Abuja (NAN) – Nigeria has received an experimental drug from an  unnamed Nigerian scientist to treat Ebola virus, the Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, said in Abuja on Thursday. Chukwu, who gave the cheering news at a news conference, gave the name of the drug as “Nanosilver.”

“The only experimental drug we have now is Nanosilver, provided by a Nigerian scientist; details of the drug will be disclosed later to the media.

“However, we have 11 confirmed cases of Ebola in Nigeria, out of these, three are dead, Patrick Sawyer, a Nigeria nurse and ECOWAS protocol officer, apart from Lagos, there is no Ebola case in any states of the federation’’, he said.

Chukwu said the suspected cases that were reported in Abia, Anambra, and Abuja were investigated and proved negative.

He added that Cross River was also free of the disease, adding that the nurse who was under surveillance in Lagos that travelled to Enugu was back to Lagos with members of her family for close monitoring.

“Nobody in Enugu has Ebola disease, all cases are still confined within Lagos’’, said Chukwu.

Adienbong Adaga, the Chief Executive Officer, Aliko Dangote Foundation, announced the donation of N150 million for the Ebola Emergency Operation Centre in Lagos.

She urged other philanthropists in the country to support government financially to curb the spread of the virus. Labaran Maku, the Minister of Information, thanked the donor and urged all Nigerians to emulate the gesture. He also thanked international partners for their donations, saying that government was doing everything possible to ensure that the disease did not escalate.

President Goodluck Jonathan has directed all Chief Medical Directors (CMDs) and Medical Directors of all federal government owned hospitals and health institutions to issue letters terminating the appointment of all resident doctors in training.
This is contained in a circular signed by the permanent secretary ministry of health and dated 13th August, 2014. This directive is with immediate effect.

Borussia Dortmund ensured former star striker Robert Lewandowski’s return to the Ruhr ended in disappointment on Wednesday as they beat an under-strength Bayern Munich 2-0 to win the German SuperCup for the second successive year.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Gabonese international striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored Dortmund’s goals while the match proved costly for Bayern as Spanish international midfielder Javi Martinez appeared to suffer a serious right knee injury.

For Dortmund and coach Jurgen Klopp it provided a measure of consolation for having lost to Bayern in the Cup final last season as well as finishing distant runners-up in the league.

And while it leaves Bayern coach Pep Guardiola seeking his first win in the match in two attempts, the former Barcelona handler was without several of his established stars.

German World Cup winning midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger and wingers Arjen Robben of the Netherlands and Frenchman Franck Ribery were among those missing.

Ribery, though, still managed to grab the headlines as he announced in an interview with Kicker magazine that he had decided to retire from international football.

 A Senior District Court in Lafia, Nasarawa State, has evicted the state comptroller of the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, Baba Mamoda, for defaulting in his rent.  The court gave the ruling in a case brought before it by Nanshin Jambu, a Lafia-based widow with seven children.

After the ruling, court officials stormed the property, led by the plaintiff and moved out household items and other properties belonging to the Immigration boss. He was also asked to pay a N200,000 fine which he defaulted and court officials had to tow away an NIS vehicle found in the premises.

Fear and anxiety has gripped residents of Enugu State following reports that a nurse who was under quarantine over the Ebola Virus Disease escaped from Lagos and made contacts with 20 persons in the Coal City State.

Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, had on Wednesday disclosed that 20 persons have been quarantined in the state.
Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan, said 198 persons are currently under watch by the Ministry of Health to contain further spread of the disease.Of the 198 persons under surveillance, he said that 177 of them are in Lagos, while 21 are in Enugu.

He said: “All those who had primary contact have been quarantined. Secondary contacts have also been traced. So far the number of people that have been traced is 198. Out of this number, 177 are in Lagos and are being traced. Some are in quarantine, some are being monitored by health specialists.” “21 persons in Enugu are also being watched. This is because one of the nurses that was involved with the treatment of the index case, unfortunately, disobeyed medical instructions and somehow travelled to Enugu.” “All those who she was in contact with including her husband are under quarantine. The medical team had been able to trace all those who made contact with her.”

He urged members of the public to discountenance rumours and unverified reports over the Ebola epidemic, saying the government will prosecute anybody spreading rumors that damage public health. He said: “Health workers are now in all our border units. All the entry points into this country and exit points, we have port health workers that are working in our airports and seaports.

