Allow recruited constables proceed on training, PSC tells Police (DailyTrust)
The Police Service Commission (PSC) has broken its silence on the ongoing row with the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) over recruitment.
Both sides have been in the news since June 4, 2024, when the PSC released the list of 10,000 successful applicants for constable and specialist cadre roles.
Six days after the list was released, President Bola Tinubu sacked Solomon Arase as PSC chairman, announcing Hashimu Argungu, a retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police, as his replacement. Read more
Hardship: Tinubu playing the ostrich – Peter Obi (NewTelegraph)
The National Leader of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi has said Nigerians are among the hungriest and poorest people in the world and advised President Bola Tinubu to stop downplaying the hardship in the country.
Obi who was reacting to Tinubu’s statement that hardship is not peculiar to Nigeria alone, said the president should accept the fact that Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world.
The former presidential candidate in a statement on his X handle on Friday, noted that “The problems facing Nigeria are well-known to all Nigerians. Read more
‘Game of Thrones’: Feuding parties claim victory in Kano Court ruling (Leadership)
The eagerly anticipated court ruling in the Kano emir stool struggle has left both parties to the dispute claiming victory.
While the Federal High Court sitting in Kano nullified the reappointment of Muhammadu Sanusi II as the 16th Emir of Kano, it, however, said the state assembly law that removed the 15th emir, Ado Bayero, was a valid one.
Justice Muhammad Liman, who gave the ruling nullifying Sanusi’s reappointment, cited the disobedience of a restraining court order by Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf for his decision. Read more
NDLEA arrests 300 suspects, seizes 190.419 kg of drugs in Akwa Ibom (Sun)
The Akwa Ibom State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested 300 suspects and seized 190.419 kg of hard drugs between July 2023 and May 2024.
The State Commander of the Agency Mrs Obot Bassey while addressing a press conference in Uyo on Friday ahead of the June 26 International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking noted that out of the 300 suspects arrested, 249 were males and 51 females while 61 offenders were convicted within the period.
The Commander explained that the Command has treated and rehabilitated 24 male drug-addicted persons, and also carried out drug abuse prevention education at 82 locations across the state. Read more
Police won’t evict deposed Emir, CP replies Kano gov (Punch)
The Kano State Police Commissioner, AIG Usaini Gumel, has given reasons why the police ignored Governor Abba Yusuf’s directive on the eviction of the deposed Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero.
Recall that Yusuf had on Thursday night, through the State Attorney General And Commissioner of Justice, Haruna Dederi, directed the CP to remove the deposed 15 Emir of Kano from the Nasarawa mini palace where he is staying.
Speaking in a telephone interview with The Punch on Friday, the police commissioner said obeying the governor’s eviction order would be tantamount to “jumping the gun”. Read more
‘Nigerian civil service need digital, media literacy for 21st century’ (ThisDay)
Former Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission(NUC), Prof. Peter Okebulola, has urged the federal government to run programmes that will equip Nigerian civil servants with skills on digital literacy, team work, media literacy, curiosity and others needed for the 21st century.
Okebukola made the prescription yesterday at the public service lecture to mark the 2024 civil service week celebration in Abuja, where he was the guest lecturer.
“These skills include problem-solving, curiosity, teamwork, perseverance, ability to work with others, that relate to teamwork and about 21 other skills. So, the idea is for the federal civil service and other services to run programmes for civil servants on problem-solving, teamwork, digital literacy, media literacy, environmental literacy, to enable them to prepare for that work. So, that is a major recommendation,” Okebukola said. Read more
Why petrol, diesel prices may not drop despite Dangote Refinery — Experts (Channels)
Experts believe that prices of petrol and diesel may not crash significantly despite the commencement of production at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
With the removal of subsidy on petrol in May 2023, the price per litre of petrol jumped from around N184 to over N600 depending on the location. Diesel also sells for about N1500 per litre at retail outlets.
They said though the behemoth refinery is located in Lagos, Nigeria, the input cost for the operationalisation of the $20bn facility is import-dependent, adding that the volatility of the foreign exchange rates might make it difficult for any marginal reduction in the prices of the premium commodities.
