Influx of visitors responsible for high rate of HIV/AIDS in Akwa Ibom - AKSG

The Akwa Ibom government has attributed the high rate of HIV/AIDS in the state to the influx of visitors.

The Nigerian HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) shows that Akwa Ibom has the highest prevalence rate of HIV in the country.

About 5.5 per cent of the people living with HIV in Nigeria are in Akwa Ibom State, followed by Benue State, which has about 5.3 per cent prevalence rate, according to the findings of the survey released on March 14, in Abuja.

Few days after the release of the NAIIS survey findings, the health commissioner in Akwa Ibom, Dominic Ukpong, briefed reporters in Uyo on the state government reaction to the survey findings.

The text of the press briefing has just been made available to PREMIUM TIMES.

“The location of the state with a large coastal front of 129 Km stretching from Ikot Abasi to Oron, an airport, good road network, peaceful atmosphere, friendly disposition of our people, good cuisines and fast developing economy have made our state the destination of choice for both national and international visitors,” Mr Ukpong, a medical doctor, told reporters.

“All these are not without attendant public health consequences, like transmission of communicable diseases which HIV/AIDS cannot be excluded.”

Mr Ukpong said the state government and its health partners, with funding from USAID, carried out a similar survey – Akwa Ibom AIDS Indicator Survey (AKAIS) – in 2017.

“The result as disseminated in November 2017 showed a prevalence of 4.8% for the age group 15 to 69 years.

“Statistically this two results 5.5% (2018) and 4.8% (2017) for NAIIS and AKAIS respectively are within the same 95% confidence interval ranging from 4.7 to 6.3 percent.

“Therefore the results scientifically similar despite the little change in figures. The slight difference between the NAIIS and AKAIS prevalence can be attributed to the sample population size, about 16,000 in AKAIS 2017 and about 8000 in NAIIS 2018, making AKAIS sample size twice the size in NAIIS, making AKAIS result more precise,” Mr Ukpong said.

The health commissioner said the HIV prevalence in the state was on the decline.

“The last nationally accepted HIV survey, prior to the NAIIS survey in 2018 was the ANC SENTINEL study in 2014 and the National prevalence was 3%, while Akwa Ibom State prevalence was 10.8%.

“Arguably as it is being reported that the national prevalence has dropped from 3% (2014) to 1.4% (2018), similarly that of Akwa Ibom State has dropped from 10.8% (2014) to 5.5% (2018),” the commissioner said.

He said the state governor, Udom Emmanuel, is committed to the health and wellbeing of the people.

The commissioner listed out immediate measures to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS in the state as follows:

* Increasing access to HIV testing services, by providing enough rapid test kits whereby all primary health centres and secondary health facilities in the state will be able to provide free HIV testing services to its citizens.

* Increasing access to treatment by creating three new comprehensive treatment centres, one per senatorial district to be fully supported by the state government these will complement other comprehensive treatment centres supported by international partners.

* The State Primary Health Care Development Board, inaugurated by the Executive Governor recently, is working hard to kick-start its activities, which includes management of our primary health centres. This will impact positively on the service delivery in these health facilities.

* Embarking on state-wide community outreaches and enlightenment campaigns to create demand for the uptake of HIV services. (I, therefore, appeal to the media to be partners in this project by incorporating jingles, news promo, and talk shows and media chats on HIV at no cost, to support the fight against the transmission of the virus.)

* Strategising for effective intervention among drivers of new infections namely young adult females and members of the key population, by designing interventions that are gender and youth-friendly.

Among the long term measures, the commissioner said the government would push for legislation in the state that would protect people living with HIV and also end stigmatization and discrimination.

Former CNN host dies at 34

 
Former CNN 'Inside Africa' host Soni Methu has died at age 34, the network confirmed.

The Kenyan journalist, who hosted the popular international program between 2014 and 2015, collapsed on Thursday after complaining of stomach pain, her sister, Faith Methu, said. She reportedly exhibited signs of a seizure and died while being rushed to a hospital.

Soni's cause of death remains unknown and her sister said an autopsy will be performed to find out "exactly what happened."

AOL

Atiku is not a Nigerian, APC tells tribunal

The All Progressive Congress (APC) and the winner of the February 23, 2019 Presidential Election, has filed a motion at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja that the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in the poll, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, is not a Nigerian and therefore not qualified to have stood for the election.

The Party claimed that the former Vice President is a Cameroonian and not a Nigerian citizen and his petition against President Muhammadu Buhari, its own candidate, should be dismissed for lacking in merit.

In a reply to the petition of Atiku and the PDP praying for their declaration as the lawful winner of the presidential poll, the APC said that the 11.1 million votes recorded in favor of the two petitioners should be voided and considered a waste by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.

