Femi Fani-Kayode has reacted to the controversies generated over the disinvitation of the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai by the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA.
FFani-Kayode reacts as withdrawal of El-Rufai degenerates into Christian, Muslim battleani-Kayode, who is also a lawyer, noted that the Governor’s withdrawal as one of the guest speakers at the NBA annual general conference, is now being given religious colouration.
He said the decision by the NBA National Executive Committee, NEC, is resulting in a clash between Christians and Muslims in the country.
Recall that El-Rufai’s invitation to speak on the topic: ‘Who is a Nigerian?’ met a heavy resistance from members of the association, leading to his disinvitation.
His inclusion led to outrage and backlash, even on social media.
And the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), had described the NBA’s decision as parochial, myopic and jejune, instructing muslim lawyers not to participate in the event.
Also the Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria (MULAN) in Kaduna State had shunned participation in the NBA, Annual General Conference, AGC, in protest against El-Rufai’s withdrawal.
In reaction to this, Fani-Kayode tweeted, “Can someone please explain to me how the withdrawal of an invitation to speak at an event held by an association of learned men and seasoned professionals ends up degenerating into a Christian versus Muslim matter?
“This is not only shameful but is also a grave indictment on us all.”
The Federal Government has raised the alarm over the bad effects of coronavirus pandemic on Climate Change Response but warned that if prompt measures were not taken, the consequences could be worse.
The government specifically said that although Covid-19 was bad, CCR could cause serious damages and spread over a much longer period with speed.
The Director/Permanent Secretary Designate in the Department of Climate Change at the Federal Ministry of Environment, Dr Yerima Tarfa, stated these in an interview with journalists during the opening ceremony of a workshop on the Nigeria Climate Change Response Programme.
He however expressed optimism that Nigeria as a responsible global citizen was committed to tackling climate change.
At the event organised by the European Union under its Global Climate Change Alliance Plus Programme, the EU Head of Section (Economic Development and Energy), Kathryn Thomsen, said that the EU was committed to assisting Nigeria in meeting its pledges through the Nigeria Climate Change Response Programme.
She said the EU attached importance to addressing the climate change in line with the EU Comprehensive Strategy for Africa and the Post COVID-19 Green recovery support.
Tarfa said, “This workshop was earlier planned to hold in March 2020 but for COVID-19. It is correctly stated in prevailing situation that COVID-19 is awful, but climate change could be worse.
“Climate change could cause as bad damages and losses as COVID-19 and could spread over a much longer period in an irresistible manner.
“Hence, it has become even more imperative to recover from the global pandemic without compromising our efforts to combat climate change and its major causes.
“Certainly, you would have seen in the opening remarks of the ministry that COVID-19 has impacted negatively on the socio-economic development of Nigeria. But as we are recovering from COVID – 19, we have to factor in sustainability issues.
“The sustainability plan that the government has put in place also have to factor in issues of carbon emissions so that these projects will be resilient in the agricultural sector.
“We can’t continue business as usual, that is planting and clearing huge samples of land for agricultural purposes.”
Thousands of people have been evacuated from parts of the Caribbean and southern US as two storms tore through the region on Sunday.
Hurricane Marco and Tropical Storm Laura have brought high winds and rough seas, causing damage to areas of Haiti, Cuba and the Dominican Republic.
Heavy rains have also battered the US territory of Puerto Rico.
Marco is expected to make landfall in the US state of Louisiana on Monday, with Laura hitting Texas by Thursday.
But forecasters say that Laura may swing east towards Louisiana, and it could be the first time in recorded history that the state has been hit by two back-to-back hurricanes.
In response to the storms, US President Donald Trump has issued a disaster declaration for Louisiana, ordering federal assistance to coordinate relief efforts.
Nollywood actress, Nkechi Blessing Sunday, has dished out a piece of advice to her fellow ladies regarding relationships with men.
Taking to her Instagram page, Nkechi Blessing Sunday has urged ladies to stop having that mentality that they are in a relationship with men who have not properly and officially expressed intentions to be her boyfriend.
“Don’t assume you are in a relationship with a guy that never asked you to be his girl!”, She wrote.
Kellyanne Conway has announced that she is resigning from her post as Senior Counsel to US President Donald Trump.
In a statement, Mrs Conway said she was stepping down at the end of August to focus on her children, giving them "less drama, more mama".
Her husband George, an outspoken critic of the president, will also be stepping back from political activism.
She added that her decision was "completely my choice," and that she would announce future plans "in time".
Mrs Conway is scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention later this week, but it is unclear if she will still do so in light of her decision to step down.
PSG star Neymar broke down in tears on the pitch after his side lost the Champions League final to Bayern Munich on Sunday night.
