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Good morning! Here Are Some Major News Headlines In The Newspapers Today: Reps ask FG to reopen Banex plaza, probe incident

Published

3 weeks ago

May 24, 2024

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1. The House of Representatives on Thursday urged the Federal Government and the Nigerian Army to reopen the Banex Plaza in Abuja for business activities. It also urged the authorities to use modern technology, such as surveillance and closed circuit television, to identify and apprehend the perpetrators of the attack on Army personnel in the plaza recently.

2. There was jubilation in Kano State on Thursday as Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf announced the re-appointment of Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi as the new Emir of Kano. He made the announcement after signing the new emirate council law at Government House, Kano.

3. The Kogi Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja has scheduled judgment for Monday in the petition by Social Democratic Party, SDP, and its candidate in the last governorship election in Kogi, Murtala Ajaka. Ajaka and his party are challenging the declaration of Usman Ododo of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as the winner of the election held on November 11, 2023.

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4. President Bola Tinubu has directed a comprehensive review of the recently announced governing boards of tertiary institutions. He expressed concerns that the constitutional Federal Character principle did not reflect in the nominations of members of the governing councils.

5. The House of Representatives, on Thursday, passed for third reading, a bill reverting to ‘Nigeria We Hail Thee’, the old National Anthem. The bill sponsored by the Majority Leader of the House, Prof Julius Ihonbvere, underwent an accelerated consideration on the floor of the House before passage.

6. The Federal Government said on Thursday that the country was poised to begin local production of military equipment with the recent signing of the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria Bill by President Bola Tinubu. The Minister of Defence, Muhammad Badaru, said following the signing of the bill, the FG had been in talks with 50 local firms for local production of firearms in the country.

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7. The grandmother of a 17-year-old girl identified simply as Favour has buried her daughter’s newborn baby alive in the Ogombo area of Ajah, Lagos State. It was gathered that when the grandmother observed that the teenager had gotten pregnant, she became angry and did everything possible to hide the pregnancy from members of the public.

8. An Ekiti State High Court, Ado Ekiti Division on Thursday sentenced two persons, Benjamin Joseph (32), and Stephen Orban (25), to death by hanging for robbing two persons of cash and valuable items. The convicts were arraigned on December 30, 2022, on four counts bordering on conspiracy and armed robbery.

9. The Naira on Thursday depreciated in the parallel market to N1,515 per dollar from N1,495 per dollar on Wednesday. Similarly, the Naira depreciated to N1,485.66 per dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market, NAFEM.

10. Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, has told the Federal Government that Nigerians were increasingly being frustrated by poverty and hunger, thus challenging the political office holders to rise to their responsibilities of protecting Nigerians and uplifting their living standards.

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Related Topics:Banex Plaza HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Reps

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PHOTOS: Sanusi leads traditional Sallah Durbar

Published

10 mins ago

June 16, 2024

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Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, held the traditional Sallah durbar on Sunday.

Following the Eid prayer and sermon at the Kofar Mata Jumu’at mosque as a result of flooding at the usual Eid ground, the Emir embarked on the durbar, riding a horse through Wambai, Zage, Yan Damadan, Shahuci, and back to the palace.

Unlike previous years, this time the Emir was the only one on horseback, with district heads either on foot or in vehicles.

Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and other cabinet members also attended the Eid prayer.

Security was notably tight, with the Army, Police, Civil Defense, and other operatives positioned to ensure safety throughout the event.

Despite the Police command’s ban on Sallah durbar activities, as reiterated in a recent joint security meeting, the event proceeded under the Governor’s watch.

In contrast, the 15th Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, observed his Eid prayer at the Nassarawa mini palace and had announced the cancellation of durbar activities during the Eid-el-Kabir festivities.

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Photos: Eid-el-Kabir: Tinubu hosts Sanwo-Olu, Dangote, others in Lagos

Published

55 mins ago

June 16, 2024

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President Bola Tinubu, on Sunday, hosted a special gathering to commemorate the Eid-el-Kabir celebration at his Lagos residence.

