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New York City buries unclaimed COVID-19 victims in mass graves

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New York City officials have hired contract labourers to bury the dead in its potter’s field on Hart Island as the city’s daily death rate from the coronavirus pandemic reached grim new records in each of the last three days.

The city has used Hart Island to bury New Yorkers with no known next of kin or whose family are unable to arrange a funeral since the 19th century.

Typically, some 25 bodies are interred each week by low-paid jail inmates working on the island, which sits off the east shore of the city’s Bronx borough and is accessible only by boat. That number began increasing in March as the new coronavirus spread rapidly, making New York the epicenter of the global pandemic.

There are about two dozen bodies a day, five days a week buried on the island, said Jason Kersten, a spokesman for the Department of Correction, which oversees the burials.

Before burial, the dead are wrapped in body bags and placed inside pine caskets. The deceased’s name is scrawled in large letters on each casket, which helps should a body need to be disinterred later. They are buried in long narrow trenches excavated by digging machines.

“They added two new trenches in case we need them,” Kersten said. To help with the surge, and amid an outbreak of the COVID-19 respiratory illness caused by the virus at the city’s main jail, contract labourers have been hired, he said.

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Politics Should Be About Issues, Not Violence – Let’s Protect Our Democracy, Says Tinubu

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I have followed recent reports of violence accompanying political events in different parts of the country.

Every form of violence stands condemned. Violence should never have a place in our political campaigns as we move toward the 2027 general elections.

Our campaigns should be about issues, a contestation of ideas that promote the welfare of our people and the progress of our country.

As the leader of this country, I commit myself to a peaceful, free, and fair election, and I urge political leaders and supporters across party lines to conduct themselves responsibly.

I have said that being in different political parties or pursuing different ambitions does not make us enemies.

As Nigerians, we are members of the same household living in different rooms. Therefore, our politics must elevate human conditions and focus on national progress and development.

I want to reiterate my previous directive to the security agencies: be strict and firm against anyone who seeks to test our resolve and will to preserve public order.

Our administration is committed to an orderly and peaceful election, and all political parties and candidates should be protected and free to campaign anywhere in the country without molestation or fear for their safety.

We shall not tolerate any irresponsible conduct by politicians and their supporters.

Security agencies are therefore authorised to confront thuggery and other anti-social and anti-democratic activities with full force.

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Update : THE COURAGE TO REFORM” BOOK TO BE UNVEILED DECEMBER 1 ,

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“The Central Planning Committee for the official unveiling of the book, The Courage to Reform: Architecture of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, Beyond 2027 — Statecraft, Vision for National Renewal, has announced Tuesday, December 1, 2026, as the new date for the highly anticipated ceremony.

The unveiling, which was initially scheduled for Thursday, November 5, 2026, at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, Abuja, was earlier postponed following adjustments to the official schedule of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, who is the Special Guest of Honour at the occasion.

HON. IMAAN SULAIMAN-IBRAHIM
Honourable Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development
Chairperson, Central Planning Committee

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2027: Tinubu Dares Obi, Atiku to Showcase Their Achievements in Office, Accuses Them of Abandoning Their Responsibilities

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President Bola Tinubu has criticised former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar over their political affiliations, questioning their leadership credentials ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Tinubu made the remarks on Friday during his visit to Akwa Ibom State, where he inaugurated projects executed by Governor Umo Eno’s administration and addressed supporters at a political gathering.

Although he did not mention either politician by name, he appeared to refer to Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, and Atiku, who joined the African Democratic Congress after leaving the Peoples Democratic Party.

Referring to Obi’s tenure as Anambra governor, Tinubu accused him of failing to tackle erosion in the state, contrasting it with his own claim of confronting the Atlantic Ocean during his administration as Lagos governor.

“One, who said he is in one party they call NDC, who is running for president. He ran away from erosion. In Anambra State, he could not confront erosion.

“I, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, I confronted the Atlantic Ocean. I claim it for you. Umo Eno confronted the erosion in Akwa Ibom and is working for, he is stable,” the President said.

Tinubu also questioned the political loyalty of a former PDP member who moved to another party, in an apparent reference to Atiku’s defection to the ADC.

“If a man that was, once upon a time, was a baby of PDP, became a father of PDP. And because of a little inconvenience, he ran away from that party. And formed a dangerous ADC in another party. Is that a leadership trait? Is that a leadership character? And he wants you to vote for him?” he said.

Obi governed Anambra State between 2006 and 2014, while Atiku served as Nigeria’s Vice-President from 1999 to 2007 under the PDP.

Atiku contested the 2023 presidential election on the PDP platform, finishing second behind Tinubu, while Obi, who contested under the Labour Party, came third.

Obi left the Labour Party for the NDC in May 2026, while Atiku joined the ADC as part of opposition efforts ahead of the 2027 election.

Tinubu’s reference to Anambra’s erosion problem recalls his 2023 presidential campaign promise to tackle the menace in the state.

During a campaign rally in Awka in February 2023, the then APC presidential candidate promised to address gully erosion in Anambra, saying he would handle it in the same way he claimed to have tackled the Atlantic Ocean surge in Lagos.

“I have come here to promise you development. We will industrialise Nigeria and Anambra State. You know me, I am the city boy of Lagos; I caged the Atlantic Ocean in Lagos; the way I handled the Atlantic Ocean in Lagos, I will handle the erosion menace in Anambra State,” he said at the time.

 

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