Political thugs allegedly chase Funke Akindele out of Lagos market (Vanguard)
Hoodlums stormed the popular Ikosi fruit market in Lagos and chase out Nollywood actress and the state Peoples Democratic Party’s deputy governorship candidate, Funke Akindele on Tuesday.
The incident happened when Akindele popularly known as Jenifa was with her party’s team to campaign in the market located in the Kosofe local government area of the state.
Speaking on the incident, the PDP governorship candidate, Abdul-Azeez Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, confirmed that their campaign was cut short following the incident. Read more
2023 Poll: Tinubu denies attacking Buhari over fuel scarcity, naira redesign policy (Guardian)
The presidential candidate of the ruling All progressives congress (APC) has faulted the notions held in certain quarters that he blamed President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration over the fuel scarcity and the naira redesign policy.
Bayo Onanuga Director, Media & Publicity APC Presidential Campaign Council in a statement explained that the opposition peoples democratic party (PDP) working in cahoots with fifth columnists were the ones bent on inflicting avoidable pains on hapless Nigerians to achieve political end.
Tinubu frowned at the opposition PDP and the Atiku camp for issuing a knee-jerk response, derailing from the issues, distorting his views at the Abeokuta rally, to create a wedge between him and President Muhammadu Buhari. Read more
Naira Swap: Borno opens microfinance banks in LGAs (Punch)
To beat the deadline for the stoppage of old naira notes, the Borno State government has established emergency microfinance banks in 25 of the 27 Local Government Areas of the state.
Governor Babagana Umara Zulum directed the State Ministry of Finance and that of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation to establish the banks in accordance with regulatory procedures.
Zulum’s directive followed the CBN’s policy on the stoppage of old naira notes amid the absence of banking services across 25 out of Borno’s 27 Local Government Areas due to over 12 years of killings and destructions by Boko Haram insurgents.
The governor announced the microfinance measures on Wednesday in Maiduguri during an extraordinary stakeholders meeting which was attended by the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Umar Garbai Elkanemi, represented by the Waziri of Borno, Mustapha Waziri Muktar. Read more
159 Nigerians Renounce Citizenship In 2022 – FG (DailyTrust)
The Federal Government has said at least 159 Nigerians renounced their citizenship in 2022 alone.
The Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Interior, Dr Shuaib Belgore, stated this on Thursday at the 64th session of the State House Ministerial briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Aso Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to him, 150 Nigerians renounced their citizenship between 2006 to 2021. In 2022, however, 159 Nigerians renounced their citizenships.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, who featured at the briefing, said the massive exodus of Nigerians out of the country in search of greener pastures influenced high demands for passports. Read more
Adebule rallies non-indigenes, artisans, women, youths for APC (Nation)
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Lagos West senatorial candidate Dr Idiat Adebule has urged women and youths to vote en masse for all APC candidates in the forthcoming election.
She spoke during a stakeholders’ meeting with non-indigenes, artisans, traders and youths in Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government and Ifelodun Local Council Development Area.
She promised to take the developmental programmes up from where the outgoing Senator Solomon Olamilekan stops. Read more
Protesters block Lagos-Benin Expressway over fuel price hike (Punch)
Protesters, mainly youths, on Thursday blocked the Lagos-Benin Expressway at Oluku Junction in response to the rise in fuel price and the scarcity of the product.
Commuters who were on their way to Lagos and those hoping to do business in the area were stranded for long hours.
The transporters also lamented the blockade, while expressing dissatisfaction over the incident. Read more
Old Naira Notes: Lawmakers threaten to arrest CBN Gov, bank CEOs (ThisDay)
Members of the House of Representatives have threatened to invoke the relevant sections of the law to issue a warrant of arrest on the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, and the chief executive officers (CEOs) of other banks should they refuse to appear before its ad hoc committee on the withdrawal of old naira notes.
The Speaker of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, issued the threat at plenary after he was told by the chairman of the ad hoc committee, Hon. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, that Emefiele and bank CEOs did not attend the meeting scheduled for Wednesday owing to the late arrival of the invitation letter.
