Photos: President Buhari presides over a Virtual meeting of the Federal Executive Council Meeting in State House on 1st July 2020
Tag: Nigerian newspapers online
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Happening now: Statue of Confederate General Jackson being removed – Photos
Statue of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson is being removed by crane in Richmond, Virginia.
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney on Wednesday ordered the immediate removal of all Confederate statues on city land, saying he was using his emergency powers to speed up the healing process for the former capital of the Confederacy amid weeks of protests over police brutality and racial injustice.
Work crews began removing a statue of Gen. Stonewall Jackson early Wednesday afternoon. Flatbed trucks and other equipment were also spotted at several other Confederate monuments along Richmond’s famed Monument Avenue.
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We will deal decisively with bandits – Army Chief, Buratai says
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Yusuf Buratai says the Nigerian Army will collaborate with sister agencies to bring a decisive end to armed banditry in the North-west zone of the country.
The Army Chief stated this at the commencement of this year’s Nigerian Army Day Celebration in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State.
General Buratai explained that the week-long event was being marked in Katsina State to boost the morale of frontline troops in the war against armed banditry in the North-west zone of the country.
He said that President Muhammadu Buhari has issued a directive to the armed forces to extinguish the fires of banditry in the zone, through the ongoing ‘Operation Sahel Sanity’.
He tasked the troops carrying out the operation under the ‘8 Division’ and the ’17 Brigade’ of the Nigerian Army to locate every bandits’ camp in the forest and deal with them decisively.
The Army Chief assured communities across the five affected states that the army in collaboration with sister agencies would defeat armed banditry.
“The troops will move into the bush and defeat them tactically, that is our mission, and that is what we want to achieve. Anything short of that will only prolong the security crises.” So we are determined to deal with them in the bush or wherever they are, even in the towns and cities. We will deal with them decisively,” Buratai reiterated.
This year’s Nigerian Army Day Celebration has the theme “Nigeria’s Territorial Defence and Sovereignty: the Imperative for Nigerian Army’s Sustained Training and Operations”.
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FG increases price of petrol to N143 amidst “toxic fuel” importation claim
The Federal Government has increased the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol from N140.80 to N143.80 per litre.
This increment was disclosed in a statement released on Wednesday by the Executive Secretary, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Abdulkadir Saidu.
“After a review of the prevailing market fundamentals in the month of June and considering marketers’ realistic operating costs, as much as practicable, we wish to advise a new PMS pump price band of N140.80 – N143.80 per litre for the month of July 2020,” the statement read.
“All marketers are advised to operate within the indicative prices as advised by the PPPRA.”
In April, the Federal Government had announced a reduction of the petrol pump to N123.50 per litre.
This upward review in petrol price comes only hours after a UK based newspaper, The Guardian revealed that the petrol that Nigeria buys from Europe is dirty and harmful.
According to laboratory analysis: “Black market fuel made from stolen oil in rudimentary “bush” refineries hidden deep in the creeks and swamps of the Niger Delta is less polluting than the highly toxic diesel and petrol that Europe exports to Nigeria”, the newspaper reported.
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King of Belgium expresses deep regret over Leopold’s Acts of Violence in Congo DRC
Idowu Sowunmi
King Philippe of Belgium has sent his “deepest regrets” to President Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for the “suffering and humiliation” his nation inflicted while it colonised the region but stopped short of apologising for his ancestor Leopold II’s atrocities, CNN has reported.
On the 60th anniversary of the DRC’s independence, King Philippe wrote a letter to President Tshilombo in which he admitted that “to further strengthen our ties and develop an even more fruitful friendship, we must be able to talk about our long common history in all truth and serenity.”
Philippe is a descendent of Leopold II, who owned what was then called Congo Free State between 1885 and 1908 and ruled its people brutally, exploiting their labour and committing atrocities against them. Historians estimate that under Leopold’s rule, as many as 10 million people died.
“Our history is made of common achievements but has also experienced painful episodes. During the period of the Congo Free State, acts of violence and cruelty were committed, which still weigh on our collective memory,” the King wrote.
