A Nigerian newspaper and Online version of the Vanguard, a daily publication in Nigeria covering Niger delta, general national news, politics, business, energy, sports, entertainment, fashion,lifestyle human interest stories, etc
Nigeria on Tuesday charged the leader of Boko Haram splinter group Ansaru with the abduction and murder of 10 foreigners, in one its highest-profile cases yet against Islamist militants.
Khalid al-Barnawi, one of three Nigerians listed by the US government as a “specially designated global terrorist”, appeared in court alongside six other defendants and denied the charges.
The charges relate to a series of kidnappings and killings of foreign workers between 2011 and 2013, including Italian engineer Franco Lamolinara and his British colleague Chris McManus.
Both were killed by their captors in the northern city of Sokoto just after the start of a joint British-Nigerian rescue operation at the compound where they were being held in March 2012.
Barnawi is also accused in connection with kidnapping Frenchman Francis Collomp and German national Edgar Raupach.
Collomp was kidnapped in December 2012 and held by Ansaru for nearly a year before he managed to stage a dramatic escape in November 2013.
Raupach’s abduction was initially claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) to which Ansaru has been linked. He was killed during a military raid in Kano, northern Nigeria, in May 2012.
The other kidnapping and murder charges relate to seven foreign nationals — two from Lebanon, two Syrians, an Italian, a Greek and a Briton.
They were seized from a construction site in the northern state of Bauchi in 2013.
According to the charge sheet, the seven were taken to Sambisa Forest area of northeaster Borno state and held for about 10 days before they were killed and buried in a shallow grave.
Halima Haliru, Barnawi’s second wife, faces only one charge — failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism.
– Most wanted –
Nigeria’s military announced in April last year that Barnawi — who is also known as Mohammed Usman — had been arrested in Lokoja in central Nigeria.
He was described as “on top of the list of our wanted terrorists” because of his alleged links to the wider jihadist network in west and north Africa.
Barnawi assumed the leadership of Ansaru following the death of the group’s founder Abubakar Adam Kambar in a military raid on his hideout in Kano in March 2012.
Both Barnawi and Kambar were former close allies of Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf, who was killed in police custody in 2009, which then saw his deputy Abubakar Shekau take over.
Under Shekau’s leadership, at least 20,000 people have been killed and more than 2.6 million forced from their homes.
Ansaru, whose members trained in AQIM camps in the Algerian desert, broke away in protest at Shekau’s indiscriminate violence and targeting of civilians.
Also known as Jamaatu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladissudan (“Vanguard for the Aid of Muslims in Black Africa”), it specialised in high-profile killings and attacks on foreigners.
Omar Mahmood, of the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, said the charges were significant and made Barnawi “perhaps the highest profile Nigerian jihadist to go on trial” in recent years.
He was a “prominent leader” and “represented a more internationally focused and connected wing of the Nigerian jihadist movement”, he added.
The trial will be closely watched because Nigeria has failed to bring many captured jihadists to trial, possibly because of the sheer numbers involved or lack of evidence.
– Boko Haram video –
Boko Haram meanwhile published a new video online on Monday evening, depicting a gruesome execution similar to propaganda images from the Islamic State group to which it is affiliated.
The video, seen by AFP, shows masked militant fighters accusing three men dressed in knee-length orange kaftans of spying for the Nigerian government.
They are questioned in front of an IS flag, after which at least one of them is beheaded with a sabre.
Boko Haram has previously released videos of executions, including one of a captured Nigerian Air Force pilot who was decapitated, as well as amputations and beatings of civilians.
Yan St-Pierre, from the Modern Security Consulting Group in Berlin, told AFP the video could be an attempt by Shekau to show the group “is still a force to be reckoned with”.
Nigeria’s military has repeatedly said Boko Haram is weakened and divided, particularly since IS last year announced it had appointed Yusuf’s son Abu Musab al-Barnawi as leader.
