Okada ban: Coalition asks Sanwo-Olu to check transport unions, others (Guardian)
A group, Defend Lagos Coalition, yesterday, called on Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu to checkmate activities of transportation unions, local councils, some community development associations with all the seriousness it deserves.
According to the group, independent survey has revealed that they encourage the operation of commercial motorcyclists through issuing them tickets to give sense of government support to activities.
Speaking at a press brief, yesterday, Declan Ihekaire, who spoke for 14 civil society organisations that formed the coalition, called on law enforcement agents to join forces with the government in implementing the ban without any compromise.
He said: “We commend Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu for the bold step of announcing the ban on Okada operations in six local government council areas and LCDAs. Once again, Mr. Governor has shown without any doubt that he is a dutiful servant of the people, who is ever ready to listen and carry out the people’s desires in line with his constitutional mandate. Read more
We took oath over OAU student’s death – Hotel receptionist (Punch)
Magdalene Chiefuna, the receptionist on duty on the day the late Masters student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Timothy Adegoke, was discovered dead inside Hilton Hotel, Ile-Ife, Osun State, on Wednesday said she and others took an oath of secrecy to protect the hotel from the adverse effect of the incident.
At the resumed hearing of the matter at the Osun State High Court sitting in Osogbo, Chiefuna, under cross-examination by the lead prosecution counsel, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, also said she did not know that the deceased was dumped until when she got to police station six days after.
While in the dock during the court session that lasted about seven hours, Chiefuna said she only heard the deceased had paid for the room when she resumed duty on November 6, but never saw him.
She said the following day, when the lodger was not seen at the reception area, she took a spare key to Room 305 and opened the door, where she met Adegoke in the room lying face up and wrapped in duvet exposing only his face on the bed. Read more
Buhari has prepared me for task ahead, Osinbajo tells Lagos delegates (Guardian)
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), yesterday, said that his principal, President Muhammadu Buhari, has prepared him on how to govern a complex country like Nigeria.
He made the remarks at the grand finale of his consultations with stakeholders and delegates of All Progressives Congress (APC) across the country, which was held at Ikeja, Lagos State, ahead of the party’s presidential primary on Sunday.
Lagos deputy governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, led other dignitaries in the entourage of the Vice President to the parley. The party faithful, who were apparently elated, showed their admiration and support for Osinbajo and his presidential aspiration.
Speaking to the large crowd, he explained why he decided to vie for the post of president, saying, “my decision to run is on account of the fact that first, I desire deeply to serve this country, to serve the people of this country, especially the man on the street, the common man. Read more
Comply with environmental protection laws, govt urges LGs (Punch)
The Lagos State Government has urged authorities of the local governments and local council development areas in the state to comply with Environmental Impact Assessment policies while executing projects in their communities.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Dr Omobolaji Gaji, stated this on Wednesday during a stakeholders’ meeting with council managers and engineers in Alausa, Ikeja.
Gaji explained that the ministry has adopted EIA as a formal process to identify the likely impacts that may arise from a proposed activity on the environment, human health and social economic activities.
He said, “EIA has become a global decision-making tool by policy makers in protecting the environment with nations across the globe enacting laws and setting stricter standards to ensure compliance and Lagos State cannot be an exception. Read more
ICAN offers scholarship to record-breaking teenager (Nation)
17-year-old school certificate graduate, Master Jonathan Adewale, has been offered a scholarship to the university level by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).
Announcing the award at the 69th Induction Ceremony for new members yesterday in Lagos, ICAN President Mrs Comfort Olu Eyitayo said it was in recognition of Adewale’s outstanding achievement as the youngest candidate to have fully completed and passed all the levels of ICAN examination in record time.
Eyitayo, who is the 57th president of ICAN was full of encomium for the young lad who however could not be admitted as a fellow of ICAN at the ceremony due to his age, stressing that by law, the minimum admission age is 21 years of age.
“He took ATS 1 in September 2020 and passed all in flying colours, six months later, he cleared ATS 2, and six months after, again he cleared ATS 3, which was September 2020.Read more
Obi, Ekweremadu, Abaribe dump PDP, withdraw from presidential, governorship race (Leadership)
Former Anambra State governor and erstwhile Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant, Peter Obi, yesterday dumped PDP and resigned from the race on the party’s platform.
The former governor’s resignation was contained in a letter he signed and addressed to the national chairman of PDP, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, dated May 24.
It was however gathered that Obi has opened talks with the Labour Party (LP) which was recently adopted by some other political platforms as the much-anticipated Third Force.
