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‘We’ll Be In Trouble, If Anthrax Spreads Like COVID’
Professor of Medical Microbiology and Medicine Biotechnology of the School of Medicine, University of Lagos, Prof. Marry-Theresa Niemogha from the Department of Medical Laboratory Science, University College of Medicine, University of Lagos, and Professor Sunday Omilabu of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology/Centre for Human and Zoonotic Virology, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, have raised the alarm on the implications of allowing Anthrax to spread like COVID.
They gave the submission during the 6th Biennial Professional Lecture organized by the Association of Science Laboratory Technologists of Nigeria, ASLTON, themed Pandemic Diseases: The containment and mitigation role of a science laboratory technologist, Professor Niemogha, explained that “Anthrax is caused by Baselots anthracis. The way it is now, if we have the problem of pandemic before we talk of an epidemic, we have to try to use the method that we used for COVID.
“In other words, everybody has to be aware. People should know that if COVID spreads the way it did, we will all be in trouble. So we can use all the preventive methods explained by Professor Omilabu, including personal preventive measures like face masks and hand sanitizers, to prevent the spread from going to other people.
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“But we shouldn’t frighten people yet about any outbreak; let us work toward it and prepare. We have an emergency team like the virologist and the bacteriologist for another infection or disease that we might have. In this way, we will be able to get everything ready for containment.”
On his part, Professor Sunday Omilabu of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology/Centre for Human and Zoonotic Virology, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, while in lecture, posited that “If anything will kill over 10 million people, it will rather be an infectious, deadly disease than war.”
Omilabu explained that most zoonotic diseases are transmitted by animals. According to him, “There are lots of atrocities associated with wildlife, and they are going to continue unabated. Diseases cannot be controlled when we are careless with our environment. Other pathogens will come, but we do not know when.e should not wait for an outbreak before we prepare ourselves to detect pathogens on time.”
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JUST IN: Ooni Visits Olubadan-designate Ladoja In Ibadan
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, on Sunday, paid a visit to the Olubadan designate, Rashidi Ladoja, at his Bodija private residence in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The PUNCH reports that Oba Ladoja will be installed as the 44th Olubadan on Friday, September 26, 2025, following the demise of the 43rd Olubadan, Oba Owolabi Olakulehin, who joined his ancestors on Monday, July 7, 2025, at the age of 90 years.
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The two paramount rulers are currently exchanging pleasantries.
Details later…
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JUST IN: FG Revokes 1,263 Mineral Licenses Over Unpaid Fees
The Federal Government through the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development has announced a fresh revocation of not less than 1,263 mineral licenses.
These licenses, which will now be deleted from the Electronic Mining Cadastral System portal of the Nigerian Mining Cadastral Office, include 584 exploration licenses, 65 mining leases, 144 quarry licenses, and 470 small-scale mining leases.
The minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, gave the revocation announcement in a statement issued by his special assistant on Media, Segun Tomori, on Sunday in Abuja.
The minister explained that the directive was issued due to the companies’ failure to comply with the requirement of paying their annual service fees.
The latest revocation brings the total mineral titles revoked under the current administration to 3, 794 including,619 mineral titles revoked for defaulting in paying annual service fees and 912 for dormancy last year.
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By opening up the areas formerly covered by these licenses, the revocation is expected to spur fresh applications by investors looking for fresh opportunities.
The statement read, “Not less than 1,263 mineral licenses will be deleted from the portal of the Electronic Mining Cadastral system of the Nigerian Mining Cadastral Office, MCO, following their revocation by the Federal Government.
“These include 584 exploration licenses, 65 mining leases, 144 quarry licenses, and 470 small-scale mining leases.”
Approving the revocation following the recommendation of the MCO, the Minister said applying the law to keep speculators and unserious investors away from the mining sector would make way for diligent investors and grow the sector.
“The era of obtaining licences and keeping them in drawers for the highest bidder, while financially capable and industrious businessmen are complaining of access to good sites, is over.
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“The annual service fee is the minimum evidence that you are interested in mining. You don’t have to wait for us to revoke the license because the law allows you to return the license if you change your mind,” the minister said.
He warned that the revocation does not mean the Federal Government has pardoned the annual service debt owed by licensees, adding that the list will be forwarded to the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission to ensure that debtors pay or face the wrath of the law.
“This is to encourage due diligence and emphasise the consequences of inundating the license application processes with speculative activities.”
In the recommendation to the minister, the Director-General of the MCO, Simon Nkom, disclosed that there were 1,957 initial defaulters when the MCO published the intention to revoke licences in the Federal Government Gazette on June 19, 2025.
He informed the minister that the gazette was distributed to MCO offices nationwide to sensitise licencees and encourage them to comply within 30 days in compliance with the Minerals and Mining Act 2007 and relevant regulations.
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He observed that the delay in the final recommendation was due to complaints of several licensees who claimed to have paid to the Federal Government through Remita and had to be reconciled.
Earlier this month, the DG MCO had hinted that more mining licences would be revoked as part of ongoing efforts to sanitise the solid minerals sector and protect investors from fraudsters.
According to Nkom, the clean-up exercise, which covers expired, speculative, and inactive titles, is necessary to make room for genuine investors and ensure compliance with the law.
This is part of ongoing efforts at sanitising the sector since the inception of the Tinubu administration, and the salutary effects of the reforms are massive and manifest despite the attempts to push back by defaulters and their agents.
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