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Trump Improving, Not On Oxygen, Doctor Confirms
The US President Donald Trump, who is ill with the novel coronavirus and being treated at a military hospital, is seeing his condition improve, his physician said on Saturday.
The president no longer has a fever and is not currently on oxygen to help him breathe, said Sean Conley, the physician to the president, addressing reporters outside the hospital.
“This morning the president is doing very well,” said Conley, adding that the medical team is “extremely happy with progress the president has made.”
The president contracted coronavirus and was moved to the Walter Reed Medical Centre, a military facility in Bethesda, Maryland, near Washington, D.C., on Friday, in what his team said was a move taken out of an abundance of caution.
A source told reporters that Trump’s vital signs had at times been worrying.
“The president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care. We’re still not on a clear path to a full recovery,” the source told White House reporters travelling with the president.
The statement by the source was confounding, as it came just minutes after the doctors updated the public, and was issued on condition of anonymity.
The timeline of the president’s infection remains unclear.
This has become a particularly important point, as the president held a fundraiser in New Jersey on Thursday, after hosting a political rally on Wednesday in Minnesota.
Trump tweeted early Friday morning he and the first lady had tested positive.
But Conley said on Saturday that Trump was “72 hours” into his treatment, raising questions about why the president would then attend such events and when the president knew he was infected.
The medical team said Trump has received an experimental anti-body cocktail in addition to a therapeutic medicine, Remdesivir, which is usually a five-day treatment plan.
“He’s not on oxygen right now,” Conley said.
The doctor confirmed that the president had a fever on Thursday and Friday morning, but has been “fever-free for 24 hours.”
He declined to say if the president had ever received oxygen in the past days.
Conley was also unable to discuss a discharge date.
“More than anything he has felt run down,” the doctor said, describing the president’s condition, noting that Trump had a mild cough, nasal congestion and fatigue, initially, which were “now improving.”
The doctor insisted Trump is still able to work.
Trump is 74 years old and is overweight, the medics noted.
Also, as a male, he is in a higher risk group for complications from Covid-19.
The cluster of people around Trump who have announced in the past two days that they have coronavirus continues to rise.
Chris Cristie, the former governor of New Jersey who was part of the team that helped Trump prepare for the first presidential debate on Tuesday this past week, was the latst person to confirm he contracted the coronavirus.
Trump’s wife Melania, his campaign manager, Bill Stepien and a top adviser, Hope Hicks, have all tested positive, among a number of other people in their proximity.
The illness comes at a crucial point in Trump’s reelection campaign, with him trailing Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the polls.
Trump has been aggressively hitting the campaign trail, and these events are now being cancelled as he cannot travel.
There is also a group of Republican senators who have tested positive, two of whom were with the president last Saturday at a ceremony at the White House Rose Garden where Trump announced judge Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to fill a Supreme Court vacancy.
A spokesman for Senator Rob Johnson of Wisconsin said he has tested positive, making him the third Republican senator who sits on the judiciary committee to contract the virus this week.
He “feels healthy and is not experiencing symptoms,” but will remain in isolation for the near future, the spokesman said.
A number of people who were at the nomination cremony have contracted the virus.
Johnson was not at that ceremony.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is the body that must first confirm Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, judge Amy Coney Barrett.
Hearings are set to start on October 12.
Republicans are intent on filling the Supreme Court vacancy before the November election, despite anger from Democrats who feel the process should not take place so close to polling day.
The centre-left are also concerned that a conservative judge will get a lifetime appointment to the highest judicial body, replacing Ruth Bader Ginsburg who did last month and was seen as a liberal stalwart.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
News
RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.