“The colonial period which followed also caused suffering and humiliation,” the letter adds, referring to the subsequent 52 years of rule by the Belgian state until Congo’s independence and the formation of the DRC. Leopold had ruled the region personally until 1908.
“I would like to express my deepest regrets for these wounds of the past, the pain of which is now revived by the discrimination still too present in our societies,” he added.
A reassessment of Belgium’s colonial legacy has taken place in the wake of the global Black Lives Matter protests. Several statues depicting the former leader have been taken down in the country.
Earlier this month, Belgium’s parliament approved an inquiry into its colonial history.
“I welcome the process of reflection that our parliament has started, so that we may finally make peace with our memories,” the King wrote.
But he did not take the opportunity to apologise to the DRC for the acts committed by Leopold II or by Belgian governments until 1960.
With no offer of visas, very few Congolese people came to Belgium until very recently — so while the country became home to people from a number of European nations, colonial sentiments towards African cultures have never been fully shaken off in the country.
That has led to a number of high-profile incidents of blackface in the country, including by leading politicians.
Last year, a group of UN human rights experts visited several cities in Belgium and found “clear evidence that racial discrimination is endemic in institutions in Belgium.”
A Leopold II statue in Antwerp was removed after Black Lives Matter protests swept around the globe earlier this month, while another opposite Brussels’ Royal Palace has been repeatedly covered in anti-racist graffiti.
Els Van Hoof, a Belgian MP who leads the chamber of representative’s foreign affairs committee, says the parliamentary inquiry may tackle the question of what to do with statues of Leopold II, though the exact scope of work has yet to be determined.
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Abia Govt. to EFCC – Unseal state PPP properties in 7 days
Abia State government has given the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), seven days ultimatum to remove all the offensive notices placed on some assets and estates of Abia State government.
The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Abia State, Chief Uche Ihediwa gave the ultimatum while briefing news men on the recent development in the State, where the EFCC sealed off some properties purported to belong to a highly placed politician in the State. Chief Ihediwa demanded the EFCC to tender an unreserved apology to the State within seven days in view of the inconvenience its action has caused the State, failure of which the State would take appropriate redress in court.
He explained that those assets marked by the EFCC belong to the State government, also that Abia government duly entered into partnership arrangements with credible investors for the development of those properties under public private partnerships while the reversionary interest in the properties still resides in the State government.
Chief Ihediwa informed that the law establishing the EFCC makes it clear that the Commission can only seal property of persons under investigation and noted that ownership of the property in question is not under investigation. He recalled that in 2016, the same EFCC investigated the ownership of most of those property and the certificates of occupancy and public private partnership agreements between the State government and investors of the various assets.
The Commissioner described the action of the EFCC as unwarranted and unlawful, regretting why the agency did not write the State government to find out the ownership of the said property whose title documents are domiciled in the State Ministry of Lands. He stated that the action of the EFCC has caused harm to the State economy by scaring investors from the State.
The assets sealed by the EFCC include; The Abia Mall, the Adelabu Housing Estate, the former township main market at Ogwumabiri, the Millenium Luxury Apartment, Abia hotels and Linto estate, Old Timber Market, all in Umuahia.
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Security Breach: Buhari appoints new Chief Personal Security Officer
Idowu Sowunmi
Following the investigation ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari into the ugly brawl at the State House involving his personal assistant and security personnel attached to the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, the President Monday approved the appointment of Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Aliyu Abubakar Musa, as his new Chief Personal Security Officer (CPSO).
It would be recalled that there was an incident at the Villa, which was triggered by the First Lady, who led a security operation to insist that one of the aides of the President, Sabiu ‘Tunde’ Yusuf, must self-isolate on arrival from Lagos State, where he had gone to see his wife who had just been delivered of a baby.
The incident led to a shooting which caused a security breach at the Villa.
This led to Buhari’s decision to order an investigation into the matter.
The aftermath of the investigation led to the appointment of Musa.
The new CPSO, from Nigerian Police Force Zone 5 in Benin City as his last station, hails from Niger State, said a statement by the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu
Musa’s appointment followed the redeployment of his predecessor, Commissioner of Police (CP), Abdulkarim Dauda.
