generated_predictions.txt

How did they see a dedicated body of a civil defence officer in a nearby grave?
The dead body of a woman officer at the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) being sought for 18 months, has been seen in a grave not deepened in Obi Local Government Area in Benue State.
Until at the time he was not seen again, Josephine Cynthia Inalegwu Onche, was working at the NSCDC office in Otukpo.
Cynthia is Idoma, and she would have come to Otukpo, just missing the planning of her marriage.
Some of her workmen who refused to be named said her family members that she could not be found again when her marriage remained short days.
What was said was that she was going to the market to buy items as she was preparing for her marriage, but she did not return home since.
One of the offices who died said that as much as they were trying to find him, he was not seen until one okada man showed him where he was buried.
The okadaman told the family people that the boss who wanted to marry their children killed him, used him to do the rotual for money.
Following that the okadaman took the family members and security forces to arrest the man, the man took them to the father who performed the ritual in Obi local government, before he went into South-West state.
When the husband and her herbalist were arrested by the police in Otukpo, the family members of the dead had to leave the body where he was buried and organized burials on to June 1, 2021.
Calls, or a response message sent to him regarding the incident, DSP Catherine Anene, a spokesman of Benue police, refused to be taken.
The spokesman of the NSCDC in the state, Asc Ejelikwu Micheal, when we met him, said he would speak at time.
But an insider said the news of the suspects had again put sadness in the minds of the security people.
In the review of the constitution: MURIC said there had been sharia in Southwest before Christianity entered.
The Muslim Right Concern has urged the Penticostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) to stop opposition to Muslims, to mind their.
The Director of MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola, said this on Sunday.
He further warned the PFN to prevent any group from using the review of a Senate constitution from bringing shariah law to the south-west.
PFN and other Christian communities knew that there was a shariah in the south-west before Christianity entered in 1842.
Shariah was practiced in Ede, during the time of Oba Abeeb Olagunju (Abbeb is a Muslim name) and
The shariah court in Ede was still working in 1913, in Agbeni in the town.
He was taken to Agbongbon in 1914.
Shariah was used in Iwo during the time of Oba Momodu Lamuye (Muhammad Lamuye), who died in 1906.
Even so, the nomba svevn Akirun of Ikirun, Oba Aliyu Oyewole (married in 1912), took Shariah into Ikirun in 1910.
All these are examples that there has been a shariah, which has been spreading in Yorubaland, and to say that the Christian people are also aware that the shariah was stopped in Yorubaland, which was then imposed on the common law for Christians, Akintola said.
He said PFN and some other Christian communists were also aware that the Islamic movement had grown in the southwest with fear that the giant who was sleeping was awoke to come and take up what belongs to him.
He said the Christians know that shariah is the right that Allah has taken to dash Muslims.
But they have determined that they would not be allowed to use by Muslims, that is the new way to use.
They had it in mind that it was war with Muslims fighting and that it was not even bad in war.
They use both good and bad ways to do what is in their minds.
They have called on the Nigerian people to understand the mentality of the Christian people here.
As is the case with all who are quickly upset, they belief that attacking people is the only way they can defend themselves.
As they benefited from the colonial jaguda that reached a century then, they wanted to keep all the things that the colonial boss could bring to them.
They intend to put Muslim people into the colonial territory where they are chased.
The constitution reviewers have called on Nigerians to write what they want in the constitution.
Each group should bring to the necessary items.
Instead of PFN telling communists what the Christians want, it is what they think that the Christians should not ask them to talk.
It was intended to be blocked by the Muslims in the south, but it would not work.
Speaking that there is religious tolerance in the south, it is a lie, and it is being said to put in slavery the Yoruba people who are Muslims, he said.
Muslims in the region are open-looking and demanding freedom.
We urge them to stop forcing us to wear Christian school uniform, to go to Christian school, to use Christian law.
We want a shariah not a cut-powered but a shariah to regulate Muslim marriages, inheritance and family affairs.
This doesnt apply to Christians at all.
We will use all the ways that do not cause fight, who follow the law, to do the thing, according to him.
stakeholders in Edo have said Obaseki is a party leader.
While the Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State has a crisis of who controls the party, members or Edo South of the party, they have said the state governor, Godwin Obaseki and his deputy, Philip Shaibu is good.
Edo South PDP iside a communique issued at the end of the stakeholders meeting at the weekend in Benin city, said Godwin Obaseki was a leader of the party in the state.
In communiques read by the secretary, Wilson Evbuonwam, he expressed support for the harmonization and integration of new people into the executive committee of the party, urging the state to develop welfare.
Police have arrested someone allegedly being kidnapped in Abuja, even collective guns.
The Police Command of the FCT has arrested eight suspected kidnappers in Shenegu-Tunga Maje, Gwagwalada, Kabusa village and Durumi axis of Abuja.
The spokesman of the command, ASP Maryam Yusuf, who spoke by a siddon in Abuja, said the suspects were Yakubu Ahmadu, Ibrahim Mallam Musa, and Bello Haruna.
She said the suspects were members of a syndicate also linked to the kidnap attempt on the Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
Gwagwalada branch, Barrister David Aigbefoh.
She said the suspect was arrested during a coordinated intelligence operation by police officers from the command anti-kidnapping squad on Shenegu mountain on the border of the FCT and Niger State.
She said the suspects had given adequate information on their activities in the group.
Yusuf later said one Nwite Jideofor was arrested while stageing his kidnapp from Durumi area, and the suspect confessed that he conived with people who came to kidnap him to collect up to 5 million from his sister as ransom.
She said some of the exhibits collected from the suspect were three dane guns, seven cutlas, a blecked Honda Accord, four mobile phones and other items, adding that they have been working on how to arrest other members of the fleeing group.
She said the suspects would be brought to court when they have been investigated well, while warning the residents of the FCT, especially parents and guardians to draw their children against crime.
Suarez strike, Atletico win La Liga title
The goal scored by Luiz Suarez made Athletico Mardrid beat Real Valladolid 2-1 on Saturday, making the team another remarkable La Liga victory.
Suarez was crying at the beginning of the season to seek Barcelona forced him out, but as the season ended, it was his 21st goal in the season that Athleticoto won first league since 2014, this one they won ahead of Real Madrid.
Athletico knew that if they, they would win the trophy, no matter what Madrid did for Villareal for their home.
But it wasn't comfortable, as Valladolid took early lead.
Real Madrid was also behind the game, before Karim Benzema equalised in 87 minutes, and Luka Modric scored a late winner in 2-1 at Valdebebas, which hanged Athletico for a long time, while it remained little to disperse the thing with just one goal.
When the final whistle was blown, players ran into the field, red and white shirt covered Suarez, seeking the end of the tightest, even unpredictable title race.
Suarez Zone
It is just a week short.
coach Diego Simone said this is the Suarez zone.
And that was how it proved that as the Uruguayan scored the title in the hands of Athletico last week, he scored on the last day again to write their names for trophy.
This is the second time in 17 years when another team apart from Barcelona or Real Madrid have won the league, Athleti also won the other one under Simeone in 2014.
Athletico started the game, being at the top of the table since December, and scoring two goals in the last eight minutes to beat Osasuna,
But the thhing was not easy for Athletico this season, with 10 points lead in February, and the points dropped to 2 in May, and they positioned as a nomba one on the table relying on Real Madrid and Barcelona slip.
So it was no surprise that while they wanted to face Valladolid, who was 19 at the table, they also patched them.
Many Athletico fans had gathered at Valladolid Plaza Mayor to sing, and many fans also arrived outside the stadium, where they left so that it would not be caused by any problem.
The killing of Gulak has caused people to shout.
People were shouting and mourning on Sunday as barr was killed.
Ahmed Gullak, who was earlier advisers to former presidents Goodluck Jonathan on political issues, by gunmen.
He was shot by people who spoke with Gulak in Obiangwu village while trying to enter the Sam Mbakwe airport in Owerri, capital of Imo State, saying he wanted to enter Abuja.
On yesterday evening, a funeral paryer was held for the politician from Adamawa who came into the national mosque in Abuja, after which his body was buried in the Gudu cemetary around 8 pm.
Police in Imo State said at least six of the suspects who killed the All Progressives Congress (APC) boss had been killed after fighting with them.
A statement issued by the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bala Elkana, said on 30 May, 2021, while police officers received a call to kill Ahmed Gulak, a special force for police officers, including Intellingence Response Team (IRT), Police Mobile Force (PMF), and a tactical unit from the command, was sent to the place of Obiagwu junction, in Ngorokpala LGA of Imo State.
THE instructions were given to the team to arrest the suspects to face justice.
It was said to have been killed by the people of Gulak, which Imo police officers have stopped since yesterday.
The spokesman, especially the driver of the Gulak motorcycle, who took it inside to the airport, described the jaguda people, and the kind of motorcycle they had taken out the jaguda walked.
It was said to have been the 2005 model Toyota Camry, which is silver colored by the Jaguda people, with a 1998 medell and golden colored sienna.
Toyota Hilux painted white, and a Lexus 330, painted gold.
(No registration number is placed on security basis)
When they got to know what kind of people the killer was and what kind of vehicles they took out of the attack, they later told them the way the killer followed.
With some kind of lead, the team later established where the killer was located.
The suspects were arrested at Afor Enyiogugu, in the Anoh-Mbaise local government area.
It was as the jaguda people were dustribute onions inside a trailer that they were confisticated and captured.
It was full of onions in the trailer from Northern Nigeria.
On sighting the police officers, the terrorists who protected their fellow terrorists started shooting guns to police officers.
The gallant and one who is ready for battle.
Police officers also returned with gun shots.
The six terrorists, including four other members of the group, were seriously injured.
Three out of the four vehicles have been collected to attack Gulak.
Three Ak47 riffles, a pistol, five AK47 magazines with a 92 round of live amunation, and criminal charm were collected from them.
The jaguda people were identified as members of the banned IPOB and ESN.
The late-driving driver, Ahmed Gulak, and the surviving victim identified the body of the IPOB/ESN members as they were attacked, and the vehicle collected as the same vehicle used.
In the face to face with the jaguda people, two armored personel carriers belonging to police officers were taken to gun scater, but they did not deteriorate.
and The videos made after the attack showed that Gulak was wearing a jean trouser, and a blue shirt as he was sleeping in his own blood, near the abandoned car.
Gulak was the chairman of the Imo All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election which brought Hope Uzodinma into as a representative of the party.
Even as it is said to be close to the governor, he is visiting the state welwel.
Why is it in Owerri
Although Gulak has been visiting Owerri welfare since Uzodinma is to attend the public hearing of review of constitution in the city to take it to the last time.
While the committee had concluded its sitting, Gulak was back saty when other members of the committee were left the city on Friday.
A close person to Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, who was chairman of the public hearing held in Owerri, said the deceased private belonging to Kalu was offered after the siddon said, but he refused.
According to the source, Kalu team left the city on the day of the public hearing, but Gulak stayed back, said he had things to do in the city.
The source said, We left Owerri on the day of the public hearing and asked him to join us in our private jet, saying we have enough security with us.
But he said he had something to do in the city.
Nigerians have taken a knock on FG, and other politicians concerning the killing.
Nigerians who were on the social media also heard of federal government and political leaders over the killing.
A Facebook commentator linked with the story published by Daily Trust, Ifeanyi Maduako, saying the death of Gulak was bitter, and linked him with politics.
The killing was bitter in my mouth welwel.
It seems to have been done by politicians, and the people who did, should we open their faces.
The killing will expose those behind the security challenges in Imo State.
Who invited him, and why would northerners be killed in Imo State?
I am frightening what will happen to innocent Imo people in some days in the hands of the northern security forces, he wrote.
Another commentator of the thread, Olurombi Micheal Omo, said after police reports proved to be a political killing, he was supposed to be well investigated.
It is also thinging that police people have questions to nswer to.
On his own part, Comr Hassan Ahmad wrote that the soul of innocent people is more important than the scam called Unity for naija.
We will not accept this illiteracy, enof is enof, we are peacemakers.
But those who push us to the wall see that we cannot continue with the peace.
I'm sending a warning, we'll retaliate and it's worse.
Buhari you have failed us woefully, and we face the Imo police people to follow the jaguda people.
Nasiru Inuwa also wrote that it was a wake-up call to the larger people in the north, they started with innocent Fulani herders, now they have become northern government officials, plus prominent politicians.
The secretary of the IPOB jointly, Emma Powerful, who is not supported by the government, has said in a statement that the IPOB should not be linked to the murder of Gulak, saying that killing of politicians is not the agenda of the joint.
So, we said, IPOB doesnt know anythimg about the incident.
To beg with myself, how Gulak threatenes our mission that warranted us to kill him.
We had nothing with him, and we would have not killed him.
Pointing into the IPOB of this kind of barbaric act is just to divert attention away from the real people who did it.
The same way terrorists whose security uniforms committed atrocities in the south-east, and they would come to the IPOB for their crime, therefore, wanting to damage our reputation.
The opportunity they have been looking for for for a long time is to commence another special military operation in the Eastern region to take more innocent Biafra people.
Instead of scurity people to do properly investigate on the incidents and causes, they have faced IPOB over crimes they did not do.
Is IPOB having the informate of the movement of the late Gulak enough to stop it on airport road?
The group urged security people to first investigate the host of Gulak, who is Hope Uzordinma, and his political opponents, to establish if they are involved.
Those who killed Gulak would not escape punishment.
President Muhammadu Buhari has said the people who killed Gulak and other problems in our country would not be released.
Presido, Buhari, in a statement spokesperson, Garba Shehu, expressed his outrage and disgust over the heinous murder.
The president, who showed sadness in the incident, said: I am repulsed by the gruesome murder of Gulak which is premeditated by evil people, which is that they have detrmined to dabaru the peace, unity and teritorial integrity of our country.
I should also warn that nobody, or even anyone doing something despicable would expect to go free.
We will use everything we have to see that those who do such a calous and criminal thing will face justice.
Akeredolu said Gulaks killing was unacceptable.
Governor of Ondo State, Olwarotimi Akeredolu, described the news of the killing as shocking and disturbing.
In a statement signed by the Governor himself, he said this is a murder too many, saying doing things is senseless and wicked.
The people who did such a bad thing are enemies of the countries.
The corner-corner way is to mislead, confuse and destroy.
He has the unmistakable, despicable imprints of fifth columnists bent on setting the country on the path of conflagration.
These criminals must not be allowed to succeed.
We want to use this medium to tell our brother, Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzordinma that we are with him.
We urge him and other governors of the South Eastern states to brace up confronting the security challenges and end bloodbath for them.
The enemies of the people use a weapon of fear to create disaffection.
The coward act is to instigate the Nigerian people in the face of each other, the northerners in the face of the Igbo people who live outside the South East.
We must face the enemy of the people, to see that we are out of power in their hands.
This is not time to argue who knows politics the most.
We should not allow bandits to go down the legitimacy of this government at all levels.
We are calling on all security officials to collaborate to see the criminals sponsoring and terrorists walking.
They must be severely punished.
Fintiri mourn
The Governor of Adamawa State, Umara Ahmadu Fintiri, has said the way Gulak was shocked, said he was a former speaker in Adamawa State.
Governor Fintiri said the death was painful, how wicked the people were.
Governor Fintiri said Late Gulak was a witty, determined, and practical politician, which as he rose was a result of his hardwork.
It is unfortunate that the death has collected from us.
Hon Ahmed Gulak in a gruesome manner of day.
Gulak is a kind of lively politic that involves everyone and always has the interests of the country in his mind.
Recalling his interaction with late Gulak, Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri said he was a brother and mentor, seeking to be a lawter, a human rights fighter.
Madagali community loses good son
In a statement released in Yola yesterday by Chief Press Secretary Hunwashi Wanisoukou, the governor said the country had lost one of the stronger persons fighting human rights.
We all remember how passionate he battled for the people sent out of the house by the insurgency, and those with little means.
ACF condemned the killing
Quran Consultative Forum (ACF) has condemned the killing of Gulak, which is said to be a huge loss in our country.
The ACF in a statement issued by the national publicity secretary, Emmanuel Yawe, said they were sad to hear the killing of Gulak, described as a dynamic and progressive politician from the north.
If you like it or don't like it, that's your business.
May God be blessed, and should he give his family and state, Adamawa, the ability to bear the loss.
The killing was part of the plan to repeat the coup of 1966 CNG.
The coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has described the killing of northern politician Ahmed Gulak, who was once a political adviser to former president Goodluck Jonathan, saying that there was something planned and all the attacks on police in Southeast of Nigeria, was to try to repeat the coup of 1966.
The CNg in a communique signed by the spokesman Abdul-Azeez Suleiman said that this is why a norther part of the country cannot live with southeast as one country, alleging that the violent way of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), and other Igbo gems is funding, having confidence, by every part of the Igbo society, both householders and the villagers oyinbo.
Westham's hope of the top-four has been broken down by how they lost to Everton.
Westham hope to get top-four has been disrupted because they did not play a lot against Everton hoping to enter the European league on Sunday.
The goal of Dominic Caivert-Lewin in the 24th minute of their game shows that they have determined to win Westham who have made mouth finish that they would score in that serious afternoon.
The closest to equalizing was when Vladmir Coufal shot a ball from a bar and Jerron Bowenno couldn't hit him back into the post upon being in the goal post.
The supporters of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have shown that he is still behind him by showingcase him as a presidential candidate for the coming elections.
Osinbajo said he did not say he wanted to be president.
Vice President Osinbajo said all the few said he intended to be president for the 2023 Presidential Election was a distraction.
Unconfirmed stories have been in town that Osinbajo eyes on the presidents post of the land.
Vice President Laolu Akande, who spoke on Monday, said the Vice President has not declared his interest in being president.
The Vice President office has placed their eyes on a Website body.
supportosinbajo.ng called for Nigerians to join a voluntary group to support Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, preparing for the 2023 Presidential elections.
Details of the website and its petitions have been filled with Whatsapp as well as the fact that Osinbajo has declared interest in the 2023 elections.
The vice president office has no contact with the group or the website that stands for it and believes that the whole thing is an unnecessary distraction.
Prof Osinbajo is yet to be president in the 2023 elections, focusing on working as the Vice President of the current administration to face serious issues in the country.
We are asking our people to eradicate all the challenges, to face the challenges facing us as Nigerians, to do well for our people, to land peace and prosperity, the statement said.
Ndidi and Iheanacho have made Nigeria proud again in Leicester City playing by carrying out the countrys flag showing the FA Cup victory by their teams.
NFF congratulates Ndidi Iheanacho for the FA Cup win at Leicester City
President of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF)
Mr Amaju Melvin Pinnick, has sent messasges to congratulate Super Eagles Midfielder Wilfred Ndidi and Forward Kelechi Iheanacho for their victory in Leicester City against popularly hyped Chelsea on Saturday.
FA Cup final in England
The two of them were on the march at Wembley and were celebrated after the march with Nigerian flag joining the list of the other seven Nigerian Players who had taken the England Cup.
I am very happy with Ndidi and Iheanacho.
They worked well in Leicester City throughout the campaign and both they and their team deserved the honour.
I believe this win will work as a high morale for them in the friendly march we want to play this summer and the FIFA World Cup starting in September.
I am also happy with the Nigerian Flag which both sides celebrate when everything is over.
That was superb.
Ndidi and Iheanacho became the second couple of Nigerians who celebrated the FA Cup win in England, after Nwankwo Kanu and John Utaka won in Portsmouth against Cardiff in 2008.
Before that time, Daniel Amokachi had won the Everton in 1995; Celestine Babayaro also played for Chelsea in 2000, Kanu for Arsenal in 2002, and John Mikel Obi for Chelsea in 2007.
After Kanu/Utaka victory in 2008, John Mikel Obi again won Chelsea in 2009, 2010 and 2012, Alex Iwobi won Arsenal in 2017, Victor Moses also joined them in 2018.
While at the Federal Government College of Enugu in the early 70s, I was using a train pass to transport myself from Kaduna to Enugu.
Djokovic warm up for Roland Garros with a Belgrade title
Novak Djokovic has completed his warm-up with success at Roland Garros when he beat Slovakian Alex 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday in the final of the ATP Clay tournament in Belgrade.
This is the second event in the city over a month with fans coming, not similar to the Serbia Open held in April when the stadium drought.
Djokovic said he had played in front of people for a long time, Belgrade who lost the semifinal in the Serbian Open was the last one to win him in 2011.
