Palaver over JAMB’s mock exam in Ekiti

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Lassa fever: Ondo records 106 cases, 8 deaths Prof. Francis Faduyile, Special Adviser to Ondo State governor on Health Lassa Fever By Segun Giwa Akure, Jan. 29, 2023(NAN) Ondo State government has said 106 cases of Lassa Fever and eight deaths have been recorded in the state this year. Prof. Francis Faduyile, Special Adviser to the governor on Health, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Akure. Faduyile said the confirmed cases were in six local governments of Owo, Akure North, Akure South, Ose, Akoko South-West and Idanre. According to him, Owo has the highest cases of 68, Akure North (13), Akure South (11), Ose(9), Akoko South-West(5) and Idanre (1). “Between Jan. 1 and Jan. 23, we have had 268 suspected cases of Lassa Fever, 106 confirmed cases and unfortunately eight deaths,” Faduyile said. He explained that the prevalent period of the disease was during the dry season and part of the rainy season when farmers were cultivating lands for farming. “The farmers during this period will do a lot of bush burning and when they burn the bush, the rats will move from their natural habitat to a place safer and a lot of them tends to come towards homes in that surrounding. “The first way to prevent Lassa is to stop bush burning, and we have sensitised against this,” he said. Faduyile advised people not put their foods where rats can have access. “We have observed that some of our cultural activities like spreading cassava on the road to dry are harmful because rats can come around eat out of the cassava and drop faeces or urine on it. “Besides, we have observed that our level of hygiene, if it is not well improved, it can attract rats, because rats are scavengers and when there is uneaten food, that is not covered, they tend to come,” he said. Faduyile noted that the government has embarked on advocacy through the local governments and traditional rulers as well as other preventive means to stem the disease. “Every year there is ‘deratification’, that is to kill all the rats, and we have started it this year which has been largely successful. “Also, there have been a lot of advocacy to medical personnel for them to have high index of suspicion for any fever,” he said. Faduyile said the government has improved the state Infectious Disease Hospital, Akure, to a standard that can take care of Lassa fever.
Ekiti State Governor, Abiodun Oyebanji

Candidates who sat for the mock Joint Admission Matriculation Examination in Ekiti on Thursday and their parents expressed disgust that the examination scheduled for 7 a.m., did not start until 2 p.m.

They lamented technical and other logistics hitches that led to the delay in most of the Computer-Based Test centres in the state.

Acting Coordinator of JAMB in Ekiti, Mr Ebenezer Owolafe, however, denied the reports of technical hitches.

He explained that candidates scheduled to write the mock examination at 8 a.m. were the only ones whose tests were rescheduled to 2 p.m.

He pleaded with the candidates and their parents to pardon the rescheduling without proper notification.

He said the mock exercise was successful across major centres in the state, noting that the board would correct any noticeable hiccup during the mock exercise ahead of the proper examination in April.

Candidates and their parents also complained about inadequacy of spaces which made it difficult for candidates of the same batch to sit at the same time when the examination began.

Some of the parents who took their wards for the “Batch A’’ examination in most of the centres had to wait till 5 p.m., whereas they had thought that the examination would have been over 9 a.m.

“It is a very disappointing situation and JAMB must get the anomalies corrected to avert recurrence during the main examination in April.

“The essence of this mock examination is for applicants to get cognate experiences and do a self-examination based on the outcomes,’’ an angry parent said.

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