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NBA: LeBron James Injured, Will Miss About Two Games

Chidi Uduma Nwoke
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Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is expected to sit out the team’s next two games on the road against the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers to rest his injured ankle.

After missing 20 games because of the injury, James returned to play in the Lakers’ loss to Sacramento on Friday and its loss to Toronto on Sunday. He had 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists against the Kings; and added 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists against the Raptors.

He didn’t play the last 6 minutes, 42 seconds of the Raptors game, and then sat out Los Angeles’ win over Denver on Monday.

James could miss more games in order to be better prepared for the postseason.

This season, the four-time NBA MVP is averaging 25.0 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game.

The fifth-placed Lakers, who have seven games left in the regular season, are 37-28, a half-game ahead of the sixth-place Dallas Mavericks and one game ahead of the seventh-place Trail Blazers.

The top six teams in the Western Conference qualify for the playoffs without having to compete in the play-in tournament between the teams seeded seventh through 10th.

 

Chidi Nwoke/Reuters.

African Ministers pledge action against human-wildlife conflicts

Olajumoke Adeleke
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African Ministers on Tuesday renewed support for innovative conservation models geared towards minimizing the violent encounters between local communities and wildlife species like elephants.
The ministers from Kenya and Gabon who spoke at a virtual briefing said that combating human-wildlife conflicts is at the heart of efforts to conserve the continent’s wildlife heritage.
“Human-wildlife conflicts that have escalated in Africa due to climate change impacts, growth of human population and industrial farming is the greatest threat to conservation of critical species,” said Najib Balala, cabinet secretary of Kenya’s Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife.
“We need to balance human development and wildlife conservation in order to avert attacks that lead to loss of lives and property,” he added.
Balala said that Kenya has prioritised support for nomadic communities living near wildlife habitats to encourage them to protect iconic land mammals like elephants and rhinos amid threats of poaching.
“Some of the projects funded by the government and conservation partners like schools and health centres are aimed at encouraging communities to appreciate the role of wildlife in sustaining their livelihoods,” said Balala.
Gabon’s minister of Forests, Oceans, Environment and Climate Change, Lee White, said that long-term solution to human-wildlife conflicts in Africa lies in sustainable financing to promote climate adaptation, protection of habitats and community-based awareness programs.
“We need technical and financial support to address climate change and habitat loss that is fuelling human-wildlife conflicts in the continent,” White said.
He said the communities need to be educated on the need to protect wildlife not only as a heritage but also as a source of their livelihood.
White said that Gabon, which is home to the largest surviving population of African forest elephants, believes combating poaching and putting up electric fences around wildlife habitats could minimize violent clashes with local herders and farmers.

Edited by Olajumoke Adeleke

Kenya, Tanzania agree on gas pipeline plans

Olajumoke Adeleke
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Kenya and Tanzania on Tuesday signed an agreement to begin work on a gas pipeline from Dar es Salaam to Mombasa in what the two countries’ leaders said was part of a long-term project to share energy resources.
At a joint Press conference in Nairobi, Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu and her Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta said they had agreed to build more interconnecting infrastructure, starting with a gas pipeline and roads.
The MoU on Cooperation in Natural Gas Transportation means respective Ministers of Energy can start negotiating the design, cost and other logistical needs for the pipeline to be built.
A joint communique said it will enhance “energy sufficiency” with Kenya keen on importing gas from Tanzania’s nascent plant.
No timelines were given, but President Samia said respective technocrats have been directed to start working on it immediately.
“That is a long-term project and we are thankful that today we have signed an agreement and what remains is implementation,” she said.
President Kenyatta said the two countries must build on their close cultural and historic ties to ensure their citizens benefit from interactions.
“We have agreed to work on the main highway between Malindi through Lungalunga to Bagamoyo. We also agree that we will work on resumption of transportation services on Lake Victoria, which were useful in the movement of people and goods from Jinja to Kisumu and to Mwanza and Bukoba,” the President said.

