Numbers To Ponder: 43m West Africans, 8% GDP Slump, N35,000 For Covid-19 Test

For Today’s Numbers to Ponder, the World Food Programme (WFP) says 43 million people across West Africa will face desperate food shortages as a result of COVID-19 lockdowns. Also, the economy is projected to shrink by 8 percent this year, according to economists. Like Lagos state, the Kwara State government has also raised the allowance of frontline health workers to N25,000 daily. In a related development, the House of Representatives has made a U-turn to allow public hearing over the contentious Infectious Disease Control Bill after a $10 million allegation bribe. The aviation sector suffers as the Federal Government announced a four-week extension of the ban of all flights to control the COVID-19 crisis.

43m West Africans

The World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday said over 40 million people across West Africa will face desperate food shortages in coming months. According to a report on the United Nations (UN) website, the food shortages are coming with COVID-19 restrictions as a new factor adding to people’s vulnerability.

N35,000 For Covid-19 Test

Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), says the claim that some officials of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) are charging N35,000 to collect samples for COVID-19 test is not true. While fielding questions on Wednesday at the presidential task force on COVID-19 briefing, Mustapha who is the chairman of the committee said journalists should not take such stories seriously.

8% GDP Slump

The task facing Nigeria’s economic managers will get even more daunting after a poll of economists suggested that Africa’s largest economy would shrink by at least 8 percent in 2020 as a result of a contraction inflicted by coronavirus. The initial forecast by the IMF was for a GDP slump of just under 4 percent, but emerging trends, say the economists, mean Nigeria’s economic recession will be worse than first thought.

N10m Alleged Bribe

THE House of Representatives on Tuesday made a U-turn on its earlier bid to pass the contentious Infectious Disease Control Bill without subjecting it to a public hearing. It passed first and second readings in the House last week but attracted outbursts from the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) which alleged that the lawmakers had been offered $10million to pass it

4 Weeks Extension

The Presidential Task Force on the control of the pandemic has announced a four-week extension of the ban of all flights in Nigeria which is due to expire on Thursday. Chairman of the task force and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, said at its briefing in Abuja on Wednesday.