Cash circulation improves, as new bank notes dry up (Vanguard)
Though normalcy seems to be gradual in coming, currency circulation has improved in major cities across Nigeria following the third day full implementation of the Supreme Court ruling on the legal tender status of old naira banknotes.
Vanguard findings reveal that banks have started simultaneous dispensing of the old banknotes over-counters and through the Automated Teller Machines, ATMs.
Also the old banknotes are now ell accepted by most traders and services providers just as banks are now accepting them. Read more
Anger as MC Oluomo threatens Igbo voters in Lagos (DailyTrust)
Musiliu Akinsanya, Lagos State Parks Management Committee Chairman, also known as MC Oluomo, has warned Igbos in the state ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.
Addressing supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at a meeting, MC Oluomo threatened Igbos who will not vote for the party to stay at home.
“We have begged them. If they don’t want to vote for us, it is not a fight. Tell them, Mama Chukwudi, if you don’t want to vote for us, sit down at home. Sit down at home,” he said. Read more
Family panics as Uber driver goes missing in Lagos (Punch)
The family of a 34-year-old Uber driver, Thomas Aiyu, has been thrown into a panic after he went missing when he left his residence for work in Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that Aiyu, on Wednesday, left his residence at No 70 Imole Ayo Street, Command, to commence his business of conveying passengers to their various destinations in the state but never returned home to his family.
Aiyu’s elder brother, Kelly, said when efforts to locate his brother’s whereabouts proved abortive, members of the family raised the alarm, adding that a report was made at the Meiran Police Station. Read more
Sexual harassment: Kogi Poly dismisses four lecturers (Vanguard)
The Governing Council of Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja has approved the promotion of Eight Principal Lecturers to the prestigious rank of Chief Lecturers.
The Governing Council also approved dismissal of four others for acts of Gross Misconduct bordering on, sexual harassment and victimisation of female student, absconding from duties, insubordination, falsification of record, disobedience to lawful order, diversion of TETFUND training grant, among others.
The Public Relation Officer of the institution, Mrs. Uredo Omale who revealed this on Thursday in LOKOJA said the promotion and termination of appointments of the lecturer’s was taking at the 68th Regular Meeting of the Governing Council held on Wednesday, 8th March, 2023 at the Polytechnic’s Council Chamber. Read more
Buhari to Successor: Sustain my anti-corruption fight (Leadership)
President Muhammadu Buhari has called on his successor to sustain the fight against corruption, stating that the foundation laid by this administration in the war against graft be sustained by successive governments in the country, as corruption remains an existential threat to the nation.
The president spoke yesterday at state house, Abuja, while playing host to management of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, led by the chairman, Danladi Yakubu Umar.
According to a statement by presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, he described the Code of Conduct Tribunal as “an important tool in our fight against corruption over the last seven years,” adding that such frontline agencies, “which are in the trenches are relied upon to demonstrate that the government means what it says and remains committed against corruption in all its forms.” Read more
Suspected political thugs clash in Lagos, Ogun communities (Punch)
Residents and business owners were thrown into confusion on Thursday when suspected political hoodlums engaged themselves in an exchange of gunfire at Akute, in the Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that supporters of two political parties were engaging in a campaign ahead of the governorship and state House of Assembly Elections when they ran into themselves at a connecting section not far from the abandoned bridge in Akute.
The supporters engaged themselves in a shouting match and in the process, some suspected political thugs took advantage of the encounter and started shooting bullets into the air. Read more
Disrupt Saturday’s elections, face consequences – DIG warns (Vanguard)
The Nigeria Police has warned troublemakers threatening to disrupt Saturday’s Governorship and House of Assembly polls in Abia to be ready to face the full wrath of the law.
The Deputy Inspector-General of Police in Charge of the South-East, Mr John Amadi, issued the warning on Thursday in Umuahia, while addressing officers of the state command at the Police Officers’ Mess, Umuahia.
He said: “We have assured Nigerians and the South-East that nobody should entertain any fears.
