The report that civil servants in Abuja thronged the various vaccination sites to receive their first jab of the COVID-19 vaccine, following the enforcement of the vaccine mandate for Federal Government workers is one of the leading stories in Nigerian newspapers on Thursday.
The Guardian reports that following the enforcement of the vaccine mandate for Federal Government workers, yesterday, civil servants in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) thronged the various vaccination sites to receive their first jab of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 had announced that starting from December 1, all employees of the Federal Government would be required to show evidence of being vaccinated or present a negative PCR result done within 72 hours before being allowed into their offices.
When The Guardian visited the vaccination centre at the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, many civil servants and non-civil servants alike were seen waiting on line to take the jab.
The situation was the same at the vaccination site located at the Federal Secretariat, where many civil servants were seen struggling to take the jab to enable them into the secretariat premises.
It was also a mad rush for the vaccination across Primary Health Centres (PHCs) in the capital city. A nurse in the PHC located at Kuchingoro, suburban settlement in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), said the overwhelming crowd was due to the vaccine mandate, which came into effect yesterday.
She said: “A lot of falsehood is being propagated about the vaccine and this has discouraged many from taking it but thanks to the Federal Government’s deadline issued to workers, even non-government workers have turned out in large numbers to get vaccinated against the virus.”
Federal workers in Abuja, who were yet to be vaccinated were yesterday denied access to their offices by security operatives. Many of them who reported as early as 8:30a.m. at their work places were asked to show their COVID-19 vaccine cards as proof before gaining entrance into their offices.
The newspaper reports that President Muhammadu Buhari and his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, have reviewed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) between both nations.
This came as Buhari described as successful the state visit by Ramaphosa despite the scare generated by the Omicron COVID-19 variant.
Omicron has been classed as a “variant of concern”, with early evidence suggesting it has a higher re-infection risk.
The heavily mutated variant was detected in South Africa earlier this month and then reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) last Wednesday.
Addressing a joint press conference at State House, Abuja, with the South African President, Buhari said: “Today has witnessed the signing of new Memoranda of Understanding between Nigeria and South Africa in diverse areas including youth development, women and child empowerment and political consultations; critical areas that will lead to increased people to people contact.”
He added: “Existing MoUs signed during previous Bi-National Commission meetings were also reviewed. These include MoUs on military cooperation, power, cooperation in the field of geology, mining, and mineral processing, oil and gas and several others.”
Buhari, who described the dialogue as another veritable tool for interaction among the youth, with the aim of creating shared values and aspirations, thanked his South African counterpart for the initiative, noting that continuous interaction between the youth of the two countries will further break barriers and suspicion among the citizens.
Ramaphosa said: “South Africa and Nigeria both have rich cultural, vibrant arts and flourishing sports sectors, all of which will be greatly enriched through greater collaboration through the programme of cooperation between the two countries.
The Punch reports that in the third quarter of the year, the manufacturing sector recorded a total output of N7.1tn. The N7.1tn is N1.7tn higher than N5.4tn recorded in the second quarter of 2021.
This is according to data contained in the latest Gross Domestic Product report released by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics. The output of N7.1tn for Q3 2021 also represents an increase of N1.6tn when compared to the N5.5tn recorded in the Q3 2020.
According to the report, 11 out of the 13 subsectors of the manufacturing sector recorded positive economic performance quarter-on-quarter while only two subsectors experienced a decline in productivity.
The 11 subsectors that recorded increase in economic performance include cement, from N1.1tn in Q2 2021 to N1.7tn in Q3 2021; food, beverage and tobacco, from N1.9tn to N2.3tn; textile, apparel and footwear, from N1.1tn to N1.4tn; and wood and wood products, from N107.6bn to N126.5bn.
Other subsectors are pulp, paper and paper products, from N70.7bn to N96.5bn; chemical and pharmaceutical products, from N149.3bn to N168.5bn; non-metallic products, from N346.2bn to N448.4bn; plastic and rubber products, from N145.3bn to N199.2bn; electrical and electronics, from N3.7bn to N4.8bn; basic metal, iron and steel, from N96.9bn to N143.3bn; and other manufacturing, from N129.4bn to N255.8bn.
The newspaper says that Global connections of the Fifth-Generation (5G) network are expected to hit 660 million, which is two thirds of a billion worldwide by December 31. This is according to Ericsson, in its Mobility Report released, yesterday.
Ericsson, Swedish kit vendor, explained that the long-term forecast is that 5G will account for almost half (49 per cent) of all mobile subscriptions by 2027.
This, according to the firm, means that 5G will overtake 4G at some time before that. Executive Vice President and Head of Networks at Ericsson, Fredrik Jejdling, explained that mobile communication has had an incredible impact on society and business over the last 10 years.
“When we look ahead to 2027, mobile networks will be more integral than ever to how we interact, live and work. Our latest Ericsson Mobility Report shows that the pace of change is accelerating, with technology playing a crucial role,” he explained.
Jejdling said the increase in 5G subscriptions is due to stronger than expected demand in China and North America, driven in part by decreasing prices of 5G devices. He said there was also a net addition of 98 million 5G subscriptions globally in Q3 2021, compared to 48 million new 4G subscriptions, adding that at the end of 2021.
ThisDay reports that for the umpteenth time, the international oil companies (IOCs) operating in Nigeria have restated their confidence that the advent of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) will trigger an increase in investment inflows and opportunities in the country’s petroleum industry.
The oil majors, who recognised the ongoing energy transition, its inevitability and impact on fossil fuels industry, however, called for caution and moderation among Nigerian players in their quest to move to new energies.
Chief executives of the IOCs stated these at a panel session on, “Growth Levers and Investment Opportunities Arising from Nigeria’s Petroleum Industry Act,” at the ongoing 10th Practical Nigerian Content, organised by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).
The central theme of the four-day event holding both physically and virtually in Yenogoa, Bayelsa State, is, “Driving Nigerian Content in the New Dawn of the Petroleum Industry Act.”
Speakers on the panel included the Managing Director of TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited, Mr. Mike Sangster; Chairman, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Osagie Okunbor; Managing Director of Chevron Nigeria Limited and Chairman of Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS), Mr. Rick Kennedy; and Managing Director of Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), Mr. Roberto Daniele; amongst others.
GIK/APA