New APC nomination fee for Lagos LG poll outrageous, says group (ThisDay)
The new nomination guidelines for Lagos local government poll aspirants by the All Progressives Congress (APC) is drawing criticisms from different quarters. One of such is coming from the Lagos4Lagos movement, a group within the party.
At a media briefing Friday, the Principal Coordinator of the group, Bode Makinde, described the increase in nomination form fee as “a deliberate move to disenfranchise the majority of the interested candidates in favour of the incumbents and the ‘anointed’.”
The new guidelines pegged the nomination form fee for the position of LGA Chairman at N2,000,000. Male aspirants are expected to pay an additional N50,000 administration fee, while females get 50 per cent off, exclusive of the administration fee. The new fee is a sharp increase from N550,000, the price of the form in 2017. Read more
Sanwo-Olu: Lagos completed 1,097 school projects in two years (Nation)
Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said his administration has completed over 1,097 projects in 970 primary and secondary schools in the past two years.
The government also built and rehabilitated 322 dilapidated schools – including five new schools – and supplied 87,000 dual composite units of furniture to primary and secondary schools.
He spoke on Thursday at inauguration of a new block of 10 classrooms at the Akintan Junior Grammar School, Surulere – one of four school projects he inaugurated.
Sanwo-Olu, who had earlier visited the other three schools (Fazil Omar Senior High School, weeIwaya; Onike Girls’Junior High School, Yaba and Igbobi Junior High School, Simply), also said that 100 Lagos schools would soon get fibre optics installed for internet connection. Read more
Police, Okada riders clash in Lagos (Punch)
There is unrest in Ogba, Lagos over the alleged shooting of a commercial motorcyclist, popularly known as Okada, by a police officer.
A source told PUNCH Metro that the unrest started yesterday when a police officer refused to pay for the service rendered to him by an Okada rider.
The anonymous source also told PUNCH Metro that two people were allegedly killed last night.
“It’s a bike man vs policemen fight. An Okada rider rendered a service to a policeman yesterday, then asked for money after dropping him off. He was shot by the policeman who refused to pay him. Read more
Lagos State partners Ebonylife, Trace TV for EkoBeats (Vanguard)
Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts & Culture has collaborated with EbonyLife Place and Trace Naija to celebrate AfroBeats, the Nigerian art form that has conquered the world. EkoBeats was staged on Tuesday 27th April 2021 to highlight some of the rising stars on the Lagos music scene while giving new and exciting young vocalists an opportunity to shine in an ‘open mic session.
The Hon. Commissioner of Tourism, Arts & Culture, Mrs Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf expressed optimism about the event. “Lagos State is the true home of Afrobeats, with its talented musicians and producers, and the record labels that have nurtured them. We have the biggest concerts and the loyal fans that have launched Nigeria’s greatest music stars onto the world stage. EkoBeats is our celebration of this world-class music that has created economic opportunities and employment for our young people, and continues to create positive ways for them to realise their true potential.”
The EkoBeats music showcase featured a host of performers and open-mic vocalists who treated the audience to an afternoon of musical ingenuity. The event took place at Ebonylife Place, Victoria Island. Hosted by the amiable Sensei Uche, the performing acts included Avala, SGaWD, DJ SkoolBoi and several other Afrobeats artists. Read more
Security challenges: UNILAG will no longer grant access to heavily-tinted vehicles (Vanguard)
The University of Lagos (UNILAG) will no longer grant access to heavily-tinted vehicles as it gets set to bring back students to campus.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Academics, Prof. Oluwole Familoni, said on Friday that the decision was informed by rising security challenges, especially attacks in institutions of learning.
He spoke at a news conference to announce UNILAG’S resumption for the second semester of the 2019/2020 academic session.
“We are aware of the disturbing security situation in the country especially as it concerns institutions of higher learning. Read more
Aisha Alhassan, Mama Taraba, is dead (DailyTrust)
Aisha Alhassan, former Minister of Women Affairs, popularly known as Mama Taraba, is dead.
Details of are death are sketchy but Daily Trust gathered that she died at a hospital overseas.
The deceased battled a protracted illness in her last years.
Alhassan contested the Taraba 2015 governorship election under the Platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) but lost to incumbent Governor Darius Ishaku, who ran under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Shortly after her loss, President Muhammadu Buhari named her Minister of Women Affairs. Read more
Supreme Court upholds deregistration of 74 political parties (Channels)
The Supreme Court has affirmed the judgement of the Court of Appeal which upheld the deregistration of the National Unity Party and others.
