Lagos APPEALS project targets 1,465 businesses (DailyTrust)
The Lagos State government will spend over N1.2b on farmers under the Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) project for the 2021 project year, it has been revealed.
The APPEALS project is a comprehensive six-year World Bank Assisted project aimed at supporting farmers’ productivity and their linkage to markets.
Besides no fewer than 1,465 businesses under the Women and Youth Empowerment Programme (WYEP) would be created in 2021.
So far the project has supported 10,917 farmers surpassing the target of 10,000 for the project with over N912.9m spent on various projects under the three identified value chains of rice, aquaculture and poultry. Read more
LASG issues immediate stop on land extension, reclamation on Banana Island, Osborne Foreshore (Guardian)
The Lagos State Government has issued an order for the immediate suspension of all approvals of land extensions into the lagoon at the Banana Island and Osborne Foreshore axis of Ikoyi, Lagos.
The government also said all construction and dredging activities on the axis must stop, as erring firms stood the risk of prosecution and losing their equipment.
The suspension order is contained in a statement by Mr Mukaila Sanusi, Assistant Director, Public Affairs, Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development and issued to newsmen on Sunday.
He said the order was in a joint declaration of the ministry and that of the Waterfront Infrastructure Development.
“Government hereby suspends all existing, pending and subsequent approvals in respect of all land extensions into the lagoon at the Banana Island and Osborne Foreshore, Ikoyi. Read more
Ensure free-flow of traffic in lagos metropolis – Traffic Mayor Commandant (Independent)
Lagos- In its bid towards ensuring free flow of traffic in Lagos and its environs, the Lagos State Special Traffic Mayor Commandant, Othman Adesina, has enjoined all Special Traffic Mayors to focus on their primary responsibility across Lagos and environs by ensuring and concentrating on free flow of traffic across the metropolis in tandem with the present administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s THEMES Agenda.
Adesina gave the charge at the weekend during the induction and inauguration of the new Special Traffic Mayor Corps, Abule – Egba Command, which was held at Silver Club, Iyana Ipaja – Agege, Lagos.
The commandant maintained that rather than allowing the enforcement of the law to generate traffic gridlock on the highways, they should instead allow the traffic offenders to go so as not to defeat the purpose for which the agency was established. Read more
PDP members, others to join APC in Lagos (Guardian)
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos says some members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and others have indicated interest to join the party in the ongoing membership registration and revalidation.
Alhaji Tunde Balogun, Lagos APC Caretaker Chairman, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Balogun said the APC was prepared to register all members of opposition parties who had shown willingness to join it.
“Our doors are open to all members of political parties who want to join us. We expect some PDP members, who really are willing to join us in developing Lagos to do so.
“Many of them have been showing interest and we are prepared to register them from the PDP to the AA and others. We are happy to accept them into the progressives,” Balogun said. Read more
Anxiety as Dubai declares Nigerians must travel directly from Nigeria effective Monday (Tribune)
This may not be the best of times for Nigeria and its citizens around the world as the latest information reaching Tribune Online has indicated that the Dubai authorities have tactically banned airlines from carrying Nigerian passengers into the United Arab Emirates effective from Monday, 1st February, 2020.
According to a circular which emanated from the Dubai Airport Operations Control Center, titled ‘Dubai Travel Protocol Update -Travel From Nigeria’ and dated, Friday, January 29, 2021, the Dubai authorities had declared:”Kindly be advised that effective from 01 February 2021, the following conditions must be met for travel from Nigeria.
“Departing from Nigeria to Dubai, all passengers are required to obtain a negative COVID-19 certificate. The PCR should be conducted within 72 hours of the date of departure.
“All passengers are required to conduct a rapid COVID-19 test and obtain a negative result within four hours of their departure time. Read more
Why Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is delayed – FG (Vanguard)
Nigeria says the first batch of 100,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 is delayed because of “politics and logistics due to no fault of Nigeria.”
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who disclosed this in Abuja on Sunday, said the issue of vaccine was a serious one to government which had put every needed infrastructure in place for its storage.
Speaking with Newsmen the minister said: “The fact that these vaccines will now come in February is not due to Nigeria’s fault.
“We are very ready to receive the 100,00 doses and we have the infrastructure, even when it is going to be preserved at about -70 Degree Celsius,’’ he said. Read more
7 arrested for abduction, sexual abuse, child pornography (Nation)
The police have arrested five members of a kidnap for ransom gang, which specialises in the abduction of women and girl children, sexually abusing them and obtaining ransom from their families before their release.
Two other persons were also arrested for child pornography.
Investigations revealed the suspects are members of a trans-border/international child porn syndicate, which sexual abuse and take undue advantage of underage girls and disseminate the video recordings of the illicit sexual act on an international social media Whatsapp group chat known as “Pervertidos” owned and managed by a Brazilian called Adriana.
