Gist of The Hour Blog

No fewer than six children have been killed and several others critically ill following an outbreak of measles in Wusar community, Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna state. The six children were among the 30 reported cases of a measles outbreak that broke out in the community in the last two months. The state deputy governor, Hadiza Balarabe, who confirmed the incident during a visit to the community, attributed the outbreak of measles in the area due to the failure of parents to present their children for routine immunization against child killer diseases. She also identified malnutrition and lack of proper hygiene as part of the causes of child-related deaths in the community. The deputy governor urged parents to always ensure their children are immunized regularly against any child killer disease and to also take sanitation and personal hygiene serious while assuring them of government’s quick intervention to prevent a future occurrence.

The Director-General, National Youth Service Corps, Brig.-Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim, has paid his last respect to Mr. Precious Owolabi, a corps member who had his primary assignment with the Channels TV Abuja office. Ibrahim inspected Owolabi’s body shortly before it was removed from the National Hospital Abuja, on Tuesday, for homeward journey. Owolabi died of gunshot injuries he sustained in Monday’s violent confrontations between the Police and members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (a.k.a Shi’ites). According to a report by The Nation, a source said: “they are taking the Corpse of Precious Owolabi to his parents in Zaria now.” On the claim that Owolabi died because he was denied treatment in the hospital he was taken to, the source said: “It is not true. He was taken to Amana Hospital in Area 8 which happens to be Channels Staff Clinic and after examining him, he was referred to Garki or National Hospital and because Garki was closer, he was taken to ...

The President of the Senate Ahmad Lawan has said that the screening and confirmation of the nominees would begin on Wednesday.  He added that other legislative activities in the chamber would take back seat to ensure the speedy completion of the important assignment. Lawan said this after reeling out the list on the floor of the upper legislative chamber of the national assembly on Tuesday. “The screening of the ministerial nominees will commence tomorrow morning. All other legislative activities will take back stage for this very important national assignment” he said.  President Buhari sent 43 ministerial nominees for confirmation. Some of those who made it back are Rotimi Amaechi, ex-minister of transportation; Mohammed Bello, ex-minister of federal capital territory (FCT); and Chris Ngige; ex-minister of labour and employment; and Abubakar Malami, minister of justice among others.

Nigerian  lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has said his chambers is not representing musician Timi Dakolo and his wife Busola.  The human rights lawyer noted that he only intervened when the family expressed fear over their petition. Falana clarified his position on the matter this afternoon following conflicting reports that he had taken up the case  Explaining how he came into the matter, Falana told Punch that he was contacted after the Dakolos had written their petition. He said; “They wrote their petition before contacting us. When they met us, they expressed the fear that their petition might not be investigated. We intervened by requesting the police authorities to investigate the complaint. The IG has already granted the request. I confirmed the position to you yesterday (Monday).”

Afenifere rebuked Dr. Junaid Mohammed, in response to his comment of calling them noisemakers.  Junaid Mohammed had accused the pan-Yoruba socio-political group of making provocative statements, and further alleged that they learnt no lesson from the Biafran war. He added that they will be the first to flee if war breaks out. “We have to be very careful and mind our utterances. It is easy to start a war but it is not easy to stop it,” he said. “We all saw what happened during the Biafran war even though a lot of people who went through that experience have not learnt anything like some of the leaders of Afenifere. They have been making provocative statements in recent times. “People’s lives are determined partly by their culture. These people are noisemakers and if there is war today, they will run away because most of them have houses outside the country. They make big, big noise but some of the real fighters who will fight until death don’t even ...

