FG suspends Adeboye’s helicopter from flying (Punch)
The Federal Government through the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has grounded a private chopper belonging to Pastor Enoch Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God at the Lagos Airport, investigations by Sunday PUNCH, has revealed.
It was learnt that the aircraft, AgustaWestland AW139 chopper, with registration number 5N-EAA, was suspended from flying over two weeks ago, following the expiration of some of its papers and spare parts.
The suspension, officials said, would also allow the regulator to conduct vital safety checks on its safety-critical components, especially some spare parts that are due for replacement.
Adeboye had, last Saturday during a special meeting with all ordained ministers of the mission at the RCCG, Region 21, in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, called for drastic action against corrupt practices in all facets of Nigeria. Read more
Lagos monarch tasks government on infrastructure (Guardian)
The traditional head of Ogombo community in Eti-Osa, Lagos State, Chief Abiodun Ogunbo, has appealed to Lagos State government to provide basic infrastructure for the residents of the area.
The monarch, who made the plea at his second year coronation’s anniversary, urged Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to extend his developmental strides to Ogombo as the town is fast developing.
Ogunbo stressed that provision of basic infrastructure would attract investments and development to the area, thereby creating jobs opportunities and boost revenue of the state.
He pointed out that for government presence to be established, there is need for state-of-art hospitals, modern markets, schools, library and many other developmental projects for the welfare of the people. Read more
Maritime workers suspend industrial action at Apapa port (Sun)
After the intervention of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has suspended the picketing of APM Terminals, Apapa over anti-labour practice.
After a meeting with the Executive Secretary of NSC, Barr Hassan Bello yesterday in his office, the President General of MWUN, Com. Adewale Adeyanju warned other multinational companies in the maritime sector to desist from bringing in expatriates from Benin Republic, Ghana and other West African countries to takeover jobs meant for Nigerians.
Adeyanju said the union suspended the picketing against APM Terminals, Apapa saying for over 16 years, the MWUN had never shut down or issued any ultimatum on the terminal.
He, however, said the present management of APM Terminals does not have regards for the dockworkers and terminal workers that are working for them. Read more
We’ll extend development to every part of Lagos – Sanwo-Olu (Punch)
The Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has reiterated his administration’s readiness to extend development to every part of the state.
The governor spoke at a stakeholders meeting on the reconstruction and upgrading of Adeniji Adele Road, Oke Popo/Tapa Streets in the Lagos Island Local Government Area of the state.
Represented by the Special Adviser on Works and Infrastructure, Mrs Aramide Adeyoye, the governor told the residents that arrangements had been concluded to embark on rehabilitation and upgrade of major roads within Lagos Island. This, according to the governor, includes using semi rigid pavements with complementary facilities such as street lights, drainage construction and provision of service ducts. Read more
FG Announces Dates To Roll Out Digital Switchover In Lagos, Kano, Others (ChannelsTV)
The Federal Government has announced the dates to roll out the switchover from analogue to digital in Lagos, Kano, and three other states.
While the Digital Switchover (DSO) would commence in the five states between April and August, the exercise would kick off in the remaining states thereafter.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, disclosed this when he led members of the Ministerial Task Force on DSO on an advocacy visit to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Saturday.
He noted that the government had launched the switchover in Jos, the Plateau State capital on April 30, 2016, as well as four more states – Kwara, Kaduna, Enugu and Osun – and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Read more
Tackle fraud with technology, Lagos charges cooperative societies(Guardian)
Lagos State government has tasked managers of cooperative societies to be savvy in the deployment of digital technology, as it is critical to the success of their societies, especially in checking fraud.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of a five-day training programme with the theme, Digital transformation strategies for cooperative stability in post COVID-19 pandemic era for 100 participants, Provost, Lagos State Cooperative College, Mr. Akorede Ojomu, stated that at this stage and due to COVID-19, effective application of digital technology might prove inevitable to survival of business entities, hence need to take proactive action that would guarantee continued existence and growth.
He said the process would minimise fraud incident, because all money has to be paid digitally. Read more
Southern, Middle Belt leaders give another 120-day ultimatum(Guardian)
Leaders of Southern Nigeria and Middle Belt, under the auspices of the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-determination (NINAS), yesterday, gave another 120-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to attend to their demand of self-determination, otherwise they would begin processes of repudiating the 1999 Constitutions and assert their independence.
It would be recalled that the group had initially given a 90-day ultimatum and another 30-day ultimatum, which expired on Friday.
The group said having allotted a total of 120 days to the two tiers of government in Nigeria for consultation and engagement with the issues raised by NINAS Constitutional Force Majeure Proclamation of December 16, 2020, it declared a 120-day period of consultations commencing April 17, 2021 with the Peoples of the Alliance Territories with dedicated sessions for various segments of the Nigerian and international community. Read more
Water scarcity bits hard across Nigeria (Leadership)
There appears to be no respite in sight for residents in Abuja , Lagos, and six other states who have been battling with water scarcity for over three weeks now.