“The police are there to protect the system. Read more
NUC restores college of medicine at Abia varsity (Guardian)
The Registrar of Abia State University Uturu (ABSU), Dr. Acho Elendu, has announced that the National Universities Commission (NUC), has granted the university full accreditation status for six programmes, and restored its Medicine and Surgery programme, whose accreditation was declined in 2021.
The registrar made this known, yesterday, in a statement titled, ‘ABSU Recovers Medicine and Surgery Programme, Scores 100 Per cent at the 2022 NUC Accreditation Exercise.’
He stated that in conveying the result of seven programmes presented by the university at the November/December, 2022, accreditation exercise to the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Onyemachi Ogbulu, the NUC announced full accreditation for Medicine and Surgery, Nursing Science, Optometry, Biochemistry, French, Sociology and Business Education. Read more
Ciara claps back at “selective outrage” over see-through Oscars gown (AllHipHop)
Ciara stole the show with her sheer gown at Sunday’s Vanity Fair Oscars After-Party, but some fans were highly unimpressed.
Ciara has addressed the controversy surrounding her red-carpet outfit after she was criticized for wearing a barely-there sheer gown on Sunday at a star-studded Vanity Fair Oscars After-Party.
The “Level Up” hitmaker turned heads as she arrived at the bash alongside her husband of seven years, Russell Wilson.
However, while the Denver Broncos quarterback was enamored by his wife’s look, some fans were not impressed. Critics claimed the near-nude look was inappropriate and left very little to the imagination. Read more
Man adopted at birth discovers he has been married to sister for 6 years (WalesOnline)
A man who was adopted at birth has discovered the woman he has been married to for the last six years, and has two children with, is his sister. The man was part of a closed adoption and has no access to record about his biological parents.
But he recently submitted testing – including DNA analysis – in a bid to see if he is a suitable donor as his wife needs a new kidney.
The testing found a DNA match so high it indicated the two are siblings, reports The Mirror.
The man said: “My wife got sick just after our son was born and now is in need of a kidney transplant. We checked with her relatives and none were a match or a viable donor. Read more
2Pac’s authorized biography coming in 2023 (HipHopDX)
2Pac’s official authorized biography has been announced, and it’s hitting shelves later this year.
The rapper’s estate announced the imminent arrival of Tupac Shakur: The Authorized Biography this week, which is written by Pac’s childhood friend, author and screenwriter Staci Robinson.
It serves as the only estate-approved book chronicling the life of the late rap legend and is set to hit shelves on October 24, 2023. Read more
Security building on fire in Russia’s Rostov-on-Don (BBC)
At least one person has been killed and two injured in a fire at a building used by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, Russian media say.
Dramatic footage on social media shows a large blaze, with smoke visible all over the city.
Rostov’s regional governor said a short circuit appeared to have caused the fire, which ignited fuel tanks.
The street where the building is located has been cordoned off. Read more
Fire that engulfed Notre Dame cathedral exposes long-hidden secret inside Paris landmark (CBS)
The fire that engulfed Notre-Dame four years ago has revealed a long-hidden secret about the Paris landmark: it was the first Gothic cathedral in which iron staples were used extensively throughout construction.
It took near destruction and a massive restoration project which is still in progress for a team of archaeologists to discover the iron reinforcements.
The construction of the famous cathedral in the heart of the French capital began in 1160 and was not completed until almost a century later. Read more
Meet the author behind this season’s buzziest debut novel (Joysauce)
Like many 20-somethings, Delia Cai went home for Thanksgiving in 2019 and bumped into a few people from high school who she hadn’t spoken to in a very long time. But rather than turn this into strictly social media fodder, Cai used this, along with the complicated relationship dynamics with her parents, to form the idea that became her debut novel, Central Places.
The book was released Jan. 31 and follows Audrey Zhou, a similarly aged Chinese American living in New York who comes home for the holidays for the first time in eight years. White fiance in tow, Audrey is confronted with her past as she runs into old classmates, including her former best friend as well as her high school crush (which you know is going to cause drama), and is forced to spend more time with her parents than she has in almost a decade.
