Monday briefing: School resumption, corrupt officials and Tinubu's ill-health.
What you need to know.
Good morning.
We are focusing on school resumption amid the second wave, a day of reckoning for corrupt officials and the ill-health of former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu.
When will schools resume?
The federal government has set January 18 for the resumption of schools nationwide as the country continues to battle the second wave of the Covid pandemic. But some states - Rivers, Cross River, Gombe, Sokoto, Zamfara, Delta and Oyo states - have questioned the rationale of the date.
“Individual states are subject to their peculiar circumstances,” the Cross River State Commissioner for Quality Education, Dr Godwin Amanke, says. “We don’t have any imminent threat in the state to warrant such a shift.”
In Gombe, the belief is that the federal government’s January 18 date is for states, like Lagos and the FCT, with a high number of cases.
NCDC: The disease agency recorded 917 new cases and nine deaths. The total number of cases reported in the country since February now stands at over 90,000.
South Africa: The continent’s worst-hit country says it expects to begin Covid vaccinations in February.
Corrupt NIMC officials suspended
The federal government says it has suspended some officials of the National Identity Management Commission who were found guilty of extorting Nigerians attempting t register for the National Identification Number (NIN).
A rush for NIN registration has ensued after the government threatened to deregister phone lines not connected to the NIMC database. Apparently sensing the desperation of many, reports of corruption at registration centres have soared.
“All personnel involved in the enrolment and NIN issuance exercise must carry out their respective duties professionally, fairly and with integrity,” a NIMC spokesman said on Sunday.
Registration for the NIN is free.
Related: To ease the large crowds that gather at NIMC centres, the government is set to roll out about 9,000 new NIN enrollment centres across the country.
Adesina doubles down on insecurity
The Presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, on Sunday insisted that the Muhammadu Buhari administration has improved the country’s security situation.
“You don’t take one, two, three events, and then you conclude that it is all failure; you will get to some other parts of the North and they will tell you that things are a lot better,” Adesina said. “Even Governor (Babagana) Zulum who is in Borno State which is like the epicentre of the insurgency will tell you that the situation in that state is far better than what it was in 2015.”
However, Nigeria has remained third on the global terrorism index since 2015, just behind Iraq and Afghanistan.
Borno: Suspected Boko Haram terrorists have abducted an aid worker and others along Maiduguri-Damaturu road.
Kaduna: At least 19 people have been killed in fresh and reprisal attacks in Giwa Local Government Area of the state.
Niger Republic: Jihadists have killed at least 100 people in the neighbouring country in an attack spanning two villages on Saturday.
What else is happening?
Ogun: The state’s Commissioner for Environment, Abiodun Abudu-Balogun has been suspended over an allegation that he attempted to rape a 16-year-old girl.
Obituary: A former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Professor Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe, has died at the age of 71.
CBN: The apex bank injected $4.37bn into the foreign exchange market in the third quarter of 2020 as part of efforts to ensure the stability of the naira.
Bola Tinubu: The former Lagos state Governor has been hospitalised in Paris, France. But no indication that it is Covid-related. His media office says his trip to Europe was “for his annual holiday.”
Kaduna: After her building was demolished by the state government, Aisha Mercy Yakubu says she had no knowledge a sex party was to be held on her premises. Another planned ‘nude show’ has been botched by police in Yola, Adamawa.
Bitcoin: The value of the cryptocurrency surged above $34,000 for the first time on Sunday.
Trump: A recording of the US President’s attempts to pressure a top election official has been released.
And that’s it for today. If you enjoyed this, don’t hesitate to forward to a friend. See you tomorrow.