Lawmaker decries coconut seizure by Customs (Nation)
The lawmaker representing Badagry Federal Constituency, Babatunde Hunpe, has decried the seizure of coconut and harassment of traders by Customs.
Coconut traders in Badagry on October 27 protested the seizure of 1, 450 bags of locally-sourced coconuts by Customs on Agbara Road, Lagos.
The traders, under the auspices of Lagos State Coconut Sellers and Traders Association (LASCOSTRAS), marched to the palace of Akran of Badagry and Badagry Local Government secretariat at Ajara. Read more
Magodo CDA raises alarm as land-grabbers convert green belt into estate (Punch)
The Gateway Zone Community Development Association, Magodo G.R.A Phase 1, Lagos State, has raised the alarm over the alleged plan by a consortium of land-grabbers, a company and traditional authorities to convert a green belt in the area to a housing estate that the promoters have named The Plush.
The green belt, which is located in a vast gorge that separates Magodo GRA Phases 1 and 2, is located in the Ikosi-Isheri Local Council Development Area of the state.
According to the association, the proposed site for the housing estate is a green belt that is always flooded, as a canal runs through it to serve as a pathway for water to flow into the lagoon. Read more
Giving impetus to justice delivery in Lagos (Guardian)
That the legal system in Lagos State is adjudged the best in Nigeria is not accidental, and historically, it is the oldest in the country.Its existence dates back to the period of the cession of Lagos to the British Colonial Government when it was established and known as Colony Province Judiciary. Since then, Lagos judiciary system has been at the forefront, with the highest number of judges, magistrates and it leads in the speedy administration of justice as well as justice delivery.
It has, however, been taking the lead among the 36 states’ legal systems following the reformation agenda that was introduced under the administration of former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which subsequent administrations have built on, including the incumbent, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat. Read more
Sex-for-grade’ lecturer sues LASU (Nation)
A LECTURER in the Faculty of Science, Lagos State University (LASU) Dr. Ogunwande Isiaka Ajani has gone to the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) to challenge his dismissal from the university over allegations of sexual harassment.
According to court processes obtained by News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ogunwande was dismissed by LASU following complaints by a female student, Miss Yusuf Abosede, who reported Ogunwande’s alleged amorous overtures towards her which she found distasteful.
In the suit filed through his counsel, Akinyemi Oladipo, the claimant joined the Governing Council Lagos State University, the Vice-Chancellor, the Registrar and the Chairman Joint Council/Senate (Academic) Disciplinary Committee Lagos State University as co-defendants. Read more
Tanker explosion rocks Lagos community, Kwara school razed (Punch)
Residents of the Pipeline Road, Ipaja, Lagos State, were shaken on Monday after a Mack tanker conveying 33,000 litres of suspected stolen Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) exploded in front of the Honeyland Schools.
Three vehicles and some property were burnt in the inferno before the intervention of emergency management workers from both the state and federal agencies.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the tanker was being driven out of the pipeline area when an electric wire fell on it.
A spark from the wire was said to have ignited a fire, which led to the explosion around 3am. Read more
100,000 commuters travel on Lagos waterways daily’ (Nation)
The Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) has said between 70,000 and 100,000 commuters use water transport every day in the state.
The General Manager of LASWA, Mr Oluwadamilola Emmanuel, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday.
“On a daily basis, we move between 70,000 and 100,000 people on the waterways. Every month, the figures range between 1.7 million people and two million people,” Emmanuel said. Read more
Nigeria tops global pneumonia mortality with 162,000 deaths yearly (Guardian)
-DJ Cuppy pledges N5.1b to fight scourge
With an estimated 162,000 children that reportedly died of pneumonia in Nigeria in 2018, the country has been said to have the highest number of pneumonia deaths globally.
