Ogun monarch, 4 aides assassinated, set ablaze (Guardian)
Unknown gunmen, yesterday, assassinated the traditional ruler of Agodo village in Ewekoro local council of Ogun State, Oba Ayinde Odetola, and four of his aides.
The monarch was reportedly killed together with his aides and their bodies burnt to ashes.
It was gathered that Oba Odetola and his aides were assassinated and burnt as soon as they entered the town around 11:00 a.m. yesterday.
It was alleged that the tragedy was the second of such dastardly acts that happened in the community in the last few months.
Crisis began in the community as soon as the late monarch, who was from the Ake dynasty, was chosen as the traditional ruler of the community, but the Owu people allegedly insisted that anybody from Ake would not be their king. Read more
Court convicts skit maker De General of drug trafficking (Punch)
Justice Daniel Osiagor of a Federal High Court in Lagos, on Monday, convicted a skit maker, Joshua Sunday, popularly known as De General, of drug trafficking.
The defendant, also a social media influencer, was dragged to court by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, alongside Caleb William, a cinematographer.
Delivering judgment, Justice Osiagor held that the volume of substance was minimal and would rather convict the defendants and caution them, rather than sentence them.
The court, consequently, convicted the defendants and cautioned them to “go and sin no more”. Read more
How our quick response saved lives, others, says LASEMA boss (Nation)
The 21-storey in Ikoyi, Lagos, being built by Fourscore Homes suddenly collapsed on November 1, last year, trapping the developer and workers. Another two-storey building under construction at Osapa London in the Lekki-Ajah axis of the metropolis also went down. Never has there been such a monumental destruction in quick succession in Lagos. However, the Director-General, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, says it would have been worse, but for the rescue efforts, topnotch equipment and emergency preparedness.
The incident signposts gaps in building regulations in the state as the debate over how many floors that were approved and how many that were eventually built continues.
Observers and professionals in the built environment said the official attitude towards building regulations is still largely carefree; coupled with sharp practices on the part of the regulators, which have given room for developers to cut corners with resultant frequent building collapse disasters wrecking the society.
Others have also said disasters are meant to happen but that the important thing is the response time, rescue and recovery efforts of the agencies concerned. Several building failures have been witnessed in Nigeria and Lagos in particular but the difference has been in the manner of preparedness and execution. Read more
Concerns over ‘never-die-habit’ of hanging on buses (Guardian)
Amid dangers associated with ‘hanging on buses’ along the major highways, Lagos officials have cautioned those engaging in the practice to put a stop to it, as traffic law prohibiting the act is still in force.
Hanging on buses has become a daily practice in Lagos.
Within the last five days, over 50 persons were spotted hanging onto the back of commercial vehicles also called Danfo. Tricycles and 22-seater buses, known as LT in Ikotun-Igando roads are also a means for those who are used to the culture.
Hanging on the back of buses in motion remains a practice many adults in Lagos also grew up with.
A driver who plies the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Yemi Falade, noted that he despised the habit adding that he always warns passengers to desist from it.
“When I use my side mirror and see anybody in the back, I look for a place to park and ask the person to come down. Most of them think I am a bad person but it is not my fault. The task force or LASTMA will arrest me. Most times, it is not the fault of those who engage in such acts, it is the system. There are no jobs and people do not have anything to eat. How do they pay for transportation,” he said. Read more
We’ll revive tourism through sponsorships, says commissioner (Punch)
The Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, has said the government will revive the tourism industry in the state.
Akinbile-Yussuf, in a statement on Monday, said the state’s tourism sector was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
She was quoted to have said this during the ministry’s retreat held on Victoria Island.
She said, “This retreat provided an avenue for the entire workforce of the Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture to look back into the past years, especially the year 2020 when the deadly COVID-19 hit the country and disrupted activities in different sectors, particularly the tourism and entertainment industry, which was almost brought to ground zero. Read more
Gunmen kill 2 police officers in Jigawa (Independent)
Gunmen reportedly ambushed a police patrol team, killing two officers and setting a patrol vehicle ablaze in Kwalam town, Taura Local Government Area of Jigawa State.
According to reports, the incident happened yesterday night at about 1:30am at Kwalam town when the gunmen numbering about eight attacked the police patrol team killing two officers while three others escaped after an exchange of gunfire.
Spokesman of the Jigawa State Police Command ASP. Lawan Shiisu Adam who confirmed the incident said the Police received an emergency call that gunmen were in Kwalam village and that they took away a 60-year-old, Ma’aru Abubakar.
Shiisu said on receiving the information a team of officers were deployed to the scene and they exchanged gunfire with the criminals, killing two police officers. Read more
FG probes online banks over breach of customers’ data privacy (Punch)
The Federal Government has begun a probe of online banks over their alleged breaches of customers’ data privacy, it has been learnt.
The Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency, Kashifu Inuwa, who made this disclosure in Abuja on Monday, said the agency was working with the Nigeria Police Force and other relevant agencies to investigate several lending platforms, popularly called loan shark platforms.
He said this while addressing journalists ahead of the National Privacy Week 2022.
“We are working with relevant agencies to make sure we address that challenge because it is not only NITDA’s mandate that governs everything. When you talk about any financial services, it is the CBN. When you talk about general complaints, there is a commission for that. But NITDA plays a critical role because of the breach of data privacy.
“We have sanctioned some of them. We are working with the Nigerian police, investigating many of them. We are working to address the challenge,” Inuwa said. Read more
More than 4m MSMEs have benefitted from N150b FG schemes – Osinbajo (DailyTrust)
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says the Federal Government has disbursed over N150m to more than four million Micro, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises within the past five years.
Osinbajo stated this while speaking at the Bank of Industry (BOI) Aid for Productivity report launch in Abuja on Monday.
He said the administration, determined to boost economic growth, ramped up its support for the MSME sector, which accounts for close to 50 percent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 76 per cent of the country’s labour force.
In a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity, Laolu Akande, the VP noted that the success of the BOI Growth Platform was the story of “the Nigerian can-do spirit and the entrepreneurial DNA we carry.” Read more
Nigerians love Shatta Wale – Vudumane (MyJoy)
Vudumane, a popular Ghanaian Afrobeat artiste based in Nigeria, has gone on a different tangent regarding the supposed ‘beef’ between Shatta Wale and stakeholders of the Nigerian music industry.
Vudumane is among the few Ghanaians resident in Nigeria plying their trades in the arts on the mainstream level.
The musician who has collaborations with Nigerian giants Davido and Zlatan is of the view that contrary to suggestions that Nigerians do not appreciate Ghanaian music, he has received profound support from Nigerians.
Aside from him, Shatta Wale is one other musician who is loved by Nigerians, he said. Read more
Josephine Oboh-Macleod makes history in Scottish politics (Vanguard)
Chief Josephine Oboh-Macleod has made history as the first woman of African descent to vie for the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party’s councillorship ticket in Milngavie, Scotland.
Oboh-Macleod partook in the hustings and interview, on Monday, under the umbrella of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party as the first BAME member of African descent to attempt to be selected as Councillor.
She was gunning for the councillorship ticket of Milngavie Ward one, East Dumbatonshire Council, Glasgow, Scotland, the United Kingdom.
Although Oboh-Macleod, a philanthropist, humanitarian, acclaimed art curator and collector, and entrepreneur, lost the ticket, she congratulated the party and people of Scotland for the opportunity. Read more
Houthi attacks rattle some United Arab Emirates residents (MEMO)
Two missile attacks in a week on the United Arab Emirates have left some residents feeling on edge about security, for the first time, in the Gulf state’s capital, Abu Dhabi, home to high rise towers, world-class museums and a Formula One race track, Reuters reports.
The UAE, a business safe haven that had seen none of the violence suffered by some other Arab countries, was shaken by a 17 January raid by Yemen’s Houthi movement that killed three people in Abu Dhabi, the first such confirmed attack on its soil.
On Monday, residents were awoken by the sounds of loud blasts over the coastal capital in the early hours of the morning as the UAE intercepted another strike.
“Definitely we are nervous”, South African sonographer, Shaynaaz Govinda, 31, who has lived in the country for three years, told Reuters at an Abu Dhabi shopping centre on Monday.
“But we have full faith in the UAE leaders … I’m sure they have a good defence system,” she said. Read more
CNN and Points North Institute back Sundance Documentaries through American Stories Fund (Variety)
This year at the Sundance Film Festival, three feature documentaries — Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee’s “Aftershock,” Reid Davenport’s “I Didn’t See You There” and Isabel Castro’s “Mija” — share in common a $10,000 grant provided by the Points North Institute and CNN Films’ American Stories Documentary Fund.
Launched in 2020, the fund underwritten by CNN has dispensed a total of $100,000 in grants to emerging U.S. filmmakers working on 10 documentary projects that highlight pivotal moments in America. Eiselt and Lewis Lee’s “Aftershock,” and Davenport’s “I Didn’t See You There” are two of nine films in the Sundance U.S. Documentary Competition program, while Castro’s “Mija” is featured in the festival’s Next program. “Aftershock” addresses the U.S. maternal health crisis, “I Didn’t See You There” examines the discrimination people with disabilities face throughout the country, and “Mija” explores America’s immigration issues via music manager Doris Muñoz.