Meanwhile his resignation letter from PDP titled “Resignation From Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Withdrawal from the Presidential Contest” came barely 72 hours before the commencement of the party’s presidential primary election.
It read, “I am writing to intimate you of my resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which was conveyed to the Chairman of Agulu Ward 2. Anaocha LGA, Anambra, effective Friday 20 May, 2022. Consequently, am by this letter informing you of my withdrawal for the PDP Presidential Primaries. Read more
Chima Williams, ERA/FoEN ED, six others win Goldman Environmental Prize (Vanguard)
Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) Executive Director, Chima Williams, has been named among the seven winners of this year’s prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize.
A statement released by the Goldman Environmental Foundation listed other winners to include Niwat Roykaew from Thailand; Marjan Minnessma , the Netherlands; Juliet Vincent, Australia; Nalleli Cobo, United State and Alex Luciatante and Alexandra Narvaez, Ecuador.
The Goldman Prize is awarded annually to environmental heroes from each of the world’s six inhabited continental regions.
“The Goldman Environmental Prize honours the achievements and leadership of grassroots environmental activists from around the world, inspiring all of us to take action to protect our planet”, the statement said. Read more
Monkeypox can be contracted sexually, but not confirmed as STI — NCDC boss (Tribune)
The director-general, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, says although sexual contact is a possible means by which individuals can contract monkeypox, the disease is yet to be confirmed as a sexually transmitted infection.
Dr Adetifa, who spoke at the 4th International Conference of the Centre for Control of Prevention of Zoonoses (CCPZ) on ‘COVID-19 and AMR- Public Health Implications and Mitigation Efforts in Nigeria’, stated that the monkeypox virus may be present in the body fluids of infected individuals and so transmissible to humans through close contact with an infected person, animal or contaminated material.
He stated that monkeypox, which presents with fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes and may lead to a range of medical complications, has a potential for higher virulence and transmissibility, and affected individuals tend to experience stigma and momentary loss of livelihood and economic hardship.
Adetifa said that to curtail this re-emerging disease, there is the need for further strengthening of the monkeypox surveillance system, especially in states where the disease seems to be silent; cross-cutting research on the infection’s reservoir, vaccine and antiviral agents, among others, as well as sustainable financing for health security and disease outbreak preparedness and response at all levels of governance. Read more
Harry Styles stops Brixton show mid-song to help audience member in distress (Indy 100)
Harry Styles halted his gig in Brixton mid-song – after spotting a member of the audience in distress.
At his sold-out One Night Only gig on Tuesday night, the star, 28, stopped half-way through a performance of his debut single Sign of the Times.
He asked fans at the Brixton Academy to “split and make a pathway please”, presumably so that event staff could reach the person in trouble. Read more
Naomi Campbell praises Kate Moss for Johnny Depp testimony (PageSix)
Naomi Campbell has Kate Moss’ back.
The model took to her Instagram Stories on Wednesday to praise her pal for taking the witness stand on behalf of Johnny Depp and his ongoing legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard.
“YES WAGON TELL IT !! @ katemossagency,” Campbell, 52, wrote, using the nickname she has used for Moss, 48, for years.
Campbell’s words were accompanied by a screengrab of an article recapping Moss’ statements in court, in which the model denied Heard’s claim that Depp pushed her down a flight of stairs during their ’90s romance.
As previously reported, Moss was called as a rebuttal witness for Depp, 58, in his $50 million defamation lawsuit against Heard, 36. The trial is now in its sixth and final week in Fairfax County Circuit Court in Virginia. Read more
Mort Janklow, Pioneering literary agent, dies at 91 (THR)
Mort Janklow, who revolutionized the role of the agent in book publishing while representing the likes of Jackie Collins, Sidney Poitier, Pope John Paul II, Sidney Sheldon, Danielle Steel, Ted Turner and Nancy Reagan, has died. He was 91.
Janklow died Wednesday morning of heart failure at his home in Water Mill, New York, publicist Paul Bogaards announced.
The powerful, always curious Janklow began his career as a literary agent in 1972 when friend, client, columnist and Richard Nixon speechwriter William Safire asked him to handle a book he was writing about the 37th president. Janklow, who knew little about the publishing industry at the time, agreed to represent Safire and secured a book contract for him almost immediately.