The herder-farmer misery in Nigeria has become a reality everyday in the news.
Ending Nigeria's herder-farmer problem: The Livestock Reform Plan
Nigerias federal and state governments are struggling to implement a National Livestock Transformation Plan to control cattle movements across the country to become herders and farmers fight.
It has been endorsed by many state governments, but it is facing certain challenges.
Effective political leadership, imperfect perception of its purpose, increased budget constraints as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, unsuspecting experts and insecurity around the globe, block the progress.
If the plan fails like the other plans to modernise livestock management, the farmers and herders fight increases.
National Economic Council (NEC) approved it in January 2019, with a plan to represent the efforts that will be most understandable to examine the inefficient livestock system.
The main part of the strategy is to control where grazing occurs in order to reduce the fight between herders and farmers.
The movement is hoped that after 10 years, herders who go up and down will mainly be willing to put their cattle in ranches and reserve for public grazing, where breeding farms and other mechanised livestock management will support the production of the sector.
By the end of 2028 the authority intends to have built about 119 ranches in all the states involved to create about two million jobs in the livestock production, processing and market chain.
The plan was made after a period in which herders and farmers were fighting, particularly when the fight was intensifying and affected people in the ghetto in 2018.
The Federal Government, which intends to drop funds that will carry about 80 percent of the Transformation proposal submitted by the participating states, has taken the first step in practising its plans, including technical support to help states prepare for commencing work, such as field surveillance and site mapping.
Many states have been reactivating demarcated grazing reserve, in open offices, and setting up a steering committee to manage the plans.
The authorities have been conducting workshops and other works to teach people the benefits of livestock reform.
With two years out of the 10-year plan, they are not building any ranches and many of their obstacles.
opposition from the herders, though mostly from the Fulani people, remains among the farmers who do not want pastolists to enjoy the benefits of the plan, also distorting the reform effort.
There has been plenty of distrust in the Middle belt, where the fight between farmers and herders was overwhelmed by land, even though peacemaking and efforts by the military since 2018 have reduced the blood shed.
The shortage of the federal and state government budgets, a small part is due to the economic deterioration due to the pandemic, and the country is without technical experts who know how to manage ranches and grazing reserves.
In many states, especially in the North-West, the growth of criminal gangs and armed groups undermine access to grazing reserves and makes people want to invest in advance.
Unless they do something about it, these challenges and others could delay or detriment the plan, which would make the country helpless when the fight between farmers and herders is more serious than before it, which could eventually turn a fight between ethnic groups, regions and religions.
To tackle these challenges, it will be important for federal and state authorities to cooperate to make efforts, with donors and investors assist.
First, Abuja and other states that support it should provide the most strong political leadership, enhance their communication with the public, in order to undermine doubts and misunderstanding of the plan.
This is most common among pastoralists, who will ask them to change their nomadic lifestlye with their people for centuries, who still have serious doubts that the plan promised about pastture is lies.
But many farmers are frightening to lose their land to those producing livestock.
Many people in the middle-belt and other states in the South are still suspecting the plans long-term goals, which are seen as an opportunity for herders and the Fulani people.
With the support from Abuja and other partners, state governments need to find experts who know technical aspects of things, especially those who manage the ranch and grazing reserve, dairy production and meat processing.
The federal and state governments should also increase their budgets for the plan, quickly release the funds and create financial transparency to ensure that everything is accounted for, to work with the necessary donors and investors.
It is also important to deal with insecurities in rural areas, curb impunity and rehabilitation communities seriously affected by the fight in the participating states.
Authorities must consider climate change issues together to decide if herders from other countries will also occasionally benefit from the plan.
With some of these steps taking time, the planers should focus on how to bring a strong result, which can be seen in a short time.
less than two years from now on, the country will hold general elections.
If the plan will survive the change of governance that will follow, Politians will need to bring a clear proof that is beneficial (Change is certain, as President Buhari and many state governors will not be able to compete again as they have served two terms)
By the time the election champaigns were hot in the 2022 end, the people behind the plan should be able to show some of the ranches they built or the repair reserve, strong donors they had and their investors commitment and the first group of people trained to be professional in Livestock mamagement.
Nothing in this is easy but the plan is worth the effort.
Not only is it perfect but it brings an important chance, an opportunity to change Nigerias livestock system with a strategy to address both herders and small-scale farmers needs.
About 70 percent of Nigerians work in terms of agriculture.
Modernising the Livestock sector will boost the countrys prosperity and at the same time, it is a great way to solve one of the dangerous Nigerias problems.
In time for the 2023 elections, both the federal and state authorities will have to do so quickly so that people can see what they are doing, or otherwise all their work to create such moments of opportunity will deteriorate.
This is an executive summary of the report on the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) and how their work is fast, published by the International Crisis Group.
What concerns I have with the king
Do you not agree?
They are responsible for very high proportions in food and crop production.
Subsistence farmers are the smallholders consuming the majority of their refined farm output from which they should not actively participate in commercially oriented agriculture by a variety of constraints.
No energy for nobody who is not happy for me.
I have it.
This led me to the conclusion that everyone is evil.
This system has been characterised as complex, diversified and risk-prone.
Farms are usually small, they do them under traditional or informal tenure, and they are marginally risk-prone environments.
Yields are low and farmers lack the capacity to increase yields.
We spoke of life and prosperity in this day.
waya your aza
The emphasis is on agricultural productivity, production enhancement and commercialising farming as an enterprise.
I know everything
Akpos and his friends sit-down
The yields of the smallholder farmers are profitable.
You are coming.
These challenges have led to a large number of smallholder farmers to pursue low-risk and low-yielding agricultural activities.
Are you a witch?
I am on my way to sabo I am going to buy food enough.
Let me call my father.
As developing countries grow larger, richer, and more urban, the intensification of agricultural production will occur in rapidly changing agri-food value chains.
Far away from what I am saying to come here.
This development is shifting the competitive advantage away from petty farmers.
It is important that we find a solution to the problem.
This requires an intergrated approach to methodologies.
The loan sharks are on his neck.
This kind of thing
I was sent to an errand where I was working.
The water flooded the whole farm.
Farmers battle in 2020
For many farmers and other stakeholders in the agro-sector, the year 2020 will remain as one of the worse years in the history of Nigeria because it introduced a new dynamics that millions of smallholder farmers would contend with.
Many challenges have been confronted by the agricultural sector that is ranging from the climate change-related issues, conflicts and the exacerbate complications from the global COVID-19 pandemic, which led to pain and heartbreak to farmers and agribusiness players.
First, the COVID-19 lockdown and restrictions occurred at the time of dry season farmers should harvest their crops and wet season farmers should begin cultivation.
Many farmers cannot go to their farms while others with labourers to harvest their farms since mechanization is a huge challenge and manual harvest, the problem.
Movement restrictions have been introduced to curb the spread of the coronavirus locked-down markets that have disrupted the rural economy.
Many farmers cannot sell their produce that enables them to buy seeds and fertiliser, pay labourers/tractor services.
Even when the lockdown was lifted in the agricultural sector, the price of fertiliser rose as many smallholders could not afford it.
In some places, the prices have risened to N13,000 in a bag of Indorama and Notore Urea.
NPK 15-15-15 rose to N25,000 when the federal government NPK20-10-10 under the presidential fertiliser initiative, which was supposed to be sold to farmers at N5000 was not available in many places and areas where the price rose to N7,000 and is higher than this in some places.
For farmers in Zamfara, Katsina, southern kaduna, some parts of Kebbi and Sokoto states, bandits activities not only denied access to their farms but the men also kill many in their farms.
Many farming communities were razed down.
Kidnappers and demands ransom
Many people paid a large sum of money or surrendered large portions of their harvest for the bandits.
Many villages in those states have become desolated.
The agric sector witnessed one of the worst disasters when one of the worst disasters when flood wipe out 450,000 hectares of rice and maize fields estimated at over N3.5 billion in kebbi, Sokoto and Kano states.
Most of the farmers affected are yet to be compensated as their livelihood is destroyed.
The flood has worsened since the 2012 disaster which wrecked havoc across most of Nigeria's coastal and flood-prone areas that kill people and wash away farmlands.
Meanwhile, while the flood raises the hearts of farmers in the north, drought confronts farmers in the south.
In two months, farmers were not joyful but watched as their investments in crops had withered away.
Not disguised.
Another seriously hit subsector is poultry and feeds.
The scarcity of maize in the beginning has caused prices to increase.
It has also forced a poultry association in Nigeria to send a save our soul appeal to the federal government for urgent attention.
The federal government has responded to the appeal and released 5,000 metric tons of maize from the nations strategic reserve for farmers in addition to granting some of the major players licenses for importation of about 222 metric tons of maize to increase the shortfall in the feed industry.
However, this is just a short-term solution because three months after the scarcity of soyabean struck, the farmers expressed fear that by January 2021, the industry would shut down completely.
The scarcity resulted in a severe feed crisis in the industry as prices reached high record in its history as it rose from N2,600 in February to about N5,500 in February.
The poultry industry has lost an estimate of about N7 million jobs with figures projecting up to 10 million by January 2021 whereas the loss in investments is conservatively estimated at about N1.5 trillion.
While the poultry farmers are still struggling with the challenges marking the sector, the crop farmers despite the daunting challenges confronting the sector in the 2020 farming year, have buyers come right up to their farms even before harvesting to make bulk purchase arrangements.
This is the first time the price of grain fails to fall down in harvest time, sparking fear of growing hunger and the call to reopen the border, allowing influx on smuggled products through the countrys porous borders.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower.
3,000 youths will benefit from NALDA's farm estate in Ebonyi.
The National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) has said the agency would engage at least 3,000 youths in Ebonyi State for its proposed intergrated farm estate in the state.
The intergrated farm estate will be completed and commissioned by October this year.
The executive secretary of the agency, Prince Paul Ikonne, who announced this on Tuesday said the proposed integrated farm estate would be established in 104 hectares of land donated by the state government.
Prince Ikonne who is also in Ebonyi State during a courtesy visit to the governor on Monday, Engr David Umahi, said the intergrated farm estate would be completed in October 2021.
This is the mandate of Mr President, to reactivate abandoned farms and develop new ones for security.
Governor of Ebonyi State eager
He is in total support of achieving his dreams.
Thus, Ebonyi state has committed to working with NALDA to engage the teeming youths into full agricultural productivity.
It is seen that the governor has been key to the Mr Presidents agenda relating to achieving food security in the country.
We are establishing an intergrated farm estate in Ebonyi State as we do it in other states.
The scheme will engage Nigerians and draw their attention to agriculture.
From Jude Owuamanam (Owerri), Lami Sadiq (Kaduna), Bola Ojuola (Akure), Abdullateef Salau, Muideen Olaniyi, Abbas Jimoh & Idowu Isamotu
New Niger President in Niger Republic has been shocked by terrorists over crimes committed.
Niger Republic new boss Presido Mohamed Bazoum has been involved in terrorists barbaric act passed the limit after coming to power on Friday in a country facing two jihadist insurgencies.
Bazoum said the groups were killing a large number of innocent people, and therefore, they committed real war crimes.
He said the leaders of the group came from other countries, saying Niger was being attacked in nothing.
No terrorist leader has had any anguish with their countries, he said.
Bazoum, 61 years old, was elected for two rounds in December and February.
The right hand man of Mahamadou Issoufou, 68, stepped down by himself after he sued two fove yaer term in office.
This inauguration was the first time elected leaders handed hand to hand each other in Niger history for over 60 years of independence, but the celebration was slated by attacks from jihadists and certain plans to do a coup.
Niger suffered by a close-connected insurgency to Al-qaeda or Islamic State (IS), which was penetrated west from Burkina Faso and Mali, and from Nigeria as Boko Haram penetrated southeast.
Over 300 have been killed in three attacks in the west since the beginning of this year.
The latest was when 141 members of the Tuareg community were killed on March 21, in Tahoua, a massive desert in Mali.
Bazoum expressed the effort of Niger Rebuplic under him as the preside focused on Mali.
He said the current situation in Mali had a direct impact on security in their country.
Insurgents, linked to IS, are based at Menaka and Gao, eastern and central Mali, Bazoum said.
He said fighting them would be very difficult as long as Mali as a country has no full charge over the regions.
In the early hours of Wednesday, after the commencement of the guns near presidency in Niamey, the government said the intense coup had been suspended.
He described the thing as an act of a coward and regressive treath to democracy and state of law.
The West Africa country has suffered four attacks, the latest in February 2010, and the resentment of President Mamadou Tandja.
Google says they can leave Australia
Google threatened to abstain from the search engine in the country, as the country had asked them to share benefits with publishers of news.
Australia wants to introduce such a law as the first of its kind as it requires for Google, Facebook, and other tech companies to pay newsmen for their content.
But the firms in the US were fighting back, warning that they could leave their services in the country.
Oga Prime Minister in Australia, Scott Morrison said Lamakers would not listen to any threats.
Although Australia is not one of the biggest marketers by Google, this proposed news code can be a global test of how governments will begin to regulate major tech firms.
This code in Australia will tie Google and Facebook to negotiate with publishers over the value of their news content if they cannot reach agreements at the beginning.
The Managing Director of Google in Australia, Mel Silva, told a Senate sidon on Friday that the law would not work.
She said if they pass this kind of version of the code to become a law, Google will have no more choice than to immigrat in Australia.
But lawmakers attacked him, saying it was blackmail and bully Google to do in Australia seeking the raise of the reform.
It will reck everywhere in the world.
Do you come in every market, you go out?
Senator Rex Patrick asked whether the precedence is to be stopped.
Silva replied that the code is a risk that is not tenable for operations in Australia.
Morrison said his government was committed to making the law progress through parliament this year.
Let me say clearly: Australia is making the rule of what you can do in Australia.
We are doing that in our parliament, as he told newsmen on Friday.
Why is Australia pushing for such a law?
Google is the dominant search engine in Australia, and the government has described as an essential utility that doesnt really have any market competition.
The government arguments are that because the tech giants have customers among people who want to read news, they should pay the amount that is good to newsroom for their journalism.
In addition, they argue that financial support is necessary or embattled news industry because strong media is vital to democracy.
According to the government, printing media in Australia has suffered a 75% reduction in money since 2005.
It is the most tough thing that Google has said to be able to remove the entire silver engine.
The lawmakers said news accounts only for 12.5 per cent of the searches by Google in Australia.
Poultry farmers are pleading to commence importation of animal grade maize and soya meal.
General Secretary of the South West Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Dr Olalekan Odunsi, has called on the government to facilitate importation of animal grade maize and soya meal.
Odunsi said importation could save the poultry business from collapse.
He said the importation of feed grade maize would sustain over 500 million layers, 100 million broilers, 1 million breeders and other classes of poultry until next harvest.
He also urged the government, at the main time, not to be allowed to export processed soya, seed and soya bean meal.
He appealed to the governors of the region to put on effort in the production of maize as they did in the production of rice.
Odunsi mouthed that maize farmers, soya bean farmers and the remaining in Nigeria needed to collaborate to take action.
He said if the government does not intervene, the scarcity and hish price of maize and soya would threaten another five million poultry jobs if the government does nothing about it.
Today, maize is sold at 210,000/MT in most states in the South West, with soya bean at 240,000/MT.
As important as the two items are, the price of poultry feed is just increaese from N2750 to N3000 in April N2020 to N4850 to N5300 now.
In December, most farmers could not sell them broilers because of the cost of production had passed the cost of ordinary Nigerians.
At the moment, eggs are now more than the average person can buy, the price is around 1,300.
So we really need government intervention to save the remaining ten million jobs in the poultry value chain for the economy.
As he said.
Reps that support Buhari fom APC have been suspended.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has suspended the members of the House of Representatives representing the Kazaure federal constituency in Jigawa State, Muhammad Gudaji Danbaffa for six months.
In addition, a panel with seven members has been formed to probe the allegations of insurbordination charged with the members, plus making recommendations within ten days.
The committee is headed by Hamza Dand, whom Sanusi Kaaure is secretary.
During the suspension of the lawmaker, the general chairman of the local government, claimed that in the decision to suspend Gudaji, it was initiated by its constituent in the Kazaure Yama ward and by the local government.
Our correspondent reports that the lawmaker was suspended because he was accused of criticising the governor, saying the governor would change the candidates required for the just voted chaimanship and councilorship primaries.
Serena cruises over teenager Pigato in Parma Wta.
Serena Williams was a brush aside from the challenge of local teenager Lisa Pigato in the opening round of the WTA tournament in Parma on Monday.
Williams, the world number, was beat Pigato, ranked 572 and making her WTA debuted 6-3, 6-2, at the first meeting between the two.
How North-Central govs can optimise open grazing ban from South APC leaders
As open grazing controversy trends into public domain, which Southern governors have hit with ban during their meetings in Asaba, the president, Farmers Empowerment Association in Nigeria (FEAN), as well as Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) North-Central Forum in FCT, Honourable Obaje David, has examined how the North-Central governors can respond to the ban.
Recently, the governors of the Southern state were met in Asaba, Delta State, and open grazing was banned to cut farmers-herders crisis including other forms of criminality.
What do you do about the controversy generated by this decision?
Every human being has right to action and opinion.
But most importantly, once you take your own action, you must know the consequences.
You should be able to consider the advantages and disadvantages.
I am not one of those who say it is good or bad.
As a Nigerian, it is your right and freedom to live everywhere in the country with good faith and enjoy the freedom of association.
On this basis, I won't tell you that's good thing.
But as a leader in the North Central, I will say that is a good thing, especially in the North Central zone, as for the potential economic benefits for us and the nation.
The ban is a advantage to us.
We need to tap into it and see how to make it a real-venture and make money from it.
Luckily for us, we have a landmass enough to accommodate the herders, no matter the nomba who troops from the South to the North Central.
What is your position regarding open grazing?
I am not one of those who support open grazing.
I believe more in ranching because I am doing it.
I believe that starting to ranching will work out for us.
The governors of North Central should allow the national programme on ranching.
A similar move could make Northern Central the most abundant cattle area where people can buy cattle and some allied products.
It will also become a means of economic empowerment for the northern central people.
We have the land that southern states may not have.
It is seen in Kogi, Niger, Kwara, among other states.
We then gave the herder a house and ranch to be our own advantage.
The challenges facing the Fulani herders are not because they do not want to adopt ranching.
The problem is that they are not really educated on the advantage.
Their culture is nomadic.
As aresult, they need a good education to accept ranching.
We can also adopt the method in Kenya, where almost all families have cattle, but you cannot still see open grazing, as cattle take enough there.
That is what the southern governors are saying.
The governors have not shown their belongings in this regard.
There is no call for ranching or a call for a federal government to put mouth.
What they are saying is that the herders are now a problem for us, and they should leave.
Herders are said to be applied on land as herding is a personal business.
But have they asked people to apply for land like the herders?
As one of the participants in youth empowerment, especially in agriculture and value chain, why do some government policies not really work, what is the way out?
Firstly, no other administration has touched the ability to touch the lives of an individual like one of President Muhammadu Buhari, who you can sit in your home without problems and apply in facility and get it.
There are also some credit facilities known as COVID-19 loans.
Many Nigerians have been collecting the loans for hundreds of thousands of naira from inside their homes without sating to offices.
Also, with the expansion of some SMEs such as the Bank of Industry (BOI), Bank of Agriculture (BOA) and the others.
The challenge is that we have two sides, those who believe you and those who don't believe.
Therefore, for those who don't believe in the administration of Buhari, nothing has benefited.
But for us who believe in Buhari, we are benefiting and thank God for him.
Kidnappers killed drivers, arrested 13 in Nasarawa
Kidnappers have killed Adamu Usman, and 13 persons have been taken near Shafa-Abakpa-Umaisha road at Toto Local Government Council of Nasarawa State.
Daily Trust learnt that he was shot three times in his abdomen and died around 9pm at the university headquarters Abuja Teaching Hospital where he and another shooting driver, Atahiru Abukwo, were treated together.
Another narrowly escaped driver, Ibrahim Saidu, said the incident occurred at about 5pm on Tuesday, when several kidnappers with AK47 came from inside a bush to waylay four motorcycles from Ugya village.
According to him, the kidnappers waylayed the vehicle and shot at a motorcycle carrying people from Ugya to Abaji.
He said the kidnappers were surrounded by the vehicle after drivers lost control drive into the bush.
13 passengers including a young woman were taken into a bush while pointing to them a gun.