The fund replaced the annual, week-long Camden Intl. Film Festival/Tribeca Film Institute filmmaker retreat, which was founded in partnership with CNN Films and ran from 2015 through 2019. Like the fund, the Camden/TFI retreat nurtured emerging filmmakers with project feedback sessions and mentorship support. But when TFI unexpectedly dismantled in 2020 and the pandemic hit, Ben Fowlie, executive and artistic director of the Points North Institute and founder of Camden Intl. Film Festival, decided to rebrand the program and implement grant funding.
“At the time, we were trying to figure out how to maintain our commitment to the documentary field in a time when they needed it most,” says Fowlie. “Providing funding seemed like an impactful way to do that. But while the name of the program has changed, the type of filmmakers we are looking for and certainly the type of stories that we’re looking for hasn’t changed.” Read more
Ana De Armas fans sue Yesterday filmmakers after she didn’t make final cut despite appearing in trailer (Metro)
Fans of Ana De Armas have sued the filmmakers for the film Yesterday after the film did not feature the actress in the final cut.
Yep, actually.
Two fans have filed a consumer protection class action lawsuit against Universal, alleging ‘deceptive, and misleading advertising’ for the 2019 film, after De Armas appeared in the trailer but not in the film.
Conor Woulfe and Peter Michael Rosza said that they paid $3.99 (£2.94) to watch the film on Amazon after watching the trailer.
The lawsuit states: ‘Among other deceptions, Defendant’s nationwide advertising and promotion of the movie Yesterday represents to prospective movie viewers that the world famous actress Ana De Armas has a substantial character role in the film.’ Read more
Bob Dylan sells recorded catalog estimated at over $150m to Sony Music (People)
Bob Dylan, 80, celebrated the deal and his longtime relationship with SME-owned Columbia Records, which has spanned his 60-year career.
“Columbia Records and Rob Stringer have been nothing but good to me for many, many years and a whole lot of records. I’m glad that all my recordings can stay where they belong,” the artist said in a statement.
The SME deal, which closed in July, consists of Dylan’s entire catalog of recorded work, beginning with his 1962 self-titled debut album to his 39th and most recent studio album Rough and Rowdy Ways, released in 2020.
“Columbia Records has had a special relationship with Bob Dylan from the beginning of his career and we are tremendously proud and excited to be continuing to grow and evolve our ongoing 60-year partnership,” said Rob Stringer, chairman of Sony Music Group. “Bob is one of music’s greatest icons and an artist of unrivaled genius. Read more
Adele’s “Easy On Me” clinches it’s 10th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (DailyMail)
Adele is continuing to top the charts.
Her new song Easy On Me has clinched its 10th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, according to Billboard.
This all comes just days after Adele abruptly announced she would be postponing her Las Vegas residency, just 24 hours before her first show.
The new feat ties with the record she previously set for herself back in 2015 with the release of Hello, which also charted at number one for 10 weeks. Read more
Leader of rebel group that rejected peace deal killed in Colombia, says president (France24)
The commander of a rebel splinter group that rejects a 2016 peace deal in Colombia has been killed in a clash with the military, the country’s president said Monday.
President Ivan Duque announced in a statement that Euclides Espana — alias Jhonier — had been “neutralised.”
“This is one of the greatest blows that has been dealt the FARC dissidents. And we are talking about a criminal with more than 25 years of murderous and criminal record,” the president said in a public statement.
“FARC” refers to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which until 2016 had waged more than half a century of armed conflict against the state. Read more
Sheldon Silver, top New York lawmaker sentenced for corruption, dies aged 77 (NYPost)
Sheldon Silver, one of the most powerful figures in the New York state government for two decades before his conviction on corruption charges, has died in federal custody. He was 77.
Silver, who served as the speaker of the New York state assembly, died on Monday, the federal Bureau of Prisons said, adding that the official cause of death would be determined by the medical examiner. Silver’s supporters had said he was in failing health from multiple medical conditions.
The Manhattan Democrat, who told a judge he prayed he would not die in prison, was serving a more than six-year sentence for using his clout in state government to benefit real estate developers, who rewarded Silver by referring lucrative business to his law firm.
Silver’s conviction ended a nearly four-decade career in the assembly. He first won a seat representing Manhattan’s Lower East Side in 1976, and became assembly speaker in 1994, a powerful position that made him one of Albany’s “three men in a room” negotiating annual budgets and major legislation with the governor and state senate leader. Read more
At least 6 people killed in stampede outside football game at Africa Cup of Nations (Metro)
At least six people have been killed in what has been described as a stampede outside a football stadium hosting an Africa Cup of Nations game in Cameroon.
