Rajendra Kapila, US- based world renowned infectious diseases expert, has died of Covid-19 in India. He was aged 81.

Kapila, who had traveled to India to take care of his family, was supposed to return to the US in the second week of April, but had to be hospitalized in Delhi after testing positive for the virus

However, the intriguing thing about the death of the University of Rutgers Professor who had practised medicine in the United States for 50 years and known for his extensive work on HIV/AIDS is that he and his wife Dr Deepti Saxena Kapila, had taken both doses of the Pfizer vaccine prior to his arrival in India.

Kapila’s colleagues confirmed his death on Twitter Wednesday, expressing their grief and applauding Kapila’s work.

“We have lost a giant in infection disease,” wrote Nancy Connell, Professor and Vice-Chair for research in the Division of Infectious Disease in the Department of Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, adding that Kapila “served as a leader in global infectious diseases” at Rutgers and the department “will be forever grateful for his contribution to global ID and remember his extraordinary diagnostic talent.”

Given Kapila’s age, he was within an age group that is vulnerable to complications from the virus. He also had diabetes and heart complications, his ex-wife Dr. Bina Kapila told ABC7.

“For the last one year I have been working at a Covid-19 lab in New Jersey and had ensured a safe environment at home. It is ironic that we came to India for two weeks and he contracted it here,” Dr Deepti, who specialises in microbiology, was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times.

Still, Bina, to whom Kapila was married for 40 years before they divorced a decade ago, has expressed shock over his death, saying he had decided he would stay in New Delhi for one week to help his family and provide his expertise.

“What can go wrong in one week? So he was only going to go for one week,” she said. She also said her ex-husband was a uniquely gifted medical professional. “He was so brilliant when we were in college, in medical school, that the professors of medicine after they gave a lecture, they would come to him and ask him, ‘did I cover everything?’” she told ABC7.

Kapila’s death has not only sent shock waves across the world but has also raised concerns over the efficacy of the Pfizer vaccines against the new double mutant variant first found in India. Although there is no direct evidence showing reduced efficacy of Pfizer vaccines, previous studies show their efficacy against other variants is not guaranteed.

However, according to what Tao Lina, a Shanghai-based vaccine expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday there is no direct evidence showing whether the Pfizer vaccine is effective on this variant or not, while noting that China-developed inactivated vaccines might be more effective against the double mutant than mRNA ones.

“Technically, Pfizer vaccine uses human cells to synthesize S protein in the human body to produce antibodies, whereas China-developed vaccines, including Sinovac and Sinopharm, use inactivated viruses as antibodies, which may cover more variants than Pfizer does,” Tao said.

Tao added that while the efficacy of Pfizer against the new double mutant remains unknown, previous medical studies suggested a reduced efficacy rate of Pfizer shots against other Covid-19 variants.

“The human body develops resistance to vaccines, and the variants may need even five or six doses of vaccine instead of merely two to produce enough protection,” he noted.

Still, according to a press release on its official website, Pfizer said its vaccines show a 95.3 percent efficacy rate against severe COVID-19 cases, which has been defined by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Osun government has announced that the next phase of the ongoing recruitment exercise for teachers in the State will commence on Monday, 17th May, 2021.

In a statement signed by the Coordinating Director of the Ministry of Education, Mrs C.K. Olaniyan, Osun government said the next phase will involve an oral interview for those who made the cut-off mark in the first round of the screening.

The statement read in part: “The interview will be in two stages. For Senior Secondary School Recruitment, applicants (whether First Degree or NCE) who scored 40% and above will be attended to between Monday, 17th May and Thursday, 3rd June, 2021.

“For Basic School Recruitment, applicants with MAXIMUM QUALIFICATION OF NCE, who scored between 35% and 39%, will be interviewed between Monday, 7th June and Thursday, 24th June, 2021.

“Candidates are required to bring to the interview the following credentials: Degree Certificate, NYSC Certificate, PGDE Certificate, NCE, TRCN Certificate (where available), Basic Education Certificate (JSS 3 Certificate), Local Government of Origin Attestation, Birth Certificate or Court Declaration of Age, One National Identification Card (Driver’s License, Voter’s Card, International Passport, etc.).

“In furtherance of the above, Time, Date and Centre will be communicated via SMS. Candidates can also check their portal for the above information”, the statement read.

As part of the social benefits of the Osun Food Support Scheme, the government of the State of Osun has said the Scheme is proving useful in the evaluation of the available database of the poor and vulnerable households in the state.

The Chairman of the Osun Food Support Scheme and Commissioner for Regional Integration and Special Duties, Eng Olalekan Badmus, during the meeting of the Scheme’s Steering Committee, disclosed this on Wednesday, at the Conference Hall of the Ministry of Information, while responding to questions and feedbacks from stakeholders at the review meeting of the scheme.

“We are using scheme as a model for evaluating the currency and validity of the social register that is available in the State.

“In the process of distribution, we are beginning to identify those who are deceased, those who have relocated, and others who should not be on the list again.

“This is proving to be a critical advantage of the Osun Food Support Scheme, and our committee will communicate its observations to the appropriate quarters for further verification and necessary action”, Badmus stated.