When the Watergate scandal broke and the book’s publisher, William Morrow and Co., tried to back out of the $250,000 contract, Janklow sued, ushering in a new era of authors’ rights. He then sold the book, 1975’s Before the Fall: An Inside View of the Pre-Watergate White House, to Doubleday. Read more
Lifetime delays release of Mckenna Grace horror film after Texas school shooting (UPI)
Lifetime has delayed the release of Mckenna Grace’s upcoming horror film The Bad Seed Returns in the wake of the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
The network told Variety and Deadline that the sequel will now air later this year. The Bad Seed Returns was scheduled to premiere Monday.
Grace, the film’s co-writer, executive producer and star, said on Twitter that she no longer felt comfortable promoting the movie because of the shooting. The 15-year-old actress is from Grapevine, Texas, which is located about 370 miles from Uvalde.
“In the wake of the recent tragedy in my home state of Texas, we have decided to delay the release of The Bad Seed Returns,” Grace wrote Wednesday. “Lifetime and everyone involved are in agreement. I don’t feel comfortable promoting the film this week and we don’t think Monday is the right time to release it. Read more
Idris Elba fights off a ferocious lion in first trailer for creature feature Beast (People)
Idris Elba is in for the fight of his life in the trailer for his new thriller Beast.
The clip, which dropped Wednesday, shows the Suicide Squad star squaring off against a vicious lion while trying to defend his daughters from the predator’s attacks.
The trailer begins with Elba arriving at a game reserve in Mopane, South Africa, with his children played by This Is Us star Iyana Halley and Empire’s Leah Jeffries.
Soon, their relaxed exploration of the local wildlife turns deadly when their group — led by an old family friend and wildlife biologist played by Sharlto Copley — happens upon a wounded man in the road who speaks of the “devil.” Read more
Harrison Birtwistle, an influential English composer, has died at age 87 (NPR)
Harrison Birtwistle, an English composer famed for his rigorous artistic vision, sonic audacity and deeply theatrical expression has died at age 87.
His death was confirmed Monday by his longtime publisher Boosey & Hawkes. A spokesperson for the company said Birtwistle had suffered a stroke last year.
Born in the northern English town of Accrington in 1934, Birtwistle initially trained to be a clarinetist. He studied both clarinet and composition at the Royal Manchester College of Music, where he met fellow composers Peter Maxwell Davies and Alexander Goehr; along with pianist John Ogdon and conductor and trumpeter Elgar Howarth, they became known as the Manchester School.
By 1965, Birtwistle had earned a fellowship at Princeton University in New Jersey, and there he completed his first opera, Punch and Judy. Birtwistle’s sonic brashness was a signature even then: when the opera debuted in 1968 at the U.K.’s Aldeburgh Festival, the festival’s co-founders, composer Benjamin Britten and his partner, tenor Peter Pears, removed themselves from the performance midway through. Read more
Russia loads cruise missiles onto submarines in Black Sea after US threat (Newsweek)
Strategic movement in the Black Sea continues with Russia reportedly loading cruise missiles onto a pair of submarines among its Black Sea fleet. This comes just days after a report that stated the U.S. was preparing to target the Russian fleet to free up paths for Ukraine to export grain.
Two Russian submarines have already moored at berths in the South Bay of Sevastopol to onload the Kalibr missiles, according to the Ukrainian media outlet Krym.Realii. Four of these “Caliber” types of missiles will be loaded upon two of the six Varshavyanka submarines, which are designed to fire these kinds of missiles that have both land and sea capability strikes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2017 said these missiles have the ability to strike a target from 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) from the underwater vessels.
On Tuesday, a Ukrainian defense minister said the Black Sea fleet of Russia was planning to use the submarine missiles for strikes on the Ukraine territory. Read more
Balogun set for Rangers contract talks (Punch)
Defender Leon Balogun is set to open talks over a contract extension with Glasgow Rangers, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Balogun will be out of contract with the Gers May 31.
Steven Davis and Connor Goldson are other players who are also out of contract at Ibrox.
Rangers sporting director Ross Wilson revealed that the Nigerian’s future and that of Davis would be addressed first.
“The futures of Balogun and Davis are the club’s top priorities,” Wilson was quoted as saying to Daily Record. Read more
Friendlies: NFF replaces excused players (Independent)
In a reaction to the withdrawal of three players from the two international friendly matches against Mexico and Ecuador, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has approved the invitation of three players to the Super Eagles for the matches billed for the United States of America (USA).
Recall that goalkeeper Maduka Okoye, Emmanuel Dennis and Umar Sadiq have excused themselves from the two matches.
In their places, the NFF has, reportedly, approved the invitation of Terem Moffi and Innocent Bonke, both have concluded their season with FC Lorient in the Ligue 1.