Force Public Relations Officer, CP Frank Mba, disclosed these in a statement on Sunday. Read more
FG to transport petroleum products by rail system (DailyTrust)
Operation Controller, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Benin field office, Ebi Ogiowo, has said that the federal government is considering transportation of petroleum products to various part of the country through the rail system.
Ogiowo said this at the weekend while speaking with journalists on the sideline of the 2020 annual meeting with petroleum products and gas marketers in Edo and Delta states organised by DPR.
New service chiefs arrive Maiduguri to tackle insurgency
Zulum appoints new Shehu of Dikwa
“Like you know, oil and gas industry in Nigeria is more than 50 years and some of the pipelines are equally that old, while some of them are not functional,”
According to him, there are depots in some eastern and northern states of the country that are not functional because the integrity of the pipelines had been compromised. Read more
Minister commissions 50MT yam storage facility in Nasarawa (Tribune)
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Muhammad Sabo Nanono has commissioned the yam storage facility at the faculty of Agriculture, Nasarawa State University, Keffi-Shabu- Lafia.
The yam storage facility would store 45–50 Metric tonnes of Yam seed and is estimated to cover 16 hectares of land when planted.
Speaking during the Commissioning Ceremony over the weekend, Alhaji Sabo Nanono noted that the huge output of using clean seed yam will boost production, increase earnings of yam farmers and enhance the export of yam from Nasarawa state.
The Minister said the location of the facility inside the university will immensely add value in teaching, research and income generation for the farmers in the State, adding that the facility will generate about 200 jobs to the value chain. Read more
India’s Modi lashes out at protesting farmers (DW)
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has slammed farmers protesting his government’s agriculture reforms. This week’s demonstrations turned violent after farmers broke into the historic Red Fort and clashed with police.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Sunday radio address criticized protesters that stormed Delhi’s historic Red Fort on the country’s Republic Day.
Tens of thousands of farmers have camped on the outskirts of the capital Delhi for more than two months, demanding a repeal of new agricultural laws that they say benefit private corporations.
“The country was saddened by the insult to the Tricolor (Indian flag) on the 26th of January in Delhi,” Modi said in his first public comments on a monthslong farmers’ agitation. Read more
Mass orgy with 100 people raided by police as 3 arrested (Metro)
Police have raided a mass orgy with 100 people at a warehouse in France. The event was interrupted at around 9pm in the Paris suburb of Collegien – three hours after France’s 6pm coronavirus curfew. A group of three people, believed to be the organisers, were arrested and up to 100 people were fined for flouting restrictions. Officers also confiscated sound and lighting equipment and alcohol after local magistrates sitting in on an emergency session authorised this action. Read more
92-year-old woman and son found dead in luxury NYC apartment (NYPost)
A 92-year-old woman and her 64-year-old son were found dead in a luxury apartment in Chelsea on Saturday afternoon, police sources said.
Cops went to 535 W. 23rd St. to check on the apartment at around 3 p.m. after the woman’s daughter reported she couldn’t get a hold of anyone inside, police sources told The Post.
When cops entered the apartment, they found the mother and son dead in separate bedrooms. Sources said they don’t believe the deaths were the result of foul play.
“We’re just here to be on the safe side,” one source said. “We think they were sick.”
The mother appeared to have died before her son, who had been dead for several days, the sources said. Read more
Iran’s Zarif calls for ‘inclusive government’ in Taliban talks (AlJazeera)
Iran will only support an “inclusive” government in neighbouring Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told a top Taliban delegation.
In a Sunday meeting with the group led by senior Taliban figure Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Iran’s top diplomat emphasised a multilateral approach while offering to facilitate talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government and cautioning reliance on the United States.
“Political decisions can’t occur in a vacuum. Forming an all-inclusive government must be done in a participatory process that considers structures, entities and fundamental rules like the constitution,” a foreign ministry statement said. Read more
Millions of COVID-19 survivors have lost the sense of smell and taste (USAToday)
Edelmira Rivera was lying on her bed with her husband and 16-month-old son selecting a movie when she heard a loud bang outside their home in Waco, Texas.
Then her sister screamed, “Fire!”
“I dropped everything and just grabbed my son and his blanket,” said Rivera, 22. “I could not smell anything. I was so shocked to see the fire at the front door.”
Rivera tested positive for COVID-19 and lost her sense of smell on Jan. 14. Early the next morning, a fire broke out on the other side of her bedroom wall, less than a foot from where she was lying. But Rivera couldn’t smell it, nor could the family of four who was staying with them. Read more
Coronavirus: Germany open to Chinese and Russian vaccines amid delays (DW)
Health Minister Jens Spahn says there is no obstacle to the use of the Sputnik V and Sinopharm vaccines if they receive EU approval. Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to hold a summit Monday to overcome a vaccine shortage.
Germany’s Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn has hinted that coronavirus vaccines from China and Russia could be used in Europe to overcome the current deficit of doses.
