Former Senate President Pius Anyim has stated that President Bola Tinubu’s absence from the ongoing United Nations General Assembly in New York shouldn’t be an issue.

The chieftain of the All Progressives Congress said the President’s decision to delegate the assignment to Vice President Kashim Shettima should not be a source of concern.

Anyim, who also served as Secretary to the Government of the Federation, stated this on Monday while featuring on ARISE NEWS’ Prime Time.

Tinubu, who was initially scheduled to return to Nigeria after a short working vacation, extended his stay abroad, with the Presidency saying he would use the period for a private visit and other engagements before returning to the country.

Meanwhile, Shettima is representing Nigeria at the 80th session of the UNGA in the United States.

Anyim said there was nothing unusual about the President’s absence, arguing that the Vice President had the constitutional capacity to represent the country at the gathering.

“I really don’t understand why his absence should be an issue. I think Nigerians know very well that the President is on short leave, a short vacation.

“He simply assigned his Vice President to undertake the assignment. I don’t know why we are making so much out of this. There is nothing that compares to the President being at UNGA. The Vice President can represent the country, even the Foreign Minister,” he said.

Explaining the nature of the UNGA, the former Senate president said the annual event comprised the General Assembly and several bilateral and multilateral engagements held on the sidelines.

He said the President’s absence would only become significant if there were scheduled engagements that required his personal attendance.

“The structure of UNGA involves the General Assembly and side meetings. Side meetings could be bilateral or multilateral. What you present in that General Assembly statement is simply reading a statement from your country. This is something that the Vice President can do,” he said.

Anyim also dismissed concerns that Tinubu’s absence could prevent him from meeting United States President Donald Trump, saying such high-level engagements were normally scheduled in advance.

“It’s not about meeting the President by chance. The fact that you sit together with the President doesn’t mean anything. The President of America normally would have a schedule set ahead of time,” he said.

He added that Tinubu was not the only world leader who had chosen not to attend the annual gathering in person.

“It doesn’t matter. After all, there are many heads of state who don’t go,” Anyim said.

Source: punchng.com

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The White House has launched a 24/7 streaming channel dubbed “Trump TV”, offering viewers access to past moments, announcements and other content from President Donald Trump’s administration.

The White House announced the launch on its official X account on Monday, saying the stream would be updated in real time.

“IT’S LIVE. Trump TV is Streaming Now. 24/7, updated in real time, with top past moments, announcements, and the latest and greatest from the administration all in one place.

“Not every big moment has made it on your tv, now it can,” the White House said.

The stream, officially titled “TRUMP TV: The Essentials Station,” is available through the White House website and its YouTube channel.

The White House describes it as a platform for the administration’s “biggest moments”, including videos, major remarks and highlights.

The launch came amid an escalating dispute between the Trump administration and several major US news organisations over access to the White House.

Trump recently barred CNN, Politico and MS NOW from White House grounds, prompting the three organisations to sue the administration over the decision.

Major television networks — ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC — subsequently suspended their shared White House pool coverage in solidarity with the affected outlets.

The White House has defended its approach to media access, while Trump has criticised what he describes as unfair or “fake news” coverage of his administration.

The first Trump TV broadcast featured previously recorded footage, including Trump’s July 3 address at Mount Rushmore, rather than a live presidential event.

The new channel gives the White House a direct platform for distributing video of Trump and his administration without relying solely on television networks for coverage.

As part of efforts to expand access to technology-driven advanced surgeries, the Redeemer’s Health Village has performed what it described as the first telerobotic surgery in West Africa.

The procedure was carried out at the Redeemer’s Health Village in Mowe, Ogun State, during the weekend.

Tele-robotic surgery, also known as remote surgery, allows a surgeon to operate on a patient from another location.

The procedure, a right radical nephrectomy, was carried out by RHV in collaboration with RoboMed Global and Nisa Premier Hospital, Abuja, and involved surgeons at RHV remotely operating on a patient at the Abuja-based hospital.

Speaking after the surgery, the Chief Executive Officer of RHV, Dr. Adedamola Dada,  said the successful telerobotic procedure and other robot-assisted surgeries performed by RHV signal a new dawn in Nigeria.

“It’s a huge breakthrough, and then of course, it is the first time telesurgery is done in West Africa,” he said.

Dada said the surgical robot at Abuja hospital was connected to the robotic control system at RHV through an internet connection.

“What this simply means is that for very complicated cases where we don’t even have the manpower in the country, surgeons can stay in the United States and operate on that patient here,” he said.

Before the telerobotic surgery, the RHV boss said the facility had, on the same day, carried out robotic-assisted pyeloplasty surgery on a 28-year-old patient.

“What we have done is called a pyeloplasty. It’s an attempt to reconstruct the pelvis, remove the obstructions, and ensure that the urine flows freely. And for those of us who were in the theatre, it was pretty obvious immediately that the obstruction was removed; the urine started flowing very freely. So it’s a new day in our country,” he said.

He, however, urged the Federal Government to support the training of medical professionals in robotic surgery, saying developing local manpower is essential to sustaining the country’s growing adoption of the technology.

Dada said government support through sponsorship and scholarships would enable more surgeons, nurses, biomedical engineers and other specialists to acquire the skills required to perform and support robotic procedures in Nigeria.

He said, “Most of the time, the equipment is really not a challenge; the challenge now is the manpower. We have a lot of private sector people, organisations who would be able to bridge that gap in terms of procuring the robots.”

Dada added, “The government needs to support and sponsor Nigerians- the surgeons, nurses, biomedical engineers – who would want to come for the training by awarding them scholarships so that in another one or two or three years, we would have a lot of professionals who can do this.”

Also speaking, the robotic surgeon who led the procedure, Prof. Obi Davies-Ekwenna, said the feat could help Nigeria bridge geographical barriers to expand access to complex procedures across the country.

Davies-Ekwenna said the remote surgery was a pointer to the game-changing nature of technology in delivering precision healthcare in Nigeria.

“We were able to operate on a patient in Abuja, 500 kilometres away. We were able to operate on a patient with a kidney tumour, a cancer tumour. And so that was successful.

“It means access to experts from within and outside the country. Telesurgery can be done from any part of the world with precision, with excellent results,” the robotic surgeon said.

On his part, the RHV Board Chairman, Dr Kunle Onokoya, said that with robotic surgery, many procedures considered inoperable are now being done successfully.

“The kind of surgery that otherwise would have been inoperable, meaning that the risk from surgery was too great, is now being done with robot-assisted surgery,” he said.

Source: punchng.com

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