Saturday, May 27, 2023 Weekend Edition

May 29: Symbolic red

As curtain is drawn on APC 8-year reign

White “shadda” red cap, black shoes dress code for inauguration

‘We

Abuja records milestone in revenue harmonisation, consolidation drive

By Stanley Onyekwere

In what seems as the biggest milestone in the long standing quest to harmonise and consolidate revenue collection in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chairmen of the Territory’s six area councils and Minister of the FCT have joined forces to help accelerate the strategic streamlining process within the shortest possible time frame.

In particular, both leaderships of the area councils and FCT Administration on Thursday formed and inaugurated a 13-Man FCT Join Revenue Committee (JRC), following a recent stakeholders Retreat in Akure, Ondo State.

Performing the official inauguration of the committee under the chairmanship of Mr. Haruna Y. Abdullahi, in Abuja, the FCT Minister, Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello said it was pertinent to modernise the tax system in FCT, with stakeholders engagement in the right manner and way it will enhance overall

economic development of the FCT people and residents.

Bello said the committee comes with a clear broad mandate and terms of reference that will guide its actions, and ensure it is successful attaining its objectives, as it’s been trusted with people with the critical responsibility to organise tax administration, address various revenue concerns and resolve disputes in the system.

He added that through collaborative effort, the committee will devise strategies to enhance revenue generation through efficient collection process and improved compliance. It will also serve as a mechanism a dispute resolution as well as monitor and evaluate progress and ensure active stakeholders engagement.

According to him, there has to be very close collaboration with Area Councils chairmen, because the six area councils are the centre of unity, and there is no doubt that FCT is going to expand astronomically.

“What we have seen within the last three years is just the beginning. It is a reality that Nigeria is a large country, and Abuja represents a very important investment hub for people, and you can see the way and manner population is increasing daily.

“Over the years opportunities to raise the revenue profile had been missed, but I’m glad that over the last few years a lot dialogue has taken place between the FCTA and Area Council Chairmen, using the FCT-IRS. And I think this collaboration is absolutely essential, and if it is done properly, the FCT will be better for it.

“I want to advise the chairmen of the Area Councils that it is better that you 10% of a very large prosperous affluent cake than to have 100 % of something that is close to nothing”, the Minister stressed.

On his part, the FCT ALGON Chairman, Danladi Chiya, who is also the Chairman of Kwali Area Council, noted that the effort to streamline revenue

collection process and modernise the tax system, shows that ease of doing business has come to stay in the FCT.

He said: “As the Chairmen of the six Area Councils, we will put our heads to make sure that FCT-IRS succeeds by the grace of God”.

He however, thanked the outgoing FCT Minister for his good work done to ensure inclusive and rapid development of the Territory.

Also speaking, Haruna Abdullahi, Chairman of the committee, who disclosed that the whole concept has been ongoing for a very long time, and noted that inauguration of the committee is one step, which will formalise what they are about to do in the FCT.

Abdullahi, who is also the Acting Executive Chairman, FCT Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS, noted that the harmonisation will continue with one step at a time, as the secretariat has been inaugurated, and it will drive the whole process.

He explained that even though the FCT-IRS is supposed to drive the process, which is what it has neen doing, but with the support of the Area Councils and other stakeholders its role continues.

Phones for News: 08142929046 08024432099

Comedians entertaining guests, at a function in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Buhari takes Tinubu on tour of Aso Rock Villa

By Egena Sunday Ode

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday led president-elect, Bola Tinubu, on a brief tour of parts of the presidential villa, Abuja.

Both men had observed their Friday prayers in the presidential villa mosque before checking out some departments that are key to the workings of the presidency. Buhari led the President-elect through the Council Chamber and exited at the press gallery where journalists had waited in anticipation to ask him questions for the last time before his exit on Monday.

The State Chief of Protocol (SCOP), Ambassador Lawal Kazaure, explained the functions of the press gallery to both leaders before they walked past the anxiously waiting reporters.

Recall that on Thursday, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had done

a similar task, taking the VicePresident-elect, Kashim Shettima, on a tour of his office at the presidential villa, Abuja.

The former Borno State governor thereafter in a chat with correspondents, pledged that the incoming administration would hit the ground running after the swearing-in.

Osinbajo received him at 4pm at the Vice president’s wing with the tour of the office lasting for a little over an hour.

Speaking to correspondents after the tour, Shettima said he was invited for the meeting by the vice president.

He said: “On the instance of the Vice President, who is a friend, a contemporary, I came here just to exchange ideas on how to move the nation forward.

“He took me round the offices out of courtesy and I want to commend him, I want to thank him for extending that courtesy to me.

Yes, cross fertilization of ideas.”

He affirmed that the incoming administration will hit the ground running from day one as it would not have time to waste.

Shettima stated: “I believe President Tinubu will hit the ground running from day one. He does not have the luxury of time. And I will be the vice president. I don’t want to be presumptuous; I don’t want to make loud proclamations but my interaction with him has shown that we will hit the ground running from day one.”

On his conferment with the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), he said, it was a historical and a humbling experience.

“We are what we are not because of our intellect, not because of our physical prowess, not because of our pedigree or political sagacity. It’s just a gift from God to humanity, four years or eight years in this time.

“I believe it is a humbling experience, is a call to national duty and by God’s grace, we need the support of all of you, especially

the media to succeed.

“So, I wish to employ all of you to join us in building a new Nigeria.”

Tinubu’s inauguration: Again, court awards N17m against 3 litigants, lawyer

By Vivian Okejeme

Justice James Omotoso of the Federal High Court, Abuja, Friday awarded N17 Million cost against three litigants and their lawyer for filing a frivolous suit seeking to stop the inauguration of the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

This is coming hours after the Supreme Court dismissed another suit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking to void the candidacy of Tinubu and the Vice-president elect, Kashim Shettma.

The litigants, Praise Ilemona, Pastor Paul Issac Audu and Dr Anongu Moses jointly instituted the suit praying for an order to halt the Monday, May 29 swearing-in of Tinubu as new President.

Dismissing the suit, the court held that the suit was frivolous and an abuse of court process.

The Judge held that the plaintiffs lacked the locus standi to file the suit, adding that the court could not exercise jurisdiction to hear it because it relates to a presidential election.

The three litigants are to jointly pay the President elect a sum of N10M and another N5M to the All Progressives Congress APC who were part

of the seven defendants in the suit.

The judgement held that an interest of 10 percentage be placed on the judgment debt per year until when finally liquidated

Meanwhile, counsel to the petitioners, Daniel Elomah who filed the suit was ordered to pay N1m to Tinubu and the APC each.

Elomah in his motion alleged that the Presidentelect, Bola Tinubu supplied false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) about his age and citizenship status.

Elomah had pleaded with the court to pardon his clients and advised that the court should counsel them against

embarking frivolous suits in future.

In his argument, counsel to Tinubu, Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN, had argued that the suit be dismissed on the ground that the three plaintiffs lacked locus standi to institute it

He submitted that none of the plaintiffs participated in the primary election that produced the President-elect

but chose to harass, intimidate and irritate Tinubu through frivolous suits.

Fagbemi SAN further argued that the litigants engaged in gross abuse of court by their multiple cases against Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress in various courts without any reasonable cause of action.

Kano Governor-elect declares assets ahead of inauguration

From Mustapha Hodi, Kano

Just a few days to his inauguration, the Kano State Governor-elect, Abba Kabir Yusuf, has declared his assets and liabilities in a completed form submitted on Friday to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), Kano office.

Yusuf, who was received by the CCB State Director, Hajia Hadiza Larai Ibrahim, said his earnest declaration of assets is a demonstration of transparency and accountability that will form the bedrock of the incoming administration in Kano State.

He said: ''Today, I have fulfilled the constitutional obligation of declaring my assets before assuming the office, May 29," Yusuf was quoted as saying in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Sunusi Bature

Dawakin-Tofa, on Friday.

The Governor-elect told his host that "public service is a calling; it is a service to humanity and I am always ready to serve having won the confidence of the good people of Kano State.

"Further, Engr. Abba declared that the coast is now clear for the journey of restoration of sustainable development in all the sectors, where every Kobo of the public fund spent will not only be justifiable but accountable in Kano State under his watch.

"He assured that all the public officials including political appointees that will serve in his administration will be mandated to follow suit of asset declaration as required by the Law," the statement reads in parts.

President Muhammadu Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari

Tinubu’s inauguration: FG declares Monday public holiday

The Federal Government has declared Monday work free for all workers in the country, to commemorate the inauguration of the nation’s 16th democratically elected President.

A statement issued yesterday by Shuaib Belgore, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior said the declaration was made by Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, in Abuja on Thursday on behalf of the Federal Government.

“The Minister felicitates with all Nigerians on the momentous occasion,

Buhari receives

By Egena Sunday Ode

commending them for their faith in democracy as expressed in the nationwide election that produced the President and his Deputy being inaugurated and indeed in all elections across the nation.

“He enjoins them to continue to support and promote democracy through adherence to the rule of law and uphold all democratic institutions.

”Democracy anywhere is an unfinished business and the only way it can keep developing and serve its end of being the vehicle to good governance and the welfare of all the people is by

assets

President Muhammadu Buhari says his strict adherence to the constitutional requirement of assets declaration before and after taking office is aimed at strengthening best practices, raising moral standards in Public Service, helping to build integrity and combating corruption.

Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, stated this in a statement on Friday.

To this extent, he has directed that all out-going officials, elected and appointed from the Vice President downwards must collect the assets declaration form, fill and return it as he has done, the statement said.

Speaking upon collecting his form from Professor Isah Mohammed the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau, in Abuja on Friday, President Buhari said no one is excluded from the Constitutional duty of assets declaration.

“I signed, collected and acknowledged receiving my form. From here, I will ask my bank Manager in Kaduna to show me what has gone in and out of my account. Nobody is excluded from declaring their assets. I expected everyone from the Vice President downwards to follow the system.”

Professor Mohammed said

adhering to its tenets of rule of law, support for democratic institutions, promotion of free and responsible press and advancement of the frontiers of freedom for all the people”, the statement stated.

It adds: “Ogbeni Aregbesola urges Nigerians also to continue to promote ideals of peaceful coexistence and love for our neighbours, noting that we can only practice democracy and enjoy its dividends in a peaceful environment.

“The Minister commends all Nigerians for their strident efforts at achieving an

unbroken civilian rule and successful change of governments since 1999. He urges them to support and cooperate with the coming administration, arguing that the unbounded energy of the people is the nation’s greatest strength and will take the nation to its greatest height when it is positively deployed in its service.

“The Minister charges Nigerians to shun any form of violence and other untoward acts, assuring them that with all hands-on deck, the future is very bright when the nation will attain greatness in all facets of human development.”

declaration form, directs all outgoing officials to do same

compliance by the President in the last eight years and the support he had given to the Bureau had enabled it to achieve 99% compliance by elected and

appointed officials, according to the statement.

He also acknowledged the support of the President in the achievement of the

digitization of its services and operations thereby helping the organisation to open investigation of cases with greater efficiency.

Irish diaspora serves partnership for sustained engagement –NiDCOM

The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) says the Irish diaspora engagement should serve as a strategic partnership for Nigeria’s sustained engagement with her citizens living outside the country.

This is contained in a statement issued by Mr Gabriel Odu, Media, Public Relations and Protocols Unit, NIDCOM, recently in Abuja.

Chairman of the commission, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said this when the Irish Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Peter Ryan paid a courtesy visit to NiDCOM.

Dabiri-Erewa said this was against

the backdrop of the Irish Diaspora pulling their country out of recession.

The NiDCOM boss added that the commission could tap into their wealth of engagement with the Diaspora to bring the Nigerians living outside the country closer to the country.

Dabiri-Erewa also said NiDCOM had created diaspora-centric activities since its establishment four years ago.

She, however, assured him of the commission’s support and partnership with the Irish Diaspora Ministry, and by extension, the Irish Government.

The Irish Ambassador to Nigeria

agreed that the two countries had enjoyed better diaspora relationship, educational and cultural connections via the Diaspora agencies of both Ireland and Nigeria.

The envoy said that his visit was to compare notes and share ideas for a more robust diaspora engagement.

He, however, said there was still more to learn in the area of focus and find ways of collaboration.

Ryan said that the Irish government recognised the power of the diaspora and the need to engage with its people outside the shores of their country

through various channels, as the Irish Diaspora was proud of their homeland.

He added: “With the Irish 40 per cent Diaspora, they have 25 per cent younger population in Africa and they have the resilient spirit as Nigerians, as they perform excellently well in their various fields.”

Ryan also lauded the NiDCOM and Dabiri-Erewa for the show of care to Nigerians during the Ukraine and Sudan Crises, saying: “The Diaspora is the greatest treasure to any country in the world.”

(NAN)

L-R: Governor of Gombe State, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya with Emir of Gombe, Abubakar Shehu Abubakar III, during the Special Juma’at Prayer held at the Bubayero Juma’at Mosque in Gombe, yesterday. Ahead of the May 29 second term inauguration of Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya and his Deputy, Dr. Manassah Daniel Jatau

May 29: Symbolic red cap returns to Kano Govt House

• As curtain is drawn

on

APC 8-year reign

• White “shadda” red cap, black shoes dress code for inauguration

By Mustapha Adamu

After eight years hiatus, the symbolic red cap of Kwankwasiyya Movement, a political group created by the former Governor of Kano state, Sen. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso is set to return to the Government House on May 29.

That will be the day for inauguration of Abba Kabir Yusuf, who won the March 18 gubernatorial election under the platform of the opposition New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP).

WEEKEND PEOPLES DAILY recalls that but for the crisis that broke out between Kwankwaso and the outgoing governor of the state, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, shortly after the later won election in 2015, the red cap would have remained in the Government House from 2011 to date.

Kwankwaso and Ganduje who was his deputy for eight years fell out soon after the later won the governorship election in 2015.

Soon after the crisis broke out, political clans were formed by both Kwankwaso and Ganduje, two former long political associates, a situation that increased the intensity of the politicking in the second most populous state in the

country.

Now as the NNPP dislodged the eight-year reign of APC, the party’s stalwarts who have been anxioualy waiting on the wings are eager to return to the Government House, come May 29.

WEEKEND PEOPLES DAILY has learnt that preparations, which started about a month ago after the inauguration of tranaition committees whixh were constituted by both NNPP and the APC.

It was understood that after the NNPP committee concluded its preparations and submitted reports, the APC’s also submitted its own on Wednesday at a brief meeting at the government house.

That brief meeting, held at the Antechamber of the Government House, ushered in the beginning of the return of the red cap to the seat of power.

It could be recalled that the NNPP had recently accused Ganduje of trying to frustrate the handover plans, alleging that his men in the transition committee were holding back vital information and documents.

En route to the inauguration, Ganduje had caused a stir in the polity by saying he did not know who to hand over power to between Yusuf and Dr

Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, candidate of the APC in the March 18 poll.

Ganduje’s statement triggered heated debate among the stalwarts of NNPP and APC, as the former felt it was undemocratic for the governor to make such a statement, while the later had opined that the governor ‘s remarks were in order as Yusuf was allegedly wrongly declared as the winner of the election.

However, all the speculations, rumours and uproar seem to be over now as it has became manigestly evident that Yusuf would be inaugurated on May 29, signifying the return of the red cap to the Government House.

Our Correspondent has observed that Kano is agog for the inauguration ceremony as the NNPP supporters are busy preparing for the day, two more days to the D-day.

White “shadda” red cap and black shoes is going to be the attire to be uniformly worn on the day by the Kwankwasiyya stalwarts, it was also learnt.

WEEKEND PEOPLES DAILY learnt that the state governor-elect, alongside his entourage on Thursday visited Sani Abacha Stadium, the venue for the inauguration ceremony, to inspect the parade rehearsal by the police.

At the venue, the governor-elect met the state’s Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Usaini Gumel, who briefed him about the preparations so far and the Command’s effort to making sure the ceremony is hitch-free.

After the inauguration, Yusuf, alongside his deputy, Comrade Aminu Abdulsalam, would be escorted to the government house as the newly elected governor in accordance with tradition.

It is expected that hundreds of Kwankwasiyya stalwarts would accompany Yusuf to the Government House, signifying the return of red cap to the seat of power for another four years or possibly eight.

WEEKEND PEOPLES DAILY had reported last week that the recent meeting between kwankwaso and the Preaident-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in far away Paris had caused a stir and was threatening the political roots of Kano.

According to that report, the political family of Governor Ganduje was thrown off balance by that unexpected romance which is capable of unsettling the politics of the state.