The APC’s reply to the petition, filed by its lead counsel, Lateef Fagbemi faulted the candidacy of Atiku in the election insisting that as a Cameroonian, he ought not to have taken part in the presidential poll of Nigeria in the first instance.

The Party averred that Atiku was born on November 25, 1946, in Jada, Adamawa, in Northern Cameroon and is, therefore, a citizen of Cameroon and not a Nigerian by birth.

Going down memory lane, APC claimed that prior to 1919, Cameroon was being administered by Germany and that following the defeat of Germany in World War 1, which end d in 1918, Cameroon became part of a League of Nations mandate territory which consisted of French Cameroon and British Cameroon in 1919.

APC further argued that in 1961, a plebiscite was held in British Cameroon to determine whether the people preferred to stay in Cameroon or align with Nigeria.

According to the party, while Northern Cameroon preferred a union with Nigeria, Southern Cameroon chose alignment with the mother country and that it was as a result of the plebiscite that Northern Cameroon, which included Adamawa, became a part of Nigeria.

APC, therefore, said that contrary to the assertion of Atiku in his petition, he (Atiku) had no right to be voted for as a candidate in the election to the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria held on February 23, 2019.

The party averred that by reason of Atiku not having qualified to contest the election, all votes purportedly cast for him and the PDP in the February 23 election are wasted votes.

APC also faulted the allegations of non-compliance with relevant laws made by Atiku and PDP, adding that their failure to make specific references to the compliance issue has a fatal effect on the petition and therefore the petition did not have enough material to justify the ground of any relief sought.

Atiku had in his petition with reference number: CA/PEPC/002/2019 faulted the conduct of the February 23 Presidential Election on the ground of non-compliance with relevance electoral laws and other malpractices such as intimidation of voters, the unlawful arrest of his sympathizers and the harassment by soldiers and other law enforcement of those wishing to vote for him.

The party, therefore, prayed the tribunal to uphold the victory of its candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, who polled 15,191,347 to emerge the winner and his subsequent declaration as president-elect by INEC while also urging that the petition against the victory should be dismissed for having no cause of action.

Meanwhile, no date has been fixed for the hearing of the petition.

Channels Television

New way of transporting corpses to the morgue

Photos of bike riders carrying the dead to the mortuary have gone viral after being shared on Facebook.

What made the post unsettling was that the bodies were being carried on motorbikes strapped quite tightly to the rider as their carried to their destination.

The post originated on Facebook from a Kenyan user called PK Kasirim who posted a few photos and said; This is how “boda boda” riders in parts of rural DR Congo transport corpse to and from the mortuary.  It’s a lucrative business to venture as it pays handsomely well. Tricky sana.

Boda Boda riders are a colloquial way to call bike riders, much like Nigerians call ‘Okada’.
Kasarim’s post claims that the job is a lucrative one, which makes sense as it has to do with the dead.

According to Investopedia.com, Embalmers, whose job it is to wash and clean dead bodies and also apply make-up to the body earn as much as N14m naira per annum for their job which makes it a lucrative job, but many don’t want to do it as they are afraid to deal with dead bodies.

You can check out the controversial pictures which have caused a lot of discussions below.

Herald NG

Liberalisation of moral teachings cause of sexual abuse in catholic church, say Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

(CNN) — Pope Benedict XVI has broken his silence in a rare essay on the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, claiming that it was caused in part by the sexual revolution of the 1960s and the liberalization of the church's moral teaching.

In the 11-page analysis published today in a German magazine for priests, Klerusblatt, the former Pope also reveals some of the behind-the-scenes struggles between the Vatican and American bishops in handling the crisis and admits that the Vatican was initially overwhelmed in dealing with it.
Catholic News Agency first published the letter in English on Wednesday afternoon.

A top Vatican official has confirmed the essay's authenticity to CNN. Since his resignation in 2013, Benedict has rarely left his monastery high on a hill in Vatican City. In his farewell address as pope, Benedict promised to stay "hidden" from the world, though he has spoken out occasionally on church matters.

Nearly 92, Benedict appears to be frail but in relatively good health.
"Since I myself had served in a position of responsibility as shepherd of the Church at the time of the public outbreak of the crisis, and during the run-up to it, I had to ask myself -- even though, as emeritus, I am no longer directly responsible -- what I could contribute to a new beginning," Benedict wrote, in explaining why he is speaking out now.
But his comments on the sex abuse crisis seem certain to inflame tensions between conservative Catholics, who largely blame homosexuality and lax sexual ethics for the scandal, and liberals, who say there is no known connection between homosexuality and pedophilia.
As word of Benedict's essay spread Wednesday evening, conservative Catholics hailed it, while others called it "embarrassing."