Former Governor of Kano state, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso has, Tuesday, reportedly defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, party to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
According to reports not yet authenticated, Senator Kwankwaso defected with 10 Kano state lawmakers.
FLASH:
Alhaji Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso and 10 Kano state lawmakers defect from APC back to PDP today.
Recall that the in March last year, the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Kano State chapter had initiated moves to suspend him over what it termed anti-party activities.
Kwankwaso
The then chairman, Kano chapter of the party, Alhaji Haruna Umar Doguwa, had told newsmen in Kano that the senator had, during a visit to the state, allegedly exhibited actions capable of compromising the party's unity.
According to Doguwa: "The case of party indiscipline by Kwankwaso would be thoroughly investigated and dealt with in accordance with the constitution of our party."
Kwankwaso was alleged to have stormed Abdullahi Ganduje’s village on a condolence visit with supporters chanting perceived derogatory songs against the bereaved state governor, Alhaji Abdulahi Ganduje.
Doguwa, however claimed that "what specifically made the visit a misdemeanour to our party spirit of discipline and brotherhood was the fact that the visit was purely political as against the mission of condolence. The act of thuggery and brazen show of daggers, swords and other dangerous weapons by sponsored/hired hoodlums was totally unwholesome and condemnable."
An Ivory Coast migrant was found suffering from severe hypothermia and near death after jumping the border from the United States into Canada, his lawyer told AFP Tuesday.
The man, whose identity has been withheld by Canadian authorities, was found “unconscious” in the snow nearly two weeks ago, “his clothes frozen stiff” after he fell through ice while crossing a river and a lake near the US border, his lawyer Eric Taillefer said.
“He still feels a residual cold and can barely move his fingers. He can’t put on shoes because his feet are still swollen and his (frostbitten) skin has turned black,” Taillefer said.
The man, who had worked as a taxi driver in New York since fleeing his native Ivory Coast in 2006, is among a wave of arrivals risking life and limb by trudging through snow and the wilderness in the dead of night to make a refugee claim in Canada.
Fearing deportation by the United States to his birth country amid a crackdown by President Donald Trump, he had first tried to make an asylum claim at a Canadian border checkpoint.
But he was denied.
An agreement with the US prevents asylum seekers from lodging claims in Canada if they first landed stateside. It only applies, however, to arrivals who pass through checkpoints.
Taillefer said he would plead for his client to be allowed to stay on humanitarian grounds, adding that a decision could take up to two years.
The Senate on Tuesday gave all standing committees one week to present and defend reports of the 2017 Budget of Ministries, Agencies and Departments(MDAs) under them before the Committee on Appropriation.
The Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, announced the deadline to the committees at plenary and urged them to abide by the ultimatum to enable the appropriation committee to put finishing touches to the reports.
According to him, the senate is committed to passing the 2017 Budget before the end of March.
President Mohammadu Buhari presented the 2017 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly on Dec. 14, 2016.
Meanwhile, the senate has sent a seven-member delegation to pay a condolence visit on the family of late former governor of old Bendel, Dr Samuel Ogbemudia.
Members of the delegation, which would be led by the Chief Whip, Sen. Olusola Adeyeye, are Sen. Stella Oduah (Anambra-PDP), Sen. Umaru Kurfi (Katsina-APC) and Sen. Gbolahan Dada (Ogun-APC).
Others are Sen. Barnabas Gemade (Benue-APC), Sen. Abdulaziz Nyako (Adamawa-APC) and Sen. Ben Bruce (Bayelsa-PDP).
Ekweremadu announced that senators from Edo, who wish to join the delegation, could do so.
The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that Ogbemudia was former military governor of defunct Midwest region, defunct Bendel state and civilian governor also of Bendel.
He died on Thursday at a private hospital in Lagos at 84.
Political parties on Tuesday expressed support to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for fixing dates ahead of the 2019 general elections.
The parties announced the support to the commission in a communiqué at the end of their meeting with INEC in Abuja.
INEC had on Thursday announced Feb. 16, 2019 for Presidential and National Assembly elections and March 2, 2019 for Governorship, State Assembly and Federal Capital Territory Area Councils polls.