Fears are being expressed that if the Kwankwaso-Tinubu romance is sustained, Ganduje may just be on his way to political oblivion.

S/Court dismisses PDP’s suit seeking Tinubu, Shettima disqualification.

By Vivian Okejeme

The inauguration of Ahmed Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima as President and Vice President respectively has been sealed as Supreme court dismissed a suit instituted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking their disqualification from the 2023 presidential election.

The five-man panel of Justices of the Apex court, led by Justice Adamu Jauro, held

that the PDP’s appeal praying disqualification of Tinubu and Shettima on grounds of alleged double nomination by Shettima was grossly lacking in merit and dismissed it.

Consequently, the court awarded a cost of N2million against PDP.

It held that PDP has no right to meddle in the internal affairs of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the conduct of its primary elections and nomination of its candidates.

Justice agreed with

Tinubu’s lawyer, Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN that PDP acted as busy body and meddlesome interloper in the ways and manners it dabbled into APC’s affairs unjustly.

The Apex Court held that apart from the fact that PDP lacked requisite jurisdiction to institute the suit, the party also failed to prove by documentary evidence that Shettima engaged in double nomination.

It maintained that Shettima withdrawn from the Senatorial race before accepting the

nomination for Vice Presidential candidate for the APC

Therefore, the Apex court described the PDP’s claim on the alleged double nomination of the Vice President-elect as most unfortunate and a clear deliberate mischief to mislead the Court and the country.

The Supreme Court also agreed with lawyer Fagbemi SAN that no matter the pains of PDP on how APC conducted its primary election and nominated its candidates, PDP must remain onlooker.

“It is abundantly clear that the Appellant (PDP) in the totality of its position in the instant case, is peeping and poke nosing into the affairs of another party as a busy body and meddlesome interloper”

The Court held that the action of PDP was painful because it used the social media to set a trap for the Supreme Court to blackmail it.

“This is most unfortunate, unwarranted and uncalled for and I advise the perpetrators to desist from it,” the court stated.

FCTA flags off 2023 farming season, distributes inputs to farmers

By Stanley Onyekwere

As part its measures to bolster food security, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has flagged-off the 2023 farming season with the distribution of assorted agricultural inputs to farmers in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

Performing the official flag-off on Friday, the FCT Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, noted that it is in aligning with the President Muhammadu Buhari’s agenda, that the FCTA made the provision of inputs an integral aspect of its agricultural development programmes.

Aliyu said: “You will recall that the last time this event took place in the FCT was in 2019. No thanks to the End SARS protest which resulted in the theft of most of the inputs that were procured and earmarked for distribution to farmers. During the protest, almost all our warehouses were vandalized which stalled efforts of the Secretariat to organize the event in 2022.

“However, over the past year, the Administration has been able to carry out a total overhaul of the various warehouses and constructed additional structures to increase their capacity to contain as many inputs as possible.

“In the same vein, the budgetary provision for the procurement of agricultural inputs has been increased from N200 million in 2021 to a whooping N2billion in the 2023 budget which has been utilized to procure fertilizers and non-fertilizer inputs such as Irrigation equipment, mechanized farm implements, Agro- chemicals as well as assorted improved seedlings.

“Furthermore, a total of 970 MT of NPK, 750 MT of Urea, 6,000 liters of liquid fertilizers have been purchased. All the products are to be sold to farmers at the 50% subsidized rates as approved by the FCT Administration”.

She adds: “In order to ensure that the inputs reach the targeted farmers, I have issued a directive to the Agriculture & Rural Development Secretariat to ensure that the Fertilizer

Distribution Committee expands its scope of distribution to reach out to more farmers. Our primary focus is to ensure that Cooperative societies, Area Council authorities, 17 chiefdoms, SWOFON (Women Farmers), Sarkin Noma’s in the 62 wards of FCT, vulnerable groups as well as known individual farmers are captured in the list.

“Let me however make it clear that the inputs that were purchased were not only for crop farming. A substantial amount of the funds were expended on the procurement of inputs for the fisheries, livestock., veterinary and forestry development.

“You will agree with me that much as agricultural inputs remain critical to boosting agricultural production, also of immense significance, is the issue of knowledge of Good Agronomic Practices (GAP). It is in this regard that the Administration has over the years, tried to invest in knowledge acquisition by organizing programmes that will expose farmers to innovations that are more efficient”.

In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary, FCTA, Mr. Olusade Adesola noted that the world today is threatened by food crisis exacerbated by population growth, conflicts and Climate Change, whicjh according to the United Nations, global hunger is at a record high with the number of people that are food insecure growing astronomically.

According to him: “It is on this premise that I would like to start by stressing the importance of the initiative of annual provision of inputs to farmers, as strategic in strengthening the capacity of our food production systems to meet the yearnings of any society.

“It is in line with this objective that the FCT Administration has over the years, increased the budgetary allocation to the agricultural sector and I want to say that the support that we are giving farmers today is so far, the highest in the history of the Federal Capital Territory. Credit for this must however go to the Honorable Minister of State, FCT for being at the forefront of advocating for better funding for the sector.

“Most times, particularly in Nigeria, when we talk about agriculture, what easily comes to mind is the availability of input, specifically fertilizers, but beyond that, are equally pertinent issues such as capacity building. This is an area which the Administration is giving attention to ensure that our farmers are availed with useful information that will help to enhance food production not just in terms of quantity but quality.

“Part of our priorities with the ease of doing business initiative which we have given an impetus, is to create the enabling environment for residents and potential investors to take advantage of the abundant agro-business investment opportunities that abound in the FCT. It is gladdening to note that this initiative is already yielding the desired results as can be seen in the robust agricultural activities that are taking place in the Territory.

“An indication that the FCT Administration is moving in the right direction is the 2022 Food Security Analysis Report which shows a reduction of over 30% in the population of food insecure households from about 349,876

in October 2021 to 233,233 as at November 2022”, he said.

Earlier in his address of welcome, the Secretary Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat (ARDS), Mallam Abubakar Ibrahim said the initiative is no doubt a reaffirmation of the commitment of the present Administration’s efforts at revitalizing the agricultural sector especially in the aspect of supporting the activities of farmers by enhancing their access to affordable agricultural inputs.

He said: “We are optimistic that with the very large quantity of inputs that have been procured for distribution, the FCT will be witnessing a bumper harvest this year. Our projection on the outcome of this support is an improvement of up to 30% in the food insecurity situation in the Federal Capital Territory.

“For today’s event, allocation letters will be distributed to some of the beneficiaries who will pick their inputs here while other farmers will have to present authentic allocation letter with evidence of payment to redeem their products at the designated warehouses located in Gwagwalada, Tungan-Maje, Gwagwa, Kwali, Karshi, Abaji and Kwali”.

By Stanley Onyekwere

ANigerian Corps member, currently undergoing the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Fa’izah Atu Muhammad, has received an award as the overall best in an essay competition in Africa.

The competition organized by UONGOZI Institute of Tanzania for young Africans between the ages of 18-25, titled ‘2023 Youth Leadership Competition’ was competed by 30 African countries including the United Kingdom and India for young Africans in the diaspora.

Fa’izah Muhammad, a 22-year-old Law graduate of the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, hails from the Gulu-Vatsa Community of Lapai Local Government Area of Niger State. She graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University in the 2020/2021 Academic year with a Second Class Honours (Upper Division).

At an elaborate ceremony that took place Thursday,25th May,2023 during the 7th African Leadership Forum (ALF) , meeting in Accra, Ghana, the young Muhammad was presented with the award and cash prize by the President, Nana Akufo-Addo, of Ghana to the admiration of African leaders including two former Nigerian Presidents, Olusegun Obasanjo, and Goodluck Jonathan.

Nigerian Corps member receives african champion award

…Ghanian

The organisers had earlier, through it website, https://uongozi.or.tz/news/ announing-winners-of-youthleadership-competition-2023, revealed that the young Muhammad emerged victorious after defeating over 1,150 participants who also made entries for the continental competition.

The topic for the Essay Competition : “If you were an African Leader, how would you promote intra-African trade to unlock Agricultural potential in Africa?” At the occasion, she read her Essay to the World.

It was gathered that the topic was given by the organizers upon which she wrote excellently and came, overall winner. Her essay was evaluated by examiners across the globe before it was adjudged to be the best among others.

Also, the positions of first runner-up went to Innocent Matekere from Tanzania; second runner-up, Sithandweyinkosi Sivela from Zimbabwe; third runner-up is Onwuka Dabeluchukwu

Chiemelie from Nigeria, and the fourth runner-up is Manda

Nixon from Cameroon. The essay competition was judged based on originality, creativity, use of language, and appropriateness of the context of the theme. It was also evaluated on the representation of the enormous variety of solutions and ideas on how to facilitate agricultural intratrade within the African region.

The competition is designed to encourage young Africans to freely exhibit their writing skills, leadership skills, and other inherent potentials in them. By winning the coveted prize in the competition keenly contested, the young Fa’izah Atu Muhammad made the country proud and also won for herself, Two Thousand (US) Dollars the Prize tag for the continental competition.

In a brief interaction with our correspondent, the would be lawyer, thanked Almighty Allah for the grace and knowledge to emerge victorious in the competition. She expressed excitement over the award and urged young Nigerians to be proud of their country and its educational system, even as she insisted

that the educational system in Nigeria is not as bad as is being portrayed.

Her words: “Look at me. I have not schooled outside the shore of this country, yet I came top of this continental essay competition. I am proud of my country, Nigeria, I am also thankful and proud of my parents for their guidance and sacrifice in seeing me through school”.

The Prize was formally presented to her on May 25th,

2023, in Accra Ghana, at a colorful ceremony hosted by the President of Ghana, H.E Nana Akufo-Addo and former President of Tanzania, H.E Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, and the Secretary General of African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat, Wamkele Mane; with attendance of several African Leaders including two former Nigeria Presidents namely Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan.

Don’t be ready-tool for post election violence- Varsity Don charges youth

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

AProfessor of Mass Communications in Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Anthony Igyuve has advised youth not to make themselves available tools for violence on the outcome of the 2023 general elections.

Igyuve gave the advice while delivering a keynote address at “The Peace For Free Lecture Series” with the theme “Sustainable Peace Beyond Elections” held on Thursday in Abuja, organised by a Civil Society Group, Peace For Free Advocacy Initiative.

Igyuve commended Nigerians youth for their uncommon courage, enthusiasm and active participation in the last general election in spite of the challenges, which he described as the demonstration of the commitment to make Nigeria better.

He said that youth needed to know that the dream of better Nigeria that made them participate in the election would not be possible if there was no peace in Nigeria.

Igyuve tasked young Nigerians to emulate former President Goodluck Jonathan who sacrificed his ambition for the peace of the country when he contested and lost against President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.

“Today your future is more important than any other thing and that future can best be guaranteed under a democratic governance and peaceful environment.

“If there are grievances arising from the outcome of an election, there are institutional mechanisms that we peacefully take to resolve the conflicts that may arise from there.

“So, let no one make themselves easily available for politicians to manipulate by causing unnecessary unrest because those who are manipulating you don’t have good intentions for you.

“They are not doing it because they love you. They are doing it because they want to benefit from you.

“It is when you recognise that, then you will recognise the importance of peace

in our societies and in our communities,” he said.

He equally commented those who contested the 2023 general elections that already tolled the path of peace by seeking redress in the court, urged the need for the youth to sustain that.

“The peace building that we are asking to be sustained beyond elections is what we are saying should be done. And I’m happy that the process has already commenced.”

Earlier in his remarks, the Convener, Chris Kalu, said that the teeming youth population across Nigeria must be speedily, properly mobilised, enlightened to understand and appreciate the dynamics of the country’s political system in order to positively play their role towards sustainable peace in the country.

Kalu said that enlightenment needed to be done rather than allowing them to be left to sway to the whims and caprices of unscrupulous, unpatriotic political marksmanship.

He said that what was important especially now that Nigeria sought to achieve sustainable peace at this

critical moment of democratic transition, following the conduct of a recent general election.

“There’s no doubt that this year’s elections so far have generated a lot of public attention, particularly from Nigerian youth who are remarkably increasing their political participation in our collective struggle for good governance unlike in the past.

“Election is an important part of democracy, which in itself is a process involving human and technological elements not absolutely immune from errors.

“Like all processes, democracy needs to be allowed to grow, to develop to maturity for most of the population to enjoy the promises and gains thereof,” Kalu said.

He said that peace, unity, tolerance and dialogue remained the critical ingredients for a healthy democracy without which no progress could be realised in the country.

He said that the Peace For Free Lecture Series is a nationwide highly interactive peace building effort, which has already been held in the six

geopolitical zones of Nigeria including: Delta, Lagos, Ebonyi, Kaduna, Plateau, Borno states, with Abuja as the climax.

The Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission, Chief Tony Ojukwu, commending the group for the initiative, urged Nigerians to come together to promote sustainable peace.

Ojukwu said that as a large nation of cultural and religious diversities, all citizens must learn to tolerate one another and eschew division and discrimination that tend to fuel the embers of violence which is antithetical to development.

“Individually and collectively, we have a role to play to nurture the peaceful coexistence of Nigeria otherwise we will be adversely affected one way or another.

“The ethnic and religious tensions in some parts of Northern and Southern Nigeria respectively are clear testimonies that peace pays while war, violence and conflicts bring destruction in terms of human and material resources,” he said.

President presents award, as Obasanjo, Jonathan, others grace ceremony

CRIME NEWS

Forgery: Police parade suspected impersonator in Gombe

From David Hassan, Gombe

The Gombe state Police command on Friday paraded a suspected impersonator in Gombe who conspired in forgery and cheating.

Briefing Journalists on the development, Police Public Relations Officer ASP Mahid Mua’zu Abubaker, who was represented by his deputy, ASP Sharif Sa’ad said a complained was reported at Gombe Divisional Police

Headquarters by a staff of Gombe state Internal Revenue Service on the 20th May 2023 that one Habu Muhammad Kabir went to Hajj orientation camp at Government Arabic Teachers College Gombe and presented himself as a staff of internal revenue service deployed to collect revenue from intending pilgrims. He said following the report, the detectives from the Gombe Division swung into action and succeeded in arresting the suspect.

According to him, during the interrogation, the suspect confessed to have forged the agency ID Card, receipt and stamp and collected the sum of #30,000 naira from two persons, 15,000 each for registration.

It was alleged that the suspect conspired with one Iliya Amos to produce a fake receipt for him after they said he provided him with a copy of the original receipt.

Police Public Relations Officer said exhibits recovered

from the suspect include two laptops black in colour, one white Hp Printer, one stamp and its pad, one forged ID Card bearing the photograph of Habu Muhammad Kabir.

He added the name of Mustapha Muhammad Bello, some pieces of the forged receipt and the sum of #30,000 naira noting that both suspects confessed to the alleged offence and will be charged to court for prosecution.

In an interview with

Journalists, the Executive director Standard and compliance Gombe state Internal revenue service Mr. Bulus Nuhu decried that the issue of creating fake receipts from the service is alarming. He said something has to be done to avert this problem by engaging intelligent officers to checkmate the culprit.

Nuhu however called on the people to always be alert by reporting such cases to the appropriate authority.

Benue Volunteer Guards loses 9 personnel in active service

From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

Not fewer than nine members of the Benue State Community Volunteer Guard (BSCVG) were killed in active service within the state.

State Commander of BSCVG Capt. Ayuma Ajobi (rtd) disclosed this on Friday during the commissioning of its headquarters located within Benue Government House.

Ajobi explained that of the 9 deceased members, 8 were killed in active service at their various duty locations while the one died after a brief illness.

He explained that following the development, the total strength of the Guard has been reduced to 1,565 trained personnel.

He decried that the state is currently facing a multifaceted insecurity situation ranging from banditry, kidnappings for ransom, and recurring cycles of deadly violence perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen on indigenous farmers in their ancestral homes which has left more than one million people homeless and many thousands are now taking refuge in IDP camps scattered across the State.

Ajobi also, observed that the wide scale destruction of lives and property by the activities of expansionists terrorists has almost inhibited sustainable development in the State, stating that this necessitated the State Government to fully enforce the law that provides for the establishment of the Benue State Community Volunteer

Guards law enacted in 2000 (amended)and accented to by Samuel Ortom’s administration on 26 Oct 2021.

The Commander said 1,574 persons drawn from the pool of those who were recommended by the traditional rulers at the grassroots, profiled by the Nigeria Police and the Department of State Services,

underwent rigorous medical screening exercise.

