Banks receiving old N500, N1,000 notes again (Vanguard)
Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) have started receiving old N500 and N1, 000 notes.
There was confusion, two weeks ago, on the fate of members of the public who had the affected notes in their possession.
While announcing the extension of the deadline for the circulation of the old notes from January 31 to February 10, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it would continue to receive the old notes between February 10 and 17, after they had ceased to be legal tender. Read more
Auto crash claims father, teenage daughter on Okada in Kwara (Tribune)
An auto crash on Thursday claimed lives of a father and his teenage daughter along Jimba Oja, Idofian in the Ifelodun local government area of Kwara state.
The deceased, who were yet to be identified, were riding on a wine colour Bajaj motorcycle, MUN957QA, also known as okada, and were rammed into by a lemon green Toyota Camry car with registration number LEM568TK, which was on a high speed.
It was gathered that the incident led to protest by residents of the community as they expressed their grievance over frequent accidents and high fatality rate in the area recently. Read more
Kanayo. O. Kanayo suspends birthday celebration over election results (DailyTrust)
Veteran Nollywood actor, Kanayo. O. Kanayo, has decided to suspend his birthday celebration due to the results of the recently concluded Presidential and National Assembly election result.
In a video posted on his verified Instagram account, the ace thespian noted that there was no need to celebrate as ‘the hearts of Nigerians are bleeding.’
He said in part, “My dear friends, today is my birthday but don’t celebrate, don’t celebrate. There is no cause for celebration when the hearts of Nigerians are bleeding. On this occasion, it is not safe to say that we are happy because it is not what we expected. I am coming on this broadcast because I told everyone that our vote will count. Read more
Chrisland: Autopsy confirms my daughter died of electrocution, says Whitney’s mother (Independent)
Blessing Adeniran, the mother of 12-year-old Whitney Adeniran of Chrisland High School, Ikeja, Lagos State, who died during the school’s inter-house sports held at the Agege Stadium has said her daughter suffered electrocution.
Recall that Whitney’s father, Dr. Michael Adeniran, had made the same claim shortly after the death, but the school denied it.
In an Instagram video, mother of the deceased girl said the autopsy report from the February 9, 2023 incident at the Agege Stadium in Lagos State had confirmed the position of the family. Read more
Residents cry for help as miscreants terrorise Lagos community (Punch)
Landlords and residents of Agbotikuyo, Oke Koto and Fashola in the Agege area of Lagos have cried out over the activities of some street urchins known as ‘Awawa Boys.’
PUNCH Metro gathered that the miscreants usually operate in the morning and at night, attacking passersby and residents unchallenged.
After PUNCH Metro reported the nefarious activities of the miscreants in November 2022, the Lagos State Police Command took action by going after the hoodlums. Read more
Buhari greets General Overseer, RCCG, Pastor Adeboye at 81 (Channels)
President Muhammadu Buhari joins leaders and members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in celebrating the General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, on his 81st birthday, rejoicing with the religious leader, who left his academic career to fully commit to serving the Lord.
The President equally felicitates with family, friends and other church leaders within and outside the country, thankful for Adeboye’s positive influence on people and institutions, with a focus on expanding the kingdom of God on earth.
Recalling the visits and prayers, especially when he was ill and recuperating, President Buhari remains grateful for the friendliness and wise counsels of the General Overseer over many years. Read more
Wizkid postpones ‘‘More Love, Less Ego’’ tour (Leadership)
Nigerian music star, Wizkid, has announced the postponement of his much-anticipated ‘‘More Love, Less Ego’’ (MLLE) tour.
The tour was initially scheduled to run from March 3 to April 7 with a stop at 20 cities in the United States and Canada.
Wizkid made the announcement on Thursday via a post he shared on his social media handles. Read more
Police sergeant kills mistress, self in Kwara (Nation)
Anti-riot police sergeant in uniform on Thursday morning shot dead his suspected woman friend in a school premises in Ilorin, Kwara State capital.
The policeman thereafter shot himself dead.
The unfortunate incident occurred around 8:00 am.
The gory incident happened at the premises of the Chapel of Redemption, UMCA, Agba Dam Housing Estate, Gaa Akanbi, Ilorin, where Redemption Model Nursery and Primary School is located. Read more
SZA honoured with Billboard Woman of the Year Award (UPI)
SZA has been selling out shows on her current tour — including Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. But she took a moment on her off day from the tour to accept the Billboard Woman of the Year Award.
As her album SOS continues its 10th week at No.1 on the Billboard 200 chart, SZA, 33, born Solána Amani Rowe, said she was humbled by the honour.
“I really just want my life to be more than music,” she said, “to be more than an artist. I want to serve others, I want to serve people, I want to be open and available for whatever God wants for me, and saying yes to everything that’s scary, to everything that feels like it’s not for you or where you don’t belong, is really the only way where we walk through those doors.” Read more
Queen Consort reflects on importance of reading in childhood for World Book Day (Independent)
The Queen Consort has spoken about the importance of reading at an early age to help children understand “different places, different cultures, different ways of life”.
To mark World Book Day on Thursday, Camilla sat down with Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho to discuss their shared love of books and reveal their favourite tales as a child.
She also reflected on how reading to her grandchildren has been a “wonderful” bonding experience which has helped them to become bookworms. Read more
Chris Pine finally addresses Harry Styles spitgate (Standard)
Chris Pine has finally addressed the viral video that appeared to show Harry Styles spitting on him at the premiere of their film, Don’t Worry, Darling, at Venice Film Festival last year.
In the clip, affectionately branded “spitgate”, fans speculated whether the Grammy winner spat on Pines’ lap as the singer, 29, took his seat beside him.
