Public Primary Schools in Plateau State Set to Resume Fully on Monday 1st February, 2021

Management of the Plateau State Universal Basic Education Board has announced that the full resumption of all public primary schools in the State is on the 1-2-2021.

This is in line with the State Government’s directives for the resumption of school activities in the State.

The statement signed by the Executive Chairman Of the Board, Professor Matthew Nshim Sule, directed all the seventeen local government acting Education Secretaries in conjunction with the Local Governments NUT and NASU Chairmen as well as Head- Teachers to mobilise communities to ensure that Parents sent their Wards to school unfailingly on Monday.

The statement adds that all Head-teachers are to ensure that third term academic work is completed and all outstanding examinations are conducted while the results are forwarded to the Board. This relates to only grades One to five, as grade six Pupils have already Passed Out.

Professor Sule also directed Head- teachers to open Staff registers in their respective schools and to ensure every teacher Reports promptly to school and remains till closing time.

According to the statement, Head- teachers are to ensure that COVID 19 protocols are put in place and strictly observed in their respective schools: like hand washing practice, wearing of Face mask and the use of hand Sanitizer as well as temperature checking.

Professor Sule stressed that Management of the Board will embark on monitoring exercise as from Monday the 1-2-2021 to ensure effective compliance.

Here’s why iLinkon is the Online Learning app You Need

With the Coronavirus pandemic still ravaging the World and affecting educational, economic, social and cultural activities, it has become imperative to employ workable means to reduce physical contacts as much as possible.

With education being worst hit owing to the usual teaching hall setting, alternative methods to enhance online learning becomes inevitable. This is to reduce the numerous challenges being encountered by the academic environment especially Lecturers and Students since the COVID-19 pandemic started.

The pandemic has adversely affected face-to-face learning, hence the need for developed technologies to address the challenge at hand since it is almost impossible to strictly adhere to the non pharmaceutical guidelines aimed at containing and curtailing the spread of the virus.

One may be forced to ask if solutions exist for people who are being overwhelmed by the challenges presented by the pandemic.

Below are some robust and reliable tips that students can employ in their lives in taking online courses. One will need to stick to a routine and commence with simple habit. One can simply slate certain periods to carryout some courses.

One can also map out another technique and carve a medium to study free from any form of distractions and still communicate effectively with other fellow study mates.

The reliable mobile app iLinkOn provides an outstanding platform in helping students where they can have a great time studying with the appplication, especially if you’re undergoing through an online learning phase.

With apps like iLinkOn it becomes easy to network with fellow students studying the same courses or participating in the same extracurricular activities.

You could also catch up on missed lectures and events, solve some school-related problem like notifying fellow students when an event time or event location is changed through the group chat feature in the app.

The app also provides a way for students to communicate and interact with each other through the messaging feature.

If you’re a student who is struggling with the new climate of learning through the pandemic, don’t be discouraged. There are people, options, and resources prepared to help students through it.

You can download the app here for Android and here for iOS devices https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ilinkon.net

https://www.ilinkon.com/

Operation Safe Haven Says Allegation of Its Personnel Killing 2 Youths in Riyom Baseless, Untrue and Inciting

*Says allegation baseless, intended to discredit the outfit.

Operation Safe Haven (OPSH), an internal military task force in Plateau State, has denied the report linking it to the death of two youths in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State.

The youths identified as Jerry Bitrus, 28, and Joseph Davou, 32, respectively, were reportedly killed last Sunday, by gunmen in the area.

A media report had quoted locals accusing personnel of OPSH of complicity in the act which has drawn condemnations from citizens and politicians alike in the state.

But reacting to the allegation, the military outfit insisted that it has nothing to do with the death of the youths, explaining that rather, its personnel on patrol were drafted to the area on receipt of a distress call about the incident.

To this end, it has advised the general public to disregard the allegation which it described as baseless in its entirety.

The OPSH, while exonerating itself of the development, accused some mischievous persons from the area of trying to discredit the military outfit.

