Statement
Foundation feeds 1,000 Calabar orphans at yuletide
The Romeo Odey Cares Foundation has visited Infant Jesus Orphanage Home and Good Samaritan Home, both in Calabar, Cross River State, feeding over 1,000 orphans as part of its mission to cater for the most indigent members of society. A statement delivered to newsmen by the Brand Manager of the Foundation, Gidyon Thompson, explained that the gesture extended to helpless children from the streets of Calabar. The foundation, owned by network marketing expert Romeo Odey, said the gesture was a way of giving back to society. According to him, the move is part of Odey’s decision to affect humanity positively. He urged the federal and state government to step up and take responsibility for the children on the streets to avert impending doom. He added that the serial entrepreneur would launch two ...
Thugs invade northern coalition meeting in Kaduna, attack members
Armed thugs on Monday, invaded the Arewa House Kaduna, where officials of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), were holding a security summit. A statement by Spokesman of the CNG, Abdulaziz Suleiman, said “We regret to announce that armed thugs numbering hundreds were unleashed on the Arewa House venue of the security summit hosted by the Coalition of Northern Groups on Monday, December 14. “The Summit aimed to discuss ways to achieve synergy between communities and government security and design a uniform approach to the current security situation in the North. “Participants at the meeting included retired military officers, Retired Police officers, religious leaders, traditional rulers, various women, youth and trade associations.” The CNG said just as the meeting was about to “kick o...
Yuletide: Children are happier with gifts than excursions – study
Kids aged between three and 12 are happier when given material gifts than being taken on pleasure trips, a recently released study suggests. The findings, published in September in the International Journal of Research in Marketing, revealed that while adults tend to be thrilled by experiences, younger kids are more drawn to material goods. This effect, however, changes over time as a child’s cognitive skills increase, the study compiled by a team of researchers at the University of Illinois stated. “Across four studies with children and adolescents of ages 3–17 years, we show that children (ages 3–12) derive more happiness from goods than from experiences, but the effect changes over time,” it said. An associate professor of marketing at the Chicago-based institution, Lan Nguyen Chaplin, ...
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 ...
Kwara announces second wave of coronavirus
The Kwara Medical Advisory Sub-Committee on COVID-19 has announced that a second wave of the pandemic has hit the state. The announcement is contained in a statement issued on Sunday by the committee’s chairman, Femi Oladiji. “Now, there are two epidemiological curves of the disease in Kwara. The first curve peaked between July and August, and then plummeted between September and October, at which stage people thought COVID-19 was winding down. “It is important to state clearly that we now have the second wave of COVID-19 outbreak in Kwara just like a few other states of the country,’’ he said. Mr Oladiji stated that the second curve started early in November with sharp rise in the number of positive cases. He noted that the reasons for the second wave included increase in awareness for vo...
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...
US country music star Charley Pride dies of coronavirus
US country music star Charley Pride has died of complications from Covid-19 at the age of 86, his family said Saturday in a message posted to the singer’s website. Pride’s “rich baritone voice and impeccable song-sense altered American culture,” the statement read further. Born a sharecropper’s son in Sledge, Mississippi, on March 18, 1934, Pride became US country music’s first Black superstar and the first Black member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Between 1967 and 1987, Pride delivered 52 Top 10 country hits, won Grammy awards, and became RCA Records’ top-selling country artist. His best-known songs include “Kiss An Angel Good Mornin’” and “Please Help Me I’m Falling.” He won the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year award in 1971, its top male vocalist prize in 1971 a...
NUJ asks Nigerian government to immortalise Sam Nda-Isaiah
The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has said it received with rude shock the demise of the former Chairman and Publisher of Leadership Newspapers, Sam Nda-Isaiah, and asked the federal government to immortalise him. Nda-Isaiah, a former presidential aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) died on Friday night after a brief illness. The NUJ in a statement on Saturday by its Assistant National Secretary, Midat Joseph, said his death “marked the end of an eventful era of a Newspaperman.” The NUJ said, “This, indeed, is a great loss to his family, particularly the journalism profession where Mr. Nda-Isaiah made his mark. The NUJ and the entire nation no doubt benefited immensely from his wealth of experience and commitment to national development.” “It is our conside...
President Buhari condemns bandits’ attack on Katsina school, orders reinforcement of security
President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the attack carried out by bandits’ at the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, charging the security agencies to go after the attackers to ensure that no student gets missing or harmed. The president made the remarks in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Saturday. He urged the school authorities to carry out an audit of the population of the students following shootings in and around the school that sent hundreds of them fleeing and scrambling over perimeter walls. He also advised parents who rushed to evacuate their children and wards from the school to notify the school and police authorities in order to have a full account of the school population. “I strongly...
Lagos governor goes into isolation after close aide tests positive for coronavirus
After one of his closest aides tested positive for COVID-19, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has gone into self-isolation immediately. Professor Akin Abayomi, the state’s Commissioner for Health, in a statement Friday, said: “Mr. Governor and other members of his team will be tested by the Lagos State biobank today but will remain in isolation until the results of the tests are available. “We are seeing slightly increasing number of COVID-19 positive cases in clusters in Lagos and all Lagosians should adhere to the prescribed advisories of safe distancing, good hand and respiratory hygiene and avoidance of unnecessary gatherings.” He stressed that “this is not the first time Mr. Governor is having the COVID-19 test. He has had at least three since May when he announced that 1...
U.S. senators seek possible sanctions over Ethiopia conflict abuses
Two U.S. senators have called on their government to consider imposing sanctions on any political or military officials found to be responsible for human rights violations during a month of conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region. The proposed resolution was introduced on Wednesday by Senator Ben Cardin, a Democrat, and Senator Jim Risch, a Republican. It was the first such call by U.S. lawmakers since war between Ethiopian federal forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) broke out on Nov. 4. The conflict is thought to have killed thousands and displaced more than 950,000 people, according to United Nations estimates, about 50,000 of them into Sudan. Concern has mounted over reports of civilians targeted by both sides, posing a policy dilemma for the United States, whic...
Canada approves Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine
Canadian health officials have authorised the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, hailing the development as a “critical milestone” and paving the way for the inoculant to be administered across the country. The authorisation on Wednesday comes a day after the United Kingdom became the first country to begin giving the vaccine to the public. Emergency use authorisation (EUA) is also pending in the United States, with officials saying the first doses could be administered as early as next week. The US Food and Drug Administration is scheduled to consider its EUA on Thursday. Bahrain has also authorised the vaccine for public use. “Canadians can feel confident that the review process was rigorous and that we have strong monitoring systems in place,” Health Canada, the department responsible fo...