It explained that fixing the dates was part of its efforts at standardising and ensuring certainty of timetable for general elections in the country.
In the communiqué read by Dr Onwubuya Breakforth, National Deputy Chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), the parties said they believed the initiative would engender certainty in the country's election calendar.
They said that dates were within the period stipulated by INEC for the elections.
"We also welcome the assurance by INEC to commence the nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in April, 2017 at local government level.
"IPAC also pledged to fully support the commission in the registration of new voters and creating further public awareness in the distribution of uncollected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).
"As a step in this direction, the meeting agreed that uncollected PVCs should be distributed simultaneously with the nationwide CVR,'' the communiqué said.
It urged INEC to further deepen the use of technology in elections and work with the National Assembly to remove all legal encumbrances to full deployment of Information and Communication Technology in future polls. On the outstanding Anambra Central Senatorial rerun election, the group called on INEC to liaise with concerned political parties to resolve ongoing litigation to pave way for the conduct of the election.
"In view of the recent Supreme Court judgment on the election, it was agreed that INEC shall work with the political parties that have cases in the lower court to find amicable ways to resolve out of court. "This is to enable the commission conduct the outstanding election in the senatorial district.
"INEC shall engage with the parties involved based on this principle,'' it said.
The communiqué said that all political parties in the meeting renewed their commitments to internal democracy while affirming commitment to non-violence in elections.
It commended INEC's effort to prosecute electoral offenders and acknowledged that appropriate sanction was the most effective panacea to electoral violence.
"It was also resolved that this should be expanded to include all violators of the Electoral Act, no matter how highly placed.''
Representing INEC, the Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Mr Oluwole Osase-Uzzi, said that the commission had accepted to explore out-of-court solution to the Anambra legislative election.
"INEC is prepared to conduct the election as soon as all legal impediments are removed,'' Osase-Uzzi added. On what would happened about the announced dates for the 2019 general elections if ongoing amendment of the Electoral Act was concluded before the election, he said the commission was working with extant laws.
"We are working with an extant law and the time for election is fixed by the Constitution.
"So, if the Constitution is amended before 2019 or on that day and it necessitates the change, then, we will comply with whatever extant law that is available before the election.
"But, if it is not amended before then, we go with the dates as they stand now. INEC is bound to go with whatever the law states,'' Osase-Uzzi said.
US President Donald Trump hosted Saudi Arabia’s powerful Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House Tuesday, for talks expected to focus on the economy and rolling back Iranian influence.US President Donald Trump
Trump welcomed the young prince to the Oval Office, as both countries expect to improve ties that were frequently strained under Barack Obama’s administration.
Saudi Arabia is likely to welcome Trump’s harder line on its arch-rival Iran and there is likely to be less friction over Riyadh’s war against Iranian-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia viewed Obama as being too accommodating towards Iran — particularly amid negotiations on a nuclear deal — while Washington held grave misgivings about civilian deaths in Yemen.
Trump’s 50-plus days in office have given little indication about his stance on Saudi Arabia’s war, but have seen a dramatic uptick in US action against Al-Qaeda’s Yemen offshoot — AQAP.
Second in line to the throne, Prince Mohammed is the son of King Salman and holds the post of defense minister, although much of his focus is on economic issues.
He is the chief proponent of Vision 2030, a wide-ranging social and economic reform plan begun last year to diversify the oil dependent economy.
He has also played a key role in the Yemen campaign.
Trump has expressed hope that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf allies can be helpful across a range of issues, from creating safe zones in Syria to solving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Riyadh is also seen by the White House as pivotal in any effort to constrain Iran’s influence across the Middle East.
But that strategy has been widely questioned.
“Anyone experiencing these visions ought to lie down and wait quietly until the sensation passes,” warned Aaron David Miller and Richard Sokolsky — foreign policy advisors to Republican and Democratic administrations.