Kingsley Coman's second-half header separated the two teams at the Lisbon showpiece, leaving the Brazilian winger without a European trophy this season.
Neymar was left heartbroken by the defeat, as he was looking to claim his first Champions League title since leaving Barcelona, who he won the competition with in 2015.
Speaking after the game, Neymar tweeted: 'Losing is part of the sport, we try everything, we fight until the end. Thank you for the support and affection of each one of you and CONGRATULATIONS to BAYER'
After seeing the Brazilian star in floods of tears after the game, social media users compounded Neymar's misery further by taunting him on Twitter.
One fan said: 'Neymar in tears at the end. He should have tried passing to his team mates. Dreadful performance'
The Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced 322 new cases of COVID-19 infections in the country., bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 52,227.
The NCDC made this known on its official twitter handle on Sunday.
“On the 23rd of August 2020, 322 new confirmed cases and 5 deaths were recorded in Nigeria.
“Till date, 52227 cases have been confirmed, 38945 cases have been discharged and 1002 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
“The 322 new cases are reported from 18 states- Lagos(130), Bauchi(36), FCT(25), Edo(17), Bayelsa(14), Ogun(14), Oyo(14), Anambra(13), Kaduna(12), Ondo(11), Abia(10), Osun(6), Plateau(5), Kwara(5), Kano(4), Ebonyi(3), Sokoto(2), Borno(1),” the NCDC said.
The police have re-arrested Sunday Shodipe, the prime suspect in the series of ritual killings at the Akinyele Local government Area of Oyo State.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr Olugbenga Fadeyi, confirmed this today.
The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, had dispatched additional investigative aids to Oyo State, including crack detectives to track down the fleeing serial killer.
The fugitive, who is the prime suspect in the multiple murder of innocent citizens at Akinyele Local Government Area, Moniya, Ibadan, Oyo State, had escaped from police custody in suspicious circumstances.
But the force spokesman, DCP Frank Mba, in a statement, said, “The IGP, who condemned the unfortunate escape from the lawful custody of the suspect, has directed the Commissioner of Police, Oyo State Command, to intensify efforts and ensure the prompt re-arrest of the fleeing suspect.
“The CP has also been directed to speed up investigations into the circumstances that led to the escape of the suspect. All persons indicted in the escape are to be identified and made to face the wrath of the law.”
Viewers of Big Brother Naija, BBNaija 2020, have called out Obi Ajuonuma, aka Dj Obi, over his recent outburst about Saturday night part.
DJ obi, who performed in the House Saturday night, was criticised by viewers for putting up a boring party compared to his colleagues.
But, DJ Obi on Sunday blamed the organisers, adding that he had a technical issue and had to keep up.
Part of his tweet read: “Shout out to the housemates for sticking it through last night. Such technical issues shouldn’t be happening with such a big budget show. BUT! Let’s use this opportunity to address how we also manage rubbish in this country. How will a big budget show not have back up sound equipment?”
However, some viewers responding under his post, said his playlist was bad and BBNaija organisers should not be blamed.
@Tombo_fc “ DJ Obi your playlist was rubbish not the technical issues.”
@Chukyunfazed “ It is only the workmen who does a bad job that blames his work tools. Before you, they had DJ Consequence and he tore it up at the party. Your song selections were bad and your transitions were distracting.”
@Eots22 “ Which technical issues? Baba, you played a lot of nonsense songs yesterday. Even your transition was nothing to write home about. We expected more from you.”
@Wolexmind “ Nobody talks about the sound quality here, your D.J sound MiX was totally poor yesterday on national t.v and you couldn’t deliver to viewers at home nawah o for you nah only name you carry.”
@Weyrein3D “I honestly don’t get this shalaye. I didn’t even notice any sound issue last night. The playlist and transition was what I had problems with.”
@Josefetee “ Most of the songs you played were unknown and killed the vibe in party. Was that a technical issue too?
@EhitD “He just wants to shift the blame.”
@Pilurd “ The songs u played are killing the vibes of the housemates ..Poor song list. Learn from what Crowd controller played the previous week.“
@Marythesa “ Dude the songs you played were wack! You just made the party so boring! Thanks to the housemates that made it lively and gave us real fun with their dance steps! Your playlist was so warped! Too bad! Go learn from dj consequence, he brought the roof down when he played for the housemates! Smh.”
@Mhizbibi “ How technical issues take affect the boring songs you dey play??? But technical issues no affect you hyping your name every now and then. Oga rest.”
Nollywood actress, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde has shared her coronavirus experiences after confirming that she tested positive.
She added that she infected her children with the viral disease.
The 42-year-old actress made this known on the popular filmmakers’ WhatsApp group, Filmic, while reacting to the debate on how Nollywood can adhere strictly to the health guidelines of COVID-19, before reopening productions on Saturday.
