Featured

Africa’s CDC’s Trains 100,000 Healthcare Worker To Support COVID-19 Response

Published

5 years ago

July 3, 2020

…Urges Journalists to Take Responsibility

Joel Ajayi

In its effort to put an end to the pandemic COVID-19 which had killed over 10, 404 persons in the African continent as over 418 002 affected, Africa’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention ACDC’S has revealed it has trained 100,000 Healthcare Worker to Support COVID-19 response.

This even as Africa’s Health Organization urged the Journalists covering the ongoing COVID-19 to take responsibility adding that COVID-19 is very real.

An Africa Health Organization ACDC’S have contributed immensely to the fight against pandemic coronavirus in the continent which includes; deployment of 1 million community health workers; Establishment of continent-wide procurement for laboratory and medical supplies with conducting of over 10 million COVID-19 tests by the end of 2020.

ACDC in collaboration with public strategy firm, Gatefield revealed this on Thursday during a webinar hosted to help Journalists improve their reporting around the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the ACDC’s survey, across the continent, less than half of the people interviewed about the deadly COVID-19 pandemic believed they faced the risk of contracting the virus.

“More than 60% believed that COVID-19 could be prevented by drinking lemon or taking vitamin C. And just over 40% believed that Africans could not get COVID-19.

“These are some of the findings from a report released by the Partnership for Evidence-Based Response to Covid-19 (PERC) Consortium. The consortium is made up of public health organizations such as the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention; Resolve to Save Lives, an initiative of Vital Strategies; the World Health Organization; the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team; and the World Economic Forum and private sector firms such as market research company, Ipsos.

“The survey was conducted in March and April in 28 cities across 20 the AU Member States revealed real-time information about the dynamics of the pandemic, governments’ responses to it, and people’s perceptions of both, to help governments implement the best public health and social measures to contain the virus.

Speaking at the meeting the Country Representative Resolve to Save Lives, and Dr. Emmanuel Agogo said that even though Africa’s COVID-19 numbers have been lower than the rest of the world, it was important to identify the common trends, issues, and attitudes across the phases of the outbreak.

“Outbreaks and pandemics come in various phases. We need to keep vigilant. COVID-19 will hit rural areas and villages later than urban centers,” said Agogo. Resolve to Save Lives is an initiative that has been funded to look at the COVID-19 response.

“The study found 4 in 5 respondents anticipated that COVID-19 would be a big problem in their states. But, their personal risk perception for contracting the virus was low.

“In addition, about 73% thought that a hot climate prevented the spread of the virus and 61% believe that avoiding a person who has recovered from COVID-19 prevents them from getting it.

“This was dangerous because it meant they were less likely to follow public health measures advice because they did not think they would be affected.” He said.

While giving Tips for Journalists on Reporting PHSMs he urged journalists to always apply the lens of lives, livelihoods, liberty, and long-term to your analysis of the interventions and be balanced, not biased, and be public health-focused, not political.

In his remark, the Africa CDC’s Principal Communication Officer, James Ayodele, said that the continent had adopted a continental operations strategy that hoped to conduct 10 million COVID-19 tests in Africa, deploy 1 million community health workers, train 100 000 health care workers by the end of 2020 and set up a procurement platform on the CDC’s site to help supply member states with the necessary health equipment.

Also, an expert panel of Journalists includes Eromo Egbejule, Africa Editor, OZY; Joan Van Dyk, Senior Health Journalist, Bhekisisa; Dr. Mercy Korir, Medical Journalist, KTN News; and Aisha Salaudeen, Features Producer, CNN Africa, shared their experiences covering the pandemic at the event and advocated for more ethical and principled reporting.

Share on Facebook

Business

Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

Published

1 week ago

March 6, 2025

The Gleamer

Ismaila Ahmad Abdullahi Ph.D

The public hearings conducted recently by the two Chambers of the National Assembly have elicited positive responses from a broad spectrum of Nigerians, cutting across regional interest groups, government agencies, civil society groups, concerned individuals, the academia, and Labour Unions, among diverse others. Contrary to a few dissensions hitherto expressed in the media, almost all the stakeholders who spoke during the week-long sessions were unanimous in their declaration that the hallowed Chambers should pass the tax reform bills after a clean-up of the grey areas.