Investigations by LEADERSHIP Sunday, however, showed that residents in the aforementioned states might have to wait longer for the scarcity to end.
Other states affected by this scarcity include Cross River, Sokoto, Katsina, Bayelsa, Gombe, Katsina and Ogun among others.
Unsurprisingly, water vendors are having a good time. Water vendors, popularly called ‘Mai-ruwa,’ now sell a 25-litre jerrycan of water for between N40 and N50, as against its old price of between N15 and N20, while a truck which contains 12 jerry cans which initially sold for N300 now sells for between N500-N1500 depending on the area. That is, if one is lucky to get a vendor. Read more
OGSIEC assures of fairness, transparency in council polls(Guardian)
The Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC) has assured political parties and other stakeholders to be fair, transparent and unbiased in the forth-coming local council election in the state.
Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Babatunde Osibodu, who gave the assurance in a statement yesterday, said that as the state is gearing up for the much important exercise, it was imperative to put in place necessary arrangement to make the process seamless, maintaining that transparency will be its watchword.
“I know talk is cheap, when we get there, everyone will see it. We are also taking our time to put our house in order, it is better not to do something at all than to do it shabbily. We want to adequately prepare so that we won’t come up with a date and change it later. Read more
Bayelsa airport gets nod for commercial daytime flights (Leadership)
After months of expectation, the Bayelsa State-owned airport, on Saturday, finally got the nod of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to commence commercial flight operations.
The NCAA director-general, Dr. Nuhu Musa, presented the regulatory body’s approval letter to the state governor, Douye Diri, at the Government House, Yenagoa, after the team completed the mandatory inspection of the airport and its facilities.
Musa said the airport met all airspace standards and is one 100 per cent ready for daytime flight operations.
A statement by the governor’s chief press secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, quoted the NCAA DG as saying that the approval was sequel to the report of the agency’s inspection team, which prior to the visit had certified that out of 29 gaps, the airport was able to close 26. Read more
Prince Philip: Royal Family honours duke’s ‘humour and humanity’ (BBC)
The Duke of Edinburgh has been laid to rest in an intimate funeral at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.
The Dean of Windsor paid tribute to Prince Philip’s “kindness, humour and humanity” during the ceremony.
The congregation wore masks and was socially distanced in line with Covid rules, with the Queen seated alone.
The duke’s children walked behind his coffin in a funeral procession, followed by a national minute’s silence. Read more
Taylor Swift breaks The Beatles’ record as new version of “Fearless” tops the UK Albums Chart (Metro)
Taylor Swift has broken a long-held record from The Beatles as the rerecording of her second studio album Fearless has topped the UK Albums Chart. The new release, titled Fearless (Taylor’s Version), features newly-recorded versions of the original record’s songs, alongside six previously unreleased tracks taken ‘from the vault’. It comes after the masters for Taylor’s first six albums were sold to Scooter Braun as part of his acquisition of her previous record label, Big Machine, with the singer opting to rerecord her back catalogue to claim back ownership of her music. Read more
Rapper Black Rob dead at 51 (PageSix)
Harlem rapper Black Rob, born Robert Ross and the Bad Boy artist best known for his 2000 hit “Whoa,” has died at the age of 51.
The death was confirmed by former label mate Mark Curry, who posted an emotional video message on Instagram Saturday.
“Rob passed away about an hour ago,” Curry said as he walked down the street with tears pouring down his face.
“I don’t know where to begin, but I thank everybody for the donations.”
He added, “We’ve lost a lot [of] legends and we can’t afford to lose anymore.” Read more
COVID in Brazil: Pandemic meets poverty in growing crisis (BBC)
The queue snakes around the block and each day it gets longer: hungry residents of Heliopolis, São Paulo’s largest favela, waiting in line for the handout that will keep them going until the next morning.
They are given a bowl of pasta with meat and a portion of rice, two packets of biscuits and a carton of milk, shared between a whole household and usually their only meal of the day. Before the pandemic, 300 people would queue up here. Now it is over 1,000, and the charity that runs it has 650 others across São Paulo.
“The vast majority of people who live in the favelas work in the informal economy, as cleaners in homes or helping to bake cakes, so when businesses close or houses stop using them, they feel the impact,” says Marcivan Barreto, the local co-ordinator. Read more
“Promising Young Woman”: Carey Mulligan shines in Emerald Fennell’s chilling debut (Metro)
There has been a lot of buzz around Emerald Fennell’s directorial debut, Promising Young Woman, ahead of its UK release today, and it’s not hard to see why. Emerald pulls absolutely no punches in the chilling comedy thriller, which took home the best British film gong at last weekend’s Baftas, and has been tipped to win big at the upcoming Oscars. Carey Mulligan shines in the ‘revenge’ flick, alongside an all-star cast including Laverne Cox, Alison Brie and Bo Burnham. She plays medical school drop-out Cassie, who still lives at home with her parents (Jennifer Coolidge and Clancy Brown) and works at a coffee shop by day. Read more
A68: Iceberg that became a social media star melts away (BBC)
The iceberg that was for a time the biggest in the world is no more.