Liberian Patrick Sawyer came into the country with Ebola last month and was the first to die of the disease in Nigeria. After his death, two other Nigerians who had contact with him on his arrival have died, making it a total of three deaths recorded in the country

The Caretaker Committee Chairman of Port Harcourt City Local Government Council (PHALGA), Mr. Charles Paul Ejekwu, has died  in Port Harcourt. Mr. Paul, who was among the 21 council CTC chairmen sworn-in  in June, this year,  by Governor Chibuike  Amaechi, reportedly slumped yesterday at his residence  and died hours later. Family sources told journalists in Port Harcourt,  that the Council boss slumped in his house yesterday, and died hours later in a private hospital in the state capital.

Meanwhile, the State Chairman of Association of  Local Government Council of Nigeria, ALGON, Oji Ngofa, who also confirmed the incident to newsmen, said an investigation would be carried out to ascertain the cause of the death. Mr. Paul was one of strong supporters of Governor Amaechi in Port Harcourt City.

Officials have revealed several new details from the apparent suicide of late comic actor, Robin Williams.


According to Marin Sheriff’s Lt. Keith Boyd, Williams’s wife, Susan Schneider, went to bed at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday. Williams later retired in a different bedroom of their home in Tiburon, California, a small town in the San Francisco Bay area.

In the morning, Schneider left the home, thinking Williams was still sleeping. His assistant later came to the house and, concerned about the actor, went into the bedroom and discovered his lifeless body at about 11:45 a.m.

Williams died as a result of death by asphyxia, said Boyd. The actor was partially clothed and suspended from a belt that was wedged between a closet door and the door frame. The assistant told officials he was cold to the touch and rigor mortis had begun to set in. The iconic comedian was pronounced dead at 12:02 p.m. Monday.

Williams’s wrist also had several acute superficials wounds thought to be from a pocket knife that was found nearby. His body was transported to Napa County Sheriff’s Morgue for the autopsy, which took place Tuesday morning.

Obafemi and baby mama, Abigail Barwuah might just be having issues already. The lady in her 20’s just posted a picture of her son, her footballer brother, her other brother and sister without the photo of her baby daddy, Obafemi Martins and says they are her world, life and everything. She also posted a photo on Sunday which says ‘cheating is a choice and not a mistake'. This however to some people indicate something must definitely be wrong somewhere. Check the photo she posted and what she said on Sunday.

A few minutes ago, former Nigerian actress Regina Askia Williams threw out a question to her fans on her Facebook page. She asked if African men believe they can have another woman or two after they have fulfilled all responsibilities at home. The responsibilities include school fees, a comfortable home, the wife’s needs, and basically all the comforts of life.


Do African men believe because they have done all these, they can take another lady love or wife? Let’s Talk About It....

A pregnant woman who went for her usual check up at the First Consultant Hospital Obalande – same hospital that Patrick Sawyer was admitted - tested positive of the virus on Friday. She got infected after being treated by the same nurse, Obi Justina Ejelonu, who attended to the Liberian carrier, Patrick Sawyer.

Recall that two nurses came in direct contact with Mr. Sawyer and one of them died this week – the other nurse, Justina is still alive. The pregnant woman has since been quarantined at the mainland hospital where there is an isolation emergency centre for Ebola virus victims.

Don't you think this is crazy, So lame and insensitive. While nations including Nigeria are battling to curb the Ebola virus outbreak, Nollywood is taking advantage of the situation.

Angry students grounded activities at Federal University of Petroleum Resources Effurun, FUPRE on August 8th by shutting the school gates following the killing of a fellow student, Jimoh Lateef Babatunde, (pictured above) a 400 level Computer Science student. Jimoh, who was due to graduate in the next four months, was said to be leaving his Boys' hostel in Ugbomro around 8pm on Thursday when he was shot dead by gunmen suspected to armed robbers.

    "It is another case of robbery. We were together discussing sports when he excused us to fetch some items outside. Barely 30 minutes later, he was lying in a pool of his blood, his neck shattered by one of the two gunshots" Akpomedaye Philip, Governor of the isolated off-campus FUPRE Boys Hostel told repoters

    "We have been under ceaseless attacks and molestation from criminals within Ugbomro community. The other day it was another male student who survived a shot to the head. The insecurity being faced by students in FUPRE has become unbearable and management is hardly concerned. Imagine a student brutally murdered and the CSO who has failed to secure the lives of students is passing blame, accusing harmless Babatunde of being a cultist. We don’t know who the next victim might be." he added.

Th following morning, protesting FUPRE students took over the school gates calling for the sack of the Chief Security Officer for failing to provide adequate security for students.

Ominigbo Edafe, immediate past Speaker of the SUG said:

    “What is important is that we stand by the same demand we have highlighted in previous meetings. Ugbomro community is too hostile for FUPRE students. We cannot live there anymore. The way out is for management to provide us alternative hostels where our safety will be guaranteed. We want school-built hostels right in the heart of FUPRE campus.

