Construction: Lagos State Govt shuts section of Ketu-Mile 12 road (Guardian)
The Lagos State Government (LASG) on Wednesday shut down a section of the Ketu-Mile 12 road for 20 days for reconstruction.
This follows the completion of the third segment of the ongoing rehabilitation works along Ketu – Mile 12 corridor of Ikorodu Road.
The Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Frederic Oladeinde, made the announcement in a statement on Wednesday in Lagos.
Oladeinde said that adequate traffic diversion plans and alternative routes have been made available during the period of the construction works. Read more
#EndSARS: Sanwo-Olu’s aide Igbokwe attacks DJ Switch, deletes post (Punch)
The Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Drainage and Water Resources, Joe Igbokwe, says DJ Switch, who is rumoured to have fled to Canada, “will know no peace” until she confesses that she lied about the Lekki shootings.
Igbokwe, who is a former spokesperson for the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, said this in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
In a post which has since been deleted, Igbokwe wrote, “In Canada abi (sic) with 78 dead bodies? You will come back to meet us. Unless this lady comes out openly that she lied against Lagos State and Nigeria, she will know no peace till the end of age. Your tragic lies put the nation on fire.” Read more
2020 Budget: Lagos targets 86% performance by 4th quarter (Guardian)
The Lagos State Government says it is targeting a performance level of at least 86 per cent of the year 2020 budget at the end of the fourth quarter.
Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu said this during the presentation of the 2021 Appropriation Budget at the Lagos State House of Assembly, Ikeja.
Sanwo-Olu said that at the end of the first quarter of 2020, the overall budget performance was 56 per cent; and then 57 per cent at the end of the second quarter.
He said that the budget performance level rose to 77 per cent by the end of the third quarter. Read more
Sue CBN on Frozen Accounts, Akeredolu Tells Suspected Promoters of EndSARS Protests (Thisday)
The Ondo State Governor, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, Wednesday asked the suspected promoters of EndSARS protest, whose accounts had been frozen by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to challenge the apex bank’s action in the court.
Akeredolu, who is the Chairman of the South-west Governors’ Forum, spoke while featuring as a guest on a national television station.
The governor similarly advised those affected by the action of the federal government through the CBN, to challenge the matter in court if they feel their accounts were unlawfully frozen or same were unjustifiably breached. Read more
Reps uncover over N6bn unspent funds in EFCC (Nation)
The House of Representatives on Wednesday uncovered about N6 billion unspent funds in the coffers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), saying the commission may have gotten too many budgetary releases to the detriment of other agencies.
The Acting Chairman of the Commission, Mohammed Umar had told members of the House Committee on Financial Crimes that, out of about N32 billion budgeted for the commission for the 2020 fiscal year, about N24.99 billion was released by the government, while about N18.23 billion of the released amount has been fully utilised.
Umar however told the Committee that his Commission was not aware of the provision in the 2020 appropriation which granted them five percent of all monies collected by the Commission from recoveries for administrative purposes. Read more
IAR, AATF to enhance food security with new Tela Maize (Guardian)
Determined to improve maize production in Nigeria, the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in collaboration with African Agricultural Technology Foundation, (AATF) will soon release Tela maize, a new variety crop in Nigeria.
The new Tela Maize, first Genetically Modified Organisms GMO, fortified to resist pest and tolerate drought, is expected to be released to farmers by 2022.
With the adoption of the new technology in 2019, Nigeria now joined six African countries including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mozambique and South Africa, where the Tela maize is currently being developed to improve farmer’s production on the continent. Read more
NUC gives operational licence to 50th state varsity (Thisday)
The National Universities Commission (NUC) has granted operational licence to the Kogi State government towards establishing a specialised institution in Osara, Adabi local government area of the state.
The new varsity which has been named the the Confluence University of Science and Technology brings to 50, the number of state owned universities in the country.
Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, who disclosed this, said the university which will be deeply rooted in the promotion of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) will also have a state of the art facility in its college of medicine. Read more
US court rules against Nigeria in $10 billion P&ID case (Guardian)
A court in the United States has ruled against Nigeria’s wish to claim over $10 billion in its ongoing dispute with the Process & Industrial Developments Ltd (P&ID), a British Virgin Islands-registered company.
U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in New York granted the hedge fund’s motion, overturning a ruling from May and quashing subpoenas issued by Nigeria.
Nigeria sought the information to aid a corruption probe into P&ID, a company in which VR Capital acquired a 25% interest in 2018. Read more
Bahrain’s Prince Khalifa, world’s longest serving prime minister, dies (BBC)
The world’s longest serving prime minister, Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa of Bahrain, has died aged 84.
Prince Khalifa, who took office after Bahrain gained independence in 1971, had been receiving treatment at a hospital in the US, state media said.
He was an uncle to King Hamad and had a powerful role within the royal family.
The prince was regarded by some as a hardliner, and his removal was demanded by pro-democracy protesters during a failed Arab Spring uprising in 2011. Read more
Volunteers who took Pfizer vaccine say it felt like suffering a ‘severe hangover’ (NYPost)
Volunteers who received the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine during trials say it left them feeling like they had a “severe hangover,” according to reports.
The more than 43,500 people in six countries who took part in phase three trials by the pharmaceutical giant were never told whether they were injected with the vaccine or a placebo in the double-blind tests.
But some said they knew they had the drug because of headaches, fever and muscle aches that were compared to getting the flu shot or recovering from a heavy night out, the Sun said. Read more
Seagulls work out school break times to target kids for food (Metro)
Turns out we humans may have been underestimated seagulls all this time. The urban birds have fined-tuned their foraging schedules to match up with human activity in cities.
