Global Naija Info

L-R: Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Senator Abiola Ajimobi and Isaac Adewole chatting Leaders of the All Progressives Congress in the South West led by the former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu were in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Thursday for a strategic meeting to reposition the region for it to occupy its rightful position in the country. Apart from the host governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo state, others governors present include Akinwumi Ambode, Lagos; Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Osun and Sen. Ibikunle Amosun, Ogun. APC leaders present at the meeting held in the Agodi Governor’s office were the former Governor of Ekiti State and Minister for Solid Minerals, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, Minister of Works, Housing and Power, Babatunde Fashola, SAN; Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole; Minister for Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Muhammed and his Finance counterpart, Mrs

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted Lagos State leave to appeal against acquittal of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha of the murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola. The Court of Appeal, Lagos Division on July 12, 2013 acquitted Al-Mustapha of the murder charge. Kudirat was a wife of the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, the late Chief Moshood Abiola. Lagos State Government accused Al-Mustapha, the Chief Security Officer of late Gen. Sani Abacha, of playing a role in her murder. Justice Walter Onnoghen held that Lagos State’s application for the leave was successful since it was not challenged. “In the circumstance, the applicant, the Lagos State Government, is granted the leave to appeal the July 12, 2013 judgment of the Court of Appeal, Lagos. “The would-be appellant is therefore given 30 days within which to file its notice of appeal. “The date for the hearing of the appeal shall be fixed upon receipt of this notice by the court,’’ he said. Earlier, Mr Joseph Daud

Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, SAN The Senate has directed Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, to return on Tuesday to give further detail on the planned closure of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. The order was given by the upper chamber on Thursday after Sirika’s appearance before the lawmakers on the issue. President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, who announced the order for the minister to re-appear at the chamber, said that more explanation on the proposed closure, which would last for six weeks, was needed. The senate also invited the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, who could not honour the first invitation, to appear before it on Tuesday. Fashola is expected to give explanation on maintenance of access roads to the Kaduna Airport, which the Ministry of Aviation plans to use as alternative airport for the period the Abuja Airport will be shut down. Also to appear before the senators same d

L-R: Deputy Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Wasiu Eshilokun, Rt. Hon. Speaker Mudashiru Obasa, Ooni of Ife, Imperial Majesty Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi (Ojaja ll), member, Sikiru Osinowo and Majority Leader, Senai Agunbiade during Ooni’s visit to the Assembly. The Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, on Thursday visited the Lagos State House of Assembly to watch the plenary sitting of the House conducted in Yoruba language. Speaker of the Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, restated the commitment of the Assembly to the promotion of Yoruba language and the culture of the Yoruba people. Obasa assured the Yoruba monarch that he and his colleagues in the Assembly will continue to work to promote the Yoruba language and culture. “We’ve started conducting our Thursday plenary sessions in Yoruba. We’ve gone ahead to organise the Yoruba Stakeholders’ Summit and we will ensure that the teaching of Yoruba language becomes compulsory in Lagos State. We will not relent and we will continue to d

President Yayah Jammeh of Gambia The Nigerian Army has raised an army battalion that would be deployed in troubled Gambia to forcefully remove President Yahya Jammeh from power if he fails to step down on January 19. The battalion, christened ECOMOG NIBATT 1, was drawn from the Army’s 19th Battalion based in Okitipupa, Ondo State, military insiders have told PREMIUM TIMES. Personnel were also drawn from other formations and units across the country due to shortage of men at 19 Battalion which has a significant chunk of its troops deployed for internal security task force, Operation Delta Safe. It was learnt that the Army Headquarters instructed the nominated officers and men, put at over 800, to immediately report at the Nigerian Army School of Infantry, Jaji, for a crashed course on counter terrorism and counter insurgency. Sources said Army Headquarters has also instructed the Army directorates of policy and plans; finance; and logistics to ready funds, arms, ammunition and oth

Taylor Former England manager Graham Taylor has died at the age of 72. As a club manager, he led Watford from the Fourth Division to runners-up in the old First Division in five years and to the final of the 1984 FA Cup. He guided Aston Villa to second in the First Division, returning to Watford and Villa after his England stint. He was appointed England boss in 1990 but resigned in 1993 after the team’s failure to qualify for the 1994 World Cup in the United States. Following his spell with England, Taylor returned to club management and also became a renowned pundit for BBC Sport. A family statement said: “With the greatest sadness, we have to announce that Graham passed away at his home early this morning of a suspected heart attack. “The family are devastated by this sudden and totally unexpected loss.” Taylor started out as a player and, after coming through the youth ranks with Scunthorpe, was a defender at Grimsby and Lincoln City. He became manager at Lincoln in 1972

Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora President Muhammadu Buhari resubmitted names of non-career ambassadorial nominees to the Senate on Thursday, two months after the legislature rejected his first list. Senator Olorunmimbe Mamora and George Oguntade, a retired Supreme Court Judge, are two of the well-known figures dropped by Buhari. Also, Adegboyega Ogunwusi, an elder brother of the Ooni of Ife, Enitan Ogunwusi, was also dropped. It was learnt that the governors and ministers on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had last year complained that the earlier nominees were drawn from their respective states without consultations with them. After Senate President Bukola Saraki read the new nominees on Thursday, Abuja Senator, Phillip Aduda thanked Buhari for nominating an indigene of Abuja this time. Dr Eniola Ajayi, a former Commissioner for Education, as well as Environment, under Dr. Kayode Fayemi, and House of Reps Candidate (APC 2015), also made the list. He replaced Mr.

Adetola Salau Scientific history has a lot of eureka moments—from Archimedes’ bath to Newton’s apple—but the scientific process entails a lot of false starts that are vital to the advancement of science. Newton was wrong about two little things—time and space. Yet we would never consider Newton a failure. His flawed model led to Einstein’s incredible breakthroughs. Regular folks have a glorified view of the pursuit of scientific research. They believe that science is organised and structured by rules when facts are gathered for research; this is far from the truth. Science is often eccentric, filled with twists, undertaken in uncharted territories, with lots of wrong turns, bogus findings, and the intermittent remarkable success. Contrary to popular belief, this is a good thing! Scientific research is based upon trial and error; with this, there is no guarantee of success, as it inexorably leads to a hefty dose of failure. In fact, scientists all through history have used failure

Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai The Nigerian Army and popular online medium, Premium Times, are currently engaged in a war of words over reports published by the latter on the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai and operations of the army in the Northeast. Both have threatened to drag each other to court if the needful was not done. In a letter sent to Premium Times on 9th January and signed by I.M. Alkali on behalf of the Chief of Army Staff, the Army accused the medium of false, libelous and unauthorised reports on Buratai and the military operations against Boko Haram in the Northeast. Part of the letter read: ”The Nigerian Army has observed with dismay the unwarranted serial provocative, unauthorised, libelous and defamatory publications against the person of Lieutenant General T.Y Buratai, the Chief of Army Staff, Nigerian Army and Nigerian Army counter insurgency operations in the North East by your online newspaper, The Premium Times. The lates

Preety Mike with the leashed girls 30-year-old club owner, Mike Eze-Nwalie Nwogu popularly known as ‘Pretty Mike’, has been arrested for dehumanizing young girls by turning them into human puppies with chains round their necks. He was arrested on Wednesday by the police on the orders of the Lagos State Government. Nwogu was said to be cooperating with investigation and had given useful statement to the police and was released after signing an undertaking to desist from the act The undertaking read in part: “I, Mike Eze Nwalie, A.K.A Pretty Mike of 21A Magodo GRA, Luma Street, do hereby undertake to stop whatever act of putting girls on a leash or any other degrading treatment to ladies and guys. I am aware that such act offends the law of the State of Lagos and if I repeat it again, there will be legal act towards me. I undertake to issue a letter of apology to the public effective from tomorrow on all my social media platforms.” leashed girls Speaking on the matter, the Sta

Chinaecherem Ukomadu, the victim. Mr Emeka Ugwuonye, a legal practitioner, took to Facebook to reveal how a little boy, Chinaecherem Ukomadu was brutally beaten by his mentally challenged father in Imo state after the boy returned home at night from playing with his friends. According to Emeka, he said he got wind of the information through a mail sent to him by a woman who was concerned about the case. Read the woman’s mail below: “I am presently in my husband’s village, in Imo State. This morning I woke up to some noise at the gate, I went out, my husband and mother-in-law were outside. My mother-in-law was holding a little boy called Chinaecherem Ukomadu of between 5 to 7 years of age. “She called me to come closer and look at what the boy’s father did to him. According to people in the village, the boy’s father is mentally unstable and the sister chased his wife away and collected the boy from her when the boy was just 4 months old. “She later came and dumped the boy some t

