Years
Rare Christmas sales in Saudi Arabia
Christmas trees and glittery ornaments are for sale at a Saudi gift shop, a once unthinkable sight in the cradle of Islam where all public non-Muslim worship is banned. In recent years, festive sales have gradually crept into the capital Riyadh, a sign of loosening social restrictions after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pledged to steer the conservative Gulf kingdom towards an “open, moderate Islam”. “I didn’t ever imagine I’d see this” in Saudi Arabia, a Riyadh resident told AFP at the shop selling trees, Santa Claus outfits as well as tinsel, baubles and other ornaments. “I am surprised,” said the resident, declining to be identified. Until barely three years ago, it was almost impossible to sell such items openly in Saudi Arabia, but authorities have been clipping the powers of the c...
Thousands protest in Sudan in call for faster reform
Thousands of Sudanese protesters took to the streets of the capital Khartoum and its twin city Omdurman on Saturday, demanding an acceleration of reforms on the second anniversary of the start of an uprising that ousted Omar al-Bashir. The veteran leader was deposed by the military in April 2019 after months of mass protests against poor economic conditions and Bashir’s autocratic, three-decade rule. Many Sudanese are unhappy with what they see as the slow or even negligible pace of change under the transitional government that has struggled to fix an economy in crisis. The government was formed under a three-year power sharing agreement between the military and civilian groups which is meant to lead to fair presidential and parliamentary elections. Sudan’s state TV aired footage of thousa...
Jose Mourinho drums support for under-fire Steven Bergwijn
Tottenham Hotspur coach Jose Mourinho said the team are supporting Dutchman Steven Bergwijn who missed two clear chances in Wednesday’s top-of-the-table clash at Liverpool and received criticism on social media after the 2-1 defeat. “I don’t know what I can do apart from the player knowing in this club we are all together,” Mourinho told a news conference ahead of Sunday’s game at home to Leicester City. “We lose, we win and we draw all together. So he has us and we have him. In here we don’t feel any individual criticism, we never feel it that way, it is always about us, so no problem. “He’s one of my boys, period. There is no point to boo, to individualise. He’s a good professional, he works hard for the team, he gives everything he can.” Second-placed Spurs slipped three points behind L...
Nigerian polytechnic workers to begin strike January 4
The Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics (SSANU) is beginning a warning strike on January 4 next year, the President of the association, Adebanjo Ogunsipe, says. In a press statement on Thursday, Mr Ogunsipe said the strike will last 14 days. He said the declaration was owing to the nonchalant attitude of the federal government towards issues bordering on education. Mr Ogunsipe said the polytechnics and tertiary education system generally have a myriad of problems militating against their development. “You may recall that for the past three years, the union has consistently presented these issues in our various communique at the end of our NEC/GEC meetings which comes up at least four times every year for the avoidance of doubt,” he said. Mr Ogunsipe said the association’s dema...
Osun mechanic to die by hanging for armed robbery
An Osun State High Court sitting in Ilesa, on Thursday, sentenced a 29-year-old mechanic, Sola Emorua, to death by hanging for armed robbery. The defendant was first arraigned before Justice Isiaka Adeleke on January 29, 2018, on two counts of conspiracy and armed robbery. Justice Adeleke, in his judgment after a trial that lasted almost three years, said the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and subsequently sentenced Emorua to death. The lead prosecution counsel from the Ministry of Justice, Motolani Sokefun, had told the court that the convict and others at large, on May 7, 2015 around 5.30pm in Osu, on the Ilesa-Akure Expressway, while armed with weapons, robbed a tanker loaded with 33,000 litres of kerosene belonging to one Ismaila Azeez. The counsel further expl...
President Buhari a true leader and democrat – Reps deputy speaker
The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase, has described President Muhammadu Buhari as a true leader and Democrat with a listening ear to the yearning of the Nigerian people. Wase who congratulated the President on his 78 birthday said President Buhari has been able to showcase true qualities of a good leader and have proven to have a listening ear as he is always ready to do the yearnings of Nigerians. In a birthday message signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Umar Muhammad Puma, Wase joined the millions of Nigerians and well-wishers globally in extolling the virtues of the President as not only the Father of the whole nation but as a true leader and democrat. “True to his words before assuming office, President Buhari has stayed faithful to the yearnings o...