The pair warned in a Washington Post opinion editorial that “the president is likely to find that his vision of US interests, let alone strategy, doesn’t mesh with that of the Arabs on whom he’s relying.”
Experts familiar with the region have also warned that any robust effort to counter Iran must be well thought through — as Tehran is likely to hit back at US interests asymmetrically and in a non-attributable way.
Kenyan doctors signed a deal on Tuesday to end a strike over pay and working conditions that has crippled public hospitals for 100 days.
The government had threatened repeatedly to fire the strikers and hire foreign doctors, and union officials were even briefly jailed in a bid to end the country’s longest-ever medical strike.
Poor salaries and working conditions — such as a lack of vital drugs and equipment — have pushed Kenyan doctors to flee the public sector or go to other countries where there are better opportunities.
The deal, signed at a ceremony broadcast on television, followed intense negotiations brokered by religious leaders.
“We have concluded a return-to-work formula between the government and ourselves bringing to an end the strike by doctors that has consumed the country for 100 days,” said Ouma Oluga, the head of Kenya’s main doctors union, the KMPDU.
“It has been one of the most difficult industrial relations in the country”, he told a joint news conference with Peter Munya, the chairman of the Council of Governors, which comprises the heads of the 47 counties.
No details were released on the accord, but Munya said they have not yet concluded a pay deal.
“What we have signed today with the doctors’ union officials is a return to work formula that will pave way for further negotiations on the pay increase demands”, he said.
He described the strike, which began on December 5 in state hospitals, as “one of the most painful experiences for Kenyans”.
At the root of the strike was a Collective Bargaining Agreement agreed between the government and the unions in 2013.
The document promised to triple salaries but also to improve often dire conditions in public hospitals — which the striking doctors point to when accused of being greedy.
The KMPDU union says the country has one doctor to 17,000 patients, while the World Health Organization recommends one to 1,000.
The government said the CBA was still being fine-tuned but doctors had argued it was a legal deal which they wanted implemented immediately.
A furious President Uhuru Kenyatta last week lambasted the some 5,000 striking doctors, accusing them of “blackmail”.
University lecturers also went on strike in January, a double blow to Kenyatta’s government just five months before a general election.
A series of corruption scandals — including in the health ministry — are fuelling the discontent, as is anger towards lawmakers who are among the best paid in the world and have voted themselves new benefits while claiming to be unable to meet the demands of doctors and lecturers.
Monaco are “the best team in the world at scoring goals” in the eyes of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, so the only way to beat them is by taking them on at their own game, he says.Guardiola
“I want to see a team from the first minute looking to win the game. After that, at this level everyone can beat you, but I don’t like my team to speculate,” Guardiola told reporters on Tuesday ahead of the Champions League last 16, second leg between the teams.
City take a 5-3 lead into Wednesday’s match at the Stade Louis II after winning a thrilling first leg last month, and many teams would be tempted to defend such an advantage in the return.
French league leaders Monaco have scored 123 goals in all competitions this season while City have looked defensively fragile throughout much of the campaign. But so have their opponents.
Guardiola added: “Of course we start game not with 0-0, but with 5-3. We know a 2-0, 3-1 or 4-2 (defeat) and we are out.
“We have to play the game, focus on what we have to do. It would be tiring for us to think about running the clock down, that would be a huge mistake, to think about what we have done (already).
“They are the best team in the world at scoring goals, they attack with five or six players, they are physically strong, fast in short spaces.
“When a team scores 123 goals it shows they can score in many different ways, so the best way (to handle them) is to score goals. Take the ball and score goals is the only way.
“If you think only about defending for 90 minutes because you won 5-3, you kill yourself. What we have to do is go to score goals.”
Sergio Aguero scored twice while Raheem Sterling, John Stones and Leroy Sane were all on target for City in a remarkable meeting at the Etihad Stadium, in which Monaco had led 2-1 and 3-2 before collapsing late on.
Radamel Falcao, who scored a brace, and teen sensation Kylian Mbappe were electrifying for Monaco but Guardiola said his team can go on to win the competition if they can repeat their first-leg performance.