Monkey and Deer mating A male Japanese macaque monkey has been observed attempting to mate with two female sika deer in a rare case of inter-species mating behaviour. Footage, captured by scientists on Japan’s Yakushima Island, was also written about in an article published in the journal Primates. The article says the monkey clearly showed “sexual behaviour towards several female deer.” While the scientists could not pinpoint the exact reason for the monkey’s behaviour, they say the most realistic reason is “mate deprivation, which states that males with limited access to females are more likely to display this behaviour.” The scientists say it is only the second recorded example of sexual relations between two distantly related species. The only previous reported case was that of an Antarctic fur seal observed sexually harassing king penguins – and in one instance, eating a bird after having sex with it, Irish Times reports. Japanese macaques living on Yakushima are a distin

Kano State Hisbah Board The Kano State Hisbah Board has arrested 8,482 beggars for allegedly violating the law banning street begging along the major streets of the state capital in 2016, an official said on Thursday. Malam Musa Tsangaya, the officer in charge of the Anti-begging Unit of the board in Kano, said that 1,685 of the figure were children, while 6,803 were adults. “Our men arrested 8,482 street beggars around Bata, France road, Nassarawa Hospital and Yankaba areas for violating the law banning street begging in Kano metropolis. “Out of the 8,482 beggars, 6,803 are adults (both male and female), while 1,685 are children who engaged in begging in places like traffic junctions and restaurants,” Tsangaya said. He stated that 3,263 of the arrested beggars hailed from Kano city, while 5,200 are from Bichi, Rano, Gezawa and Minjibir local government areas of the state. According to him, the remaining 19 are from neighbouring Cameroon and Niger republics, among others. Tsan

Pastor Enoch Adeboye Septuagenarian General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church (RCCG) of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye’s recent retirement announcement was top on Google search this week. Mr Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Google’s Communications and Public Affairs Manager for Anglophone West Africa, made the disclosure in Lagos on Thursday. He said the search was from Jan. 4 to Jan. 11. The spokesman said that with the brand new year came some brand new surprises. “Among the surprises were the retirement of Pastor Adeboye as the General Overseer of the RCCG and the spectacle of Pretty Mike, parading girls in chains at a wedding party and some others, including the first death in Nollywood. “Adeboye recently announced his retirement as the general overseer, with his former Special Assistant on Finance, Pastor Joseph Obayemi as his successor. “It is believed his stepping down is the result of the controversial corporate governance code of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria. “T

Omoyele Sowore, Sahara Reporters publisher A lawyer and rights activist, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa on Thursday described the arrest of Mr Omoyele Sowore, Publisher of Sahara Reporters, as uncivilised. Adegboruwa, who made the condemnation in a press statement in Lagos, called for strict adherence to the rule of law. The Lagos State Police Command had arrested Sowore on Wednesday over an alleged threat to the life of Mr Lekan Fatodu, Publisher of Checkout International Magazine. Sowore was arrested at his residence in Lagos and moved to Area ‘F’ Command, Ikeja after Fatodu lodged a complaint to the police. In the statement, Adegboruwa urged respect for the constitutional provisions on fundamental human rights. “Injustice and unchecked arrest will bare its wicked fangs, even against those previously considered to be its progressive allies, especially in the media. “The police are, thus, urged to stay away from civil disputes between citizens and allow the regular courts the opportunit

Donald Trump Donald Trump says the top US spy called him to “denounce” allegations that Russian intelligence have compromising information about the president-elect. Mr Trump tweeted that the unverified claims were “false and fictitious”. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper did not go so far in a public statement on Wednesday evening as to reject the claims outright. He said US intelligence “has not made any judgment that the information in this document is reliable”. -BBC