In fact, you are driving behind the four motorcycles, God saved me from taking someone in one of the villages.
When I came, I heard they were shooting, so I turned back.
The Ohimegye of Opanda-Umaisha, His Royal Majesty (HRM), Usman Abdullahi, said some bandits residing in the forest were responsible for kidnapping of travelers, residents and some farmers in the area.
He said some bandits were still left and they were terrorizing the community, appealing to the state and federal governments to collaborate to flush them out of patapa.
In contact with the spokesman of the Nasarawa State Police Command, ASP Ramhan Nansel, who said he was yet to be informed of the latest kidnap incidents, he said he would speak to the Divisional Police Officer in Toto Local Government Area and speak to newsmen again.
Man arrested who followed a way in Lagos
The Lagos State Police Command has confirmed the arrest of a Victor Ebhomenyen seeking his drive to follow a way at Four Point Hotel, Oniru, Lagos State.
Ebhomenyen was also said to have assaulted and caused severe injury at ASP Erhator Sunday body at Four Point Hotel, Oniru, Lagos.
This is contained in a statement issued by Lagos Police Command spokesman, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi.
He said the command told him to set the record of straught concerning.
The incident, recorded in videos that entered the internet on social media, became viral on Saturday April 17.
He said two men were assaulted ASP Erhator Sunday, a duty officer, and a scene created on the road at Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos State.
Adejobi said the prime suspect, Victor, has entered into police net at the State Criminal Investigation Department Panti, for investigation and prosecution as and when due.
He said the command has been making efforts to arrest the person committed to the incident, Etinosa.
Gbajabiamila welcomed Ayade defect as PDP urged members to stay united.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, has shown delight when the Governor of Cross River State, Prof. Ben Ayade, defected into the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying the party is open to everyone.
Gbajabiamila in a statement on Thursday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Lanre Lasisi, said Ayade's actions showed that APC is the party to beat in the country.
The Speaker said the Cross River State governor had made the right decision and set a good example for the remaining to follow.
He said the ruling party remained open to all, calling on Nigerians to join the APC to move the country forward.
The Speaker said the APC would continue to be just and fair to all members.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while reacting to the defect of Ayade defect, urged members of the Cross River State to stay united.
In a statement by the party spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, our party calls on all critical stakeholders and teeming members of our party in the Cross Rivers State to immediately pull together and ensure that all structures of our party in the state remain intact.
The PDP wishes Governor Ayade well in his new political move as well as in his future endeavours.
The Forensic Bill of the National Assembly: It is relevant to the fight against corruption by Buhari
The National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on Wednesday 19th.
May 2021 at the House of Representatives and Tuesday 2nd
March 2021 in the Senate made history when it passed into law, the Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Professionals of Nigeria Bill, 2021 (SB.615 and HB.
791), then read at the Third Time of both Chambers (SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE).
This act is a clear demonstration of the patriotism and a direct response of the targeted National Assembly, as well as strengthening and re-invigorating national borders in the fight against fraud, corruption and cybercrimes, which have entered into our country and welcomed.
By passing this bill, the 9th Assembly under the distinguished and capable leadership of His Excellency, Senator Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, PhD, CON and Rt Hon Femi Gbajabiala has shown clearly that they have taken legislative functions in mind, as it was in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as it was amended.
And these also attests to the fact that the National Assembly has awoke to the performance of their complementary role with other arms of the government in the fight against corruption.
I wrote this with a happy mind and a deep sense of gratitude, which has been put together as a platform for us to let Nigerians and indeed the whole world know what the Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Professionals of Nigeria is all about and the unique concept we are bringing on board in order to complement national efforts in its quest to ride the country of corruption, fraud and Cyber-Crimes and other related crimes.
After the Senate passed the Bill, and in view of being operated by a bi-cameral legislation, the House of Representatives was always ready and resilient, under the able leadership of His Excellency, Rt.
Femi Gbajabiamila, the Hon.
The speaker also followed and passed the Bill on Wednesday 19 May, 2021.
As you may have heard earlier, the Bill to establish the Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Professionals of Nigeria (CIFIPN) is among the bills that have been said NO to in the National Assembly.
The sad thing is that those who are supposed to mouth in the fight against corrupt walked in Nigeria by attacking the bill, becoming enemies of common ood.
A good thing is a good thing, it has no substitute, and so is a bad thing too.
No matter how long it takes, good will always prevails over bad just as the light superior over darkness is constant and unquestionable.
It is important that we see a bit of how it happened in the National Assembly.
Interestingly, the Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Professionals of Nigeria (Est) Bill 2021 (CIFIPN) was first passed into law on the 2nd day of March, 2021 as it passed the legislative processes of 1st Reading, 2nd Reading and eventually in the 3rd Reading on the 2nd March, 2021 Senate passed the Bill into law with one voice when it considered the urgent need for the noble legislation, of reason not surely occurring without a lot of thunderts from detractors who never stop at any length to see that any legislation that will help the administration that Buhari to fight corruption does not see light of day standing and see through it.
It is very important for the public to know that (CIFIPN) is not just any noble body but a new one in Nigeria aimed at briding the gap that has been in the forensics space.
Today, the move to have a standard body to regulate the practice of forensics in Nigeria on its peak and the Nigeria people should rise to challenge the few anti-government bodies who may intend to sabotage this step.
This bill, passed by the National Assembly, shows that it is clearly demonstrated that it is patriotic and the need to strengthen national efforts against corruption, which has been able to block development in every aspect of our national life.
This better step in legislation, adopted by the two Chambers of the National Assembly, is historic and symbolic, happening at a time Nigeria needs legislation well.
That will provide a better way for his anti-corruption drive as the spate of criminal and corrupt walks is rising across the globe.
According to us all, crime has grown to another level as science and technology has improved in the 21st century.
Therefore, as we have a flexible and responsive legislation that understands the situation in the world and is ongoing to adopt legislation that will meet the directive of the Nigerian people.
It should also be said that the journey in the process of passing the bill to turn it into law has commenced since the 8th National Assembly, where Distinguished Senator Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan Ph.D, the current Senate President sponsored our bill, when he was a Senate Leader, because it was important to the anti-corruption walking of this admiistration.
In good understanding, when we introduced our bills into the two chambres during the 8th Assembly, they held a public hearing which brought everyone along in the chambre.
Thereafter, and on the basis of minority stakeholders, they were led by the Institute of Chatered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), the National Assembly passed the bill, with a view of its significance and its role in the fight against corruption.
Afterward, the bill was forwarded to the boss Presido to put it in hand, but it has not been in hand before the 8th Assembly was dissolved in June 2019.
It was on this stregth that the bill was brought abck for the 9th National Assembly, the Distinguished Senator Abdullahi A. Yahaya, the current Leader of the Senate, in view of its importance.
We are pushed to make this clarification in order to clear the air on the cheap cheap propaganda distracted by the people saying the 8th Assembly has rejected our bill.
Also, we should mention the fact that our bill has been mistaken with other similar bills just introduced in both the Senate and House of Represntative Chambers.
These bills, being closely scrutized, we discovered that they just imitated our intentions and what our bill stands for.
We should draw to hearing that any of the bills were not introduced in the 8th Assembly, only our bill.
As such, we are the first to carry bills that are as big as this (Forensic)
As we have seen, it is urgent to establish such a great institute.
The decision was taken after the institute was studied how it operates in other jurisdictions and how it has helped crime detection, investigation and prosecution.
It was part of an instruction to inform them that our institutions have been in existence since 2009.
And over the years, and over the years, we have trained professionals to know forensic science technology, targeted at inculcating the requisite skill in the pragmatic areas of forensic investigation and management, to:
Forensic analysis should be taken to eliminate material misstatements, either by error or fraud; voice recognition analysis; fingerprint/signature analysis; digital forensic and cybersecurity; crime scene investigation; global anti-corruption compliance and enforcement; litigation support, forensic investigation capacities, preparation of forensic reports, fraud risk management, corporate fraud analysis, fraud prevention, detection and investigation etc.
You will reason with me that in the country world today, the normal way we are investigating crime is by saying that we want to stop it becomes something old.
As such, let us as a country to do something meantime in this regard, it is paramount to follow global trends and new innovations, which are put on the ground to fight corruption.
This is how we reason to establish this institute with best objectives that are relevant to the anti-corruption agenda of this administration.
There is not much time for me to talk about everything in the bill here.
However, I want you to allow me to mention few of what the Bill will do, for the purpose of this, as this is:
that we should establish a Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Professionals in Nigeria to develop and train professional in this specialised field, with systematic and professional examination and certification to give better skill in the use of science and technology for fraud detection, investigation and detection;
To provide a platform to train and retrain those seeking to become professional on the use of Forensic Science and Technology tools and techniques to investigate fraud in both public and private sectors of the economy, as they do all over the country;
To promote high professional standards, ethics and etiquettes among people doing so, in a bid to cut fraudulder and corruption, and as well develop a mechanism for fraud prevention, as a proactive measure against corruption generally;
To fill the huge vacuum existing in our normal system of old-fashioned investigation with the introduction of a unique operation of forensic science to help the country from expending its scarce foreign exchange to hire foreign expatriates to do forensic investigations in Nigeria;
To develop broad-based mechanisms and training programmes that will cut across all the strata of our investigation architecture, involving professionals such as Lawyers, Criminologists, Security Experts, Judicial Officers, Court Registrars, and Economists.
This will enhance effective and efficient disposition of cases as they are being done globally; and
To enhance an anti-fraud mechanism in Nigeria, through the provision of a legal framework for the professional development and discipline of forensic and investigative professionals in Nigeria, among others.
From the foregoing, it has shown that the role of this institute is strategic and important.
It is also important to say forensic science is a very wide field that involves many others and requires effective and efficient regulation to attain and sustain high levels of professionalism and ethical standards.
The broad spectrum of the scope and focal points of the Institute, includes but not only forensic toxicology; forensic investigation; forensic auditing; digital forensics and cybercrimes, forensic autopsy; forensic law; forensic accounting; forensic nursing; forensic pathology; forensic engineering; forensic psychology; forensic DNA analysis; forensic anthropology; forensic linguistics; forensic deontology; forensic dentistry; forensic archeology; forensic graphology, forensic entomology etc.
Accordingly, you will agree that our institute has brought unique concepts into crime detection and investigation using international best practices.
The concept beyond myopic people taking things about our bill has covered the sense of things, due to narrow-mindedness and inordinate desire to monopolise a system that has passed them jurisdiction and scope of operation.
On a lighter note, I want to draw the attention of everyone to the funny scenario that is playing out now, and as a matter of fact, it should be a source of concern for all good Nigerians.
When the Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Professionals of Nigeria Bill was introduced at the 8th National Assembly, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), came out with anger to oppose the passage because according to them, it was an unnecessary duplication of function by the institutions.
However, as our bill has been introduced again at this 9th National Assembly, and as we have seen the overwhelming and accelerated legislative support given by the two Chambers to our bill, ICAn has realized that forensic science is a uniques field of practice, and as we speak, they have brought similar Bill to the House of Representatives, as they have failed wofulously in their attempts to stop the passage of this bill.
One can ask, what has changed between now and the past, where has the ICAN the view that any other institute should not regulate the practices of forensic science?
Your answer is the same thing with my.
I would also like to inform you that the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), is also part of this episode.
which was initiated and being promoted by ANAN; just as the ICAN counterpart has also introduced a bill in the House of Representatives which is in line with the Chartered Institute of Forensic and Certified Fraud Examiners of Nigeria (ANAN), which was initiated and promoted by ANAN.
I decided to disclose all the facts for Nigerians and even international communities to understand the extent to which some may go and ask them for their aim.
However, this development does not disturb us at all, because we believe in the credibility and ability of the National Assembly and also in the Presidency to do the right thing, not to enter manipulate in any way, with these unnecessarydistractions, not to make a mockery of doing allthimg.
The ICAN is the practical and antagonist of this bill and we are now seeing the reason.
Several bystanders were engaged in disproportionate petitions, even targeting the leadership in the Senate, which seemed to be a bleckmail.
Failing in the Senate, the antagonist shifted attention to the House of Representatives with the same bystanders as they just wrote many publications.
and again, they failed.
Ordinaryly according to legislative procedure, a bill passed by the Senate requires only competence by the House except when it is observed.
But in the case of the CIFIPN Bill, the people against it were fighted until the truth won on 19 May, 2021 when the House of Representatives passed the Bill establishment of the Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Professionals of Nigeria for Effective Regulation, Registration of Members and Determination of what the Standards Knowledge and Skill for a rigistered member must have and Qualify to Practice as Forensic and Investigative Professionals; and Related Matters (HB. 791)
ICAN has registered its Bill in the House of Representatives titled (REPEALING AND RE-ENACTMENT OF ICANS ACT.
The new Bill by the ICAn has contained full provision of practicing forensic, including the establishment of forensic university in Nigeria, and without it, nobody can practice forensic in Nigeria, and anyone violating it will be sentenced to some years in prison.
This wants to be strangely heard in a country where there is a lot of people.
What made me worse is that Nigeria is not a Banana Republic?
No matter the level of corruption there.
We are challenging as the House of Representatives takes over bill.
It should be noted that, as we challenge the bill is not in a bad heart, but because we are certain that the purpose of the bill is to stop presidential assets under the disguise that similar legislation has existed before.
We will not accept deceiving us and Nigerians with wayouts.
You will recall how the ICAn openly oppose the CIFIPN and in a publicication sponsored by the Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria led by Engr.(Chief)
Olumuyiwa Alade on 24 May, 2019 made much effort to inform us that the law enabling ICAN has given it the power to do forensics and pass the CIFIPN Bill would be like it to just duplicate law, but today ICAN is presenting a law to include forensics in the new law.
The question is, what has changed?
The same law by the ICAN that it has forensics is seeking it to be re-enacted.
As always as we do not oppose any group that proposes to include forensics and its laws, our concern is that one body should not try to perpetuate itself.
ICAN and the cohorts have realised their inability to stop the passage of CIFIPN.
So they want to have a union for themselves.
They were frightened by checks and balances, and they would not want any other professional body to investigate their activities because they knew what they were doing to the economy of this nation.
How should they want to judge their own cases by themselves?
This sounded strange welwel.
On this note, we call on the National Assembly to beware of the wayout of this group, which is not meant to speak from both sides of their mouth and expect to use it to cajole National Assembly.
Once again, we want to appreciate the commitment of the 9th Assembly to ensure passing the Bill, Nigerians are aware that this administration is ready to fight corruption by every means and encourage legislation aimed at achieving this goal.
We have confidence that His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, has not been hesitated to participate in the Bill as soon as he gets into his table.
We call on Nigerians to come and participate in the Forensic Profession.
The profession is open to all professional people in various areas.
The institute has a training section to guide and equip you.
I want to thank you all, and also speak to them again that we are committed to standing with ethical standards by applying the way they do so worldly, by providing our professional services, including training that will give us new ways of fighting corruption and crime which is generally money.
I want to appeal to stakeholders and good Nigerians to support this noble course and to appeal to all of us to make efforts so that we can finish corruption together, the many security challenges, all over the country and other crises that follow it.
Dr (Mrs) Enape Victoria Ayishetu, PhD, Pro-tem President, (CIFIPN) www.cifipn.org
Air peace has conducted a test test flight with new Aircraft E195-E2
Air Peace has begged to test flight for them two new Embraer 195-E2 aircraft as they are preparing to commence their use.
Daily Trust reports that the two aircraft are the first set among the 13 brands new 195-E2 aircraft purchased by the airline to relieve route expansion.
A spokesman at the airline, Stanley Olisa, told newsmen on Friday that one of the aircrafts empty from Lagos was flown into Owerri, Abuja and Port Harcourt to be familiar on Thursday.
Olisa hinted that a test flight to other destinations would continue, adding that it would take no longer the plans to start a schedule flight and offer a better travel experience to their customers.
He said.
The brand new E195-E2 aircraft, the third, would be introduced soon, saying the reason they are expanding their fleet is not the commitment to satisfying the air travel needs of Nigerians.
The conduct of a test flight is a regulatory requirement that must be applied before carrying the aircraft into regular operations.
It can be recalled that Air Peace collected the two brands new Ultramordern Embraer 195-E2 aircraft with 124 sits in January and March this year, with 11 more collct.
Tela Maize harvest has a potential to give 8 tons in a hectare.
Last Tuesday, the Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR), at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, invited relevant stakeholders, including journalists, to witness the third harvest of the Tela Maize Variety Confined Field Trials (CFT) under its Tela Maize Research Project funded by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF).
It is derived from the maize varieties TELA in Latin TUTELA which means protection.
This maize has protection against pests and draught in its breed.
Principal Investigator, Professor Rabiu Adamu, as well as other scientists who rounded journalists in harvest, said the idea of the project was to produce maize varieties that are resistant or protected against two major insect pests: stalk (stem) borers and Fall Army Worm plus another protection against moderate draught.
These are all about producing crops that are high yielding under stressed conditions; the stresses are Fall Army Warm and stem borers, which are major constraints to maize production, producing yielding crops well under difficult conditions; the stresses are Fall Army Warm and stem borers, which are major block to maize production.
If it is not controlled, if it can cause loss of 80 percent, including drought if you do not manage rain shortage well, you may not have any yield.
This is the third time this trial has been done.
The first trial was done under dry season on March, and during the rainy season, we did another one from June to November.
This is the third trial from November to April.
The Principal researcher said that is what they are trying to showcase.
With the success of the three CFT trials, researchers need to test and validate them to show that recording in their research stations performs well in the farmers fields in different locations and ecological conditions as it begins in the rainy season of 2021.
By the time of the end of 2022, if all thimgs work effectively, Nigerian farmers will expect all these hybrids to be with them.
Dr Muhyideen Ayekunle, a maize breeder under this project, said from the last two trials, the transgenic varieties recorded gave 17 percent advantage over those who did not have BT despite infesting them well.
We have infested the varieties that we are putting in trial three times unlike the previous one to look at how effective the BT gene is in the maize product.
With the outcome, researchers have said the yield would increase by 17 percent.
Thereafter, we will analyze the data and prepare documents to get approval for environmental release.
The dossier shall be submitted to the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) and reviewed.
Once we are given the approval that this product can be shown outside.
and then we will be able to get national performing trial.
The Director General/CEO of the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NBDA), Professor Abdullahi Mustapha, at the event, called on the scientists to continue to search for biotic and biotic solutions to the challenges facing farmers in the country.
We have tested certain technologies that are capable of providing solutions to problems faced by farmers to take advantage of it and move forward, he said.
Dr Rose Maxwell Gidado, the Country Coordinator of OFAB Nigeria, expressed the impact to many welcomes.
Farmers yield increases by 17 percent and you know that productivity and harvest are the cause of farming.
Once you accept it, you will have plenty of harvest and profit.
She said, By the time this kind of maize will be ready to enter into farmers hands, it will increase their livelihood, money, plus the price of maize would be lowered.
Manchester United fight back to win Aston Villa
Manchester United were a back fight to take Aston Villa 3-1 away in the Premier League on Sunday as Bruno Fernandes, Mason Greenwood and Edinson Cavani scored in the second half to hold the celebration of Manchester City.
The result left United at 70 points from 34 games, 10 points behind City who had played one more game and missed the chance to win the title on Saturday after Chelsea beat them home 2-1 on Saturday.
Bertrand Traore put Villa ahead in the 24th minute with a brilliant strike who came into the corner from 15 metres after some weak denfendimg by the visitors, trowaying ball for their half more times.
Fernandes equalised in the 52nd minute with penalty, sending the golie at Villa, Emiliano Martinez the wrong way with the spot-kick took, this followed a rough challenge from Douglas Luiz who was tumbled by Paul Pogba.
Grenwood turned the match on his head four minutes later with an neat shot on the turn from inside the penalty area after shake off the centre behind Tryone Mings.
The replacement of Edinson Cavani was a seal victory at United with a goal scored in the 87th minute.
After the story out of Daily Trust, NCC had banned sales and use of mobile phones booster.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has banned the sale and use of GSM network boosters (for mobile connectivity) especially by banks, residents, government agencies, among others to improve telecommunications services.
The Commission was given the 14-day Pre-Enfircement Notice on Tuesday, signed by the Director Public Affairs, Ikechukwu Adinde.
He said the warning would be effective from Tuesday and as it expires at the deadline, NCC said it would commence action against non-instructions.