"This is an embarrassing letter. The idea that ecclesial abuse of children was a result of the 1960s, a supposed collapse of moral theology, and 'conciliarity' is an embarrassingly wrong explanation for the systemic abuse of children and its coverup," wrote Catholic theologian Brian Flanagan on Twitter.
Shifting standards
In the essay, Benedict asserts that the changes in traditional moral standards on sexuality both in society and within the Catholic Church laid the groundwork for the sex abuse crisis.
"Part of the physiognomy of the Revolution of '68," he writes, "was that pedophilia was then also diagnosed as allowed and appropriate."

Benedict says that this mentality also affected bishops and Catholic seminaries and caused, "the extensive collapse of the next generation of priests."
"There were -- not only in the United States of America -- individual bishops who rejected the Catholic tradition as a whole and sought to bring about a kind of new, modern Catholicity," he writes.

"In various seminaries homosexual cliques were established," he writes, "which acted more or less openly and significantly changed the climate in the seminaries."
Benedict cites one bishop who showed seminarians pornographic films, "allegedly with the intention of thus making them resistant to behavior contrary to the faith."

Liberal theologians who questioned the church's traditional norms on sexuality are also partly to blame, the former Pope says.
"There could no longer be anything that constituted an absolute good any more than anything fundamentally evil; there could be only relative value judgments," the former Pope said, characterizing the liberal position on morality.

Benedict also reveals that the Vatican's two investigations into US seminaries, called Apostolic Visitations, were thwarted by cover-up.
"The Visitation that now took place [1983-1987]," he writes, "brought no new insights, apparently because various powers had joined forces to conceal the true situation."

The former Pope does not elaborate on who was involved in the alleged concealment.

"A second Visitation was ordered [2005-2006]" he writes, "and brought considerably more insights but on the whole failed to achieve any outcomes."
The 'absence of God'
Benedict also reveals a tug-of-war between the Vatican and US bishops over zero-tolerance.

The Pope Emeritus says that Church lawyers in Rome "had difficulty" with the US proposal for zero-tolerance and preferred that priests guilty of sexual abuse of minors receive only a temporary suspension.
"This could not be accepted by the American bishops," he writes, "because the priests thus remained in the service of the bishop and thereby could be taken to be still directly associated with him."

As a result, the former Pope writes, a new code of Church criminal law was created and cases of child sexual abuse were judged by the Vatican office of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, of which then-Cardinal Ratzinger was the head.
But Benedict admits that the prospect of full criminal trials for sex abuse was "overwhelming" for the Vatican.
"Because all of this actually went beyond the capacities of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and because delays arose which had to be prevented owing to the nature of the matter, Pope Francis has undertaken further reforms," he writes.

The former Pope says that since the 1970s "the situation in seminaries has generally improved," but that part of the answer to the crisis lies in returning to obedience and fidelity to Jesus' message.

A large portion of the essay laments the increasing loss of religious beliefs in society in recent decades, which Benedict says is at the heart of the sexual abuse crisis.
"Why did pedophilia reach such proportions?" he asks. "Ultimately the reason is the absence of God."

Wendy Williams wants to leave Kevin Hunter

After persistent cheating rumors and breakup buzz, it’s over for Wendy Williams and Kevin Hunter.

The talk show host is divorcing her husband of nearly 22 years, Williams’ attorney confirmed to Page Six on Thursday. A source told us Williams, who filed in Essex County, NJ, served Hunter with divorce papers at 6:30 a.m.

According to court documents, obtained by Page Six, Williams and Hunter are splitting because of “irreconcilable differences.” Williams, who resides in Livingston, NJ, is seeking to establish an “appropriate amount of child support” as well as “other further relief as the Court deems fair and equitable.”

“Thank you to everyone for respecting the family’s privacy during this time,” the personal representative for Williams told Page Six in a statement. “Kevin is supportive of Wendy and they are working through this process together.”

Earlier this month, Page Six exclusively reported that Williams and Hunter were looking into separating.

The split comes amid renewed rumors that Hunter has been cheating on Williams, 54, with a woman named Sharina Hudson, who gave birth to a baby suspected to be Hunter’s last month.

The divorce news comes after Williams notably flaunted her lack of a wedding band early Thursday on her hairstylist’s and makeup artist’s social media.

Rumors of infidelity have plagued the couple for a few years, though Williams never confirmed them. She vaguely addressed her marital woes on her show earlier this year, cryptically telling viewers after she returned from a two-month hiatus that her wedding ring would always stay on her hand.

“I’m still very much in love with my husband,” she said. “Don’t ask me about mine.” Pointing to her wedding ring, Williams added, “It ain’t going anywhere. Not in this lifetime.”

However, her ring apparently did go somewhere. On March 25, upon leaving the sober living facility where she has been staying after receiving help for addiction in Florida (though she previously told viewers she was seeking treatment for her Graves’ disease), the morning show host was spotted without her flashy jewelry. She appeared to put it back on to tape her show later that day, but an insider had told us it wasn’t her real ring.