“The benefits recorded since the establishment of the BSCVG in the State are numerous. It is on record today that the general crime rate in the state and especially in Makurdi metropolis has reduced drastically.

“The outfit’s trained

personnel now operate confidently and conduct themselves more professionally. The general conduct and professionalism of BSCVG personnel has attracted positive and high commendations and appreciation from other conventional security agencies and a majority of Benue state citizens”, the Commander said.

I‘m not afraid of EFCC probe after leaving office, Ortom declares

From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

Outgoing Benue State

Governor Samuel Ortom has declared that he is not afraid of any invitation by the Economic and Financial Crimes’ Commission (EFCC) after he leaves office on May

29th, 2023.

Governor Ortom stated this during a valedictory session of Benue State Executive Council on Friday.

The Governor who spoke in a sober mood said he has no cause to run away from the State or country, insisting that he does

not own any house abroad.

Ortom who said he will not dissolve his cabinet until 12 noon May 29, 2023, lauded them for their contribution towards the success of his administration.

He urged the commissioners not to run away or hide if invited by the EFCC, saying “go and

explain, do not run anywhere.

I have not seen any unusual thing that any of my commissioners did.

“If invited I will go there and explain. I do not have any house abroad to run and hide. I will be right here in Benue, am not going anywhere if I have

committed any crime, they should let me know and I will explain

“If I have an opportunity I will pick my deputy again for his experience and knowledge. I tapped so much from his worth of experience”, Ortom eulogized him.

Assistant Inspector General of Police Zone 14 Inspection tour of his Zone

Ahead May 29: El-Rufai ‘s curious parting gifts set tongues wagging

By Femi Oyelola

When Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufa’i, announced last week that he would continue to sack workers, and embark on demolition of houses and other structures in the state until the midnight of May 28, 2023, many residents of Kaduna didn’t take him seriously. Some thought it was a joke, while others simply described the pronouncement as an empty boast. He “served” that notice precisely on May 20th in a public statement.

But just one day after, the reality of the threat dawned on them as El-Rufai matched his words with actions to present unpleasant parting gifts to some residents of the state.

The first set of Kaduna residents to receive the governor’s bitter gift were members of Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky-led Islamic Movement of Nigeria, (IMN), as bulldozers were rolled in to demolish property belonging to

the sect across the state.

It was gathered that the property is among the 48 marked for demolition by the outgoing governor.

Confirming the incident to our Correspondent, the Spokesperson for the IMN, Abdullahi Musa, said government officials led by heavily armed security operatives began the demolition exercise in the early hours of last Sunday.

According to him, the structures demolished included schools, hospitals, and residences

belonging to IMN members.

“The government went further to Maraban Jos, where it demolished a registered Fudiyya Nursery and Primary School completely.”

Musa noted that all the schools demolished by the governor were duly registered with the State Government.

Next to be presented with this surprised parting gifts was the former Governor of the State, Senator Ahmed Muhammed Makarfi, as El-Rufa’i revoked the Right of Occupancy (RO)

of nine properties belonging to the former governor, and the property marked for demolition.

The official notice of revocation was addressed to the Director of Cane Properties, Plot 11, Murtala Square, Doka, Alhaji Ibrahim Makarfi.

Listed among the affected property, were five plots in Mogadishu, three plots on Kwato road and one plot at Doka, all within Kaduna metropolis.

The letters of revocation and withdrawal of R of O, was signed by Mahmud Aminu, Registrar, Kaduna Geographical Information Service, (KADGIS).

The Gbagi Villa Community in Chikun Local Government Area, of the state was the next on the list of victims, as bulldozers were also rolled into the community on the 23rd May amidst tight security and the government immediately commenced pulling down structures.

However, the Gbagi Villa community members fiercely rejected the gifts, as women and youth of the area barricaded

“

Listed among the affected property, were five plots in Mogadishu, three plots on Kwato road and one plot at Doka, all within Kaduna metropolis.

El-Rufai ‘s curious parting gifts set tongues wagging

the roads and started throwing stones at the bulldozers in deaperate efforts to stop the demolition.

In response, security personnel started shooting into the air to scare off the protesting community members who remained adamant and this action forced the bulldozers to pull out of the community with a promise that they would return to continue the demolition exercise. This is the rejection of the unpleasant gifts from the governor by the community.

The governor’s gifts vary from demolition of houses to deposition of traditional rulers. Accordingly, two traditional rulers of Piriga and Arak Chiefdoms, Jonathan Paragua Zamuna and General Aliyu Iliyah Yammah, respectively received

their unpleasant gifts from the Governor as they were deposed from their seats by the outgoing governor.

A statement signed by the Commissioner of Local Government, Hajiya Umma K Ahmad, stated that the two

traditional rulers ceased to hold their respective offices from Monday, 22nd May 2023, following recommendations from the Ministry of Local Government in line with the provisions of Section 11 of the Traditional Institutions Law No. 21 of 2021

According to the Commissioner, the traditional ruler of Arak chiefdom was deposed for an unacceptable response to a query by the state government over an unauthorised appointment of four district heads and his nonresidence within his domain.

She added that the traditional ruler of Piriga was removed because of communal clashes between Gure and Kitimi communities and also his nonresidence within the chiefdom.

‘’The District Head of Garun Kurama, Mr. Babangida Sule, will oversee the affairs of Piriga Chiefdom, pending the appointment of a new chief, while the Council Secretary has been directed to initiate the process for the appointment of a new Chief.”

With barely 48 hours for governor El-Rufa’i to vacate Sir Kasim Ibrahim House, fears of the unknown have gripped residents as no one is sure who the next recipient of his unpleasant gifts would be. But the governor would be remembered in history as a man that worked his talk, and if you dare him you do that at your own peril. There’s no iota of doubt that Nasir El-Rufa’i would not be easily forgotten in Kaduna State for the good, the bad and the ugly that characterised his eight years on the saddle.

The District Head of Garun Kurama, Mr. Babangida Sule, will oversee the affairs of Piriga Chiefdom, pending the appointment of a new chief

Guber election: We’re not satisfied with tribunal’s verdict – Ogun NNPP

By Christiana Ekpa

The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has announced that it has appealed the ruling of the Ogun State governorship and House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal.

The party said it was not satisfied with the tribunal’s verdict on its gubernatorial election petition.

Recall that NNPP had earlier taken its petition to the gubernatorial election petition tribunal sitting in Abeokuta, the state capital.

NNPP’s petition was based on the omission of the party’s name on the ballot papers used during the election held across the state on

Saturday, 18th March 2023.

The tribunal had, on April 15, 2023, dismissed the petition against Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the first respondent, Abiodun Adedapo Olusegun as the second respondent and the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the third respondent on the ground that the debrief counsel asked for discontinuation and withdrawal of the petition.

The party has, however, said that it is not satisfied with the decision of the tribunal.

The party noted that it is appealing the ruling because the judges that heard the case erred in their judgement.

NNPP said that it has filed an appeal to challenge the verdict of the tribunal.

NNPP counsel, I. D. Izunya, in a statement made available to journalists on Friday, informed that the party had filed an appeal on May 22, 2023, on suit No EPT/ OG/GOV/01/2023, at the Court of Appeal sitting in the Ibadan Judicial Division.

He added that the party was not dissatisfied with the unanimous judgement by the three judges at the election petition tribunal.

According to him: “The learned justices erred in law when they unanimously held that by Article 27.18 (iii), (v) and (vii) of the

Constitution of New Nigeria Peoples Party (Hereinafter called NNPP) the National Legal Adviser of NNPP cannot take over the appellant case, brief another counsel and debrief the counsel on record, Mr Peter I. Ogah, from further representing the party.

“That by Article 27.18 (iii), (v) and (vi) of the constitution of NNPP the National Legal Adviser of the Party is empowered to attend to all litigations and legal defence on behalf of the party at all levels, including its organs and coordinate the activities of Legal Advisers at all levels on legal matters affecting the party.”

LP lawmaker-elect mobilises constituents for prayers to recover Obi’s mandate

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

House of Representatives memberelect, for Anaocha-NjikokaDunukofia Federal Constituency of Anambra State, Hon George Ozodinobi has organised an interdenominational prayer meeting for the presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi.

Ozodinobi a member of LP, who mobilised members of his constituency to Egwegwe Square in Nimo community on Friday for the prayers said he was very confident that Obi will recover the

mandate given to him by Nigerians.

He said “This is an interdenominational prayer meeting consisting of all Christian clergies. You can see the level of turnout of my constituents. We all turned out here to pray for Mr Peter Obi, who is also my constituent too.

“We are very convinced that Obi won the election of February 25, but his mandate was unjustly given to someone else. So what we have done here today is to call on God to retrieve the mandate.

“Obi must be president of Nigeria, that we are sure of. They can only delay it, but even if it is one day to the end of

the tenure, he will retrieve his mandate. My only fear is that when he (Obi) will change the presidential election timetable in Nigeria like he did in Anambra, INEC will now tax Nigerians twice to conduct presidential election separately and then others too.”

Earlier, Rev Fr Venatius Ogbuagu, parish priest of St Mary’s Catholic parish, Ifitedunu, Rev CC Moloukwu and Rev Michael Ufoaro led the sermon, prayer and praise sessions respectively.

Fr Ogbuagu in his homily said: “If we all keep quiet and refuse to speak, the country would continue to deteriorate.

What happened during the election is theft of mandate.

“We are persistent in calling that votes should count in Nigeria because we can only hold those we voted to account. Those whom we did not vote for, but they stole the mandate will never reckon with us.

“They announced a winner of an election, and there was no jubilation anywhere. We are confident that God can do all things, and He will use the judges to do it, and you will see the real jubilation the day they will announce Peter Obi winner.”

POLITICS

Inauguration: Focus on security, human dev’t – APC chieftain, Ibinabo to Tinubu

By Musa Baba Adamu

The first female presidential aspirant of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Ibinabo Joy Dokubo, has charged the presidentelect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s administration, to focus more on security and human capital development.

Addressing journalists in

Abuja on Thursday, Ibinabo explained how insecurity had blighted the socio-economic growth of Nigeria.

Speaking of the importance of security, Ibinabo, who stated that an insecure and dysfunctional nation has no infrastructure and economic base, noted that it is impossible to be truly productive if there is no security.

She noted that the country

will automatically boom economically as soon as the challenge of insecurity and youth unemployment is tackled and reduced to the barest minimum

The APC chieftain said, “There’s no business without security. If there’s security, businesses will flow, workers will go to work, and students will go to school.

“I also want him to focus on

human capital development because you see youths on the street doing nothing because they don’t have the capital to start something.”

Sharing her views on the zoning arrangements by the leadership of APC over presiding officers at the 10th National Assembly, the APC chieftain said, ”I know the Party is Supreme but equity, fairness, and justice are

more supreme than the party. It is better for the 10th Assembly to go and vote and set aside hatred.

“Akpabio has been chosen. If Akpabio would lead the national assembly and perform the way he did as a Governor it would be good but if we judge him by the way he managed affairs at the NDDC? I believe there will be a problem.”

10th House of Reps: Wike endorses Abbas, Kalu leadership

By Musa Baba Adamu

The ambitions of Tajudeen Abbas and Benjamin Kalu to become the next Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives received a major boost on Friday with endorsement from Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike.

Speaking while receiving the duo in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, the governor promised his support

for only them, being the anointed candidates of their party, the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Wike described Abbas and Kalu as the most qualified aspirants for the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, assuring that he will deliver Rivers votes for them.

According to him, all the 13 members-elect from Rivers State with the exception of one, are with Abbas and Kalu 100 per cent.

The governor promised not to leave any stone unturned to ensure that the 2015 scenario where memberselect went against their party and emerged as leaders of the National Assembly did not repeat itself.

He said: “I want to say here that I am with you fully. You know I do my things in the open. When Chinda told me that you’re coming here, I said there was no need because I am with you fully. All our members are with

you, except one, who is doing something else. 2015 won’t repeat itself.

“Let me tell you, I’ll leave office on Monday, and once I leave, we’ll start the campaign fully. I urge all of you to support Abbas. Don’t support him in the day and do something else in the night. You should support him fully.”

On his part, Ikenga Ugochinyere, a House of Representatives member-elect and CUPP spokesman and

Communication Adviser to the Tajudeen-Ben Kalu, TBK Group, who was also part of the delegation, expressed excitement over Wike’s endorsement, saying it was a climax to the duo’s victory come June 13.

Ugochinyere, who, also, recently with the support of over 30 others, endorsed the duo of Abbas and Kalu, said the visit was a victory consolidation, adding that the two lawmakers are seconds away from emerging victorious.

PRESIDENT BUHARI PRAYS AND CONDUCTS PRESIDENT-ELECT ASIWAJU BOLA AHMED TINUBU ROUND THE STATE HOUSE, ABUJA. PHOTO; STATE HOUSE

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EDITORIAL Absurd! Kill it

Benue Governor, Samuel Ortom has consistently remained in the news for the past few months, albeit controversially. The latest is his proposed bill for bogus life pension for himself and past governors of the state. In the bill which has provoked concerns in Benue state and beyond, the outgoing governor is seeking to, among others, have monthly pension approval running into millions to be paid to him and his deputy for life. And, according to the proposal, the bill is to have retrospective effect to cover former chief executives of the state and their deputies, such as Senator George Akume, Senator Gabriel Suswam. Prince Ogiri Ajene and Chief Steven Lawani.

Recall that on April 11, 2023, Governor Ortom had proposed a pension Bill to the State Assembly titled, “A Bill for a Law to make Provisions for the Maintenance of Former Governors of Benue State and their Deputies and for Other Matters Connected Thereto.”

Section 2(a)(i) makes provisions for the payment to all former governors a monthly “stipend”, which is equivalent to the “salary” of an incumbent governor. Section 2(a)(ii) makes provisions for the payment to all former deputy governors, a “stipend” equivalent to the “salary” of an incumbent deputy governor, while Section 2(b) provides for a building of permanent residential accommodation in any town and state of their choice.

Also, Section 2(c) and (h) makes provisions for four new cars every four years for former governors and two for former deputy governors, which shall all be maintained at the expense of the state.

Similarly, Section 2(d) and (e) provide for six personal staff for former governors and three for former deputy governors, all to be paid by the state, and Section 2(f) provides 24-hour security surveillance and guarding for all former governors and deputy governors.

Section 2(g) provides for free medical treatment for them, their wives and children, and Section 4 provides that former governors and deputies be entitled to two and one annual vacations abroad respectively.

It smacks of elite conspiracy to backdate such a contentious law to accommodate past leaders, an indication of desperation to give the bill some measure of credibility. This is more so as strong indications are rife that Ortom’s predecessors are not on the same page with him on this matter. We also believe that the bill which has

already passed first reading on the floor of the Benue State House of Assembly is not driven by altruism and general good of the state, but by palpable self protection and preservation drive.

We concede that Benue is not the first state in the country to embark on this ambiguous project of making stupendous life pension provisions for their ex-governors. Lagos, Akwa-Ibom and Rivers are among other examples; and some of them have even extended the largesse to principal officers of their state legislatures. But the case of Benue is different because it can simply not afford this luxury.

No doubt, those familiar with the state would acknowledge that unlike others, its internally generated revenue is nothing to write home about, and that probably was the reason Ortom’s predecessors avoided the temptation to introduce the law to the state. If the state could not afford this luxury under the watch of Akume and Suswam when things were a little bit better, it should not by any means contemplate it now that the whole world knows that Benue is far from being buoyant.

More worrisome is the accumulated huge salary and pension burden, in addition to quantum loans, a task the incoming administration has to grapple with. Aside pensioners whose monthly stipend arrears are in years, Benue teachers, state and local government workers are said to be be owed 11, 8 and 10 months salary arrears respectively. Feelers from the state also suggest that teachers and workers have taken to farming and petty trading in order to make ends meet, prompting questions as to what legacies the outgoing government of Ortom wants to be remembered for.

We advise the the governor to immediately withdraw the contentious bill to save the poor state from the yoke of debt burden. For many in the state, and even beyond, the vicissitudes of the past eight years will not be forgotten in a hurry. And the bill, if allowed to pass, will compromise the integrity of the fragile economy of the state. And it is for this reason that we view the governor’s proposal as misplaced. We urge members of the Benue State House of Assembly to not only discard the bill, but also proceed to demand explanation for the humongous federal allocations and sundry resources that have accrued to the state since May, 2015. By that, we believe that the legislators will demonstrate patriotism by standing with the state and its people, rather than with avaricious politicians.

