President Buhari was received by Sheikh Sultan Bin Zayed – 3rd Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ambassador of Nigeria to UAE Amb. Ibrahim Auwalu at the Presidential Wing of the Abu Dhabi International Airport United Arab Emirates today.

He is in the United Arab Emirates on a three-day official visit to join Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan of Abu Dhabi and other participants as a special guest of honour at this year’s edition of the World Future Energy Summit.

The Lagos State Government on Saturday called on residents to remain calm over the outbreak of Lassa fever, just as it assured that it is doing everything possible to curtail the spread of the virus in the State.

Addressing journalists at the Alausa Secretariat, on the first case of the disease recorded in the State, Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris said in line with international standards, 92 persons who had direct and indirect contact with the index case are currently being followed-up.

Idris confirmed that the index case, a 25-year-old male undergraduate of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, was reported to have fallen ill after arriving in Lagos and was taken to Ahmmadiyyah Hospital, Ojokoro on January 9 with complaint of fever, sore throats and difficulty in swallowing.

He said the patient was subsequently placed on admission for six days and was thereafter referred by the said private hospital to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) on January 14, 2016 owing to the fact that the fever was persistent and his condition was not improving.

According to Idris, the patient was confirmed as a case of Lassa fever on January 15, at LUTH, and is currently being managed to the extent that his condition is now stable.

Idris added that 15 in-patients who were admitted alongside the index case as well as 25 health workers who attended to them have been placed on compulsory 21 days monitoring, and that the phone numbers and addresses of the persons in that category have also been collected for proper tracking.

Any of the persons in that category with temperature above 38.5, according to Idris, would be isolated so as to prevent the spread of the disease, while they have also been advised on the need to maintain little or no contact with others, at least for now.

The Commissioner said: “Though Lassa fever and Ebola Virus Disease belong to the same Viral Hemorrhagic fever group, Lassa fever is milder and can be treated and cured if defected early. Therefore, any persistent fever should be reported to the nearest public health facility.

“Residents are urged to watch out for the signs and symptoms of Lassa fever which typically occur with incubation period of 1-3 weeks after the patient comes into contact with the virus. Early symptoms of the disease include fever, headache, chills, diarrheas, nausea, vomiting, sore throat, backache, and joint pains.

“Late symptoms include bleeding from the eyes, ears and nose, bleeding from the mouth and rectum, eye swelling, swelling of the genitals and rashes all over the body that often contain blood. It could progress to coma, shock and death,” he said.

While stating that drugs and other materials have been prepositioned at the designated facilities across the State, Idris said isolation centres have equally been prepared to manage suspected and confirmed cases, adding that the State Government is fully prepared to manage the situation and as such people should not panic for whatever reasons.

On steps to be taken to prevent the spread of the disease, Idris urged residents to “avoid contact with rats, ensure proper collection and disposal of waste, cover all foods including left-overs and water properly, wash their hands properly before and after cooking of foods, block all rat hideouts and store food items in rodent-proof containers.”

Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, today in Abuja bagged a Master’s Degree in Theology at the fifth convocation of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).

The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Vincent Tenebe, said in his address at the ceremony that Obasanjo was among other notable Nigerians in the list of the 10,653 graduands in which 15 of them made first class honours.

Tenebe listed other outstanding graduands as the Emir of Hadejia, Jigawa State, Alhaji Adamu Abubakar and the traditional ruler of Awgu, Enugu State, Igwe Felix Okechukwu.

Others were over 70 years Rear Admiral Orisha, (Rtd), who bagged fist class in Mathematics and a
78-year-old, Chief Femi Balogun, who bagged LL.B from the School of Law.

The vice-chancellor also listed a blind student, Mr Obinna Bede, who bagged a Bachelor of Arts (English), degree and Udo Effiong, who had the highest cumulative point in first class grade of 4.71.

It is interesting to note that Obasanjo will be graduating with a Master’s Degree (MA-Christian Theology) having met the requirements for the award during this convocation.

“Having been given the admission to study MA/PhD in Christian Theology, Obasanjo will continue with his Ph.D fully. This is very unique considering his age and commitments; he also made a very good cumulative grade point,’’ the VC said.

Tragedy was averted in Lagos on Friday when an unidentified man mounted an electricity transmission tower.

The incident occurred at Powerline Street, Calvary Bus Stop in Egbe-Idimu Local Council Development Area.

Punch gathered that the man wandered around the vicinity in the early hours of the day before stopping at the foot of the tower at about 2pm.

Eyewitnesses said he removed some totems tied to the tower by a vigilance group and mounted it to
the top despite warnings from residents and passers-by.

A resident, Mr. Kazeem Oyebola, who said the man did not look like a mentally challenged person, added that his responses showed he was on a suicide mission.

He stated:

“He was not mad at all. He was coherent when he talked except for some vague statements he made. He had a mission and it was to kill himself for some unknown reasons.”

Also, a yam seller in the area who identified herself as Iya Bose said she was scared when the man in his late thirties climbed the tower.

Another resident, identified as Odunayo, who sells alcoholic drinks in the area, said the man covered himself with a wrapper.

She added that many felt the tower climber wanted cheap publicity or had an intention to “carry out a diabolical assignment particularly as he wore red knickers.”

The incident attracted a crowd and some of them had to climb the tower to see if they could get him down.

A community leader in the area, Mr. Alao Salami, said when he sensed that the man was not ready to disembark from the tower after about three hours he had to alert the police at the Idimu Police Station.

An official with an electricity distribution firm who did not want his name in print told SUNDAY PUNCH that the only way the man could have survived electrocution was because there was no electricity in the wires.

When their correspondent visited Idimu Police Divisional Headquarters, the Divisional Police Officer, Mr. James Sonekan, refused to comment on the matter.

He said he was not authorised to make an official statement on the matter.