Philippines President, Rodrigo Duterte Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered government agencies to provide free contraceptives and other reproductive health services to 6 million women, despite a temporary ban by the Supreme Court. The Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country with a population of more than 100 million, and the move will likely draw strong opposition from the Catholic Church. But in his executive order signed Monday, Duterte stressed the need for the government to implement reproductive health and family planning programmes as part of efforts to reduce poverty. “This order aims to intensify and accelerate the implementation of critical actions necessary to attain and sustain `zero unmet need for modern family planning’ for all poor households by 2018, and all of Filipinos thereafter,’’ the order said. At least 6 million women, including 2 million poor women, “have an unmet need’’ for modern contraception, the order said. The UN Population Fund

Adamu Adamu, Minister of Education The Nigerian education system has churned out skills and competences for many years without any significant change in development profile… It is time to rethink how skills and competences can become the basis of producing worthwhile citizens with the intrinsic patriotic desire to serve the nation. And this requires giving the adequate attention to the education sector and its capacity to drive change in Nigeria. As a retired public servant, I have the good fortune of looking back to a few significant moments in my public life which I consider as cumulative experiences in my reform evolution. From the commencement of my public life till retirement, I came to see public life, especially for a reformer, as series of policy and implementation battles in which one wins some and loses some. One of those reform moments came between 1999 and 2002 when, as head of the Policy Division in the Federal Ministry of Education, I led a technical strategy team that

Sowore The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL (formerly Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders) has condemned the arrest of Omoyele Sowore, Publisher of SaharaReporters on Wednesday by the Police, saying the arrest was a reminiscent of the dark days of Military rule in the country. The Executive Chairman of CACOL, Mr. Debo Adeniran described the role and attitude of the Police as inappropriate and unacceptable. “This development is reminiscent of the dark days of the Military rule when journalists were hounded, intimidated, tortured, harassed, detained and assassinated on regular basis. It is unfortunate that the Police are still living in that age and time, when arbitrary arrests and detentions were the order of the day. And this is in spite of our country being in a democracy.” “Let us assume without conceding that Sowore is guilty of the trumped-up charges of defamation, blackmail and threat to life; and if the Police had a petition on the matter, we should ask th

As part of its efforts to curtail criminality and social vices, the Borno government has announced the ban on the sale of alcohol and prostitution in the state. The Commissioner of Justice, Alhaji Kakashehu Lawan, made the announcement while briefing newsmen on Thursday in Maiduguri. He said that mobile courts would be set up to try violators of the new law. “The sale of alcohol is hereby banned throughout the state with effect from Jan. 20. “All brothels and other spots where prostitution, immoral activities, sale and consumption of illicit drugs take place are hereby banned with immediate effect,” he said. The commissioner, however, explained that military and paramilitary formations across the state are exempted from the ban. “Military and paramilitary formations (Mammy Markets are exempted as provided by the liquor business (prohibition) law 2000. “Those engaged in the activities above particularly in Galadima, Gamboru, Moduganari, Wulari, Hot Bite, Baga Road, Mairi, London

Simon Lalong, Plateau State Governor The Local Governments in Plateau, have begun the payment of arrears of leave and transport allowances to workers. Mr Reuben Sarki, the Assistant Secretary, National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), the state chapter, confirmed the payment to NAN in an interview on Thursday in Jos. Sarki said that the payment had brought relief to the council workers, who had received theirs and even others still awaiting payment “So many people come to the office now very happy and ready to carry out their duties, indeed a labourer is worthy of his wages,” he said. He recalled that the 17 council areas had stopped payment of such allowances since 2014. The NULGE official said that some of the councils had also undertaken the renovation of offices to give their workers a conducive environment to work. He appealed to the council chiefs to promptly pay staff salaries as at when due and also organise regular training programmes and workshops for wor

Mr. Jim Obazee The Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ilorin Chapter, Prof. Timothy Popoola has applauded the sack of the Executive Secretary of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), Jim Obazee by the Federal Government. Popoola, in a statement on Thursday, said the dissolution of the board and the sack of its scribe was commendable as “the church is not a company where the leader could just be replaced.” “The church is not where you can just put somebody because he is capable. It is a ministry where God appoints people. “Nobody can put anyone there or assume position himself without God’s backing. “So you cannot say someone placed by God to preside over a church should spend a specific term and leave. “Also, for a spiritual position, when leaving, nobody can name his replacement; the person will fail if it is not God. “So, I applaud President Buhari for recognising this and his action will bring peace into the mind of many agitated leaders of the church,” he s