“Yeah sure. Even when we won the competition in Barcelona, or got to the semi-finals at Bayern, we were never sure we were going to win it, but in that way we can win it,” said the Spaniard, the mastermind of Barca’s 2009 and 2011 triumphs.
With Bayern, he fell in three straight semi-finals in his three years in charge, while City reached the last four for the first time in their history last season, losing to Real Madrid.
“I am so satisfied already about my personal success,” said Guardiola when asked about his formidable record in the competition. “When you see the potential quarter-final rivals they are top, top clubs. I cannot answer if we will win the Champions League but getting to the quarter-finals would be a dream for me and the players.”
Zone A of Nigerian Universities Games Association (NUGA) Council on Tuesday appointed 13 coordinators for the games of the 2017 NUGA Preliminaries to be hosted by Federal University Dutse (FUD).
Newsmen report that the coordinators were selected and appointed during a meeting with the council members and officials of the university.
Those appointed are Prof. Rabi'u Mohammed, the Director Sports, Bayero University Kano (BUK), for football and Dr Sambo Banake of FUD as basketball coordinator.
Dr Danlami of Federal University Lafiya was appointed volleyball coordinator, Dr Muhammad Lapai as badminton coordinator and Sa'idu Bala of Federal University of Technology (FUT) Minna as lawn tennis coordinator.
Semi-final male volleyball event of the first National Youth Games between teams FCT (White) and Abia in Abuja.
Others are Dr Musa Dogo of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria as athletics coordinator, and Danladi Garba of Jigawa Sports Council as taekwondo coordinator.
Also, Mr Umar of Jigawa Sports Council was appointed judo coordinator, Israel Bulus of Nassarawa State University as chess coordinator and Dr L.Y. Bello of FUT Minna as squash coordinator.
At the meeting, the officials agreed that coordinators for handball, table tennis and swimming would be sourced from Kano State Sports Commission before the commencement of the exercise.
Newsmen report that 19 universities from the zone would compete for tickets to the NUGA Games at the preliminaries billed to take place from April 2 to April 8.
The Lagos State Government has concluded plans to list its N47 billion bonds on the FMDQ Securities Exchange Plc platform.
The listing of this bond on this platform will enable investors to trade on it on daily basis before due date.
The bond, which is series 1of the state’s N500 billion debt issuance programme, is a 7 year 16.50 per cent fixed rate bond due 2023. This marks the first sub-national bonds issued in the Nigerian Debt Capital Market, DCM, and listed on FMDQ in 2017 and has, therefore, paved way for other sub-national issues.
The OTC Exchange said in a statement that the Lagos State government has formally joined the league of issuers to benefit from the tailored FMDQ listings and quotations service, including all the benefits availed from a listing on FMDQ.
It noted that to align the standards in the Nigerian market to those of the model markets around the world, it is currently providing permitted trading status for about N225 billion of the previously issued bonds by the Lagos State Government on its platform.
It added that it has continued to demonstrate its full commitment of making the Nigerian DCM robust and deep, through its capacity as the DCM market organiser and frontline regulator.
"Outstanding value delivery, as continues to be the focus of the OTC Exchange, was delivered through the efficient and swift listing process which was availed to the issuer and the sponsor of the listing on FMDQ, the Registration Member (Listings), Chapel Hill Denham Advisory Partners Ltd.
"As a DCM-focused OTC Exchange, FMDQ facilitates growth and development in the debt capital markets, effectively cascading this to the Nigerian economy through the direct and indirect initiatives generated and implemented.
Through its efficient platform for the registration, listing, quotation and valuation of bonds, the OTC Exchange has significantly improved transparency, and integrated the domestic and international markets through enhanced trade visibility, improved market surveillance, global presence and competitiveness, enhanced secondary market liquidity and effective price formation," the OTC Exchange said.
