Lagos names 132 Iponri housing units after Babatunde Fashola (Independent)
The Lagos State Government on Wednesday named the 132 housing units at Iponri after the former Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola.
The Iponri LagosHOMS situated in Surulere Local Government Area consists of 132 home units with 11 blocks of 88 two-bedrooms and 44 three-bedrooms built on 2.91 hectares of land.
Speaking during the inauguration, Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said that the naming of the of the housing scheme after Fashola was in recognition of the former governor’s contributions to the development of the state.
“The BRF Homes: Apart from the fact that he is my senior on this job, he was also the person that laid the foundation for this place and some of those initial bottlenecks, he actually saw them and started ensuring they got resolved during his tenure. Read more
Nigerian Student shines in International Human Rights essay contest (Vanguard)
The world has been shown the brilliance of Nigerian students yet again, as Oluwatoni Adesanya, a secondary school student of Greensprings School, Lagos has won the second prize in this year’s Kemper Human Rights Education Foundation (KHREF)’s essay competition.
This international competition received about 100 essays from 17 countries. But Miss Oluwatoni’s essay titled Human Rights Violations Masquerading As Covid-19 Interventions: The Nigerian Experience was adjudged second best, and she bagged the $500 prize.
Sharing her experience about writing the essay, Miss Oluwatoni thanked all her English teachers who have helped in developing her composition skills. She said, “First of all, I want to say a big thank you to my English teachers in Greensprings School for teaching me how to conduct proper research and hone my writing skills. I also want to thank my mother, father and aunt for their constant support.”
“This winning came as a pleasant surprise to me because it was a bit difficult to write the essay at first. My inspiration came from the problems that surfaced in Nigeria during the pandemic and the looting of palliatives donated by the private sector. Read more
Suspend Doherty to save Lagos PDP, SWC, others ask NWC (Independent)
The State Working Committee (SWC), State chairmen, State Executive Non-Working Committee of the Lagos State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have asked the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to suspend the State Chairman of the party, Engineer Deji Doherty, to save the party from chaos and collapse.
The officials of the party based their demand on the fact that the State Chairman no longer enjoys the confidence of the generality of the members of the main opposition party in Lagos State.
In a press conference on Wednesday, at the party secretariat, Prince Muiz Dosumu, Lagos State secretary of the party, who addressed the press on behalf of the State Working Committee said that the intervention of the NWC was necessary because Doherty had refused to convene either a State Working Committee meeting or the State Executive Committee meeting in the last eight months, rather he secretly forced some members of the party to take oath of allegiance to him in contravention of section 21 (3) and section 24(3) of the constitution of the party. Read more
DSS pledges justice for policeman allegedly killed by operative (Guardian)
The Department of State Services (DSS) has pledged to ensure justice over an alleged killing of a policeman by its operatives.
DSS spokesman Peter Afunanya in a statement assured that it will not condone any acts of indiscipline or injustice.
“The attention of the Department of State Services (DSS) has been drawn to the incident that led to the death of a Police Corporal in Osun State. Consequently, the Service and the Police are jointly investigating the matter. Read more
Army deploys 100 female soldiers to secure Abuja-Kaduna Highway (DailyTrust)
The Nigerian Army has deployed 100 female soldiers of the 1 Women Special Operation Battalion to secure the Abuja-Kaduna highway.
The women soldiers, Daily Trust reports, will form part of Operation Thunder Strike.
Daily Trust further gathered that this is the first deployment as another set of 200 soldiers are expected, making a total of 300.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai, who received the women soldiers on Wednesday in Kakau village along the high, said: “I am confident that with the deployment of the women soldiers, the Abuja-Kaduna road will be the safest in the country.” Read more
Court admits more evidence in Naira Marley’s fraud trial (Guardian)
A Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday admitted an optical disc in evidence in the ongoing trial of popular Nigerian singer Azeez Fashola alias ”Naira Marley”.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on May 14, 2019, charged the singer, with 11 counts, bordering on conspiracy, possession of counterfeit credit cards and fraud.
One Yad Isril, who is said to be at large, was also named in the charge. Read more
Bayelsa enrols 3000 undergraduates into student loans scheme (DailyTrust)
Over 3,000 undergraduates of Bayelsa State origin have benefited from the state Higher Education Students Loan Board scheme in the last one year to help those who could not afford school fees to complete their studies in various tertiary institutions.
The board was established by the immediate past governor of the State, Senator Seriake Dickson, to carter for education need of Bayelsa students in tertiary institutions.
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The board also disclosed that it had spent about N400 million as loans to benefiting undergraduates.
