Politics
Wazupnaija – Naija Entertainment blogs & Forums – Politics
Thibaut Courtois: Real Madrid are always favourites for the Champions League
Thibaut Courtois has insisted Real Madrid are “always the favourites” for the Champions League while expressing his confidence that the Blancos can conquer Europe again in 2020-21. Madrid have won the competition a record 13 times, six more than any other club, but an underwhelming start to the La Liga season has hardly served to inspire confidence they can claim a 14th title come May. Madrid are third in the early La Liga standings, one point behind early leaders Real Sociedad having slumped to a 1-0 home loss to newly-promoted Cadiz last time out. Zinedine Zidane’s side failed to reach the quarter-finals last season, losing in a two-legged last-16 tie to Manchester City with a five-month interval between the games due to the suspension of football amid the Covid-19 crisis. Drawn in Group...
#EndSARS: Three killed in Ibadan
At least three people have been shot dead during a clash between thugs and police in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, on Tuesday, witnesses say. It was gathered that police opened fire at hundreds of youth during #EndSARS protest Tuesday morning. As a result, some thugs launched an attack on a police station in Ojoo, Ibadan. At least five protesters who were present at the scene told newsmen that six other protesters are severely injured. The pictures and videos of the victims are also trending on social media. The latest development has brought the number of death victims to no fewer than 16 since the beginning of the protest against police brutality. The spokesperson of the Oyo State Police command, Fadeyi Olugbenga, could not be reached. He did not answer our calls and text messages. Get more...
Former France goalie Bruno Martini passes on
Former France goalkeeper and deputy director of Montpellier’s training centre, Bruno Martini, has died at 58. The Ligue 1 club made this known in a statement on Tuesday, stating that Martini was hospitalized after suffering a cardiac arrest at the training centre last week. “Today, French football mourns one of the greatest goalkeepers in its history and one of Montpellier’s most loyal servants, on and off the pitch. “He lives the image of a good man, always ready to help, and who never missed the opportunity to distill a kind word to each of his interlocutors,” the statement said. Prior to his death, Martini spent majority of his career at Auxerre and Montpellier and also played 31 times for France. Following a memorable 18-year career, he became a goalkeeping coach with the France squad ...
Lagos curfew: #EndSARS protesters agree to stop road blockage
The leaders of the #EndSARS protesters along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway have said they will lift the blockage along the expressway for vehicles to be able to move into Lagos by 2pm (today). This followed the announcement by Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to impose a 24-hour curfew on the state effective 4 pm. One of the protesters, who spoke to newsmen said, “We will leave the road by 2 pm so that the vehicles can move because of the curfew that has just been announced by Lagos. “We need to let the vehicles move into Lagos.” Long queues of vehicles that were stuck in the standstill traffic were still seen on the road as they were still unable to move. No vehicle was seen moving into the Expressway way from Lagos, showing that most of the vehicles coming into Ogun State could no...
Pick n Pay Acquires Bottles, an Online Grocery Service
Image sourced from Guzzle Pick n Pay has acquired Bottles – an online grocery delivery service. The agreement, which concluded on 20 October, is expected to strengthen what is said to be sub-Saharan Africa’s ‘largest and most popular online grocery business’. Bottles was launched in 2016 as South Africa’s first alcohol on-demand delivery app, and partnered with Pick n Pay in 2018. Its offer was the first of its kind to promise that orders would be fulfilled within 60 minutes. Following the prohibition on the sale of alcohol in March, Bottles re-purposed its app within four days, emerging with a new offer to deliver on-demand “Grocery Essentials” to customers. Since its move to groceries on 31 March, the app has achieved more than 700,000 downloads, with more than 350,000 registered users. ...
Basalt Technology Appoints New MD
Basalt Technologies has appointed Kyle Hauptfleisch at its new MD. Together with Wayne Zwiers, Basalt’s founder and CEO, Hauptfleisch is expected to lead the software development agency as it expands operations from Africa throughout the UK and Europe. Hauptfleisch has more than 15 years of senior management, business development, and general strategy experience, seven of which were at an executive level in both corporates and start-ups. His leadership experience spans various sectors, including publishing, media, and fintech. Notably, Hauptfleisch was the GM at a technology news company, Sales Director of the online division at one of the biggest media companies in Africa, and a founding partner at a boutique marketing agency that was acquired in 2016. More recently, he was CO...