The public hearings were auspicious for all Nigerians desirous of economic growth and fiscal responsibility. They were also a watershed moment for the Federal Inland Revenue Service, which had been upbeat about the tax reforms. Indeed, the public hearings had rekindled hope in the tenets of democracy that guarantee freedom of expression and equitable space for cross-fertilisation of ideas. Without gainsaying the fact, the tax reform bills have been unarguably about the most thought-provoking issues in Nigeria today, drawing variegated perspectives and commentaries from even unlikely quarters such as the faith-based leaders, student bodies, and trade unions, which speaks much about the importance of the bills.

In the build-up to the public hearings, not many people believed that the bills would make it to the second reading, much less the public hearings. Even the Northern stakeholders who seemed unlikely to support the passage of the bills have softened their stance and have given valuable suggestions that would enrich the substance of the bills. The Arewa Consultative Forum came to the public hearings well-prepared with a printed booklet that addressed their concerns. It concluded with an advisory that the bills should be “Well planned, properly communicated, strategically implemented and ample dialogue and political consensus allowed for the reforms to be accepted.”

The concerns of ACF ranged from the composition of the proposed Nigeria Revenue Service Board as contained in Part 111, Section 7 of the bill, the unlimited Presidential power to exempt/wave tax payment as proposed in Section 75(1) of the bill, the family income or inheritance tax as contained in Part 1, Section 4(3) of the bill, to the issues around development levy and VAT. On the development levy, the ACF stated that unless the Federal Government is considering budgetary funding for TETFUND, NASENI and NITDA, it does not see the “wisdom behind the plan to replace (them) with NELFUND”.

The position of the North was equally reinforced by the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria, Northern Elders Forum, Kano State Government, Professor Auwalu Yadudu, and the FCT Imams. Like the ACF, these stakeholders lent their respective voices to the Section on the Inheritance Tax in Part 1 of the bill and the use of the term ‘ecclesiastical’, which, in their views, undermines certain religious rights and beliefs. The Kano State Government, represented by Mahmud Sagagi, affirmed that “we support tax modernisation” but cautioned that “we must ensure that this process does not come at the expense of states’ constitutional rights and economic stability”. Professor Auwalu Yadudu, a constitutional law professor, drew attention to the use of the ‘supremacy clause’ and cautioned that the repeated use of “notwithstanding” in the bills would undermine the supremacy of the Nigerian constitution if passed as such.

Other stakeholders that made contributions at the sessions included the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Nigeria Customs Service, and a host of others. While most of their concerns bordered on technical issues requiring fine-tuning, they were unanimous in their support for the bills. They aligned with the position of the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji, Ph.D. and the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, which is that the extant tax laws and fiscal regulations are obsolete necessitating reforms aimed at creating a fair and equitable tax and fiscal space to grow Nigeria’s economy.

In one of the sessions, Dr Zaach Adedeji expounded on the criss-cross of trade activities in the Free Trade Zone whereby companies misuse tax waivers as exporters to sell their goods or services in the Customs Area at an amount usually less than the price the operators in the Customs Area who pay VAT and other taxes sell theirs thereby disrupting business transactions. This way, the operators in the Free Trade Zone shortchange the government in paying their due taxes by circumventing extant regulations, which are inimical to the economy’s growth.

Overall, the presentations were forthright, foresighted, and helpful in elucidating the issues contained in the bills. According to the statistics read out at the end of the hearings at the Senate, 75 stakeholders were invited, 65 made submissions, and 61 made presentations. At the House of Representatives 53 stakeholders made presentations. By all means, this is a fair representation. Given the presentations, it is evident that the National Assembly has gathered enough materials to guide its deliberations on the bills. As we look forward to the passage of the bills, we commend the leadership of the National Assembly for their unwavering commitment to making the bills see the light of the day.

Abdullahi is the Director of the Communications and Liaison Department, FIRS.

Share on Facebook