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OPINION

Teachers and nation building

By Ezinwanne Onwuka

Ican vividly recall when I was asked to represent my class in an intra-school debate competition during my primary school days. The topic of the debate was: Teachers are more important than lawyers. My class, primary 5 was to propose while Primary 6 was to oppose the motion. 9-year old me was not comfortable with supporting the motion because I felt lawyers were much more important in the society compared to teachers. I didn’t understand why anyone could think otherwise. It is stupid, I thought.

Nevertheless, I got to work. The points I was putting up, rather than sparking up an interest in me for the topic, made me see the ridiculousness of supporting the motion. At this juncture, it is pertinent that I mention that my childhood dream was to become a lawyer. Maybe, it was because of my love for the law profession that made me have a low regard for teachers and wouldn’t want to take the side of teachers in a debate. If I don’t defend lawyers, who will?

Well, I pulled out of the debate. I told my teacher that I was having difficulty getting interesting points for the debate to guarantee our success, as the chief speaker. Of course, she didn’t believe me because she knew I was up to the task. She knew I was lying. And her efforts to know why I was opting out of the competition proved futile. She had to choose another student.

On the day of the competition, I prayed that Primary 6 would win. Imagine that! At the end, my prayer was ‘answered’. I was jubilant. In fact, I celebrated the victory more than the victors.

Many years have gone, my opinion about teachers has changed. My opinion then as a 9-year old was clearly immature and unguided. Not that I looked down on them, though. I just couldn’t figure out any meaningful role they play in the society, compared to lawyers. As I grew older and met teachers like Mr. Steve, Mrs. Egbo, Dr. C.N Ogbozo, Prof. J.C.A Agbakoba, Dr. A.C Areji, Prof. F.O.C Njoku, Mrs. U.M Okoye, Mr. D.O Odo and so many others, I had a paradigm shift. However, this is not to imply that I disregarded my primary school teachers. No, I owe them a profound gratitude! And yes, an apology to Mrs. Igwe, my Primary 5 teacher, for my childish behavior back then (I hope she gets to read this somehow).

Remeniescing, I can’t help but get baffled to realize that every teacher who has taught me actually made me realize the unique role(s) of teachers in the society. The pithy saying, ‘No Teacher, No Nation’ underscores how indispensable teachers are to the nation. Little wonder, the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) has the slogan “If you can write your name, thank your teacher”. This also lends credence to highlight the importance of teachers.

Every profession is important and prestigious but permit me to say that the most important and most prestigious is the teaching profession because the teaching profession is the mother of all profession because, the future of every individual and nation lies in the hands of the teacher. This view is somewhat shocking coming from someone who, as a child, regarded the law profession highly and the teaching profession lowly, right?

There is a popular saying that if a doctor makes a mistake, perhaps one person might die, if a lawyer makes a mistake, perhaps, one person might go to jail, if an engineer makes a mistake, may be a bridge might collapse, but if a teacher makes a mistake, generations yet unborn will come to suffer the effect of that mistake. This shows that teachers are the life-wire and mainstay of the nation.

Chanakya has rightly stated, “The teacher is the maker of a nation”. Hence, no teachers, no future. A nation without (competent) teachers is a nation heading for doom because the future of the nation is fashioned by him/her through the process of education. In other words, a teacher is a person who can either make or mar the future of a society, a person whose importance cannot be over emphasized. It is a teacher who influences the immature minds of the youth. He/she treats and tries to mould the living stuff into various forms.

A teacher is a vessel for development. A nation trying to march ahead on the roads to progress can leave the education of her sons and daughter in the hands of incompetent teachers only at its own risk. “The world of tomorrow will be born from the schools of today” says M.L Jacks. In this way, teachers, indeed, can be rightly called nation builders.

A nation is built by its citizens and citizens are moulded by teachers. The role of the teacher in nation building cannot be overemphasised. National development hinges inextricably on the contributions of the teacher. Indeed, teachers are great assets in any Nation, that is why the National Policy on Education (Revised 2004) recognized that “No educational system can rise above the quality of its teachers”.

Teachers are, undoubtedly, the pillar to the development and building of any nation. Teachers are the light bearers to development.

Ezinwanne Onwuka can be reached at ezinwanne.dominion@ gmail.com

The necessity of teaching critical thinking in African schools

By Leo Igwe

The realization of a more critical thinking African society must start in the schools and with the schools because schools are spaces where values, skills, and competencies are nurtured. Schools are places where the minds of children and youths are shaped and nourished. There have been propositions for young people to think critically, and to question ideas and beliefs. But propositions are mere words and empty rhetoric if they are not backed by actions and effective programs. Many have urged against blind faith and belief in received knowledge. They have stressed the importance of openness to new ideas and opposing viewpoints. But such urges have yet to translate into critical mindedness. People have argued against a dogmatic approach to issues, to social and cultural norms. But those arguments usually end up as mere talks, and some armchair speculations.

The habit of questioning ideas has been widely acknowledged as important and necessary in navigating and making sense of the deluge of information that people encounter in their everyday life. Being critical has been lauded as a needed virtue in distinguishing truth from falsehood, fake from genuine news, credible information from misinformation and disinformation. Having a critical mind has been identified as an asset, or a potent weapon against deception, gullibility, and manipulation by conartists and snake oil salesmen. Critical mindedness has been noted as the antidote to fanaticism and bigotry. Unfortunately, there are no programs devoted to teaching and inculcating critical thinking skills, especially in the primary and secondary schools. Critical thinking features too little too late in the course of education. And there is little appetite to reform the educational system to reflect these values and sentiments. Critical thinking is taught only at the tertiary level. At this stage, the minds of students have been made up. Many students are less open and seldom disposed to question and interrogate ideas in all areas of human endeavor. Simply put, at the tertiary level,

students resist or are inclined to resist critical evaluations.

Such resistance happens because religious indoctrination constitutes the first mode of instruction that children receive before they are sent to get a formal education in quasireligious primary, secondary and university schools. So child upbringing leaves little room for critical inquiry. There are no programs to encourage children and young people to question ideas. That is why it is necessary to introduce critical thinking as a subject in primary and secondary schools. Teaching critical thinking in primary schools will enable children to learn very early to exercise their curiosity and inquisitiveness. Children need to understand that learning is not only through memorization but also via interrogation of ideas. Teachers need to learn that teaching is not only about delivering content to students, who must regurgitate them during examinations but also providing opportunities for students to question contents that are delivered in the class. So schools need to have a subject that is strictly devoted to getting students to generate questions for questions’ sake. Incidentally, what goes on in the classrooms and schools at the moment is generating questions for answers’ sake. Critical thinking is set to contribute to the improvement of teaching and learning in African schools. It will help deemphasize the traditional role of teachers as question-posers and generators. It will help change the impression that students as answer-suppliers and providers.

In a critical thinking class, students are the generators of questions, and interrogators of ideas and answers. The role of teachers is to stimulate the curiosity of students, and to provoke and nudge them to pose questions, not to provide answers. Any purported answer or solution is a material for questioning and interrogation. The subject of critical thinking is set to improve the quality of education in Africa. African countries must take necessary measures to introduce this subject starting from the primary school level.

Leo Igwe is a Public Affairs

FEC approves power projects in Yobe, Ogun

From Abubakar Yunusa Abuja

The federal executive council (FEC) has approved several contracts to boost power supply in various parts of the country.

Aliyu Abubakar, minister of power, briefed journalists after the council’s valedictory meeting on Wednesday.

The minister said the council approved the award of a contract for the engineering procurement, construction, and financing of the implementation of 330 kilovolts (KV) and 132 KV line transmission lines; as well as 33 KV, 11 KV, and a 400 protective earth (PE) distribution line project, under phase one of the presidential power initiative (PPI).

He said the contract was awarded in “favour of two contractors in the sum of $581,629,355.93, inclusive of 7.5 percent, at the prevailing exchange rate with a completion period of 36 months as indicated”.

“The recipient companies for lot one, from DL from Benin and Enugu DisCos, Messrs SLD electric. Then, lot DM 3 Abuja, Jos, Kano, Kaduna DisCos, Messrs China civil engineering construction cooperation, totaling a distance of around 13,000 kilometers for the two ‘lots’, and it has been graciously approved by council,” Abubakar said.

“Council approved the award of contract for the construction of 750 kilowatts solar PV power plant at the headquarters of where TCN is also situated in favor of Proserv Energy Services Limited in the sum of N1.6 billion inclusive of 7.5 percent VAT with a completion period of six months.

“Council also approved routine maintenance for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). The council approved a contract for the upgrading of the substation in Potiskum town in Yobe state with 132 power transformers.

“It is an existing substation, which has been there for a very long time with only one transformer and it serves a lot of areas around Potiskum.”

Abubakar said the town is the largest in the state, with a very huge population; adding that it is the hub for commerce and transportation.

With the upgrade, the politician said Potiskum will become a hub for electricity transmission and distribution.

“The other component of it is the line bringing additional line from Damaturu. Before now, the line was coming from Gombe, which is over 200 kilometers. It is a 132 single-line coming into Potiskum to power the substation,” he said.

“So, having a 330 substation in Damaturu makes it easier and

‘We are here!’ Sirika says as Nigeria air jet arrives in Abuja

By Abubakar Yunusa, Abuja

Aflight belonging to Nigeria

Air has touched down at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika confirmed the arrival in a tweet on his official handle.

We are here. To Almighty God be all the glory. It has been a very long, tedious, daunting and difficult path. We thank everyone for the support. This, by the will of God, will be for us and generations to come. Ya Allah make it beneficial for our country and humanity.

“We are here. To Almighty God be all the glory. It has been a very long, tedious, daunting, and difficult path. We thank everyone for the support,” he wrote alongside a video of the airplane.

“This, by the will of God, will be for us and generations to come. Ya Allah make it beneficial for our country and humanity.”

The development is part of plans to commence operations and unveiling of the delivery process after years of delays.

In March, Sirika had said the airline will start operations before the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

“Before the end of this administration, before May 29th, we will fly,” he said.

According to him, the Federal

Government is leaving the aviation sector better than it met it having achieved over 90% of the aviation sector road map.

However,There have been controversies involved in the project, which is currently being challenged by domestic airlines.

In an interview on Friday, Chief Executive of Aero Contractors, Capt. Ado Sanusi, said the arrival of the aircraft did not translate into commencement of commercial operation by the airline.

He made his position known while featuring on Channels TV

Sunrise Daily.

Sanusi, who bared his mind on the issue during the interview said it is one thing for the aircraft to arrive the country and it is another for the airline to commence commercial operation.

According to him, it is practically impossible for the airline to start commercial passenger operation in two days time given the rigorous process involved which he believes would not be waived by the regulatory authority, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), as the

whole world is watching.

He said, “It is one thing to bring the airplane to the country, it is another thing to start the airline, getting all the necessary approvals from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

“There’s a very important and vital component of getting an AOC which is the demonstration flights. Of course there are waivers that the Director General of the NCAA has the power to give, but the demonstration flights is critical to safe operations and I do not think he would give that waiver.”

FG approves policy to enable banks issue debit cards that serve as national IDs

By Abubakar Yunusa Abuja

The federal executive council (FEC) has approved a new policy that allows commercial banks to issue customers with debit cards that double as national identity cards at no extra cost.

The council gave the approval on Wednesday at a meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Briefing journalists at the end of the meeting, Isa Pantami, minister of communication and digital economy, said the directive was from the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), allowing banks to print debit cards that double as national identity cards.

“It is going to be a form of the multipurpose card where it will serve as your national identity card on one hand, and also your bank card on the other hand, either Mastercard, Visa or any other kind of card,” the minister said.

Pantami said although the NIMC Act of 2007, only mandates Nigerians to have a NIN and not necessarily a printout card, demands for cards have swelled

nonetheless.

“As in the NIMC Act of 2007, section 27, what is mandatory for our citizens and legal residents is the acquiring of the national identity number, not the card. However, the card is optional,” Pantami added.

“But many citizens, particularly those living in rural communities, always go to NIMC offices complaining that they need the card at hand, even though it’s optional.

“To make it easier, NIMC last year, we introduced a smart ID card you can download from the NIMC app. It is just a smart card. You don’t need to have it physically, but that is becoming difficult for our people living in rural communities.

“To ease the difficulty, NIMC has partnered with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) so citizens who are interested in having a card at hand can easily go to the relevant banks.

“The bank is permitted to print the card along with either a Mastercard or Visa card. It is going to be a form of a multipurpose card that will serve as your national identity card on one hand and

also your bank card on the other. And based on the agreement, it is without any additional costs to our citizens.

“So when you apply for a card at your bank, you can indicate that ‘I want this card to serve multiple purposes where it will serve as my bank card and also my national identity card’. Both of them are going to be printed on the same card and it is going to serve the same purposes without any additional costs.”

The minister also said NIMC and the CBN had signed an agreement to protect card applicants.

He said the two entities signed a nondisclosure agreement where customers’ privacy and confidentiality must be respected in the course of providing the cards.

“When you apply for the card, the bank will apply online to NIMC through their database. When they verify and confirm that your record in the database is in alignment with your record in the NIMC database, it will be permitted and the card is going to be printed for you immediately,” Pantami explained.

Pantami said the council also approved a memo proposing the deployment of an automated system to integrate NINs with individual SIM cards.

The system, he said, is to consolidate the implementation of the NIN-SIM linkage.

“As we all know, the previous administrations made efforts to verify NIN and SIM starting from 2011 without success,” Pantami said.

“In February 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari approved the implementation of the policy, and the revised version of the policy was also launched and unveiled by Mr. President on May 6, 2021.

“As it stands today, the NIN and SIM policy registration is being implemented.

“In order to consolidate the implementation, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) came up with a proposal that will enhance the implementation of the policy and bring many more benefits to it.”

The minister assured that the automated system would sanitise the database and ease the process of SIM replacement for Nigerians or legal residents.

•Nigeria Air cannot start operations by May 29 — Aero Contractors CEO

From Abubakar Yunusa, Abuja

Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, growth slowed by 2.31 per cent in the first quarter of 2023 on a year-on-year basis.

The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, made this known the Nigerian Gross Domestic Product Report Q1 2023 released in Abuja on Thursday.

However, the growth, the NBS said represented a declined from 3.52 per cent in the preceding quarter and 3.11 per cent recorded in the first quarter of 2022.

The reduction in GDP performance is attributed to the adverse effects of the cash crunch experienced during the quarter, it noted.

Growth was largely driven by the services sector, which recorded a growth of 4.35 per cent and contributed 57.29 per cent to the aggregate GDP.

The agriculture sector grew by -0.90.per cent, lower than the

Nigeria’s GDP growth slows by 2.31% in Q1 2023 – NBS

growth of 3.16 per cent recorded in the first quarter of 2022.

According to the NBS, although the growth of the industry sector improved to 0.31 per cent relative to – 6.81 per cent recorded in the first quarter of 2022, agriculture, and the industry sectors contributed less to the aggregate GDP in the quarter under review compared to the first quarter of 2022.

“The agriculture sector grew by -0.90 per cent, lower than the growth of 3.16 per cent recorded in the first quarter of 2022.

“Although the growth of the industry sector improved to 0.31 per cent relative to – 6.81 per cent recorded in the first

quarter of 2022, agriculture and the industry sectors contributed less to the aggregate GDP in the quarter under review compared to the first quarter of 2022,” a part of the release said.

The NBS disclosed that the real growth of the oil sector was –4.21 per cent on a year-onyear basis in Q1 2023, indicating an increase of 21.83 per cent relative to the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2022 at -26.04 per cent.

It said growth increased by 9.18 per cent when compared to Q4 2022, which was –13.38 per cent, and on a quarter-onquarter basis, the oil sector recorded a growth rate of 20.68

per cent in Q1 2023.

The sector, according to the stats office, contributed 6.21 per cent to the total real GDP in Q1 2023, down from the figure recorded in the corresponding period of 2022 and up from the preceding quarter, where it contributed 6.63 per cent and 4.34 per cent, respectively.

As for the non-oil sector, it grew by 2.77 per cent in real terms during the reference quarter, lower by 3.30 per cent points compared to the rate recorded in the same quarter of 2022 and 1.67 per cent points lower than the fourth quarter of 2022.

This sector was driven in the

first quarter of 2023 mainly by Information and Communication (Telecommunication); Financial and Insurance (Financial Institutions); Trade; Manufacturing (Food, Beverage & Tobacco); Construction; and Transportation & Storage (Road Transport), accounting for positive GDP growth.