Vodacom to Invest R320 Million into Rural Broadband Connectivity
Vodacom has revealed its plans to invest just over R320 million into network across KwaZulu Natal during 2020/2021. The lion’s share of the capital expenditure will go towards building new LTE base station sites in both urban and deep rural areas of the province. This network acceleration is expected to aid in removing barriers to communications, provide access to fast internet and help in driving digital inclusion among communities in deep rural areas of the province. The availability of high-speed broadband is critical to deep rural development, but research shows that deep rural communities are lagging behind in terms of broadband connectivity, excluding many from digital transformation. “We have always maintained that the key differentiator for us is the quality, strength and reliabili...
Cell C Reports R7.5 Billion Loss
Image sourced from Town Press Cell C has released its interim results for the six months to June 2020. This inside look at the telco shows that it made a R7.5 billion net loss after tax. This loss, according to a report by My Broadband, was due to a number of ‘once-off costs’, and also reflects impairments to the value of R5 billion. Normalised earnings showed a 64% improvement to R1.8-billion, reflecting the overall impact of the new management team’s strategic focus on optimising its network as well as its emphasis on more profitable customers. However, overall revenue was at R6.9-billion compared to the six months of the previous year (2019: R7.4-billion). More than 89% of its revenue comes from service revenue which was 6% lower at R6.5-billion, while hybrid and Fibre-to-Home saw an in...
Twitter Supports Kamala Harris With #MyNameIs After GOP Sen. David Perdue’s Racist Jab
Source: ROBYN BECK / Getty GOP Sen. David Purdue put his racism on full display when he decided to mispronounce Democratic Vice President candidate Kamala Harris‘ name. Twitter banded together to counter Purdue’s ignorance. The Georgia Senator, who is currently in danger of losing his seat, didn’t make his life any easier. On Friday (Oct.16), during one of Donald Trump’s latest COVID-19 super-spreader events disguised as a campaign rally, Purdue played to the racist masses and intentionally mispronounced the California Senator’s name. Perdue should be censured by the full Senate for this BEFORE he loses his seat and is no longer subject to their discipline. Either way, Purdue will forever be marked by history as a racist. https://t.co/d1C6tCzDoP — Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) October 16, 20...
Jail break: Lawyer wants Benin prisons closed
With the dust over the jail break at Oko Prison in Benin City on Monday yet to settle down, a Human rights lawyer Jefferson Uwoghiren, has called for the immediate closure of all the prison houses located inside the ancient city of Benin, Edo state capital. Uwoghiren in a statement made available to newsmen Monday said “it is shocking how the prison inmates who escaped from the cells promptly fused and melted like butter with the crowd, into the City into our homes, and into our surrounding bushes since morning”. According to him, “This record breaking jail break is horrendously made worst, by the ominous silence of the Prison authority, Warders, sorry nothing correctional about them. The overwheming incompetence of the Prison Officers is detonatingly enabling by the official silence of al...
John Leguizamo on Latin Trump Supporters: “Latin People for Republicans Are Like Roaches for Raid”
John Leguizamo isn’t a fan of Donald Trump, and he doesn’t understand why any self-respecting Latinx person would be either. During a new interview with Bill Maher, the actor described Trump supporters who are Hispanic and Latinx as “self-defeating and selfish,” going so far as to say, “Latin people for Republicans are like roaches for Raid.” Leguizamo appeared virtually on HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher this past Friday to respond to a report that suggests President Trump is popular among young Latinx voters “because of the machismo factor.” The When They See Us actor didn’t hold in sharing his contempt for Trump or fellow Latinx people who vote for him. “Latin people for Republicans are like roaches for Raid. Let’s get real. I just feel like there’s a level of self-hate or just lack of ...
Airtel Zambia and Ericsson Joined Forces to Champion eWaste Awareness
Sourced from Comms MEA Airtel Zambia and Ericsson have partnered to launch the ‘Product Take-Back’ programme – an initiative that aims to minimize the potential impact of eWaste on the environment. eWaste, not recycled properly, is said to be an under-acknowledged environmental hazard around the world. The Product Take-Back programme is part of Ericsson’s Sustainability efforts geared towards taking accountability for environmental impacts of all products and services during their lifecycle. The programme is expected to ensure that end-of-life material is treated and recycled in an environmentally responsible manner. Airtel’s CEO and MD, Apoorva Mehrotra says, “Airtel is committed to being socially responsible. We believe that the adoption of responsible eWaste disposal techniques will hel...