At plenary Tuesday, the House set up an ad hoc committee to interface with CBN and bank CEOs on the January 31 deadline for the withdrawal of old naira notes. Read more
Lassa Fever: Anambra records 15 suspected cases, 1 death (Independent)
The Anambra State Government has recorded one death and 15 cases of suspected Lassa Fever in the state since January according to the Commissioner for Health, Dr Afam Obidike.
Obidike who disclosed this to newsmen on Thursday, however, said the state’s emergency response team was already responding to the recorded cases while relevant surveillance measures were in place to curtail disease spread.
He further said the state government had constituted contact tracing teams to follow up on the cases. Read more
Madonna adds fifth London date to huge Celebration tour after selling 600,000 tickets already (Metro)
Madonna’s upcoming tour is the gift that keeps on giving as the queen of pop has added a fifth London date to the jaunt.
The Like A Virgin hitmaker will be embarking on a mammoth world tour latest this year to celebrate the 40th anniversary of her iconic career.
Naturally, tickets for the shows are in increasingly high demand forcing Madonna, 64, to keep topping up the legs with extra dates.
Fans in the UK are in for a treat as the pop star has now added a fifth date at London’s O2 Arena, taking place on December 5 to close the world tour. The previous four London dates are set for October and three of them are already sold out. Read more
Gerard Butler recalls how he ”almost killed” Hilary Swank while filming P.S. I Love You (People)
Gerard Butler is recalling the moment when he “almost killed” Hilary Swank on the set of P.S. I Love You.
While appearing on The Drew Barrymore Show Tuesday, the actor, 53, revealed to host Drew Barrymore that he injured Swank, 48, while the pair were working on a scene in the 2007 film where he danced “like an idiot” in boxer shorts and a pair of suspenders.
Detailing that his character, Gerry Kennedy, was supposed to get hit in the face with the suspender clip while getting undressed during one part of the film, Butler said the piece took off and hit Swank’s head instead. Read more
UNESCO lists Yemen Kingdom of Saba on World Heritage Sites in Danger (MEMO)
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) listed, on Wednesday, the landmark ancient Kingdom of Saba, in Ma’rib, Yemen, to the World Heritage Sites in Danger.
UNESCO said in a statement that it had “included the features of the ancient Kingdom of Saba in Ma’rib on the List of World Heritage in Danger”, adding that the area covers seven archaeological sites that date from the 1st millennium BCE, to the arrival of Islam around 630 CE and, according to UNESCO, “bear witness to the rich Kingdom of Saba and its architectural, aesthetic and technological achievements”.
Among other elements, the area includes the remains of large urban settlements with monumental temples, ramparts and other buildings. Due to the complex irrigation system developed at the site, it formed the largest ancient man-made oasis.
UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee said the site was under threat of destruction from Yemen’s ongoing conflict. Read more
Stranger Things was most-streamed TV show in 2022 (Variety)
The Upside Down took the No. 1 position on Nielsen’s 2022 streaming chart: Netflix’s blockbuster Stranger Things, led by the release of the fourth season, was the most-streamed TV show overall in the U.S. last year.
The sci-fi hit series registered a whopping 52 billion minutes streamed in 2022, the highest total since COVID-driven lockdowns drove audiences to watch 57.1 billion minutes of NBC’s The Office in 2020. The dominance of original content like Stranger Things was underscored by the fact that there are only 34 episodes of the Duffer brothers’ series, compared with 192 episodes of “The Office.”
According to Netflix, Stranger Things 4 holds the title as the No. 1 most-watched English TV series in the first four weeks of release, with the season having garnered 1.35 billion hours worldwide in the initial 28-day period. That’s followed by “Wednesday,” which scared up 1.24 billion hours watched in the same window. Read more
Sex Pistol Glen Matlock ”got fed up” seeing Iggy Pop’s penis (MusicNews)
Glen Matlock got “fed up” seeing Iggy Pop’s willy.
The former Six Pistol played bass on the US punk idol’s 1980 album ‘Soldier’ and they toured the year before, but the ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ hitmaker, 75, had a habit of flashing his manhood on stage and Glen admitted it’s “not that impressive”.
