Collaboration
IFDC, EBID sign pact to boost agriculture in West Africa
The International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) for the improvement of soil health and plant nutrition in West Africa. The agreement will engender multifaceted programmes aimed at promoting growth and development of the agricultural sector in the West Africa sub region. Though West Africa accounts for two per cent of global fertilizer consumption, fertilizer application rates in the region are still low due to logistical challenges, including reliance on imports that may or may not be appropriate for the various soils in the region. IFDC is an independent non-profit organization, operating in 17 countries in Asia and Africa, which combines science-backed innovations, an enabling...
Vice Chancellor blames cultism in schools on idleness among students
Prof. Chinedum Nwajiuba, the Vice Chancellor, Alex-Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu Alike Ikwo (FUNAI), Ebonyi, has said that idleness among students leads them into cultism. Nwajiuba said this in an interview with newsmen in his office on Monday. He spoke on preparations for the institution’s fifth convocation and his impending disengagement from office after completing his five-year tenure. He said that the institution had no record of cultism because the students “are too serious” to engage in such an act. “Our students do not have to be dancing inside bushes at night because they begin academic activities from the first week of a every new semester. “We duly concluded the first semester of the 2019 academic session, re-opened on Oct. 2019 and our lecturers were already in classes upon...
NHRC: Ending gender-based violence is responsibility of all
In commemoration of the International Human Rights Day, the National Human Rights Commission, Ebonyi State Chapter, Thursday, called on all citizens to join hands to put an end to all forms of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, SGBV. The Commission in collaboration with other Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO)/Community and Social Organizations (CSOs) made this call at a seminar organized at Pinnacle Hotels, Abakaliki, to mark the world’s Human Rights Day and the end of the 16 days of activism of campaign against violation of human rights. Speaking on the year’s theme “Recover better – Stand Up for Human Rights,” the National Executive Secretary of the Commission, Tony Ojukwu (Esq) said the selection was made considering the need to recover fully from COVID-19 pandemic and restore the sit...
Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou Announce New EP, Cover the Cranberries’ “Hollywood”: Stream
Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou have announced a new surprise collaborative EP titled The Helm of Sorrow, which arrives January 15th via Sacred Bones. They’ve also shared new cover of The Cranberries‘ “Hollywood” and a separate short, “Elysian Fields”, created by Thou’s Mitch Wells. The four-song EP includes B-sides from the excellent 2020 album from Rundle and Thou, May Our Chambers Be Full. In fact, the tracks were included on Sacred Bones’ “diehard” edition of the Chambers, but will receive a widespread release as The Helm of Sorrow, a suitably metal title. The cover of “Hollywood” is as captivating as anything we’ve heard from the pairing. Perhaps the artists or label realized these songs were too good to languish on a limited, exclusive release. No complaints here. A far cry from the origin...
Ben Gibbard, Isaac Brock, Duff McKagan, and Mark Lanegan Cover “The Highwayman”: Watch
At the very least, the ongoing lockdown has resulted in some very odd musical pairings that likely wouldn’t have happened otherwise. The latest of these went down on December 5th, when Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard, Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan, Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock, and Mark Lanegan teamed up to cover the Jimmy Webb country classic, “The Highwayman”. The collaboration was part of SMooCH 2020, an annual benefit show for the Seattle Children’s Hospital that usually takes place in person, but was converted into livestream form this year for obvious reasons. The Seattle institutions Sub Pop Records and KEXP were two of the event’s biggest sponsors, so it made sense that both elite and slightly left-of-center members of the rock world were featured in the presentation. For their ...
India’s Serum Institute seeks approval for COVID-19 vaccine
The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine producer by volume, has sought government approval for emergency-use authorisation of the coronavirus vaccine that it has developed in partnership with the University of Oxford and British drugmaker AstraZeneca. “As promised, before the end of 2020, @SerumInstIndia has applied for emergency use authorisation for the first made-in-India vaccine, COVISHIELD,” the company CEO Adar Poonawalla tweeted on Monday. The experimental vaccine can be stored at two to eight degrees Celsius and can be distributed more easily in India, which has the world’s second-highest number of infections at 9.6 million. The company has applied to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), with Poonawalla saying the vaccine will “save countless lives” witho...