While Cai and her protagonist have many things in common—they’re both from small towns in Illinois and are living in New York, have fraught relationships with their parents (particularly their mothers), and have folks back home they left behind—Central Places is not an autobiography disguised as a novel. Read more
Microsoft adds OpenAI technology to Word and Excel (CNBC)
Microsoft is bringing generative artificial intelligence technologies such as the popular ChatGPT chatting app to its Microsoft 365 suite of business software.
The enterprise technology giant said Thursday that the new A.I. features, dubbed Copilot, will be available in some of the company’s most popular business apps, including Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
The Copilot technology is built upon a type of artificial intelligence software known as a large language model, or LLM. Researchers have improved the capabilities of LLMs in recent years to become more capable of understanding and responding to text. Read more
Peseiro drops Okoye, invites U-20 duo for Guinea Bissau clash (Punch)
Ahead of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Guinea Bissau in March, Super Eagles coach, Jose Peseiro, has invited 23 players to execute the double-header clash against the Djurtus.
The list was released by the media team of the Nigeria Football Federation on Thursday.
The Portuguese tactician handed captain of the Nigeria U-20 side that finished third at the recently concluded Africa U-20 Cup of Nations in Egypt, Daniel Bameyi, his first Eagles call-up alongside team goalkeeper Chijioke Aniagboso while in-form Rivers United goalkeeper Victor Sochima. Read more
Arsenal’s dramatic loss to Sporting comes at a cost with Europa League dream now over (Standard)
This was most certainly not the “special night” Mikel Arteta wished for as Arsenal were dumped out of the Europa League by Sporting.
The Gunners were made to pay for it too, going all the way to penalties before losing 5-4. Gabriel Martinelli missed his and Sporting slammed all five home.
Granit Xhaka had given his side the lead in the first-half with his first goal since October, but Sporting levelled after the break through a stunning strike from Pedro Goncalves. Read more
MIkel Arteta backs Arsenal to recover from Sporting Lisbon loss against Crystal Palace (Sky)
Mikel Arteta urged his Arsenal side to focus on their 11 remaining “finals” in the Premier League, starting with their home game against Crystal Palace on Sunday, after they were knocked out of the Europa League by Sporting Lisbon.
Arsenal were beaten 5-3 on penalties at the Emirates Stadium after a sensational long-range goal from Pedro Goncalves cancelled out Granit Xhaka’s opener, levelling the tie 3-3 on aggregate in a second-leg clash in which the hosts were second best for long periods.
The manner of the defeat capped a bitterly frustrating night for Arsenal, who also lost Takehiro Tomiyasu and William Saliba to first-half injuries, with the former leaving the Emirates Stadium on crutches with what Arteta described as a “serious” issue. Read more
Marcus Rashford praised by Erik Ten Hag after surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo with 25th European goal for Manchester United (Eurosport)
Erik ten Hag praised in-form striker Marcus Rashford for never giving up as he hit his 25th European goal for Manchester United during Thursday’s 1-0 Europa League win over Real Betis.
The England international struck a stunning second-half winner from the edge of the box to seal a 5-1 aggregate victory that sent United into the quarter-finals.
The strike moved him ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo into sixth in the club’s all-time rankings for European goals. Read more
Indian Wells: Defending champions Iga Swiatek reaches semi-final (BBC)
World number one Iga Swiatek continued her pursuit of back-to-back Indian Wells titles as she cruised past Romania’s Sorana Cirstea in straight sets to reach the semi-finals.
The 21-year-old beat Cirstea, ranked 83 in the world, 6-2 6-3.
The defending champion won eight consecutive games en route to a comprehensive victory in California. Read more
Brehm aces 17th hole to grab share of PGA Valspar lead (France24)
Ryan Brehm, with missed cuts in 14 of 17 starts this season, aced the par-3 17th hole to share the lead after Thursday’s opening round of the PGA Valspar Championship.
The 36-year-old American, whose only PGA title came last March at the Puerto Rico Open, matched countryman Adam Schenk and Germany’s Stephan Jaeger on five-under par 66 at Innisbrook’s Copperhead course in Palm Harbor, Florida.
“We’ve been grinding for a little while since then to try and find some good form again,” Brehm said. “It has been showing signs of good play, so we’re just going to keep doing it.” Read more