The Executive Secretary of the Board, Dr. Michael Amaegberi, disclosed this when members of the Federated Correspondents’ Chapel of NUJ, Bayelsa State Council, visited his office in Yenagoa as part of independent assessment of educational facilities in the state. Read more
Insecurity: Makinde, Akeredolu, Ooni of Ife hold talks with Buhari (Tribune)
Two South-West state governors, Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State as well as the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, have met separately with President Muhammadu Buhari over insecurity in their region.
The two governors’ meeting on Wednesday followed that of the traditional ruler who was hosted by the president in his official residence on Tuesday night. Read more
Fire guts trailer park in Ibadan (Punch)
There was confusion at Akinyele community in Ibadan, Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State on Wednesday as a trailer park in the area went up in flames barely 24 hours after the building belonging to the Yoruba rights activist was razed in Soka.
It was gathered that the incident happened around 4am leaving several shops completely razed by the inferno.
Items that got destroyed in the inferno include food and provision, household wares, spare parts, kegs of diesel and other articles of trade. Read more
Nia Dennis: US gymnast’s ‘black excellence’ routine goes viral (BBC)
A US gymnast’s routine celebrating “black excellence” has gone viral, with millions of views on social media.
The floor routine by Nia Dennis, an athlete at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), incorporated songs by artists including Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé and Missy Elliott.
She said Black Lives Matter protests inspired the performance, which saw her kneel with her fist in the air.
“I had to… for the culture,” the 21-year-old wrote on Instagram. Read more
France: Rights group launch legal action over police racism (AlJazeera)
In a first for France, six nongovernmental organisations launched a class-action lawsuit on Wednesday against the French government for alleged systemic discrimination by police officers carrying out identity checks.
The organisations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, contend that French police use racial profiling in ID checks, targeting Black people and people of Arab descent.
They were serving Prime Minister Jean Castex and France’s interior and justice ministers with formal legal notice of demands for concrete steps and deep law enforcement reforms to ensure that racial profiling does not determine who gets stopped by police.
The organisations, which also include the Open Society Justice Initiative and three French grassroots groups, plan to spell out the legal initiative at a news conference in Paris. Read more
Mother of 3 murdered while delivering Uber Eats (NYPost)
A married Texas mother of three was murdered while dropping off an Uber Eats delivery on Saturday night, according to authorities and a family friend.
Ryan Munsie, 31, was found dead in the breezeway of an apartment complex in Haltom City outside of Fort Worth at about 9:35 pm, according to police.
Munsie had visible signs of trauma and was declared dead on scene.
Authorities have not yet revealed Munsie’s cause of death. As of Tuesday, her killer remained on the loose.
Police said Munsie was working for a meal delivery service when she was killed. Read more
Indonesian volcano unleashes river of lava in new eruption (CBC)
Indonesia’s most active volcano, Mount Merapi, has erupted, spewing a long river of lava down the mountainside. Authorities are warning area residents to stay out of an existing five-kilometre danger zone. 1:00
Indonesia’s most active volcano erupted Wednesday with a river of lava and searing gas clouds flowing 1,500 metres down its slopes.
The sounds of the eruption could be heard 30 kilometres away, officials said. It was Mount Merapi’s biggest lava flow since authorities raised its danger level in November, said Hanik Humaida, the head of Yogyakarta’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center.
She said the volcano’s lava dome is growing rapidly, causing hot lava and gas clouds to flow down its slopes. Read more
Eritrean forces should leave Ethiopia’s Tigray immediately: US (AlJazeera)
The United States has said all soldiers from Eritrea should leave Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region “immediately”.
The Eritreans have been fighting on the side of Ethiopian forces as they pursue fugitive leaders of the Tigray region, though Ethiopia’s government has denied their presence.
Witnesses who fled the Tigray region have said Eritrean troops were going house-to-house killing young men, looting, and acting as local authorities.
“Credible reports of looting, sexual violence, assaults in refugee camps, and other human rights abuses,” a State Department statement said. “There is also evidence of Eritrean soldiers forcibly returning Eritrean refugees from Tigray to Eritrea.” Read more
Kristen Stewart transforms into Princess Diana in first look at new film “Spencer” (Metro)
Kristen Stewart has morphed into Princess Diana for the new film Spencer. If you thought Emma Corrin as Princess Di in The Crown was uncanny, things are about to get even more mind-blowing, as a first look at Kristen as the Princess of Wales shows that the Twilight actress bears a startling resemblance to Diana. In the first shot of the 30-year-old actress in character, Kristen sports a red coat over a black turtleneck, and wears a black hat with a veil atop her signature blonde do. But it’s that trademark head tilt that really transforms Kristen into Diana. Read more
Hardest part of the Wendy Williams biopic: Faking her ‘heavy’ breasts (PageSix)
Ciera Payton admits that one of the “most challenging things” playing Wendy Williams was getting the boobs right.