Scientists figured this out by strapping GPS-enabled backpacks to the birds and watching what happened. In the study by the University of Bristol, tracker backpacks were fitted to 12 lesser black-backed gulls to record their behaviour. Read more
Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers resign after China ruling (BBC)
All Hong Kong’s pro-democracy lawmakers have resigned after Beijing forced the removal of four of their colleagues.
On Wednesday Beijing passed a resolution allowing the city’s government to dismiss politicians deemed a threat to national security.
Shortly afterwards the opposition lawmakers said they would leave the city legislature in solidarity.
For the first time since Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997 the body has almost no dissenting voices. Read more
“Wild Mountain Thyme” trailer dragged for Jamie Dornan and Emily Blunt’s Irish accents (Metro)
Jamie Dornan and Emily Blunt’s Wild Mountain Thyme is one of the most talked about films on the internet today – but probably not for the reasons they were hoping. The trailer for the upcoming romcom dropped last night, and while it boasts an all-star cast including Dornan, Blunt, Christopher Walken and Jon Hamm, most of the attention is on the Irish accents. Oh, the accents. Emily Blunt’s character Rosemary and Jamie Dornan’s lovestruck farmer Anthony have laid on their west of Ireland accents extremely thick, leading to widespread mockery on social media. Read more
Christina Aguilera reportedly joins Jay-Z’s Roc Nation (PageSix)
It seems Christina Aguilera has joined Jay-Z’s Roc Nation roster.
There’s been no official announcement, but the “Beautiful” singer’s bio has appeared on the agency’s Web site. She’ll be in the coveted company of Rihanna, J. Cole, Alicia Keys and Meek Mill.
She had been managed by the legendary Irving Azoff. Read more
Several hurt in Remembrance Day ‘bomb attack’ at Saudi cemetery (BBC)
Several people have been hurt in a bomb attack at a Remembrance Day ceremony attended by foreign diplomats in the Saudi city of Jeddah, France says.
A French foreign ministry statement said an improvised explosive device blew up at a cemetery for non-Muslims, as officials from several consulates remembered the end of World War One.
It strongly condemned what it called the “cowardly, unjustifiable attack”.
There was no immediate confirmation from the Saudi authorities. Read more
Ghana FA confirm Thomas Partey injury withdrawal after Arsenal request (Metro)
Ghana’s Football Association has confirmed that Thomas Partey will not join up with the squad during the international break after suffering a thigh injury with Arsenal. The midfielder was forced off at half time in Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Sunday evening and has undergone tests to find out the extent of the injury. Partey was due to link up with his Ghana teammates ahead of their two Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Sudan during the international break. But the 27-year-old will remain with Arsenal for treatment on his injury. Read more
Eagles’ camp bubbles, players assure Nigerians of victory over Sierra Leone (Guardian)
If Sierra Leone harboured any dream of walking over Nigeria in their African Cup of Nations qualifier in Benin on Friday that hope was dashed yesterday with the presence of 80 per cent of the players invited for the game in the Edo State capital.
There were fears on Monday that the Nigerian team could be sanctioned by CAF and the game awarded to Sierra Leone if the Nigerian players failed to find their way to Benin for the game. Confederation of African Football (CAF) requires that a team must have at least 15 players on match day for the game to go on. Failure to achieve that number means the offending team will lose the game to the opponent. Read more
Bukayo Saka reveals which England player impressed him most in first training session (Metro)
Bukayo Saka admits he’s pleased to be on the same team as Jack Grealish this week and has named Aston Villa’s talisman as player who impressed him most on his first day of England training. An inspired Grealish wreaked havoc as Villa won 3-0 away to Arsenal on Sunday afternoon and it was Saka’s own-goal that broke the deadlock in the 25th minute at the Emirates. Both players will be pushing for a place in Gareth Southgate’s starting XI versus the Republic of Ireland on Thursday night and a strong performance will do them no harm ahead of England’s Nations League clashes with Belgium and Iceland.
Asked about Grealish’s qualities, Arsenal youngster Saka said: ‘He’s a top player. Read more
Kenyan stars play Fifa 21 to urge fans to stay indoors (BBC)
Kenya captain Victor Wanyama and goalkeeper Arnold Origi battled it out the Fifa 21 video game in a bid to persuade football fans to remain indoors and adhere to measures to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Measures were reintroduced last week by Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and means that fans are not allowed to attend the Harambee Stars’ Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Comoros on Wednesday.
The games between Finland-based Origi and Montreal Impact’s Wanyama were relayed on the national team’s Facebook page. Read more
Cristiano Ronaldo considering Manchester United return after talks begin (Metro)
Cristiano Ronaldo is considering a return to Manchester United after the Premier League club begun talks to re-sign their former player, according to reports. The 35-year-old is currently in his third season with Juventus after leaving Real Madrid to join the Serie A champions in the summer of 2018. Recent reports have claimed that Juventus are looking to offload Ronaldo at the end of the season, while Paris Saint-Germain have been heavily linked with a move. Read more
Dylan Groenewegen banned for nine months for causing Tour of Poland crash (BBC)
Jumbo-Visma cyclist Dylan Groenewegen has been banned for nine months for causing the crash that left Fabio Jakobsen in a coma at the Tour of Poland.
Dutch cyclist Groenewegen deviated from his line before he and Jakobsen collided near the finish line on stage one of the race on 5 August.
His ban will be backdated to the incident and will end on 7 May 2021.
Deceuninck-QuickStep rider Jakobsen later said he was “glad to be alive”. Read more