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Customs Report: N117.8bn revenues were generated by Tin-can Customs Command.

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January April command generated Customs

Customs Report: N117.8bn revenues were generated by Tin-can Customs Command.

N117.8 billion was generated between January to April 2020, by Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Tin-Can Island Port Command, Lagos. By deploying Time Release Study (TRS) tool to aid revenue generation and trade facilitation.

Musa Abdullahi, Customs Area Controller (CAC), reveals this in Lagos on Friday in a statement signed by Uche Ejesieme, Command’s Public Relations Officer.

Mr. Musa said the tool had helped the command to generate the revenue from January to April of the year.

He said the Time Release Study tool was beefed up for strategic planning in determining the actual time required for the release and clearance of goods, right from the time of arrival to physical release from Customs’ Control.

Mr. Musa said Time Release Study was a strategic tool that was capable of identifying bottlenecks in the trade value chain and creating an enabling environment for effectiveness and efficiency in operations.

“It is on the strength of this and other parameters that the command generated a total of N117, 839, 418, 332.16 between January and April in spite of the global pandemic which has posed a great challenge.

“The figure is against the sum of N106,644,643,917.25 generated from January to April in year 2019, reflecting a difference of N11,194,774,414.91,’’ he said.

The controller responded to issues bothering on challenges amidst the COVID-19.

He reiterated the readiness of the command to ensure adherence and compliance with the extant protocols by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) toward containing the spread of the virus.

Mr. Musa noted that prior to the declaration of the virus as pandemic disease, the command had conducted a series of seminars and awareness campaigns, targeted at sensitizing the officers/men as well as stakeholders on measures to adopt in dealing with the menace.

According to him, these measures will be sustained even after the post-COVID-19 era.

“Even at the onset of this pandemic when pressure, anxiety, and general apprehension was the order of the day, the command demonstrated resilience, sagacity, and compassion in its approach to the novel pandemic.

“Such that tension was reduced from the psyche of the operatives with confidence inspired that enabled them to attend to their functions without let or hindrance.

“With this pandemic, the command will upscale her sensitization on the need for Nigerians to fully take advantage of the operations in export trade, especially at this moment when it has become compelling for diversification of the economy for national development,” the controller said.

Mr. Musa said that with the Time Release Study tool, the command had generated statistical data on the actual time declarations were made, up till the time of release from Customs’ Control.

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He noted that it was on the basis of this that the command realized that the NCS was only involved in two major functions in the Trade Value Chain – Examination and Release of Cargo from Customs’ Control.

He pointed out that the commitment of the command necessitated the need to work assiduously toward ensuring that all operational bottlenecks were removed from the value chain for effectiveness and efficiency in accordance with global standards.

“The command will continue to support and encourage the culture of compliance with fiscal and monetary policies, while also rewarding compliant traders.

“We have developed a framework and different layers for channeling of official complaints, including the Help Desk for a speedy resolution of trade disputes.

“Efforts are also being made to ensure continuous `Stakeholder Engagement’ and collaboration for the actualization of the joint responsibilities of creating a friendly business environment that will encourage trade and investments as well as boost the morale of stakeholders,” Mr. Musa said.

The controller noted that in spite of the few challenges mitigating against performance, the command would not `let its guards down’ in the pursuance of its official mandate.

He appreciated the support and counsel from the Customs management led by Hameed Ali and his management.

The controller applauded the renewed enthusiasm of the officers and men which was reflected in the operational profile of the command.

He commended heads of security and regulatory agencies in the port for their consistent efforts in supporting the command in realizing its statutory mandate.

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PCR Tests for Travellers Fraudulent, Probe NCDC, Ministry – WHO Envoy

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PCR Tests for Travellers Fraudulent, Probe NCDC, Ministry – WHO Envoy

The World Health Organisation’s Special Envoy for the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, Ayoade Alakija, has called for an investigation of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and the Ministry of Health over the required COVID-19 PCR tests for inbound passengers to Nigeria.

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Alakija, in a tweet via her official Twitter handle, @yodifiji, wondered why the PCR tests were done with no reagents.
According to reports, the Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Ifedayo Adetifa, had earlier insisted that Nigeria would not scrap COVID-19 tests for inbound passengers into the country.

