US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says US will assist Nigeria with latest security equipment and intelligence sharing in its efforts toward the safe return of the abducted Dapchi schoolgirls.

Tillerson stated this when he briefed newsmen alongside Nigerias Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, after a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to him, the US government will also offer special training for security personnel to enable them engage in special operations towards the rescue the girls as well as the remaining Chibok schoolgirls in captivity.

He, however, expressed the hope that both the Chibok and Dapchi schoolgirls would return home.

First, we respect the responsibilities of the government of Nigeria and the territorial integrity of Nigeria.

But the way we support is in providing them capability capacity with equipment and also training of the personnel of special operations and sharing intelligence to ensure that they have all the information available to carry out the recovery effort.

But I think it is also important to put this in a broad regional context as well. Boko Haram is a threat to other regions and this has been the subject of my meetings elsewhere and in Africa as well.

In my discussion with President Derby in Chad earlier today, we spoke about the threat of Boko Haram and I think it is important and its really been powerful.

The collaboration between the joint task force which Nigeria is a part and Chad is a part, to respond to this threat of terrorism which Boko Haram is one of the organizations, there are other threats that the leadership of this country has to deal with.

So the United States is ready to engage and coordinate efforts as well. But we have been supporting, equipping, training and when we can provide information.

I think that is the best way we have been helping the government of Nigeria secure the release of the girls, which we hope, will be done in a peaceful manner. We hope that something can be worked out and they can secure the release of these girls quickly, he said.

On his recent warning to African countries against doing business with China, Tillerson said the warning was not meant to stop Chinese investments from flowing to countries that needed such investments.

He, however, cautioned that such countries should be careful with the level of debts they might accumulate as a result of such business dealings.

But what we are cautioning countries is to look carefully, that the implications of the level of debts, the terms of the debts, and whether the arrangements around the local financing are intact creating jobs, local capacity or the projects being carried out by foreign labour being brought to your country.

Is the structure of the financing such that you will always be in control of your infrastructure?

Are there mechanisms to deal with the faults so that you do not loss ownership of your own assets? These are national assets whether they are ports, railways, or major highways.

We have seen this occurred in other countries that were not so careful and has result they got themselves in situation where they awfully lost control of their infrastructure, lost the ownership, the operationalization of it.

And that is the precaution that we are talking about. That there are international rules and norms and financial structure to deal with unforeseen circumstances and I think we are just cautioning countries to look carefully.

We have seen many around the world that did not work out so well and we are just saying as friends, be careful, he said.

According to the top U.S. diplomat, the American government is creating other alternative financing mechanisms that are available for African nations, saying we are developing mechanism that will also create alternative opportunities financing offer.

Tillerson also stressed the need to increase the volume of trade between the U.S. and Nigeria which he said stood at nine billion dollars.

In his contribution, Nigerias Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, said Nigeria had succeeded in degrading Boko Haram, contrary to reports in the social media.

Fighting terrorism is a new challenge globally. When we talked of having degraded Boko Haram, we were referring specifically to the situation that we were confronted with when the government took over.

That was a situation where you have a classical military confrontation and Boko Haram were capturing territory, holding unto territory and hoisting flags. So as a conventional military threat, Boko Haram has been completely degraded.

He, however, acknowledged a challenge with regards to sporadic suicides and bombings as well as kidnapping of the girls. (NAN)

Source: NAN

The Nigerian Peace Corps has reacted to recent reports which implied that President Muhammadu Buhari has rejected the Peace Corps Bill.

In a statement issued on Saturday by the Public Relations Office of the Corps, Millicent Umoru, the NPC described the report as misleading and a voyage of interpretation of the Constitution.

The report had insinuated that by not signing the Bill 30 working days after it was transmitted in December 2017, the President had denied accent to the bill.

However, Umoru insisted that some of the bills that were sent to the President along with the Peace Corps bill had been rejected as the president expressly wrote the National Assembly to convey the reasons why those bills were rejected.

The corps stressed that the Peace Corps Bill was not part of the rejected ones and as such it was wrong for the medium to have published such a report.

Read the full text of the statement below:

RE: BUHARI REJECTS NIGERIAN PEACE CORPS BILL.

Whenourattention was drawn tothe aforementioned report in the Vanguard Newspaper of Saturday, February 17, 2018, which was written by Mr.SoniDaniel, the Northern Regional Editor of the Newspaper and Mr.EmmanOvuakkporie,ourinitial reaction wasthat of disbelief.

But after reading the entire report, it suddenlydawned on usthat the authors deliberately elected to sensationalize the caption with a view to selling the Newspaper and on that note;wewish to assuretheteeming members of thePeace Corps of Nigeria andmillions ofourwell-wishers nationwide that thewriters merely embarked on a voyage ofinterpretation of the Constitution.

The truth of the matteris that out of about nine Billsthat were transmitted to the President together with that of the Nigerian Peace Corps, the President rejected three and returned same to the National Assembly(NASS), stating reasons why he rejected them. And of course, the Nigerian Peace Corps Bill was not part of the rejected ones.

We are not unaware of the grand conspiracy by some security agencies againstthe Peace Corps,especially the Police, Department of State Services (DSS) and CivilDefencein theiradversarial memos to the Presidency to thwart assent to the Bill. Thisconspiracy, whichwasalsomanifested in form of opposition during the Public Hearings conducted by both chambers of the NASS on the Bill, was roundly defeated by superior arguments of over 500 Oral and written Memoranda submitted during the Public Hearings in the NASS.

