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One dead, three injured as cocoa house elevator crashes in Ibadan
A middle aged man was Wednesday confirmed dead after an elevator crashed at the Cocoa House building in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. Newsmen learnt that three other people were also injured when the elevator at the high rise building in the ancient city crashed. The Cocoa House was said to have been built with proceeds from cocoa by the then government of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who was the Premier of the Western Region. The building as at now is being managed by the Odua Investment Company Limited, which is owned by the six states of the South-west. It was gathered that the elevator was being repaired Wednesday before it crashed and fell on people working on it. The Head of Corporate Affairs, Odua Investment Company Limited, Mr. Victor Ayetoro, while confirming the death of one pers...
Grammys’ Rescheduled Date Conflicts With Screen Actors Guild Awards
“We announced the same date for the SAG Awards last July with the intent to give the greatest possible scheduling consideration for other awards shows. We expect the same consideration from sister organizations throughout the industry.” This is the second year in a row that there was a scheduling conflict involving these two shows. Last year, the 26th Annual SAG Awards were originally scheduled for Jan. 26, 2020. But when the Grammy Awards were announced for the same date, SAG-AFTRA moved the SAG Awards a week up, to Jan. 19. Last year’s scheduling conflict was of course pre-COVID-19. This year’s conflict is a direct result of the chaos that the pandemic has caused in every aspect of American life, including a logjam of award shows. Yesterday, the Recording Academy was gearing up to announ...
Ekiti governor mourns Prof. Ibidapo-Obe
Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has described the death of the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe, as a great loss to Nigeria. Prof Ibidapo-Obe died on January 3 after a brief illness. He was aged 71. Governor Fayemi, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Yinka Oyebode, in Ado-Ekiti, on Tuesday, said the news of Prof Ibidapo-Obe’s death was received with shock and disbelief since the late Vice Chancellor did not show any signs of illness during their last meeting. The governor, who is an alumnus of the University of Lagos, described the late Prof Ibidapo-Obe as a distinguished scholar and seasoned administrator who excelled in every assignment he undertook, adding that he demonstrated his commitment to excellence during his stint as...
FBI probing threat to crash airplane into U.S. Capitol to avenge Iranian general’s assassination – reports
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating the crashing by unknown persons, of radio frequencies used by U.S. air traffic controllers, to broadcast a threat to fly an airplane into U.S. Capitol in revenge for the assassination of prominent Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. U.S. broadcaster CBS news reported this on Wednesday. Congress is due to convene for a meeting later in the day to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election. “We are flying a plane into the Capitol Wednesday. “Soleimani will be avenged,” what sounded like an electronically generated male voice said on the audio recording, published by CBS. According to the broadcaster, citing sources, while the threat is not treated as credible by the U.S. government, it is being investigated as a breach of ...
Ohaneaze chief Nnia Nwodo named SMBLF coordinator
YouTube The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) has appointed the outgoing President General of Ohaneaze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, as its coordinator. According to a statement issued by Chief Edwin Clark and confirmed by Nwodo’s Special Adviser on Media, Chief Emeka Attamah, the appointment was in recognition of his superlative leadership of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation in the past four years and the role he has played in the affairs of SMBLF. Chief Clark said that Chief Nwodo gave the Igbo unqualified and purposeful leadership which resonated throughout the country and expressed optimism that he would do the same for the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, especially at this troubled time in the country. The elder statesman urged Chief Nwodo to bring his wealth...
Sokoto border communities warned against aiding smuggling
Border communities in Sokoto State have been warned against aiding the smuggling of illicit items into the country. The Area Comptroller of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Abdulhamid Ma’aji, gave the warning at Illela during a sensitisation meeting held Tuesday with youths and community leaders at Illela town, a border community in the northern state. The border post was among four major international borders announced for reopening by the Federal Government in late December 2020. Ma’aji, while officially reopening the border’s gate, described the event as a remarkable day, urging the people to observe all the guidelines layout by the Ibrahin l Government. According to him, ‘now that these borders have been reopened, I want you to note that those illicit items that have been prohibited rema...