These were the thoughts of the Publisher of Sweet Crude Reports, Hector Igbikiowubo; and Nairametrics Founder, Ugodre Obi-Chukwu; on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television on Friday. Read more
Mbah doles out N44.1m bursaries to Enugu Law school students (Nation)
Enugu state governor, Peter Mbah, has approved bursaries totaling N44.1 million for 294 state indigenes currently enrolled across seven campuses of the Nigerian Law School nationwide.
Out of the beneficiaries from Enugu’s 17 local government areas, 284 individuals have already undergone verification and received N150,000 each.
This initiative reflects the government’s commitment to advancing human capital development in the state. Read more
Brandy returns to horror in chilling new film, ‘The Front Room’ (Vibe)
Brandy is returning to the world of horror for the first time since 1998, but in an elevated way with A24. The “Christmas Party For Two” singer stars as Belinda in the new thriller, The Front Room, alongside Kathryn Hunter and Andrew Burnap.
While pregnant with her first child, Belinda’s life becomes increasingly difficult after her father-in-law dies, forcing her husband’s mother, Solange (Hunter), to move in with them.
In the newly-released trailer, the couple was hesitant to take Solange in and were right for having said reservations. She takes over Belinda’s baby nursery and that’s just the foundation of where their tensions lie, because Solange also scolds the couple’s choice in naming their daughter, Fern. Read more
Natalie Portman reveals how she really feels about those Star Wars prequels (HuffPost)
Natalie Portman has insisted she feels “blessed” to have been part of the Star Wars franchise.
The Oscar winner appeared as Padmé Amidala in the three prequel films in what’s come to be known as the “Skywalker saga”, beginning with 1999’s The Phantom Menace and ending with 2005’s Revenge Of The Sith.
Speaking to Total Film, Natalie said she felt Star Wars is something she feels “extraordinarily lucky to have been part of”. Read more
Kenya probes deadly violence that erupted during tax hike protests (RFI)
Some 200 people were injured in the nationwide protests against government plans to raise $2.7 billion in additional taxes.
Thousands of mostly young people took to the streets of the capital Nairobi and elsewhere to pressure the government to abandon the proposals.
Police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters in Nairobi, five rights groups, including Amnesty International and the Kenya Medical Association, said in a joint statement. Read more
‘The Boys’ is still breaking Prime Video viewership records despite tumbling Rotten Tomatoes audience score (MovieWeb)
‘The Boys’ defies low audience scores with increased viewership, dominating Prime Video rankings.
Creator Eric Kripke stands by show’s strong political stance, indifferent to audience critiques.
Despite mixed audience reviews, The Boys remains a top performer with plans for spin-offs after its next season.
The Boys is defying its rapidly tumbling Rotten Tomatoes audience score with a huge increase in viewership compared to that of Season 3. Based on the tracked volumes over the first four days on release (according to The Wrap), The Boys continues to be one of Prime Video’s top performers with a 21% increase in viewership compared to the same period for the previous season.
The Boys became an instant runaway success when it debuted its first episodes back in 2019. With the series now heading towards its conclusion in Season 5, it seems that the show will be going out on a high in terms of viewership and continued support from critics. Read more
US bans Russia’s Kaspersky antivirus software (VOA)
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration on Thursday banned Russia-based cybersecurity firm Kaspersky from providing its popular antivirus products in the United States over national security concerns, the U.S. Commerce Department said.
“Kaspersky will generally no longer be able to, among other activities, sell its software within the United States or provide updates to software already in use,” the agency said in a statement.
The announcement came after a lengthy investigation found Kaspersky’s “continued operations in the United States presented a national security risk due to the Russian Government’s offensive cyber capabilities and capacity to influence or direct Kaspersky’s operations,” it said. Read more
Russell Crowe and Lulu among stars designing charity tattoos for Glastonbury (Standard)
Glastonbury performers Russell Crowe and Lulu are among a number of celebrities who have designed temporary tattoos that will be distributed at the festival this year.
The annual British festival will return to Worthy Farm in Somerset on June 26 with Dua Lipa, SZA and Coldplay set to headline the Pyramid Stage.