Adetifa had said the country was reporting a high rate of COVID-19 cases from inbound passengers, hence the need for the insistence of the tests.
Alakija, reacting to a tweet by a journalist, David Hundeyin, tweeted, “It’s a scam. The entire thing is a criminal enterprise and should be exposed. “Diagnostic tests to enter a country where the government officials have interest in Dx test centres. PCR tests with no reagents? NCDC and MOH should be investigated. It is a scam, period.”

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Austria Suspends Mandatory Covid-19 Vaccine Law

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Austria has announced that it is suspending mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations for all adults this came weeks after the legislature took effect in an EU first.

 

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The Alpine nation of nine million people was among few countries in the world to make jabs against the coronavirus compulsory for all adults.
The law took effect in February and called for fines up to 3,600 euros ($3,940) from mid-March for those who do not comply.

However, minister Karoline Edtstadler said the law’s “encroachment of fundamental rights” could no longer be justified by the danger posed by the pandemic.
“After consultations with the health minister, we have decided that we will of course follow what the (expert) commission has said,” Edtstadler told reporters after a Cabinet meeting.
“We see no need to actually implement this compulsory vaccination due to the (Omicron) variant that we are predominantly experiencing here.” He noted

According to him,the highly-contagious variant is widely believed to be less severe than previous strains of the virus, and so far Austrian hospitals have been able to cope with a surge in cases.

 

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F.G. Commences Vaccination with Over 30 Million J&J Vaccines

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Following efforts to increase the COVID-19 vaccination coverage of eligible persons across the country, the Federal Government has launched the service delivery, communication, accountability, logistics, electronic reporting, and supportive supervision (S.C.A.L.E.S) strategy.

The SCALES 2.0 strategy, which will ensure that more Nigerians can easily locate a nearby health facility to get vaccinated by visiting the website (www.vacsitefinder.nphcda.gov.ng), will also integrate childhood immunisation alongside other primary health care services.

 

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Also, eligible persons can now get vaccinated with a single shot of the Johnson and Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccines, as there are over 30 million vaccine doses available.

Nigeria has received over 64 million COVID-19 vaccines – AstraZeneca, Moderna, J&J and Pfizer. Furthermore, 48 million vaccines are expected before mid-year.

Latest vaccination data showed that as of February 21, 2022, a total of 17,199,853 eligible Nigerians have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccination, while 7,663,560 have received their second dose. In total, 24,863,413 vaccine doses have been administered.

The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, made this known in Abuja during the launch of the SCALES 2.0 strategy with the use of the single dose J&J vaccine.

Dr Shuaib said: “We want to ensure that we not only decentralise COVID-19 vaccination, but make sure that we improve coverage and access to COVID-19 vaccination. Today, we are vaccinating just a little over 200,000 people per day. For us to reach our target of reaching 70 per cent of eligible populations before the end of 2022, we have to hit 550,000 people per day. This will ensure that we reach herd immunity.

“We are also going to be launching the single shot vaccine (Johnson & Johnson) for everyone. We understand that one of the reasons there is a gap between our first and second doses is because people experience adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination. Although the adverse events are very mild, we know that the opportunity to have a single shot not only in the hardest to reach areas, but everybody having access to one single shot will definitely increase our coverage of COVID-19 vaccination.

“The COVID-19 vaccination ‘site finder’ will improve the ability of Nigerians to assess COVID-19 vaccines. If you are able to sign on to this website, you will be shown the nearest COVID-19 vaccination centre.”

In her remarks, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr Moeti Matshidiso, hailed the Federal Government’s vaccination strategy and efforts in ensuring that more Nigerians are covered.

She said: “I think we have learnt many lessons on how to leverage the capacities and lessons in delivering such campaigns in a country like Nigeria and internationally.

“I understand that there is going to be a great deal of emphasis on decentralisation – on really leveraging the decentralised nature of the Nigerian system and government to engage decision makers at the state and local government level, so that they can drive the very much action needed to speed up delivery of vaccines to the population.

“There will also be the need to expand the delivery capacity because at the same time the country is carrying out this important work, there is other work of delivering vaccines, responding to public health emergencies going on.”

The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, added: “Let me assure Nigerians that we have adequate stock of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, as we have over 30 million doses in stock. I call on all eligible persons that are yet to receive their vaccination to go to the nearest COVID-19 vaccination site and get vaccinated. This single dose offers the same protection you get from two doses of AstraZeneca, Pfizer Bio-N-Tech and Moderna vaccines.

 

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