LAWMA seals market over poor sanitation (Punch)
The Lagos Waste Management Authority, on Thursday, sealed Ire-Akari Market in the Isolo area of Lagos over poor sanitation.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s Senior Special Assistant on New Media, Jubril Gawat, disclosed this on X via @Mr_JAGs, saying, “Enforcement team today sealed Ire-Akari market, Isolo, for poor environmental sanitation and the use of cart pushers in violation of the state’s environmental laws.”
Also, the spokesperson for the state ministry of environment, Kunle Adeshina, in a post on X, revealed that the ministry alongside the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps, removed structures around Aguda Market in the Coker Aguda Local Council Development Area. Read more
FG, governors agree to establish state police (Tribune)
The federal government and governors of the 36 states of the federation have agreed to set up state police as the nation struggles to curtail insecurity.
The agreement was reached during an emergency meeting between President Bola Tinubu and the governors, which took place at the presidential villa in Abuja on Thursday.
Vice President Kashim Shettima was also in attendance at the meeting called at the instance of the president. Read more
FG discontinues ‘treasonable felony’ case against Sowore (Leadership)
The Federal Government of Nigeria has discontinued an alleged treasonable felony case filed against activist and publisher, Omoyele Sowore, and one other person before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The nolle prosequi (Notice Of Discontinuance) dated Thursday, February 15, 2024, was filed before the Federal High Court sitting Abuja by the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN.
LEADERSHIP reports that the case, instituted in 2019 by the immediate-past Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN, was between the Federal Republic of Nigeria as Complainant and Sowore and one Olawale Adebayo Bakare (a.k.a Mandate) as Defendants. Read more
Asake tops lists of 2023 most streamed artistes in Nigeria (Nation)
Indigenous singer, Ahmed Ololade, popularly known as Asake, has topped the list of most streamed artistes in Nigeria.
According to the list released by TurnTable Charts, the ‘Mogbe’ hitmaker ranked high above other singers.
Recall that Asake hit stardom after the release of his hit single ‘Omo Ope’ in 2022.
In a list of 2023 most streamed Nigerian artistes, the singer topped the list with 654 million streams. Read more
Lagos Assembly urges government support for school girl suffering teargas injury (Nation)
The Lagos State House of Assembly has urged the government to support Amina Alege, a 12-year-old student of the Adam Yakubu Memorial High School who suffered an eye injury after she was allegedly tear-gassed by the police.
The incident occurred on Friday, February 9, in front of a mosque near Adam Yakubu Memorial High School in Iloro, Cement, Agege, Lagos.
The House called on the Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, and the ministry to offer necessary support to the young girl, who is billed for surgery. Read more
Tinubu reappoints Adeyeye as NAFDAC DG, appoints heads for PCN, 6 others (Independent)
President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment and reappointment of the board chairpersons and chief executive officers of agencies under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.
A statement issued by Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, said this was in furtherance of Tunubu’s determination to bring world-class standards to Nigerian public health administration and to manifest his commitment to deliver affordable and quality care to all Nigerians under governance and regulatory frameworks commensurate with international best practice.
The appointees include Dr. Mansur Kabir as Board Chairperson of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), while Prof. Moji Adeyeye is reappointed as Chief Executive Officer. Read more
FG plans to digitalise MDAs operations (Vanguard)
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, says the need to urgently digitalise government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) cannot be overemphasised.
Tijani stated this on Thursday at the meeting of the Nigeria National Council of ICT Heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, in Abeokuta.
He noted that this would not only aid proactiveness in the business of governance but would also block fraudulent activities, help improve Nigeria’s economy and set government priorities right at all times. Read more
SSANU, NASU kick over payment of withheld salaries to ASUU (ThisDay)
Trouble may be looming in the nation’s universities following the decision by the federal government to pay the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the four months withheld salaries in exclusion of other three university-based unions.
The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), had written to the Chief of Staff to the President, Hon. Femi Gbajiabiamila, on the implications of the decision of the government to single out ASUU for the payment in exclusion of the other three unions.
In a leaked memo to the Chief of Staff dated February 13, 2024, SSANU and NASU warned that if the government went ahead with the exclusion policy, the two unions might no longer guarantee uninterrupted academic activities. Read more
Anya Taylor-Joy to appear in ‘‘Dune: Part Two’’ in surprise casting (Deadline)
Anya Taylor-Joy will be seen on screen in ‘‘Dune: Part 2’’, in a surprise casting revealed the day of the film’s London world premiere, Deadline has confirmed.
She joins a list of newcomers that includes Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Léa Seydoux, Souheila Yacoub, Christopher Walken and Tim Blake Nelson. Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya lead the sequel, with Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Javier Bardem, Stellan Skarsgård and Charlotte Rampling also returning.
Details as to Taylor-Joy’s role are under wraps. ‘‘Dune: Part Two’’ is the second in a line of blockbusters, based on Frank Herbert’s epic sci-fi novel, that Denis Villeneuve has directed for Warner Bros and Legendary Entertainment. The first, released in the fall of 2021, landed six Oscars and grossed over $402MM worldwide. Read more
Meryl Streep confirmed to return for more Only Murders in the Building in season 4 (People)
There’s more murders and more Meryl coming up on Only Murders in the Building season 4!
On Thursday, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed Meryl Streep will be returning to the hit Hulu series to reprise her role of Broadway star Loretta Durkin.
“Meryl is returning for next season because she had a tremendous time,” 20th Television president Karey Burke, whose studio produces OMITB, said on THR’s TV’s Top 5 podcast, airing Friday. Read more
School lists which female students are virgins before leaking it online (Metro)
A university collected and – then leaked – the ‘virginity status’ of 190 female students.
