Good News!! 1.2 Million Nigerians To Get Soft Loan (Read Details)

At least 1.2 million Nigerians will be given soft loans which attract between two and three per cent interest rate as part of efforts to create jobs under government’s social investment programme.
Mr Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, in Abuja on Sunday said that government was synergizing with its enterprise agencies and the private sector to achieve the goal.
He named the agencies as the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Bank of Industry (BOI), Bank of Agriculture, the National Directorate of Employment(NDE), among others.
“About 1.2 million Nigerians are going to be given soft loans, may be at two or three per cent, loans of N20,000 to N50,000, N100,000, the traders, for people that have small businesses.
“We are going to be using co-operatives, so all these groups mentioned will be working together because we believe small and medium enterprises are very critical to the recovery and rejuvenation of the economy.
“So, we are working to design all kind of intervention financial facilities since we are not getting the kind of affordable loans in the main banking sector.
He said that government was using the intervention funds to release money to small and medium scale enterprises so that they can trade with the money at very little interest rate.
He said that the Federal Government was hoping to do more for Nigerians using the intervention fund as part of its social investment programme.
He said that the SMEDAN, BOI, Bank of Agriculture, NDE, others had been harnessed to provide such support.
Akande said that government would continue to use resources from the agencies to actively boost social investment programmes.
“We are working with these agencies to have that kind of glory of affordable loan to 1.2 million Nigerians to do trading of different kinds,’’ he added.

Read More »

11 killed, 30 injured in Pakistan hotel fire

 

The rescue operation has not ended, and some people are still reportedly trapped inside the hotel.

At least 11 people, including three women, were killed and 30 others injured on Monday in Pakistan when a huge fire erupted at a four-star hotel here, rescue officials said.

The blaze broke out in the kitchen located at the ground floor of the Regent Plaza hotel at the city’s Shahrah-i- Faisal and spread across the six-floor building, trapping nearly 100 hotel guests in their rooms.

Three fire tenders of the fire brigade reached the site and started an operation to rescue the guests. The firefighters were able to contain the fire after three hours, with 11 people having been killed, said Faisal Edhi of the Edhi Foundation.

Mayor of Karachi Waseem Akhtar visited the site of the incident and while talking to media, he said the fire has been contained but the cause of the fire could not be determined as of yet. He said rescue work was hampered due to absence of an emergency exit and spread of heavy smoke.

At least 65 people affected by the fire were brought to the emergency department, Dr Seemin Jamali, head of the emergency services at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre was quoted as saying by Dawn.

Amongst those were people who had fractured bones after jumping from hotel windows to escape, others had been hurt by shattered glass and many were treated for smoke inhalation, she said.

She said 10 bodies had been brought into the hospital.

Six men including four women are among killed. Three foreigners affected by the fire are in a stable condition, said Jamali.

The rescue operation has not ended, and some people are still reportedly trapped inside the hotel. The cause of fire is yet to be ascertained.

Pakistan cricketer Sohaib Maqsood was present in the hotel at the time of the incident.

Another cricketer Yasin Murtaza jumped from the second floor to the ground and fractured his ankle. Karamat Ali was injured by broken glass, according to sources.

Read More »

Boko Haram: Over 512 IDPs infected with HIV/AIDS in Borno

The Executive Secretary, Borno State Agency for the Control of AIDS, Barkindo Saidu, has revealed that 512 new cases of HIV infection have been recorded in Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, camps in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.
Barkindo made the revelation on Sunday, in Maiduguri while briefing journalists on the activities of the agency in the state.
According to him, the cases were recorded after voluntary screening in some IDP camps across 17 camps, where he said that, two out of the 513 persons infected with the HIV/AIDS virus were children.
“We are currently conducting voluntary screening on HIV/AIDS in IDPs’ camps across the state to determine the status of the people, especially those rescued from the Boko Haram terrorists.
“As at last week, we have recorded 512 positive cases, among which two are children,” Mr. Saidu said.
Officials had earlier said no fewer than 5,000 Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, in 27 camps in the state were currently living with the virus.
However, the Executive Secretary said that the state had witnessed rising cases of the disease due largely to the Boko Haram terrorism.
Currently, 2.4 per cent of the population of the state is living with HIVand AIDS, which translates to 108,000 persons, going by the record of the National Population Commission.
“But only a tiny portion of these people can access treatment because most anti retroviral centres have closed,” Mr. Saidu said.
He explained that only 32 out of the 90 anti retroviral centres were still operational in the state.
“Before the Boko Haram terrorism, we had 90 treatment centres across the state, but only 32 are still functional today.
“The rest have been closed down due to the Boko Haram terrorism,” Mr. Saidu said.
He called on the Federal Government and donor agencies to intervene in the HIV and AIDS control in the state.

Read More »

Consumption of ‘suya, isi-ewu, kilisi’ killing Nigerians – Health‎ minister

Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, has lamented the rate of death in Nigeria resulting from unhealthy diet.
According to Adewole, hypertension is the leading cardiovascular disease in Nigeria and can result in stroke if untreated.
He remarked that 1 in every 5 Nigerians is hypertensive and at risk of premature death.

Presenting the keynote address in Lagos, during the First Annual Black Tie Gala event organised by the Tristate Heart Foundation (THF), to raise N500 million in support of cardiovascular care in Nigeria, he observed that unhealthy diets contributed significantly to the development of non communicable diseaes in Nigeria.
He said, “Sadly, there is widespread low consumption of proteins, fruits and vegetables and increasing patronage of fast food outlets by the population. There is also large promotion of sweetened products such as carbonated drinks, pastries, candies and other refined sugars, while excessive intake of salt is promoted by food additives such as monosodium glutamate common in delicacies such as suya, kilisi, isi-ewu, ngwo-ngwo, among others.”
He further added that current estimates, show that death rate from stroke is 40-50 per cent within the first three months of diagnoses, while 39 per cent of those who survived stroke after three months died within a year, with 12 per cent developing severe disability.
“I can say without fear of contradiction that at least five out of 10 adults seated here tonight have elevated blood pressure and more than half of these are not aware of their situation.

“This is frightening because the dire consequence of neglected hypertension is stroke without warning. Unless we take drastic and sustained actions, we will keep counting losses,” he said.

Read More »