Lagos by-elections: INEC cautions against vote buying, others
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday cautioned politicians against vote buying, food sharing and other activities capable of buying the conscience of voters at polling units duing Saturday’s Lagos East by-elections. Dr Adekunle Ogunmola, INEC Supervisory National Commissioner in charge of the by-elections, told newsmen in Lagos that the commission would not tolerate any act that would discredit the polls. Answering questions on how the commission intended to tackle vote buying, Ogunmola said that though INEC was not a security agency, it had done quite a lot in ensuring that the menace was reduced. “We are in collaboration with EFCC and ICPC and some other security agencies in ensuring that people that perpetrate such acts were brought to book. “The issue of makin...
The Weeknd Releases “Blinding Lights” Remix with Rosalía: Stream
There’s only four weeks until 2021 begins, but that isn’t stopping The Weeknd from making these last moments count. He just released a new remix of “Blinding Lights” featuring Rosalía, and it’s available to stream below. Despite having to postpone his massive tour, 2020 has arguably been The Weeknd’s biggest year ever — especially due to the sheer willpower of “Blinding Lights”. The After Hours single dominated the radio, was Spotify’s most-streamed single of the year, and has spent a full year on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. No wonder it earned our coveted spot as the best song of 2020. Of course, all of this is in addition to the other cool things he’s done in support of After Hours. The Weeknd performed an augmented reality concert on TikTok, literally lost his head in the “Too Lat...
Mercedes replaces Lewis Hamilton with George Russell for Sakhir Grand Prix
British race driver, George Russell, will take Lewis Hamilton’s place at Mercedes for this weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix after the seven-time champion tested positive for coronavirus. Mercedes has backed Russell’s career since 2017 and he is effectively on a three-year loan at Williams, where he has posted some impressive races since making his F1 debut last season. Jack Aitken, a 25-year-old British-Korean, will race in Russell’s place at Williams for his F1 debut while Russell is away at Mercedes. Mercedes had approached Williams to see if a deal to release Russell was possible as soon as it became apparent that Hamilton’s absence from the first race of his career was confirmed after the positive COVID-19 test and retest. And the confirmation of an agreement arrived on Wednesday morning. T...
Eric Clapton Teams with Van Morrison for Anti-Lockdown Protest Song “Stand and Deliver”
Van Morrison (photo by Philip Cosores) and Eric Clapton (photo by Majvdl via Wikimedia Commons) Looks like Van Morrison has pulled Eric Clapton into his suckhole of pseudo-science bull. The legendary musicians have teamed up for a new anti-lockdown protest single called “Stand and Deliver”. Morrison has been speaking out against the United Kingdom’s COVID-19 restrictions since the summer, particularly as they relate to live music. In September, he launched an anti-lockdown song series that included the tracks “Born to Be Free” and “No More Lockdown”. In spite of the fact that such measures have helped the country start to see a flattening of its infection curve even as one in every 185 people in Morrison’s native Northern Ireland test positive, the Astral Weeks singer apparently hasn’t evo...
Federal government launches portal for exited N-Power beneficiaries to apply for central bank empowerment options
The federal government has launched a portal for exited N-Power beneficiaries to apply for Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, empowerment options. Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, which announced the launch of the portal in a statement, explained that the platform was developed in collaboration with the CBN. The platform, according to the statement released, Friday, by Nneka Anibeze, Special Assistant to the Minister, Sadiya Umar Farouq,” will enable exited N-Power beneficiaries to log on and apply for the various economic, empowerment and entrepreneurship options provided by the CBN.” In the statement signed by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Bashir Nura Alkali, the Minister Sadiya Umar Farouq urged and encouraged interested exited benefici...
Senator Lawan urges South Africa to secure business interests of Nigerians
President of the Senate Ahmad Lawan has urged the South African authorities to reciprocate Nigerian Government’s gesture by ensuring that business interests of Nigerians in South Africa are secured. Mr Ezrel Tabiowo, his Special Assistant on press, in a statement said lawan made the call in Abuja on Thursday when he received a delegation led by High Commissioner of South Africa to Nigeria, Mr Thamsanga Mseleku. Other members on the delegation include: Mr Bobby Moroe, Minister Plenipotentiary; and Ms Boipelo Lefatshe, First Secretary, Political. According lawan efforts by both countries to secure the business interests of their nationals would create better chances of employment for their citizens and guarantee stronger economic prospects for Nigeria and South Africa. “For quite some time n...
