The spread of novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria continues to record significant increase as the latest statistics provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reveal Nigeria now has 46,140 confirmed cases.

On the 8th of August 2020, 453 new confirmed cases and 6 deaths were recorded in Nigeria, having carried out a total daily test of 3,903 samples across the country.

To date, 46,140 cases have been confirmed, 33,044 cases have been discharged and 942 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. A total of 314,632 tests have been carried out as of August 8th, 2020 compared to 310,729 tests a day earlier.

COVID-19 Case Updates- 8th August 2020,

• Total Number of Cases – 46,140
• Total Number Discharged – 33,044
• Total Deaths – 942
• Total Tests Carried out – 314,632

According to the NCDC, the 453 new cases were reported from 20 states- FCT (75), Lagos (71), Benue (53), Delta (39), Borno (30), Enugu (25), Plateau (24), Osun (20), Abia (19), Oyo (17), Kaduna (16), Kano (13), Ebonyi (13), Ogun (9), Kwara (7), Ondo (6), Gombe (3), Ekiti (2), Akwa Ibom (1) and Rivers (1).

Meanwhile, the latest numbers bring Lagos state total confirmed cases to 15,768, followed by Abuja (4,376), Oyo (2,860), Edo (2,376), Rivers (1,939), Kano (1,622), Delta (1,596), Kaduna (1,566), Ogun (1,439), Plateau (1,421), Ondo (1,284), Enugu (905), Ebonyi (851), Kwara (833), Katsina (746), Borno (682), Abia (644), Gombe (629),  Osun (625), and Bauchi (576).

Imo State has recorded 476 cases, Benue (409), Nasarawa (367), Bayelsa (346),  Jigawa (322), Akwa Ibom (235), Niger (226), Adamawa (185), Ekiti (161), Sokoto (154), Anambra (142),  Kebbi (90), Zamfara (77), Taraba (72), Cross River (68), Yobe (67), while Kogi state has recorded 5 cases only.

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Lock Down and Curfew

In a move to combat the spread of the pandemic disease, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the cessation of all movements in Lagos and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days, which took effect from 11 pm on Monday, 30th March 2020.

The movement restriction, which was extended by another two-weeks period, has been partially put on hold with some businesses commencing operations from May 4. On April 27th, 2020, Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari declared an overnight curfew from 8 pm to 6 am across the country, as part of new measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19. This comes along with the phased and gradual easing of lockdown measures in FCT, Lagos, and Ogun States, which took effect from Saturday, 2nd May 2020, at 9 am.

On Monday, 29th June 2020 the federal government extended the second phase of the eased lockdown by 4 weeks and approved interstate movement outside curfew hours with effect from July 1, 2020. Also, on Monday 27th July 2020, the federal government extended the second phase of eased lockdown by an additional one week.

On Thursday, 6th August 2020 the federal government through the secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 announced the extension of the second phase of eased lockdown by another four (4) weeks.

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Senator Buruji Kashamu has died on Saturday.

Buruji, who was a member of the 8th Senate, died of complications from COVID-19 at the First Cardiology Consultants, Lagos.

This was disclosed by Senator Ben Murray-Bruce via his Twitter handle.

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I have just lost my good friend of forever to #COVID19. Until his death, Sen. Buruji Kashamu and I were inseparable. He died today at First Cardiology Consultants, in Lagos. May his gentle soul rest in peace. I pray his family and loved ones the fortitude to bear this heavy loss. pic.twitter.com/OJGIt0VK3n

— Ben Murray-Bruce (@benmurraybruce) August 8, 2020

Kashamu, 62, served as a Senator representing Ogun-East in the eighth National Assembly under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He joins a list of prominent Nigerians who have succumbed to the novel coronavirus.

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Former Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Abba Kyari and former Governor of Oyo state, Abiola Ajimobi, have also passed on from COVID-19 complications.

Kashamu’s family is yet to issue an official statement regarding his death.

For many years, Nigerian sports had to depend on foreign brands for all kinds of sporting and leisure wears. In doing this, Nigeria was also ceding to these countries the opportunities that came with the business of sports. None of these changed, until Africa for Africa (AFA) Sports started out in Nigeria years ago.

Recently on Nairametrics Business Half Hour show, Founder of Africa for Africa (AFA) Sports talked about how Nike’s rejection became the birth of an industry in Nigeria.

Ugo Udezue had come to Nigeria to establish the Continental Basketball League, (CBL) after spending 17 years with BDA Sports management in California. At this time, he saw sports as being “more about creating opportunities than just winning trophies”.

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What he saw was the prospects of creating a whole economy built around the game – alternate relaxation options for workers who had spent long hours at work, and better opportunities for people to trade their wares and entertain guests during the games.

A major kitting challenge came up for the CBL, as most of the foreign brands did not seem to cater for the African climate. The kits and balls being used had been designed by foreign brands using their weather condition and environment as the guiding factor. Because of this, they could not cater to the needs of the Nigerian basketball players.

“The balls were not designed to absorb sweat and so the players kept dropping the balls. Even the jerseys and shoes had clearly not been designed for the African weather since we did not play the game in air-conditioned courts,” he explained.

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When Udezue reached out to Nike to seek Apparel sponsorship for the CBL, he received the shocking news that “Africa was not in their plans at the time”.

This rejection, though a short term challenge, became the inspiration behind founding AFA Sports, done by Africans to cater to the sporting needs of Africans.

As you may well know, there were foreign companies sponsoring Nigerian teams at the time, making jerseys and other apparel. But because they were not producing these things locally, they were depriving the country of the opportunities and benefits which should have come with such ventures.

Gradually, Udezue and his team moved from the initial years of chaos and unprofitability, to growing AFA Sports into the biggest performing sports brand in Africa. The company’s products are now shipped to different countries.

In a couple of years, the dream started to materialise when AFA sports became the official apparel sponsor of the Nigerian National Basketball team D’Tigers during the Afro Basket 2017 competition. It was a major game-changer for sporting in Africa.

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An industry waiting to explode

Manufacturing in Nigeria is often thought of along the lines or agricultural and industrial products, without much attention on the sporting and leisure industry. From jerseys to tracksuits, leisure wears, boots, balls, caps and others, there is a whole economy waiting to be explored.

“I saw sports as a way to create wealth. I realised that it was an opportunity to create jobs for Nigerians while meeting the need for football clothing, and for as long we keep sourcing these materials from the foreign brands, we will miss out on ways we could have used it to empower our economy,” Udezue said.

With these items produced locally at the factories and even exported to other countries, jobs are created for Nigerians. AFA sports, for instance, has three factories in Lagos state where it employs people to carry out its productions of sports and leisure wears.

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Beyond saving Nigeria the cost implications of importing such products, the products are now being exported to other African countries bringing in some foreign exchange for Nigeria.

As Nigeria moves towards self-sufficiency, there is the need to pay attention to the sports economy and its attendant benefits. Much more than sponsorships, hosting games in local economy can turn the fortunes of small business owners in the locality, given them a wider market and increased income.