Lagos residents lament high cost of food (Guardian)
For months, Nigerians have been lamenting a continuous increase in prices of goods and services.
In Lagos, the nation’s commercial nerve centre, prices of goods have increased drastically with residents and traders blaming President Muhammadu Buhari for not doing enough to check rising food prices.
When The Guardian visited the Oshodi market, traders lamented that prices of goods increased daily while the President seemed to be ignoring the cries and complaints of the masses, thereby making it unbearable for traders to make profits. Read more
UNILAG fires lecturers mentioned in sexual harassment story (Punch)
The Governing Council of the University of Lagos, Akoka, has sacked Dr Boniface Igbeneghu of the Department of European Languages and Integration Studies and Dr Samuel Oladipo of the Department of Economics.
A statement by the school said the governing approved the dismissal of both lecturers over the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against them in a British Broadcasting Corporation World Service Investigative Series, Africa Eye.
The statement was signed by the Registrar, UNILAG, Mr Azeez Oladejo.
It reads, “The Governing Council of the University of Lagos, at its meeting on Monday, May 31, 2021, approved the immediate dismissal of Dr Boniface Igbeneghu of the Department of European Languages and Integration Studies, Faculty of Arts and Dr Samuel Omoniyi Oladipo of the Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences, from the services of the University. Read more
Yoruba group declares APC South-West leaders’ meeting in Lagos a failure (Guardian)
Again, a group, Ilana Omo Oduduwa, led by Prof. Banji Akintoye, yesterday, chided the leaders of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South-West over the meeting they had on May 23, 2021, in Lagos.
In a statement by the National Chairman of the group, Dr. Adewale Adeniran, the group described the meeting as a failure for their inability to address the issue of insecurity besetting the people.
He said:” When it was announced that the leaders of the South-West APC would meet on Sunday, May 23, 2021, hopes were high that attendees at the said meeting would come out boldly to speak about the siege being laid by invading Fulani militia to the South-West region.
“Curiously and sadly, out of the nine points highlighted by the eminent political leaders in their communique, only two could be said to have addressed the situation of insecurity in Yorubaland. Read more
Lagos creates awareness on benefits of wetlands (Punch)
The Lagos State Government has expressed its commitment to educating the people to understand the importance of wetlands to humanity.
The Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Tunji Bello, stated this on Wednesday at a programme on wetland advocacy at the Lagos State University, Ojo.
The Special Adviser, Drainage and Water Resources, Joe Igbokwe, who represented him at the event, explained that wetlands provide economic, social and ecological benefits for human survival. Read more
JTF arrests 10 suspects over attacks on security formations in Akwa Ibom (Vanguard)
A Joint Task Force, JTF, has arrested a total of ten suspects in connection with the killing of security men and destruction of formations in Akwa Ibom State in recent times.
The Commissioner of Police in Akwa Ibom state, Mr. Andrew Amiengheme who disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen in Uyo said the arrest followed coordinated raids on different locations in the affected community of Essien Udim Local government area.
His words, “It would be recalled that in the recent past, there had been series of senseless and unprovoked attacks on security agencies and formations, especially the Police leading to wanton loss of lives and property. Read more
Food scarcity looms if open grazing continues, declares Okowa (Punch)
The Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, Wednesday berated critics of southern governors on the ban on opening grazing and the call for national dialogue to restructure Nigeria.
Okowa said he owed no apologies to the Federal Government because the governors spoke the truth in the best interest of the nation.
The governor said, “Can we truly at this moment be promoting open grazing? Thank God that the President was misrepresented, because I have seen news headlines that the President is not opposed to the ban on open grazing.
“We need to begin to look into what is best for us. Where we were 50 years ago should not be where we should be today and tomorrow.” Read more
Fireworks, anger trail Buhari’s ‘shock threat’ to secessionists (Guardian)
President Muhammadu Buhari’s Tuesday stern warning to secessionists assumed global dimension when the popular micro-blogging platform, Twitter, deleted a tweet on the President’s official handle @MBuhari, in which he threatened to treat Nigerians “misbehaving in the language they understand.”
President Buhari had in the tweet shared on Tuesday, cited the Nigerian Civil War experience, which was fought between 1967 and 1970, and noted that most of those “misbehaving” by burning electoral offices were too young to understand the gravity of war.
