Leah Sharibu: FIDA, CSOs, stakeholders call for unconditional release (Vanguard)
Five years after Leah Sharibu, one of the Dapchi schoolgirls was kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents; she is yet to be released and seems to have been forgotten.
She was abducted on February 19, 2018 in Yobe State alongside 109 other girls but while the other girls were released, Leah was held back because she refused to abandon her Christian faith and accept Islam as her abductors wanted.
A Nigerian child in the face of a security challenge is something to worry about. Read more
Finnish police release Ekpa, pro-Biafran agitator, hours after grilling (Guardian)
Finland authorities on Thursday arrested Simon Ekpa, a popular pro-Biafra separatist agitator and self-acclaimed disciple of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), in Finland.
Ekpa was later released on Thursday evening after the police allegedly arrested him for a suspected crime in Finland.
The Finnish Central Criminal Police confirmed Ekpa’s release on Thursday, according to HS reports. Read more
24 Hours To Go: How Atiku, Tinubu, Obi, Kwankwaso will share 87m votes (DailyTrust)
It’s too close to call – Experts
Ex-VP, Asiwaju for epic battle
Popularity test for former Anambra gov
Ahead of tomorrow’s presidential election, political analysts and development experts have predicted how the four frontline candidates will share 87.2 million votes.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) registered 93,469,008 persons for the election. But, yesterday, the electoral body said a total of 87,209,007 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) were collected by eligible registrants for the elections.
The experts, however, said even though it is not clear who will emerge president at the end of tomorrow’s poll, each of the four frontline candidates represents an identity that will influence the outcome of the election.
Daily Trust reports that this is Nigeria’s seventh electoral cycle since 1999. Read more
Lagos Muslim Community backs Tinubu, Sanwo-Olu’s reelection (Guardian)
Over 1000 Muslims in Lagos have come together to rally support and endorsed the All Progressives Congress Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the poll, adding that he contributed a lot to the country, promoting democracy, good governance and economic development.
The Muslim organisations, who met with Tinubu at an interactive session at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, includes Ansar-ud Deen Society of Nigeria, Nawar-Ud-Deen, Anwar ul Islam, Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN) and others.
The Muslim Community presented the Muslim agenda to the APC presidential candidate praying for landslide victory in the coming election. Read more
Lagos-Port Harcourt passenger, airline worker clash after flight cancellation (Punch)
A fight broke out between a passenger and an airline representative of Max Air, identified simply as Helen, at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.
The PUNCH reports that the passengers of the airline scheduled for a Lagos to Port Harcourt (Rivers State) trip on Thursday were stranded after the airline announced cancellation after about seven hours.
The passengers became stranded after waiting for the flight, which was earlier scheduled for 10:30 am but suffered postponements. It was later declared cancelled around 7pm. Read more
Security agents take over election results collation centre (Sun)
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday, declared its readiness for tomorrow’s presidential and National Assembly election, announcing that 87.2 million Nigerian electorate are eligible to participate.
INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, who made the disclosure at a world press conference in Abuja, however, lamented that there were still many uncollected Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs).
According to the latest breakdown, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina and Rivers lead the voting strength. Read more
Naira Swap: Buhari didn’t overrule Supreme Court – Malami (Leadership)
As the crisis of Naira redesign persists, the attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice, Abubakar Malami, has dismissed insinuations that President Muhammadu Buhari overruled the Supreme Court order on the new naira .
He disclosed this yesterday during the weekly ministerial briefing organised by the presidential communication team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to him, no Nigerian has taken the old notes to the bank and was rejected, even as he insisted that the administration had not breached the apex court. Read more
Benin Monarch to unveil Iyoba statue Friday (Tribune)
The Oba of Benin, His Royal Majesty Ewuare II, will on Monday unveil the Iyoba N’ Uselu Statue, Queen mother, Ikuoyemwen.
This was contained in a press statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Oba, Iguobaro Osaigbovo, and made available to journalists on Wednesday in Benin City.
According to the statement, the unveiling ceremony is expected to hold on Friday, beginning at 3p.m at 5 junction on Uselu Lagos Road, Benin City. Read more
Weinstein begs for mercy as he is sentenced for another rape (BBC)
Ex-film mogul Harvey Weinstein begged for leniency in a Los Angeles court moments before he was given an additional 16 years in prison for rape.
He was convicted of attacking an actress in a hotel room during a film festival in the city in February 2013.
“Please don’t sentence me to life in prison,” the disgraced Hollywood star told the court. “I don’t deserve it.”
More than 80 people have made rape and misconduct claims about Weinstein dating back as far as the late 1970s. Read more
China reiterates position on Ukraine in new 12-point paper as claims to neutrality questioned (CNN)
China reiterated its calls for a political settlement to the Ukraine conflict on the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion, as Beijing came under increasing pressure from the United States and its allies over its growing partnership with Moscow.
In a newly released position paper Friday, China’s Foreign Ministry called for a resumption of peace talks, an end to unilateral sanctions, and stressed its opposition to the use of nuclear weapons.
“Conflict and war benefit no one. All parties must stay rational and exercise restraint, avoid fanning the flames and aggravating tensions, and prevent the crisis from deteriorating further or even spiraling out of control,” the paper said. Read more
New Lord of the Rings films in the works at Warner Bros (Guardian)
Cinema is heading back to Middle-earth, with Warner Bros and New Line signing a deal to make more adaptations of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
Warner Bros Discovery’s chief executive, David Zaslav, announced on Thursday on an earnings call that a deal had been brokered to make “multiple” films based on JRR Tolkien’s books. The cost of the deal with Embracer Group, the Swedish gaming company that owns the rights to most of Tolkien’s world, has yet to be revealed.
