tutorials to catch up on assessments needed to enroll for the new year.
However the President of the university, Margee Ensign, stated that despite the North Eastern parts of the country being terrorised, parents are still bringing their children for admission.
The university is working together with the Adamawa Peace Initiative to help the girls get education.
For more on this story visit DailyIndependent
Borno opposition supporters urged to behave for Jonathan visit
Abuja - Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima,
has appealed to his supporters and all citizens of the state to
receive President Goodluck Jonathan and his entourage with respect when
they visit for a campaign event scheduled for Sunday.
The governor, in a statement, by his media aide, Mallam Isa Gusau, said the call became necessary because of recent incidents in Bauchi and Katsina States, during which irate youths reportedly went on the rampage, stoning the President's convoy.
The handling of the kidnapping of the more than 200 schoolgirls by Boko Haram in Chibok in the state has also made the President unpopular among some sections in the state.
Shettima described the behavour by youth in Bauchi and Katsina as "disrespectful", "a show of intolerance" and "extremely bad politics." "From what I have read or heard in the media, so far, there has not been any issue of such in any APC controlled State visited by the President and Borno should not be an exception," Shettima said.
"We have political differences and our differences are legitimate and based on the principles of our political parties and what we stand for. But we must remember that His Excellency, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and as citizens of this country, we have an obligation to respect his office and his person."
He said APC supporters in Borno State and the party's Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari and anyone that supports him or any of its National and State Assembly candidates in the state should shun any act of violence, intolerance and unlawful political behavior before, during and after the President's visit.
"They should remain law abiding citizens of Borno State as our laws, norms and values demand," Shettima's statement read.
The governor, in a statement, by his media aide, Mallam Isa Gusau, said the call became necessary because of recent incidents in Bauchi and Katsina States, during which irate youths reportedly went on the rampage, stoning the President's convoy.
The handling of the kidnapping of the more than 200 schoolgirls by Boko Haram in Chibok in the state has also made the President unpopular among some sections in the state.
Shettima described the behavour by youth in Bauchi and Katsina as "disrespectful", "a show of intolerance" and "extremely bad politics." "From what I have read or heard in the media, so far, there has not been any issue of such in any APC controlled State visited by the President and Borno should not be an exception," Shettima said.
"We have political differences and our differences are legitimate and based on the principles of our political parties and what we stand for. But we must remember that His Excellency, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and as citizens of this country, we have an obligation to respect his office and his person."
He said APC supporters in Borno State and the party's Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari and anyone that supports him or any of its National and State Assembly candidates in the state should shun any act of violence, intolerance and unlawful political behavior before, during and after the President's visit.
"They should remain law abiding citizens of Borno State as our laws, norms and values demand," Shettima's statement read.
- CAJ News
Kerry says to visit Nigeria 'in a couple of days'
2015-01-23 21:31
Lagos - US Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday told an audience in Davos that he would visit Nigeria "in a couple of days" as part of a Washington push to counter extremist groups, including Boko Haram.
In an emotional speech on the horrors inflicted by extremist groups, Kerry said that in the fight against "terror", there was "no room for anti-Semitism or Islamophobia".
"Violent extremism has claimed violence at every corner of the globe and muslim lives most of all," Kerry said.
"There is no room for sectarian division. There is no room for anti-Semitism or Islamophobia," he added.
"In the weeks to come we... have to strengthen our efforts in Somalia, intensify our efforts to end violence in Nigeria, that's why I m going there in a couple of days," he said.
After the speech, a spokesman for Kerry confirmed that he would be in Lagos on Sunday and meet with President Goodluck Jonathan.
In his speech, Kerry listed a multitude of attacks perpetrated by Muslim extremists, including a December 17 attack on a school in Islamabad that killed 150 people, mostly children.
"This kind of atrocity can never be rationalised," he said.
But he added: "We can't change minds without knowing what's in them.
Lagos - US Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday told an audience in Davos that he would visit Nigeria "in a couple of days" as part of a Washington push to counter extremist groups, including Boko Haram.
In an emotional speech on the horrors inflicted by extremist groups, Kerry said that in the fight against "terror", there was "no room for anti-Semitism or Islamophobia".