“Regardless of the country in which a vaccine is manufactured, if they are safe and effective, they can help cope with the pandemic,” Spahn told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper on Sunday, adding that they must be approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
The minister said he sees no fundamental obstacle to the use of Chinese and Russian COVID vaccines. Read more
Elon Musk’s SpaceX reportedly violated terms of FAA license (NYPost)
Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket crashed and burned trying to come down from its first high-altitude flight — and now the billionaire is in hot water with the federal government for violating the terms of his test license, The Verge reported.
The Federal Aviation Administration launched an investigation shortly after the Dec. 9 launch of the Starship spacecraft, focusing on both the disastrous landing and SpaceX’s compliance with the license terms, two people familiar with the matter told Verge. They didn’t specify what terms were violated.
An FAA spokesperson refused to tell The Post whether SpaceX had violated the license terms, but stressed the agency will evaluate Musk’s application to modify his launch license but won’t act if the modification compromised public safety. Read more
Eze seals victory for Crystal Palace against Wolves (Nation)
Crystal Palace got back to winning ways against Wolves thanks to Eberechi Eze’s second-half strike.
The summer signing struck for the third time since his move from QPR to lift spirits at the club after a run of one win in 10 matches across all competitions.
It was also Palace’s first triumph over Wolves in five attempts and increased the woes of Nuno Espirito Santo, who has not seen his players taste success in the Premier League for six weeks with this another toothless showing.
In wet and windy conditions at Selhurst Park, the long wait for an effort on target ended in the 56th minute when new Wolves signing Willian Jose tested Vicente Guaita in the home goal with a fine strike on the turn following’s Daniel Podence’s cross. Read more
Tuchel claims first win as Chelsea boss (BBC)
Emphatic finishes from Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso gave Thomas Tuchel his first victory as Chelsea head coach against a below-par Burnley.
Captain Azpilicueta – the longest-serving player in the team – drilled Callum Hudson-Odoi’s lay-off high past Nick Pope just before half-time in the Premier League encounter at Stamford Bridge.
Azpilicueta’s fellow Spanish defender Alonso added a classy second late on, skilfully controlling a Christian Pulisic cross before lashing a volley over Pope at his near post.
The impressive Hudson-Odoi was unlucky not to score in between with a shot that was deflected on to a post by Burnley defender Erik Pieters.
Chelsea comfortably registered a second successive clean sheet under Tuchel, whose first game was the midweek goalless draw with Wolves, as Burnley did not manage a shot on target. Read more
Daytona 500 to host largest sporting event in US since COVID-19 hit (USAToday)
Daytona International Speedway President Chip Wile said Saturday he expects around 30,000 fans at next month’s Daytona 500.
“It’s going to be the largest sporting event that happens in the United States since COVID hit,” Wile said.
The Speedway announced in December that the number of fans allowed to attend the Daytona 500 would be limited because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the Speedway, which holds 101,500 spectators, doesn’t announce attendance numbers, there were an estimated 25,000 fans at last August’s Coke Zero Sugar 400. Read more
Barcelona to sue over claims Messi contract worth 555 million euros (Guardian)
Barcelona will take legal action against the Spanish newspaper El Mundo after it published details on Sunday of Lionel Messi’s current contract, which it says is worth up to 555 million euros ($674 million) over four years.
Barca responded by also insisting they were not responsible for the leak, although the club did not deny the details of the report.
El Mundo say the deal signed by Messi in 2017 is the “largest in the history of sport” and called it the “colossal contract that ruins Barcelona”.
The 33-year-old could end up collecting a maximum of 555,237,619 euros before it expires on June 30 this year, if all conditions were met. Read more
Damian Lillard stars as Portland Trail Blazers beat Chicago Bulls (BBC)
Damian Lillard hit two late three-pointers, including one on the buzzer, to give the Portland Trail Blazers a 123-122 NBA win over the Chicago Bulls.
Lillard finished with a game-high 44 points, including eight three-pointers.
One of those, with 8.9 seconds left, put the Trail Blazers within two points of the hosts.
And after Portland won a jump ball, it came to Lillard, whose shot went over the outstretched arms of Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen to seal victory.
Enes Kanter scored 22 points and took 11 rebounds for Portland, who lost to the Bulls earlier in the season. Read more
Most Australian Open participants clear quarantine (NewTelegraph)
The Australian Open quarantine facilities are still holding 15 people, including one player and two others who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in their lockdown, Melbourne health authorities said on Sunday.
The vast majority of the more than 1,000 players and their entourages undergoing 14 days of isolation in Melbourne and Adelaide were released by midnight on Saturday and have started preparing for the Grand Slam, reports Reuters.
Spain’s Paula Badosa was the only player to have confirmed that she tested positive for COVID-19 in Melbourne, restarting the clock on her mandatory period of isolation.
Victoria on Sunday reported no local transmission of the virus for the 29th straight day and Australian Open tournament chief Craig Tiley said the priority for his organisation remained the health of the local community.“No one is coming out of quarantine unless it is absolutely proved that they are not incubating the virus,” he said on ABC TV on Sunday. Read more