A scandal has engulfed the Al-Farabi National University in Almaty, Kazakhstan, as the confidential data was published on WhatsApp.
This includes their names, ages, phone numbers and even tax codes of the victims. Read more
Matthew Morrison reveals he planned to leave Glee before Cory Monteith died (EW)
Matthew Morrison wasn’t filled with glee on the set of his biggest project.
In an interview with the And That’s What You REALLY Missed podcast, the actor revealed that he was so unhappy on the set of Glee that he planned to exit the show. “I actually was trying to get off the show,” Morrison said. In season 5, I asked to be off the show, just ‘cause like, I’m no longer being used in the way I wanted to.”
Morrison, who played the teacher Will Schuester on the series, said that he had hoped to capitalize off of Glee’s success to take on new projects. “No disrespect to the show,” he said. “We were at a high, I was like, ‘Maybe if I get off the show, I could go do something else, go do a movie,’ and they agreed to let me off the show.” Read more
Cillian Murphy calls Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries scandal a ‘‘collective trauma’’ (Guardian)
Learning about the abuses of the church in the “dysfunctional Christian society” of 1980s Ireland amounted to a “collective trauma” that has still not been fully processed, actor Cillian Murphy said as a new film set against the backdrop of the Magdalene Laundries scandal premiered at the Berlin film festival.
‘‘In Small Things Like These’’, the Oppenheimer star plays Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man who accidentally becomes aware of abuse happening at the local convent in New Ross, southwest County Wexford, Ireland.
As a punishment for having sex outside of marriage, women in Ireland were for more than two centuries sent to restrictive church-run workhouses, where they carried out agonising unpaid labour and were shut off from society against their will. The Magdalene Laundries system went unchallenged until 1993, when unmarked graves containing remains of 155 women were discovered in the backyard of one of the institutions. Read more
Giant teddy bear nabs Peru drug dealers in Valentine raid (France24)
Happy Valentine’s Day, you’re under arrest!
Two Peruvian women accused of drug trafficking got more than they bargained for on Wednesday when a romantic gesture turned out to be a police raid leading to their arrests.
Police footage of the raid showed a giant teddy bear holding up gifts outside the women’s home, while another officer held a heart-covered sign reading “You are my reason to smile”. Read more
Greece legalises same-sex marriage (BBC)
Greece has become the first Christian Orthodox-majority country to legalise same-sex marriage.
Same-sex couples will now also be legally allowed to adopt children after Thursday’s 176-76 vote in parliament.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the new law would “boldly abolish a serious inequality”.
But it has divided the country, with fierce resistance led by the powerful Orthodox Church. Its supporters held a protest rally in Athens. Read more
‘I’m in a good place’ — Dessers keen to remain at Rangers (CompleteSports)
Cyriel Dessers says he feels he is in a good place after his impressive performance in Rangers’ victory against Ross County on Wednesday night.
The Nigeria international netted a brace for Rangers in the encounter.
Dessers opened scoring for Rangers inside the opening five minutes. Read more
African games: Flying Eagles, Falconets players invited to camp (Vanguard)
Head Coach for the Flying Eagles, Ladan Bosso, has called up 30 Under-20 Flying Eagles players to resume camp on Thursday (today) in Abuja in preparation for the games in Accra, Ghana, from March 8 to 24.
Ademola Olajire, Director of Communications at the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), stated this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a final list will be drawn from the 30 players invited to the Flying Eagles’ camp to fly Nigeria’s flag at the men’s football event. Read more
Kylian Mbappe to leave Paris Saint-Germain this summer (Sky)
Kylian Mbappe will leave Paris Saint-Germain this summer.
Mbappe, out of contract in the summer, communicated his decision to Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the PSG president, on Tuesday.
PSG expect Mbappe to join Real Madrid at the end of the season once the terms of his exit are finalised.
The two parties still need to negotiate whether Mbappe will leave for a fee or sacrifice his own earnings. PSG have Mbappe’s word that he will never leave on a free transfer. Read more
Crystal Palace provide update on health of Roy Hodgson amid Oliver Glasner links (SportsMole)
Crystal Palace have released an update on the health of manager Roy Hodgson, confirming he is now stable in hospital after being taken ill on Thursday morning.
Hodgson was forced to depart training with an undisclosed issue and his press conference which was set for 1:30pm had to be cancelled.
The fears around Hodgson’s health come amidst rumours that the club have already agreed terms with his replacement, as Oliver Glasner is reportedly set to take charge. Read more
Stephen Curry hits ridiculous full court shot from tunnel before game vs. Clippers (SI)
Stephen Curry’s biggest highlight of Wednesday came before his game even tipped off.
As the Golden State Warriors warmed up ahead of their showdown against the Los Angeles Clippers, Curry put on a bit of a show for the fans who arrived early.
Curry walked back into the tunnel at one corner of the court, and after a few tosses to himself, hurled the ball all the way across the floor to the basket on the other side of the arena. Read more
Christian Horner: Red Bull team boss says allegations are ‘‘distraction’’ (BBC)
Christian Horner says that allegations of inappropriate and controlling behaviour against him are “a distraction” for his Red Bull team.
The Red Bull team boss is the subject of an internal investigation after complaints from a female colleague.
“Firstly, I obviously deny the allegations that have been made,” Horner, 50, told BBC Sport at the launch of Red Bull’s new car.
“But I’m going through a process and fully respect it.” Read more