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Trump admits US reopening will cost more lives

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US President Donald Trump participates in a tour of a Honeywell International plant that manufactures personal protective equipment in Phoenix, Arizona on May 5, 2020. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)

President Donald Trump conceded Tuesday that more Americans will die in reopening the US economy but underlined his insistence on a dwindling coronavirus threat by refusing to wear a mask, even as he toured a mask-making factory.Asked by ABC News whether the lifting of social distancing measures and reopening of the shuttered economy will lead to higher death tolls, Trump said: “it’s possible there will be some.”

“Because you won’t be locked into an apartment or a house or whatever it is,” Trump said at the Honeywell factory in Phoenix, Arizona, which he visited on his first major trip since the coronavirus lockdown began.

“Will some people be affected badly? Yes,” he admitted earlier at the factory. “But we have to get our country open.”

Trump’s November reelection campaign is reeling from the massive shutdown ordered to try and stop the spread of the virus, which has already killed 70,000 Americans and is forecast to take tens of thousands more lives.

Praising the Honeywell workers, who churn out masks used by medical staff and other first responders, Trump reiterated that it’s time to look ahead.

“I want to be a cheerleader,” he said.

Bolstering that shift of direction, the White House said that Trump’s emergency coordination group for the pandemic would be disbanding, probably by early June.

Unpresidential masks?
Trump’s audience at Honeywell sat masked in compliance with US government recommendations and their own company rule, which was clearly displayed on a sign in the facility reading: “Please wear your mask at all times.”

Trump had teased as he left Washington that after months of resistance he might finally cover his face.

The fact that he skipped the opportunity to make a statement about safety was in line with his new focus on getting Americans to return to work.

And he has been skeptical about masks since early on.

White House medical experts and even First Lady Melania Trump promote masks as a crucial tool in fighting the viral spread.

But the president, tuned closely into his loyal right-wing base, has used his massive visibility to downplay the need.

“I think wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens, I don’t know,” he said in April, apparently suggesting a mask would be unpresidential. “Somehow, I don’t see it for myself.”

Alterative facts
Trump’s Arizona mask moment came after his vice president, Mike Pence, caused an uproar a week ago when he was photographed mask-less during a visit to the famous Mayo Clinic hospital in Rochester, Minnesota, which requires visitors to cover up.

Pence — unusually for a member of the Trump administration — publicly admitted he’d been wrong.

“I didn’t think it was necessary, but I should have worn a mask,” he said on Sunday.

On a subsequent trip, Pence did wear a mask.

The White House says that because top officials and their guests are frequently tested for the coronavirus they generally don’t need to follow the guidance.

However, the controversy runs deeper, reflecting a dispute over facts that has turned swaths of the United States into camps where the left and right see different basic realities.

Polls show that Democrats support face covering as a sign of shared responsibility, while some Republicans see mask-wearing orders as a big government threat to individual liberty.

Trump-supported groups protesting the coronavirus lockdown — sometimes ostentatiously brandishing firearms and parading in paramilitary garb — liken going mask-free to an act of political independence.

In Stillwater, Oklahoma, and other cities, local leaders abandoned orders to wear masks after threats of violence.

A common slogan at the protests now is that the entire pandemic is a “hoax.”

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Senator Ifeanyi Ubah dies at 52

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The Senator representing Anambra South in the National Assembly, Ifeanyi Ubah, is dead.

Ubah, who was the Chief Executive Officer of Capital Oil, was said to have died in a hotel in London, the United Kingdom, on Saturday.

He would have been 53 on September 3.

Senate spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu, confirmed Ubah’s death to our correspondent on Saturday.

He said, “It’s confirmed, but I am sending an official statement soon.”

Ubah, who was re-elected into the 10th Senate under the Young Peoples Party, had last year defected to the All Progressive Congress.

In September 2022, Ubah escaped assassination when he was attacked by gunmen on his way to Nnewi in Enugwu-Ukwu in Anambra State.

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JUST IN: Edo state Assembly impeaches Deputy Governor Shaibu

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The Edo State House of Assembly, on Monday, impeached the state’s Deputy governor, Comrade Philip Shaibu.

The impeachment followed the adoption of the report of the seven-man investigative panel set up by the Assembly to probe allegations of misconduct against Shaibu.

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JUST IN: Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Lekan Balogun joins ancestors at 81

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The Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Lekan Balogun has joined his ancestors after a brief illness.

He joined his ancestors at the age of 81.

It was gathered that the late monarch was taken to the hospital Wednesday morning having stayed indoor throughout Tuesday on account of slight malaria fever, though, he was hail and hearty on Monday during which he personally received few guests that paid him congratulatory visits on his second year anniversary on that day.

Making this announcement was the Baba-Kekere Olubadan and his younger brother, Dr Kola Balogun in a statement by the Personal Assistant (Media) to the late monarch, Oladele Ogunsola.

According to the statement, Dr. Balogun disclosed that Oba Balogun would be buried at his Aliiwo ancestral home by 4.00pm on Friday according to Islamic rites just as he said that the State Governor Seyi Makinde, though already verbally informed, would be formally notified early in the morning.

The late Olubadan was the first most educated to have emerged as Ibadan monarch, a British trained P.hd holder, a former university lecturer, former member of management staff of Shell British Petroleum, former gubernatorial candidate of the defunct Nigeria People’s Party, NPP, former Senator and a successful business man.

His last official outing was the Olubadan Advisory Council’s meeting which he presided over last Saturday where the decision to derobed Mogaji Akinsola, Olawale Oladoja was taken.

He however, on Tuesday instructed the Ekerin Olubadan, Oba Hamidu Ajibade to midwife a small committee to deliberate on last Friday’s decision on what should be the position of Ibadan Zone in the proposed newly reconstituted Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs.

The decision of the small committee was earlier on Thursday ratified by the Olubadan Advisory Council at a meeting presided over by Otun Olubadan and the former governor of Oyo State, High Chief Rashidi Ladoja and was to be taken to the late Oba Balogun for his signature Friday morning so as to meet the deadline for submission to the state Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters later in the day.

The late Olubadan is survived by wives, children and grandchildren.

Announcing the passage of the monarch, Governor Makinde, in a statement, stated that Olubadan, who joined his ancestors late Thursday evening at the University College Hospital, UCH, Ibadan, described him as an epitome of royal excellence and a great achiever, who made great marks on Ibadanland in just a little over two years of his reign.

He expressed his condolences to the Olubadan-in-Council, the Oyo State Traditional Council and the people of Ibadanland and Oyo State, praying to God to grant repose to the soul of the deceased monarch.

Makinde said: “With total submission to the will of God, I announce the passing unto glory of our father, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Dr. Mohood Lekan Balogun, Alli Okunmade II, the 42nd Olubadan of Ibadanland.

“A mighty Iroko has fallen; Oba Dr. Balogun has joined the ancestors.

“In Kabiyesi, Ibadanland had a cosmopolitan and well-experienced Olubadan, who made indelible marks on the sands of history and achieved greatly within a short while.

“On behalf of the Government and good People of Oyo State, I condole with the immediate family of the Oba Dr. Balogun, the Olubadan-in-Council, the Oyo State Traditional Council and the people of Ibadanland.

“It is my prayer that God grants repose to the soul of our late monarch.”

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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