The tweet had attracted millions of comments and widespread condemnation with many Nigerians criticising the president for making reference to the war in which millions of Nigerians, mostly of Igbo extraction, were killed.
Some Nigerians had called on Twitter to suspend his account, claiming the president’s tweet “expresses intentions of self-harm or suicide”, as stated on Twitter’s usage policy. Read more
Government raises hazard allowances for health workers, may review doctors’ retirement age (Guardian)
The Federal Government has approved a 600 per cent increment in hazard allowance for senior health workers and 350 per cent for their junior counterparts.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, made the disclosure in Abuja after a meeting between the Federal Government and representatives of professional bodies and unions in the health sector.
The meeting, which held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa Abuja, deliberated on hazard allowance and retirement age for health workers in governm. Read more
Israel opposition parties agree to form new unity government (BBC)
Israeli opposition parties have reached an agreement to form a new government that would end Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12-year tenure as prime minister.
Yair Lapid, leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party, announced an eight-faction coalition had been formed.
Under a rotation arrangement, the head of the right-wing Yamina party, Naftali Bennett, would serve as prime minister first before handing over to Mr Lapid.
There still needs to be a parliamentary vote before the government is sworn in. Read more
500 women with disabilities supported through US government alumni engagement innovation fund (Guardian)
Project Enable, a programme supported by the Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund has trained 500 women with disabilities and caregivers in entrepreneurial and digital marketing skills through the State Department’s Office of Alumni Affairs.
This was disclosed at the virtual launch of the project.
Members of the project team are Mandela Washington Fellow, Olusola Owonikoko, Empower Partnership for Inclusive Community, Dr. Adebukola Adebayo and Carrington Fellow, Ngozi Ukpai-Okoro.
In his remark, the Cultural Affairs Officer of the U.S. Embassy, Abuja, Madison Conoley said “this year, we are observing 60 years of bilateral relations between our countries. To achieve our set goals of human security, economic development and prosperity, democratic governance, and technological advancement, we need the inclusion and contribution of all citizens.” Read more
Donald Trump’s ‘communications’ platform permanently taken offline (BBC)
Donald Trump’s communications platform has been permanently shut down, his spokesperson told CNBC.
“It was just auxiliary to the broader efforts we have and are working on,” senior aide Jason Miller said.
The platform, titled From the Desk of Donald J Trump, launched last month and served as a way for the former president to publish his own content including press releases and videos.
Mr Trump was banned from Facebook and Twitter after the Capitol Hill Riots. Read more
Budapest mayor tries to rename streets in protest against China (AlJazeera)
The liberal opposition mayor of Budapest announced on Wednesday he would rename streets in the Hungarian capital near a planned campus of a Chinese university to commemorate alleged human rights abuses by Beijing.
One street will be named after the Dalai Lama, exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, labelled a dangerous separatist by Beijing.
Another will be called “Uighur Martyrs’ Road” after the mainly Muslim ethnic group that Washington and other capitals say has been victim of a Chinese genocide.
A third will be called “Free Hong Kong Road” and a fourth street will be renamed after a Chinese Catholic bishop who was jailed. Read more
Fiery head-on car crash kills 4, including 3 sisters (NYPost)
A fiery head-on car crash in Idaho killed four people from California on Saturday, including three young sisters.
A 22-year-old man and the sisters — ages 16 to 26 — were in a Honda Civic that plowed into a GMC Sierra on Highway 95 near Marsing, where the speed limit is 65 mph.
All three people in the GMC survived even though the pickup caught fire after the collision, Idaho State Police said in a news release. They were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, cops said.
It wasn’t clear who was driving the Civic, but state police identified three of the deceased on Tuesday: Melissa Rojas-Carrasco, 26, Jasmin Rojas-Carrasco, 22, and Juan Pablo Farias, 22. Read more
New French edition of ‘Mein Kampf’ published (Guardian)
A new French edition of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” was published on Wednesday with the text reflecting the “abominably badly written” original, according to its translator.
One of the world’s most notorious books, first published in two tomes in 1924 and 1925, it laid out the ideological foundations for National Socialism including its embrace of violence and anti-Semitism.
The only current French translation, first published in 1934 and still in print, improves the often repetitive and turgid prose of the original, which is difficult to read even in German, according to French translator Olivier Mannoni.
