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Trump lands in New York ahead of trial

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Donald Trump left Florida on Monday for New York where he will surrender to criminal charges, taking the United States into uncharted and potentially volatile territory.

The 76-year-old Republican, the first American president ever to be criminally indicted, will be formally charged Tuesday over hush money paid to a porn star during the 2016 election campaign.

Dozens of people, many waving pro-Trump banners and American flags, lined the route as Trump’s motorcade raced from his Florida mansion to the airport where he boarded his private Boeing 757 emblazoned with his name on the fuselage.

Trump was seen waving to the press as he boarded the plane, bound for the city where he made his name, and where he hopes to use his appearance before a judge to rouse support for his 2024 White House bid.

“HEADING TO NEW YORK. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!,” Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social, minutes before he took off at 1 pm (1700 GMT).

“WITCH HUNT, as our once great Country is going to HELL!”

New York police were on high alert ahead of Trump’s arrival, with security cordons and Secret Service agents outside Trump Tower and the criminal court where he will appear before a judge Tuesday afternoon.

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New York Mayor Eric Adams warned that anyone protesting violently during Trump’s historic arraignment will be “arrested and held accountable, no matter who you are.”

“While there may be some rabble rousers thinking about coming to our city tomorrow our message is clear, is simple: ‘control yourselves’,” the mayor told a press conference, adding that there were no specific, credible threats.

As part of his arraignment, Trump will undergo the standard booking procedure of being fingerprinted and photographed, likely to result in one of the most famous mugshots of the modern era.

‘Up In The Air’
There is no roadmap for a former president’s surrender to court authorities, and it remains to be seen whether the famously unpredictable Trump will follow the script, or find a way to upend events.

“It’s all up in the air,” Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina said on CNN Sunday.

But a “perp walk” — in which a defendant is escorted in handcuffs past media cameras — is unlikely for an ex-president under US Secret Service protection, Tacopina said.

“Hopefully this will be as painless and classy as possible for a situation like this.”

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But Trump, who has denounced the legal proceedings as a “witch hunt” and “political persecution, is girding for battle, Tacopina added.

A grand jury indicted Trump last week in the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, an elected Democrat.

The specific charges will be revealed during Tuesday’s hearing. They revolve around the investigation of $130,000 paid to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels just days before Trump’s election win.

Trump’s former lawyer and aide Michael Cohen, who has since turned against his ex-boss, says he arranged the payment to Daniels in exchange for her silence about a tryst she says she had with Trump in 2006.

Trump, who was already married to his wife Melania at the time, denies the affair.

Legal experts have suggested that if not properly accounted for, the payment could result in misdemeanor charges for falsifying business records that could be raised to felonies if it was intended to cover up a campaign finance violation.

The Daniels case is only one of several investigations threatening Trump.

Republicans Unite?
An independent prosecutor is looking into any potential role Trump played in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol, as well as his handling and keeping of classified documents after he left the White House.

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In the swing state of Georgia, Trump is under investigation for pressuring officials to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 victory there — including a taped phone call in which he asked the secretary of state to “find” enough votes to reverse the result.

Biden, knowing anything he might say could fuel Trump’s complaints of a politically “weaponized” judicial system, is one of the few Democrats maintaining silence over the indictment of his political rival.

Republicans have largely rallied around Trump, including his rival in the party’s presidential primary, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who called the indictment “un-American.”

But some Republicans bristled at the prospect of a twice-impeached president facing multiple legal probes seeking the party’s nomination.

Some observers believe the indictment bodes ill for Trump’s 2024 chances, while others say it could boost his support.

A CNN poll Monday found that 94 percent of Democrats surveyed approved of the grand jury’s decision to indict Trump while 79 percent of Republicans disapproved.

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Tourism icon, Otunba Wanle Akinboboye rolls out Hope Unity Rebirth Prosperity (HURP) as No 9 tourism product

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In line with the Renewed Hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, tourism icon, Otunba Wanle Akinboboye, is encouraging the tourism sector to look inward for the much needed prosperity.

 

So, Hope Unity Rebirth Prosperity (HURP) he says, is the tourism product for this week. The 9th, in the proposed 52 products targeted within 365 days!

 

Otunba Wanle Akinboboye affirmed the need to develop our domestic tourism market as a forerunner for international tourism.

 

In his opinion, Nigeria can and should develop domestic tourism before focusing on international tourism, as this will provide an opportunity to fine tune its tourism offerings before subjecting them to the scrutiny of international tourists. It will also generate income, albeit in Naira, as domestic tourists will still be spending money in the various tourism locations.

 

He noted that during the second quarter of 2023, UK residents (domestic tourists) spent £6.7 billion on short stay holidays within the UK. This translated to over N7 trillion in a 3 month period using current CBN official exchange rates.

 

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Otunba Akinboboye said that the devaluation of the Naira and the rising cost of traveling abroad for holidays has created the perfect opportunity for the development of a domestic tourism market.

 

According to him, such domestic tourism market should not be confined to the elites or middle class, but should also extend to ordinary Nigerians, who live in villages and towns in the various states of Nigeria and who currently do not travel widely within the country.

 

Otunba Akinboboye stated further that, by creating an active domestic tourism sector, Nigerians will have the opportunity to learn more about the country and develop a sense of belonging and pride in not just their village, local government or state, but in the nation as a whole.

 

Government he said, should make concerted effort to promote domestic tourism at all levels, to simultaneously stimulate the much needed feeling of unity that will transform the people that live within the geographical area that Flora Shaw referred to as the ‘Niger area.