This is happening less than a month after Daily Trust on April 24, 2021 that business operators at Sabon Gari market in Kano and other business areas said they were buying booster to improve the reception of the bad telecommunication network in their area.
Some of the traders said the service is not good as telecommunication service providers do not do much to improve the services on the benefit they are making in such a place.
According to them, many traders and their customers are engaged in digital and online financial transactions (data-based cashless services) as well as other telecommunication-based services and also have poor call/data services.
In the notice, NCC said the sale, installation and use of the GSm booster was illegal.
In the notice, NCC said they are just fulfilling their duty to ensure consumers protection, to ensure good quality of service and maintenance of technical standards of communication equipment, and as it is in the provision of Section 131 (1) of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003.
Such acts may lead to sanctions that involve moneyplus/or prison, or the two (fines plus prison) as well as seizure of any equipment used for the illicit enhancement of network coverage.
LG polls: protests over imposing candidates into APC
Some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State protested against the party adopted some consensus candidates in some local government areas ahead of the July 24 local government elections in the state.
Top members of the party have announced that the party would adopt consensus candidates in some local government areas and conduct direct and or indirect primary voting to emmerge candidates for some.
The protesters who entered into the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), in Ogun State, accused some leaders of the APC in Abeokuta South LGA of imposing a candidate for the post Chaiman placed on them.
There were placed placards that contained many items, including We say No to Money Bags.
in Abeokuta South and
Allow Members of the Party to choose who they want, and said preferred aspirant is Farouk Akintunde.
One of the party leaders who followed the protest, Balogun Ololade, urged Gov dapo Abiodun to intervene in the matter of saving democracy from jeopardy.
Between the DSS and secessionists in some regions
As the DSS has placed in ear to groups and people who speak and do things that could provoke and disrupt the ethno-religious environment and threaten harmonous co-existence of the majority common folk of the country, it has commenced to sound as if one person spoke until they were forced out of their place of deceiving people.
A lingering question about who or whom and groups the security agents are addressing is that they are promptly vapourized in the heated rhetorical outbust of the nation prominent geo-ethnic agitators.
Afenifere, Northern Elders Forum (ACF), Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Northern Elders Forum (NEF)and Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF).
It is clear to us all that this is the group of people who have continued to resort to inciting, unguarded and divisive statement and act, to set countrys peoples against themselves to set the fire of tribal and religious discord, as the DSS charge for one of them warning.
Interestingly, not within the major suspects for the exploitation of some fault lines to cause ethno-religious violence in some parts of the country can categorically distant themselves from the treacherous and subversive activities detected by security agents.
They coruses the same conviction that the DSS knows the responsible people, they only differ in the direction they are pointing them accusing them.
AS Afenifere said these people are aware of those responsible for the acts, but cannot be touched because of the connections they had, PANDEV again said about a lot of people who were run alienated and ACF acted as if they did not know, they were asking who the people are?
Since the DSS knew them and they were satanic, they should take action to deal with them.
The NEF sounded unconvident if there were people pushing the country into deep crisis and they were known to be treated according to the law.
You don't need to be a spook to know what the DSS knows about these flag bearers of geo-ethnic politics in Nigeria or to understand why they all know that the DSS knows them yet they insist to pass the buck outside their clique.
The truth is that these champions ethnic politics do not know any better solution to the problem faced by Nigeria than sectional enclave and chief lord over the rest of the country as rulers, not leaders!
They are desperate and unscrupulous to pursue their inordinate ambitions that they agitate absurdly and frequently to break Nigeria up.
Ambition-powered mind games intoxicate their geographical consciousness to reduce all it takes to excising the territorial contours of their enclaves with the frenzied ease of cutting their portion of the remaining crumbs of the proverbial national cake.
To simplify, to break up or out of Nigeria as an ultimate political panacea or consolatory opportunity to an inordinate ambition of a people or groups undermining the ambition of a majority wa-zo-bia Nigeria commonly restlessly in enduring peaceful coexistence, it is easy to pass to do.
These groups are major blocks to the steady attainment of unity and to live together in peace that Nigeria has been working for since the flag of independence.
For as long as they continue to parade the political fields as ethnic champions, it is for as long as they will view Nigeria as an entitlement for their ethnic stake in the population, to be claimed or seized, and if all fail, it should be deconstructed and disowned as a failed state.
Whenever they meet, the agenda is not for Nigeria to progress and develop, unless the leadership is handed firmly, otherwise is all about hecking and jostling around with barely concealed determination to deploy the notorious Nigerian Ph.d, pull-him-down syndrome against the incumbent non-indigene President.
Whether it is ACF, Afenifere, Ohanaeze, PANDEV or Northern Elders Forum, their existence and activities will oppose the quest of Nigeria for unity, peace and development.
Another indication that we cannot deny for this regional separatist is that they are all sel-styled political pressure groups that pretend to representatives of various ethnic groups.
From the membership, it is plain to see that consists of ex-this.
Ironically, these political deficiency gave them the ginger to come together, desperate to remain relevant to a democratic system by elected representatives through registered political parties with legislative and executive institutions established with constitution to dispense good governance and dividends of democracy.
It is only a nasty nuisance value that the geo-ethnic groups have in our democratic setting as they continue with mischief, sabotage, blackmail and subversion intended to make Nigeria ungovernable as they are threatening and attempting to ensure that they are able to regain political relevance plus control.
That is why frequesnt meetings have been causing security alert!
With such predator-politics who are walking around the perimeter of power with dubious intents and undermining a governor-elect just as they are not involved in it, it is beyond reasonable doubt that there is a convergence of interest linking overt activities and the covert criminality of kidnappers, insurgents, armed robbers, bandits and allied terrorists, combined to make Nigeria un governable.
It is a double danger to describe the trying situation of the Buhari administration as it has to handle such a nomba of formidable enemy unleashing numerous assaults on national security in the time of the economy facing new difficulty.
To that extent, there can be only two groups of politicians: those who participate with positive minds in the democratic dispensation as partner in moving the country forward against all odds and those with negative minds that bring discord and disorder to distabilise the country.
By their words and actions, we all know them!
At the end of the day, the majority of Nigerians are ordinary citizens whose conditions of survival don't depend on their nationalities.
They struggle every day to make life submission to the will of one God despite different faiths.
Nigeria is a destiny fatherland, and they remain loyal, praying and praying, because they know that they do not have any other country to call them own, together demonstrating how citizenship can breed true patriotism.
It is also known that Afenifere, Quran Consultative Forum (ACF), Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Northern Elders Forum (NEF) and Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) have been using inciting, unguarded and divisive statements and activities to put citizens against one another in order to set the tribal and religious challenges in the political ambitions of their leaders.
The remaining prayer in the mouth of a poor man is:
DEY,
NIGERIA GO BETTER!
Manzo Reuben is a youth leader in Lokoja.
10 died as a terrorist attempt to attack army formation.
Troops in the Nigerian Army, on Saturday, neutralised not less than 10 Boko Haram terrorist members attempting to attack the troops of Operation Hadin Kai in Rann, headquarters of the Kala Balge Local Government Area in Borno State.
This is coming when it is not too much than 24 hours after the Chief of Army Staff who is just appointed, May.-Gen.
Farouk Yahaya entered as leader of the Nigerian Army.
The spokesman of the Nigerian Army, Brig.-Gen.
Mohammed Yerima, in a available statement, explained that the terrorist, who came in large numbers, took gun trucks on the ground and attempted to infiltrate the main entrance to the town.
Yerima said, The troops of the high spirit were right on hand to counter the move and they brought a humiliating defeat to the terrorists who abandoned their evil mission and ran.
The troops chase the runaway terrorists and ensure that there is no threat in the city and the people there.
Troops successfully destroyed one of their gun trucks and collected multiple weapons including an anti-aircraft gun, two machine guns and eight AK-47 rifflers while neutralising ten terrorists in the process.
Daily Trust reports that Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, on Friday charged the new COAS to ensure it was built on the legacy of late Attahiru in defeating the terrorist enemy in Northesat and other regions of the country.
Second U.S. congresswoman has tested positively to get COVID-19 after the Capitol problem.
Pramilla Jayapal, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, said she contacted the Coronavirus (COVID-19) after being locked in the same room with some Republican lawmakers who did not wear mask during the problem of the Capitol last week.
I just collected a positive COVID-19 test after being locked down in a secure room in the Capitol where many Republicans were not wicked not to wear mask but to mock colleagues and staff who offered them mask recklessly, Jayapal said in a post on her official Twitter account.
Earlier on Monday, U.S. Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman said she also contracted COVID-19 with possible exposure during the time of the lockdown in the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Jayapal, a member of the Democratic Party, accused the lawmakers from the Republican of causing the welfare of COVID-19 spread and demanding them to be punished.
Any member who refuses to wear a face mask will be accountable for putting our lives in danger because he is selfish and idiot.
I am calling for every member who refuses to wear mask in the Capitol to fit them and Sergeant of Arms to remove them from the floor, she said in a Twitter post.
It is not clear if the two congresswomen are in the same room during the lockdown in the Capitol.
Jayapal was upset U.S. President Donald Trump failed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. and vowed that she would do everything in her power to remove him from office.
A 30-year-old man has been arraigned over assaulting a woman in Edo.
The police arraigned a Gabriel Fidelis, 30 years before Ogbeson Chief Magistrates Court in Benin for allegedly allegedly assaulting a woman named Rebecca Izevbigie.
The man was accused of three charges of conspiracy, unlacious assault and malicious damage punishable under Sections 516, 355, and 451 of the criminal code.
The prosecutor, Sgt. Kehinde Iyare, told the court that the accused joined other fleeing persons to commit the offence on April 11, in Estate Quarters, along Benin-Agbor Road, in Benin City.
She further told the court that the accused, along with others who have run assaulted one Rebecca Izevbigie unlawfully by hitting and bitting her.
She added that the accussed also used iron rods to break her on the leg.
She further told the court that on March 31, 2021, the accused intentionally and maliciously destroyed the washing hand basin owned by the complainant and the thing was N8,000.
The accused pleaded that he was not guilty as the counsel Mrs E. E. Idahosaapply for his bail and said he would not jump bail.
According to him, Chief Magistrate Mutairu Oare granted bail for the accuse in the sum of N100,000 with one who would stand for him.
He said the person who would stand with him must bring two recent passport photos of himself and that of the accused.
He ordered the court registration to verify the information supplied and the place of the survival, and the case was adjourned to May 10 for hearing.
Why National Assembly cannot impeach Buhari Senator in Oyo
The Senator representing Oyo North Senatorial District, Fatai Buhari, has said the National Assembly has not found reason to take impeach of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Senator disclosed this during a paid Salah visit to a former governor in Oyo State, Rashidi Ladoja, who said he had a process of impeaching president.
Senator Buhari submission was coming one day after Senator Yusuf Abubakar (APC Taraba) and Cahir in Senate committee on special duty said leaving President Buhari would not end insecurity in the country.
People have called on President Buhari to resign or impeach him as insecurity is in the country.
But Senator Buhari has urged those who want the country to break against creating difficulties to be solved.
There is a process of impeaching president.
Anyone calling for the impeachment of the president should give a good reason to do impeachment.
We have not seen any reassignment to take the president to impeach.
If necessary, we will table it, discuss it, and the two houses must come together.
To impeach the president is not what one person will just wake up one day and begin to say.
It has a procedure.
Why do you want to cause problems and confusion that you cannot solve?
So he asked.
On the security challenges faced by the country, the lawmaker said; We have no other country than Nigeria.
Nigeria is our country and home.
Let us try to do internal security.
Let us play our part; let us not leave everything to government alone.
We should place local police to know all the places.
No matter how it is, we know each other.
In the early 80s, we were traveling at nite.
But at the level of insecurity now, something fundamental is missing.
He said the 9th National Assembly had discussed security, over 59 times.
We have discussed security issues over 30 times in the 8th Assembly, and this 9th Assembly has also discussed them over 50 times.
Everyone should be vigilant, even if he changes the service chief several times, he will still not solve the security problem, as the senator said.
Ranchers support CBN to set restrictions in forex on imports of dairy
The Commercial Ranchers Association of Nigeria (CODARAN) has shown support for the restriction to foreign exchange of dairy products.
Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria has issued a circular that has passed a year now on companies restricted from foreign exchange to import milk and dairy products.
But in a recent visit to the governance of the CBN, the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said the European Union (EU) has complied against Nigeria over such restrictions.
In a statement by Dianabasi Akpainyang, the CORAN, the Nigeria has the potential to harvest dairy products that provide jobs as well as create investments in local production of milk.
The CBN governor is right.
Indeed, Nigeria has the potential to meet and sustain the dairy requirements.
Akpainyang said that the milk grounded for collection and processing is not close to that figure for now, but he noted that since it is likely, it is necessary for everyone to put on fire to seek that the development of the local dairy sector is urgent.
Citating a report out of the CBN that Nigeria is spending $1.5 billion annually for importing dairy products, he said the figure would increase as demand for dairy products increases.
It lists issues like poor productivity of local cattle, cattle nutrition, animal disease management system, with poor organised system to tke collective milk, lack of finance, insecurity, poor infrastructure, insufficient extension services, inadequate processing and storage facilities, low investment in research and development and low use of modern technology being the major challenges faced by the sector.
However, he said the Advancing Local Dairy Development in Nigeria (ALDDN) programme currently running in four states Adamawa, Kaduna, Kano and Plateau has been addressing the problem.
PDP frowned face as APC claims it has registered 2.5m in Lagos.
Uproar was following as the All Progressives Congress (APC) disclosed that 2.5m members were registered in Lagos for nationwide and revalidation exercise.
Chaiman of the APC Registration Supervisory Committee in Lagos, Dr. Muhammad Bashiru, said at the closing of a recommendation letter to the supervisor that about 2.5 million have been registered in the 20 local government areas in the state.
But the leading opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has described the figure as false and false.
The PDP said APC has a habit of cooking figures to convince people that they are popular.
The PDP spokesman, Taofik Gani, in a chat with Daily Trust, described the APC as a party full of liars, saying the party is no longer popular in the state.
This is not the first time we are carrying figures that are not true out.
Even in the last election, the total number of votes by the APC was around 600,000.
He said the claim that they had 2.5 million was false and false.
Our correspondent reports that APC candidate Babajide Sanwo-Olu won the governorship election in 2019 with a total of 739,445 votes while President Muhammadu Buhari had 580,825 votes in the presidential election.
The state chairman of the National Conscience Party (NCP), Comrade Bayo Ogunleye, has described the claim by the APC as the greatest lies in the century.
But the spokesman of the APC, Seye Oladejo, told our correspondent that the party would prove to be nominated for the local government elections coming on July 24.
Geographical Indication will promote diversification of the economy, FG
The Federal Government stressed that Geographical Indications (GIs) will help in promoting diversification of the economy and also support participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, said this in the capacity building workshop on GIs for Public Sector/Policymakers in Nigeria, Abuja.
Nanono, represented by the Deputy Director of Irrigation and Crop Development, Hajia Sugra Mahmood, noted that if the initiative is effectively applied, it will support the preservation of the biodiversity of the country facing existential threats as effect of climate change and the attendant destruction of the environment.
According to him, he can assist in commercializing the product of food culture and other cultures and enable actors in the value chain to benefit from commercialization, especially for women and youths in rural areas who are mainly involved in the production of the products.
Therefore, this workshop is taking place at a crucial moment when the administration is working tirelessly to diversify the economy away from hydrocabons by other sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, mining tourism etc.
Such initiatives promoting GIs will help to fast track the process of diversification of the economy and also support our participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area and globally.
Gis could have caused to revive the economy in rural areas as it has been seen happening in the case of some properly branded products such as Ofada rice, kilishi, Dudu Osun etc.
It will also make it the documwntation of our indigenous knowledge, which is sad because we are loose over time.
The current administration is ready to partner with all the relevant stakeholders both local and foreign in a bid to preserve the natural and bio-cultural endowment in the country and exploit it to strengthen the resilience of the economy, in order to provide a decent livelyhood for all Nigerians, as it stated.
Earlier, the Minister of Satte Industry, Trade and Investment, Haija Mariam Katagum, in her welcoming address said the workshop was designed to specifically train public sectors and policy makers in Nigeria, with a view to examine how it is possible to adopt Geographical Indication (GIS) legislation and policy into industrial property and agriculture landscape in Nigeria.
She said we cannot avoid as the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) is coming into effect, putting responsibility on decision makingers to begin discussing how to update legislation relating to industrial property.
President of Israel held a talk to seek a new govt.
President of Israel Reuven Rivlin has been prepared to talk with top political people on the form of a government after caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to do it after matches elections are not conclusive.
According to the Rivlins office, talks with Naftali Bennett of the Yamina party and former opposition leader Yair Lapid of the Yesh Atid (Future) party are scheduled for Wednesday morning.
The head of state also invited representatives from the other parties represented in parliament to present positions on the progress of the process to form a government.
It is at last nite the deadline for Natanyahu who is a right-winger to form a governing coalition.
This means that the camp of people opponent to Netanyahu is facing an opportunity to end the era of the 71-year-old as heaf of government.
Whether they succeed, however, it is still open.
New elections are still not out of the question as Israel is still in political crisis.
Netanyahu will remain as the head of the interim government as time goes.
He has been in office for 12 years continually and is the longest serving head of government in Israeli history.
He has been tried to be corrupt and rejected all accuses accused of corruption.
It is expected that Rilvin appoint Lapid opposition leader to form the government head.
His party is a political centre; at the end of the match, he has become the second-strongest force in the forth parliamentary election in two years.
Rivlin can also give the mandate to the Knesset.
In this case, each member of the parliament can try to find the support of 61 of the 120 members withing 21 days.
Ganduje released 123 prisoners in eid-el-Fitri
Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano has granted freedom to 123 prison inmates across the state.
Ganduje who witnessed the release of inmates from Goron Dutse Prison on Thursday said the gesture was in the spirit of Eid-El Fitr celebration.
He said, The massive of the offences they committed and the signs of reformation when they were in prison were selected.
The governor said he decided to show in the prison to inform the immate that the government of the state knew they existed and they were viewed as citizens of the state.
Ganduje said the gesture was to compliment the Federal Government effort to further reduce as people take time in national prisons.
He advised the former immates to change their attitude to life and pray for peace and stability in Nigeria.
The governor also gave 5,000 to each of the immates he was free to go to the place of their destination.
Earlier, the comtroller of prisons in Kano, Suleiman Suleiman, thanked the governor for freeing thousands of immate since he assumed office.
Suleiman was advised to the immate freed to stay away from crime to avoid coming back to prison.
Ganduje visited remand home too many plus children home in Kano as part of his wrong celebration.
Korda breaks through in Parma clay
On the eve of Roland Garos, 20-year-old Sebastian Korda scored a career breakthrough beating Italian Marco Cecchinato 6-2, 6-4, in Parma for a first title.
Korda, son of former world
No 2 and Australian Open Winner Petr Korda who never entered into the ATP tour final before the event in Parma, has never won consecutive matches on clay.
Cecchinato, who won all his three titles on clay, came from Brescia, 90 kilometres away from Parma.
The fans who were allowed to enter the event for the first time are supporting the local boy.
Today I played a tough opponent and that was not easy,said Korda.
He was continued to be cheered on, but I am proud of myself.
and how I handled it.
Although his father is from Czech, Sebastian Korda, who was born in Florida decided to represent the US.
The victory made him the first player from America to win a clay court tournament since Sam Querrey in Belgrade after 11 years.
This is something in my dream,said Korda, adding that he is expected to win a title soon as he named an event in Florida in January.
I really thought I would do it at Delray Beach, and it broke my heart slightly.
What is not meant to wear in public: Negating Nigeria's multiculturalism
By Bashir Ibrahim Hassan
Was it a pure coincidence that, as trouble smelled in Kwara State recently, was considered a solution to it in the lower House in the National Assembly in the capital territory of Abuja?
THE trouble in Ilorin was because some Christian faith schools were refused to allow Muslim students to wear their hijabs to school.
The solution for this predicament is the debate on religious discrimination (Prohibition, Prevention).
RDPP Bill, 2021, as Hijab Bill was ridiculously ridicule in a section of media in Nigeria.
Both events are a spark-heated argument and often emotional debate which, at the bottom of everything, threats to negate multicultural identity and reality of Nigeria.
The whole idea fpr Kwara of the proprietors of schools as Muslim students who wear hijabs were banned and sympathised could be reduced to what they are not supposed to wear in public.