He also revealed that civil groups, traditional and religious leaders, among others have been critical in performing the role of identifying the poor and vulnerable in their communities thereby assisting the State Government in the implementation of the Scheme.

…. NAFDAC warn Nigerians.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned Nigerians against the use of alcohol-based hand sanitisers imported from Mexico.

The Director-General, NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, who gave the warning explained that the US Food and Drug Agency (USFDA) had placed all alcohol-based hand sanitisers from Mexico on a countrywide import alert.

The NAFDAC BOSS said the products were labeled as containing ethanol but were found to have methanol contamination, which is toxic and could be life-threatening if absorbed through the skin into the body system.

She reiterated that USFDA said until it is able to review the products’ safety, it will be on its watchlist.

Information has it that this marks the first time the Agency was issuing a countrywide import alert for any category of drug product to further safeguard the healthy living of all.

NAFDAC said substantial methanol exposure could result in nausea, vomiting, headache, blurred vision, permanent blindness, seizures, coma, permanent damage to the nervous system, or death.

It also warned those in possession of such products to discontinue its usage in their own interest.

An Osun State High Court, sitting in Ejigbo, today dismissed the suit filed against Osun State Government on the selection of Ara kingship and consequent enthronement of Alara of Ara,Oba Dr. Olubayo Adesola Windapo.

Prince Emmanuel Oladejo Ilufoye and three others had jointly filed the suit against the installation of Alara of Ara, Oba Dr. Olubayo Adesola Windapo.

The Plaintiffs had earlier informed the Court
that the Customary Law regulating the selection of a candidate to fill the vacant stool of Ara, whenever it occurs, was not followed. According to them, the flouted Chieftaincy Declaration was registered on the 1st day of June, 1979.

Barrister Moses Faremi, representing Ministry of Justice and state Governor of Osun State, told the court that the plaintiffs had failed to comply with the laid down procedure stated in the section 19 and 20 of the Chiefs Laws Cap 25, Laws of Osun State 2002.

After the kingmakers must have selected the oba elect, among the contestants, aggrieved parties have 21 days to petition the Governor who takes a decision on appointment of Obas, Faremi stated.

Barrister Faremi then advanced that the decision to challenge the action of the kingmakers in court is an abuse of process.

Justice Lawrence Arojo held that the court lacks the jurisdiction to determine the suit filed by aggrieved parties and agreed with the State Counsel, Faremi Moses that the case of the plaintiff is preemptive and premature.

Justice Arojo also said that administrative remedy provided for under section 19 and 20 of chiefs Laws of Osun State was never exhausted before the plaintiffs approached the Court.

Justice Arojo therefore ruled that the suit filed to challenge the installation of Alara of Ara,Oba Dr. Olubayo Adesola Windapo is dismissed.

opeyemi BELLO
Information Officer,
Ministry of Justice.

President Muhammadu Buhari has received a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole and former Governor of Ogun State, Gbenga Daniel, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja

The duo, who recently defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), were accompanied on Monday by the APC Caretaker Chairperson, Mai Mala-Buni, who is also the governor of Yobe State.

Others in the entourage were Governors of Jigawa State, Mohammed Badaru and Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu.
Otunba Daniel was governor of Ogun State from 2003 to 2011 while Mr Bankole was Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria (2007–2011), both on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

While Otunba Daniel was campaign manager for the PDP presidential candidate and former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, in 2019, Mr Bankole contested that year’s governorship election in Ogun State on the ticket of the Action Democratic Party (ADP).

The government of the State of Osun wishes to commiserate with the management and staff of Unique F.M., Ilesha, and indeed the entire body of media professionals in the state over the passage of Mr Sunday Alakinde, one of the popular radio presenters in the state.

This is particularly a painful loss to the State of Osun, which today mourns not just one of its sons but also one of its finest professionals in the media industry.

Alakinde was an erudite journalist, a brilliant presenter, and a dexterous user of the Yoruba language. He made a huge impression through the daily yoruba newspaper review programme, “Ojutole Ojutoko”, one that cannot be forgotten in a hurry.

The government expresses its condolences to the family of the deceased, to the entirety of the media family in Osun state and in Nigeria as a whole, and to the management and staff of Unique F.M. and prays that God grants Mr Alakinde’s family and friends the fortitude to bear the loss.

Signed:
Funke Egbemode
Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation,
State of Osun

As the Osun Judicial Panel of Inquiry on police brutality, human rights violations and related extra-judicial killings continues to look into the grievances of citizens on abuse by men of the police force, a petitioner has narrated how police officers killed his brother and failed to release his corpse to the family after four years.

Teslim Olakunle Ibitoye, a resident of Erin-Osun area of the State, who spoke during the sitting of the panel on Friday, added the officers whose bullets killed his brother were also responsible for the injury he sustained in his spinal cord.

Ibitoye, who described the incident as an offspring of some overzealous officers’ chase of suspected criminals, claimed that the killing of his brother, who he described as the breadwinner of the family, has left a strain on the family’s wellbeing.