 

“Domestic tourism will create hope and foster unity, which in turn will lead to a rebirth of our nation and prosperity. As part of domestic tourism, we should offer tourism products that generate hope and unity amongst our people, that leads to the rebirth and prosperity of Nigeria.”

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The Tourism Icon, coined the acronym HURP (Hope Unity Rebirth Prosperity) to refer to the domestic tourism product that he believes can be used to achieve these goals. HURP will educate people in all 774 local governments of Nigeria about the wonderful and diverse country in which we live, by engendering pride in the nation as a whole, encouraging people to identify with it.

 

“It is my believe that the best way to achieve such education is via a domestic tourism product that targets interaction between ordinary people from different parts of the country. This can be achieved by a village exchange programme where, for example, villagers from Koton Karfe in Kogi State will visit an Ijaw village and see first hand what life beside the creeks and ocean really entails. Subsequently the Ijaw villagers can visit the Koton Karfe village. This exchange programme will encourage friendships and most importantly understanding of those with whom we share a common national border. They will also begin to better understand the complex nation that is Nigeria and their role in its journey towards prosperity.

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“The problem of Nigeria for so long has been the feeling that our unity should be an automatic feeling. However, in reality, there must be a concerted effort to generate a feeling of unity and a common purpose among the approximately 371 tribes and 250 ethnic groups in Nigeria . It is only when we do this that we can jump start the rebirth process that is required for the prosperity of our nation. It is envisaged that the village exchange programmes will be financed by government or the corporate sector as part of their CSR and nation building efforts.

 

“We must create a renewed hope in Nigeria and jump start a rebirth process. We must build a platform for tomorrow’s people, as our lack of unity has hindered our development as a nation,” Otunba Wanle Akinboboye added.

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‘I will die on a Sunday after a good meal of pounded yam’ – Pastor Adeboye

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The General overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor E. A Adeboye has said if rapture fails to take place soon, he would die on a Sunday after eating pounded yam.

 

The Man of God, who made the assertion at the ongoing Holy Ghost Congress of the church in Ogun State, said he would die the way one of his uncles died after church service.

 

Recounting how the uncle died, Adeboye said he was in the house after dancing during a church service and gave up the ghost without being sick.

 

He said the uncle died inside a toilet while the wife was preparing his meal.

 

“After she finished pounding the yam, she knocked at the door of the toilet, when they opened the door, my uncle was gone; no sickness, no ache, no pain.

 

“I know somebody will say if we are never sick, how are we going to die and go to heaven? You don’t need to be sick to go to heaven”.

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“If the Lord tarries His coming, I will go on a Sunday after a good meal of pounded yam,” he said.

 

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Good Morning! Here Are Some Major News Headlines In The Newspapers Today: Cost of living: Nigerians angry with govt officials, Shettima admits

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1. Vice-President Kashim Shettima, on Saturday, said average Nigerians are angry with government officials and other members of the elite class, following the high cost of living. The vice president stated this during the graduation ceremony of the Executive Intelligence Management Course, organised by the National Institute for Security Studies.

 

2. The Department of State Services (DSS) says plans are underway to commence the production of its Unmanned Ariel Vehicles, UAVs, also known as drones, AK-47s, and other weapons that would be used by the service and possibly sell to other agencies.

 

3. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, will commence the prosecution of electoral offenders in January. The electoral offences include culpable homicide and unlawful possession of firearms, snatching and destroying of INEC items, misconduct at polling units and stealing of results, among others.

 

4. The Bauchi State Police Command has said its detectives arrested a 35-year-old man in the Bauchi metropolis, who allegedly tried to kill his wife with a pestle. The police claimed the suspect had intended to kill his wife, sell off the television set in their home and use the proceeds to furnish his shop.

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5. No fewer than three small-scale miners have died while 11 others were injured when a mining pit collapsed in Dan Kamfani, Anka Local Government of Zamfara State. An eyewitness who works around the area said, on Saturday, that the incident occurred around 4pm on Thursday. He said the number of casualties cannot be confirmed due to the depth of the mining pit, which is 275 metres deep.

 

6. The abducted parish priest of Saint Michael’s Catholic Church in the Umuekebi community in the Isiala Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State, Reverend Fr Kingsley Eze, also known as Father Ichie, and his driver, Uchenna Newman, have regained freedom. Gunmen had on Thursday last week kidnapped the cleric and his driver when they alighted from a Volvo jeep to purchase something at Orieama junction around 8 pm.

 

7. The National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, on Saturday, said the controversy that trailed the huge delegation Nigeria took to the Climate Change Conference in the United Arab Emirates has shown that President Bola Tinubu is not ready to learn from the mistakes of the previous administration. Abure raised the concern while receiving an award of excellence from the Benin chapter of the Nigerian Bar Association.

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8. The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Sokoto State has accused Governor Ahmed Aliyu of the All Progressives Congress of reckless spending. The party in a press statement made available to newsmen in the state, by its Publicity Secretary, Hassan Sayinnawal, on Saturday, accused the APC-led administration in the state of handling public funds recklessly through what it describes as grossly inflated contracts.

 

9. Lawyers representing the Concerned Northern Forum have threatened to take legal action against the federal government if it fails to provide adequate compensation for the victims of Tudun Biri, which was bombed by military aircraft in Kaduna State. Over 80 villagers were killed during an unintended attack while they were celebrating Maulud, last Sunday night.

 

10. The US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Molly Phee, has visited Nigeria to mediate in the political situation in Niger Republic, which has been under military rule since July 26. This was disclosed in a statement on the website of the US Secretary of State.

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