Infidelity wasn’t the only rumor to swirl about Williams and Hunter’s marriage. Sources previously told The Post that Hunter’s allegedly abusive behavior ultimately led to the unraveling that prompted Williams to relapse.

“She would hide in the bathroom and tell me to knock on the door when he left the office so she wouldn’t have to see him,” an intern from Williams’ former radio show told The Post, adding that it was common for Hunter to pull Williams into a private room and for staff to hear them fighting.

“You’d hear slaps or some type of tussling going on,” said the intern.

Williams has been open about her past addiction to cocaine and crack.

Friends of Williams have publicly expressed concern for her and her poor health as she remained in her seemingly tumultuous marriage, with longtime pal Paul Porter previously telling The Post that divorce was her only hope.

Porter, who said he’s talked with Williams a hundred times in the past two years, said Williams’ husband, the executive producer of “The Wendy Williams Show,” is a “control freak” and “a terror.”

He said they went to couples counseling, but “for some reason, she can’t break away.”

Former friend Charlamagne Tha God expressed concern on his radio show “The Breakfast Club,” saying Hunter was “sucking the life out of” Williams.

He also admitted he introduced Hunter to his alleged mistress 10 years ago, but it was solely for business purposes.

“Just because I introduce you to someone doesn’t mean 10 years later you need to be in a picture with them showing all your teeth and her throwing up duck lips and a peace sign,” Charlamagne said.

Williams and Hunter met at a skating rink in 1994, tied the knot three years later and welcomed their son, 19-year-old Kevin Hunter Jr., in 2000.

Page Six

Wike begs Amaechi to join him to develop Rivers State

▪pledges inclusive government

Rivers State Governor,  Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has called on the Minister of Transportation,  Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi to join hands with him to develop the state.

In a state broadcast to mark the landmark Supreme Court Judgment striking out the appeals by Rivers APC on Thursday,  Governor Wike said that Rivers State stands to benefit more if all leaders are United.

He said: "Although the present politics of acrimony and bitterness may have strayed from the noble path of the past, I still believe that we shall be better of standing and working together for our State and our people.


"  I therefore appeal to the APC and the Minister of Transportation to join hands with us to move our dear State forward. We cannot as leaders continue to remain divided and expect Government to deliver on its responsibilities to our people. Let us from henceforth seek the common ground instead of allowing our differences to be exploited to retard our march to progress.

" I appeal to our people to eschew all acts of acrimony, criminality, unrest, and violence throughout the State. I wish to recommit myself to continue to do all that is humanly possible to ensure the unity and peaceful co-existence of all our people irrespective of political affiliation".

He directed the State Attorney General and Commissioner to review all pending criminal  cases linked to politics before the 2019 elections and make necessary recommendations to promote reconciliation.

He said "I hereby direct the Honourable Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice to review all pending criminal proceedings filed against any person by the State and directly related to political activities prior to the 2019 general elections and make appropriate recommendations to me for necessary action to promote reconciliation among us".
Governor  Wike pledged to run an inclusive Government aimed at promoting the developing the state.
He said: "Today, I recommit myself to be the Governor for all the people of Rivers State for the next four years. Accordingly, we shall form an all-inclusive government to advance the collective interest of all our people, irrespective of party, ethnic or religious affiliations.

" We have come along way in the last four years and accomplished a lot to be proud of. But there’s still a lot more to do to advance and realize the ultimate vision of our founding fathers for a truly united, secure, and prosperous State and we need the support of all our people to realize this bold vision.
"We salute the opposition for their courage to fight within the confines of the law to the end. Now that the legal battle is over, the task of building the State must take precedence over all other considerations".

Governor Wike  expressed gratitude to God for the Supreme  Court judgment. He assured Rivers people that with the judgment all legal tussles have come to a close with the people having  nothing to fear.

He said: "   Few hours ago, the Supreme Court of Nigeria struck out the consolidated appeals of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Tonye Cole for lacking in merits.
                                                                     
"With this decision, all legal issues regarding the fielding of candidates by the APC for the 2019 National Assembly, Governorship and State House of Assembly elections in Rivers State have finally and permanently been put to rest.  What this further means is that the victory of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidates in the 2019 National Assembly, Governorship and State House of Assembly elections is legally safe, secured and protected.

" I wish to assure you that there is nothing else to fear or be worried about, as there is nothing more the APC or any other person can do to deny us the victory you freely gave to the PDP and its candidates".

He added: "   Let me also express my deepest gratitude to the people of Rivers State for the opportunity to serve you as your Governor for another four years.  I am truly humbled by your continued trust and, I will not take this support for granted.



" For me, the collective interest of the people of Rivers State is the reason I am in politics. When you gave me the mandate about four years ago, I committed myself to be the Governor for all the people of Rivers State and stayed through to that commitment".