Edited by Olajumoke Adeleke

Mexico promises justice after metro train collapse

Olajumoke Adeleke
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Mexico will punish those responsible for an overpass collapse that killed at least 24 people and injured dozens when a train on Mexico City’s newest metro line plunged onto a busy road below, the government said on Tuesday.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the investigation should be done quickly and that nothing should be hidden from the public.
“There’s no impunity for anyone,” he said.
The crash has raised wider questions about safety on one of the world’s busiest metro systems, which carries millions of people daily across an urban sprawl home to over 20 million people.
Some 79 people were injured, including three children, authorities said.
Video on social media showed the moment when the overpass suddenly plummeted onto a stream of cars near the Olivos station in the southeast of the city at around 10:30 p.m. (0330 GMT on Tuesday), sending up clouds of dust and sparks.
Monserrat, 26, said she was at the back of the train wagon when she heard a loud noise and the lights went out.
“Everybody screamed and we fell on top of each other,” she told Mexican radio, speaking from the Belisario Dominguez hospital where she was receiving treatment for an injured rib.
It was the second serious accident this year, after a fire at a central control building knocked out service on several lines for weeks following budget cuts.
The overpass that collapsed was part of Linea 12, an addition to the network finished less than a decade ago and long plagued by allegations of corruption and structural weakness.

Edited by Olajumoke Adeleke

Nigerian Govt tells PDP to stop playing politics with National Security

Mercy Chukwudiebere
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The Nigerian government has warned the main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to stop playing cheap politics with issues of national security that the country is facing.

Speaking at a Press Conference in Abuja on Tuesday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said that the PDP played cheap politics while playing the ostrich.

He said; “We advise those bent on playing cheap politics with the challenges to have a rethink. This is no time for politics.”

According to Alhaji Mohammed, the opposition party went ahead to make wild accusations against the President and his government. For example, the PDP said the government has refused to engage, and that were running a ‘government of exclusion’.

The Minister said that the PDP addressed a press conference in Abuja on Monday, to offer suggestions to the Nigerian Government on some topical issues, especially national security, but said the party fell short of what they wanted to offer.

“The main opposition party said; ”it was dropping the toga of politics in the national interest. The recommendations by the PDP have exposed the opposition party’s gimmickry, and the fact that it was merely playing politics with serious national issues, especially security.”

Insincerity
The Minister however,  accused the opposition of insincerity and low standard research and ideas in executing its plan.

“If it had done its home work properly, the PDP would have known that most of those same recommendations they suggested were already contained in the outcome of the Nigerian Government’s Town Hall Meeting on National Security, which was held in Kaduna on April 8th2021,” he stated.

The PDP had accused the Nigerian Government of not engaging and of running a government of exclusion. The  Minister however, refuted such claims and instead, puts it on the records that theNigerian Government has consistently engaged Nigerians on topical national issues, including security, the fight against corruption, terrorism, infrastructure and farmer-herder conflict among others through Town Hall meetings across the country.

The Minister said the outcome of government’s town hall meeting in Kaduna was more encompassing and more far-reaching than the political gimmickry which the PDP embarked upon on Monday.

Alhaji Mohammed said the PDP also alleged that kidnappers and bandits were not being brought to justice.

“This is apparently aimed at the Nigerian Government. It is shocking that a party that ruled this nation for 16 years does not know that kidnapping and banditry are not federal offences,” he said.

“The Government has successfully prosecuted thousands of Boko Haram members in Kainji, as part of a continuing exercise. We are now seeking the cooperation of the judiciary to continue with the trial of arrested terrorists,” he said.

The Minister said the PDP ideas were directly picked from some of the recommendations from the recent Kaduna Town Hall meeting on Insecurity. 

RESOLUTION OF KADUNA TOWN HALL MEETING ON INSECURITY

With the theme: “Setting Benchmarks for enhanced Security and National Unity in Nigeria”, the Town Hall Meeting reached the following resolutions:

i.  That the governance of human society should be based on Law rather than the whims and caprices of human beings and must be obeyed by all as all persons are equal before the law including the law
givers.

ii.   That there is urgent need for political restructuring and not separation.

iii.   That the Judiciary be decentralized and reformed through Constitutional Amendment to remove the unitary control of the Superior Courts.

iv.  That governments at all levels should ensure free, qualitative and compulsory Primary Education for all children of school age.

vii.  That the Military, Police and other Security Agencies should be expanded in number, retrained, provided with modern equipment and technology to cope with emerging security challenge.

viii.  That both religious and traditional leaders should encourage and promote inter-marriages for unity as contained in the 1999 Constitution as amended, Article 15, 3(c) which prescribes
inter-marriage among persons from different places of origin, or of different religious, ethnic or linguistic association or ties.

vii.   That the establishment of State Police should be supported by
the National and State Houses of Assembly to enable State Governments
have firm control in addressing security issues.

viii.   That Traditional Rulers should be given their age-long role of
maintaining peace and security within their domain.

ix. The Local Government Autonomy be actualized to enable them have control of their areas including the ungoverned spaces in tackling security challenges.

x.   And finally that the Farmers/Herders clashes be addressed by establishment of ranches, grazing reserves with modern amenities to check the trans-humans of the herders.