But Save the Children Ambassador, Cuppy Otedola (a.k.a. DJ Cuppy), has promised that the over N5.1 billion raised recently at a gala night would be given to Save the Children to tackle malnutrition and pneumonia in the country. The founder of Cuppy Foundation urged Nigerians to help in tackling the epidemic as well as provide clean water and reduce air pollution.
A new report by Save the Children revealed that globally, 802,000 children under the age of five died from pneumonia in 2018 and five of the countries are responsible for more than half of the deaths. Nigeria accounts for 162,000 deaths, India 127,000, Pakistan 58,000, Democratic of Congo 40,000 and Ethiopia 32,000 deaths. Read more
737 MAX expected to resume flying in January – Boeing (Punch)
Boeing on Monday said it expects the 737 MAX airplane, which was grounded after two crashes killed 346 people, to resume flying in January, delaying its return by one month.
In a statement, the group said it still hopes to receive certification next month from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), allowing it to resume MAX deliveries to airline customers before the end of the year.
“In parallel, we are working towards final validation of the updated training requirements, which must occur before the MAX returns to commercial service, and which we now expect to begin in January,” Boeing said. Read more
Hillary Clinton: ‘Shameful’ not to publish Russia report (BBC)
It is “inexplicable and shameful” that the UK government has not yet published a report on alleged Russian interference in British politics, Hillary Clinton has told the BBC.
The report has formal security clearance, but it will not be released until after the 12 December election.
“Every person who votes in this country deserves to see that report before your election happens,” the former US presidential candidate said. Read more
Policewoman marries dreaded gangster she met in court (Nation)
At first glance, it seems like a story straight from a Bollywood potboiler. Payal, a constable from Uttar Pradesh, first met Rahul Tharasana (30), a gangster, at a court in Greater Noida where his case was being heard.
Rahul was accused of murdering a trader named Manmohan Goyal and had been arrested on May 9, 2014.
He is also accused in over a dozen cases of loot and murder.
Payal met Rahul at the Surajpur court where she was posted and immediately fell in love with him.
She remained in touch with Rahul even as he continued to be in and out of jail. Read more
China’s Jingye to invest £1bn and save ‘thousands of British Steel jobs’ (BBC)
Chinese firm Jingye says will invest £1.2bn in British Steel as it signed a deal to rescue the UK steelmaker.
It also said it would seek to “preserve thousands of jobs in a key foundation industry for the UK” but did not put a number on how many would be saved.
British Steel employs about 4,000 people in Scunthorpe and Teesside.
It has been kept running by the government via the Official Receiver since May, when the company went into liquidation. Read more
Enyimba’s Anaemena replaces Idowu as Eagles arrive in Uyo (Guardian)
Enyimba centre-back, Ifeanyi Anaemena has been called up to replace Brian Idowu in the Super Eagles squad preparing for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Benin Republic and Lesotho.Idowu – who was part of the 23-man squad for the two fixtures, will miss out due to passport issues, according to a tweet by the official Super Eagles handle.
“Bryan Idowu is out of the 2021 Afcon qualifiers owing to passport issues…Ifeanyi Anaemena of Enyimba FC is his replacement,” the tweet read.
Anaemena has been ever-present for the People’s Elephant in recent seasons, leading them to the semi-finals of the 2018 Caf Confederation Cup and winning the Nigeria Professional Football League for a record eighth time in 2019.He got his first senior national team call-up with the Nigeria (Chan team) that lost 4-3 on aggregate to Togo in the 2020 African Nations Championship qualifiers.He has joined the other members of the team, who started arriving on Sunday with Kenneth Omeruo, Samuel Kalu and Ikechukwu Ezenwa the early arrivals. Read more
Barca president: Messi’ll stay for another five years (Punch)
President Josep Maria Bartomeu has predicted that Lionel Messi will remain as Barcelona’s “leader” for another five years.
Due to a release clause in his contract, Messi is able to end his long-term association with the Catalan giants in the summer.