This is another major part of the concern of the RDPP Bill before the House of Representatives the humiliation and denial of opportunities.
What females in Nigeria face because of what they wear in public?
It is clear that the former clearly breached the fundamental human rights of the Muslim students to express their faith without discrimination; even though the school could have defence or take such a position.
The latter tries to assert this right not only for Muslims but also for Christians whenever or whenever they are threatened with discrimination because of the fauths they show.
To run through the argument owned by the Christian faith schools in Kwara, it is easy for a person to understand the pragmatic appeal of the argument that Muslim children should go other schools they fpr other pleces if they do not want to conform.
The problems that die arguments have many.
First, saying that Muslim students should go abroad unless they agree to the rule of the school on uniform is very little to promote inclusiveness, which is the bedrock of our multicultural and multi-religious society.
Secondly, the position asks a moral question: can we justify to base rule in school on the Christian majority of the school?
Then, the third one, the argument would otherwise appear to have ignored the difficulties in changing school for a child.
The inconvenience is abundant.
While changing school for children, education psychologists will tell you, it is negatively interfering with not just emotional but academic development too.
Finally, the Christian faith school by them risks what we are calling ghettorization by concentrating students with the same religious belief in particular schools.
The social cost of this thing is due to the plebty of society.
The Commissioner for Education, Kemi Adeosun, argued, in a press statement, that the government is convinced that the policy to allow willing Muslim schoolgirls to wear their hijabs in public schools would lead to sustainable peace and communal harmony which builds on mutual respect and understanding.
In a country that guarantees religious freedom and signs the declaration of international human rights, the basic question to ask is: How justifiable is it to deny children in Nigeria access to school of their choice on the basis of their religion?
Nigeria is a signatory to the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR).
The UDHR insists that all human beings are free and equal, that they are colour, creed or religion.
It contains 30 articles on rights and freedom including, among others, such as the rif=ght to life, free speech and privacy.
It includes economic, social and cultural rights, such as health and education.
I see articles 18 and 26 of UDHR very relevant to the issue in consideration and we quoted them in full below:
Everyone has the freedom to thingk or believe what they want, including religious belief.
We have the right to change our belief or religion at any time, and the right to practice our religion in public private, alone or with others.
Everyone should be right to education.
Primary school should be free.
We should be able to continue our studies as far as we have the wish.
At school we are supposed to help us develop our talents and teach us how to respect every human rights.
They should also teach us how to deal with other people whatever ethnicity, religion, or country they come from.
Our parents have the right to choose which school to go.
All these laws are the instrument to give Muslim women like Ilhan Omar the equality to sit in the House of Representatives in the US and still wear Hijabs without being molested or discriminated.
Ilhan Abdullahi Omarna is an American politician serving at the U.S. Representative in the 5th congregation of Minnesota district since 2019.
The bill was sponsored by the Deputy Chairman of the House of Representative Committee on Finance, who represented the Bida/Gbako/Katcha Federal Constituency in Niger State.
Saidu Musa Abdullahi.
The bill is aimed at addressing discriminatory conduct, as well as prohibiting discrimination on religious issues when it comes to giving people work and the terms and conditions that follow it.
It will stop qualifying and professional joins, education institutions, employment workers and other sectors from discriminating against individuals, students or personnel based on their religion or manifestation.
When passed, the law would bury issues like what we saw in Kwara for good; when passed, the law would bury issues like what we saw in Kwara patapata.
It will also address the bigot behaviour of executive who are taking prejudice into public office and allow it to cover the sense of judgment.
The law should be welcomed.
After all, it is only to expand and expatiate the provision in the Nigerian constitution and in the UDHR documents as noted above.
It lineed with similar laws adopted in the country to tackle social wahal and cultural practices that harm the Prohibition of Violence Against Peoples and Disability Law (VAPP).
While disability is trying to eradicate any discrimination facing people with disability, VAPP is facing domestic and other gender violence in the country.
One by one, those who represent us in the legislative chamber are using legal instruments to tackle all social challenges facing our country.
All these social roughnesses are addressed not to that there is no law before they are addressed, but they want to bring everything together in order not to allow it to be completed.
While the road seems to be far away for UDHR, and there is no instrument to enforce it, the RDPP law and similar laws are on the ground to bring punishment to offenders.
While it contradicts the view of critics, as far as the RDPP Bill is concerned, there is no evidence that they want to put a state of religion on any state that can domesticate the law.
It does not go against Section 10 of the Constitution of Nigeria which supports the adoption of any religion as an State religion by the Federation and State Government.
To push the argument, because the bill calls for the general public to respect the rights of immune Muslims who wear Hijabs in public places, saying it is to only quench Islamaphobia.
In the final analysis, it is going against our multicultural pretenses to deny any Nigerian be it male or female religious freedom.
It is against equality, and basic human rights as it is in the constitution of Nigeria and the legal document of the Universal Declaration of Human Rghts.
A bill to make such a decimation on religion a criminal, like the RDPP bill will have a welcoming nod.
It writes from Abuja Bashir.
President of Niger Issoufou has won the leadership price of N1.95bn in Africa.
Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou has been announced as a winner of $5m (N1.905bn) in 2020.
Ibrahim prize for African leadership.
Issoufou served two terms of five years each as president from 2011 to 2020.
Mohamed Bazoum, a former interior minister, would enter office after he won a presidential election last month.
The awarding committee praised the leadership of the Niger president after he met the economy among the poorest in the world.
He said that he caused the economy to grow, showing strong commitment to regional stability and the constitution, and champions democracy in Africa.
Mr Issoufou is the number six to collecte the Ibrahim Prize.
He has sent a tweet saying the prize honours everyone in Nigeria.
I saw this award as ecncouragement to take continuity to things and act in a way that will promote democracy values and better governments not only in Niger but in Africa and the world, he said.
Prize earlier winners include Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia (2017), President Hifikepunge Pohamba of Namibia (2014), President Pedro Pires of Cabo Verde (2011), President Festus Mogae of Botswana (2008) and President Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique (2007).
KEDCO has a taskforce that enforces collection, and checks who bypasses meters.
The management of Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) has formed a taskforce to ensure electricity payments.
In a statement issued by Ibrahim Sani Shawai, head of Corporate Communication, KEDCO, they have given the taskforce the power to ensure that they are recovered and that they are now in use to help KEDCO to consolidate on the various reforms to improve power supply.
The taskforce will also check issue of bypass of meters, illegal connections, tif of energy and other forms of sabotage.
In this regard, anybody seen being sabotaged in any way will be treated according to the law.
We are appealing to our customers to open eye in all our intallations and to ensure that they are well protected from vandals.
We are assuring all our customers that our initiative to give meters we want to quench estimated billing and to give customers the opportunity to pay for what they are using is still ongoing, according to the statement.
IBEDC brings to people selling under powerline
The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) has brought out a warning against selling the market under high-tension wire to avoid badness.
Chief Operating Officer (COO), Engr John Ayodele, charged against the backdrop of the increasing trading activities where high-tension wire.
In Oshogbo, the capital of Osun State, mechanic shop, block industry, car wash shops, POS shops and smallsmall trading are common things seen under high-tension wires along Power Line and Ring road.
Engr Ayodele has begged with residents to take safety precautions very important and advised sellers under high-tension wire to move to safe places.
He also pleaded with residents that they should not be called to come to repair the light and assured that the technical crew at the IBEDC would be available to rectify any coming fault.
He cautioned that people who have a habit of harassimg of IBEDC staff during their duties as required by the law to stop it, he said the IBEDC would explore all available legal options to seek redress if they harassimg any of his staff.
It is also important to take other safety precautions, such as supervise childrem, to avoid electrical accidents, he said.
10 newborn children were killed in fire incidents in the Indian hospital.
Ten new children were killed on Saturday in a fire at a state-running hospital in western Idia, officials said.
There were 17 new children in the unit where the children were infested when the fire broke early on Saturday at the Bhandara District General Hospital in Maharashtra State.
Seven new children were killed in smoke shock, while three were burnt by fire, Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope told reporters.
Nurses and ward staff rescued seven children
The age of all the new children ranges from a few days to three months, said Prashant Uike, a health district official in Bhandara.
The government has ordered to probe in the incident and conduct safety audit in a unit caring for new pkini in the country.
Initial reports indicate that the fire may have happened because of one of the short circuits in one of the incubators,Tope said.
The staff said that a large number of black smoke filled the ward quickly, as the minister added.
They have lived a legal requirement in the post-mortem, and they have taken the children to their families,Tope said.
The family of the victim will receive a compensation of 500,000 rupees ($6,814) for each family.
Police pursue sellers of newspapers due to reports on IPOB
Police harass newspair sellers and readers in Abia State.
Daily Trust has news that since weekend police from Aba Area Command have been arresting sellers of newspapers and readers concerning reports on the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Residents said there was fear of Ama-Ogbonna Junction in the commercial city when police raided the scene on Sunday.
A member of the incident said residents were flogging to safety, while police officers were shooting at any rate, while trying to arrest people selling newspapers and readers.
The newspaper sellers were accused of carrying the story containing the sit-at-home order given to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Dr Elendu Ukoh, who faced the matter in his eyes, appealed to the state government and igbo leaders to call on the police authorities to call on the people to avoid causing any problems in the city.
The kind of people we are setting in the police makes me wonder that we want anything good to from this country.
How can someone be persecuted to sellers of newspapers in Aba, into the mordrn world?
If you stop people from reading a hard copy of a newspaper, then you will also stop them from reading the same stories on Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Telegram, etc.
What kind of old police style is this?
Panic on Sunday caused by shooting and noise.
The whole neighbourhood was thus chasing kidnappers.
It was later discovered that a vendor and readers were arrested, who gathered at his newspaper stand.
How would the police fight against sellers of newspapers?
What kind of problem paper can cause that social media cannot cause time 20.
This people are not normal,he said.
Another resident, Micheal Anorue, said that almost all sellers of the newspaper visited Aba.
They were empty on Tuesday.
We heard talking on Saturday and Sunday that the newspapers carried stories relating to the honoured sit-at-home order in the Biafra affairs, and my question was, what is wrong with it?
The early political leaders in the South East, reminding these reckless police officers that Biafra is bigger than IPOB, the better for them.
Is the proscribed IPOB also meant that Biafra has also been proscribed?
We are all Biafra people.
On the 30th of May, the World Igbo Congress (WIC) held a zoom conversation, which spoke about a hero who fell down in Biafra.
Why did the police not go to Youtube, Zoom and other social media to air?
All they did was to come on the street and create unnecessary troubles.
I wish the leader of Igboland would warn these reckless police officers against allowing what is happening in Imo State to enter Aba, because it would be worse for everyone.
Abia State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Abia State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Geoffrey Ogbonna, has denied that police have arrested journalists and readers.
NAMA frowns face as air traffic controlers lament poor tools
Air Traffic Controllers (ATC)) in Nigeria on Sunday cried out regarding dilapitated navigational equipment at most airports across the country.
The ATCs under the National Air Traffic Controlers Association (NATCA) said the situation is a threat to air safety.
It was also said that the International Airport in Kaduna has a control tower that can help aircraft to navigate without problems.
Yomi Agoro was president of the NATCA or a chat with newsmen at the weekend, saying the thing at Kaduna airport was a watchroom used by other aviation personnel, not a control tower for only air traffic controlers.
He also said other airports in the country don't have the necessary equipment to navigate without problems.
He explained that some airports do not even have functioning equipment.
Even Kaduna has no control tower.
What they use is a watch room (in firefighters), and not built for that purpose, and we have called government to do somethimg.
We entered Sokoto, if rainfall, the controller would get umbrella to sit on the control tower, and what happened, some of the control tower attached to the terminal building had been seed to FAAN, while the one who stands alone is with NAMA, but we have spoken to the two organisations.
We all also engaged in terrestial radio frequency fight, communication here and there.
There is Calabar; no airport you can visit today where you can say that it works up to 80 per cent.
NAMA has recently employed and trained 40 new controllers, but NATCA said the nomba is too low to meet the shortfall.
However, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Capt Fola Akinkuotu, told Daily Trust that the claims were not true.
He said the federal government had invested huge investments in improving navigational aids and helping safe flight operations.
It is simply politics, he said it is a ordinary politics.
The government has spent a lot not too long to improve aviation infrastructure.
I am not simply saying this thing because I am a MD in NAMA.
If you want to hear the true story, my suggestion is always that, ask people on the street, ask people in NAMA, they will tell you, they have not seen such good as this under this administration.
It is painful that people would talk like this.
There is no Category Three (CAT3), this government has placed two on ground, while two others are still coming.
Government spends N1.7bn on mobile control tower
Also, revitalisation of the safe tower is ongoing.
The TRACON (Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria) system has been reconstructed.
Others sectors should jealous us.
E-commerce in Nigeria: Legal framework, challenges and prospect
E-commerce is referring to the use of communication technologies especially the internet to buy, sell and market goods and services to customers.
The internet has brought fundamental shift into economies not close to each other as a result of brier into ross-border trade and investment, distances, time zones and languages and national governments regulations.
E-commerce fosters direct access to neighbouring markets and promotes globalisation and commercial activities as well as distinction between domestic and foreign companies to the extent that it will not be possible to know where the product comes from.
E-commerce is not limited to buying of products alone, it includes e-mail, as well as other communication platforms, all the informate or services offered to customers on the net, from pre-purchase information to after-purchase service and support.
The major significance of his commerce is in the fact that he encourages a system of trading that is a single world, accessed through electronic means of getting good and services facilitated from various parts of the world.
Most of the statue on the ground in Nigeria is laid behind towards the development and growth of e-commerce in particular and the entire ICT.
In Nigeria, more legal research and study has been conducted.
Many in the study gathered that the legal system in Nigeria was behind the ICT-related legislation and that the statutory laws on the ground were not adequate to address some of the legal issues affected by e-commerce.
These issues include electronic evidence cybercrimes, security and data production, e-payment system and inevitably trans-border issues, among others.
Therefore, there is a need to bring out appropriate legal and regulatory measures to govern the newly established regime.
It has been repeatedly said that in Nigeria, significant efforts to regulate e-commerce-related activities were still at the stage of Sraft Bill before the National Assembly.
It is important to know that even where this bill is passed into law, Nigeria may still face a new legal issue in this area calling for legislative interventions.
With the rapidity of the internet working on commercial transactions in Nigeria, especially in the banking and communication sectors of the economy, the best they can suggest is that the legal issues and challenges facing e-commerce presently in the country should be addressed directly and espeditiously, in the interest of the teeming population of Nigerias customers.
To this, the National Assembly should be pressured to pass bill concerning electronic commerce as top priority in order to enact them into law as soon as possible.
In time, our courts should take a giant step to interpret the traditional laws on the ground in a liberal way to cut the gap in order to make the laws ammend to electronic transaction, in the emerging trend of this information age.
Indeed, they argue that legislation is not the only means of electronic transaction and attendant documentation.
The court can also adapt to recognition of electronic transactions in the absence of legislation or a private contract.
As previous Justice Bungham had said: The common law is in the hands of judges the same facility [as law merchanters] to adapt to the needs of the general public, a principle is not altered, but old rules to apply the change, and new rules will begin to exist.
We hope that the government will adopt this activism by Nigerian judges in judiciary, Supreme Court judges are also involved, expexially in areas where our existing legislation is grossly inadequate, comprehensive or elaborate enough to address legal challenges in new technological advancements.
This will set a better precedence to ensure e-commerce consumers have protection, to bring investors and economic development plus stability in the country.
The key issue of contracts in e-commerce is documentation and signature.
The provision in section 4 of the statute of Fraud, 1677 or Lagos State Law Reform (Contract) Law and our various statute on real property and landed instrument, all of which requires certain contracts to be written and executed duly.
Is the question now that electronic sign-off constitute a valid sign-off contract by e-mail or by binding?
Many of these issues have not yet been settled even in the UK although some decisions favour toward interpreting electronic signature.
So marks in an e-mail that satisfies the traditional requirements of writing and due execution.
E-commerce transaction is a transaction that doesnt involve paper making through magnetic materials like tapes or disks.
These are contradictions to the transaction being done in paper which is embodied in permanent form and typically expressed in words and figures authenticated by signature.
Such transactions cannot be altered without altering the faces of the documents.
In terms of signature, the provision in inide Section 93 (2)(3), evidence act 2011, electronic signature relating to data messages will conveniently satisfy any requirement for signature as long as it is sufficient to identify an electronic record to the person.
The provision in article 7 of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) model law for e-commerce 1996 is equally treated on this issue.
Thus, for the purpose of establishing proof of electronic signatures.
It can also be sufficient to use passages, identification, user names etc.
Hence one can safely say electronic signature for execution is admissible in evidence provided it is certificated and incorporated in electronic communication during any e-transaction.
Also, other legal challenges affecting e-commerce include the formation of contracts.
The elements of better formation of contracts include offer, acceptance, consideration, intention to enter into legal relationships.
The question is, at what point could they make offers with regard to electronic business transaction or now to differentiate between invitation to treat and offer electronic transaction, at what point could we say they make intentions to enter into legal relationships?
E-commerce requires confidence and trust the satisfaction of transmitting orders or invoices has never come from any matter and comes from whenever it appears to come from.
There is a need to guarantee concerning the level of privacy/confidenciality in information.
In the end, the alarming rate of cybercrime in Nigeria, plus a high level of illiterate.
No doubt electronic transaction is an aspect of commercial transaction in Nigeria and it has come to live at this time.
The government should go through making laws, activating using the electronic platform for commercial interaction and delivery of government services.
You can reach Abanikanda Happiness Wuraola via Twitter.
Chad passes new chartes as Deby son president
Chad passed a charter which declared Mahamat Idris Deby as president, despite rumour on social media that he had died.
Mahamat took over to replace his father, Idriss deby, who was killed this week.
The charter said that the 37-year-old, who was a son to a late war veteran, was quickly named transitional leader on Tuesday as heading a military council after his father's death, would be serving as president in the republic and heading the armed forces.
The charter repeated the preceding constitution and it would be implemented as the basic law of the republic, according to its temrs.
The young Deby has also been named as the supreme head of armed forces, according to him.
Deby son often appears alongside his father when he is the head of the elite presidential guard.
The best known Mahamat Deby is as the top commander of the forces in Chad helping United Nations peacekeeping mission in the restive north of neighbouring Mali.
He signed a decree on Tuesday as he set out a military council with 15 generals including himself and 14 others known to be loyal to late president.
The task given to the council is to move into free and democratic elections withing 18 months.
Mahamat Idris Deby is chairman of the military transition council, the council of ministers, the council of superior committees of national defence, according to the charter.
A new head of state shall declare a legislation adopted by the 69 members of the national transition council, named Mahamat directly.
The Transition Charter, which contains 95 articles, guarantees freedom of opinion, conscience and worship.
A transition government has been established, appointed by the new president.
The charter states that all members of the army called to the transitional government have been freed from all military works.
Law in Chad
The leader, who was killed, ruled with a strong hand for lmost 30 years, was given to wounds he suffered when he visited the battlefield where Chad soldiers were fighting rebel groups in the north, according to the military announcement on Tuesday.
Calling calmly, the army also announced a curfew at 6pm and closed the borders of the country, suspending the constitution and dissolving the National Assembly.
However, a political opposition in Chad has rejected the army appointment of President Idris deby's son to take over the death of his father.
Experts say under the law in Chad, the speaker of parliament should have collected power after Debys death, not his son.
What the constitution says is that if the president is not dead, then the speaker of the parliament will take charge of the country for 40 days in order to put transition in place until elections, Hiba Morgan in Al Jazeera reports from the capital, Ndjamena said on ealy Tuesday.
[But] the military announced that the legislative assembly had been dissolved and the constitution had been dissolved, so what they did was replacing the constitution with their own set of rules.
Chelsea points can be removed after the brawl with Leicester.
Chelsea are facing a deduction of points from the FA in the team as they fail to control their players, Mirror reports.
Within seven years, the team has been arrested to show hot temper to opponents seven times.
The recent brawl in a match on Tuesday night Leicester marked the seven encounter Chelsea had with Premier League teams.
The last weekend match between Chelsea and Leicester between players of both teams marked a tragedy.
With the same kind of offence in the past, the FA decided to punish Chelsea.
Leicester also faces charges for their roles in the brawl involving players and coaches as Ricardo Pereira challenged Ben Chilwell.
