The Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mallam Abba Kyar, became the biggest high profile casualty of coronavirus in Nigeria as he passed away on Friday. Kyari was said to have tested positive for COVID-19 on March 24 after visits to Germany and Egypt. Education and Professional Career: Kyari, a Borno State indigene, earned his bachelor’s degree in Sociology in 1980 from the University of Warwick, England and also received a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of Cambridge. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1983. Kyari would also obtain a Master’s degree in law from…
Author: meridianspy
To say I was shocked by Abba Kyari’s who routinely had “breathing problems” that necessitated periodic trips to London hospitals—in addition to being a diabetic who was older than 65—it would have been nothing short of miraculous if he survived COVID-19. In spite of who he was, especially the last five years of his life on earth, as a Muslim, I won’t speak ill of him in death. But I won’t write undeserving and deodorizing posthumous extolments of him, either. That would be as bad as, or even worse than, celebrating his death. With Kyari’s death, Nigeria is now truly…
Abba Kyari, chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, has lost his battle to coronavirus. Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, broke the news of his death on Friday night but did not go into details. The president’s chief of staff had gone on self-isolation after testing positive for coronavirus late March. He had subsequently moved to Lagos for treatment. Alongside Sale Mamman, minister of power, the late chief of staff had attended a meeting in Germany with officials of Siemens to discuss issues relating to the Nigerian power sector. “The Presidency regrets to announce the passage of the Chief of…
The University of Benin (UNIBEN), has suspended resumption of school activities indefinitely following the ravaging increase of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country. In a statement signed by the university Public Relations Officer, Benedicta Ehanire and obtained by MERIDIAN SPY, the school management announced that it has extended resumption for both staff and students indefinitely. According to the statement, the decision by the management to suspend resumption date till further notice, was informed by both the ravaging presence of the coronavirus pandemic and the insistence from the federal ministry of Education for tertiary institutions in the country to remain under…
President Muhammadu Buhari says he would address the country today Monday, April 13, 2020 at 7pm. This was announced by the President’s aide on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, on Monday. According to Mr Adesina, television, radio and other electronic media outlets are enjoined to hook up to the network services of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) respectively for the broadcast.
Kano State has on Saturday recorded its first case of coronavirus. A reliable source in the state’s Ministry of Health confirmed this to Vanguard. More details soon.
The Lagos State governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has announced the discharge of seven more COVID-19 patients who have fully recovered in the state. The governor made the announcement on Friday via his social media handle, expressing joy and satisfaction over the development. He said the discharged patients include, four males and three females, noting that the patients were fully recovered and had tested negative twice. This brings to 46, the number of patients successfully managed and discharged from our Yaba facility in Lagos. So far the Lagos State COVID-19 facilities have recorded 100 percent recovery rate from all the #COVID19…
The coronavirus pandemic has left at least 10 percent of American workers jobless in the past three weeks after a record 6.6 million new claims for unemployment benefits were filed last week. Daily Mail reports. Nearly 10 million people applied for the benefits in the last two weeks of March as COVID-19 spread throughout the country and businesses closed. The number likely increase because many states are still clearing out backlogs of applications for unemployment aid. More companies are also resorting to layoffs to save money as they run through their cash cushions as virus-related shutdowns persist. Economists say up…
Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau has issued a threat to President Iddris Deby following the killing of his fighters in an offensive led by the Chadian leader. The Chadian army had taken the war to the insurgents, killing 100 of its members in Magumeri, a local government in the northern Borno, and setting Nigerian soldiers held captive free. In a 5 minutes audio message obtained by The Nation, Shekau said his fighters will be coming after President Deby. The Boko Haram leader who insisted that the Chadian leader is fighting against the enthronement of Islam, claimed that Allah made his fighters kill over…
The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has pulled-down from its website an advertorial video of Nollywood actress, Funke Akindele, MERIDIAN SPY, can report. In the video , the comic actress, was seen preaching social distancing and measures for advanced personal hygiene to curtail the spread of coronavirus pandemic in the country. The sensitisation video which was pulled-down on Sunday came as the agency’s reaction to Funke Akindele’s disregard to what she had preached in the video. The actress and her husband, Abdulrasheed Bello, popularly known as JJC Skillz, were seen on tape hosting a number of guests in her…
Popular Nollywood actress, Funke Akindele, has been arrested by men of the Nigerian Police Force. The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, in a press release made available to the media, confirmed the arrest. The said statement stated that Funke Akindele was arrested for violating the restrictions order in Lagos. The police, however, advised Azeez Fashola a.k.a Naira Marley, Abdul Rasheed Bello a.k.a. JJC Skillz and others seen in the party video been circulated on the social media to report themselves or risk being declared wanted.
Boris Johnson, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, has been admitted to a hospital due to ongoing symptoms related to coronavirus, according to the BBC. The prime minister “continues to have persistent symptoms of coronavirus,” a spokeswoman said. She called Johnson’s hospitalization a precautionary step. Johnson, 55, revealed he tested positive for the virus on March 27 and had been quarantining in his official Downing Street residence since then. In the U.K., there have been more than 47,000 cases of coronavirus and 4,934 deaths from the illness, according to the government.