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will get N714m ($2m) from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for participating and coming third at the recently concluded 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt. Nigeria finished third after beating Tunisia 1-0 in the third-place game to win the bronze medal for a record eighth time in AFCON history.  African Cup of Nations champions, Algeria will get the sum of $4.5 million, while the second-placed team Senegal will get $2.5m. The prizes will be distributed as follows: Angola and Kenya (Third place in group-stages): $620.000 Round of 16: $670.000 (Benin, Uganda, Egypt, Mali, Guinea, DR Congo, Cameroon and Ghana) Quarter-finals: $800.000 (Madagascar, Ivory Coast, South Africa and Benin) Semi-finalists: $2 million (Nigeria and Tunisia) Senegal: $2.5 million. Algeria: $4.5 million.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday announced names of 12 former ministers who worked with him in his first term for reappointment. They are Babatunde Fashola (Lagos State), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers State) Hadi Sirika (Katsina State), Zainab Ahmed (Kaduna State), Lai Mohammed (Kwara State) Chris Ngige (Anambra State), Adamu Adamu (Bauchi State), Abubakar Malami (Jigawa State), Godfrey Onyeama (Enugu State), Ogbonnaya Onu (Ebonyi State) , Osagie Enahire (Edo State), Suleiman Adamu (Jigawa State), and Mohameed Bello (Adamawa State). Some of the former ministers not reappointed are Okechukwu Enelamah (Abia State), Udoma Udo Udoma (Akwa Ibom State), Heineken Lokpobiri (Bayelsa State), Audu Ogbeh (Benue State) and Usani Uguru (Cross River State). Others are Ibe Kachikwu (Delta State), Anthony Anwuka (Imo State ), Stephen Ochani (Kogi State), Abdulrahaman Dambazau (Kano State), Abubakar Bawa Bwari (Niger State), Cladius Omoleye Daramola (Ondo State) Isaac Adewole (Osu...

Boris Johnson has been elected new Conservative leader in a ballot of party members and will become the next UK prime minister.  He defeated Jeremy Hunt comfortably, winning 92,153 votes to his rival's 46,656. The former London mayor takes over from Theresa May on Wednesday.  Johnson began his acceptance speech by praising his predecessor, saying it had been "a privilege to serve in her cabinet". He promised the audience he would "deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat Jeremy Corbyn".  Outgoing PM Theresa May congratulated Johnson, promising him her "full support from the back benches". Almost 160,000 Conservative members were eligible to vote and turnout was 87.4%. Johnson's share of the vote - 66.4% - is slightly lower than the share won by David Cameron in the 2005 Tory leadership election (67.6%).

President Muhammadu Buhari has sent a 43-man ministerial list to the Senate for screening and confirmation. See the full list: 1.Dr. Ikechukwu Ogah (Abia State) 2. Mohammed Musa Bello (Adamawa State) reappointed 3. Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom State) 4. Chris Ngige (Anambra State) reappointment 5. Sharon Ikeazor (Anambra State) 6.Adamu Adamu (Bauchi State) reappointment 7.Ambassador Maryam Katagun (Bauchi State) 8. Timipre Sylva (Bayelsa State) 9.George Akume (Benue State) 10.Mustapha Baba Shehuri (Borno State) reappointment 11. Goddy Jedy Agba (Cross River State) 12.Festus Keyamo (Delta State) 13. Ogbonnaya Onu (Ebonyi State)reappointment 14. Osagie Ehanire (Edo State) reappointment 15.Clement Ike (Edo State) 16. Richard Adeniyi Adebayo (Ekiti State) 17. Geoffrey Onyeama (Enugu State) reappointment 18.Ali Isa Pantami (Gombe State) 19. Emeka Nwajiuba (Imo State) 20. Suleiman Adamu (Jigawa State) 21. Zainab Ahamed (Kaduna State) reappointment 22.Muhammad Mahmood (Kaduna Stat...

Like father, like daughter? First daughter Ivanka Trump on Tuesday morning seemed to take a page from President Donald Trump's frequent Twitter misspellings, tweeting "United Kingston" instead of United Kingdom. "Congratulations @BorisJohnson on becoming the next Prime Minister of the United Kingston," Ivanka Trump tweeted after he won the Conservative Party's leadership race. Twitter users quickly took note of the first daughter and senior White House adviser's spelling error. "Congratulates indeed to the United 'Kingston,'" Associated Press Global Media Services reporter Philip Crowther commented. "Saving before it gets deleted: 'United Kingston,'" MSNBC producer Kyle Griffin tweeted. Greek author Gerry Stergiopoulos noted the similarity in the first daughter and her father's errors. "Apparently United 'Kingston' has a new prime minister! A month ago her dad...