In real terms, the report showed that the non-oil sector contributed 93.79 per cent to the nation’s GDP in the first quarter of 2023, higher than the share recorded in the first quarter of 2022, which was 93.37 per cent and lower than the fourth quarter of 2022 recorded as 95.66 per cent.

CAC to start publishing profiles of company owners – RG

By Abubakar Yunus, Abuja

The Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, will henceforth make public profiles of owners of companies.

The Registrar-General of CAC, Garba Abubakar, made this known at the commission’s International Peer Learning Workshop on the use of the Beneficial Ownership Information Register.

The event heralds the launch of Nigeria’s Open Register of Beneficial Ownership of Companies.

He said the register when unveiled, will be open to the public where everyone can view records of shareholders of companies online free of charge.

He said that the initiative was aimed at supporting anticorruption efforts in Nigeria and the world.

“The essence of getting the beneficial ownership information is to support the anti-corruption initiative of the government.

“Companies are the vehicles being used for corruption, illicit financial flow and for terrorism financing.

“When our investigating agencies are doing their investigation, they will be able to track those responsible for some of these illegal activities,’’ he said.

While emphasising that innocent people do not have anything to worry about the initiative, Mr Abubakar said

that companies are required to disclose the persons that own the companies from the point of incorporation.

“In the past, the law allows one to incorporate companies using a corporate arrangement that makes it impossible to know the ultimate beneficiaries of these companies

“The concept of separate legal personality has changed, they are now required to disclose the natural persons that own these companies from the point of incorporation and when there is any change.

“So, this information is for use by investigation agencies, the media, civil society and the whole essence is to ensure transparency and make this information available.

“If we have information to the contrary as to what is actually disclosed in the register then we can escalate

“The register is supposed to support the anti-corruption initiative of the government and it is a global requirement,’’ Mr Abubakar said.

Also speaking, Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, described the initiative as apt in the fight against corruption.

People will like to know who owns what. So, because you are aware when you are registering a company you are now ready to provide those information.

“And when you provide

NNPC resumes oil drilling campaign in Chad Basin

From

Abubakar Yunusa, Abuja

After over two decades, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has resumed an oil drilling campaign at the Wadi-B well located in Jere LGA of Borno State.

President Muhammadu Buhari flagged off the Wadi-B campaign at a ceremony held on Tuesday in the state.

The landmark event marked the commencement of oil exploration in the Lake Chad Basin, in the Tuba community of the state, since 1995.

The new drilling is part of the prospects for oil and gas deposits in Nigeria’s frontier basins.

President Buhari had, in November 2022, flagged off the Kolmani Integrated Development Project (KIPRO) situated on the boundary between Bauchi and Gombe

states.

In March 2023, the president also flagged off the spud-in of the Ebenyi-A exploration well located in Obi local government area, Nasarawa state.

Speaking at the event, Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer (GCEO), NNPC Limited, said the re-mobilization of a drilling rig to the Chad Basin “for the first time since 1995, has indeed brought up a new situation for us.”

“We stopped drilling here in 1995 because the successes were weak because our findings were not commercial and we understood very clearly that we need to understand the basin very well. We need to have a different approach to exploration activities in this basin,” he said.

“That is why NNPC and our partner, the ministry of petroleum resources and the current NMDPRA, decided to embark on a

massive evaluation of all the frontier basins in the country. And of course, our findings have been useful.

“Our understanding of the rift system in Nigeria enables us to have successful outcome in the Kolmani area. It also enabled us to mobilise to Nasarawa state; a drilling activity and an engagement is ongoing.

“It also helped us to understand the geological setting of the Chad Basin which is why we are back here.

“Now we are much more confident, we believe that this campaign will be successful and that this campaign will take us to the ultimate objective which is to increase the reserves of our country and also create opportunities around us. We believe that the time for oil and gas to vanish is still far away.”

He said the NNPC Limited believes that oil and gas will continue to be principal in

those information it puts you on your toes to obey the laws, observe the business ethics and be transparent and be accountable especially in payment of taxes and observance of public entity.

“Because we know that the owners of the company are known, if anything goes wrong it will not be a problem to track them.

“But when you own a company and people don’t know who you are, you can use that office to perpetrate all kinds of crime knowing that you cannot be found.

“When you know that your profile is well documented then you are most likely to comply with public ethics,’’ Mr Orji said.

determining the prosperity of the country as well as providing energy security.

“And this can’t happen unless we have access to the resources and we are able to convert them into value and of course a new approach to doing this as quickly as is practical which is to do what we are doing in the Kolmani area,” the NNPC boss said.

Also speaking, Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno, said the commencement of oil drilling in the region is a right step in creating more job opportunities in the state.

“Oil prospecting, possible discovery and exploration in this part of the country will no doubt create job opportunities to thousands of our youths thereby reducing unemployment in our state, which in turn results in reduction in the insurgency, stimulating economic growth and development of our dear state and nation in general,” he said.

Weekend MagazineEntertainment Seun Kuti kicks off Europe tour after police ordeal

The singer is currently out on bail until his case continues in less than two months.

The renowned Afrobeat musician has kicked off his summer tour, which had been on hold because of his trial.

Earlier today, May 25, 2023, he announced that he is off to Zurich, Switzerland where his concert will begin tonight.

“Euro tour kicks off tonight in Zurich,” he wrote on his Instagram stories, along with picture of himself in an airplane.

He had initially shared details of his Europe tour last month, which was set to hold from May 20-August 16, 2023 across the UK, Italy, Spain, and Slovenia.

His tour was temporarily on hold after the 40-yearold got arrested on May 15, 2023 after he was filmed assaulting a police officer on the Third Mainland Bridge.

Kuti got detained the following day at the state criminal investigation Department (SCID) and spent six days in detention.

He was eventually released after meeting his bail conditions. His case has been adjourned until July 3, 2023, which gives him some time for his ongong tour.

Queen of Rock & Roll Tina Turner dies at 83

Tina Turner is a Rock & Roll legend whose music earned her the title of the queen of the genre while also becoming a pop culture icon.

On May 24, 2023, the news of Tina Turner’s death was reported online with reports saying she died quietly in her sleep.

“Tina Turner, the ‘Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll’ has died peacefully today at the age of 83 after a long illness in her home in Küsnacht near Zurich, Switzerland,” the statement from her family reads.

Tina Turner born Anna Mae Bullock, found mainstream success in 1966 when she joined Ike to form a band called Ike & Tina Turner and they were managed by Bob Krasnow. The duo enjoyed success while churning out several charting singles in their 9 years together.

Tina Turner embarked on a hugely successful solo career that made her one of the best selling female and most revered female artists of all time.

During her over half a century-long career run, Tina Turner released 9 studio albums, won 12 Grammys and was also inducted into the Grammys and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. She also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Her music has also inspired several superstars including Childish Gambino, Arian Grande, Kanye West, and many more. Aside music, Tina Turner acted in several movies in which she delivered timeless performances.

Weekend Magazine

Adekunle Gold drops exciting 3 single-pack ‘Tio Tequila’

Adekunle Gold has released 3 new singles as he continues his fine form.

Adekunle Gold has established himself as one of the artists whose imagery, music, and persona exquisitely complement his music and set him apart as a superstar bringing excitement to Nigeria’s Pop scene.

The award-winning star has been in fine form in 2023 with his hit single ‘Party No Dey Stop’ reaching the top spot of TurnTable Top 100.

Adekunle Gold is aiming to extend his run of hits with the release of a 3 single pack he calls ‘Tio Tequila’.

The 3 single-pack comprises ‘Do You Mind’, ‘Omo Eko’, and the earlier released ‘Party No Dey

Stop’.

‘Do You Mind’ deploys a bouncy Dancehall tune with which AG delivers a swaggering delivery and sensual melody for a tune that’s sure to get listeners in a partying mood.

Omo Eko’ speaks to his easy-going and fun-loving nature as a Lagos boy who just wants to have a good time. The song is a blend of Amapiano and Afrobeats without smooth synths and well-arranged drums that makes for an easy listen.

His earlier release ‘Party No Dey Stop’ topped Pulse’s Top 10 Songs for Q1 2023 and Adekunle Gold will be hoping to replicate this success with his new singles.

‘Tio Tequila’ was released on May 25 and it’s available for streaming on all platforms.

Dancehall

maestro Timaya returns with new single ‘My Moto’

Dancehall maestro Timaya returns with new single ‘My Moto’

Renowned for his musical range & genre flexibility, TIMAYA reminds us why he is acclaimed as the Dancehall King of Africa with his latest record titled ‘My Moto’.

Right from when TIMAYA first blew onto the Nigerian scene in 2005 with Dem Mama, his music has evolved over the years and his illustrious career has seen him release some of the biggest dancehall bangers out of Africa including Sanko and Bom Bom Rmx featuring the Grammy-award-winning Jamaican Superstar, Sean Paul.

With ‘My Moto’, TIMAYA has given us another dancehall classic. He releases the Yung Willis produced Afro-caribbean track with a catchy video shot by Jyde Ajala and fittingly set in the desert plains of California where TIMAYA visually dramatizes how he assertively & melodiously convinces a beautiful woman to “Get In” & Accompany him on an ecstatic ride in his “Ritzy Moto” with the possibility of being rewarded with just about anything she dreams of.

The song is a follow up to TIMAYA’s 2022 hit record; ‘Sweet Us’, which is still a viral rave both on & offline. ‘My Moto’ is TIMAYA’s first single of 2023 and is a leading single off TIMAYA’s upcoming album which will be released later this year

I have bad heart –Tonto Dikeh opens up

Nollywood actress Tonto Dikeh has revealed that she has a ‘bad heart.’

Tonto Dikeh made this known in a post on her Instagram page on Thursday.

She cried out that she wants to live long, and her primary purpose in life is to ensure that she can be there for her son and witness his growth and milestones.

She wrote: “As part of my birthday gift to myself, I have decided to LIVE A LONG LIFE by gifting me a membership to a gym.

“I am a 38 years old woman with a bad heart. This is not fun, nor do I like it here, but it’s my third day, and I can only say I breathe better, my pulse is open, my blood is pumping, and I am overall in pain. But I have a goal.”

She added that she will always be a surgery girl.

“If you are looking for motivation today, let me be yours. I am the laziest woman on earth when it comes to fitness, but what I have is extreme strength. I love being lazy. It’s my comfort zone. But I am here today,” she wrote.

How ICT contributed 17.47% to Nigeria’s real GDP in Q1 2023

The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector contributes 17.47% to Nigeria’s real GDP in Q1 2023, showing an increase from the previous year.

The Telecoms sub-sector drives the growth in the ICT sector, contributing 14.13% to the real GDP.

Overall GDP growth in the first quarter of 2023 is 2.31%, with the services sector being the main driver, growing at a rate of 4.35% and contributing 57.29% to the GDP.

Activities in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) contributed 17.47% to Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Q1 2023.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this in the Q1 GDP statistics. This shows an increase in contribution when compared

to the 16.2% recorded in the same period last year.

Quarter on quarter, the sector also recorded growth in real GDP contribution when compared to the 16.2% it added in Q4, 2022. According to NBS, the ICT sector is composed of the four activities of telecommunications and information services; publishing; motion picture, sound recording, and music production; and broadcasting.

Telcom leads

While the ICT sector recorded a growth rate of 10.32% in real terms year on year in the quarter under review, the growth was driven largely by activities in the telecommunications sub-sector, which contributed 14.13% to the GDP in real terms.

The closest sub-sector to telecoms in the ICT sector in terms

of contribution was broadcasting, which added 1.98%.

Other key highlights for the ICT sector

The ICT sector contributed 13.23% to the total nominal GDP in the first quarter of 2023, higher than the rate of 10.55% recorded in the same quarter of 2022 and higher than the 10.42% it contributed in the preceding quarter.

In nominal terms, the sector recorded 41.84% growth in the quarter under review, a 21.30% point increase from the rate of 20.54% recorded in the same quarter of 2022 and 20.43% points higher than the rate recorded in the preceding quarter.

The ICT sector contributed 13.23% to the total nominal GDP in the first quarter of 2023, higher than the rate of 10.55% recorded in the same quarter of 2022 and higher

than the 10.42% it contributed in the preceding quarter.

The general performance of the economy.

According to NBS, Nigeria’s GDP grew by 2.31% year-on-year in real terms in the first quarter of 2023, indicating 1.21% points lower than 3.52% recorded in the previous quarter and 0.8% lower compared to 3.11% recorded in the corresponding period of 2022.

The Statistics Bureau blamed the slowdown in GDP growth rate on the naira scarcity, which occurred in the first quarter of the year as the central bank refused to back down on its naira swap policy.

The performance of the GDP in the first quarter of 2023 was driven mainly by the services sector, which recorded a growth rate of 4.35% and contributed 57.29% to the aggregate GDP.

Source:nairametrics.com

New superbug-killing antibiotic discovered using AI

Scientists have used artificial intelligence (AI) to discover a new antibiotic that can kill a deadly species of superbug.

The AI helped narrow down thousands of potential chemicals to a handful that could be tested in the laboratory.

The result was a potent, experimental antibiotic called abaucin, which will need further tests before being used.

The researchers in Canada and the US say AI has the power to massively accelerate the discovery of new drugs.

It is the latest example of how the tools of artificial intelligence can be a revolutionary force in science and medicine.

AI breakthrough could spark medical revolution

Stopping the superbugs

Antibiotics kill bacteria. However, there has been a lack of new drugs for decades and bacteria are becoming harder to treat, as they evolve resistance to the ones we have.

More than a million people a year are estimated to die from infections that resist treatment with antibiotics.

The researchers focused on one of the most problematic species of bacteriaAcinetobacter baumannii, which can infect wounds and cause pneumonia.

You may not have heard of it, but it is one of the three superbugs the World Health Organization has identified as a “critical” threat.

It is often able to shrug off multiple antibiotics and is a problem in hospitals and care homes, where it can survive on surfaces and medical equipment.

Dr Jonathan Stokes, from McMaster University, describes the bug as “public enemy number one” as it’s “really common” to find cases where it is “resistant to nearly every antibiotic”.

Artificial intelligence

To find a new antibiotic, the researchers first had to train the AI. They took thousands of drugs where the precise chemical structure was known, and manually tested them on

Acinetobacter baumannii to see which could slow it down or kill it.

This information was fed into the AI so it could learn the chemical features of drugs that could attack the problematic bacterium.

The AI was then unleashed on a list of 6,680 compounds whose effectiveness was unknown. The resultspublished in Nature Chemical Biology - showed it took the AI an hour and a half to produce a shortlist.

The researchers tested 240 in the laboratory, and found nine potential antibiotics. One of them was the incredibly potent antibiotic abaucin.

Laboratory experiments

showed it could treat infected wounds in mice and was able to kill A. baumannii samples from patients.

However, Dr Stokes told me: “This is when the work starts.”

The next step is to perfect the drug in the laboratory and then perform clinical trials. He expects the first AI antibiotics could take until 2030 until they are available to be prescribed.

Curiously, this experimental antibiotic had no effect on other species of bacteria, and works only on A. baumannii.

Many antibiotics kill bacteria indiscriminately. The researchers believe the precision of abaucin will make it harder for drug-resistance to emerge, and could lead to fewer

side-effects.

In principle, the AI could screen tens of millions of potential compoundssomething that would be impractical to do manually.

“AI enhances the rate, and in a perfect world decreases the cost, with which we can discover these new classes of antibiotic that we desperately need,” Dr Stokes told me.

The researchers tested the principles of AI-aided antibiotic discovery in E. coli in 2020, but have now used that knowledge to focus on the big nasties. They plan to look at Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa next.

“This finding further supports the premise that AI

can significantly accelerate and expand our search for novel antibiotics,” said Prof James Collins, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He added: “I’m excited that this work shows that we can use AI to help combat problematic pathogens such as A. baumannii.”

Prof Dame Sally Davies, the former chief medical officer for England and government envoy on anti-microbial resistance, told Radio 4’s The World Tonight: “We’re onto a winner.”

She said the idea of using AI was “a big game-changer, I’m thrilled to see the work he (Dr Stokes) is doing, it will save lives”.

NEWS EXTRA

Viable Correctional Service critical in the justice process, says Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari

Friday in Abuja underscored the importance of correction in a virile justice system.

Speaking at the virtual commissioning of a 3,000-Capacity Ultra-Modern Custodial Centre, Janguza , Kano State, the President noted that “the importance of a viable Correctional Service is critical, not only for executing court sentences thereby completing the justice process but also for keeping felons out of circulation, securing the society and deterring those who intend to act in an anti-social manner.