In 2016, Chelsea were also charged for a warning indiscipline, after appealing against a $375,000 fine in a part played at a bust-up during a match against Tottenham.
If it affects them, the point of output will very much affect them season as they enter into final campaigns to get a spot in the top four.
US Africom in Nigeria?
Overpaid, oversexed and over here.
That was the resentful and contemptuous opinions many British people had for the thousands of American GIs stationed in several military bases in Britain during the Second World War.
The gum-chewing, brash, hard-drinking and womanising soldiers from America comedey often get into dangerous pub battles and knife battles that cause feelings for the Yanks among the locals.
And this has been the pattern of American soldiers behaving everywhere for the hundred of American military bases oversea from Okinawa in Japan, Stuttgart in Germany, Incirlik and Diyarbakir in Turkey and Pampanga in the Philippines.
That is why I am upset, like many Nigerians, that at a virtual meeting last week with the Secretary of State of the United States of America, Antony Blinken, was that President Buhari asked the United States to consider relocating the African Command (Africom) of his military in Stuttgart in the southern German city of presently coming Africa.
We are wondering that by this call, President Buhari is making a way for Nigeria to host Africom.
For the first place, it was a breach of a protocol for President Buhari to hold that meeting with the American Secretary of State.
The meeting was expected to be held with Blinken's Nigerian opposition number Geoffrey Onyeama, who came to carry the details to meet president later.
Yes, America is a superpower and all, but a protocol should be applied strictly in all circumstances.
We understand Nigeria is facing a tremendous internal security problem which seems to be beyond the best efforts made by governments and security establishments in the nation to tackle it.
Continuing terrorist insurgencies in the North East banditry, kidnapping in the North West, farmers/herders clashes across the country and targeting and killing security and law enforcement personnel and other Nigerians including the destruction of institutional buildings in the South East, they joined to become the cocktail of insecurity ravaging the country.
But even then, the call to host Africom on Nigerias siol when considering m against various issues and implications of this move to Nigeria is difficult to justify.
Africom is one among nine of such commands established by the American military to serve American strategic interests around the world.
By their rule and operation, these commands, those outside America like Africom, were not set up primarily to concern them with security and law enforcement issues in their areas of coverage.
They only do so when such issues directly affect the interests of America in the area and in such circumstances, they are not mandated to yield them modus operandi and share intelligence with the local security and law enforcement agencies.
If they set Africom up for instance, it would be an island on its own as it would restrict access to Nigerians of all categories and establishing a jurisdiction withing the teritorial area of the base that would be virtually off limit to Nigerian security and law enforcement agencies.
As often happens with a American military base outside the America, Africom will be a forward operating base for disruptive intelligence operations and will be source of act of sabotage and destabilisation against host countries.
In this particular case of Africom, part of its original concept is to control as the strategic influence of Nigeria is growing in West Africa and Africa as we have successful peace enforcement efforts in Liberia and Sierra Leone and our best record of peace keeping around the world.
The preceding of Africom was the African Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI) set up by the Clinton administration to counter the strategic interest of Nigeria in Africa.
The Secretary of State for President Clinton, the dour-faced California attorney, Warren Christopher, visited a nomba of African countries secretly to sell the idea.
But because Nigeria is the target, it is pointed out from its itinerary.
Senegal, not long from Liberia and Sierra Leone, should be the coordinating base of the ACRI and although seen in an initiative to facilitate American assistance to African humanitarian issues, its secret protocols mistaken in military and strategically target Nigeria.
Because mainly to undisguised hostility to the idea from France, which was averse to see the Americans trying to butt into an area it considers its exclusive sphere of influence, they reviewed the concept of the ACRI.
In the review, which draw the expertise of American Military, Intelligence, Political and Academic Personalities and institutions by the American Congress to their secret sessions, the Americans considered and realised the need to set up one African command to add to the other already existing and covering other continents in the world.
Thus, to follow on the recomandation of experts gathered, which formed all angles of political and security establishments in America, the Bush Junior administration set Africom up with the wider mandate to contain Nigeria but also keeping attention to the strategic penetration of Chinese people in Africa.
As the US Central Command (USCENTCOM) is to the Middle East and Asia, Africom is to Africa, based in Florida, European Command (EUCOM), based in Stuttgart, Germany, is to Europe and Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), based in Florida, is to Latin America and the Caribbean.
The presence of French military has already surrounded Nigeria as they are in Niger, Cameroun, Chad and Benin.
The Americans also have drone bases in Niger.
Adding Africom to the mix in Nigeria would amount to a complete capitulation of our strategic interests to both France and America.
Having in mind that our strategic interests plus profile in Africa do not always follow with the one in France and America, hosting Africa in Nigeria will be the same thing as allowing wolves into chicken cages.
There is nothing inside the insecurity cahllenge facing the country with which our armed forces cannot cope.
This is after the military force which eventually secured Liberia and Seirra Leone against a well-entrenched and organised army of insurgents in the country from a long logistical supply line thousands of miles; the army of Joshua Dogonyaro, Victor Malu and Maxwell Khobe, to mention few of the many gallant Nigerian soldiers who distinguished themselves for the operations.
It is regretably that the Nigerian military, has fallen from high standard recognition, and they are struggling now to cope with the activities of non-state actors internally.
But intrinsically and essencially, the military in Nigeria still carries the capacity and capacity to defeat this threat to our nationals security if they have the right leadership, doctrine plus motivation.
We need all the assistance and cooperation that the American people can give us if they want to give us.
But as they held us in hand to host Africom with our circumstances in view of its antecedent and implication to our strategic interests, on our soil.
Despite challenges, Plateau targeted 7m metric tons of Irish potato.
In Nigeria, Plateau State is the name of the planting of Irish potato as it is produced in nine of the 17 local government areas in the state.
The Potato Value Chain Support Project of the African Development Bank (AfDB) initiative has Plateau as a state with 90 per cent of the potato production in the country as countries like Chad, Ghana, Niger, Benin and others have large supply of potato from Nigeria.
The large potato production in Plateau State, according to PotatoPRO.com, a leading source of informate in the global potato industry, has made Nigeria the number four major countries in sub-sahara Africa.
However, farmers said that dam is poor and poor road networks, as well as the cost of fertilizer and other farming input continued to stand as major setback for the production of potatoes in the nation and export.
Other challenges contributing to low yield and loss in harvest to the potato value chain include diseases like blight and bacterial woes, as well as poor seedlings.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Plateau State is among the ten poorest states in Nigeria with a poverty rate exceeding 70%.
However, the state has a comparative advenge to take boost economic activities by improving the competitiveness of the potato commodity value chain.
The project Coordinator for the Potato value Chain Support Project, Thomas Muopshin, said although the visibility of the tuber crops is evident in nine local government areas in Plateau, the hub for potato is Bokkos and Mangu LGAs.
They produce more potato than any LGA in the country.
However, Muopshin said that adaptability research indicated that the remaining eight LGAs in the state could also be planted potato, thereby enabling all 17 LGAs in Plateau to produce tuber, especially in the dry season.
However, the Association of Potato Farmers (APF) in the state, said unless addressed the challenges facing the value chain, increased production and export of potato would continue to pass the national.
Chairman of the APF in Plateau State, Lazarus Makut, in an interview with Daily Trust, said the inadequate small dam, especially in a remote area where potato grows, and poor roads plus high cost of farm input continued to affect potato output.
He said the cost of mechanised farming that can rapidly increase production has become expensive as the majority of farmers are small-scale producers unable to afford mechanization.
Another farmer, Martha Mamgup, who grows potatoes in Ampang town of Mangu LGA, said less water during dry season affected potato farmers and harvests are low every year.
Because of this, she said, The majority of farmers were searched for locations of borehole to farm to access irrigation water for their farms.
Martha also explained that the high cost of fertiliser prevents many farmers from improving quantity plus quality of yield, adding that when fertiliser is not enough, it affects the crop output.
The cost also prevents many of us from expanding the business.
Therefore, getting fertiliser is not easy for us.
She said the construction of more dam and borehole in irrigation would lead to more production of potatoes.
If the watre is not enough for the crop, it will dry and eventually die and that is why some farmers with the resources prefer to dig boreholes in Mangu for irrigation because without it, seasoned farming will become difficult, she said.
Irish potatoes at a market in Jos
Production of up to 7million metric tons after labs are completed.
With potato production in Plateau State which jumped from 1,656,650 metric tons in 2017 to 2,359,890 metric tons in 2020, the establishment of Potato Value Chain Support Project and expected the disconstruction of tisue culture lab caused production to triple over seven million metric tons by the end of 2021.
The Officer, Monitor and Evaluate State's Potato Value Chain Support Project in the state, Baleri Yakubu, told Daily Trust that it is expected that the state commences production of six million potatoes annually after the tissue culture lab was completed at the end of 2021 but is optimistic that production could exceed seven million metric tons annually.
However, Yakubu said the state government should tackle other challenges faced by farmers, especially the problem of fertiliser as well as dam and road network as it awaits farmers to apply adequate potato farming regulation to expected targets.
Our correspondent gathered that the tissue culture lab, intended to improve potato yield in the state by providing pest-tolerant clean seeds and other potato-related diseases, was expected to commence full operation in a few months.
Yakubu said it was certain that the advent of the lab would improve income for farmers and revenue for the state government and also help food security in the country.
Farmers in Plateau State, however, believe that the tissue, if fully equipped, will reduce the cost of treatment for the crop when disease affects them.
They also hope that quality seeds will be available at affordable price.
FG has not returned £4.2m Ibori loot to Delta Accountant General.
The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) reaveiled on Wednesday that the Federal Government has not returned the £4.2 million loot recovered from former governor James Ibori to Delta Government.
They are still waiting for the funds after them to resolve the issues with them before taking any further action.
For now, no money has been returned to Delta State, as a statement from the office revealed, signed by the Director of Information, Press and Public Relations, Henshaw Ogubike.
The statement said the issue of the £4.2million looted to Ibori has not been resolved.
In a previous comment by the Accountant General of the National Assembly that the loot has been returned to the Government of Delta, Henshaw Ogubike said: The Agf is only a general comment on rcorvered funds as it relates to state governments.
The three Super League strongheads disagree against UEFA coercion.
Super League three Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus insisted on Wednesday that they remain committed to modernising football despite UEFA threats to discipline.
UEFA opened formal disciplinary walks on Tuesday against the three clubs who refused to give up on the aborted Super League project.
In a joint statement, Juventus in Italy, and the two Spanish sides said they were still committed to modernising football through an open dialogue with the UEFA.
FC Barcelona, Juventus FC and Real Madrid CF wish to express their absolute rejection of the insistent coercion of the UEFA mentains towards the three most relevant institutions in the history of football, according to the statement.
This attitude to raise alarm constitute a breach of the decision made by the courts of justice, which made a clear statement to warn UEFA to stop taking any action that could punish the clubs found the super League while still on legal issues.
Therefore, as UEFA took disciplinary proceedings is incomprehensible and it is a direct attack against the rule of law by us, citizens of the European Union, build up with democracy, it is also a lack of respect toward the authority of the courts of justice.
China supplies 140 million COVID-19 vaccines
China has administered 139.97 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of April 4, 2021, according to the National Health Commission (NHC) of the country.
China is working to ensure vaccination efforts in major areas and key sector industries based on the overall plan of the country, inoculating the eligible population as wide as possible and making progress in stages, as Wu Liangyou, a deputy director of the NHCs Disease Prevention and Control Bureau.
The country has gathered resources to ensure inoculation in large and medium-size cities, prot-sized cities, high-risked border areas of infection, including priority to key groups including employee in the public sector, students and faculty in college and universities, as well as service staff in large supermarkets, according to Wu, adding that vaccination in other groups has also been on progress.
At present, Beijing, Shanghai and some other places in China have given the vaccine to senior citizens, aged over 60 and patients with chronic diseases COVID-19 vaccines, who are in better physical condition.
He Qinghua, an official of the NHC, noted that the commission would advance the vaccination campaign with an order of importance, following the prize of informed consent, voluntary participation and free inoculation.
The country coordinates regular prevention and control with its vaccination efforts, to ensure that the regular responsibility of local governments and those outlooked are fulfilled, and to advance their vaccination campaigns in a manner that is more secured and orederly and forceful, he said.
Besides, China has taken steps to engage more people in vaccination campaigns to ensure their health, the official added.
So far, China has approved COVID-19 vaccines produced by five enterprises for conditional marketing or emergency use.
Phase III of three yet to be activated vaccines and an adenovirus vaccine shows that they efficacy meet the requirements of the National Medical Products Administration in China and the World Health Organization.
Phase II trial of the recombinant protein subunit vaccine used for emergencies has shown that the vaccine is safe and can cause strong immune response.
All the COVID-19 vaccine adopted by China had gone through clinical studies that followed relevant standards, approved by the national drug regulatory organisation and began to be used after passing a strict examination, said Li Bin, the deputy head of the NHC.
All vaccines should be monitored and temperature record from time to time to ensure that they meet requirements on temperature environment and transportation.
Li added that health regulators in China have also enhanced efforts in the training of health workers, requiring them to obey operating instructions to guarantee the efficacy and safety of the vaccine.
Wema Bank holds Essays contest for children
Wema bank Plc hosts a creative essay competition to test the creative writing ability of young children aged five to 12 years.
The 2021 Royal Kiddies Essay Competition, tagged Write and Win, aimed at developing writing skills, promoting creativity, imagination capacity, reward creativity and drive excellence in their learning processes.
Ten children will emerge in a process of screening that will be transparent, credible and thorough.
The three Essays were collected to Huawei's tablets and Royal Kiddies branded T-shirts.
The remaining seven finalists will get a N20,000 prepaid gift card each for school supplies plus a branded T-shirt.
The Essays competition will be open to parents children, including funding the Royal Kiddies Account or wards, and entries will close on May 24, 2021.
From Hushpuppi to Abidemi Rufai Sandy Tangâ
Twelve months ago, Ramoni Abass (37 years), known as a hushpuppi, was arrested in June 2020 in Dubai, allegedly to have done money laundering from business email compromise fraud and other scams targeting firms and an English premier league club.
He made a total of $435 million after the defraud of 1,926,400 victims.
A year later, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also arrested Abidemi Rufai (called Sandy Tangâ), Senior Special Assistant on Special Duties to Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun in the John F Kennedy Airport, a concerning criminal complaining of scaming Washington State Employment Security Department of $350,000 (N144,375,000).
The funds stolen are relief funds for the pandemic designed by Washington State for those who may have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was during the lockdown that the fraud occurred and the investigation bureau started tracking the alleged fraudster which would be making law in the Nigeria Federal House of Representatives without losing the Ijebu North/Ijebu East/Ogun Waterside Federal Constituency election to Adekoya Adesegun Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) person.
The fraud was done by stealing the identity of Washington residents over 100 as dm was filling a false claim with the Employment Security Department (ESD) for pandemic-related unemployment benefits.
A new e-mail account was created for each stolen identity to identify the claims with different individuals to escape an automatic fraud detection system.
Thereafter, they paid over $288,000 so his bank accounts in America between March and August 2020.
Cybercrime is a global threat to people, organisations and countries.
Nigeria is losing over $128 billion to cybercrimes annually.
By the time 2021 ends, the world will have lost a total of $6 trillion.
To date, there are over 40 Nigerians who are or are still being investigated by the FBI for complicity in fraudulent scams.
The alleged unemployed benefit fraud by Rufai will be under what I have called the COVID-19 fraud in Nigeria.
This is a scam using loopholes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to scam people, government and organisations.
During the COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria, cybercriminals made frauds along the interventions from government and private sectors and scammes abundant and some of the schemes were still at date.
There are Domino pizza fraud, federal government cash palliative fraud, N20, 000 Dangote relief fund fraud and promote sales fraud among others.
While some of them are cyber-criminality outside Nigeria, some youngster do it in Nigeria.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested, attempted and convicted them.
An understanding of the culture that sustaines cyber-criminality can help a serious government to fight the crime.
The family is the little world in the larger society.
This is where the normal human beign of the society should be nutritified.
Apart from the fact that many families in Nigeria are in dungeons of poverty and it is difficult to take care of their children, some of the children have become breadwinners, however, it is not legitimate.
Ethical behaviour training in many households is a challenge by arresting parents including gathered children for cybercriminality.
In some other places, yahoo boys parents are forming associations to celebrate their children success and justify the criminal thing they did.
In the religious setting, pastors, alfa and traditionalists make home and benefit from yahoo-boyism.
Moral teachings come for materialistic Pentecostalism to enter.
It has a viral video where some boys spray money while people who seem to be shepherd in the white garment church enjoy the moment of captive, while members led by the female youth wings of the church record the act of shame.
A boy born in 1999 when Nigeria entered into democracy again is 21 years now.
Sadly, they grew to appreciate lies as a way of life from the mouth of politicians (and in most cases from their home) who decieve people to vote for them without fulfilling their promises to compare.
Lying is also the foundation of the sociology of hushpuppism.
Youth socialises daily in corruption by people in public office.
It is seen how the system is providing farudulent peoples soft landing (in public or private).
Are they asking how many fraud and corruption allegations have been investigated and discharges with punishment when the accused is guilty?
The many cases ended with off-the-mic like as the case of the Nigeria Delta Development Commission (NDDC) ended like family affairs.
The youths are seen as celebrating a flamboyant lifestyle in dirty.
They are observing how poor political aspirants become millionaries withing months of office.
They are observing how traditional institutions have become cash and take on when giving chieftancy titles.
Tertiary educational institutions, with few exceptions, are awarding undeserving honours in exchange for money.
All of those who mismanage money have soft landing.
Adding to this list of cultures that nutre cybercrime is the lyrical glamour that some Nigerian musicians make up cybercrime as they present cybercrime as a work and game that everyone does and that is not crime.
If we choose fraud to legislate, will it make a law against the crime it involves?
The process by which party leaders are giving party nomination to the high-biting person needs to review if we want to stop importing problematic talks into our already lost political system.
It is unfortunate that the critical reasoning of party leaders will be low when they are shown money.
They provide platforms for dubious characteristics to take to do cover up and the society is worse with them action.
Greeds also cause cybercriminality.
The FBI agent, who incestigates Rufai, Donald Voiret, said greed is a powerful motivator.
Unfortunately, the greed alleged to this defendant affects all taxpayers.
To move forward, we cannot be living in sin, expecting grace to abound.
Nigeria should sanitise its anti-coruption system and place its accoutability policy in place to track lifestyle with material accumulation.
We must give youths in Nigeria hope by creating employment opportunities, reducing poverty and reviewing reward systems.
The EFCC has to invest in technology and expose them detectively to modern cybercrime investigation procedures.
The commission has to finish an investigation before the suspect is arrested by the FBI before huspapi and Abidemi Rufai Sandy Tang were arrested.
Unless they tackle the culture that sustaines cybercrimes in Nigeria with social social engineering, cybercriminality will continue to spread.
Dr Tade, a sociologist, wrote this piece on dotad2003@yahoo.com.
The president of the DRC, Tshisekedi, has become chairman of the African Union.
President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, became chairman of the African Union on Saturday.
He took office on the first day in the 34th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa.
He is coming after president of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa as the rotating chair of the organization.
The Au will aim to address the adverse impact of COVID-19 on the continent.
The Union
Official theme for 2021 is Arts, Culture, and Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want.
Despite countrys and continent-wide control measures, the impact of COVID-19 has brought a lot of human, financial and soci-economic cost on the African people,Tshisekedi said.
However, the crisis has given us the opportunity to re-examine our socio-economic priorities and work towards sustainable and inclusive economic growth to enable women and girls to contribute to our society for the fullest.
We must rely on ourselves more and find collective solutions to our problems.
Tshisekedi said the DRC as head of the union was looking to elevate African voices.
It will also focus on sustainable development by and in Africa.
We work to ensure integrated wellbeing, peace and security, health care and strong response against COVID-19, including food security.
Agricultural transformation, education, gender equality, climate justice, for people and freedom of movement, and freedom of speech and religion plus to enhance our common heritage: languages, and memorial sites of the history of people in Africa, which will be at the centre of our agenda, the president added.
New challenges in Lagos PDP concerning LG polls
A fresh problem is gathered in Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) concerning the release of guidelines for the conduct of the coming local government elections by the Chairman of the state, Engr Deji Doherty.