Families of kidnapped Katsina schoolboys fear time running out
Families of more than 300 kidnapped Nigerian schoolboys worried they may be brainwashed or held for years as security forces combed a vast forest on Wednesday for armed captors possibly from the jihadist Boko Haram movement. According to an unverified audio clip, the Islamist group – whose name means “Western education is forbidden” – was responsible for last week’s raid on an all-boys school in the town of Kankara in northwestern Katsina state. Parents fear time may be running out: Boko Haram has a history of turning captives into jihadist fighters. “They will radicalise our children if the government does not act fast to help us rescue them,” said trader Shuaibu Kankara, crying as he spoke from home. His 13-year-old son Annas was among those abducted from the Government Science school on...
AIBA approves new constitution in bid to regain IOC recognition
International Boxing Association (AIBA) has taken a step towards repairing a much-maligned governance structure that has been frequently criticised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after it approved an updated constitution at its virtual Congress. Under the new constitution, AIBA has installed term limits, rebranded the Executive Committee to the Board of Directors and reduced the number of members on the ruling body from 32 to 22. AIBA is hopeful the renewed document will appease the IOC, which last year suspended it as the Olympic governing body for the sport and stripped it of any involvement in the boxing tournament at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games because of concerns over its governance, finances and refereeing and judging. The Inquiry Committee, led by IOC Executive Board ...
Shiites call for release of Sheikh Ibraheem el-Zakzaky
The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), otherwise known as Shiites, have called for unconditional release of their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, along with those still in detention. Recalled that the convoy of Army Chief of Staff, Lt. General Yusuf Buratai had clashed with members of IMN in Zaria on December 12, 2015, leading to death of several persons on the fateful day. Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife and some Shiites have been detention, and undergoing court trial since the incident happened. In a statement on Sunday by the IMN media Spokesperson, Ibrahim Musa to mark the 5th anniversary of the Zaria killings, it noted that five years in detention amounted to systematic oppression of Zakzaky and other members of the Movement. “As we mark the fifth anniversary of this Zaria Genocide Memori...
Nigerian government to implement NIPSS recommendations on population growth
President Muhammadu Buhari has assured that his administration will look into the 12-point recommendations by graduates of National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) on Population Growth and Human Capital Development in Nigeria, with view of implementing them. The President gave the assurance at the graduation ceremony of the Senior Executive Course 42, held Saturday at the Institute in Jos. The President, represented by Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, charged the graduates to live up to expectations of leading Nigeria out of its problems. “The times levy a demand on institutions such as this one and on its graduates for innovation and creative intelligence in addressing our national challenges. “It is my conviction that the elites both individually and collectively ...
Group moves to reintegrate displaced persons
Agence France-Presse The initiator of The Skilled Women Initiative (TWINI), Chizom Nwankwo, has said the group intensified efforts in re-integrating some internally displaced persons in Abuja. Nwankwo said the displaced persons would be re-integrated into the community through the group’s learn, earn and blend model. She said with the plan, beneficiaries are taught vocational and technical skills of their choice, added with entrepreneurial skills to help them earn money. She said the beneficiaries had agreed to leave the internally displaced camp after 18 months. She also said the group created a market for the products to encourage beneficiaries, adding, “This is just like a factory. They are making soaps, shoes, cloths. If we are able to gather them and give them jobs, we create another ...
Pastor Adigun: I went against sexual purity I preach
Pastor Timi Adigun of The Ark Church and the coordinator of MINE Teenage Ministry has admitted being involved in ‘inappropriate behaviour’ with females in his church over a couple of years. Adigun who apologized on his social media page 48 hours after the sexual allegations went viral, however, said he had ‘no sexual intercourse’ with any of the ladies and none of them was underaged. Mr Adigun, 35, is the editor of MINE Magazine – a free Christian teenage magazine that preaches sexual purity. Several posts surfaced online accusing Mr Adigun of sexcapades with teenage girls under his mentorship and tutelage. In his apology, the clergyman admitted that he behaved in an appropriate manner with some of the females whom he has apologized to. He wrote: “My name is Timi Adigun. I have been called...