“This facility will not only enhance the well-being of inmates but will engender their safe custody and significantly address the challenge of over-crowding in some Custodial Centres.”

President Buhari noted that the spate of violent, external attacks on some Custodial Centres across the country in the recent past underscored the need to fortify and take the security of the inmates and staff to be of utmost importance.

Also speaking at the virtual Commissioning of projects of the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace in Kano and Kaduna, namely, New Airport

Terminal Building at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano State as well as Aircraft Equipment at Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria, Kaduna State, the President said his administration had placed a high premium on the safety, security and efficiency on air transportation which was the reason behind the robust Aviation Roadmap which has been successfully implemented, “resulting in huge growth in the sector, making aviation one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy before COVID-19, according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).”

President Buhari also commissioned the Nigerian Navy Logistics College Dawakin Tofa, Kano State, which was relocated two years ago from the Nigerian Navy Finance and Logistics College at Owerrinta in Imo State. He commended the college for boosting capacity development of naval logisticians within the period. He expressed his belief that the college will “undoubtedly contribute to the operational readiness of the naval fleet for economic prosperity.”

The President noted that the College has been effective in the conduct of Internal Security along with other security agencies within her Area of

Operations.

In his remarks, the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola described the event as a watershed as it highlighted the commitment of the President Muhammadu Buhariled Federal Government to fulfilling its promise of delivering on good governance to all Nigerians, especially on security. He added that the Nigerian Correctional Service Act of 2019 signed by the President effectively rebranded the service.

Ogbeni Aregbesola disclosed that the idea of “a model high-capacity custodial centre of this magnitude was mooted and approved for the six geo-political regions of the country, in the first tenure of this administration. It was basically to address the serious infrastructure deficit the Service has had to grapple with.”

The Minister added that the project is also intended to solve the problem of over-crowding, especially in the custodial centres located in urban areas. He called on State Governments to “collaborate with the Federal Government in ensuring a smooth transition occasioned by the recent amendment in our constitution to take responsibility for the maintenance of their inmates in our facilities.”

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace, Hadi Sirika, said the New Airport Terminal Building at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport has the capacity to process seven Million passengers in one year, adding that the commitment of President Buhari to the Aviation sector is unparalleled.

Haidi Sirika also declared that the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria has produced 70% of the aviation workforce since its establishment in 1963.

Minister of Defence Major General Bashir Salihi Magashi said the movement from Owerrinta, Abia State became necessary because “the size of land in Owerrinta is grossly inadequate to accommodate the desired expansion that will cater for additional infrastructure relevant for training logisticians in line with current realities and global best practices.

“These additional and necessary infrastructural requirements include a garment factory, hotel and suites as well as material testing laboratories for the newly established Project School amongst others, which are integral parts of logistics training.”

2023 Children’s Day: KCCN thrills special needs kids with fun-packed events

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

The Korean Cultural Center in Nigeria (KCCN) yesterday marked the 2023 children’s day with funpacked events in which pupils from School for Special Needs Kuje, School for the Blind Kuje and School for the Deaf Jabi, in Abuja, were thrilled with entertainment.

Addressing the pupils in his address of welcome, the Director of Korean Cultural Center in Nigeria (KCCN), Kim Changki, said the event is designed to give a sense of belonging to the pupils and to give them a memorable 2023 children’s day.

He said the event is specially to recognise the children’s right and to underscore the fact that children with special needs are gifts which should be appreciated and treated as important to the society.

Changki said also that the Center decided to include a touch of Korean and Nigerian cultures in the events, including dressing, song presentation, games and excursion to make it worthwhile and memorable.

Speaking also at the event, one of the kids from School for Special Needs Kuje, Muhammed Muhammad, who commended the KCCN for giving them

the opportunity to learn and expand their knowledge of Korean Culture, also said the pupils are in need of music instruments in their studio.

He therefore urged the KCCN to assist them with music instruments in their

studio, adding that the pupils will not forget in haste the kind gesture which the Center has offered them in the 2023 Children’s day celebration.

Also speaking, Zainab Ibrahim, who also thanked the center for the

opportunity, also urged that the recognition accorded them be sustained in subsequent Children’s Day celebration. She also urged the center to assist the school with other learning materials so as to make their academic programme easy.

ERRORS Unnecessary prepositions:

Order for or Order?

Several times, we are tempted to add nonessential prepositions to some words. As a result, our sentences are always wordier and full of redundancy. Congratulations on your decision to read today’s lessons, because it is high time we fought unnecessary repetitions until the last drop of blood.

Our topic reminds me of the digital businesses we have on our mobile phones- the online restaurants we have on WhatsApp, Facebook, and others. They advertise their sumptuous meals for their prospective customers. Of course, anyone could decide to place an order.

Examples:

I just ordered for rice and beans on Facebook. (Wrong)

I just ordered rice and beans on Facebook. (Correct)

‘For’ is useless here.

Recall that I noted that some words do not require prepositions; they are in-built. The same rule is applicable to order.

According to the Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary, order, as a transitive verb, means “to request some product or service; to secure by placing an order.”

The following are other examples:

I ordered groceries last night.

Let us substitute ‘order’ with ‘request’.

I requested groceries last night. (Correct)

Note: I did not write ‘request for’. Check your dictionary to confirm whether or not you need ‘for’.

I requested for a pen from the secretary. (Wrong)

I requested a pen from the secretary. (Correct)

Unarguably, this column is the best for you to improve your writing and speaking skills.

Assignment

Choose the correct answer to the following questions on inherent prepositions.

1. The girl just ------------ her money from the man.

(a)

2.

Shehu Musa Yar’Adua (5 March 1943 –8 Dec.1997

Shehu Musa Yar’Adua GCON 5 March 1943 – 8 December 1997) was a Nigerian military officer and politician who was the de facto vice president of Nigeria as Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters when Nigeria was under military rule from 1976 to 1979. He was a prominent politician during the latter transition from military to civilian rule in the late 1980s and into the 1990s.

Early life

Yar’Adua was born in Katsina into a titled family. His father, Musa Yar’Adua, was a teacher who later became the Minister for Lagos Affairs from 1957 to 1966 during Nigeria’s First Republic and held the chieftaincy title of Tafidan Katsina before he was appointed to the title of Mutawallin Katsina (keeper of the treasury).Yar’Adua’s grandfather, Malam Umaru, was also the Mutawalli, and his younger brother Umaru Yar’Adua, who later became the President of Nigeria from 2007 to 2010, held the title as well. His paternal grandmother, Malama Binta, a Fulani from the Sullubawa clan, was a princess of the Katsina Emirate and a sister of Emir Muhammadu Dikko.

Yar’Adua attended Katsina Middle School and then Katsina Provincial School (now Government College, Katsina) for his secondary education; at the provincial school, where he was classmates with current Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari. At the urging of his father and his father’s friend, defence minister Muhammadu Ribadu, Yar’Adua took the entrance exam of the Nigerian Military Training College.[4] He passed and was enlisted into the Nigerian Army in 1962 as part of the course 5 intake of the Nigerian military training school. Yar’Adua was selected for further training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was turbaned as the Tafidan Katsina by the Emir of Katsina Muhammadu Kabir Usman.

Military career

In 1964, after he returned from Sandhurst, Yar’Adua was posted to the first infantry battalion of the Nigerian Army in Enugu under the command of Col Adekunle Fajuyi as second lieutenant. From 1964 to the end of the Nigerian Civil War, he held various positions including platoon commander in 1964, and from 1965 to 1966 adjutant of the First Infantry Battalion in Enugu. He was a battalion commander in 1967, and in 1968 became a Brigade Commander. During the civil war, he commanded the 6th infantry brigade under the leadership of Murtala Muhammed, commander of the second division. In October 1967, Yar’Adua was given the responsibility for the capture of Onitsha after two (2) unsuccessful attempts by the Nigerian troops.

In 1975, he was an active participant in the military coup d’état that deposed

General Yakubu Gowon as Nigeria’s Head of State. After the success of the coup, he served as Transport Minister in General Murtala Muhammed’s regime. As Transport Minister his major task was to decongest the Lagos port. Prior to the coup, officials of the previous regime had ordered 16 million tonnes of cement to build military barracks around the country. However, the berthing facilities of the port were inadequate. The financial implications became more striking because the Nigerian government was liable to pay demurrage fees by the shippers. The Muhammed regime decided to transfer some of the cargoes to neighboring ports and introduce cement management firms to clear and sell the cement and build the new Tin Can Island Port.

Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters

Following the 1976 Nigerian coup d’état attempt, which resulted in the assassination of Murtala Muhammed, Yar’Adua became the Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters. The new regime was a triumvirate of power consisting of General Olusegun Obasanjo as Head of State, Shehu Yar’Adua as Chief of Staff SMHQ, and General Theophilus Danjuma as Chief of Army Staff. As head of the SMHQ, Yar’Adua was the de facto second-in-command. Yar’Adua who was from the northern aristocracy was relied on heavily by the triumvirate to consolidate power in the north.

His office was assigned the task of managing operations of Operation Feed the Nation, a self-reliant agricultural policy of the new Obasanjo regime. Operation Feed the Nation, known as OFN, was an initiative to boost local production of agricultural produce, especially staple crops such as rice and wheat, so as to improve self-sufficiency of food crops and reduce growing food deficits. Mechanisms used to promote the objective included the distribution of heavily subsidized fertilizers and seeds to farmers, loans to small scale farmers to enable them to purchase equipment, and an educational outreach programme manned by Corpers to teach peasant farmers how to use modern agricultural equipment.

However, by 1979 the policy had not achieved its primary goal of self-reliance and self-sufficiency. Yar’Adua also guided the Supreme Military Council’s initiatives on local government reforms which led to the conduct of local government elections in 1976. The local government reforms excluded traditional rulers from certain governance issues and limited their control over property rights. The reforms also granted recognition to local government as a third-tier arm of government.

In 1979, the regime transferred power to the civilian elected government of Shehu Shagari ushering in the Second Nigerian Republic which lasted from

1979 to 1983. The triumvirate later retired from the military.

Political career

General Ibrahim Babangida started his political transition program in 1987 with the establishment of a Political Bureau, and a Constituent Assembly was later inaugurated to deliberate on a proposed draft constitution. Though Yar’Adua was not a member of the assembly and a law had proscribed certain old breed politicians from political activities, his associates represented his political leanings at the forum and was active in the formation of political associations during the transitional period.

Yar’Adua and his group formed the People’s Front of Nigeria; Members included Babagana Kingibe, Atiku Abubakar, Bola Tinubu, Magaji Abdullahi, Ango Abdullahi, Ahmadu Rufa’i, Yahaya Kwande, Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila, Wada Abubakar, Babalola Borishade, Timothy Oguntuase Akinbode, Sabo Bakin Zuwo, Sunday Afolabi, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Tony Anenih, Chuba Okadigbo and Abubakar Koko.

The People’s Front later merged with other groups to form the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The People’s Front and PSP, became the two dominant factions within SDP. However, Yar’Adua’s group was very organized and able to win the majority of the elective posts within SDP. During the Governorship and House of Assembly elections, SDP had a slight numerical edge over the opposition National Republican Convention (NRC).

In January 1992, Yar’Adua spent a short stint in detention, jailed for contravening a law banning certain persons from active politics. However, the law was repealed and Yar’Adua subsequently announced his presidential election. His campaign political structure covered the country; he had a national campaign directorate, and each state had its own campaign coordinator and ward mobilizers. Members of his campaign group included former PDP chairman Anthony Anenih, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former minister Dapo Sarumi, Bola Tinubu, Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila and Sunday Afolabi. Yar’Adua was leading the SDP presidential field before results were annulled. A new election was later conducted on June 12, 1993 which was won by M.K.O. Abiola. After the June 12 elections were annulled, the Yar’Adua faction negotiated an arrangement for the inauguration of an interim government. In November 1993, the interim government of Ernest Shonekan was booted out and Sani Abacha became the new military Head of State, disbanding the political parties.

In 1994, Yar’Adua won a seat representing Katsina to a new National Constitutional Conference. He was an outspoken delegate and in early 1994

organized a political conference at the Nigerian Union of Journalist office in Lagos that earned the attention of the military leadership who detained him for four days.

Arrest and death

In March 1995, General Yar’Adua alongside Olusegun Obasanjo, Lawan Gwadabe and others were arrested on allegations of plotting a coup to overthrow the General Sani Abacha regime. He was sentenced to death by a military tribunal in 1995, after calling on the Nigerian military government of General Sani Abacha and his Provisional Ruling Council to re-establish civilian rule. The sentence was commuted to life in prison but he died in captivity on 8 December 1997.

Personal life

In 1965, Shehu Yar’adua married Hajia Binta and they have five children, including Murtala Yar’Adua, former Nigerian Minister of State for Defence.

Wealth

After retiring from the military, Yar’Adua established a holding company called Hamada Holdings with several business interests in shipping, banking, publishing allowing him to amass a vast private fortune.

Source: wikipedia

Shehu Musa Yar’Adua

THE PINNACLE OF EVIDENCE ADORATION CHURCH

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2. AGOHA CHINWEUBA BLESSING (SECRETARY)

MAIN AIMS & OBJECTIVES:

1. WE ARE A COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS IN JESUS CHRIST CALLED TO KNOW, GLORIFY, AND ENJOY THE TRINITY OF GOD THROUGH CHRIST, AND BY THE HOLY SPIRIT’S EMPOWERMENT. WE SEEK TO LOVE GOD, HIS PEOPLE, AND THE WORLD. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, CORPORATEAFFAIRS COMMISSION, 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION

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TRUSTEES

(

1) GLORY EWALEFOH. CHAIRMAN.

(2) ESTHER OKPETE -SECRETARY .

(3). TSOLA OMATSOLA TAWIAH ORITSEJAFO

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

1. TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO QUALITY TERTIARY EDUCATION FOR UNDER PRIVILEGED CHILDREN

2. TO PROVIDE DEPRIVED YOUNG PEOPLE WITH THE POWER TO EARN A REGULAR AND DECENT LIVELIHOOD BY GIVING THEM ACCESS TO TERTIARY EDUCATION

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4. TOASSIST IN THE PROCESS OF SOCIAL INTEGRATION TO UNDERPRIVILEGED YOUNG PEOPLE INTO THE SOCIETY

5. FACILITATING VOCATIONAL TRAINING TO THE YOUNG ADULTS TO REDUCE THEIR SKILL GAP WHICH WILL HELP THEM IN EITHER GETTING EMPLOYED OR START THEIR OWN ENTERPRISE.

ANY OBJECTION TO THE REGISTRATIONS SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR, CORPORATEAFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT420,TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, PMB 198 GARKI ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PUBLICATION.

SIGNED: MADUAKOLAM IGWE ESQ.

PUBLIC NOTICE

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THE TRUSTEES ARE :

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2. OSAJIELE CYNTHIA JOY - SECRETARY

THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE :

1. TO ASSIST THE LESS PRIVILEGED TOWARDS THE ADVANCEMENT OF EXCELLENCE

EDUCATION AT ALL LEVELS IN THE COMMUNITY

2. TO CREATE AWARENESS ON GENDER INEQUALITY.

3. TO EMPOWER THE YOUTH THROUGH SKILL ACQUISITION PROGRAMMES

4. TO EMPOWER VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN THE SOCIETY THROUGH SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME.

5. TO SUPPORT AND EMPOWER THE WIDOWS IN THE SOCIETY.

6. TO ORGANIZE AND CREATE ADVOCACY PROGRAMS AND SENSITIZATION AGAINST GLOBAL WARMING AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION.

AJIBOLA

I, FORMALLY KNOWN AS JIBOL DAMILOLA WHICH WAS WRONGLY CAPTION BY MY BVN, NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS AJIBOLA GRACE DAMILOLA ALL DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. ALL AUTHORITIES CONCERNED AND GENERAL PUBLIC PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

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I, FORMERLY KNOWN AS USMAN FATIMA WITH THE DATE OF BIRTH 08/01/1987 NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS JIBRIN FATIMA WITH THE CORRECT DATE OF BIRTH 20/08/1988. ALL FOR DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. THE GENERAL PUBLIC TAKE NOTE.

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PATRIOTIC ELITE CLUB OF AMASSOMA

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Ukraine war: Russia destroys hospital in latest missile attack

At least two people have been killed and 23 injured in a missile strike on a medical clinic in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the regional governor says.