“The event that led to our petition before this honourable panel happened on the 25th of April 2017. We were at our cousin’s place on a visit when suddenly I heard a gun shot. The last thing I remembered was that I stood up at the sound of the first gun shot.

“We were taken in a bus and driven to Osogbo. My brother was lying dead on the ground and I also was lying on my back because I couldn’t sit by myself again. I remember that when the Commissioner of Police at the time, CP Adeoye, came around, my cousin, Nureni Ibitoye, and the other suspects that were apprehended, kept repeating that myself and my brother had not done any wrong.

“On the basis of their testimonies, the Commissioner of Police ordered that I be taken to the Police Clinic for treatment. I was sneaked out of the Clinic on April 28 at about 2:00am and taken to Abuja. After some examinations in Abuja, one oga Abba Kyari ordered that I be taken to the hospital for treatment.

“I was taken to the General Hospital at Gwagalada, where I was admitted and discharged on August 1. From there, I was taken to the Police Cell again for two weeks. I was eventually released on August 15, and I have been trying to treat myself since then.

“It is unfortunate but that attack has ruined a lot of things around my family. My mother is still in shock, finding it hard to believe her son got shot.

“Other members of the family are still trying to recover from the trauma because my brother’s body has been withheld for four years despite the fact that all investigations show that he has not committed any crime. The killing of the breadwinner of the family has turned everything upside-down in the family.

“I am grateful for this Panel set up by the government, because my expectations are graduay being fulfilled. The Panel has just initiated the process for the release of my brother’s corpse. This is a positive development for us.

“That aside, I want to be treated. As I speak, I still have a bullet in my T4 (spinal cord) that I have been carrying around for four years. If there’s anywhere, I can be taken to get a proper treatment and for the bullet in my T4 to be removed, I will be most pleased.

“The effect on my health has been severe. Breathing for me has required extra efforts, and even despite the support, I don’t have the strength to stand.

“For the extent of the damage done to my family and to me, I am appealing for an order of adequate compensation to the tune of Fifty Million Naira Only (N 50,000,000)”, Ibitoye stated.

As torrential rains began to wreak havoc in various parts of the State, the Special Adviser to the Governor and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Osun State Signage, Hoarding and Advertisement Agency (O’Signage), Mrs Dupe Ajayi Gbadebo, has indicated the preparedness of the Agency to commence the enforcement of the signage law in the State.

Addressing newsmen in Osogbo, Mrs Ajayi- Gbadebo said that demand notices have been served to signage owners while removal notices have also been placed on illegal and wrongly placed signposts and billboards across the State.

She said removal notices placed on signages was intended to instil sanity, compel registration and make defaulters to settle approved bills to the coffers of the State Government.

She therefore called on individuals and corporate bodies with such notices to come to the Signage office to fulfill their obligations and get clearance.

The O’signage boss urged those who want to make payments to the Agency to do so directly to the Government account in various banks, saying that the Agency does not allow its staffers to collect cash payments.

According to Mrs Ajayi-Gbadebo, the State Government is most concerned about safety of lives, adding that vision blights do occur as a result of competitive location of several bill boards along roadsides and often results in accidents and loss of lives.

She pointed out that rainstorms are capable of forcefully removing not well erected billboards and signposts which can pose serious dangers to lives and property of innocent people.

The O’signage chief executive disclosed that the three core objectives that inform the activities of signage Agency are to standardize erection of boards and signage in an orderly manner; create environmental aesthetics; encourage and enhance commercial activities.

She explained further that activities of the Agency is devoid of political colouration.

Mrs Ajayi-Gbadebo said whether political or religious and any other type of poster or signage, the owners must register with Government properly and the Agency would guide them on the right way and appropriate places to paste posters or erect billboards.

She said the State could no longer tolerate the manner major streets have been defaced with posters, other signage as well as billboards and appealed to whoever wants to use public space for advertisement to come to the Agency for registration.

She added that any individual, religious organization, political party, company or business owner who attempts to use public space for advertisement without the authorization of the Signage Agency would not only forfeit such billboards but will also be arrested and prosecuted.

The O’Signage Boss warned that pasting of posters indiscriminately would no longer be allowed in any part of the State and that only those who register appropriately would be able to make use of the public space for advertisement purposes.

Soliciting the support of the citizens to the activities of the agency, Mrs Ajayi-Gbadebo disclosed that the Agency allows reasonable payment arrangements of annual dues, as well as the need to patronize professional advertisers.

The signage dues, according to her, is determined by sizes or location as well as the level of industrial concerns involved with the signage.

The Osun State Police have secured the release of seven abductees kidnapped along Ibokun/Osogbo Road.

The commuters were kidnapped on Tuesday by an armed group, according to a statement by the Osun Police Spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola.

“The victims were released due to the pressure mounted on the abductors by the Police and other security agencies.

“The victims will soon be reunited with their families.

“The Commissioner of Police appeals to the good citizens of the State to collaborate with Police to get rid of all criminal elements from the State, while assuring the members of the public and commuters of their safety as security measures have been put in place to forestall future occurrence”, the statement read in part.