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Malaria: Nigeria Accounts For 32% Global Deaths …Stakeholders Proffer Solutions
Out of the global annual estimates of 627,000 malaria deaths, Nigeria has been said to account for 200,640 deaths, representing some 32 per cent of the toll in 2013 alone.
The Rivers State Commissioner for Health, Dr Theophilus Odagme, made the disclosure in his state-wide broadcast to mark the 2016 World Malaria Day in Port Harcourt, Monday.
Odagme stated that the year’s theme: ‘End Malaria for Good’, and slogan ‘yes, it’s achievable’, reiterated the government’s commitment to ensuring that the percentage is not only reduced to its barest minimum but that the scourge of malaria comes to an end in the country.
According to him, “May I again, use this opportunity to remind the entire good people of Rivers State that ‘the federal, state, local governments, and the private sector in Nigeria hereby commit themselves and all the people to intensive action to attain the goal of malaria-free Nigeria, that is a country where malaria is no longer a public health problem, and malaria-related deaths are less than 1:100,000 population”.
In achieving set targets, Odagme said that the state government has over the past one year, distributed anti-malarial commodities such as Artemisinim Combination Therapy (ACTs) and the long-lasting insecticide nets (LLINs) through its third party logistics, The Riders of Health.
He said the government has been conducting training and retraining of medical personnel on the current World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines on the management of malaria, while providing a robust M & E structure that captures malaria data from all its health facilities.
Odagme said that in addition, the government has been coordinating meetings amongst partners and facilitating prompt dissemination of information to the public on malaria, encouraging the use of Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) for testing prior to use of drugs, conducting advocacy, communication and social mobilization at the state and local government levels, among others.
The commissioner urged all hands to be on deck to ensure a free-malaria nation, saying “together, we join hands today, and say, ‘yes, it’s achievable’”.
Also speaking, the Director, Centre for the Control of Malaria, University of Port Harcourt, Dr Hamilton Ofurum, said that the fight against malaria needs the collaboration of all stakeholders in the state to ensure that the environment and surroundings are kept clean always.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Caroline Wale, during the distribution of free LLTMNs to civil servants in the state, urged Rivers people to embrace the use of LLTMNs, which she said, are the most effective for now in the prevention of malaria, and encouraged all to keep their environment clean and avoid stagnant water, which breeds mosquitoes that spread malaria disease.
The Director of Public Health in the ministry, Dr Nnanna Onyekwere, said that all water-fronts and bushes around the state capital must be cleared to avoid mosquitoes.
He listed Ahoada, Bori and Port Harcourt, among others, as places where the ministry has distributed free mosquito nets in the last couple of years to reduce the burden of malaria in the rural areas.
Similarly, the Chairman, Rivers State Waste Management Agency, Felix Obuah, has said that for Rivers State to record a free-malaria regime, the people must improve on their sanitary habit, which he said at present, was very unacceptable.
Obuah, who gave the advise in a statement signed on his behalf by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Jerry Needam, insisted that the people must keep their environment clean to avoid the breeding of mosquitoes and the spread of malaria.
Lady Godknows Ogbulu & Susan Serekara-Nwikhana
The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.
This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.
The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.
The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.
From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.
From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.
Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.
From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.
The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.
The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.
The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the Polytechnic, recently.
Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.
He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.
This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly, Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.
Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.
He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.
The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.
Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.
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