Engr Doherty, who has been battling with many of his colleagues at the State Working Committee (SWC), which recently led to his suspension, was released the guidelines on Friday.
It may be recalled that the State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) has released the timetable for the elections to be held on Saturday, July 24, 2021.
In the lingering internal strife for the State PDP, the Chairman released the guidelines, which as we hear was not good in the eyes of most of the executive members who said they were not taken long.
A member of the state executive said the chairman unilaterally planned the timetable and not involved other executive members.
It was learnt that the other factions of the party oppose Doherty could counter the embattled Chairman this above the guidelines.
The executive member who spoke under conditions of anonymity said the position of the angry member would enter public this week, insisting that the key members of the executive were sidelined.
How it feels to be born in the pandemic by Dil Afrose Jahan.
When news of death is everywhere, a new life brings hapines plus hope.
On January 1, 2020, one new morning, two red lines changed my life.
I am happy and happy.
Mamzing begins a new year.
It was the most remarkable year in my life.
All of a sudden, everywhere change.
My daughter, Roshomon Tara, was born at the end of the first lockdown in Dhaka, Bangladesh; is now nine-month old and I have born my daughter, Roshomon Tara at the end of the first lockdown in Dhaka, Bangladesh; is now nine-month old.
That was why I got a mother in the middle of a global crisis.
Not only her they were born but also new me, mother Tara, who spent the whole pregnancy in lockdown at home and born the children in emergency conditions in the emergency.
Tara has seen the world with mask and isolation.
Her grandmother was also afraid to touch her or approach her if they didn't wear mask.
If there is no pandemic, my journey to enter motherhood will be different.
This Mother Day is very special as my children are in front of me, looking at me smiling.
On the last mother day, she was growing in me.
The only thing that has not changed, meanwhile, is the pandemic.
It was 16 weeks in me when the pandemic occurred, and the world became lockdown.
I am struggling to survive the pandemic with my hormonal and physical changes.
The 22 weeks are like a war.
My husband, Sina Hasan, was a musician, and all his concerts were cancelled at the time.
I am a freelance journalist since January 1, 2021.
So we are already depending on what I have saved and we spend all my savings.
Our parents and two journalists associations came forward to help in the main time.
I am everywhere afraid.
Most of the time, it seems to have been dead.
knocked at our door.
I am adapting to a new life that we are clicking online and delivering our items or home-delivery.
I have to wait a week for the deliverance of groceries like a day.
I was even afraid to send to me the only family member who lives with me, my husband to leave to buy food storage.
So, I am not eating too much.
Besides, I couldn't go for my antenatal check-up as I was given time.
And I am not sure if my children are growing well or if development is taking place timely.
I am sorry for my unborn child for bringing him into a world that is quite different from ever.
The tele-medication helped me pass some difficult times in the last three months.
I forget the face of my gynaecologist.
I couldn't imagine she would look if she didn't wear a PPE.
I need to inform about risks, precautions, and how to get emergency medical help.
A lot of informatives are flowing around.
Within this informed problem, experienced mothers, and my mother-in-law could only support me and not meet me for someone when I got pregnant.
Traditionally, experienced mothers and mostly older women in the family will help new mothers with experience plus observation.
I have had a lot of panic attacks because I have no information and understanding.
So I am your experience of the motherhood that gave birth in this time.
I saw social media as lifeline.
I read a lot of exciting experiences on social media when I was associating with a group that gey over 100,000 pregnant women and breastfeeding children while supporting each other to survive the pandemic.
Media groups on the platform have helped over 100,000 pregnant women and those giving breast to children by sharing experiences and informatives during the lockdown.
The group helped me find heakth care fcility to do emmergency ultrasound after heavy bleeding fires in the lockdown.
Another group is to help to eradicate anxiety and the depression of childbirth.
I was upset that I couldn't meet my parents, relatives, or friends to share the joy of welcoming new members into the family.
My daughter was born on August 25, 2020, at the same hospital, Azimpur Maternity, where I was born decades ago, and my son was born on August 25, 2020, at the same hospital, Azimpur Maternity, where I was born decades ago.
And she met another child one on one when she was in four months old on December 31, 2020, when Tara and her father went to the rooftop with me to see the fireworks.
Another fimily with two children, my neighbour, whom I met for the first time, would also be able to go and speak by me in 2020.
Each day is, and it is still a gift, to consider the recent statistics of increased Covid-19 cases.
When news about death is full everywhere, the new life brings hapines and hope.
For the mother, it was no different from winning the war as a child was born in the pandemic and they care for the new children alone to confirm the highest safety for their children.
So socially, emotionally, and physically, this time can challenge someone.
Thanks to the light shining in the eyes of the children.
Thanks to my children, my daughter, for my mother and a successful fighter who survived this pandemic.
Dil Afrose Jahan has collected the National Geographic Society's Emergency Fund for Journalists.
This work was supported by the National Geographic Society.
The national question, insecurity and the declaration in Asaba.
By Segun Tomori
Recently, governors in the southern Nigeria had met in Asaba and made some resolutions on the state of the nation, which has been called Asaba declaration.
The meeting is coming on the matter as insecurity in the country is worsening, agitation by some ethnic jingoist and the matter murderous herdsmen menace is generating nationwide attention.
Indeed, the bi-partisan nature of the meeting plus the unanimity displayed by the 17 governors demonstrated that they meant to be a serious business.
Restructuring in the context of true federalism and the ban of open grazing formed the cause of the declaration.
Major light followed to bringing state police, devolution of power, to review revenue formula to favour federating unit as well as the need for a national dialogue to discuss the nation question.
While governors should be condemned to drag on financial autonomy in state legislation and judiciary and not in line with the spirit of true federalism called for, planty in their resolution is a tenet of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) recommended by the commtee led by Gov. El=Rufai on true federalism.
One is expected that the leading light in the APC will take advantage of the bipartisan nature of the Asaba declaration, and the support of the major opposition party to begin the process to address the issue.
Instead, we saw attempts to take to the gallery and in some quarters, subtle censures of the governors.
The El-Rufai committee has recommended the devolution of power, resource control, state police, local government autonomy plus review in revenue frmula in favour of federating units among them.
President Buhari has since been supporting local government, state legislation and judiciary autonomy, as he backed amendments in the statutes and issued Executive Order 010.
In view of the state of the nation, where security and economic challenges become enormous, these two sectors should have the untimate attention of one another.
Despite the rate of Nigeria as the country with the highest GDP in Africa, we have not made enough effort to translate it to improving standards of living or the majority of our countrys people.
For instance now, our annual budget of $35 billion is very inadequate to meet the needs of the 220 million Nigerians.
South Africa, with about 58 million people, has a national budget of $75bn in 2019 and its Social Protection Programme to 17m of its population.
The efforts made by the Buhari administration, though new and commendable, were just dropped into the ocean and were not adequate to make required impacts.
Here is the devolution of power and resources control.
Solid minerals and natural resources have no business to stay more than one day in the Exclusive list.
Almighty all states in the country have natural resources to sell markets that can be explored to create wealth and generate the foreign exchanges the country needs.
The present system where states go to Abuja to collec federal allocations in the country breaks indolence, not the principle of true federalism.
Just as the El-Rufai committee proposed, the revenue formula should be reviewed to favour states as they add more responsibilities to them.
On the state police, it is undesratndable that you are frightening governors to abuse it, but like Richie Nortondon said, To escape fear, you have to go through it, not around it.
For too long time, we have been walking round fear of abuse of state police, we have turned a blind eye to the centralised Nigerian Police Force which has become overstretched and inefficient and big problem.
According to Vice President Osinbajo a few years ago, State Police is an idea that his time has come.
We have to address our fears and overcome it.
One way is to enact a legal instrument to establish the State Police Regulatory Commission (SPRC), along with constitutional amendments to permit state police.
It would have a similar function with the Federal Police Service Commission (PSC) but would have wider powers to exercise appointive plus regulatory functions.
The ban on open grazing restated by the governors was not something none, it was part of the fulcrum of the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) approved by the National Executive Council (NEC).
The International Crisis Group (ICG) has placed the NLTP as the most comprehensive effort Nigeria has made to date to overhaul the inefficient and grosly underperforming livestock system.
In the core is a strategy to take curb migratory or open grazing and thus lower the risk of conflict between herders and farmers, therefore, beggars belief that some myopic, self-acclaimed ethnic champions choose to lampoon the ban on pre-historic, nomadic open grazing.
Let the federal and stable governments move very fast to fully implement this new plan in order to put this farmer-herders clash from time to time behind us.
The convocation of a National Dialogue, which is a major demand for the Asaba declaration may not be necessary since there are reports from the 2014 National Conference as well as recommendations by the Gov. El-Rufai-led APC committee on True Federalism.
The two reports are a far reaching recommendation on which the governors elected and legislators in the national assembly can agree instead of wasteing resources that are not on another jamboree.
On the issue of separatist agitations, bringing modalities to conduct a referendum as it is in the constitution.
It is almost certain that a majority of Nigerians want to live together, they don't mind our differences.
To do this will take the sail off the wind of divisive elemnet, which fan the fire of hatred and discord.
The Southern Governors have affirmed commitment to a United Nigeria on the basis of justice, fairness and equity, so every patriotic Nigerian must.
Although we have challenges like every other country, we must listen to ourselves as US President Joe Bidden often speaks.
Tomori lives in Abuja.
Two officers were killed as IPOB terrorists set ablaze on police station.
Not more than 24 hours after the new commissioner of police appointed in Anambra, Christopher Adetokumbo Owolabi, resumed, his terrorists attacked Obosi Police Station in Idemili North local government area of the state and killed two officers.
The terrorists attacked the police station late on Wednesday, liberating all detained before setting the station on fire.
A member of the police station, who was affected by the incident, said a large number of terrorists entered and attacked the police station around 11pm.
He identified the dead officers as Inspector James and Awalu.
The source said the victims were killed in an unfunctioning filling station close to the police station.
The source also said when other police officers were on duty notice unusual movement of the unknown gunmen, they ran and the attackers had time to burn the police station down.
Meanwhile, the police in Anambra have confirmed the killing of both men.
DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, the Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the command, who confirmed the attack, said the state commissioner of police had dispatched a tactical team to assess the incident on the spot.
The tactical team led by the Assistant Commissioner of Police has instructions to see on the spot assessment of the site.
They also told the team to try to identify and arrest the terrorists, according to him.
Ikenga, who added that the body of the two police had been in the nearby morgue, said they had started investigation on the matter.
NEPC, Commonwealth collaborates on production of professional service export data
The Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and the Commonwealth Secretariat London are to collaborate to produce reliable data on export for professional services in Nigeria.
Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the National Consultative Committee for the International Trade-in-Services (NCCITS) held under the Commonwealth Secretariat London, the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of the NEPC, Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, said Nigeria has no readily accessible and reliable data on trade-in-service.
Awolowo said they had already tried to create awareness on the trade-in service sector of the economy, including the creation of a National Strategy for Export of Professional Services in 2010.
He said the Commonwealth had helped Nigeria to develop a road-map for the sector in 2016.
The boss in NEPC said the current focus in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat is on data/statistics collection and management.
This is critical to our efforts in export by filling the gap in collecting or capturing data from relevant institutions in order to generate, analyze and use statistical information on trade-in Services as it is globally, he said.
NITDA, firms to launch tech startup funds in July
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and a firm beased in the United States Mass Challenge have signed an agreement to financially support between 10 and 15 start-ups from July, to reach their full potential withing 12 months.
Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, said this on Tuesday during a virtual media stakeholders engagement with officials of MassChallenge.
Abdullahi said the initiative was designed to identify and accelerate top start-ups based in Nigeria and grow their to serve the Nigeria and global markets.
The DG is in NITDA which said the initiative would be launched in July, adding that it would improve tech innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.
Starting up a vibrant ecosystem is highly critical to the future of our country and it is vital to find solutions to our various challenges.
Innovation is a prominent way to create properity for all and lift countries out of poverty.
The CEO of MassChallenge, Siobhan Dullea, said the firm had supported over 2,900 start-up worldwide and that the firms had generated $3.6 billion revenue and created 86,000 jobs.
Two women kidnapped in Abuja council
Two women, Christiana Isa Attah and Favor David, have been taken behind the Anguwar Kpokpolobi community in Naharati, Abaji Area Council, FCT.
The mother of the two victims, Mrs. Ruth Attah, a retired school teacher, told our reporter at her home that about midnight in Saturday the incident happened.
She said she was sleeping and the children were in the room when the kidnappers came into the house after jumping a fence that was not too high.
She said a window was broken to enter the room where her children were sleeping and pulled out with guns in their hands.
When the girls noticed that they were trying to break the window, they ran into my room to hide, but the kidnappers followed them to my room, and they took us all out, she said.
According to her, the kidnappers left her after some metres had been passed home when they noticed that she couldn't go because of her old age.
It was after we crossed a river where I couldn't go again and then the other gang member told me to go back home as they left with my two children, she added.
A resident, who wanted to be anonymous, said the kidnappers had done the operation for more than an hour while shooting up to scare people from them.
He said no security man came here when the kidnappers were shot in the air for more than an hour.
Daily Trust learnt that until that very day, the woman and her children were always sleeping at neighbouring houses and they were going back home because they feared kidnappers as they home just a few metres from the river.
We also gathered that of the daughter of the woman, who is a class teacher in the area is preparing for a wedding next month.
The spokesman of the police command in the FCT, ASP Maryam Yusuf, refused to pick or reply a text message sent to her phone to confirm the latest kidnap incidents in the area.
Why I ran on gov in Anambra's Anglican Priest
An Anglican Priest, Rev Godwin Okonkwo, has said he is racing for the November governorship election in Anambra State for bringing the fear of God and knowledge of prudent use of resources to show on governance issues in the state.
Okonkwo, who spoke with Daily Trust on Wednesday shortly after speaking with his supporters in Awka, Anambra State Capital, said the state was laid behind in terms of good governance.
The people there for now have not been able to manage the resources of Anambra State for the good of the Anambra people.
I believe we can do better than managing the resources of the state.
It is time to move from lukewarm attitude of leadership to better leadership.
I am at Apc to change the poor outing of the party in the state in the past years, he said.
Barty beat Kvitova to play last four matches with Badosa
Ashleigh Barty will take on Paula Badosa in the semifinal of Madrid Open after beating Petra Kvitova 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 on Wednesday.
World No 1 Barty is chasing her fourth singles title this year after winning in Stuttgart 10 days ago.
In the last four she will face the woman who beat him out in the quarterfinal at Charleston in the early April.
On Wednesday, the Australian was out as top against the winner who twice won the Wimbledon plus 2015, 2018 Madrid open winner Kvitova.
Wildcard Badosa became the first Spanish woman in the tournament in 12 years to make the semi with her 6-4, 7-5 win over eighth seed Belinda Bencic.
22 mummies of Pharaoh parade in Egypt
Twenty-two mummies of pharaoh wlk on the street of Cairo on Saturday evening for a stunning royal procession from the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square to the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Fustat.
It is marked for the event as NMEC officially launched.
Against the backdrop of fireworks, the mummies" 18 kings and four queens" travelled in order of age on purpose-built gold-colored pharaonic chariots, equipped with an air ride suspension system to absorb vibrations, and bearing the names of their occupants in Arabic, English, and hieroglyphics.
Seekenenre Tao II, who ruled Upper Egypt around 1,600 BCE, led the paradise, as Ramses ix, who ruled in the 12th century BCE brought up the rear.
According to the strict international standard for transportation of artifacts, the royal remains are placed in state-of-the-art sterile display cases to guarantee immaculate preservation.
There are 60 motorcycles, 150 horses, and a pharaonic music ensemble that followed the mummie by renowned Egyptian maestro Nader Abbassiconduct.
The procession started with a 21-gun salute, circled the obelisk at the closing Tahrir Square, and then proceeded along the Nile to NMEC, where Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi personally welcomed the mummies to their new permanent home in Fustat, the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.
The parade which lasted for 40-minutes captured the participation of 12 celebs in Egypt, as broadcast by 200+ global TV channels.
The pricelees artifact will spend the next two weeks in the NMECs laboratory, where they will be prepared for installation in the Royal Mummies Hall, located at the valley of the kings.
The Royal Mummies Hall will be opened to visitors on April 18, celebrating World Heritage Day.
To promote the launch, NMEC is offering a 50 percent discount on entry ticket price to the Central Exhibition Hall for guests from April 4 to 17.
To add, representatives of local and international media have the opportunity to take pictures and video the artifacts in the Central Exhibition Hall for free on April 4 and 5.
Overlooking Ain Al Sirafor the heart of the historical city of ustat near Babylon Fortress, NMEC is one of the largets and most important archeology museums in the world and the first to last for the entire civilization in Egypt.
Uproar in Kano prison concerning illicit drugs
Pandemonium was in Kano Central prison in Kurmawa on Thursday evening over illicit drugs.
The uproar started when the warders in the prison were detected and seized cannabis, allegedly brought in immate on Thursday evening.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) in Kano State, Musbahu Lawal Kofar Nasarawa, confirmed the matter, adding that they had set committees to investigate how the cannabis entered into the centre.
He said, Somebody brought cannabis into prison and was collected by our operatives, so they shouted, they asked me to give them.
We have set up a committee already to find out how such illicit drugs get into the house; whether they put it in the food they brought to one of the prisoners or someone conive with some of our operatives.
The action did not get anythimg with jailbreak, it was just uproar, we have already reinforced the order back in the custodial centre,he added.
It was rumored that the prisoners wanted to break the jail to attempt to escape as they rejected the food they had given to them to take break fast, on collecting bug donations from philantropists.
The spokesman of NCoS has debunked the rumour, describing them as baseless.
Daily Trust reports that the 100 years prison in Kurmawa area, behind the Palace of Emir in the metropolis, is the largest custodial centre in the state.
FG calls for global action against terrorism, drug trafficking
The federal government has urged world leaders to give international cooperation strength as part of effort to successfully fight terrorism and drug transportation, among other crimes.
This is even as Nigeria expressed concern over the incidents of poor financial flows from developing economies to already developing economies in the world.
These are part of the position Nigeria presented at the ongoing conference of the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, in Vienna.
A spokesman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Femi Babafemi, was said to be the Chairman/Chief Executive of the agency, Brig-Gen.
Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), who presented the position of Nigeria at items 6C and 7 of the meeting as he said as a nation deepens cooperation and strengthens the processes of combating the financing of terrorism and prevention of terrorists from benefitting from ransom payments, it is also important for them to avoid overlooking trafficking of illicit drugs.
It is also necessary to pay attention to and control the spread of illicit traffic, brain- detrimental drugs, which lead to violence.
Nigeria is also worried that the link between terrorism and other forms of crime like corruption, poor flow of money, money laundering, illicit trafficking in drugs, cybercrime, trafficking in people and smuggling of migrants, Marwa said.
When delivering a statement from Nigeria at item 6C on Wednesday, Marwa said as nations renew desire to improve international cooperation to address every crime, Nigeria urged all states, once again, to make sincere efforts, to address the cause from the roots, including poverty, economic deprivation, inequality, drug abuse, among other socio-economic factors.
When presenting the statement of the country on item 7 on Thursday, Marwa said, Nigeria notes with great concern the incidences of illicit financial flows, we are passing through the financial system every year, from developing and developed analysis.
To advise those doing this bad, including financial institutions acting as enablers, state parties should ensure that illicit financial flow, when tracked, does not remain in the custody of financial institutions but should be transformed into escrow accounts, preferably in development banks pending return to countries of origin.
In this regard, we are calling for the implementation of the recommendations of the facti panel in support of access recorvery and the Agenda 2030 for sustainable development.
Timipre Sylva, Kurfi celebrated Chelsea wins Champions League
Two prominent people in the former Governor of Bayelsa State and present Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr. Timipre Marlin Sylva and the Chairman of Katsina State Football Association, Alhaji Aminu Balele Kurfi were better celebrating mood on SUnday after Chelsea football clubs have won secodn champions league title.
In a final all English, former champions Chelsea shocked Man City 1-0 at the Estadio.
Do Dragao in Porto to win their second trophy?
Kai Havertz, one of the most expensive addition from last summer, scored the goal that decided to put a third defeat in a row on pep Guardiola's City.
Moments after the match, the former governor tweeted I supported Chelsea FC in the UCL trophy, and I did not regret.
Kurfi who watched proceedings in Abuja with Silva said he created time to watch the match with the former Bayelsa State governor to support and celebrate with amm after the match.