She also said that she was treated by some infectious decease doctors who told her that many people are infected with the virus.
The actress further revealed that she infected her daughter and her asthmatic son with the disease but luckily her husband’s test came back negative.
According to the screen diva, “her world crashed and she felt crazy and empty when her test came back positive.
“I hardly fall ill and so when I left the set and started having chills the next day or so, I knew something wasn’t right. I thought it might be stress.
“This was on Monday, August 3. I waited till Tuesday and it got worse.
“I was shaking uncontrollably and my temperature was going through the roof.
“My spirit told me immediately, this is not malaria or fever and I have been extremely careful and paranoid about this COVID-19 stuff.
“So I told hubby I needed to be tested immediately because I also have a son that has Asthma!
They came to test me on Wednesday and my result came out on Thursday evening Positive.
“My world crashed. I felt crazy and empty.
“My symptoms were high fever and chills, luckily no other.
“But it was so bad, they contemplated coming to evacuate me as my viral load was high and I wasn’t getting better but God arose for me.
“I went into isolation immediately. We got my result but my daughter started feeling funny.
“So they had to come test the whole family.
“I had infected my daughter and asthmatic son!
“Fortunately, my God showed up for me as my son is asymptotic, so positive but not sick.
“However, my daughter lost her sense of smell and taste and had severe diarrhea but all has stopped now, thank God.”
Obi Ajuonuma, aka Dj Obi, has lashed out at BBNaija 2020 organisers.
The DJ, who performed in the House Saturday night, was condemned by the audience.
He was accused of making the party boring, compared to his colleagues that thrilled the people at previous weekends.
On Sunday, DJ Obi put the blame on the organisers.
The entertainer explained why things went wrong during his outing.
He tweeted: “Shout out to the housemates for sticking it through last night. Such technical issues shouldn’t be happening with such a big budget show. BUT! Let’s use this opportunity to address how we also manage rubbish in this country. How will a big budget show not have back up sound equipment?!
“Oh snap! I forgot, speakers are expensive but the extension cord that burnt out, i swear is like 12k in the supermarket. Oh shit! 12k is a lot of money, my bad. The DJing you witnessed last night is called Experience!. The entire house partied with 1 monitor, not speaker…Monitor. Could’ve walked away, but DJ OBI don’t crack under pressure
“Last night is the LAST TIME i’ll DJ without a technical rider in this country. For the djs starting out, learn this now. If the client does not provide you with the right equipment, proper working equipment to do your job. DO. NOT. PRESS. PLAY. Use this to create a structure to use the right tools for events and bookings. Contracts and riders, both hospitality and technical riders.”
Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministries has lost £150,000 to theft.
General Overseer of the mega church, Pastor Daniel Olukoya, on Saturday, admitted that the money is missing and revealed that his former employee, who is a pastor, stole the church’s funds in the United Kingdom, UK.
In a statement signed by his media aide, Collins Edomaruse, and made available to reporters on Saturday, he said the employee paid the £150,000 Charity’s fund into his personal account and conspired with external auditors to shield the income from discovery.
“Fortunately, all the people that took money illegally are still alive. The genesis of this allegation is that the lease of one of our branches in London contained a clause which stipulated that any party who broke the lease for any reason before its expiration would pay a penalty of £150,000 to the other party.
“It happened that the owner of the property broke the lease and sold the property to a third party which necessitated the church relocating from the building.
“The property owners honoured their obligation and paid the penalty sum of £150,000 which the pastor of that branch somehow found a way of paying into his personal account without informing the headquarters and conspired with the external auditors to shield that income from discovery. It was much later that a member of that branch brought to the attention of headquarters that such amount of money had been received by the pastor,” he added.
He further explained that the church’s headquarters immediately set up a panel of investigation to uncover the fraud and to give fair hearing to the pastor concerned.
According to the statement, the pastor attended the sitting of the panel and unequivocally admitted he stole the fund.
The statement added that the General Overseer issued the pastor an ultimatum in writing to pay back the money within 48 hours whereupon he promised to re-mortgage his house in London to comply.
Amirah Dyme, the alleged girlfriend of Abass Ramon, popularly known as Hushpuppi has unveiled a new man on social media.
This is coming after the internet fraudster was arrested by the FBI for duping over 1.9million people to the tune of over 160 billion naira.
He was arrested in Dubai on 5 June, along with another Nigerian Olalekan Ponle and 10 other suspects.
However, Amirah who used to flaunt her love for Hushpuppi took to her Instagram page with over 3 million followers to share loved up photos with the mystery man.
She wrote; “I’d never make him choose between me and his PlayStation. I’m just gon hurt myself.”
