Differences
Senator Mark urges Nigerians to bury religious, ethnic differences
News Agency of Nigeria A former President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, has charged Nigerians to bury their religious and ethnic differences and come together to establish a common front against forces threatening the peaceful coexistence of the people. Mark said it was time for all men and women of good conscience to rise to the occasion and proffer lasting solutions to the lingering insecurity that has enveloped the entire country. The former Senate President stated this at a mass on Thursday to mark his 73rd birthday at St. Mulumba Catholic Chaplaincy, Apo, Abuja. According to him, Nigerians can no longer deny the current level of insecurity and disharmony rocking the nation. He said: “Though we have different reasons to celebrate at different times, we cannot shy away from the pre...
CAN seeks support for new acting police chief
File Photo The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kaduna State Chapter, has called for support of Nigerians for the newly appointed Acting Inspector-General of Police (I-G), Mr Usman Baba. The Chairman of CAN, Rev. Joseph Hayab, who made the appeal in a statement on Wednesday in Kaduna, also commended the appointment. Newsmen report that President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday approved the appointment of Baba as the new Acting 1-G of police. “l call on Nigerians to cooperate with the new I-G so that, together, we could attain the peace we once enjoyed in the land,” he said. Hayab said the task ahead of the new I-G calls for support of Nigerians, irrespective of any differences to enable him tackle the security challenges in the country. The chairman said that the association can testify...
UN: 40 people killed in ethnic clashes in West Darfur
At least 40 people have been killed in Sudan’s West Darfur region after three days of ethnic clashes that have prompted the government to declare a state of emergency, the United Nations announced Monday. The clashes in El Geneina, which is close to the border with Chad, also left at least 58 people wounded. Fighting among members of the Arabi Rizeigat and Masalit tribes in El Geneina began after armed men shot two people and wounded two others in the Masalit tribe, according to the U.N. While authorities have yet to determine the cause of the shootings, gunfire exchanges between the two tribes continued into Monday, claiming at least 40 residents. Residents told Agence France-Presse they heard fresh gunfire accompanied by loud explosions at dawn Monday as the violence spread to the suburb...
Rivers governor urges media practitioners to report objectively
Gov Nyesom Wike of Rivers on Tuesday urged media practitioners to be more circumspect while reporting issues that could further polarise the country. Wike gave the advice in Port Harcourt at a meeting held to reconcile Gov Samuel Ortom of Benue and his Bauchi State counterpart, Bala Mohammed. He advised media houses to play a role in stabilising the peace and unity of Nigeria. “The press should have a role to play in stabilising the country; it is not everything you must report. You don’t try to escalate things and when you do that you are not helping the country,” he said. Wike thanked the two governors for amicably resolving their differences. “We give God the glory today that the differences have been sorted out,” he said. Similarly, Ortom thanked Wike and Gov Ahmed Fintiri of Adamawa f...
Israel, Bahrain leaders discuss Iran, possible vaccine plant
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bahrain’s Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa on Thursday discussed Iran and the possible involvement of the Gulf state in establishing a vaccine plant in Israel, the two countries said. Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates formalised ties with Israel on Sept. 15 in part over shared concerns about Iran, in a deal forged by former U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, a move praised by Israel which has objected to the accord. His successor, President Joe Biden, wants to rejoin the deal. But in the week since Washington offered to talk with Tehran about reviving the nuclear deal, Iran has curbed U.N. monitoring and threatened to boost its uranium enrichment. Tehran denies...
CAN accuses Anambra governor of religious bigotry
File Photo Chairman, Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Anambra State, Rev. Ndubuisi John, has accused Governor Willie Obiano of marginalising the Christian body in the state. He said the marginalisation was informed by his non-Catholic disposition, describing it as religious bigotry. John who was honoured yesterday in Onitsha by the United Nations Peace and Positive Living Awareness Centre as an ‘Ambassador for World Peace’, lamented that several efforts made by the body to meet with the Governor since he assumed office as the CAN chairman had been unsuccessful. He said, “One should imagine it is religious bigotry, it depends on one’s perception, if I were to be an Anglican or Roman Catholic Bishop, he would not have treated me that way. “I think that the government should not abe...