In the response contained in a statement, titled:”Re:Condemnations Trail Killing of Two Youths in Riyom By Gunmen “,signed by its Media Officer, Major Ibrahim Shittu, the OPSH maintained that:”These concocted lies were intended by the authors to set the public, especially citizens of the state against OPSH which has worked assiduously with other stakeholders to ensure peace and security in the state especially during the Yuletide season despite several threats of attacks.

The statement read in full:”The attention of the Operation SAFE HAVEN (OPSH) has been drawn to a report on news medium, alleging killing of two youths by gunmen in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State.

“The report which claimed that more facts have emerged on how the gunmen killed the two young men on Sunday around 7.09pm, quoted some locals accusing men of Operation Safe Haven of been responsible for the attack and killing of the victims, identified as Jerry Bitrus, 28, and Joseph Davou, 32, respectively.

“Having gone through this report and allegations made, we wish to dissociate our men from this act in its entirety. This allegation is not only false, mischievous and baseless but also aimed at discrediting the operation.

“These concocted lies were intended by the authors to set the public, especially citizens of the state against OPSH which has worked with other stakeholders to ensure peace and security in the state.

“To set the records straight, we wish to state that on Sunday,January 10,2021, the Commander Sector 6 of Riyom General Area was called by the youth leader of Ghoss to inform him that two (2) persons were shot by unknown gunmen. Following the information, he swiftly mobilized his troops in conjunction with the Police Riyom Division to the scene. On their arrival, they met the two victims who were incapacitated and bleeding profusely. A close examination by the team showed that one was already dead while the other one was evacuated to K Vom Christian Hospital in company of some youths; unfortunately, he later gave up the ghost.

It is pertinent to state that the Riyom Police Division in the area were duly informed of the development and they recovered the corpses of the victims.

“The Member of the Plateau State House of Assembly representing Riyom Constituency, Hon Timothy Datong, having heard of the development, called the Commander Sector 6 where the incident happened and he was briefed accordingly.

“It is however sad that some mischievous persons are accusing personnel of OPSH of the killings.

” You will recall that based on the threats to that general area during the Yuletide season, OPSH increased its deployment which served as deterrence to those planning to attack the area.

” Troops have also continued to maintain security even after the New Year celebrations. This was appreciated by community leaders and stakeholders. One wonders why same troops will kill anyone who is not a threat to the security of law abiding citizens.

“We wish to say that these baseless allegations will not deter the troops from carrying out their duties. They will continue to be diligent and professional while carrying out their assignments.

“OPSH will continue to operate professionally within its mandate in Plateau State and across its Joint Operational Area.

“Members of the general public are therefore, advised to discountenance the false and baseless allegations in its entirety.”

There is need for more studies on COVID-19 in Nigeria: We might not need Vaccines – Akyala Ishaku PhD

A Young renowned Nigerian Virologist and Public Health Expert, Dr. Ishaku Akyaka has said Nigeria may not need COVID-19 Vaccines rather what is needed is more studies on the Virus in Nigeria.

The Medical Lab. Scientist advised the government to halt the procurement of COVID-19 and give attention and priority to more studies on the Virus.

Dr. Ishaku Akyala opined that there will be no need for COVID-19 vaccines if 70% of the population in the country had developed antibodies against the virus.

Dr. Akyala posited that there is need for more Epidemiological national survey across all the state of the Federal too because we don’t know that so many people have been infected; he said there is therefore need to know whether we have herd immunity already as citizens of Nigeria.

Dr. Akyala posed the following questions;

Do people have antibodies to COVID-19? Do they have protective immunity already against COVID-19? What percentage of the population has the immunity to COVID-19? If we have up to 70% of the population who have developed antibodies against COVID-19, then we would say we have herd immunity and may not necessarily need the vaccine.

He hinted that studies should reveal this. Are we ready as a nation for such scientific conversation? He further queried.

“I would advise federal government to halt vaccines Procurement and shipment into Nigeria for now and allow citizens to still use their herd immunity which they are enjoying and is a natural gift. Attention should focus doing a national sero-prevalance studies in all the states of the federation and focus on few individuals with comorbidities.”

“The vaccine is dangerous now because we don’t know how it is going to behave in the long run in our African population.”

“There is need for us to carry out an independent evaluation and clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine before administering it on Nigerians” he concluded.