"Not resting on its laurels, FMDQ, through the requisite systems that promote operational excellence, and its timely and market-oriented product innovation strategies that has seen the emergence of the short-term bonds, among other debt securities, supports the corporate and government issuers towards maximising the potential of their respective businesses and institutions via the Nigerian DCM," it said.
Manchester United were charged on Tuesday by the Football Association (FA) with failing to control their players during the explosive FA Cup quarter-final with Chelsea, English football’s ruling body said.
Mourinho
United’s Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera was sent off in the first half shortly after referee Michael Oliver warned captain Chris Smalling about the continual fouling of Chelsea’s playmaker Eden Hazard.
United’s Argentine defender Marcos Rojo was also caught on camera seemingly stamping on Hazard’s chest in the second half of the match which Chelsea won 1-0 to oust the holders.
“Following Monday’s Emirates FA Cup tie at Chelsea, ManUtd have been charged for failing to control their players,” the FA tweeted.
Kano State Governor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, on Tuesday said the state government had established five grazing reserves to address the recurring clashes between herdsmen and farmers in the state.
Ganduje said this on Tuesday in Kano during a meeting with the newly elected officers of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association. He said it was no longer fashionable for herdsmen to wander through the length and breadth of the country searching for pastures.
He said the state government would provide mechanised boreholes, fodder and other facilities in the reserves to prevent them from roaming in search of animal feeds.
The governor said more than 60 herdsmen were trained in Turkey for animal insemination to improve reproduction in cattle and in line with international best practices.
He urged the new officials of the association to investigate and identify where most of the herdsmen are coming from.
The chairman of the association, Malam Hussaini Ganduje, promised to pilot the affairs of the association with the fear of God.
The Kebbi State Government has flagged off the sale of 100,000 tonnes of fertiliser for 2017 dry season farming.
Gov. Atiku Bagudu said this in Jega in Kebbi on Tuesday while flagging off the sale of the fertiliser.He, however, did not disclose the cost of the commodity.
"We have procured 100,000 tonnes of fertiliser which is equivalent to two million bags of the commodity for sale at subsidised rate to our farmers.
"This dry season, our farmers will purchase the commodity at N5,500 per bag.
Gov. Bagudu
"The sale has commenced in all the 21 local government areas of the state, '' the governor said.
Bagudu said the commodity would be made accessible and available to farmers at a more affordable price.
"We want fertiliser to be available to the extent that we do not henceforth require to flag off its sale, sequel to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Nigeria and Morocco for the procurement of 1 million tonnes of fertiliser,'' he said.
The governor also advised farmers to pay back agricultural loans they received so that others who did not receive the loan in the past, could benefit.
Bagudu said he would continue to assist farmers with loans and interventions to strengthen the dependence agriculture and boost rice production in the state.
He announced an assistance of N20 million to a 20-year-old local engineer, Bello Umar from Jega, who created prototypes of an excavator and a water pumping machine to boost his engineering work.
"We will attach the boy to a committee of designers under the chairmanship of the Deputy Governor, Sama'ila Yombe.
"This is to assist him to make his creativity and products realistic and come out for commercial world,'' he said.
In his remark, the District Head of Jega, Alhaji Muhammadu Bawa, commended the state government for subsidising the fertiliser to farmers in the state.
He advised the people to engage in farming and business ventures to compliment the efforts of government in reducing the level of unemployment in the state.
Deputy President of the Senate, Mr Ike Ekweremadu, has called on Chinese firms operating in Nigeria to ensure fair treatment of their Nigerian workers.
Ekweremadu, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr Uche Anichukwu, on Tuesday in Abuja, said that the call became necessary following pertinent complaints over treatment of Nigerians by their Chinese employers.
He made the call when he received the Deputy Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Nigeria, Mr Jin Ping, who visited him in Abuja.
Ekweremadu
He appreciated the government and people of China for their support towards Nigeria's development, especially in investments, roads, railway, agriculture and power.
Ekweremadu complained about alleged illegal mining activities by some Chinese in Nigeria.
"We want to see more of Chinese factories and presence in Nigeria to help us reload the private sector.