Analysts speculated that some other security officers may be affected by the developing situation.
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Foremost industrialist, Bode Akindele, is Dead
Idowu Sowunmi
One of Nigeria’s foremost industrialist, Chief Bode Akindele is dead.
Akindele, who until his death was the Chairman of Madandola Group, died at the age of 88 on Monday in Lagos.
He was a renowned businessman who in his latter years was involved in philanthropy culminating in the establishment of the Bode Akindele Yield Initiative (BAYI) targeted at youth development and empowerment.
Akindele, who was Parakoyi of Ibadanland, was often described as businessman extraordinary and plenipotentiary, who had Sainsbury, Asda, Walmart, and others as tenants on his properties in London.
A successful entrepreneur and a renowned industrialist, Akindele was born on June 2, 1932. His father, Pa Joshua Laniyan Akindele, was a Chief Tax Clerk for the Western Region and as such his position could be equated to that of the Chairman of the Inland Revenue today and his mother, Rabiatu Adedigba, was a wealthy Ibadan trader who was politically influential. It’s a known fact that Alhaja Rabiatu was the first woman to go to Mecca in Ibadan.
Akindele’s business empire operates under the name Modandola Group of Companies, named after his mother, which translates to ‘God, if you give me the wealth, give me a child that can take care of it.’
Madandola Group spans from maritime to properties, manufacturing, real estates, investments, finance and flour milling with its headquarters in the United Kingdom.
The Fairgate Group, (a company owned by Akindele, located on Bond Street, London, England), deals mainly in properties. Some of its tenants include giant retail stores like Sainsbury and Asda Wall Mart. As at the last quantification, Fairgate Group was said to be worth over a billion pounds sterling.
Among the subsidiaries of the Madandola Group making waves in the business world include: Standard Breweries, Ibadan; Diamond Foods Limited, Ibadan; United Beverages Limited, Ibadan; Associated Match Industry, Ibadan; merged with Ilorin, Port-Harcourt and Lagos to form a company with a large share of the Nigerian market and Standard Flour Mills in Lagos.
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Breaking: Giadom hands over to APC caretaker committee chairman, Buni
Idowu Sowunmi
The former Acting National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Victor Giadom, on Monday handed over to the Chairman of the party’s Caretaker / Extra-Ordinary National Convention Planning Committee, Mai Mala Buni.
The handing over ceremony was held behind closed doors at the National Working Committee conference room at the APC National Secretariat, Abuja.
Giadom assured members of the committee of his readiness to support and partner with the team towards the realisation of the party’s goals.
“I, Chief Hon Victor Giadom, the outgoing Acting National Chairman, today Monday 29th of June 2020 hands over to the Chairman and members of the National Caretaker Committee of the All Progressives Congress.
“I assure the Committee of my readiness to partner with them to achieve the Party’s goals and objectives towards a successful National Convention. I pray that the almighty God grants you wisdom to pilot the affairs of the Party,” he said.
Commenting on developments which led to him handing over to the caretaker committee, he said, “I feel extremely grateful to God and also extremely grateful to the leadership of our own party especially Mr. President, Commander-in-Chief, Muhammadu Buhari, and the entire leadership of the National Executive Committee for rescuing this party from what would have befallen the party.
“Today, our party has been repositioned to greater heights and I can assure you that with the calibre of people so selected by NEC of our great party to pilot the leadership of our party into the National Convention, I am indeed grateful rest assured that our party will emerge stronger.”
The PUNCH had earlier reported that Buni assured members of the party of reforms after the oath of office was administered on members of the 13-member committee at the APC National Secretariat.
“It is time for this committee, therefore, to commence the process of true reconciliation among leaders and members of the party at all levels. It is our belief that the decision by NEC to constitute this committee will mark the beginning of a new chapter in our great Party,” he said.
With the ceremony today, Hon Victor Giodiom has become the third national chairman of APC with his tenure from March 4 to June 25, 2020. He has also become a permanent member of APC NEC.