However, Bartomeu feels that the 32-year-old, who netted another hat-trick for the Spanish giants at the weekend, has the characteristics to stay at Camp Nou until at least 2024. Read more
Botswana coach Adel Amrouche omits quartet caught drinking (BBC)
Botswana coach, Adel Amrouche has excluded four players from his latest squad for disciplinary reasons, after they were caught drinking alcohol in October.
Amrouche has named a 25-man squad for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Zimbabwe on 15 November and Algeria three days later.
The quartet Mothusi Johnson, Mothusi Cooper, Onkabetse Makgantai and South Africa- based Thero Seetsile were all found drinking after Botswana’s 1-0 loss in a World Cup eliminator in October. Read more
CR7 faces two-year ban (Punch)
Juventus may have beaten AC Milan on Sunday night but it wasn’t a great evening for a certain Cristiano Ronaldo.
Last week, he was substituted during Juve’s Champions League match against Lokomotiv Moscow with the score still level at 1-1. The Old Lady went on to win 2-1.
And it was a similar story against Milan.
Ronaldo was replaced by Paulo Dybala in the 55th-minute with the score still 0-0. Read more
Ndidi is Leicester’s Didier Deschamps’ (Guardian)
One of Eric Cantona’s most memorable quotes came when he described his fellow Frenchman, Didier Deschamps as ‘the water carrier’.While the former Manchester United man meant that in a derisive way, every team needs one of those – a player willing to do the dirty work in midfield and put out fires.
Deschamps was one of the very best at it – a defensive midfielder, who excelled at winning the ball. He had perfect positional awareness and a tireless work rate to boot. Wilfred Ndidi is doing the same for Leicester now. No one has committed more tackles in the Premier League than the 22-year-old, and no one has made more interceptions.
There are so many things to admire about Leicester under Brendan Rodgers, and Ndidi is one of them.I was at the King Power Stadium to watch them beat Arsenal on Saturday evening and spoke to James Maddison afterwards. He hailed his Nigerian team-mate and rightly so. Read more
England v Montenegro: Raheem Sterling to miss Euro 2020 qualifier at Wembley (BBC)
England forward Raheem Sterling will not play in the Euro 2020 qualifier against Montenegro on Thursday “as a result of a disturbance in a private team area”, the Football Association has announced.
The Manchester City player, 24, was involved in an on-field argument with Liverpool defender Joe Gomez, 22, during the Reds’ 3-1 Premier League victory at Anfield on Sunday.
The Press Association reports the pair were again involved in an exchange on Monday. Read more
NBA: Warriors star Curry expects to return before season ends (Punch)
Golden State Warriors All-Star guard Stephen Curry said Monday he expects to return from a broken left hand before the conclusion of the NBA season but not before late March.
The 31-year-old veteran 3-point sharpshooter, in his 11th NBA season, is set to miss the most games of any campaign in his career with his worst injury setback.
“I definitely expect to be ready to play. I don’t know when,” Curry said Monday. “At some point in early spring. It’s just a matter of the rehab process. I’ve never broken anything and dealt with a hand injury like this. Read more
Ighalo: Benin will be hard to beat (Nation)
The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) top scorer, Odion Ighalo has warned the Eagles about threat the Squirrels of Benin Republic could pose to the Nigerians when both countries clash on Wednesday in Uyo in a Group L tie for the 2021 AFCON.
The China-based striker who scored an impressive seven goals to help Nigeria qualified for the 2019 AFCON in Egypt, said it would be reckless to underrate the battle-hardened neighbours. Read more
House of commotion! Gunners stars query Auba’s captaincy (Punch)
A number of Arsenal players have reportedly questioned the decision to hand the club captaincy to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Earlier this month, Granit Xhaka was stripped of the skipper’s armband as a result of his angry outburst towards supporters who cheered his substitution against Crystal Palace.
While it has been suggested that the Gabon international is a welcome replacement, The Athletic claims that the appointment of the forward has been queried by some of his teammates. Read more