"We also want to see Nigerians who work in Chinese factories treated like their Chinese colleagues.
"We welcome you with open hands and we expect you to also treat our people well, like your people," he said.
He said that the Federal Government detested at any form of illegal mining as it portended economic loss and environmental hazards to the country.
"We will also like to see that Chinese who do business here do it in accordance with our laws.
"We have heard reports of some Chinese who allegedly engage in illegal mining.
"Nigeria is blessed with abundant mineral resources and I am sure that the government is ever willing to cooperate with lawful interests through licensing for the exploitation of these mineral in compliance with our laws.''
Speaking earlier, Jing said his delegation was at the National Assembly to strengthen the bilateral ties between Nigeria and China.
Jing reaffirmed China's commitment to Nigeria's development, saying that Chinese investments in Nigeria stood at 13 billion dollars at the end of 2016.
He said China was also demonstrating same commitment to Nigeria's friendship and development through 326 million dollars on 30 rice mill projects slated for various parts of the country.
He added that China EXIM Bank funded provided 450 million dollar loan for the construction of Keffi road.
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, says Nigeria supports the candidature of Issa Hayatou in the April 2017 election for the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) presidency.
Dalung told newsmen on Monday in Abuja that Nigeria's support was based on national interest.
Solomon Dalung
"For the presidency of CAF, when I invited them, I told them Nigeria's position is to vote in favour of her national interest, and not too long ago, the Federal Government made categorically clear her position.
"And the position of the Federal Government of Nigeria is that, in view of the fact that Cameroon has been a major key player in the war against insurgency and the involvement of Cameroon in fighting for the stability of Nigeria, it will be out of the foreign policy context of Nigeria to abandon Cameroon.
"And the `(then) acting president (Prof. Yemi Osinbajo) directed which I have communicated appropriately, that if the only vote that will come to Hayatou will be from Nigeria, Nigerians should stand with Hayatou.
"That it is outside our foreign policy, because we are not looking at football, but we are looking at the country Nigeria, what does Nigeria stand to benefit if it moves to the opposite direction?
Dalung also said that the country was in full support of Nigeria Football Federation's President, Amaju Pinnick's interest to contest for a CAF executive position in the elections.
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, Tuesday, granted the motion to call oral evidence in respect of a N500 million assault suit filed against the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, by the Lagos State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, on behalf of a Badagry-based journalist, Otunba Yomi Olomofe.
While granting the motion, Justice Abdulaziz Anka of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos said the oral evidence is necessary so as to clear some grey areas in the suit before him.
The judge however, declined the applicant’s motion to file further evidence affidavit.
He therefore fixed Monday, April 24, 2017 for further hearing of the Assault suit.
Justice Anka, had on Feb. 23, 2017 adjourned ruling on whether or not to allow oral evidence in the Assault case against the Customs and eight other defendants.
Also on the same day, Justice Anka ordered the defendants in the case to file their claims accordingly on the pending applications in respect of the substantive suit to enable him deliver his ruling at yesterday’s proceedings.
Lagos NUJ had sued the Nigeria Customs Service and eight others for the violent battery and assault of Otunba Yomi Olomofe at Seme border Customs Office on June 25, 2015.
The defendants in the Assault suit filed by Lagos NUJ are: Nigeria Customs Service, Comptroller-General of Customs, CG, Comptroller Muhammed Ndalate and Deputy Comptroller Emmanuel Nkemdirin.
Others are Assistant Comptroller Ibrahim Nuhu Turaki, Chief Sam Madubuike (Sam Ibiye), Suleimon Momoh (Basket), Shehu and Elijah.
Evicted Big Brother Naija housemate (#BBNaija), Gifty Brian (Ajumobi) popularly known as "Gifty'' in the on-going reality TV show on Tuesday admitted that she was once married after several denials.
Gifty
Sequel to her eviction, a man who identified himself as Augustine Akuma and claimed to be a cousin to her supposed husband released photos from the Gifty's wedding while she was in the house.
