Nigeria’s young daughters are sold as ‘money wives’ (Aljazeera)
In parts of Africa, girls as young as five are still being sold to settle their parents’ debt as part of a tradition known as money marriages. The so-called money wives can face decades of slavery and sexual exploitation as they are passed from one owner to another. Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris reports from the town of Bech-evay in Nigeria, where money marriages are widely practiced. Read more
Presidency tackles Saraki for disparaging Buhari (Nation)
The Presidency yesterday lashed Senate President Bukola Saraki for disparaging President Muhammadu Buhari. Dr Saraki, who defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to seek the presidential ticket of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), described Buhari as lacking the vision and capacity to run the country. He spoke when he led his presidential campaign team to visit Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson in Yenagoa, the state capital. Read more
Osun election: INEC clarifies ban on phone usage, warns against vote-buying (Punch)
Less than 24 hours to the governorship election in Osun State, the state Resident Electoral Commission, Mr Olusegun Agbaje, has warned politicians not to misinterpret the commission’s electoral rules for their selfish aims. Agbaje was reacting to the allegations that the commission had placed a total ban on the usage of mobile phones and cameras at polling units. Speaking on Friday at a press conference at the commission’s office in Osogbo, the state capital, the REC said it was not true that the commission had asked voters not to come to polling units with their phones. Read more
Shittu: Your Presidency stinks, PDP tells Buhari (Tribune)
THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday observed that the revelation that the Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu, dodged his compulsory one-year national service, further validates its position that President Muhammadu Buhari has many persons of questionable character in his cabinet. The party opined that President Buhari, in appointing fraudulent persons to hold key offices in his government, has shown that he has a weighty integrity burden, contrary to the ‘Mr. Clean’ posturing which his handlers had always wanted Nigerians to believe. Read more
Ambode directs state public works to fix Lagos roads in 4 weeks (Vanguard)
Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State has directed the state Public Works Corporation to fix potholes on major and inner roads across the state within the next four weeks. The Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr Ade Akinsanya, said this on Friday, during an inspection of the ongoing Pen Cinema bridge in Agege area of the state. Akinsanya said the repairs would bring relief and succour to the generality of the residents. Read more
APC: Oshiomhole bows to govs on indirect primaries (Vanguard)
National Chairman of All Progressives Congress, APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has said governors elected on the platform of the party could adopt indirect primaries in the selection of members into elective positions but with a caveat that the process must be transparent. This came as a group of aspirants in Edo State rejected moves by the state executive of the party to adopt the consensus option in granting automatic return tickets to some serving federal and state lawmakers. Read more
NAPTIP arrests Sweden-based Nigerian for allegedly ‘buying’ baby (Punch)
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons has arrested a Nigerian based in Sweden for allegedly buying a two-month-old baby. The NAPTIP’s Director of Investigation and Monitoring, Mr Josiah Emerole, made this known in Abuja on Friday. He explained that the case involved a 43-year-old Stephany Bassey, who lives in Sweden. Read more
Zoning: APC group threatens to vote PDP in C/River (Nation)
Some stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State have threatened to vote for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in next year’s election. The stakeholders who spoke through a group, the Cross River North Solidarity Forum (CRNSF), said they would vote against their party if the governorship ticket of the party which was zoned to the area in 2014 is not retained. Read more
Osun Election: FRSC deploys 1500 personnel, 60 vehicles (DailyTrust)
Ahead of Saturday 22 September gubernatorial elections in Osun state, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has deployed 1, 500 personnel with 60 vehicles to man strategic routes during the exercise. In a statement signed by the Corps Public Education Officer, Bisi Kazeem, to achieve a hitch free vehicular movement, the Corps Marshal Federal Road Safety Corps, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi called on road users especially those plying the identified routes to note that while Ibadan – Akure express way will be opened for free vehicular movement, vehicles will not be allowed to drive off the highway into Osun state as all connecting roads will be blocked. Read more
Retirement is a ‘curse’, South-East pensioners lament (Punch)
Pensioners in the South-East zone on Friday lamented that retirement from civil service has turned out to be a curse for them, rather than a blessing. The pensioners bemoaned their plight at the South-East Zonal meeting of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners, in Enugu. The senior citizens expressed concern over the pension situation in the zone, particularly in Imo State, where it was reported that the state government, which had slashed pensions to 40 per cent, is owes pensioners N56.4bn in arrears as of March 2018. Read more
Alcohol kills over 3 million people yearly – WHO (Guardian)
Alcohol is responsible for the death of around 3 million people per year, according to a new report by the World Health Organization. The UN health agency’s latest report on alcohol and health pointed out that alcohol causes more than one in 20 deaths globally each year, including drink driving, alcohol-induced violence and abuse and a multitude of diseases and disorders. Read more
Taking financial inclusion to the unbanked (Punch)
Every year between 1990 and 2010, the number of people living on less than N700 in Nigeria per day in today’s terms fell by an average of 50 million. Today, 760 million people globally live below this official definition of extreme poverty: that is around 10 per cent. But back in the 1980’s, it was over 40 per cent. In the developing world, this has been a positive change on a par with the drastic reductions in famine and infant mortality. Yuval Noah Harari’s book, Homo Deus, A Brief History of Tomorrow, a view into how global power might shift as Artificial Intelligence replaces natural selection, makes the point graphically: humans are now more at risk of death from obesity than from starvation. Read more
FG seeks farmers’ support to reduce local rice price (Punch)
The Federal Government on Thursday called for the support of farmers to make the price of local rice more affordable for Nigerians. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said this during a meeting with rice farmers, millers and processors. Read more
Defiant British prime minister hits back at EU over Brexit plan (Guardian)
Prime Minister Theresa May hit back Friday at the European Union after it roundly rejected her Brexit plan, saying its refusal to compromise was “not acceptable” and reiterating the possibility of walking away from the negotiations. In a defiant televised statement from Downing Street, May said the talks were at an “impasse” just six months before Britain leaves the EU and weeks ahead of a deadline to seal a deal — but put the blame on Brussels. Read more
China to become world’s largest country of organ transplants by 2020 (Punch)
China is expected to have the most organ transplant surgeries in 2020, said Huang Jiefu, Director of the China National Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee. Huang said this at the opening of 3rd China International Organ Donation Conference in Xi’an on Friday. Huang said that the number of registered volunteers for organ donation in China had neared 615,000 with 19,380 successful donation surgeries resulting in 54,956 organs transplanted as of September 9. Read more
Lukaku hunts golden boot as United gather momentum (Guardian)
Romelu Lukaku will look at Manchester United’s next three Premier League games as a good opportunity to strengthen his prospects of being this season’s top scorer in the competition. Wolves visit Old Trafford on Saturday, before a trip to West Ham and a home fixture against Newcastle, by which time Lukaku could be the clear leader in the race for the Golden Boot. Read more
Japan’s Osaka beats gremlins to reach Tokyo semi-finals (Guardian)
Japan’s Naomi Osaka exuded a major champion’s aura Friday as she dispatched Barbora Strycova 6-3, 6-4 to reach the Pan Pacific Open semi-finals, despite being nowhere near her best. The third seed, who stunned Serena Williams to capture the US Open title earlier this month, failed to hit the same heights she did on that historic night in New York. But she still had too much firepower for Strycova in Tokyo, advancing to face Italy’s Camila Giorgi in the last four. Read more