The third change, goalkeeper Adebayo Adeleye, steps in for the injured Okoye and in a decision that leaves handlers of the team with the tough choice to pick a No. 1 between the Ligat ha’AL based player and the NPFL duo, Olorunleke Ojo and Adewale Adeyinka. The friendly game is against Mexico on May 28th at the AT & T Stadium. Read more
Brighton star Tariq Lamptey snubs England U21s to consider switching allegiance (DailyStar)
Tariq Lamptey has snubbed a call up from England under-21s as he is considering switching his international allegiance to Ghana.
The Brighton and Hove Albion star, 21, was selected to represent the Young Lions in March for their European qualification matches against Andorra and Albania but asked to be overlooked this time around. London-born Lamptey has represented England at under-18, under-19 and under-20 level, but also qualifies to play for Ghana by virtue of his parents.
Yet to be selected by Gareth Southgate for the senior side, the young full-back could still yet switch to represent the Black Stars and is taking time to consider where his loyalties lie.
Young Lions boss Lee Carsley has revealed there is an “issue” regarding Lamptey’s dual nationality but the under-21 coach has not “given up” on convincing him to stay put. Carsley told reporters: “There’s an issue over his dual nationality. He’s had an approach. It’s something he’s considering at the minute. Read more
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has knee surgery which casts doubts over his playing future (Independent)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s future is in doubt after he had knee surgery that could keep him out for the rest of the year.
The 40-year-old, fresh from winning the Serie A title with AC Milan, had a planned procedure on his left knee to repair damage and instability caused by a previous anterior cruciate ligament injury and is expected to be out for up to eight months.
Ibrahimovic’s current deal at the San Siro expires this summer and he is not expected to be fit until midway through the 2022-23 campaign.
A Milan statement on their official website read: “AC Milan announces that Zlatan Ibrahimovic underwent an operation on his left knee carried out by Dr Bertrand Sonnery-Cottet, with the club’s medical director Stefano Mazzoni in attendance, at the Hopital Jean Mermoz in Lyon. Read more
Tiger Woods’ premature return has needlessly jeopardised Open fairytale (Express)
Just 15 months ago the thought of seeing Tiger Woods competing on the PGA Tour was a distant pipe dream for most golf fans. The American’s high-speed road accident in February 2021 left many questioning whether Woods would be able to properly walk again, let alone compete at the highest level.
In typical Tiger fashion though the 15-time major champion made the near impossible possible, following his return to the PGA Tour at last month’s Masters. The golfing great had battled through a gruelling rehabilitation period just to get himself back to where he belonged, competing on the biggest stage.
Whilst the final moments of his Augusta return proved a struggle, Woods was able to complete a feat that seemed unimaginable just months before. Following his final round the 82-time PGA Tour winner reiterated the point that he would only be competing on a part-time basis, but would be at St Andrews for the 150th Open Championship this summer.
A return to the historic Scottish course was always on the cards for Woods, and for good reason. The American has a long history with the Old Course, having won two of his three Claret Jugs there in 2000 and 2005. Post-round at the Masters the American even described the famous Scottish setup as his ‘favourite golf course in the world’ whilst speaking to Sky Sports, announcing that his return there was the only other event confirmed in the diary. Read more
Raducanu out of French Open after Sasnovich fights back (MorningStar)
Emma Raducanu ran out of steam as her French Open dream was ended in the second round by Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
The British number one looked in fine shape after an excellent first set, but she was unable to maintain that early momentum and slipped to a 3-6 6-1 6-1 defeat.
Sasnovich, the world number 47 from Belarus, had emphatically won their only previous meeting, 6-2 6-4 in Indian Wells last October in Raducanu’s first match after winning the US Open.
But a pumped-up Raducanu broke her opponent in the fifth game of the opening set. Sending Sasnovich wide whenever possible, the 19-year-old from Kent unleashed a couple of fearsome backhands and finished the job with a blistering forehand. Read more
Schumacher says losing chance to win at Monaco would be a ‘shame’ (MotorsportsWeek)
Haas Formula 1 driver Mick Schumacher says it would be a shame to lose the chance to win the Monaco Grand Prix in the future.
The event in Monaco is one of the most recognisable races in the world, with the first race being staged in 1929, 21 years before the start of the F1 World Championship.
The race forms the unofficial ‘Triple Crown of Motorsport’ alongside the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
However, its future on the schedule is not believed to be secure, amid interest from various new locations. Read more