Lagos School honours Nollywood actress Yvonne Jegede (Vanguard)
The management and staff of Roy-Dek Academy recently honoured one of Nigeria’s finest actresses Yvonne Jegede for being consistent in paying the tuition of more than 20 pupils of the school for years.
The actress who graduated from the University of Cyprus was duly honoured by the Makoko-based school for her immense contribution to the development of the school which according to the establishment is no mean feat.
It was gathered that the versatile actress has over the years been responsible for consistently paying the tuition fees of more than 20 pupils she adopted some years ago. In addition to this, she had been supplying educational materials and making voluntary donations to the school. Aside from having a ceremony to honour the actress, an exercise book was also printed by the school. Read more
Eko Club president urges IGP to reopen premises sealed off without court order (Tribune)
Lagos elite club, Eko Club, has called on the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar Adamu, to cause the reopening of the club premises which policemen in the state had sealed off without any court order, saying that Nigeria Police should be civil as they were not bad and should not be given a bad name.
President of the club, Hon Tajudeen Jaiye Agoro, made the call at the weekend while addressing newsmen in the Ebute-Metta area of the state, saying that both the high court and Court of Appeal which ruled over the suit brought by the former president of the club, Chief Rasheed Babatunde Fanimokun, never mentioned sealing of Eko Club.
This was just as Agoro, a legal practitioner and former member, Lagos State House of Assembly, lamented that the club had incurred close to N20million losses since the illegal occupation by the police on Tuesday, February 23, 2021, as perishable items in the canteen were all damaged, among others. Read more
FG resumes rehab works on Marine Beach bridge on Tuesday (Guardian)
The federal government says, it would resume phase 2 rehabilitation works on the Marine Beach Bridge, Apapa, Lagos, from Tuesday.
The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Mr Olukayode Popoola, disclosed this in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Sunday.
Popoola said that the rehabilitation which would last for a total of 85 days, would ensure the replacement of damaged expansion joints, bearings and asphalt components.
He said work started on the Apapa-bound lane in 2020 with the repairs covering 250 metres span. Read more
Six arrested as violence erupts over Ogun Obaship tussle (Punch)
Six persons have been arrested by men of the Ogun State Police Command over protracted Obaship tussle in Ikenne-Remo area of Ogun State.
Four persons were injured during the violence involving Agbekoya and some suspected thugs who allegedly damaged property.
The suspects reportedly unleashed terror in the area following the controversial Obaship tussle now a subject of litigation.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed this on Saturday in a statement. Read more
Digital switch over’ll be completed in 2022 – NBC (Guardian)
The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) says the Digital Switch Over (DSO) project will be completed by middle of 2022 when the country will fully transit from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting.
The Acting Director-General of the Commission, Prof. Armstrong Idachaba, gave the assurance during an interview with newsmen in Abuja on Sunday.
“With the commitment of N9.4 billion by the Federal Government and the setting up of the Ministerial Task Force by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, there will be accelerated activities toward the delivery of the project,” he said. Read more
Artworks worth millions destroyed as fire razes artists’ village in Osogbo (Vanguard)
Art material worth millions of naira were destroyed on Friday as fire razed artists’ village in Osogbo, Osun state capital.
The incident which occurred early hours razed the entire building and the property therein.
Conducting journalists round the burnt building at Osun Groove, the coordinator of the village, Mr Femi Johnson said artworks destroyed in the inferno is worth millions of naira.
According to him, the cabins and wardrobe burnt to ashes were full of carvings, batik material, woodworks and other art materials. Read more
Wizkid, Tems set to release ‘Essence’ video (Punch)
WizKid and Tems seem to be working on the video of their song “Essence”, and this has got the internet buzzing.
Posted on both of their Instagram stories Saturday, was a video snippet of them on a location presumed to be the set for the shoot.
Essence is the eleventh song on WizKid’s fourth studio album ‘Made In Lagos’. Read more
Borno government uncovers fake IDPs in Maiduguri (Guardian)
The Borno State government has uncovered about 550 fake Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), after conducting headcount of displaced persons at Mohammed Goni College of Islamic Legal Studies camp in Maiduguri.
This is contained in a statement by Malam Isa Gusau, Special Adviser on Communications and Strategy to Gov. Babagana Zulum on Sunday in Maiduguri.
“At about midnight on Sunday, Gov. Babagana Zulum visited Mohammed Goni College of Islamic Legal Studies in Maiduguri, where Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Abadam were being camped. Read more
US pastor on leave after Melania Trump ‘trophy wife’ comments (BBC)
A Baptist preacher in Missouri has gone on leave after a backlash over comments he made about women’s appearances.
Pastor Stewart-Allen Clark drew scorn for a sermon offering advice to wives he said would stop their husbands becoming “distracted” by other women.
It included comments about Melania Trump whom he described as “the epic trophy wife of all time”.
The pastor’s General Baptist denomination has admonished him for his comments. Read more
Pope Prays Amid Ruins of Iraqi Churches Destroyed by IS (VOA) Pope Francis arrived in northern Iraq on Sunday where he prayed in the ruins of churches destroyed by the Islamic state and will later celebrate an open-air Mass.
His first stop Sunday was in Mosul, once a stronghold of the Islamic State. He prayed for Iraq’s war victims in a city square, among the ruins of several churches decimated by the militants.
After Mosul, Francis headed for Qaraqosh, an ancient Christian town that had been overrun by Islamic State forces, where he met with members of the local community at the Church of the Immaculate Conception. Read more
Swiss await result of Muslim ‘burqa ban’ vote (DW)
Switzerland voted on Sunday on whether to ban “full facial coverings” in public places.