The incident happened as crowds struggled to gain access to the Olembe Stadium in the capital city of Yaounde ahead of the last-16 match against Comoros Islands.
Naseri Paul Biya, governor of the central region of Cameroon, said there could be more casualties while officials at a nearby hospital said they had received at least 40 injured people from the stampede.
The stadium has a capacity of 60,000 but it was not meant to be more than 80% full because of Covid restrictions. Match officials were quoted as saying that 50,000 people were trying to attend. Read more
NBBF Crisis: Ex-Players reject Jan 31 election, call for fresh congress (DailyTrust)
Former basketball players in Nigeria on Monday threatened to boycott the election of board members of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports Development had, in a memo last week, slated the election for January 31, 2022 in Abuja.
However, the ex-players, led by the players representative-elect of the NBBF, Stanley Gumut and the former players representative of the board, Ejike Ugboaja, stormed the office of the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, on Monday, to submit a letter expressing their displeasure with the lingering NBBF crisis.
They threatened to storm the streets of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, to attract the attention of the authorities if their demands for immediate resolution of the crisis is not met. Read more
Owolabi wants Eguavoen to continue as Eagles’ coach (Guardian)
Former National Team Winger, Felix Owolabi, has absolved Coach Augustine Eguavoen of the blame for Super Eagles’ disappointing exit at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations, while urging the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to still stick with the coach, with less than two months to the 2022 Qatar World Cup playoff against Ghana.
“I wouldn’t really blame Eguavoen for our exit from the Nations Cup bearing in mind the circumstances surrounding the exit of Rohr and the little time he had to prepare the team. I must commend him for the way the Eagles played during the group stage, which I haven’t seen the team play in a long time.
“However, I think it was an error for him to have taken out Kelechi Iheanacho to save him from being shown a second yellow card and hurriedly bringing in Alex Iwobi.
“I think Iheanacho was our best player on the field with a big name on his shoulder that everybody knew at the Nations Cup. Therefore, removing him was a great mistake. The issue of him risking another yellow card, for me, was not a big deal. Read more
AFCON: Cameroon beat 10-man Comoros to reach quarterfinals (Independent)
Cameroon were given a real scare by an incredibly gutsy performance from Comoros but the hosts moved into the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals with a 2-1 win.
With a left-back in goal and Jimmy Abdou then sent off in the opening minutes, Comoros were right up against it from the off and seemingly on their way to a heavy defeat.
Karl Toko Ekambi and Vincent Aboubakar, with his sixth of the tournament, put Cameroon 2-0 up, but the tournament debutants would not go away and Youssouf M’Changama pulled one back with a brilliant long-range free-kick.
That gave Comoros the chance of a miraculous comeback in the final few minutes, but Cameroon were professional and secured the win. The hosts will face Gambia in the quarter-finals. Read more
Former England coach Roy Hodgson in line for encore at 74 with struggling Watford (Mirror)
Ro Hodgson is on course for a dramatic encore – to replace the sacked Claudio Ranieri at Watford.
Ranieri, 70, was axed after just 112 days in charge following Friday night’s catastrophic 3-0 defeat by relegation rivals Norwich, which dumped the Hornets in the Premier League drop zone for the first time this season.
Eight months after leaving Crystal Palace – and four years older than Ranieri – Watford have approached the former England coach to save them from relegation.
And Hodgson is understood to be close to agreeing a deal for an astonishing return to the football front line, with ex-Hornets manager Ray Lewington as his right-hand man. Read more
Australian of the year nominee Dylan Alcott says basketball star Patty Mills should win (TheWestAustralian)
Charging into another Australian Open final on Tuesday was the first part of a big day for Australian of the Year nominee Dylan Alcott who will make a quick dash to Canberra for the awards ceremony.
Despite his on and off-court achievements, the winner of the Golden Slam and huge advocate for people with a disability doesn’t think he’ll win the major award.
“We are flying to Canberra at 4. The awards, the winner is Patty Mills, then I fly home. Yeah, have to be home tonight,” Alcott said after his semi-final win at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.
“Look, all the nine nominees for Australian of the Year — nine? — are amazing. I honestly think I was making up the numbers. Read more
F1 hopes for ‘relief’ of a stable 2022 calendar (PlanetF1)
Formula 1 sporting director Steve Nielsen said it would be a “blessed relief” if the 2022 calendar could be completed as planned.
The series has revealed a 23-race calendar for the 2022 campaign, which would mark the busiest season in Formula 1 history.
A first visit to the Miami International Autodrome awaits, the inaugural Miami Grand Prix scheduled for Round 5 of the season, while familiar venues of years passed are set to return after spending the past few years on the sidelines.
The Australian, Canadian, Singapore and Japanese GPs all fit that bill. Read more