Neil Young Sells 50% of Song Catalog to Hipgnosis
“I built Hipgnosis to be a company Neil would want to be a part of,” Mercuriadis said in a statement. “We have a common integrity, ethos and passion born out of a belief in music and these important songs… This is a deal that changes Hipgnosis forever and it’s a dream to welcome Neil, Frank, Bonnie and the team to the Hipgnosis family.” Young had been managed for decades by Elliot Roberts, who passed away last year. His affairs are now handled by Frank Gironda, an associate of Roberts who was mentioned in the announcement, as was Bonnie Levitan, another member of Young’s management team. Young, 75, has been releasing projects from his archives for the past few years, and in 2020 he put out two such sets, plus a 10-CD box set, Archives Volume II: 1972-1976. The terms of this deal were...
Alibaba Group To Shutter China’s Xiami Music Service
Xiami is one of the smaller digital music services in China. While user numbers are not publicly available, Xiami’s music penetration was less than 2% in 2019, with about five million Monthly Active Users in mainland China, according to local Chinese reports. The country’s biggest streaming platforms are QQ Music, Kugou Music, Kuwo Music and WeSing, all owned by tech giant Tencent Music Entertainment Group. Collectively those four services have more than 800 million users, says Tencent. Tencent’s biggest competitor is NetEase Cloud Music, operated by Chinese internet company NetEase, which claims to have more than 600 million registered users. Xiami and NetEase Cloud Music cut a deal in 2018 for the streaming services to share libraries and grow their respective repertoires — a move seen a...
Oil company that hired Interior official won’t seek ANWR acreage
On May 15, 2019, Balash notified the department that he was negotiating a job with Oil Search and he signed a statement of recusal barring him from working on “particular matters” that would have a “direct and predictable effect on the financial interest” of his future employer. But more than a month passed before he sought more specific guidance on his involvement in several North Slope development projects including the NPRA, which he said would “require some additional analysis by your office.” On the ANWR lease sale Balash said it was “unknown who will bid at the sale or whether Oil Search might be interested in participating.” It is unclear if Balash was advised to recuse himself from matters involving the NPRA, and DOI did not respond to specific questions about the ethics office det...
UNIBEN to resume 2019/2020, 2020/2021 sessions
The University of Benin (UNIBEN) will resume for the 2019/2020 academic session on January 30 and the 2020/2021 session in April, it has been learnt. Spokesperson Dr. Benedicta Ehanire, in a statement yesterday, said: “At the end of the University’s Senate meeting yesterday, it was resolved that old students should come into residence on January 30 for the continuation of first semester lectures. The semester is expected to run until the April 1, while second semester is billed to start on April 5. “For the 2020/2021 amended calendar, new students are to undergo online clearance from April 5 to April 30, and start orientation on May 3. “All returning students (old and new) are required to fill an online questionnaire and submit the printout to the Dean of Students before resumption. Adhere...
FCT chief judge bows out service
The Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Justice Ishaq Usman Bello, on Tuesday bowed out of service on the attainment of 65 years of age. This is even as he declared in his speech at a valedictory court session held in his honour that the greatest strength of the judiciary remained the trust, reliance and faith of the people in it. Bello, who became the FCT CJ on May 28, 2015, said that in a democratic set up like Nigeria’s, the judiciary had to be impartiality. “I solemnly accept as true the saying that the greatest strength of the judiciary is the trust, reliance and faith of the people in it. “In several cases, I have seen the court take decisions against the state as well for the achievement of the ends of justice. I know this well because I have delivered some myself,” ...
World Bank predicts 4% global economic growth, 1.1% for Nigeria in 2021
ABS-CBN The World Bank says global economy is expected to grow by 4 per cent in 2021, assuming an initial COVID-19 vaccine rollout becomes widespread throughout the year. It said this in a statement issued in Washington D.C. on Tuesday at the presentation of the January 2021 Global Economic Prospects. It added that the said recovery would likely be subdued unless policy makers moved decisively to tame the pandemic and implement investment-enhancing reforms. The bank also said that growth in Sub-Saharan Africa was forecast to rebound moderately to 2.7 per cent in 2021, while Nigeria’s growth was expected to resume at 1.1 per cent. For the region, it said that while the recovery in private consumption and investment was forecast to be slower than previously envisioned, export growth was expe...