The New Orleans native told The Post that the producers and wardrobe people for Lifetime’s upcoming “Wendy Williams: The Movie” had numerous meetings “trying to figure out how to make it look realistic.”
Finally, Payton raised her hand and mentioned that in her biopic audition she employed socks and silicone cutlets “and that worked.”
So the wardrobe department purchased presumably a massive quantity of socks “and we taped and pushed up.” Read more
I’ll forever remain a Man United fan, Odion Ighalo says as he leaves club (Vanguard)
Odion Ighalo’s time at Manchester United has come to an end and the forward will not leave without expressing his gratitude to the club for the period he spent there albeit short.
Ighalo joined United on loan from Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua as a back-up for injured Marcus Rashford at the time and scored five goals in 23 appearances during the 2019-20 campaign.
The loan deal was supposed to last for six months but was later extended to 12 months.
Ighalo in his farewell message wrote, “It’s so hard to see this dream come to an end. But I give God the glory for helping me fulfill this life long dream of putting on a Manchester United shirt as a player and represent this great club, it was indeed an honour I will forever cherish and be grateful for. Read more
Loew wants to pick England U21 talent Musiala for Germany – report (Guardian)
Joachim Loew wants to select 17-year-old Bayern Munich midfielder Jamal Musiala — who is also eligible to play for England — in the senior Germany squad for World Cup qualifiers in March, according to a report.
Magazine Sports Bild claims Loew plans to pick Stuttgart-born Musiala, who also qualifies for England having moved there as a child and made his debut for the English Under-21 side last November.
The teenager, who turns 18 in late February, came through Chelsea’s academy before joining European champions Bayern in 2019. Read more
Chelsea squad ‘a present’ for Tuchel, says Klopp (Punch)
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp believes the talent new Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has to work with is a gift for any manager, but expressed his sympathy with Frank Lampard after he was sacked by the Blues.
Lampard was dismissed on Monday just 18 months into a three-year contract after a run of five defeats in eight Premier League games that have left Chelsea down in 10th, 12 points off the top.
The former England midfielder struggled to make the most of owner Roman Abramovich’s £220 million ($300 million) investment in new players in the summer transfer window after leading Chelsea to a fourth-placed finish and the FA Cup final in his first season in charge. Read more
Knicks’ interest in Derrick Rose driven by Tom Thibodeau (NYPost)
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau got his way with signing his former Bulls/Timberwolves player Taj Gibson for big-man depth.
Now let’s see what happens with Pistons backup point guard Derrick Rose, who also was a former Thibodeau soldier in Chicago and Minnesota and played 64 games for the Knicks during the 2016-17 season.
The Knicks, among others, have interest in Rose, an NBA source familiar with the situation confirmed to The Post. According to sources, the Knicks have not had any discussions yet with the Pistons.
Rose is an impending free agent and the Pistons own the worst record in the NBA at 4-13 and are tied to their lottery pick, Killian Hayes, at point guard. Read more
Israel to have all athletes vaccinated for Tokyo Games by May (CBC)
Israel intends to have all of its athletes due to compete at the Tokyo Olympics vaccinated against COVID-19 by May, its National Olympic Committee said on Wednesday, amid global debate over whether athletes should be given priority access in the rollout.
Global coronavirus cases surpassed 100 million on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally, as countries around the world struggle with new virus variants and vaccine shortfalls.
Israel, however, currently leads the world on per capita vaccinations, having inoculated 29 per cent of its population with at least one dose. Read more
Arsenal sign Real Madrid midfielder Martin Odegaard on loan (BBC)
Arsenal have signed Real Madrid attacking midfielder Martin Odegaard on loan until the end of the season.
The 22-year-old Norwegian has struggled to make an impact in Real manager Zinedine Zidane’s squad this season.
Real Sociedad, where Odegaard spent last season on loan, and Eredivisie leaders Ajax were also interested.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said: “Martin is of course a player we all know very well. Although still young, he has been playing at the top level for a while.” Read more
Nick Kyrgios on why he’s calling out Novak Djokovic (Metro)
Nick Kyrgios has never been one to hold his tongue and the outspoken Aussie has vowed to keep holding the likes of world No. 1 Novak Djokovic to account. Kyrgios, the world No. 47, has not played competitive tennis since February 2020, choosing not to travel the world during a global pandemic. With tennis coming to Australia for the start of the 2021 season, Kyrgios has dusted off his racquet and will be hoping to make a splash at his home Slam. While he’s not stepped onto the match court for the past 11 months, Kyrgios has drawn the spotlight to him – most notably for his criticism of other top stars of the sport. Read more