    "Part of the challenges too is that the host communities say they are not benefiting enough from the school and they vent their vengeful discontent on students who live around them. The bottom line is that if the critical issues and our demands are not addressed satisfactorily, no form of academic or management activity will be carried out in the school from this moment.” He told reporters

Jimoh's corpse was taken to Warri Central Hospital morgue.

Paramedics in protective suits move Ebola-infected Spanish missionary Miguel Pajares

The Roman Catholic priest, Miguel Pajares, who got infected with Ebola while working in Liberia will be treated with an experimental drug that has been used on two Americans infected with the deadly virus, the government said.

The drug called ZMapp arrived at Madrid’s La Paz-Carlos III hospital where the 75-year-old missionary was being treated in isolation, the health ministry said in a statement late on Saturday.

Spain’s drug safety agency allowed the “exceptional importation” of ZMapp under a law that allows “the use of non-authorised medications in cases where a patent’s life is in danger and they can’t be treated satisfactorily with an authorised medication,” it said.

Miguel Pajares was one of three people who tested positive for Ebola at the Saint Joseph Hospital in the Liberian capital Monrovia where he worked. He was brought back to Spain on Thursday on a medically equipped Spanish airforce plane, the first patient in the fast-spreading Ebola outbreak to be evacuated to Europe for treatment.

Spanish health authorities said on Thursday the priest was in a stable condition. The hospital is not providing medical updates for the missionary at his request. The military flight also evacuated Spanish nun Juliana Bonoha Bohe, 65, who worked at the same hospital as Pajares in Liberia and who was found not to have Ebola.

The Spanish charity Pajares worked for, the Hospitaller Brothers of St John of God, had asked Madrid to bring to Spain for treatment two African missionaries infected with Ebola who also worked at the hospital but the request was turned down. One of those two missionaries, a Congolese nun, died on Saturday due to Ebola, the charity said.

This topic has been moved to Health.

http://www.gistmania.com/talk/?topic=215718.0

UNICEF is doing a good job in the fight against Ebola in Africa. One of its consultant, Jo Dunlop, travelled to one of the worst affected areas of Sierra Leone – Kenema – and according to Jo, when you arrive in the town, there’s a feeling that Ebola has settled in with no plans to move any time soon.

Here is Jo Dunlop's report:
I travelled upcountry last week to one of the worst affected areas of Sierra Leone – Kenema. When you arrive in the town, there’s a feeling that Ebola has settled in with no plans to move any time soon. Chlorine buckets sit outside most restaurants for people to wash their hands; Ebola information posters are plastered on buildings; crackly radios are loudly broadcasting conversations about Ebola; people are talking about ‘dis Ebola bisnis’ relentlessly on the street; and handshaking has been replaced by a brush of the elbows.

Spending a few days around people who have been tragically affected by this disease was an unforgettably sad experience. I was however heartened by meeting some of the lucky people who are surviving Ebola.

Vandy Jawad 7, is a reminder of hope and survival in an otherwise deeply tragic situation. He was in the treatment centre at Kenema for more than one month after contracting the virus in Daru village about 40 km out of Kenema town, and one of the worst affected communities in Sierra Leone.

According to nurses, he displayed some very serious symptoms when first admitted...
“That small boy was very, very sick. We did not think he would survive as so many haven’t,” said Sister Nancy Yoko, the nurse in charge of the Ebola Treatment Centre in Kenema.Vandy started showing signs of recovery a couple of weeks ago slowly gathering his strength. When he finally achieved a negative test result, which revealed there was no more Ebola virus in his system, it was time for him to go home.

“Little Vandy provided laughter at the most unlikely moments inside that ward, I’m so happy for his recovery, “ commented a British volunteer nurse who treated him inside the centre.


Before patients leave the ward, they are presented with transport money to get home (about US$10), a clean set of clothes, and a certificate declaring that they are healthy and no longer have Ebola. They are photographed and congratulated by staff, and in humble way, celebrated for their resilience. Vandy was also given a small plastic truck and showed it off to all the nurses before he left the restricted compound area with an enormous grin on his face.

“It’s nice for the children to have a toy before they go, it makes them happy, look at Vandy,” said Sister Nancy.

Isata Konneh (35) was another patient who I met leaving the ward. She had tears in her eyes and proudly displayed her certificate to the nurses “I am so happy for this day, I thank God that he has helped me survive” she says.