At the time, both stars dismissed the speculation via their representatives, categorically denying that any such exchange had occurred. Read more
Will Smith makes 1st awards speech since Oscars incident (Deadline)
Will Smith made his first in-person speech tonight at an awards ceremony since the 2022 Oscars incident with Chris Rock.
Smith accepted the Beacon Award at the African American Film Critics Association Awards. His Emancipation co-star Charmaine Bingwa and AAFCA cofounder Gil L. Robertson introduced Smith and Antoine Fuqua, the film’s director.
After a brief speech by Fuqua, Smith took the stage. Read more
Ryan Gosling looks worse for wear shooting action-packed boat scenes for thriller “The Fall Guy” (Metro)
Ryan Gosling has turned a quiet Australian suburb into an explosive action set while filming for his upcoming movie “The Fall Guy”.
The Golden Globe-winning actor, 42, was spotted aboard a boat in the harbourside town of Rushcutters Bay filming a battle scene while appearing battered.
The actor could be seen sporting cuts and bruises while shooting scenes in which the boat was chased and fired at. Read more
Amy Grant to release 1st new music in a decade later this month (MusicNews)
Amy Grant is set to release her first new music in a decade.
The 62-year-old singer, who was hospitalised last summer after falling off her bike, has announced a pair of tracks are on the way.
”Trees We’ll Never See” is the first song and will be released on March 24.
Amy had to wait until she recovered from her injuries to return to the studio. Read more
Putin accuses Ukraine of border ”terrorist act” in Russian village (BBC)
Russian President Vladimir Putin says a Ukrainian sabotage group entered a Russian border region on Thursday and opened fire on civilians in a “terrorist act”.
Earlier the governor of Bryansk region said “saboteurs from Ukraine” had fired at a civilian car in Lyubechane, a border village, killing one person and injuring a child.
Kyiv strongly denied the Russian claim.
The alleged incident has not been independently verified. Read more
Flying Eagles win Fair Play award (Sun)
Nigeria’s Flying Eagles have won the Group Stage Fair Play at the 2023 AFCON U-20 in Egypt, SportingSun reports.
The Technical Study Group of the tournament named the Flying Eagles who have shown professionalism, dedication, passion and discipline in the group stage of the 23rd edition of the biennial tournament.
Even though they lost their opening match to Senegal Group A the tournament record holders of seven titles were seen congratulating their opponents and showing high sense of sportsmanship. Read more
Cyclist, Abaka qualifies for Paris 2024 Olympics (Guardian)
Nigeria’s male cyclist, Kurotimi Abaka, has qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games by winning a gold medal at the Class B Tendam elite men’s category at the 19th African Road Cycling Championship in Ghana.
Excited by his feat, Abaka has called on the Nigeria Cycling Federation (NCF) to work towards improving the standard of the sport in the country. Abaka said Nigerian cyclists, over the years, are confronted with challenges of getting standard bicycles, regular competitions and good welfare packages, which are important for their development in the sport.
“Nigerian cyclists would appreciate the federation if it gives more attention to development of the sport. Nigeria has talented cyclists, who, with adequate support, can be worthy ambassadors at international tournaments,” he said. Read more
Commisso taunts Juventus over Vlahovic price tag (FootballItalia)
Fiorentina President Rocco Commisso believes Dusan Vlahovic’s transfer was a better deal for Fiorentina than Juventus: ‘Arthur Cabral and Luka Jovic have scored more goals.’
The Viola chief explained why he was so satisfied with the deal after giving a talk as part of the Faculty of Economics ‘History of entrepreneurial excellence’ lecture in Florence on Thursday.
“We paid Cabral and Jovic €15m combined and they have already scored 20 goals in the three competitions we play in. Vlahovic on the other hand has scored 10 goals in Turin, two of which were penalties,” Commisso proclaimed. Read more
Jose Mourinho accused of ”unsportsmanlike behaviour” at Roma Under-14 game (Mirror)
Jose Mourinho has been accused of unsporting behaviour by the coach of Lazio’s Under-14 team after the Roma boss allegedly booed one of his players.
Mourinho is claimed to have booed Lazio teenager Alexandru Milou while he was taking a penalty and is alleged to have encouraged his Roma players to waste time during the match, in order to upset their opponents.
The latest episode of drama comes in the same week Mourinho was sent off for the third time this season during the professional team’s shock defeat by Cremonese, which was their first Serie A win of the campaign. Read more
Suns win in Durant debut, Tatum powers Celtics (RFI)
Kevin Durant shook off pre-game jitters to score 23 points in his Phoenix Suns debut, helping his new team to a 105-91 victory in Charlotte that halted the Hornets’ five-game NBA winning streak.
Durant was acquired from Brooklyn in a blockbuster trade three weeks ago but was sidelined until Wednesday with a sprained knee ligament.
As Durant announced his arrival in the Western Conference, back in the East the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics continued to jockey for dominance. Read more
Charles Leclerc has Mercedes fear as Ferrari urged to make major improvement to win title (Express)
Charles Leclerc has fears Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will provide a stern challenge in 2023 and has called on Ferrari to make changes. Despite Mercedes’ struggles in pre-season testing, Leclerc is still adamant the Silver Arrows will be one of the team’s major rivals in 2023.
Mercedes started to edge ahead of Ferrari by the end of last season, raising fears they could make a leap this time around. Speaking to F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast, Leclerc said: “I’m sure Mercedes will be in the fight.”
To combat the fears, the 25-year-old had called on his team to find improvements in strategy after last season’s woes. The Monegasque was unable to fight for the title last season after Scuderia made a series of catastrophic calls which cost them vital points. Read more