The resurrection of decade-old controversy over the discovery of HIV/AIDS vaccine by a Nigerian and the formation of a rival body to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) are some of the leading stories in the Nigerian press on Monday.
The Guardian’s lead story says that fresh claims by Dr. Jeremiah Ojonemi Alabi Abalaka, have stoked a two-decade-old controversy over a Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) vaccine that can cure not just the dreaded disease, but also Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and Hepatitis B Virus (HBV).
Abalaka, in a WhatsApp and YouTube video that has gone viral, accused the United States and the Western world of taking advantage of Nigeria and people living with HIV/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) by selling “toxic” drugs for the treatment of the disease and at a very exorbitant price.
The Punch reported that the 41-year-old Academic Staff Union of Universities has split with the formation of a new union, the Congress of University Academics, by lecturers from five universities.
The Sun said that baring any minute change, the Senate will suspend plenary at the end of its legislative business this week or in the first quarter of next week to enable standing committees engage heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for the defence of the 2020 Appropriation Bill.
ChannelsTV and many other media outfits reported that Mercy Eke has beaten stiff competition to emerge as the winner of the Big Brother Naija reality show, season 4. The 26-year-old bagged 41 percent of the votes cast, more than double the 19 percent the runner up, Mike, got to emerge the first female winner of the show.
The Nation reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has defended the naira with $8.28 billion through its direct intervention within the first six months of this year, according to its half year report.
The Daily Trust said abductors of the six female students and two staff of Engravers College, Kakau Daji, in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna, have discontinued negotiation for a collective ransom.
They are now demanding N10 million from each of the parents of the abducted girls and families of the two staff members.
ThisDay said that former President Goodluck Jonathan has refuted the claim by a former British Prime Minister, Mr. David Cameron, that his administration rejected an offer by the United Kingdom to rescue the Chibok schoolgirls, who were kidnapped in April 2014 by Boko Haram.
MM/GIK/APA