Many of those contracting the virus are themselves health workers who come in daily contact with very sick patients. Six nurses from the Kenema Treatment Centre, have died. Among the staff infected is survivor Fatmata Sesay who I met after she was released from the ward along with her 11-year-old daughter Tata. Fatmata spent three weeks in the ward while Tata was there for two, “I am the happiest person in the world right now.”,“I knew I was very sick as I was bleeding through my nose and vomiting blood clots, but I am lucky, I am better now and so is Tata. It is not easy to recover from this terrible disease,” says Fatmata.

A woman identified as Titilayo Kola was yesterday strangulated to death allegedly by her husband a day after she was delivered of twins, Sources revealed that the incident took place at the couple’s apartment at No 23, Temidire Street, Ajowa area of Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

Findings further revealed that the deceased’s husband, one Mr. Kola, popularly known in as Melomelo (how many, how many), had escaped with the twins even as he was reported to have slept in the same room with his late wife, their new twins and other four children the night before the incident. Continue...

Narrating the incident to journalists, the landlady of the deceased, who simply identified herself as Mama Aluko, said, “Titilayo was delivered of a set of twins at midnight on August 7. I was with her to help with the children and other things. Her husband, who has not been living with her for some time now, also came around, while her mum too was also around.

“Around 8:30 in the evening, her mother told me she would be going for night vigil in her church. So, it was her husband, herself and their new twins that I left before I went to bed that night.
“This morning (August 9), I woke up planning whether to prepare Semovita or fufu for Titilayo. It was around that time somebody came to inform me that they couldn’t wake Titilayo up and that her husband and the twins had disappeared.”

Asked about other family members of the couple, the landlady said she didn’t know much about them, adding that Kola (the husband) came to rent the apartment about a year earlier, but, however, stopped living with his wife a few months after they moved into the apartment.

Confirming the development, the Ekiti State’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Victor Babayemi, said: “It is a case of homicide and child stealing. The deceased was found dead on the bed in quite a suspicious circumstance, and the prime suspect is the husband of the woman who we haven’t seen.
“So, we have a case of homicide and child stealing on our hands and we have commenced investigation.”

I guess there's something definitely wrong with each of the above pictures or what do you think?

Iyanya has been very busy lately. As part of his 2014 United States Tour, he recently shot a video for the hit single, Mr. Oreo. Named after the global cookie brand (and favourite ice cream topping), Iyanya chose Brooklyn, New York to interpret the unique vocals and rhythm of the song which is one of his credits in the best-selling album, The Evolution. Iyanya has consolidated his position as one of the leading creative exports with an impressive tour of the United States of America which also featured business meetings, club appearances and event performances. The 2014 US Tour will be rounded off in a few days with official announcements anticipated from the label. However, fresh off the tour is the video shoot for Mr. Oreo. Directed by The Mega Boi, the video was shot in an upscale apartment in one of New York’s most populous neighbourhoods. Check some pictures from the shoot below:



CLICK HERE TO VEW MORE PHOTOS

Sunny Ofili, a special adviser on information and communication technology (ICT) to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, and the Obi of Issele-Uku, Henry Ezeagwunam, died today in a car crash in the state. One of the sons of the traditional ruler also lost his life in the fatal auto crash.

Reporters learned that the victims were burnt to death as the Sport Utility Vehicle they were traveling in burst into flames after crashing into a stationary truck laden with gravel. The horrific accident happened at the Otulu junction on the Benin-Asaba-Onitsha expressway as the vehicle conveying Mr. Ofili and the traditional ruler rammed from behind into a truck with an Edo registration number FUG 238 XA.

Eyewitnesses said the traditional ruler was driving while Mr. Ofili was on the passenger side at the time of the accident. The rear tyres of the truck bursted from the impact, with the SUV burnt beyond recognition.

Tears rolled freely down the cheeks of eyewitnesses as a rescue team made frantic but futile efforts to extricate the burnt corpses of the victims trapped in the  SUV.

Officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) had a hectic time controlling traffic on the expressway as there was a temporary gridlock resulting from the accident.

The accident also cut short the euphoria that marked the primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to elect chairmanship candidates for the October 25 council election in the state.

Mr. Ofili was reported to be interested in running for a seat in the Delta State House of Assembly to represent Aniocha North constituency. A source said Mr. Ofili, who used to be a blogger, had  monitored the primary election in his council area before embarking on the journey with the traditional ruler.

Mr. Ofili had recently began to unveil some philanthropic gestures to communities in his council area as part of his campaign for a state legislative seat. He tagged his campaign ‘Liberation Mandate’.

He was formerly based in the state of Maryland in the US resident where he used to edit a website, the “Times of Nigeria.”