The referendum comes after years of debate, following similar bans in other European countries, such as France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Switzerland operates a system of direct democracy that has allowed the vote to go ahead. Any topic can be put to a national vote as long as it gathers 100,000 signatures in the country of 8.6 million people. Read more
Israel opens restaurants and bars to customers vaccinated against COVID-19 (France24)
Israel took another step towards post-pandemic normalcy on Sunday, opening restaurants, bars and cafes to vaccinated “green pass” holders, with about 40 percent of the population fully inoculated against the coronavirus.
“We are coming to life,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared, as he cut into a pastry at a Jerusalem cafe, according to a video posted on Facebook.
Israel, which launched its vaccination campaign in December, has given the recommended two jabs of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to more than 3.7 million of its roughly nine million people.
Nearly five million have received one shot. Read more
China post-COVID export growth sets new record (DW)
China has reported the highest jump in export growth in over two decades, a year on from the coronavirus outbreak that brought economic activity to a near halt worldwide.
Exports spiked a huge 60.6% on-year in the January-February period, official data showed on Sunday.
The latest figures are in stark contrast to last year’s fall of around 17% in exports, during the same time period. This year’s growth exceeded the forecast of analysts in a Reuters poll for a nearly 39% surge. Read more
COVID vaccine-induced swelling can lead to false cancer diagnosis, doctors warn (RT)
Cancer experts and radiologists in the US are warning Covid-19 vaccine recipients that an otherwise normal immune response can be mistaken for cancer if it appears on a mammogram or other cancer screening.
Prior to major offensives against infections and unwanted intruders, some of the body’s defense forces, the white blood cells, gather in lymph nodes. However, lymph nodes, especially in the armpit, can swell up following COVID-19 vaccinations.
As cancer screenings continue parallel to vaccination drives across the world, a scan conducted soon after vaccination may yield a false positive and cause unnecessary stress during an already challenging time. Read more
UFC 259: Jan Blachowicz beats Israel Adesanya as Amanda Nunes wins again (BBC)
Both defending champions successfully retained their titles at UFC 259 as light-heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz and women’s featherweight champion Amanda Nunes picked up significant victories at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
In the main event, Poland’s Blachowicz produced a controlled, calculated performance to hand middleweight champion Israel Adesanya the first defeat of his MMA career.
Blachowicz and Adesanya traded shots through the first three rounds, with the faster, sharper Adesanya appearing to edge the action heading into the championship rounds.
But Blachowicz, 38, switched gears in rounds four and five and turned to his wrestling as he took the 31-year-old to the canvas midway through each of the final two rounds, and didn’t let the Nigerian-born Kiwi back to his feet as he dominated the action on the canvas. Read more
Sancho to miss Sevilla clash, Boateng given ‘all-clear’ (Guardian)
England winger Jadon Sancho will miss Borussia Dortmund’s Champions League clash with Sevilla on Tuesday with a thigh injury, the Bundesliga club told German media Sunday.
Sancho missed Saturday’s 4-2 defeat to Bayern Munich with an injury which will also keep him out of Tuesday’s last 16 second leg, sporting director Michael Zorc told Kicker magazine.
“It’s a big loss for us, especially given the form Jadon has been in recently,” said Zorc, with a nod to Sancho’s three goals in his last three games. Read more
Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson feared he would never speak again after brain haemorrhage (Metro)
Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson says he feared losing his memory and voice after suffering a brain haemorrhage in 2018. Ferguson, 79, required emergency surgery and spent several days in intensive care at Salford Royal Hospital in greater Manchester. ‘One of the first things I said the day after the operation when my family came to see me was [about] my memory,’ Ferguson said at the Glasgow film festival on Saturday following the premiere of a documentary about the Scotsman called Never Give In. Read more
Rangers top-flight champions for first time since 2011 after Celtic drop points (BBC)
Rangers are Scottish champions for the first time in 10 years after Celtic drew 0-0 with Dundee United.
Steven Gerrard’s side, who beat St Mirren 3-0 on Saturday, have a 20-point lead with six games remaining.
It is former Liverpool and England captain Gerrard’s first trophy as a manager in his third season at Ibrox, and ends Celtic’s bid for an unprecedented 10th successive crown.
It is the earliest Scottish title win in chronological terms. Read more
Ronaldo rested against Lazio for Champions League, says Pirlo (Punch)
Juventus Coach Andrea Pirlo said he had reached an agreement with Cristiano Ronaldo in the week leading up to his side’s 3-1 win over Lazio on Saturday that the Portuguese would be rested.
Serie A’s top goalscorer started on the bench as Juve came from behind to beat Lazio in the Juventus Stadium.
Trailing 2-1 in their Champions League last 16 clash with Porto ahead of Tuesday’s second leg in Turin, Pirlo decided to give the 36-year-old Ronaldo a break. Read more
Jurgen Klopp explains Roberto Firmino’s Liverpool absence, why Sadio Mane is dropped for Fulham clash (Metro) Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp says Roberto Firmino has picked up a minor knock which has ruled him out of Sunday’s clash with Fulham while Sadio Mane is simply the victim of rotation. The reigning Premier League champions made seven changes from the team that lost to Chelsea on Thursday with star attackers Firmino and Mane the most surprising absentees. With a Champions League last-16 clash against RB Leipzig on Wednesday, Klopp – who conceded the title last month – is now clearly prioritising Liverpool’s European campaign. Read more