The Kaduna Polytechnic Chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has threatened to continue with its ongoing strike until the five months allowances owed its members are fully paid. ASUP Chairman, Dr Aliyu Ibrahim, on Thursday in Kaduna said that three, out of the five months entitlements, had been paid by the institution’s management. The union had, on Dec. 31, 2016, embarked on an indefinite strike over the non-payment of five months peculiar academic and hazard allowance arrears by the institution’s management. “This was after the Federal Government had released the sum of N173. 9 million to the management in March, and another N86.9 million in May 2016, yet, the management refused to pay us. “So far, the management had paid three out of the five months arrears last week, but we insist we will not return to the class until the remaining two months are paid,” Ibrahim said. The union said the management of the polytechnic was misappropriating funds meant for var

Sterling Bank Plc on Thursday said it was collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Health to revitalise the Primary Healthcare Centres (PHC) in the country. The bank Managing Director, Mr Yemi Adeola, made this known in an interview in Abuja. Adeola said that the partnership would help to deliver quality healthcare services to Nigerians. He said, “Sterling Bank International is playing a financial and logistic role in ensuring sustainability in the revitalisation of primary healthcare centres in the country. “We have started playing financial roles and the collaboration is a source of business opportunity for the organisation such as financing those who want to bring in equipment for the healthcare centres.’’ According to him, the health of a nation is determined by the citizenry, and health is very important, but lots of people cannot afford its cost. Adeola said that a national programme on health like the revitalization of primary health care centres was needed to actualise

NSCDC Operatives The Bayelsa Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) on Thursday honoured five of its officers who performed their duties creditably in 2016. Speaking at the ceremony at the headquarters of the Command in Yenagoa, the State Commandant, Mr Desmond Agu, said the officers were recognised for their resilience and dedication to duty during the year under review. Those honoured are Mr George Washington, Mrs Becky Ayinka, Mr Brown Akpama, Mr Elliot Manasu and Mr Eniye Ali. The recipients of the award were presented with generators, household appliances and cash gifts. Agu attributed the success of the command in the out gone year to the loyalty, commitment and hard work of men of the command. He said that the NSCDC was one of the agencies at the forefront of protecting critical national assets. He further said that the command was able to tackle the menace of illegal bunkering, pipeline vandalism and other forms of criminal activities within it

court-of-law A 33-year-old man, Abubakar Ali, was on Thursday docked at a Kano Magistrates’ court for allegedly cutting off his wife’s ear. Ali, who resides at Tudun Yola Quarters, Kano, is standing trial on a charge of causing grievous hurt. The Prosecutor, Insp. Yusuf Sale told the court that one Hadiza Ibrahim of the same address reported the case to Rijiyar Zaki Police Division, Kano, on Jan. 5. He said that the accused on the same date, at about 12.30 a.m., had a misunderstanding with his wife. “When Ali came back home at midnight, his wife, Hadiza, asked him why he came back late. “In the process, the accused started insulting his wife and later bit her left ear, half of it was cut off,” Sale said. He said that the offence contravened Section 244 of the Penal Code. The accused pleaded guilty. The Senior Magistrate, Aminu Fagge, ordered the remand of the accused in prison and adjourned the case till Jan. 26 for summary trial.

Dr. Adejare The Lagos State Government has restated that Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report is a must for projects in the state. Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare spoke at the Stakeholders’ Engagement on Environmental Impact Assessment for Dredging and Land Reclamation Projects in Lagos State on Wednesday in Ikorodu Local Government and Eti-Osa East Local Council Development Areas. Adejare, who was represented by the Director, Environmental Management, Mr. Sherif Savage stated that Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was a decision making tool which provided decision makers the necessary information to satisfactorily assess both the environmental and social effects of a proposed project. According to him, “Environmental Impact Assessment ensures the potential Impacts of a proposed project are identified and measured and mitigation proffered before the commencement of the project.” He said that EIA was a vital part of project implementation proces

Shell logo Royal Dutch Shell workers in Gabon on Thursday began an “indefinite” strike on all operations in the Central African OPEC member, the oil workers union wrote in a letter to employees. There was no immediate response from Shell, and the cause of the strike was not immediately clear. But the union in December called for better financial packages for employees and threatened to down tools. Gabon is Africa’s fourth largest oil producer with an output of around 220,000 barrels per day dominated by international oil majors Total and Shell.