Focus
VP Osinbajo: How grassroots planning helped our social investment programmes
One factor responsible for the impactful implementation of the Social Investment Programmes of the Buhari administration over the years is the realization that you can’t reach Nigerians if you don’t have a plan for the grassroots, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN. This realization then influenced the structure designed for the SIP and is largely responsible for the successes of the programme (which is now regarded as one of the biggest social welfare schemes in the continent). Prof. Osinbajo stated this Sunday in Lagos at the inauguration of the Dash Me Store, an outfit of the Dash Me Foundation founded by the immediate past Finance Minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun. The store is established to mobilize resources for onward distribution to vulnerable people in the society via grassr...
UN: Close to 10,000 Mozambicans fleeing violence forcibly removed from Tanzania
Almost 10,000 Mozambicans have been forcibly removed from Tanzania so far this year after fleeing a deadly Islamist insurgency in their homeland, a spokesperson for the U.N. refugee agency said on Friday. Mozambique’s northern-most province of Cabo Delgado has been the focus of an insurgency linked to Islamic State since October 2017, but the conflict began gathering pace last year with militants regularly seizing and holding key towns. That culminated in an attack on the town of Palma in March, which killed dozens, displaced 70,000 according to the UNHCR and forced oil giant Total to halt its nearby $20 billion gas project. Many people headed north to the Tanzanian border, but were rejected, or were admitted then returned via a different border post hours inland. UNHCR spokesperson Babar ...
June 12 protest: Police arrest Agba Jalingo
A right activist and a newspaper publisher, Agba Jalingo, has been arrested by the police in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria’s South-south. Jalingo is the publisher of Cross River Watch, an online newspaper with focus on Cross River State. He was arrested at the police headquarters, Calabar, on Friday where he went to honour an invitation by the Commissioner of Police in the State, Kayode Sikiru, Cross River Watch said in a report. The newspaper said Sikiru invited Jalingo to the police headquarters to discuss the planned nationwide June 12 protest which the latter is said to be coordinating in the state. After discussions, Jalingo was reportedly referred to another officer who informed him that the police had received a petition which accused him of being an arms dealer, the newspaper...
ISWAP confirms Boko Haram leader’s death
TIME The Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) militant group said in an audio recording heard by Reuters on Sunday that Abubakar Shekau, leader of rival Nigerian militant Islamist group Boko Haram, was dead. Shekau died around May 18 after detonating an explosive device when he was pursued by ISWAP fighters following a battle, a person purporting to be ISWAP leader Abu Musab al-Barnawi said on the audio recording. “Abubakar Shekau, God has judged him by sending him to heaven,” he can be heard saying. Two people familiar with al-Barnawi told Reuters the voice on the recording was that of the ISWAP leader. A Nigerian intelligence report shared by a government official and Boko Haram researchers have also said Shekau is dead. Last month, Nigeria’s military said it was investigating She...
Senator Okorocha: Police still holding two of my political allies
Former governor of Imo State Rochas Okorocha has appealed the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to save two political allies, Casmir Ugbor and Ojukwu Ukonu, who he said were wrongly arrested and linked as suspects of the jailbreak of April 5. The two suspects in police custody, according to a statement the senator released through his media adviser, Sam Onwuemeodo, were arrested alongside their wives for offence he said they never committed. Senator Okorocha claimed that their only offence was that they belong to his political family. The senator has also faulted the police on the date it stated it arrested the duo, insisting that they were arrested three weeks ago and not on May 27 as it now claimed in their recent press statement. Okorocha said: ‘In the press release, we called on the Co...
APC group: Six years of President Buhari better than PDP’s 16 years
The group operating under the auspices of All Progressives Congress (APC) Legacy Awareness & Campaign, made this remark on Friday in Abuja while reeling out some of the achievements of the APC-led government led by President Buhari. Addressing journalists, group’s national coordinator, Barr. Ismail Ahmed, said the group has commenced a national campaign to promote some of the initiatives of APC-led government. Ahmed said: “As committed members of the APC, we are convinced that since May 29, 2015, when the government of President Muhammadu Buhari was inaugurated, landmark initiatives have been; and are being implemented. “In comparative terms, President Buhari’s government has recorded more achievements within six years than all the previous governments under the PDP between 1999 and 20...