Yuletide: NSCDC chief orders deployment of personnel to flash points
SIGNAL The Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu, has ordered the deployment of personnel to all nooks and crannies of the country in order to maintain peace, order and effective security of lives, property before, during and after the yuletide season. This is done against the backdrop of various reports of kidnapping, bandit attacks, assassinations and other forms of criminal activities in recent times. In a statement issued yesterday, DCC Emmanuel Okeh, CDPRO, said Gana reiterated that the determination to make the yuletide season hitch free is upper-most in the scheme of things as lots of Nigerians will be traveling to different parts of the country to celebrate with family and friends hence, the need for citizens’ safety. H...
UATH honours 80 coronavirus frontline healthcare workers
The University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH), Gwagwalada, FCT, on Wednesday honoured 80 COVID-19 frontline healthcare workers for their dedication and selfless service in the hospital. Presenting the awards to the recipients, Prof. Bissallah Ekele, Chief Medical Director (CMD), UATH, said that the gesture was to encourage and prepare them for greater tasks in the future. Ekele said that when FCT recorded its first case of COVID-19, the institution was the first to receive patients because of its capacity to manage the pandemic through the help of its frontline healthcare workers. “About this time in 2019, we gathered to honour and celebrate the 2019 UATH Staff Award winners. We are here today to do the same and we thank God for keeping us alive to witness another celebration. “Permit m...
US Senate Republican leader congratulates Joe Biden
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell congratulated President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday, dealing a blow to any lingering hopes Donald Trump may have had of reversing his election defeat. “The Electoral College has spoken,” the powerful senator from Kentucky said in a speech on the Senate floor. “So today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden.” McConnell also congratulated California Senator Kamala Harris on her election as Vice President. “Beyond our differences, all Americans can take pride that our nation has a female Vice President-elect for the first time,” McConnell said. Members of the Electoral College met around the country on Monday and delivered 306 votes to Biden and 232 to Trump, who has refused to concede the November 3 election and claimed falsely that...
Neymar: No place for racism
Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir played their Champions League match to a conclusion on Wednesday, 24 hours after it had been suspended, with Neymar scoring a hat-trick before saying both teams had felt compelled to make a stand against racism in what was an unprecedented protest over an alleged comment by an official. PSG won the game 5-1 after it restarted where it had stopped the previous day, in the 14th minute, following a touchline argument over accusations the Romanian fourth official, Sebastian Coltescu, had described Basaksehir’s Cameroonian assistant coach Pierre Webo as “black”, or “negru” in Romanian. “Sometimes in extreme circumstances these things need to be done to see if the world can change a little,” said Neymar, who together with other players and the new team...
Coronavirus vaccine breakthrough raises hopes of rapid global rollout
A coronavirus vaccine developed by Britain’s University of Oxford and the pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca has shown successful results in early trials. If it is approved by regulators, the vaccine appears suitable for a fast rollout around the globe. Early analysis of trials involving 20,000 volunteers in Britain and Brazil show the vaccine is at least 62% effective after two doses. In volunteers given a different dosing regimen — a half dose, followed by a full dose — that figure rose to 90%. The average efficacy of the two dosing methods is 70%. None of those given the vaccine developed severe COVID-19 illness. Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said the recent successful trials of three different vaccines by Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, represent a...
Yoruba monarchs warn Nigerians to stop making inflammatory comments
Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, and the Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdul-Rasheed Akanbi, yesterday, cautioned Nigerians against making inflammatory statements that could ignite ethnoreligious crisis in the country. The monarchs gave the warning during the visit of Oba Akanbi to the Alaafin’s palace, in Oyo. Asking those stoking ethno-religious crises to have a retrospective look at the past, the monarchs advised that anything that could fan the embers of discord should be avoided. They said: “Nigerians must exercise restraints; they must bear in mind Nigeria’s long history of ethno-religious conflicts, as people use this type of deep-seated animosity in their speech precisely because of the culture of impunity which reigns in the country.” “What is more, hate speech is an agent provocateur ...