Of the 23 injured, 21 are in hospital and three are in a serious condition.

Two boys aged three and six were also among the wounded, governor Serhiy Lysak said.

Russian strikes on Ukraine have intensified in recent weeks

ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Mr Zelensky posted a video of the damaged clinic that showed firefighters at the scene and smoke billowing from the building.

“Russian terrorists once again confirm their status of fighters against everything humane and honest,” he said.

Earlier, Mr Lysak said the region came under a “mass attack...with missiles and drones” on Thursday night.

“It was a very difficult night. It was loud,” he said. “Dnipro has suffered.”

At the scene, fire crews were sawing down trees to get a mounted hose closer to the flames which had engulfed the large, three story building.

Meanwhile, amidst the rubble, rescue teams were searching for two missing people.

Ukrainian authorities said they shot down 17 missiles and 31 drones launched from Russia overnight.

Several drones and missiles hit targets in Dnipro and the eastern city of Kharkiv, including an oil depot.

Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, was also targeted and officials said fragments of intercepted drones fell on the roof of a shopping centre, while a house and several cars were damaged.

In Russia, a blast damaged a residential and office building in the southern city of Krasnodar, east of Crimea, on Friday morning.

The region’s governor,

Teens hand themselves in to police over Sydney fire

Two 13-year-old boys have handed themselves in to police after a fire destroyed a sevenstorey heritage building in central Sydney.

The building went up in flames on Thursday afternoon, requiring about 100 firefighters to extinguish the inferno.

Police believe other teens were involved in the incident and have asked them to come forward.

Fifteen people were sleeping rough in the building at the time of the fire and 13 of them have been accounted for.

However, at least 70 residents

have been displaced from the surrounding buildings, with an exclusion zone expected to stay in place for seven days.

Police confirmed the teens who handed themselves in were assisting them with their inquiries.

Fire and Rescue New South Wales said the fire reached a “10th” alarm status on Thursday - the most severe level.

The building was heritage-listed and formerly home to the Henderson Hat factory. It had sat vacant for many years, but there were plans to redevelop it into a hotel.

After it caught fire, a thick column

of smoke could be seen across Sydney. Video showed the top level of the building falling on to the nearby street.

Fire and Rescue NSW said they were able to contain the fire to prevent damage to nearby residential blocks.

The organisation also said investigations into the cause of the blaze had been taken over by NSW Police Arson Squad.

The building is located in innercity Sydney, across the road from the city’s central station.

Transport to and from the central area had to be stopped on Thursday as firefighters worked to extinguish the fire.

Veniamin Kondratyev, said it was caused by two Ukrainian drones: “There is some damage to buildings, but critical infrastructure was not damaged. And most importantly, there were no casualties.”

Russia’s Belgorod region, which was the scene of an unprecedented incursion from Ukrainian territory earlier this week, was also hit overnight. The village of Kozinka was struck more than 130 times, according to its governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

Celine Dion cancels all remaining shows over poor health

Celine Dion has cancelled all her remaining live shows, telling fans she is not strong enough to tour after being diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder.

The singer revealed last year she was suffering from Stiff-Person Syndrome (SPS), which was affecting her singing.

Dion has now cancelled all the shows she had scheduled for 2023 and 2024.

In a statement posted on Twitter, the 55-year-old told fans: “I’m so sorry to disappoint all of you once again.

“Even though it breaks my heart, it’s best that we cancel everything until

I’m really ready to be back on stage.”

She added: “I’m not giving up... and I can’t wait to see you again!”

In December 2022, the French Canadian singer posted an emotional video on Instagram to say she had been diagnosed with SPS and would not be ready to start a European tour in February as planned.

She said the disorder was causing muscle spasms and was “not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I’m used to”.

The Courage World Tour began in 2019, and Dion completed 52 shows before the Covid-19 pandemic put the remainder on hold.

She later cancelled the North American dates due to health problems, and delayed the European leg of the tour.

On Friday, those delayed European performances were cancelled altogether, including dates in London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Stockholm and Zurich.

A statement released by her tour said the shows were being cancelled with “a sense of tremendous disappointment”.

“I’m working really hard to build back my strength, but touring can be very difficult even when you’re 100%,” the statement quoted Dion as saying.

The tour was to have been Dion’s first global concert tour in a decade and the first without her husbandmanager Rene Angelil, who died from cancer in 2016.

Dion is best known for hits including My Heart Will Go On, Because You Loved Me, All By Myself and It’s All Coming Back To Me Now.

What is Stiff Person Syndrome and is there a cure?

SPS is a rare condition and not well understood.

According to the National Institute for Neurological Disorders, it is characterised by fluctuating muscle rigidity in the trunk and limbs and

Actors lose Romeo & Juliet nude scene lawsuit

Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey were aged 16 and 15 at the time Romeo and Juliet was filmed

A Los Angeles judge says she will dismiss a child sex abuse lawsuit brought by the stars of the 1968 film Romeo and Juliet.

Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting alleged the film’s director coerced them into filming nude while underage.

A Superior Court judge found the scene wasn’t “sufficiently sexually suggestive” to overrule First Amendment protections.

Hussey was 15 at the time of filming and Whiting 16.

In a tentative ruling issued on Thursday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Alison Mackenzie said the plaintiffs “cherry picked” which statutes applied to their case. She also said the lawsuit did not meet the requirements for suspending the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse.

Lawyers representing the actors told US media outlets they intended to file a separate lawsuit in federal court. In a joint statement, Ms Hussey and Mr Whiting, now both in their 70s,

said they would continue to fight.

“We waited going on 55 years for justice. I guess we’ll have to wait longer,” they said.

Whiting and Hussey are now both 72

In December, the actors filed a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures for sexual harassment and child sexual abuse. They claimed the film’s director, Franco Zeffirelli, had encouraged them to film nude scenes despite previous assurances they would not have to.

The suit alleged that Zeffirelli - who died in 2019 - said that they

must act in the nude “or the Picture would fail,” according to the original complaint.

He then assured both actors that the cameras would not capture any nudity, the suit said.

However, in the final film, Whiting’s bare buttocks and Hussey’s bare breasts were briefly shown during the scene.

The two actors sought damages of more than $500m (£417m), based on suffering they said they have experienced and the revenue brought in by the film since its release.

“We firmly believe that the

a heightened sensitivity to stimuli such as noise, touch, and emotional distress, which can set off muscle spasms.

Abnormal postures, often hunched over and stiffened, are characteristic of the disorder, the institute says.

People with SPS can be too disabled to walk or move, or they are afraid to leave the house because street noises, such as the sound of a horn, can trigger spasms and falls.

Most individuals with SPS have frequent falls and because they lack the normal defensive reflexes; injuries can be severe.

While there is no cure for SPS,

exploitation and sexualisation of minors in the film industry must be confronted and legally addressed to protect vulnerable individuals from harm and ensure the enforcement of existing laws,” lawyer Solomon Gresen said in a statement.

The 1968 adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet won numerous Academy Awards including for Best Picture and Best Cinematography. The film is beloved by critics and continues to be shown in classrooms around the world during lessons on William Shakespeare.

Source: BBC

Melissa Caddick went missing in 2020 after police agents raided her home

NEWS FROM AFRICA

Wagner: US sanctions boss of mercenary group in Mali

The US has announced sanctions on the local boss of the Wagner private military group in Mali, Ivan Maslov.

The Russian mercenary group could be secretly trying to obtain military equipment for the war in Ukraine through its operations in Mali and other African countries, the US says.

The Treasury Department said Wagner employees could be trying to procure mines, drones and radar equipment.

Wagner is known to be operating in some African countries, including Mali.

The group has been providing Mali’s military government with assistance in the fight against Islamist insurgents.

Mr Maslov is seen as a key figure in Wagner, working with Malian officials to build Wagner’s presence.

The US accusations suggest the group might be trying to exploit the abundance of arms in Mali. The country saw an influx of weaponry after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya in 2011, as mercenaries fighting for the former leader returned home.

The group’s overall boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has accused Russia’s defence ministry of failing to provide his personnel with weapons and ammunition for operations in Ukraine.

Wagner has led Russia’s offensive in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, although it began withdrawing on Thursday in

order to hand control over to the Russian military.

Earlier this year, the US designated Wagner as a transnational criminal organisation. Prigozhin and other Wagner leaders are already subject to sanctions.

Prigozhin has regularly complained of lack of weapons and ammunition in Ukraine

“The Wagner Group’s presence on the African continent is a destabilising force for any country that allows for the deployment of the group’s resources into their sovereign territory,” the US Treasury Department statement said.

Wagner committed widespread human rights abuses and appropriated natural resources, it added.

The Treasury also suggested Wagner might be “seeking to transit material acquisitions for Ukraine through Mali” and was “willing to use false paperwork for these transactions”.

The statement also accused Wagner of supplying Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces with missiles for its conflict with the Sudanese army.

Russia has been seeking to expand its influence in Africa as it seeks new allies in the war with Ukraine.

Its involvement in West Africa predates the war, but evidence suggests Wagner’s operations there have not been any more successful than those of other

forces, such as former colonial power France.

France withdrew its troops from

Mali in February last year following disagreements with the military government, which seized power in 2020

Sudan conflict: Brit who lived by embassy left without help

An 85-year-old British citizen in Sudan was shot and injured by snipers and his wife then died of starvation despite repeated calls for assistance made to the nearby British embassy in Sudan, their family has told BBC News.

Abdalla Sholgami lived with his disabled 80-year-old wife, Alaweya Rishwan, just over the road from the UK’s diplomatic mission in Khartoum - an area that saw some of the fiercest fighting at the start of the conflict last month.

But the London hotel owner was never offered support to travel from their home to the airfield where evacuation flights departed from, even when a British military team was sent to evacuate diplomatic staff from the mission, the family says.

Instead, the elderly couple, who had no food or water, were told to make their own way to the airfield 40km (25 miles) outside Khartoum - which would have meant crossing a warzone.

The UK foreign office acknowledged to the BBC that the Sholgamis’ case was “extremely sad” but added that “our ability to provide consular assistance is severely limited and we cannot provide in-person support within Sudan”.

Only diplomatic staff and their families were given assistance to reach the evacuation points. All other British citizens were told to make their own way.

The violence in Khartoum was triggered by a power struggle between former allies - the leaders of the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Fighting began on 15 April, and the

couple’s family says that every avenue was used to try and get assistance from soon after that date, including personal phone calls to the embassy.

On 22 April a family member emailed a British MP in an effort to get the appeals for help answered.

That night, the embassy was evacuated but Mr Sholgami and his wife were not given any assistance.

A further call from the family to the UK foreign office’s Sudan hotline was made some time on the 24 or 25 April. A voice note recording of the conversation heard by the BBC indicates that this was a follow-up inquiry.

On 3 May, Britain’s final evacuation flight took off from Sudan. In an exchange of emails with the ambassador on that day, the family was told to get the couple to the departure point themselves but this was not possible because of the fighting.

At some point - and it is not clear exactly when - Mr Sholgami, faced with starvation and with no water, left his home and his wife to find help.

After escaping his house he was shot three times - in his hand, chest and lower back - by snipers, just a few metres from the UK embassy. With no hospitals functioning where he was, Mr Sholgami was then taken to a family member in another part of Khartoum and survived.

But it was impossible for any family members to reach his wife in an area that was surrounded by snipers. She was left to fend for herself.

On 10 May, Alaweya Rishwan was found

dead inside the home by an official from the Turkish embassy. Her body remains in the house, unburied.

There had been no further word from the UK’s foreign office until it sent a message this week to the BBC: “The ongoing military conflict means Sudan remains dangerous… the UK is taking a leading role in the diplomatic efforts to secure peace in Sudan,” it said.

Mr Sholgami’s granddaughter, Azhaar, grew up in Khartoum and knows how close the embassy is to their house. She is distraught.

“I was informed they had 100 troops who came and evacuated their staff. They could not cross the road? I’m still very disappointed in them,” she told the BBC.

“What happened to my grandparents was

a crime against humanity, not only by the RSF, not only by the [Sudanese army], but by the British embassy, because they were the only ones that could have prevented this from happening to my grandparents,” she said.

Mr Sholgami’s son, who’s a doctor, had to operate on his father’s wounds in Khartoum, without anaesthetic.

That is because only a handful of Khartoum’s 88 hospitals remain open after weeks of fighting, according to Sudan’s Doctors Union. Hospitals have often been targeted by both sides during the conflict.

Mr Sholgami managed to escape to Egypt. He is now on his way back to London for further medical treatment.

Source: BBC

Wagner’s influence in Mali has been growing since France withdrew its troops last year

Azhaar Sholgami (C) and her family had been trying to get British officials to help her grandparents leave Khartoum

Ortom exits amid blame game, huge salary arrears

By Uche Nnorom

On Monday 29th May, 2023, a new administration will be ushered in Benue State. Governor Samuel Ortom will exit the stage after serving his eight year term as the fifth democratically elected governor of the state; and a new Governor Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia will assume office as the sixth democratically elected governor of the state.

Ortom has in the past weeks been busy commissioning several projects to mark the end of his administration. The projects, mostly roads that were started midstream into his administrstion, were completed towards the end to showcase his achievements and prove his popular cliche,”that better is the end of a matter than the beginning therefore’.

For the governor, it has been a period of sober reflection on the last eight years of his government. And he never ceases to pat himself on the back and say,”I have run the race and finish well”. Ortom also has not failed to appreciate Benue people who chose him to be Governor of the State. He said he did not

take this for granted. He emphasised the immense cooperation and support that the people had given him especially in his fight against ‘herders attempted invasion of the State’. This he continually lamented and blamed the outgoing

President Muhammadu Buhari for his failure to tackle insecurity frontally.

The Governor’ has had strained relationship with the Presidency accusing him of frustrating his administration particularly in his failure to release 42 billion naira to offset backlog of salaries and another 20 billion infrastructure fund.

While Governor Ortom is busying himself engaging in blame game, the mood in the State ahead of the inauguration of Fr. Alia as governor is that of excitement. It could be likened to an expectant mother waiting to deliver after nine months of pregnancy. For APC and Benue people, a new born child is being awaited eagerly and earnestly.

Expectation are very

high amongst the citizenry that a new dawn will be ushered in by the incomingadminstratin. They expect a new chapter to be opened in the annals of the State. Indeed the new governor should know the enormity of the challenges ahead of him which is the development of the State in all ramifications.

One particular area Fr. Alia would have to tackle and restore hope to Benue people would be to clear the huge backlog of salaries that he will inherit from Ortom. Whether he will allow the Life Pension Bill by Ortom which he initiated at the twilight of his administration is also, yet to be seen.

Meanwhile,preparations for the day has since commenced and as part of its readiness to ensure

adequate security, the State Police Command has directed all Area Commanders, Tactical Commanders and Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) in the command to emplace adequate security in their areas of responsibility.

The directive was contained in an operation order designed by the command and sent down to various divisions.

It was signed by the Police Public Relations’ Officer SP Catherine Anene on behalf of the State Commissioner of Police CP Julius Okoro Alawari and made available to Weekend Peoples Daily.

In his directives, the CP emphasized that the venue for the inauguration ceremony should be heavily secured with adequate man power and relevant equipment to ensure serenity and orderliness.

‘All Police Officers have been warned to be very professional and civil in carrying out their duties.

“The command wishes to also inform members of the public that there will be diversion around entry and exit routes within Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) Square, High level Makurdi as part of efforts to ensure free flow of traffic. Members of the Public are therefore urged to be law abiding and cooperate with Officers on duty for a peaceful inaugural process.

“Non state actors or aggrieved groups and individuals are warned to channel their grievances to relevant authorities for redress”, CP Okoro advised He assured the people of Benue State of his commitment to ensure safety and security of the people.

“

Expectation are very high amongst the citizenry that a new dawn will be ushered in by the incomingadminstratin. They expect a new chapter to be opened in the annals of the State. Indeed the new governor should know the enormity of the challenges ahead of him which is the development of the State in all ramifications

Governor Samuel Ortom

Olympics Qualifier: NWF President, Dr Ibrahim Abdul

Lauds Weightlifters After Tunisia Medal Haul

By Amaechi Agbo

The President, Nigeria Weightlifting Federation, NWF, Dr Ibrahim Abdul, FCISM, OCP, CMC; has commended Nigeria weightlifters who won 12 medals at the just concluded 2023 Senior Africa Weightlifting Championship in Tunisia.