The films will be developed through the Warner Bros production company New Line Cinema, which produced the trilogy made by the director Peter Jackson between 2001 and 2003. Those films grossed almost $3bn around the world, with the third instalment, The Return of the King, winning 11 Oscars including best picture at the Academy Awards. Read more
Oscars 2023: Rihanna to perform Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Original Song (ET)
Rihanna is tackling another first! On Thursday, it was announced that the singer will perform her Oscar-nominated single, “Lift Me Up,” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever at the 95th Academy Awards.
The nine-time GRAMMY winner earned her first Oscar nomination for the film soundtrack’s lead single, which plays during the end credits of the Black Panther sequel. The song was penned by singer Tems, Oscar winner Ludwig Göransson, Rihanna and Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler, and serves as a eulogy to Chadwick Boseman, who played King T’Challa, aka Black Panther, and died at the age of 43 after a four-year battle with colon cancer.
In the Best Original Song category, the song is up against Diane Warren’s “Applause” (Tell It Like a Woman), Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand” (Top Gun: Maverick), NTR and Ram Charan’s “Naatu Naatu” (RRR) and Son Lux, Mitski and David Byrne’s “This Is a Life” (Everything Everywhere All at Once). Read more
Post Malone and Kid Cudi to headline Salt Lake City’s Hive Festival (HipHopDX)
Post Malone and Kid Cudi have been tapped to headline the 2023 Hive Festival in Salt Lake City – a two-day event that will feature other big acts like Big Sean, Denzel Curry, GloRilla and more.
The festival goes down June 9 and 10 at SLC’s Utah State Fairpark, and tickets go up for pre-sale Thursday (February 23) at 10 a.m. MT. Other acts tapped include Joey Bada$$, BLXST, Flatbush Zombies, NLE Choppa, Ab-Soul, Nardo Wick and a host of others – along with Murda Beatz and The Alchemist at the DJ booth.
The spring season hosts tons of festivals every year, and a lot of announcements of star-studded lineups have been rolling out. Read more
North Korea fires 4 cruise missiles into the Sea of Japan (France24)
North Korea has test-fired four strategic cruise missiles into the sea, state media said Friday, adding that the drill demonstrated the conflict readiness of Pyongyang’s “nuclear combat force.”
It was the latest in a series of provocative weapons tests that have sent tensions soaring on the Korean peninsula — and heightened fears that the North might conduct its first nuclear test since 2017.
The four “Hwasal-2” missiles were fired from the area of Kim Chaek City in North Hamgyong province towards the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, at dawn on Thursday, the Korean Central News Agency stated. Read more
Falcons need surgical operation before World Cup – Izilien (Punch)
Following the Super Falcons poor performance at the just-concluded Revelations Cup tournament in Mexico, former coach of the team, Godwin Izilein, has called for the overhauling of the squad ahead of the World Cup, The PUNCH reports.
Having lost to hosts Mexico 1-0 and South American giants Colombia 1-0 in their first two games of the tournament, the Falcons salvaged a 1-0 win over Costa Rica at the Estadio León in León de los Aldamas in the early hours of Wednesday to end the tourney with three points.
Esther Okoronkwo’s first goal for the Falcons was all Randy Waldrum’s charges needed to claim their only win at the four-nation invitational tournament, while also ending their seven-game losing streak, the country’s longest losing run in over 20 years. Read more
Barcelona beaten by Manchester United: Xavi hopeful of European honours next season (BBC)
Barcelona manager Xavi hopes they will be competing for major European honours again next season despite experiencing their earliest exit in 25 years on Thursday.
Not since the 1998-99 campaign when they failed to make it out of a Champions League group containing eventual Treble winners Manchester United, have Barcelona failed to reach the last 16 of any European competition.
That is their fate this season following the 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford, which eliminated them from the Europa League. Read more
Angel Di Maria hits hat-trick for Juventus while Jose Mourinho inspires Roma (The42)
Angel Di Maria scored a hat-trick as Juventus reached the next stage of the Europa League with a 3-0 second leg win over Nantes.
The result allowed the Italian giants to progress 4-1 on aggregate.
Argentine World Cup winner Di Maria opened the scoring after five minutes and then added a 20th-minute penalty.
Di Maria completed his hat-trick in the 78th minute, in a game where the French side had been reduced to 10 men after just a quarter of an hour when Nicolas Pallois was red-carded for handball. Read more
Carlos Alcaraz drops 1st set, rallies into Rio Open quarters (ESPN)
Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz was far from his best against veteran Fabio Fognini but managed to advance to the Rio Open quarterfinals on Thursday.
The top-seeded Alcaraz overcame the 35-year-old Italian 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 in 2 hours, 47 minutes. The US Open champion’s next opponent will be a Serbian player — either Laslo Djere or Dusan Lajovic, who play later Thursday.
Alcaraz, 19, is playing his second tournament since he was sidelined for four months due to a right leg injury. Read more
Horschel and Bramlett set the pace at Honda Classic (StraitsTimes)
Americans Billy Horschel and Joseph Bramlett shared the first round lead at the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic on Thursday after shooting five-under rounds of 65.
The event at Palm Beach Gardens traditionally marks the start of the Florida Swing but has lost some appeal to many of the top players on the tour due to the changes in the schedule.
None of the world’s top 10 golfers are playing this week and sponsors Honda are ending their 42-year backing for the event after this year. Read more