Several famous faces have teamed up with charity WaterAid to create the designs, that will be distributed at water bars, kiosks and toilets at Glastonbury and other festivals throughout the summer. Read more
Katie Archibald ruled out of Olympics after freak gardening accident (DailyMail)
Double Olympic champion Katie Archibald is out of the Games in Paris after breaking her leg tripping over a step in her garden.
The British cyclist, 30, was aiming to compete in the team pursuit, madison and omnium at next month’s Olympics.
However, Team GB will now be without their star female endurance rider following her freak accident in what is a major blow to their medal hopes in Paris. Read more
Boxing: Parker wants rematch with Joshua (Leadership)
Ex-WBO champion, Joseph Parker has set his eyes on a rematch with Anthony Joshua.
The New Zealander lost his WBO heavyweight belt to Joshua back in 2018, but both of them have mounted comebacks after career setbacks.
Joshua has three wins in a row after twin defeats to Oleksandr Usyk, while Parker has five consecutive victories after a 2022 defeat to Joe Joyce.
His last win came against Zhilei Zhang in March this year, and speaking to Sky Sports, he discussed his good form.
He said: “I’ve been boxing 11 to 12 years and I’ve found what works for me, the formula I’ve got, Andy Lee head trainer, George Lockhart and the work that we’ve been doing together. Read more
Nwabali escapes sack in South Africa (Sun)
South Africa Premier Soccer League club, Chippa United commenced their readiness for the 2024/2025 season on Thursday afternoon, BSNSports.com.ng reports.
The management under Chippa Mpengesi had their technical meeting and came out with a resolution that improves the team in the coming season.
One of the key decisions made by the club was the massive clearout of players from the team. Read more
Ukraine come from behind to beat Slovakia at Euro 2024 (Channels)
Roman Yaremchuk emerged from the bench to score the winning goal as Ukraine produced a stirring fightback to beat Slovakia 2-1 and kickstart their Euro 2024 campaign on Friday.
Slovakia knew victory in Duesseldorf would take them through to the knockout stage with a game to spare and they went ahead on 17 minutes thanks to Ivan Schranz, who netted the winner in the shock victory over Belgium in their opening game.
Ukraine came into this match reeling after losing 3-0 to Romania last time out but they dug deep here and equalised through Mykola Shaparenko nine minutes after half-time. Read more
NFF will treat Supersand Eagles like other national teams – Gusau (Leadership)
President of Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau on Thursday disclosed that the Federation is committed to ensuring that the Beach Soccer National Team, otherwise known as Supersand Eagles, enjoys the same attention as other National Teams when restored to international competitions.
The NFF boss pledged at the inauguration of the Federation’s Futsal and Beach Soccer Sub-Committee, at the NFF Secretariat, Abuja.
“Nigeria is a big footballing nation, and it will be inappropriate if we continue to stay out of some activities that other African countries are involved in, football-wise.” Read more
Roberto Baggio injured in armed burglary at home in Italy (Guardian)
The Italian football legend Roberto Baggio was robbed and beaten at gunpoint in his home on Thursday while watching the Italy-Spain match in the European Championship with his family.
A group of at least five armed individuals forcibly entered the villa in Altavilla Vicentina, located in northern Italy, at 10pm local time.
Media reports suggest Baggio, 57, attempted to confront the burglars and one of them struck him on the head with the butt of a gun. The former Ballon d’Or winner was then confined with his family in a room while the burglars ransacked the house, taking jewellery, watches and cash. Read more
France boss Deschamps confirms Mbappé role for Netherlands clash at Euro 2024 (RFI)
France boss Didier Deschamps confirmed that skipper Kylian Mbappé will feature in the squad for the second game in Group D at Euro 2024 against the Netherlands on Friday night despite a broken nose.
Mbappé, 25, trained with the rest of his teammates on Thursday wearing a red, white and blueface mask to cover his nose which was fractured in a collision with Austria defender Kevin Danso on Monday night during France’s opening game at the tournament.
In the immediate aftermath of the clash at the Düsseldorf Arena, it was feared Mbappé would miss the rest of the competition. But preliminary examinations at the city’s university hospital revealed the injury did not require immediate surgery. Read more