"Violent extremism has claimed violence at every corner of the globe and muslim lives most of all," Kerry said.
"There is no room for sectarian division. There is no room for anti-Semitism or Islamophobia," he added.
"In the weeks to come we... have to strengthen our efforts in Somalia, intensify our efforts to end violence in Nigeria, that's why I m going there in a couple of days," he said.
After the speech, a spokesman for Kerry confirmed that he would be in Lagos on Sunday and meet with President Goodluck Jonathan.
In his speech, Kerry listed a multitude of attacks perpetrated by Muslim extremists, including a December 17 attack on a school in Islamabad that killed 150 people, mostly children.
"This kind of atrocity can never be rationalised," he said.
But he added: "We can't change minds without knowing what's in them.
IGP decorates new offices to their roles
2015-01-23 21:31
Lagos - The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Suleiman Abba, has decorated ten newly-promoted senior police officers.
According to a statement by Emmanuel Ojukwu, the Force Public Relations Officer, Abba charged them to live up to expectations of their new responsibilities.
"The IGP charged the decorated Officers to live up to expectations of their responsibilities and to inject their wealth of experiences in assuring violence-free general elections in February, 2015," read the statement released from Abuja.
The decorated officers are Adeola Adeleke (Deputy Inspector General) Adenrele Shinaba, Ikemefuna Okoye, Abuwa Adenike (all Assistant Inspector Generals), Peter Ogunyanwo, Sama Okaula, Dibal Yakadi, Haruna Mshelia, Usman Abdullahi and Mohammad Mustafa (all Captains).
Lagos - The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Suleiman Abba, has decorated ten newly-promoted senior police officers.
According to a statement by Emmanuel Ojukwu, the Force Public Relations Officer, Abba charged them to live up to expectations of their new responsibilities.
"The IGP charged the decorated Officers to live up to expectations of their responsibilities and to inject their wealth of experiences in assuring violence-free general elections in February, 2015," read the statement released from Abuja.
The decorated officers are Adeola Adeleke (Deputy Inspector General) Adenrele Shinaba, Ikemefuna Okoye, Abuwa Adenike (all Assistant Inspector Generals), Peter Ogunyanwo, Sama Okaula, Dibal Yakadi, Haruna Mshelia, Usman Abdullahi and Mohammad Mustafa (all Captains).
INEC to provide emergency telephones at polling centres in Zamfara
Gusau - The Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) in Zamfara on Friday said it would provide
emergency telephone lines at all the 2,516 polling units in the state during
the general elections.
Alhaji Abubakar Wara, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, made this known at a meeting with civil society organisations and persons with disability in Gusau.
He said that the telephones would be used by the electorate in channelling their complaints to the commission during elections.
Wara said that no election could be conducted in the country without incidents of misbehaviours by miscreants, who would try to defend their political party’s or master’s interest.
"We will, therefore, not take it lightly with any offenders as adequate security personnel will be put in place.
"There are laws available in the nation's Constitution to penalise any election offender from possessing more than one voter card or to vote more than once or causing havoc during elections.
"To ensure free, fair and credible elections in the state, we have already enlightened people via radio and television jingles and we are still ready to make numbers available for questions regarding election process and procedures," he said.
The commissioner expressed the readiness of INEC to conduct free, fair and credible elections in the state, and called on the public to remain law-abiding and come out to exercise their franchise peacefully.
Alhaji Abubakar Wara, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, made this known at a meeting with civil society organisations and persons with disability in Gusau.
He said that the telephones would be used by the electorate in channelling their complaints to the commission during elections.
Wara said that no election could be conducted in the country without incidents of misbehaviours by miscreants, who would try to defend their political party’s or master’s interest.
"We will, therefore, not take it lightly with any offenders as adequate security personnel will be put in place.
"There are laws available in the nation's Constitution to penalise any election offender from possessing more than one voter card or to vote more than once or causing havoc during elections.
"To ensure free, fair and credible elections in the state, we have already enlightened people via radio and television jingles and we are still ready to make numbers available for questions regarding election process and procedures," he said.
The commissioner expressed the readiness of INEC to conduct free, fair and credible elections in the state, and called on the public to remain law-abiding and come out to exercise their franchise peacefully.
- NAN
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