“The rule at the time was to write in good French and to smooth over the asperities of the text,” said Mannoni, who spent five years on the new edition being published by Fayard, a major French publishing house.
Speaking at a press conference last month, Mannoni said his work was true to the “abominably badly written” original, half-written by Hitler during his time in jail, with all of its “dubious syntax” and “interminable and repetitive phrasing.” Read more
Onuachu, Musa’s arrival enlivens Super Eagles camp (Guardian)
Super Eagles’ camp experienced a new impetus yesterday when team captain, Ahmed Musa and Europe’s rave of the moment, Paul Onuachu, arrived in the team’s Hilton Garden Inn Wiener Neustadt Osterreich, Austria lodge.
Nigeria is preparing for back-to-back international friendlies against Cameroon today and Tuesday.
Yesterday’s arrivals brought the number of players in camp to 20, giving the Gernot Rohr-led technical crew the opportunity to plot their strategies for the games, which satellite television broadcasters, DStv and GOtv, have assured they would broadcast live to Nigerians.
Looking forward to successful matches against Cameroun, Rohr said the quality of players available for selection has given him the chance to try new tricks with the team, adding that the match against the Lions will help him assess and evaluate the new players could bring to the group. Read more
Rohr bemoans absence of key stars for Cameroon friendly (Punch)
Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has bemoaned the unavailability of some of his key players for Friday’s international friendly against Cameroon in Austria.
The Eagles will also play the Indomitable Lions four days later at the same venue.
Rohr initially selected a 31-man squad, before reducing the list of players to 23 last week.
However, that number has been dwindling over the last few days, leaving Rohr scrambling to find replacements in time for the game. Read more
NFL agrees to drop race bias in concussion claims (BBC)
The NFL has said it will stop settling concussion lawsuits using a race-based formula that assumes black players have a lower level of cognitive function.
America’s top-flight football league also pledged to review previous brain injury claims that have been settled via the practice known as race-norming.
Two black players filed a civil rights lawsuit over the practice.
More than 2,000 former NFL players have lodged dementia claims, but fewer than 600 have received compensation. Read more
LeBron James bolts court as Lakers get their ‘ass kicked’ (NYPost)
The Phoenix Suns made LeBron James look away.
Riding an orange wave of support in the desert, the Suns sent the four-time league MVP to the locker room early and took control of their first-round playoff series with a 115-85 dismantling of the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.
The Suns lead 3-2, one win shy of becoming the first team in 15 tries to send James packing in the first round of the playoffs.
“There’s nobody that’s scared of the moment,” Suns guard Devin Booker said. “We’re a confident team.”
The Suns won in Los Angeles on Sunday to tie the series and went right at the Anthony Davis-less Lakers in front of a revved-up crowd in Game 5. Read more
Euro 2020: Germany get to work in the mountains with lofty ambitions (DW)
Germany’s preparations for Euro 2020 have begun as Joachim Löw’s side looks to make the most of the sun in Seefeld, Austria. With Thomas Müller and Mats Hummels returning, are Germany in with a chance again?
Preparations for a major tournament can only mean one thing for Germany: a return to the mountains. As Der Spiegel’s Peter Ahrens wrote this week, “whenever a tournament is scheduled, Germany head coach Joachim Löw looks to be close to the mountains.”
More often than not, that tends to be in Tyrol, and it is in Seefeld, near Innsbruck, more famous for hosting Winter Olympic events than summer football, that Germany prepares for Euro 2020.
Löw’s last tournament, the return of old faces and an association still battling off-field issues has made for bumpy, if not familiar, circumstances for Germany ahead of a major tournament. Read more
NBA play-off round-up: Nets clinch series win, Lakers face elimination (BBC)
The Brooklyn Nets clinched a 4-1 series win over the Boston Celtics, while reigning champions the Los Angeles Lakers are on the brink of elimination.
The Lakers, without Anthony Davis, lost 115-85 to the Phoenix Suns and trail 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.
Elsewhere, the Denver Nuggets secured a 147-140 win in double-overtime against the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Blazers’ Damian Lillard scored 55 points including a play-off record 12 three-pointers in defeat.James Harden scored a 34-point triple-double in the Nets’ 123-109 win, adding 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Read more