INEC had last year deregistered the parties over failure to win any election during the 2019 general election.
In the judgement, delivered by Justice Adamu Jauro, the apex court said the de-registration of NUP and 73 other parties, was done in line with the law and compliance with the extant provisions of the Constitution and Electoral Act.
In the appeal before the apex court, NUP challenged their deregistration by INEC at the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal. Read more
FUOYE workers protest registrar’s sacking, seek reinstatement (Punch)
Some workers of Federal University, Oye Ekiti on Friday protested last month’s sacking of the registrar of the institution, alleging that the action is the handiwork of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Abayomi Fasina, which must be reversed.
The placards-carrying workers, under the aegis of Concerned New Staff, who alleged that Fasina sacked Olatunbosun Odusanya as a vendetta, called on the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), the National Assembly, Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu and all relevant individuals and bodies to reinstate the registrar.
Among inscriptions on the placards are “The registrar must return,” “This injustice must stop: Enough is enough,” “The new sheriff must go or bow to regulations,” “Fashina must go or bow to regulation” and “Why will the registrar be sacked because he employed unemployed citizens?”
A spokesperson for the protesting workers, who identified himself as Adebayo, said, “The unceremonial sack of the registrar to settle personal scores must not be allowed to stay so that many more workers will not be sacked that way. Read more
Italy bound 23-year-old excretes 59 wraps heroin at Abuja airport (Nation)
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 23-year-old suspected drug trafficker, Okoguale Douglas, who excreted 59 wraps of heroin weighing 781.2 grammes at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
The agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said this followed his arrest at the airport while trying to board a Milan, Italy bound flight.
Babafemi said Douglas, who hails from Uromi in Esan North-East Local Government area of Edo state, was arrested by operatives of the NDLEA during an outward clearance of Ethiopian airline flight number 910 at the boarding gate of the airport enroute Abuja-Addis Ababa-Milan.
He said after being scanned, the results proved positive for ingestion of the substance. Read more
Zulu Queen: Mantfombi Dlamini-Zulu buried amid succession row (BBC)
The Zulu Queen, Mantfombi Dlamini-Zulu, who died unexpectedly last week, has been buried in a private ceremony in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province.
She was appointed regent of the country’s largest ethnic group in March following the death of her husband King Goodwill Zwelithini.
The queen’s death, at 65, has triggered a bitter family feud and a power struggle over the succession.
The family has dismissed rumours that she had been poisoned. Read more
Beijing tells Tokyo not to bury its head in the sand over Fukushima wastewater row (RT)
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has hit out at Tokyo once again as Japan refuses to respond to international criticism over its plans to dump supposedly treated nuclear wastewater from the Fukushima plant into the sea.
Speaking on Friday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin reiterated China’s position that the discharge of nuclear wastewater into the sea is a matter concerning all countries and not just Japan.
Wang stated that the international community has generally expressed strong concerns about the possible impact of Japan’s actions but the country’s government is yet to make any comment and ignores its international responsibilities. Read more
Twitter adds ‘tip jar’ to pay for good tweeting (BBC)
Twitter has launched a new “tip jar” feature that lets people send money to others on the social network.
The company says the feature is “an easy way to support the incredible voices that make up the conversation”.
To begin with, only a select group of people can receive tips – a group Twitter said was made up of “creators”, journalists, experts, and non-profits.
But the feature has also been criticised for exposing personal information such as email addresses. Read more
Israeli troops kill 2 Palestinians in West Bank firefight amid continued tensions in Jerusalem (France24)
Israeli troops shot and killed two Palestinians and wounded a third after the men opened fire on a base in the occupied West Bank on Friday, the latest in a series of violent confrontations amid soaring tensions in Jerusalem.
Dozens of Palestinians in an east Jerusalem neighborhood are at risk of being evicted following a long legal battle with Israeli settlers, and Palestinian protesters have clashed with Israeli police in the city on a nightly basis since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The tensions have radiated across the region, with neighboring Jordan warning Israel against further “provocative” steps, and Iran seizing on the sensitivities around Jerusalem and encouraging the violence.
Israeli police said three attackers fired on the base near the northern West Bank town of Jenin. The Border Police and an Israeli soldier opened fire in response, killing two of the men and wounding a third, who was evacuated to a hospital. Read more
Australia to resume India repatriation flights after backlash (BBC)
Australia will resume repatriation flights for some citizens in India after a controversial ban on arrivals from the country ends on 15 May.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has faced criticism for failing to help citizens trapped in the Covid-ravaged nation.