54 members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria also known as Shi'ites have been arrested by the Nigeria Police Force in connection with yesterday's bloody protest in Abuja. A statement signed by the spokeperson of the Police, DCP Frank Mba says the suspects are undergoing interrogation and will be arraigned in court as soon as possible. Mba in his statement said the Inspector General of Police, Adamu Mohammed, condemned the incident and has issued a warning to the Shi'ites members that Enough-is-Enoug as the Force and the nation at large will not continue to suffer losses on account of reckless and lawless persons and groups in the society.

Yesterday, Nollywood actor cum politician, Desmond Elliot came under fire after he called for the ban of foreign movies in Nigeria to enable the growth of the Nigerian Movie Industry. The 45-year-old representing Surulere constituency at the Lagos State house of assembly spoke on the current situation of the country's Movie Industry. According to him, the Federal Government should make it difficult for foreign content to come into the country so that local content from Nigeria can grow. In his reaction, Daddy Freeze said, 'Dear Brother Desmond, I love you, but I’m not with you on this. I should be able to choose what I want to watch if I’m paying for it, shouldn’t I? Why don’t you strive to raise Nollywood to Hollywood standards and then people will gravitate towards Nollywood naturally?'.

R. Kelly's crisis manager, Darrell Johnson has announced he's stepping down from his position and would no longer work for the embattled singer.  "I step down as crisis manager for personal reasons. Mr. Kelly is in good hands with Mr. Greenberg," Johnson said, referring to Steve Greenberg, the criminal defense attorney who heads Kelly's legal team in Chicago.  The news comes hours after Johnson appeared on "CBS This Morning" and told co-host Gayle King that he would never leave his own daughter alone with an accused pedophile. "I would not leave my daughter with anyone that's accused of being a pedophile. I would not." Johnson also said during the interview that he was worried about Kelly, saying he was "a mess," scared and isolated. He also told King he thinks Kelly is on suicide watch. The singer has been in solitary confinement with no access to television or contact with ot...

Amnesty International Nigeria has blamed the police for the bloody Shi'ites clash that happened in the Federal Capital City Abuja yesterday July 22nd. In a statement released by Seun Bakare, the programme manager at Amnesty International Nigeria, the body condemned the police for opening fire on ''unarmed'' Shi'ites members. According to the statement, six persons were killed in the cross fire. Read the statement below “Eyewitnesses have told us that six people were shot dead amid a reckless use of lethal force by the Nigerian police against unarmed supporters of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN). This new crackdown is part of a shocking pattern in which security forces have used live ammunition to disperse IMN supporters who are simply exercising their freedom of expression. “Images of IMN supporters being driven from the streets of Abuja with gunfire demonstrates once again the Nigerian authorities’ resolve to use lethal force rather tha...

PRECIOUS OWOLABI Precious Owolabi, the 23-year-old youth corps member serving in Channels TV who was killed in the cross fire between the Police and Shi'ites members in Abuja yesterday July 22nd, died after several hospitals he was rushed to allegedly rejected him. A colleague of the deceased, Chamberlain Usoh hinted on this while speaking on Channels TV live this morning. Speaking, Chamberlain said ''Given what transpired, there are many ifs and buts because following the accounts of how he eventually lost his life, when he was shot and the stray bullet hit him, they had been taken him to several hospitals and it is one of the issues that we raise consistently on this programme, how that needs to become history in this country where when people are taken to the hospital, the hospitals for one reason or the other, you find out that for one reason or the other, treatments cannot be adminsitered on accident victims because in many cases, ...