 

 

Mercy Chukwudiebere

Senate moves to give Chartered Institute of Directors legal backing

Mercy Chukwudiebere
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The Chattered Institute of Directors of Nigeria is on the verge of being backed up by Law, as the Senate on Tuesday passed for second reading, a bill seeking to establish the 34 year old institute.
The Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, who sponsored the bill, explained that the Institute of Directors of Nigeria which was established 34 years ago, was incorporated by the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, as a non-profit making public company limited by guarantee.
According to him, ”the Institute’s major objective is to provide professional training to Directors in the Public and Private Sectors to facilitate effective governance, public accountability and professional efficiency in administering the Public and Private Sectors in Nigeria.”
The lawmaker, however, explained that in discharging this enormous role, the Institute needs to secure membership of Global Network of Directors Institute (GNDI), the umbrella body of Institute of Directors in the world with headquarters in Canada and European Federation of Directors.
He said; “The Institute requires to be affiliated with these and other related international organisations with specialty or mandate in provision of capacity development services to Directors worldwide. 
“The Institute is currently not a member of the two world most famous bodies in this sector on the ground that is not established by law in Nigeria to qualify as chartered and that is what this Bill seeks to do, to ensure that it is established by law to enable it affiliate with the world organisations in this sector. ”
Senator Yahaya further explained that the Chartered Institute of Directors of Nigeria bill, when passed and signed into law, would serve as a Regulatory Body for Persons serving as Directors in both Public and Private Sectors.
He added that the body would also be tasked with determining the standards of knowledge and skills to be attained by persons seeking to become Directors; making provision for continuous training and development of the Directors; and ensuring professionalism and the promotion of corporate governance values.
Thereafter, the Bill was referred to the Committee on Establishment and Public Service which is chaired by Senator Ibrahim Shekarau for further legislative work and to report back within two weeks.

 

 

Mercy Chukwudiebere

Army reaffirms loyalty to Nigerian Government

Mercy Chukwudiebere
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The Military has reaffirmed its loyalty to the Nigerian Government, condemning a takeover call made by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Robert Clark.

Clark had asked the current leadership of the country to hand over power to the military for the purpose of restructuring Nigeria.

In a statement, the acting Director Defence Information, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu said “the Nigerian Military wish to dissociate itself from such anti-democratic utterance and position.” 

”The Armed Forces of Nigeria remains fully committed to the present Administration and all associated democratic institutions. ”

Below is the full Statement as released;

NIGERIAN MILITARY REMAIN LOYAL TO THE CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA

The attention of the military high command has been drawn to a statement purported to have been made by one Robert Clark SAN, suggesting that current political leadership should hand over power to the military for the purpose of restructuring.

The Nigerian Military wishes to dissociate itself from such anti-democratic utterance and position.

Let it be stated categorically that the Armed Forces of Nigeria remain fully committed to the present Administration and all associated democratic institutions.

We shall continue to remain apolitical, subordinate to the Civil Authority, firmly loyal to the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari and the 1999 Constitution as Amended.

We shall continue to discharge our constitutional responsibilities professionally, especially in protecting the country’s democracy, defence of the territorial integrity of the country as well as protection of lives and properties of citizens.

The Military High Command wishes to use this opportunity to warn misguided politicians who nurse the inordinate ambition to rule this country outside the ballot box to banish such thoughts as the military under the current leadership remain resolute in the Defence of Nigeria’s Democracy and its growth.

We also wish to remind all military personnel that it is treasonable to even contemplate this illegality.

The full wrath of the law will be brought to bear on any personnel found to collude with people having such an agenda.

The current security challenges are not insurmountable. The Armed Forces of Nigeria in partnership with other security agencies are working assiduously to ameliorate the challenge. Nigeria will know peace again. PLEASE BE WARNED!

ONYEMA NWACHUKWU

Brigadier General

Acting Director Defence Information

 

Equities Trading on NGX decline by 0.082%

Nneka Oyibo Ukachukwu
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Trading on the equities market resumed on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX on Tuesday on a negative by 0.082% after the worker’s day public holiday declared by the Nigerian government.

Investors’ sell-offs of LAFARGE AFRICA PLC which declined by 5.20% and MTN NIGERIA COMMUNICATIONS PLC which fell 0.5% spurred the first loss of the week, which also marks the beginning of trading for the month of May.