He recalled in an interview with Britain’s The Times newspaper: “The problem with flashing your willy on stage is that you have to get ready to flash your willy on stage. Read more
Ab-Soul taps Lebron James to A&R his next album (HipHopDX)
Ab-Soul has recruited Lebron James to A&R his next album, just over a month after the release of HERBERT.
The TDE rapper took to Instagram on Wednesday (January 25) to share a video of him and LeBron chatting behind the scenes at the Crypto.com Arena, where the four-time NBA champion helped the Los Angeles Lakers to a 113-104 win over the San Antonio Spurs.
During their conversation, Ab-Soul asked King James if he’d be willing to take on an executive role for his next project — to which the basketball legend obliged. Read more
Spain church attack suspect was flagged for deportation (RFI)
The man alleged to have stormed two Spanish churches with a machete, killing a verger and seriously wounding a priest, was slated for deportation but had no prior convictions, officials said Thursday.
The bloodshed, which took place on Wednesday evening in the southern port city of Algeciras, shocked Spain and left locals reeling.
The alleged attacker was arrested at the scene and police raided his home in the early hours of Thursday as prosecutors pressed ahead with a terror probe. Read more
Newcastle’s Joelinton fined £29,000 on drink-driving charge (Guardian)
Newcastle midfielder Joelinton has been fined £29,000 ($36,000) and banned from driving for a year after admitting to a charge of drunk driving.
The Brazilian failed a breath test in the early hours of January 12 which showed he had 43 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath, above the legal limit of 35 milligrams.
Joelinton said he had drunk two glasses of wine earlier in the evening.
District Judge Paul Currer calculated the fine based on documents showing his weekly wage was £43,000. Read more
Bosso drops 4 players ahead U-20 AFCON (Punch)
Head coach of the U-20 team, Ladan Bosso, has further reduced his squad as he prepares to drop his final list for the 2022 U-20 AFCON in Egypt.
The four unnamed players were dropped before Tuesday’s training session, which also afforded Bosso and his coaching crew the chance to test some overseas-based players who arrived camp over the weekend.
Ademola Ola-Adebomi of Crystal Palace, Joel Ideho of Arsenal, Michael Ologo of Istanbulspor and Abel Ogwuche of Trelleborgs were all involved in a test game that ended in a draw. Read more
Effigy of Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr hung from bridge ahead of Atletico derby clash (Standard)
An effigy of Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr has been hung from a bridge ahead of tonight’s clash with rivals Atletico Madrid.
An inflatable doll wearing a Vinicius Jr shirt appeared on one of the bridges in the Spanish capital on the morning of the cup derby, accompanied with a banner that read: ”Madrid hates Real Madrid”.
The act, seemingly by Atletico Madrid supporters, has been condemned by both clubs and LaLiga. Read more
Sabri Lamouchi: Cardiff close to appointing 3rd manager of season (BBC)
Cardiff City are close to making former Nottingham Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi their third manager of the season.
Lamouchi, 51, is set to be joined at the Cardiff City Stadium by ex-Bluebirds defender Sol Bamba who will assist his former Ivory Coast national team manager.
Cardiff sacked Steve Morison in September with his successor Mark Hudson lasting just 118 days. Read more
Britain opposed to Russia, Belarus athletes being at Paris Olympics (RFI)
Moves to reintegrate Russian athletes for next year’s Paris Olympics were strongly criticised by the British government on Thursday.
Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan described plans by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to provide a pathway for Russian and Belarusian athletes to complete under a neutral flag as “a world away from the reality of war being felt by the Ukrainian people.”
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the IOC advised international sports federations last February to exclude athletes from their competitions. Read more
Toto Wolff compares Mercedes’ porpoising problems to a ‘‘stock market crash’’ (PlanetF1)
Toto Wolff has likened Formula 1’s porpoising problem to that of a stock market crash, even if one knows about it that doesn’t mean they’ve had the experience of dealing with it.
Mercedes suffered with a badly porpoising car last season, their W13 bouncing more than others.
That surprised many people in the paddock, most notably then F1 managing director Ross Brawn, as he felt the teams should have known that porpoising was a consequence of running ground effect aerodynamics. Read more