The ban sparked further anger after the government said Australians seeking to fly home could face jail or fines. Mr Morrison later played down this threat.
On Friday, he said they would begin by bringing back “vulnerable” citizens. Read more
End Of The Road festival confirms 2021 line-up (Uncut)
End Of The Road festival has confirmed its line-up for the 2021 edition, taking place at Larmer Tree Gardens near Salisbury on September 2-5. Some artists have been retained from the postponed 2020 event while others are brand new additions.
The four festival headliners are now Hot Chip, Stereolab, King Krule and Sleaford Mods, while Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood makes a rare solo live appearance.Other exciting new additions to the bill include Uncut favourites Tinariwen, Arab Strap, Shirley Collins & The Lodestar Band, Jane Weaver, Kikagaku Moyo, Hen Ogledd and Altin Gün. Read more
Liz Cambage criticises Australian Olympic team photo shoot (BBC)
An Australian basketball player has threatened to boycott the upcoming Olympics due to an alleged lack of diversity in a promotional photo shoot.
An image released this week showed Australian Olympians and Paralympians in sponsored outfits, but did not feature any athletes of colour.
WNBA player Liz Cambage later said the photo had been “whitewashed”.
The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has said more should have been done to reflect the team’s diversity. Read more
Qatar 2022 Qualifiers: Super Eagles shop for friendlies (Nation)
Following the postponement of the African qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) are now sweating on the possibilities of organising some top friendly matches for the Super Eagles.
The CAF Emergency Committee, in consultation with FIFA, decided to postpone the CAF qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 due to be played next month after taking into consideration the current challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need to ensure the optimal playing conditions for all participating teams.
The qualifiers, according to CAF will now take place in the existing windows of September, October and November 2021, and March 2022. Read more
Conor McGregor rips into Floyd Mayweather after Jake Paul brawl (Metro)
Conor McGregor branded Floyd Mayweather ’embarrassing’ following his brawl with Jack Paul. The pair clashed following a press conference at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Thursday which culminated in an unseemly brawl that left the YouTuber sporting a black eye. Mayweather snapped after Paul, whose brother Jake is due to fight the former undisputed, unbeaten pound for pound king on June 6, stole his baseball cap as the altercation intensified. UFC star McGregor lost to Mayweather in an exhibition boxing match back in 2017 and has continued their long-running feud over social media and the Irishman couldn’t resist an opportunity to dig out his rival again following last night’s dramatic scenes. Read more
Madrid Open: Ashleigh Barty to play Aryna Sabalenka in final (BBC)
World number one Ashleigh Barty reached the Madrid Open final by beating Spanish wildcard Paula Badosa to record her 16th consecutive win on red clay.
Barty, 25, hit 30 winners on her way to a 6-4 6-3 victory against Badosa.
The Australian won the 2019 French Open title and did not play on the surface again – because of an 11-month absence enforced by the pandemic – until she won last month’s Stuttgart Open.
She will face Belarusian fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka in the Madrid final.
Sabalenka, who has won nine of her 10 matches on clay this season, won 6-2 6-3 against Russian world number 41 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Thursday’s second semi-final. Read more
Guardiola says Champions League final not on his mind as Man City host Chelsea (France24)
Pep Guardiola says Manchester City’s Premier League clash with Chelsea on Saturday comes too early to have any bearing on the Champions League final.
The two sides will meet again in European club football’s showpiece in Istanbul on May 29.
City manager Guardiola said: “If we played the final in one week, six days, it could be but after tomorrow there are 21-22 days. Many things can happen. We just have to focus.”
Victory for City this weekend would see them secure their third Premier League title in four years.
“Always I have said the Premier League is the most important title,” said Guardiola. Read more
Pfizer and BioNTech will donate vaccines for Olympic athletes (CBC)
Vaccine developers Pfizer and BioNTech will donate doses to inoculate athletes and officials preparing for the Tokyo Olympics, the IOC said Thursday.
Delivery of doses is set to begin this month to give Olympic delegations time to be fully vaccinated with a second shot before arriving in Tokyo for the games, which open on July 23.It’s the second major vaccination deal for the International Olympic Committee. An agreement was announced in March between the IOC and Olympic officials in China to buy and distribute Chinese vaccines ahead of the Tokyo Games and next year’s Beijing Winter Games. Read more