Residents and sympathisers, on Saturday night, cried as men of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, and Fire Service recovered the body of three-year-old Seyi Jebose from the well she fell into at their 1, Gemini Bus Stop, Baruwa, Ipaja, Lagos, residence.
The LASEMA Response Team, LRT, recovered the body in an operation that began at about 7:42p.m., on Saturday.
According to reports, Seyi fell through the rusty cover of the well while she playing, without the adults noticing the incident.
The body of the girl was later discovered in the well by a search party that was raised after her parents declared her missing.
Director-General of LASEMA, Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, confirmed the incident.
According to Oke-Osanyintolu, “further investigation revealed that Seyi Jebose fell through the rusty cover of the well while playing in the compound, where she lives with her parents.
“With the combined efforts of LASEMA, Lagos State Fire Service and NPF Alagolo Division, the girl was brought out of the well and rushed to Solad Hospital, Maria Street, Baruwa Ipaja, where she was confirmed dead on arrival.
“The body has been handed over to the family members and Police officers from Alagolo Police Station, led by one Inspector Abumere.”
It’s celebration time for Nollywood actress Funke Akindele and husband rapper Abdul Rasheed Bello, a.k.a JJC Skillz as they marked their 4th wedding anniversary with fresh vows of love.
The two love birds married in London on 23 August 2016 and are blessed with twins.
This was three years after Funke’s first short-lived marriage to Adeola Kehinde Oloyede collapsed in just 14 months.
On Saturday, Funke and Bello, decked in traditional Aso Oke, appeared as if heading to the altar once again. The dresses were designed by Bimmms24.
Funke wrote on Instagram: “All glory to God!!! 4 years and many more years to spend together in good health and wealth in Jesus name. I love you My King @jjcskillz. A Big THANK YOU to the wonderful Glam Squad”.
Bello also responded on his Instagram page: “To God be the glory. It’s our anniversary. May God continue to strengthen and uplift our hearts. The love and peace of God will never depart from us. Our children will be a blessing to this generation. I pray our union will continue to bear fruits of favour. I love you @funkejenifaakindele”.
It has been a blissful four years for the couple except for the clash with the law in April 2020.
Funke was arrested and charged to court after hosting a birthday party in honour of her husband during the lockdown for coronavirus.
The actress and her husband were sentenced to a 14-day community service after pleading guilty to violating the lockdown.
Video app TikTok said Saturday it will challenge in court a Trump administration crackdown on the popular Chinese-owned platform, which Washington accuses of being a national security threat.
As tensions soar between the world’s two biggest economies, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on August 6 giving Americans 45 days to stop doing business with TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance — effectively setting a deadline for a potential pressured sale of the app to a US company.
“To ensure that the rule of law is not discarded and that our company and users are treated fairly, we have no choice but to challenge the executive order through the judicial system,” TikTok said in a statement.
“Even though we strongly disagree with the administration’s concerns, for nearly a year we have sought to engage in good faith to provide a constructive solution,” it said.
“What we encountered instead was a lack of due process as the administration paid no attention to facts and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses.”
ByteDance said in a separate statement that the suit would be filed on Monday, US time.
TikTok’s kaleidoscopic feeds of short clips feature everything from dance routines and hair-dye tutorials to jokes about daily life and politics. It has been downloaded 175 million times in the US and more than a billion times around the world.
Trump claims TikTok could be used by China to track the locations of federal employees, build dossiers on people for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage.
The company has said it has never provided any US user data to the Chinese government, and Beijing has blasted Trump’s crackdown as political.
The US measures come ahead of November 3 elections in which Trump, behind his rival Joe Biden in the polls, is campaigning hard on an increasingly strident anti-Beijing message.
– Trump and China –
Trump has increasingly taken a confrontational stance on China, challenging it on trade, military and economic fronts.
Shortly after Trump announced his moves against TikTok this month, the United States slapped sanctions on Hong Kong’s leader over the Chinese security clampdown after last year’s pro-democracy demonstrations.
Microsoft and Oracle are possible suitors for TikTok’s US operations.
Reports have said Oracle — whose chairman Larry Ellison has raised millions in campaign funds for Trump — was weighing a bid for TikTok’s operations in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The Trump administration has also given ByteDance a 90-day deadline to divest in TikTok before the app is banned in the United States.
The measures move away from the long-promoted American ideal of a global, open internet and could invite other countries to follow suit, analysts told AFP previously.
“It’s really an attempt to fragment the internet and the global information society along US and Chinese lines, and shut China out of the information economy,” Milton Mueller, a Georgia Tech professor and founder of the Internet Governance Project said previously.
Big Brother Naija 2019 first runner up, Mike Edwards and his wife, Perri Shakes-Drayton are preparing to welcome their first child together, a baby boy. And she flaunted her baby bump in new photos.