The Market Capitalization dropped from 20,847 trillion naira by 17 billion naira or 0.082% to close at 20,830 trillion naira.

Similarly, the All-Share Index dropped 32.64 basis points or 0.082% from 39,834.42 basis points to 39,801.78 basis points.

Investors traded 426,508 million units of shares worth 4.654 billion naira in 5,616.00 deals where 24 stocks posted gains while 17 stocks declined.

FBN Holdings Plc was the most traded stock in volume with 79.6 million units of shares while ZENITH BANK PLC was the most traded stock by value at N1,282 billion.

LASACO ASSURANCE PLC topped the gainers chart appreciating from N1.42k to N1.56k by 0.14k or 9.86% followed by NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC moving from N1.73k per share to N1.90k per share by 0.17k or 9.83%. INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC was next rising from a previous selling price of N5.20k per share to N5.70k per share by 0.50k or 9.62%.

On the reverse side, LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC led the losers with a drop from a previous selling price of 0.85k per share to 0.53k per share, losing 0.08k or 13.11%.

Next is REGENCY ASSURANCE PLC with a downward movement from 0.33k per share to 0.30k per share, dropping 0.03k or 9.09%. Then CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE PLC was right after with a fall from 0.39k per share to 0.36k per share, loosing 0.03k or 7.69%. 

Sectoral performance was broadly negative as the Insurance index fell 1.3%, Oil & Gas index declined 0.7%, Industrial Goods index dropped 0.6% and Banking index lost 0.3%, with only the Consumer Goods index being the sole gainer by 0.8%.

 

Nneka Ukachukwu

 

EFCC charges Students to shun corruption

Nneka Oyibo Ukachukwu
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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has admonished Nigerian students to embrace the spirit of hard work and shun all acts that can tarnish their names and the good image of the country.

The Zonal Head of the Ilorin Office of the EFCC, Usman Muktar, gave the charge during an anti-corruption sensitization lecture for students of Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

Muktar, who spoke through the Head, Public Affairs Department of the Zone, Babatunde Ayodele urged students to imbibe the culture of excellence as future leaders of the country and to shun all forms of criminality.

He said: “We are here today to convey a message to you on behalf of the EFCC. As leaders of tomorrow, we believe that you have a critical role to play in turning the fortunes of this country round for better, and you have all it takes to take the country to the next level.  

“It is lamentable that corruption is endemic in our culture, and the rate at which students engage in it. Corruption is the reason why the country is underdeveloped. It is the cause of poor education system, decay in infrastructure, insecurity and other challenges bedevilling the country today.”

The EFCC boss decried the way students get involved in internet fraud and other forms of economic and financial crimes, while stressing the determination of the Commission to bring such criminals to book.

Muktar called on the students to focus on their studies and desist from all forms of cybercrime and other forms of criminalities.

“Our attitude is the sum of who we are. The youth of today are exposed to a number of vices that are capable of ruining their lives permanently. No matter how alluring or fascinating the gains of corruption may be, the end result is always regrettable and miserable”, he said.

He called on students to join the EFCC in the fight against corruption.

“It is important that we all unite against corruption not just leaving it in the hands of the EFCC alone”, he added.

The Vice Chancellor of Al-Hikmah University, Professor Noah Yusuf, encouraged students to take up the job of foot soldiers and whistle blowers in the fight against corruption, while describing the institution as one of the best citadels of learning in Nigeria.

He commended the EFCC for the advocacy visit and hoped for more.

 

Nneka Ukachukwu

Brazilian teenager kills three kids, two workers in daycare centre

Olajumoke Adeleke
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A teenager broke into a daycare centre in southern Brazil and stabbed three children and two workers to death on Tuesday before being overpowered by police, officials said.
Municipal Education Secretary Gisela Hermann described a “horror scene” at the facility in Saudades, a town in Santa Catarina state. She said that a female teacher and an educational assistant were among the dead.
She added that other children would likely be hospitalized as a result of the attack.
A local school board official, Silvia Fernandes dos Santos, said the attack happened around 10 a.m. local time (1300 GMT).
The teenager was taken into police custody after trying to kill himself, she said.
“He tried to … take his own life, but he couldn’t. So he was sent to the nearest hospital to be transferred. People were very angry, and they wanted to deliver their own justice,” dos Santos said.
Police in the city of Chapecó, near Saudades, said they were investigating the incident, but could not provide any information immediately.

Edited by Olajumoke Adeleke

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