Five Nigeria athletes, Lawal Rufiatu, Olarinoye Adijat, Eze Joy Ogbonne, Edidiong Umoafia and Akano Desmond represented Nigeria at the championship which also served as the 2024 Olympic Games qualifier.

They competed in 59kg and 71kg women’s categories as well as 73kg and 89kg men’s categories.

They won a total of 12 medals made up of three gold, seven silver and two bronze medals to put Nigeria’s quest for the 2024 Olympic Games qualification on sound track

In a release signed by the Media Officer, Nigeria Weightlifting Federation, Mr Amaechi Agbo, the President charged the weightlifters to buckle up ahead of more qualifiers.

“First and foremost, I want to commend the athletes for doing their best, considering the circumstances.

“As the president and someone who aim for the best, I wanted all of them to win gold medals in Tunisia. Nevertheless, I am proud of what they achieved.

“However, I urge them to buckle up. We have just started the race to Olympic Games qualification and there is a long way to go. They should remain active, sustain their training schedules and strictly follow them.

“As a federation, we will continue to provide, within our powers, all that are necessary for them to excel. We cannot afford to miss out on Olympics again after what happened in Tokyo Olympics qualifiers.

“I have no doubts in their abilities and

•Ambassador charges lifters to remain focused

I believe that once they remain focused, we will get there,” he said

Meanwhile, Nigeria ambassador to Tunisia, Amb. Asari Edem Allotey has charged the weightlifters to remain focused in their quest for 2024 Olympics tickets.

Amb. Allotey stated this on Thursday while hosting the Nigeria Weightlifting contingent in her house.

The Ambassador who expressed delight with the performances of the lifters, also

cautioned them to make improvements if they must become Olympic medalists in Paris next year.

Nigeria weightlifters are expected to participate in five other weightlifting qualifying championships as they seek a return to Olympic Games medal podium in Paris next year.

The championships/Olympics qualifiers are:

1. IWF Grand Prix Havana, Cuba June 2-12, 2023

2. IWF World Championships Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -September 2-17, 2023

3. IWF Grand Prix Doha, Qatar December 1-17, 2023

4. African Championships February 25 March 02, 2024 (host to be confirmed)

5. IWF World Cup Phuket, Thailand April, 2024

U-20 World Cup: How Flying Eagles came from behind to beat Dominican Republic

By Amaechi Agbo

Nigeria’s Flying Eagles earned the first three points of Group D of the ongoing FIFA U20 World Cup in Argentina after an own goal by Guillermo De Rena and a smart finish by Samson Lawal steered them beyond Dominican Republic in Mendoza.

Ibrahim Muhammad’s shot had been firmly held by goalkeeper Xavier Valdez and Jude Sunday and Tochukwu Nnadi had threatened in the fore

within the first quarter-hour, before Japanese referee Yusuke Araki opted to consult the Video Assistant Referee and then award a penalty to Dominican Republic in the 20th minute, after a tackle by Daniel Daga. The resultant penalty was brilliantly converted by Edison Azcona.

Sunday, Nnadi, Fago Lawal, Samson Lawal and Muhammad all doubled their efforts with onslaughts launched towards the opposition, but goalkeeper Valdez was brilliant on the day, especially

in tipping over Sunday’s dipping shot from outside the box in the 37th minute.

Defender Solomon Agbalaka, who headed the goal that sank hosts Egypt at the Africa U20 Cup of Nations in January, attempted a similar effort in the 58th minute but found Valdez capable. From a dashing run in the 61st minute, substitute Emmanuel Umeh should have done more than place the ball in the keeper’s waiting hands.

Daga, Sunday and substitute Haliru Sarki all tested the keeper

in a second half dominated by Nigeria, but Samson Lawal was very alert to smell blood and capitalize on a defensive lapse by the boys from Dominican Republic to score Nigeria’s winner in the 68th minute. This was a minute after Jude Sunday had the ball in the net from a flowing team move, but it was ruled offside.

“We are happy with the three points though we wanted the boys to win by a higher margin as goals advantage do matter along the line in a competition such as this. The next two matches will be much

tougher and I expect the Flying Eagles to also show sterner stuff,” said NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi who watched the encounter at the Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza. Next up for the two-time runners-up of the FIFA U20 World Cup is a clash with Italy at the same venue on Wednesday evening. A draw will most certainly guarantee a place in the knockout rounds for the Flying Eagles, ahead of their final group phase encounter with Brazil in La Plata on Saturday.

Nigeria Weightlifting contingent with the Ambassador during the latter’s visit in Tunisia on Thursday

Australia has a ‘pokies’ gambling problem, but is change coming?

At the lowest point of her addiction, Kate Seselja sat in front of an electronic gambling machine for hours, crying as she stared at the glowing nil balance.

Her phone buzzed on an intermittent loop - her worried husband calling “a hundred times”, and increasingly desperate to find her.

Overcome with feelings of dread and shame, she thought about ending her life - but didn’t because she was pregnant with her sixth child.

“I was so mentally, physically, [and] emotionally done with this existence, this addiction” she tells the BBC.

“But I couldn’t figure out how to take my life and not hers.”

After 12 years of destructive gambling, she had lost about A$500,000 (£273,000; $336,000).

Ms Seselja’s story, while shocking, is familiar to many Australians - about one in 100 has a gambling problem.

If gambling losses were averaged over Australia’s entire adult population, each person would lose about A$1,200 a year, according to H2 Gambling Capital. This is significantly more than for other nations.

Driving this are electronic poker machines, or slot machines - known colloquially here as the pokies. Critics liken them to “electronic heroin”.

But Australia could be on the cusp of the biggest reform to the industry since the machines were first legalised in 1956.

World’s pokies hotspot Australia has just 0.33% of the world’s population, but a fifth of its pokies.

Rows of machines fill not just casinos but thousands of pubs, clubs and hotels too. Each year they rake in about $13bn -

more than casinos, lotteries and sports betting combined.

Recent inquiries have found the machines are being used to launder money in Australia. But this is nothing compared to their personal cost, opponents say.

Often concentrated in areas of socio-economic disadvantage, the machines contribute to suicides, financial offences, domestic violence, family breakdowns and poverty, research has shown.

“You’re taught about smoking and drinking alcohol, but nobody warned me about pokies,” Ms Seselja says.

And so, at the age of 18, she slipped a $20 note into a machine one night at her boyfriend’s urging. She instantly won hundreds.

As the lights flashed and the machine sung out, Ms Seselja remembers her heart pounding in reply. “It made me feel like I was lucky or clever.”

“Every time you’d go out with friends, there was pokies available,” she says. “It wasn’t like I left the house thinking yes, I’m going to go gamble tonight.”

But before long, Ms Seselja was feeding all her earnings into the machines. She began lying to loved ones, taking money from her family business, and maxing out credit card after credit card.

“I quickly became somebody I didn’t recognise,” she says, crying. “But I now hold compassion for her, because the reality is I was so unprotected, as a consumer, against addiction by design.”

Researchers like Charles Livingstone say electronic gaming machines (EGMs) are designed to deliver the brain’s happy chemical - dopamine“in spades”, even when players are losing money, which makes them highly addictive.

“If you wanted to look at the worst example of exploitation of a vulnerable community by a legal product that is poorly regulated, it will be hard to find a better example than the [pokies] industry in Australia,” Dr Livingstone, from Monash University, tells the BBC.

The man who pioneered the use of pokies in AustraliaLen Ainsworth - has previously rejected the notion they’re addictive, calling it “nonsense”.

“I mean, if you like something you’ll continue to do it… it’s like kissing girls,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 2017.

Australia’s Gaming

Technologies Association also defends the machines, saying they are made according to regulations which prioritise “fairness, probity, and harm minimisation” as “paramount objectives”.

It also points to a failed lawsuit against a pokies

manufacturer in 2018. A Federal Court judge found the applicant had not provided enough evidence that features of the machines were addictive and deceptive.

“Playing EGMs is a legitimate recreational activity that millions of Australians

enjoy safely,” a spokeswoman said.

Ms Seselja finds that argument ridiculous. “If it’s able to take $10 from you every three seconds, that does not equal harmless entertainment,” she says.

Source: BBC

“

But before long, Ms Seselja was feeding all her earnings into the machines. She began lying to loved ones, taking money from her family business, and maxing out credit card after

Kate Seselja spent more than a decade battling a gambling addiction

Australia has about 200,000 electronic gambling machines

Len Ainsworth pictured in the 1990s

Why and how petrol subsidy must go

If the subsidy is removed, petrol supply, whether even by importation for now until the Dangote and other refineries work, or from domestic refining capacity, will become more competitive, driving down costs over time. It also is artificial to expect the price to be the same everywhere in Nigeria. Even with price regulation, that is not what has happened.

For Nigeria to exit from its national fiscal crisis, create prosperity for its citizens and fulfil its obligations to those citizens, we must end the decades-old drainpipe of petrol subsidy.

There is no good time to do it. Postponing the evil day (as we have done for too long) beyond the next three months – and even then, only to prepare well for how to do it and the aftermath – would be unwise. A large majority of Nigerians oppose ending the subsidy despite the overwhelming economic arguments against it. Many, though, have accepted this inevitable outcome as our fiscal crisis has progressively gotten worse. We have been locked in a battle between economic rationality and the “superstition” of petrol subsidy for four main reasons. First, Nigeria has a literacy rate of 62 per cent – quite low, relative even to several other African countries.

From this foundational statistic we can extrapolate that the rate of economic literacy – a basic understanding of economics and the public policy that should drive its application on a national scale so it can work to our ultimate individual benefit – is infinitesimal. And yet, we are a people of strong opinions on anything under the sun! Secondly, and perhaps even more importantly, Nigerians simply do not trust their governments and the political elite to act in a manner that is remotely in the interest of the average Nigerian.

This breakdown of trust is deep, and complete, and has evolved over several decades of governance failure marked by a combination of industrial-scale public sector corruption and a vanishing capacity to exercise the basic functions of the administrative state. Nigerians, therefore, cling to a belief that “cheap” petrol – increasingly a myth – is their basic human right as citizens of a petrostate. It is a “minor” matter that we are one of the very few oil-producing countries in the world, such as the august company of war-torn Libya, that exports crude petroleum and then imports refined and expensive petrol to which value has been added in foreign countries.

The third reason we have remained in this dilemma is economic populism. This doctrinal approach has led successive governments to pretend they love their poor compatriots by “subsidizing” the difference between the landing (real) cost of imported refined petrol and the price consumers pay at the gas station. It is, again, a minor matter that this market inefficiency has created a class of corruptly wealthy businessmen and women and the public servants with whom they collude to inflate consumption figures that determine the rates of subsidy payments. Meanwhile, elite corruption and inefficiency have crippled our national refineries for several decades. Economic populism is a phrase that has its origin in Latin America in the 1970s and ’80s, and from failed economic policies in Chile under its President Salvadore Allende (1970-1073) and Peru in the first term of President Alan Garcia (1985-1990). It is a policy approach that panders to uninformed popular opinion to create ultimately unsustainable obligations on the part of the government (and sometimes a period of economic or wage growth). The economy then crashes, and

By Kingsley Moghalu

the citizens are returned to ground zero where they were pre-populism. Sometimes they are returned to “underground zero” which is worse and, I would argue, our situation in Nigeria. Populism is what led President Nana Kufo-Addo’s government of Ghana to chalk up massive public spending, a huge import bill on the back of newfound oil wealth, eventual foreign exchange scarcity and an unsustainable debt of $58 billion, on which our West African neighbour has defaulted and is now borrowing from the International Monetary Fund, IMF, for the 17th time in Ghana’s history. Nigeria has similarly been afflicted by the oil “curse”.

Fourthly, the oil subsidy cabal in Nigeria has become a very strong vested interest with political and other clout. When President Goodluck Jonathan’s government attempted to remove oil subsidy a decade ago, Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s mother was kidnapped, but fortunately subsequently released. As we cannot solve problems in a durable manner if we fail to understand their root causes, we must keep the foregoing factors in mind as we grapple with the petrol subsidy challenge in our national public policy. The keys to resolving the subsidy conundrum, therefore, include a transparent demonstration (with clear safeguards) that savings from removing petrol subsidy will not be stolen by corrupt public officials, a concrete plan for how these savings will be utilized for the benefit of Nigerians and the economy, and a plan to address subsidy removal’s inevitable – but hopefully temporary – inflationary impact. All of this must be anchored by a strong, simple but effective programme of public education of Nigerians on radio, television, and social media.

Nigerians need to be made to understand that continuing the petrol subsidy works against their interest. To begin with, subsidies are not, in and of themselves, a crime. They can be found even in strongly capitalist societies. But it makes far more economic sense to subsidize production

and productivity, which is what has happened in successful economies than to subsidize individual consumption – which is what we do in Nigeria with petrol subsidy. Also, where consumption is subsidized, this almost always is for essential goods such as public transportation with buses, railways, and waterways.

Moreover, this can work well where an efficient, effective administrative state exists. To pretend that we have such a reality in Nigeria, with a few enclave exceptions, would be to delude ourselves. Because of this foundational weakness, most programmes or services run by governments, federal or state, are often abused with massive corruption by public officials. Reducing the role of the government and allowing market dynamics to allocate most resources is thus a necessary first step while we rebuild the Nigerian state and imbue it with capacity. Petrol subsidies distort markets and their supply chains.

Think of our interminable queues at petrol stations. It encourages the smuggling of petrol across our borders with West African neighbours where petrol is more expensive because it sells at market prices. The profit motive is a strong one. Marketers who can make double profits in cross-border markets as opposed to the internal Nigerian market where the petrol price is capped, will do so. This phenomenon frequently leaves us standing, sitting, or sleeping in long lines for petrol at fuel stations because of supply chain disruptioninduced scarcity.

Nigerians – and most people in any country, developed or underdeveloped – will exploit any opportunity for arbitrage. The best way to make things work well is to eliminate such opportunities. If the subsidy is removed, petrol supply, whether even by importation for now until the Dangote and other refineries work, or from domestic refining capacity, will become more competitive, driving down costs over time. It also is artificial to expect the price to be the same everywhere in Nigeria. Even with price regulation, that is not what has happened.

Petroleum consumption and the number of vehicles in Nigeria have been significantly inflated to serve the interests of the subsidy cabals because this is the basis on which subsidy payments are calculated and made to petrol marketers. This means that public funds are going directly into private pockets with no value received for those funds. It also is a massive waste of public resources for the Federal Government of Nigeria to spend N5 trillion on petrol subsidy, which is of benefit far more to the rich and their SUVs than to the often carless poor, while the FGN cannot afford to pay public universities and their teachers an outstanding N800 billion in agreed support while millions of Nigerian youth are idle at home for months on end from Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, strikes.

And yet, many, suffering from some sentimental hangover, continue to clamour for the continuation of petrol subsidies. As a proverb

of Turkish origin says: “The forest was shrinking but the trees kept voting for the axe, for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because his handle was made of wood, he was one of them”. This allegory applies to all four of our subsidy conundrums in Nigeria. The subsidy scam became so embedded that Nigeria, our revenues depressed from oil price shocks and weak fiscal management, especially a low ratio of tax to GDP and profligate borrowing, has for years also been borrowing to pay subsidies on petrol importation. We are now debt-distressed as repaying our debt is consuming 96% of our earned revenues according to the IMF. What do we call borrowing to pay subsidies that generate nothing we can utilize to repay our debt?

Savings from subsidy removal should be invested in subsidized public transportation across our 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. From a back-of-the-envelope calculation, such a scheme should not cost more than N200 billion per annum overall (compare that with N5 trillion!) at not more than N5 billion per state per annum multiplied by 37 states and the FCT. This scheme should be a public-private partnership anchored in private-sector transporters and not become another “government programme”. This is to avoid any “wuruwuru” in which the “younger” transport subsidy swallows the “senior” petrol subsidy, and the “solution” becomes a worse problem than the original one.

Other investment focus areas include education (especially Technical and Vocational Education and Training, TVET, to produce skilled human capital in our young population on a massive scale), health insurance, and the savings pool of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, NSIA. The devil is in the details, but where there is a will there is a way. The incoming government of Nigeria has signposted the political will to grab this bull by its horns. If previous governments had done so, Nigeria would have been sparred this poisoned chalice.

Moghalu, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, is the CEO of Sogato Strategies, a macroeconomic and investment advisory firm, and the President of the Institute for Governance and Economic Transformation, IGET, a public policy think tank.

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Nigerians – and most people in any country, developed or underdeveloped – will exploit any opportunity for arbitrage. The best way to make things work well is to eliminate such opportunities.