Mali’s coup leader seizes power again
Mali’s president and prime minister have been ousted by the officer who led last year’s coup and became vice-president of an interim government. Col Assimi Goïta says President Bah Ndaw and PM Moctar Ouane failed in their duties and were seeking to sabotage the country’s transition. They were arrested hours after a government reshuffle which saw two senior army officers replaced. Col Goïta says elections will still go ahead next year as planned. But he ignored pleas from the UN chief, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), the EU and the US that the president and prime minister be released without any preconditions. The two men have been held at a military camp outside the capital, Bamako, since they were arrested on Monday evening. A delegation from Eco...
Harry Kane tells Tottenham he wants to leave this summer
Harry Kane has reiterated his stance that he wants to leave Tottenham this summer. The 27-year-old has grown frustrated over the club’s inability to compete at the highest level, having seen his side fall out of contention to secure Champions League football for next season. Spurs have long been reluctant to entertain bids for their talisman but the England captain is hoping that they will soften their stance after his long service to the club. Daniel Levy will demand a huge fee for Kane – who prefers a move within the Premier League – as he is on a long-term deal until 2024. Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea are potentially viable destinations, although it is still unclear as to whether a move will materialise. All three of the aforementioned Premier League giants have signif...
Manchester United boss: Fans will give us ‘extra lift’ in final few games
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes the return of fans will give Manchester United an “extra lift” in their final few games of the season. Supporters will be inside Old Trafford for the first time since March 2020 for United’s final home league game of the season, against Fulham, and after two defeats on the spin at home the United manager is hoping their support will give them a boost. After recent protests, Solskjaer is also hoping the supporters will get behind the team and hopes the game won’t be “marred by violence.” Solskjaer said: “Of course you hope that the game against Fulham will not be marred by any violence or over the top things. “I know our fans, I know the Manchester United fans, they’re the best fans I’ve had and I’ve got such a great relationship with them and they know how to ...
Bernd Leno: I don’t want to leave Arsenal
Bernd Leno has insisted that he does not want to leave Arsenal while outlining his ambition to help the club reach the Champions League again. Leno completed a £23 million ($33m) move to Emirates Stadium from Bayer Leverkusen in 2018, venturing outside of Germany for the first time in his professional career in the process. The 29-year-old has since nailed down the number one spot in Arsenal’s team; however, it has been suggested that he is one of several first-team stars likely to depart in the summer transfer window. Mikel Arteta is being tipped to reshape his squad after a turbulent 2020-21 campaign, but Leno has dismissed the ongoing speculation surrounding his future while revealing he intends to see out the final two years of his contract. “I don’t want to flee here, I feel good and ...
Thomas Tuchel reacts as ‘unlucky’ Chelsea suffer back-to-back FA Cup final defeats
Chelsea suffered late VAR heartache as they slipped to back-to-back FA Cup final defeats after a 1-0 loss to Leicester City, Youri Tielemans’ second-half strike proving decisive. In front of a reduced, yet undoubtedly noisy, Wembley crowd, it was Chelsea who made the brighter start, Timo Werner showcasing his electric speed to test the Foxes backline early on. Despite controlling the opening exchanges, the first real chance of the match fell to their opponents, Timothy Castagne getting in down the right and teeing up Jamie Vardy inside the area, the veteran striker’s effort well blocked by Reece James. At the other end of the pitch, Thomas Tuchel’s men almost fashioned a chance of their own, Thiago Silva’s dinked cross agonisingly evading the head of Cesar Azpilicueta at the back post, aft...
Guatemalan president says graft fighter biased, ahead of Harris visit
Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei criticized the country’s best-known graft prosecutor for what he said was a left-wing politicization of the fight against corruption, a view at odds with strong U.S. backing for his work. Speaking in an interview with Reuters late on Tuesday, Giammattei nonetheless expressed hope that a visit to Guatemala next week by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will produce shared strategies to create prosperity in rural areas prone to emigration. Harris, a Democrat, is in charge of Washington efforts to tackle the causes of mass migration from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, collectively dubbed the Northern Triangle, including a focus on corruption and poor governance that she says limit opportunities. There is a $4 billion U.S. aid package to the reg...