I need to support him because he is an avid fan of Chelsea.
I am also apt that at the end, he has a reason to celebrate.
Not everyone knows His Excellency Timipre Sylva has a passion for sports, especially football.
On my way, as the Chairman of Katsina State Football Association, I am a father to all supporters of different clubs in my state.
I was with Chelsea from where I was loaned to Katsina United.
From United, I was loaned to Kufri Tigers, and presently, I am in every club, as Kufri said I like to play.
Elections in Uganda: President Museveni has an early lead, rival called it a fraud
President Yoweri Museveni has taken early lead in individual elections in Ugand, according to results initially coming from the electoral commission on Friday morning.
This is as his main rival has said he has the proof that fraud has entered into the election.
By obtaining 29.4 per cent of votes from ballot voted on Thursday, Museveni won 1,852,263 votes, or 63.9 per cent as the main opposition candidate, Bobi Wine has 821,874 or 28.4 per cent, as the commission disclosed just after 11.00 a.m. (0800 GMT).
Wine alleges fraud
Wine, a singer who became a lawmaker who colobied young Uganda people with a call for political change, told a press conference on Friday that he had a video of proof that fraud was on the vote and that the vote would end in peace he wanted.
He earlier said in a tweet that he had the confidence that he would win despite fraud and violence.
Museveni, who has led the country in East Africa with a population of 46 million in 34 years, has never said anything as at noon.
Internet blackout
On Wednesday, the government ordered the internet to be blocked till further notice, a day after all social media and messaging apps were banned.
Wine and his supporters used Facebook to live coverage his campaigns and news conferences after alleging that many media outlets refused to host it.
The election campaign was corrupted with deadly crackdown on opposition candidates and their supporters.
The bumped capital of Uganda, Kampala, is usually quiet on Friday, which is a public holiday after Thursday votes, as most shops are closed.
Soldiers patrolled with foot in rain in a suburb visited by Reuters.
Commission head, Simon Byabakama, assured the nation on live TV on Thursday evening after polls closed that results were coming into the national tally centre despite the nationwide internet blackout.
We are not using local internet to transmit results, we are using our own system, according to him, without giving details of the system.
No matter what results will come, Byabakama said.
A new wave of pandemic has hit more in Japan prefecture.
Japan is ready to expand the present state of emergency to cover three more prefectures, the government said on Friday.
This followed the widespread coronavirus infection across the country ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in summer.
The prefecture in Hokkaido, Okayama and Hiroshima are likely to get the measure from Sunday to the end of May, as Economic Revitalisation Minister, Yasutoshi Nishimura, told newsmen.
A panel of experts endorsed the proposal, as Nishimura, in charge of the coronavirus response by the government, said.
The northern island of Hokkaido a record of 712 new infections on Thursday as the western prefecture of Hiroshima also found a record of 219 new cases on Wednesday.
As the infection was growing, Hiroshima and Okayama canceled a torch relay expected to happen last week on their public roads.
International Olympic Committee President, Thomas Bach, is expected to participate in the torch relay event in Hiroshima on May 17.
However, local organisers said they had postponed Bach travel to Japan before the games.
The postpon was as the government extended the state of emergency in Tokyo plus three other prefectures until the end of May, adding two more regions of Aichi, Fukuoka in the measure.
The government declared the state of emergency in the four prefectures in April, requesting bars and restaurants to stop serving alchohols and from offering karaoke services again.
Experts have given warning that varieties that are more contagious can rapidly spread, especially as the rolling coronavirus vaccine is very slowshipped as it is launched in mid-February.
Only one per cent of Japan's
125 million people have been fully vaccinated.
Farmers will benefit from mechanised farms in Jigawa.
The Malam Alu Agro Allied Company, which is a farm on over 100 hectares of land in Faru village, along Maiduguri road, Birning Kudu Local Government Area of Jigawa State, has been changing the prception into mechanised farming in Nigeria, the GM in the Mansur Dau Aliyu said.
When the farm was established almost five years ago, when we gathered, it was a direct response to the call by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari that Nigeria should return to agriculture as the mainstay of the nations economy, rather than relying on iol as the source of revenue in the country.
Each cattle has a nomba tag attached to it.
Founder of the company, Farouk Adamu Aliyu, who was a former member in the House of Representatives key into it, the GGM added.
We are doing greenhouse farming.
We have 10,000 square-metre of fully automated soilles greenhouse where we produce tomatoes.
We also have two 250 square-metre greenhouses where we produce other greenhouse vegetables, including another 500 square-metre greenhouse, which we use as nursery.
These greenhouse are all foreign-oriented, which we have installed to take produce varieties of vegetable.
Only tomatoes are produced for the 10,000 square automated soilless greenhousedem; and we produce an average of 10 to 11 tons of tomatoes every week.
We have another 10,000 square-metre locally fabricated greenhouse.
We also have livestock sections where we have over 300 herds of cattle, some camels, goats and sheep, he said.
Daily Trust learnt that the farm also has a fishery unit, with about 50,000 fish in the pond.
Similarly, one forty-ton per hour fertiliser blending plant installed in the early part of the year, as we hear, has been producing up to 300 loads of NPK fertiliser under the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative.
We have imported equipment that can install a 120,000 capacity in poultry system.
We hope that we will produce between 3,000-4,000 crates of eggs in one day, Mansur said.
He said the farm also has a diary plant, which produces 2,000 litres of milk in one day, adding that it also has about 150-200 hectares of land elsewhere left for open field farming as well as cultivation of rice and other crops.
Masur said major buyers of the tomato were premium customers, notably, big hotels in Abuja and Lagos, among others.
He however confirmed that the main market for the product is mainly in the eastern part of the country like Enugu, Onitsha, Owerri.
However, he admitted that apart from the few customers they had in Kano, they were hardly seen tomato products in local markets for some reason.
First, it is the fact that the tomato produced in the field is a special species and the second reason is the fact that Jigawa is a major area of tomato production.
You know tomato is a common product here, so our prices are lower than those in the open market.
So, essencially, people didn't really look at our side, they fell apprehensive with what we had because they believed it was expensive.
And when you have a product available everywhere, you are sure that people will buy the cheapest one.
The fish are fed by one farm.
When asked about the average lifespan of the tomato product, he said, If you give the tomato everythimg it takes, it means that a nutrional supplement that you feed it as it grows, if you give it all these things, the tomato can last up to three weeks after harvest.
But without it, it will last for a minimum of one week, not in the refrigeration, and not in presure and plenty of heat.
You can put it on a table where there is better ventilation.
It can last at an average of 10 days, but providing everything according to its requirements (ever nutrient) can last up to one month.
We have experienced it, but then, it is not happening as you always want.
The farm is a source of employment for 200 people in the village where it is located.
He also said the company has some people to train the youths for the araea on information technology skills.
He further said most of the equipment used in the field was from Turkey, except the fertiliser-blending machine, imported from China.
He said, Even though the farming method is similar in Turkey, because they have a Turkish partner that helps them to maintain the standard, but quickly he added that the company is conscious to enable Nigerians to run the tachnical aspect of its operations.
Reflecting on the effects of COVID-19 on the operation of the company, Mansur said, Malam Alu, as other corporate entities in the country, suffered from devastating effects of the virus.
In Mansur, youth in Nigeria has no excuse to remain unemployed with the kind of opportunity provided by agriculture, noting that the people locking for white-collar jobs should adjust to the reality and go back to agriculture.
He believes that Nigeria has been doing its mandate for a long time before, noting that if the country had taken this step, they would have cornered the present economic problem.
2023: Lawmakers to seek better deal in Southern Kaduna
The member representing Jaba Constituency in the State House of Assembly in Kaduna, Samson Monday Dikko, called on good people to come together and map out strategies to salvage Southern Kaduna Senatorial District and its people in 2023.
Speaking after a meeting with stakeholders in Kagoro, Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State at the weekend, Dikko, aspiring to be a senator in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said the people who are supposed to care in Southern Kaduna people had abandoned them.
It is time for the entire Southern Kaduna people to get it right.
We need to transform our region and improve security, education, health, agriculture, economy, employment and empowerment for the teeming youth and we will do it with a renowned non-governmental organisation, he added.
The Director-General of the Campaign Organisation for Dikko, Timothy Chindo Kwassam, said the destiny of the people of Kaduna South Senatorial District would do theirs if Dikko represent them in senate in 2023.
Everythimg under the sun has a reason.
So as Dikko is coming in this critical period of time is not an ordinary coincidence, but it is a divine play from God to liberate the region from all that hinder it from growing and compelling with other regions, Kwassam said.
3 African, no Nigerian, as City, Chelsea are contesting UEFA Champions League final
No doubt football fans in Nigeria are eagerly waiting for the 2020/2021 UEFA Champions League finals to take place tonight when two English clubs Manchester City and Chelsea will contest in the Estadio do Dragao, Porto in Portugal.
In view of the fact that the UEFA Champions League is one of the biggest football competitions next to the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic football event, the level of expectations has increased as giants in the English Premier League have set to fight for the prestigious diadem.
While Manchester City have never won the Champions League title before, Chelsea won their first and only a title in 2012.
Therefore, despite football pundits tip City who just won the premiership number seven to win this night, Chelsea will enter into the contest with better credentials.
They were former chsmpions.
However, while Thomas Tuchel, who is leading the technical crew in Chelsea, has not won the Champions League, his opponent in Manchester City has doubled down Pep Guardiola.
He won him with Barcelona in 2009 and in 2010.
Therefore, there is much to expect from the actors who will leave into the field at Estadio.
do Dragao in Porto and the men who take charge of the technical area.
Interestingly, even as both contestants have only three African players in Riyad Mahrez (Algeria, Manchester City), Hakim Ziyech (Morococo, Chelsea) and Edourad Menday (
The interest of Africa in the final has dropped.
Here in Nigeria, where Chelsea and Manchester City enjoy a lot of followers from passionate football fans, excitement has caused fever and has led to interesting realignment.
Fans of the other clubs who have been out of other stages of the Champions League made re-align demselve with either Chelsea or Manchester City as interests were diversified enough.
The consequence is that the final is one of the topics being discussed in sports at the moment and fans of the premiereship club have continued to predict as the finalresult might be.
However, as it appears that almost everyone is waiting to save the football artistry to be displayed, some pundits are as a nomba of African players in the final of the biggest football competitions on earth is reducing.
Following history in the UEFA Champions League, only 24 African footballers have contested and won the trophy with European clubs.
It is sad that African football legends like Liberia's George Weah who was voted as the World Footballer of the year in 1995,
Rashidi Yekini of Nigeria, Mohamed Aboutrika of Egypt, Roger Mila of Cameroon, Jay-Jay Okocha, Sunday Oliseh, Taribo West and Victor Ikpeba of Nigeria, Rigobert Song of Cameroon and Hassam Hassan of Egypt did not win the Champions League as they know the ball enough.
Although Mo Salah (Egypt), Sadio Mane (Senegal), Joel Matip (Cameroon) and Naby Keita (Guinea) were on the big stage when Liverpool won the 6th UEFa Champions League title in 2019, the first African to win the trophy was Bruce Grobbelaar of Zimbabwe.
He achieved the feat with Liverpool in 1984.
It was won by an Algerian legend, Rabah Madjer, with FC Porto in 1987 and Abedi Pele (Ghana) in 1993 with Olympique Marseille, before Nigeria.
duo of George Findi and Nwankwo Kanu lifted him with Ajax Amsterdam in 1995.
It is also recorded that Geremi Njitap of Cameroon was the first African to win the title twice in 2000 and 2002 with Spanish giants Real Madrid, Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon three times with Barcelona 2006, 2009 and 2010 with Inter Milan.
Another African who has won the highky coveted trophy is Ibrahim Tanko (Ghana).
Borussia Dortmund 1997, Samuel Kuffour (Ghana) Bayern Munich 2001, Benni McCarthy (South Africa) FC Porto 2004, Djimi Traore (Mali)
Liverpool 2005, Yaya Toure (Cote dIvoire)
Barcelona 2009 & 2011, Seydou Keita (Mali) Barcelona 2009 & 2011, Sully Muntari (Ghana)
Inter Milan 2010 and McDonald Mariga (Kenya) 2010.
John Mikel Obi (Nigeria), Michael Essien (Ghana), Salomon Kalou (Cote dIvoire), Didier Drogba (Cote dIvoire) who won him with Chelsea in 2012 and Achraf Hakimi (Morocco), with Real Madrid 2018 completed the list of Africans who have won the UEFA Champions League.
To close to home, the last time Nigeria won the trophy was in 2012 when Mikel Obi was among AFricans who lifted the trophy with Chelsea at the expense of Bayern Munich.
After that achievement by the former captain of Super Eagles, Nigeria saw other talented players rise, such as Ahmed Musa, Wilfred Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho, Alex Iwobi, William Troost-Ekong, Leon Balogun, Ola Aina, Isaac Success, Chigozie Awaziem, Tyrone Ebuehi, Moses Simon and lately Victor Osimhen.
But none of them have been feature in the final of the biggest club competitions in Europe.
The reason is not clear.
The competition was dominated by the top five clubs in Europe Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Manchester United and Liverpool.
Unfortunately, Nigerian players have failed to enter highly rated clubs in Europe.
It is hopes of Nigerias football stakeholders that very soon the new generation of players will break the barrier and begin to play in clubs with potential to win the UEFA Champions League.
If this fails, then the football fans in Nigeria will continue to live with the agony of watching finakls of the UEFA Champions League are coming and going, without the presence of any Nigerian player.
While Nigerians are waiting for the next Super Eagle player who will rise to the top of the European clubs competition the way Find George, Nwankwo Kanu did it with Ajax in 1995 and Mikel Obi in 2012, there are few hours left for the 2021 all English clubs final.
At the end, there will be victory for the Manchester club who is hunting for their first title against the Londoners who are prime in the second itle and the most watched football league in the world, Premiership will be ultimate winner.
Eyimba forced FC IfeanyiUbah to 2-2 draw in the Oriental derby.
Enyimba FC is coming from behind to secure a 2- draw deserved for the week 14 fixture which was rescheduled against the orientals brothers FC IfeanyiUbah at the Aba international stadium.
The oriental derby witnessed that Eyimba made three changes to the team who lost at Rivers United on Sunday.
Sadiq Abubakar was a return after weeks of laying off while Anthony Omaka and Victor Mbaoma again entered the starting line up.
The first 28 minutes of the game saw both sides try to hit first but the visiting side dragged first blood through Saidu Adamu who poked him home from close range after Uche Onuha was headed Evans Ogbonda cross to meet him.
With the away side full control of the game, they are more confident and that left the hosts to scramble to get back into the game as the first end in 1-0 in favour of the visitors.
On the restart of the second half, IfeanyiUbah continued to press on the second goal and got the reward deserved when Saidu Adamu got his brace after having Awazie square passed over the line in the 61st minute.
With the second goal sting them to life, Eyimba started throwing everythimg for their Arsenal to get back into the game.
In the 78th minute, presence paid off as Reuben Bala reduced the deficit in Eyimba in a lucky fashion.
His initial header was kept out by Sharp Uzoigwe but the ball rolled back to him and over the line.
The goal is to give eyimba some hope as they continue to press in a plunty name to secure a point at least.
And they got this in the 90th minute through Imot Obot.
Following this result, Eyimba has moved up to 5th position with 31 points from 17 games with two more outstanding matches.
Meanwhile, FC IfeanyiUbah is still in relegation zone with 17 points in 19 games.
Farmers are apprehensive as planting season begins with erratic rains.
With the beginning of the wet season in most part of the season, farmers started palnting with fear as rain was erratic and could threaten production.
Rain is unsatble in Benue, Nasarawa, Niger, Kaduna and parts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and many farmers have grown crops.
During the 2019/2020 wet season, erratic rainfall in the north and mid-season draught in the south-west made farmers losing money due to crop failure.
Musa Yohana and Halima Thomas, farmers in Doma and Lafia, Nasarawa State, said they had planted maize, groundnut and other crops like casava and yam but feared that they could have another horrible experience like last season when they were forced to plant maize and groundnut twice.
I lost my yam last year due to excessive heat because rainfall did not fall well.
This year, we have been in the second week of May but rain is yet to fall well.
And I have already planted 15 measures (about 20kg) of groundnut.
If it continues like this for another one week, I can lose all the seeds, said Mr Yohana.
Like them, many farmers around the FCT have also grown, but they had a tremendous fear of crop failure as experienced last year.
In Benue State, in Benue State, our correspondent reprouted that farmers had started cultivating land and planting crops on complaining that rainfall did not fall.
Some farmers who had prepared the fields earlier in the tear said they could not begin to plant until a week ago, while others just started to clear land at the wake of the rainfall three times withing two weeks later.
A farmer in Otukpo, Ada hyacinth, said the ground is still too strong to cultivate because the rainfall is not frequent.
Another farmer, Felix Tor, in Makurdi, said he just planted melon and maize on the farm despite clear rainfall.
However, tor expressed fear that the nature of the rainfall could affect the wellbeing of the crop.
He prayed that the yield should be done better at the end.
But Vitalis Tarnongu, we have been cleaning his 1,000 hectares of farmland for the federal Unversity of Agriculture, in Makurdi (FUAM), said as the rainfall this year will lead to the commencement of maize planting towards the end of May.
Tarnongu said a plant breeder in the university advised him to wait until May 20 to commence planting his maize because the nature of the rainfall since the season suggested that it is possible not rainfall for two weeks.
The sate chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Aondongu Saaku, described farming as a business worth taking risks on.
Saaku said that farmers who saw it as took the risk to multiply their crops already because without such a risk they would not reap at the end of the day.
Meanwhile, Dr Teryima Iorlamen, a seed system specialist in FUAm, said farmers could go ahead of planting roots and tuber crops following the prediction of rainfall made by NIMET this year.
Iorlamen said the period expected for farmers to wait had passed, stressing that the prediction of NIMET on rainfall pattern in Benue State, with which (experts) working, indicated that rain would stabilise in the state between April 18 and April 30, 2021.
Farmers can be assured that rain stabilises, according to NIMET's prediction.
Anythimg different for now will be a dry spell.
I have advised farmers to check water logging capacity in their fields in order to plant crops according to them.
Rice like plenty of water, so it is not enough to plant.
But farmers can enter roots and tuber now, including yam, cassava, maize and melon.
We believe the rain has stabilised.
Senate mourns late Army Chief, Ahmed Gulak
The Senate, on Tueday, held a minute silence to honour the demise of former presidential aide, Ahmed Gulak, who was killed with strong eye on Sunday in Owerri, Imo state capital.
This followed a motion of Deputy Senate President and Chairman of the Senate on Senate Constitution Review Committee, Ovie Omo-Agege, on the floor of the Red Chamber.
Omo-Agege was drawing attention of his colleagues to the killing of Gulak, whom the lawmakers hired to assist his committee on the amendment of the Nigerian people in the constitution.
Gulak served as a consultant to the committee and entered into Owerri for the public hearing on the review of the 199 constitutions.
Although the programme had ended on Thursday, Gulak stayed behind and left on Sunday.
He was killed on his way to Abuja at the airport in Owerri.
Omo-Agege described Gulak as a Nigerian who is not doing anything tribal, giving his best to the service of the country.
Also, on Tuesday, the Senate urged a federal government to immortalise the late Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru.
The red chamber also observed a minute silence to honour Lt. Gen. Attahiru, who died in a plane crash near Kaduna International Airport.
This followed a point of order by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Senator Ali Ndume.
NIN/profile code: NANS raise voice concerning disenfranchisement of students by JAMB
The Kaduna State Chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) on Tuesday said thousands of candidates would not take part in the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) this year.
Examination of hitches for NIN/Profile code.
NANS Chairman in the stste, Axiz Huziafa Bello, in a statement issued yesterday in Kaduna was disagree with the JAMB.
Bello is a call for extension of the electronic registration instead of rising the lives of students to travel to the headquarters of JAMB in their states for manual registration.
He noted that the news bulletin released on Monday with the title Issues surrounding the 2021 UTME registration: Option available for genuine candidates who made attempts but could not register, showing that the management failed to show compassion face in the hardship and agony faced by the candidates.
He appealed to prominent Nigerians to prevail on the management of JAMB to stop making difficulty for students in Nigeria as they are trying to get higher education and develop themselves.
He urged the examination body to extend the registration period and postpone the exam to do justice and fairness.