This was made known by the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu in a statement on Sunday.

The event brought together guests, including Deputy Governor Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly Dr. Mudashiru Obasa, Lagos State Head of Service Mr. Bode Agoro, and renowned businessman Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

Sanwo-Olu wrote, “Today, I attended a special gathering to commemorate Eid al-Adha at HE President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s residence in Lagos.

“Also present was Deputy Governor #drobafemihamzat, Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Dr. Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa, Lagos State Head of Service, Mr. Bode Agoro and Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the President of Dangote Group.”

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Hajj pilgrims ‘stone the devil’ as Muslims mark Eid Al-Adha

Published

2 hours ago

June 16, 2024

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Pilgrims performed Sunday the last major ritual of the hajj, the “stoning of the devil”, in western Saudi Arabia, as Muslims the world over celebrated the Eid al-Adha holiday.

Beginning at dawn, the 1.8 million Muslims undertaking the pilgrimage this year threw seven stones at each of three concrete walls symbolising the devil in the Mina valley, located outside Mecca, the holiest city in Islam.

The ritual commemorates Abraham’s stoning of the devil at the three spots where it is said Satan tried to dissuade him from obeying God’s order to sacrifice his son.

The stoning ritual has been witness to multiple stampedes over the years, most recently in 2015 when up to 2,300 worshippers were killed in the worst hajj disaster.

The site has been revamped since then to streamline the movement of the large crowds.

Roads leading to the concrete walls were nevertheless packed early Sunday, with some pilgrims visibly struggling under the morning sun.

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Some sat on the side of the road to rest and drink water, while others stretched out on the ground, apparently exhausted.

On Saturday, temperatures reached 46 degrees Celsius (114.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in Arafat, where pilgrims performed hours of outdoor prayers.

One treatment centre in the area recorded 225 cases of heat stress and fatigue, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

That figure was not comprehensive. Last year more than 10,000 cases of heat-related illnesses were documented during the hajj, 10 percent of which were heat stroke, a health ministry spokesman told AFP.

“It was very, very hot,” Rohy Daiseca, a 60-year-old Gambian living in the United States, told AFP on Saturday night as pilgrims collected stones to throw.

“Alhamdulillah (praise be to God), I put a lot of water on my head and it was OK.”

Worshippers have tried to take the gruelling conditions in stride, seizing what for many is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to pray at Islam’s holiest shrines.

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“I am so happy that I can’t describe my feelings,” said Amal Mahrouss, a 55-year-old woman from Egypt.

“This place shows us that we are all equal, that there are no differences between Muslims around the world.”

One of the five pillars of Islam, the hajj must be performed at least once by all Muslims with the means.

This year’s figure of 1.8 million pilgrims is similar to last year’s, and Saudi authorities said on Saturday that 1.6 million of them came from abroad.

Feast of the sacrifice

The stoning ritual coincides with Eid al-Adha, or the feast of the sacrifice, which honours Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son before God offered a sheep instead.

Worshippers typically slaughter a sheep and offer part of the meat to the needy.

This year’s hajj and Eid al-Adha holiday have been clouded by the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

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“We don’t feel the Eid holiday because our brothers in Gaza are oppressed under the (Israeli) occupation,” said Najem Nawwar, a 43-year-old Egyptian pilgrim.

King Salman invited 2,000 Palestinians to the hajj at his own expense including relatives of Gazans who have sought refuge elsewhere.

But Saudi authorities have warned no political slogans would be tolerated during the pilgrimage.

That has not stopped many worshippers from voicing solidarity with Palestinians.

“We pray for them… and for the liberation of Palestine, so that we have two holidays instead of one,” said Wadih Ali Khalifah, a 32-year-old Saudi pilgrim.

In a message to hajj pilgrims on Saturday, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said “the ironclad resistance of Palestine and the patient, oppressed people of Gaza… must be fully supported in every way”.

AFP