A68, as it was known, covered an area of nearly 6,000 sq km (2,300 sq miles) when it broke away from Antarctica in 2017.
That’s like a small country; it’s equal to a quarter of the size of Wales.
But satellites show the mega-berg has now virtually gone, broken into countless small fragments that the US National Ice Center says are no longer worth tracking. Read more
NASA’s Mars copter flight could happen as soon as Monday (France24)
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter could make its first flight over the Red Planet as soon as Monday, the US space agency reported, following a delay of more than a week due to a possible technical issue.
The mini-helicopter’s trip will mark the first-ever powered, controlled flight on another planet, and will help NASA reap invaluable data about the conditions on Mars.
“NASA is targeting no earlier than Monday, April 19, for the first flight of its Ingenuity Mars Helicopter,” the space agency reported Saturday.
Data will return to Earth “a few hours following the autonomous flight,” which would take off at approximately 3:30 am (0730 GMT), NASA said. Read more
One killed as robbers attack Nasarawa’s sports festival team(Guardian)
After achieving their best results ever in the history of the National Sports Festival, members of Team Nasarawa were attacked on their way from Benin City, venue of Edo 2020 fiesta. One of the robbers was killed in a gun battle with the police escort attached to the team.
Team Nasarawa, which attended Edo 2020 sports festival with a 210-member contingent, won a total of 22 medals made up of five gold, four silver and 13 bronze to finish 18th on the medals table.
According to the Public Relations Officer of Nasarawa State Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Eche Amos, one of the two buses conveying the last batch of athletes from Benin City was attacked by suspected armed robbers at Akeleku village, some two kilometres after Kadarko town, along Makurdi-Lafia Expressway. Read more
Chelsea reach FA Cup final and end Man City’s quadruple hopes (BBC)
Chelsea ended Manchester City’s hopes of winning an historic quadruple as they edged a closely-fought FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
City and Chelsea had both secured their places in the last four of the Champions League this week – but Pep Guardiola’s side had their sights set on a unique haul of four trophies as they close in on the Premier League title and also face Tottenham here in the League Cup final on 25 April.
Chelsea had other ideas, however, and they deserved the victory given to them when Hakim Ziyech slid home Timo Werner’s pass in the 55th minute to set up an FA Cup final against either Leicester City or Southampton. Read more
Lydia Ko snaps title drought with dominant Lotte Championship win (France24)
Lydia Ko ended her three-year LPGA title drought in impressive style Saturday, firing a final-round 65 to win the Lotte Championship by seven strokes.
Former world number one Ko, a two-time major champion, didn’t put a foot wrong as she notched her 16th LPGA title but her first since the 2018 Mediheal Championship.
Her 28-under par total of 260 at Kapolei Golf Club in Oahu, Hawaii, put her seven in front of South Korean’s Park In-bee and Kim Sei-young, Ireland’s Leona Maguire and American Nelly Korda.
Ko took a one-shot lead over Korda into the final round, but as the American struggled on the greens Ko marched relentlessly to victory. Read more
Messi stars in Copa del Rey final as Barca win first trophy under Koeman (BBC)
Barcelona scored four goals in 12 minutes – including a brilliant strike from Lionel Messi – to thrash Athletic Bilbao and win the Copa del Rey.
Barca were frustrated until the 60th minute when Antoine Griezmann turned in Frenkie de Jong’s cross before De Jong headed in himself three minutes later.
Messi then drove from his own half, exchanged twice with De Jong and found the bottom corner for Barca’s third.
Messi added his second four minutes later, sweeping in Jordi Alba’s cross. Read more
Sheffield United relegated from the Premier League as Norwich earn promotion (Metro)
Sheffield United have officially been relegated from the Premier League after a defeat to Wolves, while Norwich were promoted back to the top flight after Brentford and Swansea both failed to win. There are six games left for Sheffield United in the Premier League but after Willian Jose’s strike in a 1-0 win at Molineux it’s mathematically impossible for them to gain enough points to stay up. They will return to the Championship next season after two seasons in England’s top flight. Read more
Demetrius Andrade beats Liam Williams to retain WBO world middleweight title (BBC)
Demetrius Andrade defended his WBO world middleweight title by unanimous decision despite a spirited challenge from Liam Williams in Hollywood.
It was a nightmare start for the Welshman who hit the canvas in round two, but took the fight the distance.
The undefeated American used his experience and fought in eye-catching bursts, while Williams struggled to land his shots.The judges scored the bout 118-109, 118-109 and 116-111. Read more