General News
COVID-19: ACT-Accelerator partnership needs $16bn to fill funding gap – WHO
World Health Organisation (WHO) on Sunday said total funding committed to the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT-Accelerator) partnership remains 15.1 billion dollars with a gap of over 16 billion dollars.
WHO Director General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, said this at the just concluded G7 Summit at Cornwall, UK.
ACT- Accelerator is the proven, up-and-running global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines.
It was set up in response to a call from G20 leaders in March and launched by WHO, the European Commission, France and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in April 2020.
In a statement on WHO’s website, the director-general thanked the G7 nations for their commitment to sharing at least 870 million vaccine doses to low and low-middle income countries over the next year.
Ghebreyesus appealed for more support to fill the gap in COVID-19 vaccine distribution, and said many other countries were now facing a surge in cases without vaccines.
“Over 16 billion dollars is still needed in 2021 to fully fund the work of ACT-Accelerator, the global partnership of leading international health organisations which is mid-way through its 2020-21 funding need,’’ he said.
According to him, G7 leaders emphasised the importance of all ACT-Accelerator to exit the pandemic.
“ACT-Accelerator’s funding gap remains significant with an urgent need for funding of tests, treatments and health systems to ensure an end to the pandemic everywhere,’’ he added.
The director general, therefore, warned of increasing divide in equity to crucial COVID-19 tools.
He said in additional to vital vaccine research and development and procurement work, ACT-Accelerator needed funds to strengthen health systems and protect health workers administering the tools needed.
He said: “It needs funds to test, detect and contain hotspots, as well as identify new variants that will continue to appear; and treatments to save the lives of those who will continue to catch COVID-19 and suffer.
“There is an urgent need for treatments like oxygen which is seeing a surge in demand that is five times – and in cases such as India, 10 times – greater than the need before the pandemic.
“The funding needed for the ACT-Accelerator will address challenges in delivering products where they are most needed, help establish testing for 500 million people in low and middle-income countries by mid-2021.
“Fund is needed also to help secure the necessary supply of oxygen as well as distribute 165 million doses of treatments, including dexamethasone which can save lives of people critically ill with COVID,’’ he said.
At the close of the 2021 G7 Leaders’ summit on Sunday, UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson announced a donation of additional 870 million vaccine doses from attendees.
The majority of the doses will be delivered through COVAX, the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID 19 Tools Accelerator, within the next year.
Attendees included heads of G7 member states plus Australia, India, South Africa and Republic of Korea, invited as guests.
The G7 countries are a group of the world’s seven largest advanced economies namely: the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Canada, France, Japan and the United States.
Leaders confirmed their support for all pillars of the ACT-Accelerator across treatments, tests and strengthening public health systems as well as vaccines.
Additionally, they indicated their intention to work together with the private sector, the G20 and other countries to increase vaccine contribution over the months to come.
Since its Early Leaders’ Summit in February 2021, the G7 has committed one billion doses in total. (NAN)
General News
Clergy Urged To Put Members’ Welfare Above All Else
At a solemn ordination service in Abuja, senior church leaders have called on pastors to make the well-being of their congregations a top priority, following the example of Jesus Christ.
Speaking during the priesthood ordination and installation of a Sub Dean at the Cathedral Church of Advent, Life Camp, Abuja, the retired Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Okene, Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Ajulo, described pastors as shepherds charged with the care of their flock. He urged them to shun worldly distractions and focus on meeting the spiritual and material needs of their members.
Bishop Ajulo also encouraged the newly ordained priests to remain faithful to their calling by teaching God’s word without compromise.
In his charge, the Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Henry Ndukuba, urged the new clergy to preach the undiluted gospel and foster religious harmony wherever they serve. He expressed confidence that their new roles would help promote peace and unity in society.
The service also featured prayers for national leaders and divine intervention in addressing the current global economic challenges.
General News
1,000 Prayer Warriors Storm Ilorin for Tinubu, Nation’s Deliverance
In a dramatic show of faith and patriotism, over 1,000 fiery prayer warriors from across Nigeria will descend on Ilorin, Kwara State, this Saturday, lifting their voices in intense intercession for President Bola Tinubu’s success and Nigeria’s survival in the face of biting economic woes and mounting insecurity.
The spiritual siege, themed “Walking in Domini”, is the maiden convention of the Organisation of African Instituted Churches (OAIC), with its Kwara State Chairman, Evangelist Thomas Adeboye, vowing that “heaven will hear and respond to Nigeria’s cry.”
Aside from marathon prayers, the gathering will roll out free medical outreach to locals across Kwara’s LGAs, a gesture aimed at touching both body and soul.
Adeboye, lamenting Nigeria’s “troubling economic and security realities”, called for a nationwide prayer uprising, insisting that Tinubu has shown the will to revive the nation but needs massive divine backing to succeed.
“Banditry, a collapsing economy, and political tension demand we seek God’s face like never before,” he declared. “We will storm heaven for wisdom for the President and governors to steer Nigeria to safety.”
The convention will also feature awards to distinguished personalities, soul-lifting worship, fiery sermons, and unity-driven lectures—all capped with thunderous prayers for Nigeria’s redemption.
Adeboye urged the President to ensure every policy has “a human face,” stressing that Nigerians must not only endure but also enjoy the fruits of governance.
With the OAIC promising to reaffirm believers’ authority in Christ and rally spiritual boldness in the face of national challenges, Ilorin is set to become the epicentre of a powerful spiritual warfare for Nigeria’s destiny.
General News
Nigerian Anglicans Condemn Lesbian Archbishop of Wales, Deepening Global Anglican Rift
…Church leaders accuse Welsh counterparts of “spiritual decadence” and “abandonment of faith”
The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) has issued a forceful condemnation of the election of Rt. Rev. Cherry Vann, an openly lesbian cleric, as the Archbishop of Wales. The move is the latest in a series of developments that have deepened divisions within the global Anglican Communion over sexuality and doctrine.
In a statement from Primate The Most Rev’d Henry Ndukuba, the church denounced the election as a “serious departure from biblical teaching” and a sign of “spiritual decadence” and “an outright abandonment of the faith once delivered to the saints.”
Archbishop Ndukuba warned that Bishop Vann’s elevation compromises the Anglican Church’s global mission and could obstruct evangelism. He compared the situation to the controversial tenure of Most Rev. Katherine Jefferts Schori, former Presiding Bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church, who also faced intense criticism from conservative Anglicans for her progressive views.
The Primate accused Bishop Vann of being complicit in the “ongoing crisis” around same-sex issues, stating that the election is a “clear revelation that many who claim to be members of the body of Christ cannot endure sound doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:3–4).
The Church of Nigeria called on Anglicans worldwide to reject “rebels” and “apostates” and to instead support conservative bodies like the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON).
“The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) condemns, unequivocally rejects, and will not recognize the election of Rt. Rev. Cherry Vann as Archbishop of Wales,” Ndukuba declared. He concluded with a solemn warning that without repentance, the Church in Wales risks losing “complete relevance” and its leaders will face judgment.