Gifty who was evicted from the on-going reality show on Day 28, in series of interviews denied ever being married, stressing that the rumour would only make her more famous.
The 23-year old actress and model in an interview with Hiptv said the period she was married was a dark period in her life that she would not want to go back to.
She said, "I will say it here and now that the marriage issue was kind of real; I was once married, it was a dark part of my life that I don't want to ever go back to
"My advice to every young girl out there; before you go into a marriage, you have to be physically, mentally, emotionally and physiologically matured because I was naive," she said.
Akuna had accused the former housemate of deceiving her fans by claiming that she was not married.
He further alleged that the couple had irreconcilably differences over Gifty's "cheating lifestyle while still in her husband's house.''
Gifty, who had a pretty controversial time in the house with her string of kisses, multinational accent and comments about not knowing Nigerian celebrities, Falz and Banky w, left the house empty handed.
She was the fourth to be evicted from the show after Soma, Miyose and Coco Ice.
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, on Tuesday directed sports federations to commence preparation for the 2018 Commonwealth Games without further delay. Dalung gave the directive at a news conference on Queen's Baton Relay as part of activities to mark the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Queensland, Australia from April 4.
SOLOMON DALUNG
He said this was necessary to ensure a robust preparation and a successful outing for Team Nigeria at the Games. Dalung said that the Queen's Baton Relay would hold in Lagos from April 1 to April 5.
"The Baton, accompanied by a five-man international team will arrive Nigeria on April 1 in line with the tradition of Queen's Baton protocol. "It is my delight to update the media on preparations for the hosting of the Queens's Baton Relay in Nigeria. "This is the fifth consecutive time that the relay will be visiting Nigeria, as a traditional curtain raiser to the Commonwealth Games.'' he said. Dalung said that the first visit of the Queen's Baton to Nigeria was in 2002. The minister said the relay was to the Commonwealth Games what Olympics Torch Relay was to the Olympics Games. He said that the Queen's Baton Relay was first introduced as part of the Commonwealth Games in 1958 in Cardiff, Wales.
Dalung said the Baton which usually convey a message from the Queen of England, starts its journey across commonwealth nations and territories a year prior to the games. He said that the Baton would be presented to Gov Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State on April 3, thereafter; the Baton Relay train would proceed to the National Stadium for other activities.
Dalung said that there would be a city float leading a relay pack of past commonwealth athletes, Olympians and paralympians, from the National Stadium through Western Avenue to Ojuelegba He listed other activities to include: presentation by children of special school at the stadium, visit to Pacelli School for the blind and visit to Nigeria Olympics Committee partner schools. The Gold Coast 2018 edition of the Queen's Baton Relay was launched on Monday by Queen Elizabeth 11 at Buckingham Palace, London.
23 Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, staff members who were arrested in connection with collection of bribe in the Rivers state re-run election were, Tuesday brought before the Federal High Court Abuja.
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A national creative writing competition, Blooming Minds Young Writers Awards, for children between ages six and 15 years, is in the offing.
The contest is to come in two categories. The first being 300-word poetry and short stories for children between ages six and nine while the second entails a 500-worded fictional and non-fictional piece from kids aged nine to 15.
Blooming Minds Kids Agency Nigeria Limited, promoters of the awards, said the targets must showcase stories depicting African cultures.
Its Chief Executive, Mrs. Thelma Ofosu-Asamoah said: "It is an initiative that provides a platform for children with creative writing skills to exhibit their talent.
It was first launched in Ghana last year. We are driven by the passion to raise a generation of children who are analytic, confident and expressive.
"The aim is to ultimately nurture a writing culture in our youth by helping them engage their minds in creating stories that are African- centred. The competition will also help them to rediscover and appreciate the African culture through literature."
The sums of N50, 000 and N25, 000 go the winner and runner-up of the first category, just as N100, 000 and N80, 000 had been earmarked for victors of the second set. Entries close April 30.
Forms are available in the participating schools or online at info@bmkidsagency.com.