The major plank of this conspiracy is that the functions of the NigerianPeaceCorps (NPC)Bill overlap that of the Nigerian Police and Nigerian Security and CivilDefenceCorps (NSCDC), which is far from the truth. (Nigerians should watch out for ourfull pageadvertorial on this issue inThe Nation, The Sun, Daily Trust and TribuneNewspaperson Monday, 19thFebruary, 2018). The advertorial clearly articulates the statutory functions of the Police, CivilDefenceand that of the Nigerian Peace Corps.

We wish tocorrect the erroneous impression created by this report, whose contents are just the authors interpretation ofthe provisions of the law,PresidentMuhammaduBuhariGCFR,has notassented to or rejected the NPC Bill.And ifeventhe President rejectsthe Bill, he will communicate same to the NASS, stating reason(s) for doing so.

Moreover, the Spokespersons of both chambers of the NASS, SenatorSabiAbdullahi(Senate) and Hon.AbdulrazakNamdas(House of Representatives) have clarified the issuesas far as the law on this matter is concerned.

The authors also questioned the legal status of the Peace Corps, a position that smacks of mischief. For purposeof clarity, Peace Corps of Nigeria was dulyincorporated bythe Corporate Affairs Commission under the Companies and Allied Matters Act Cap1990, Part CasNigerianLeadership and MarshalCorps, but changed to Peace Corps of Nigeria in 2002 in accordance with theCompanies and Allied Matters Act.So, its legality has never been called to question and even if the Bill is not assented to, that will not stop it from functioning as an entity.The Bill isessentiallytogivestatutory backingto the Corps.

That this report is coming out a few days after the House Committee on Public Petition gave the Corps directive to take-over itsHeadquarters that has been under lock and key by the Policesince February 2017, a directive thatwasalmost executed before the intervention of the FCT Commissioner of Police, is suspicious.How sad!

Sadder still is that in spite ofseveralCourt judgments pronouncing Peace Corps as a legal entity, including recent verdicts by two different Federal High Courtsjudges,the antagonists of the Corps have continued to disregard these valid Ordersby refusing to unsealthe Peace Corpsoffice.Somuch forthe Rule ofLaw!

In conclusion, we request all PCN Stakeholders and indeed the entire Nigerian youth to disregard any erroneous, malicious and none-evidence based information against the NPC Bill.

Patriot MillicentUmoru

Corps Public Relations Officer

Source: NAN

A video of a two year, 11 month-old pupil of Chrisland School, Lekki, Lagos portraying her alleged serial defilement by the schools supervisor was played today at the Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court.

The video was played during the testimony of Miss Olive Ogedengbe at the trial of Adegboyega Adenekan, 47, a Supervisor at Chrisland School over defilement of a child.

Proceedings lasted from 11a.m. to 3.03 p.m.

Ogedengbe, a clinical psychologist, is an expert in sexual and reproductive health behaviour in children and adolescents. She has over 10 years work experience with children and adolescents, the court heard.

The video recording (Exhibit A1), depicted the child, named Child X, in the clinical psychologists office on Nov. 28, 2016 answering questions about the alleged defilement from Ogedengbe and her colleague.

In the recording, Child X was given a sheet of paper and asked to draw the private part of Adenekan, which she did as well as another image with the ensuing questions.

Child X, referring to the other image said:that is the hand he used to put in my wee wee.

Ogedengbe: Where is Mr Adenekans wee wee?Child X in response, pointed to her private area.

Ogedengbe: Does he put his wee wee in your wee wee?Child X: Yes.

Child X in the recording, using a teddy bear as a puppet, also showed how the supervisor allegedly sexually abused her friend (name withheld).

Kissing the private region of the teddy bear, the child can be heard saying in the video recording Your bum bum is delicious, your bum bum is sweet, I will eat your bum bum.

Ogedengbe, before the video recording was played in the courtroom, in her testimony while being led by Mr Jide Boye, the Chief State Counsel, narrated to the court what had previously transpired during her interaction with the child.

She said:the mother came into my office with a referral letter from the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT) and narrated the story and she started crying.

She (the mother) said she did not know the reason why this was happening to her.

She said she was usually over protective of her children and follows them everywhere except school.

She said somebody in her church handed her a book on sexual education for children which she read and decided to practice it on her child.

That was when the child disclosed that she has been defiled.

She told her mother that Mr Adenekan comes to take her out of the class and shows her some videos that are sexually stimulating.

She pleaded with us to help to correct the psyche of her child.

I carried out an independent psychological evaluation on the child. I asked the mother to sit at the corner of the room and myself and my colleague interacted with the child.

We did not directly start interrogating the child as that was against the ethics of our profession.

We started an initial interaction with the child to make her relax and gain her trust.

When our trust was gained by the child and she was in a happy frame of mind, I asked the child:who touched your wee wee? and the child repeated on several times `Mr Adenekan.

I was shocked because I did not expect it from a child her age. I brought out my assessment sheet and I told the child to draw any person that comes to her mind.

She restlessly started jumping around Mr Adenekan is on my mind we got her back to being settled but she continued talking without yet drawing.

She (Child X) said Mr Adenekan said it is good for a child to put her wee wee in Mr Adenekans wee wee at that point in time we decided to do a recording to ensure her story remains consistent.

We asked her how does Mr Adenekans wee wee look like and she demonstrated playfully by pointing her finger upwards stating sharpener.

We asked sharpener or pencil? She stated `sharpener.

We told her to draw Mr Adenekans wee wee. We want to see what it looks like.

To my greatest shock and surprise, for a two-year-old child, she drew a picture which symbolises a reproductive organ of a man in the form of a penis.

I then asked her, show me your wee wee, she pointed at her private part. I asked her to show me where Mr Adenekans wee wee is and she pointed at the lower region of her private part.

By then the child was again getting very restless and she ran to her mother who was at the corner of the room.

We still wanted to hear more but she was playfully running around and her mother started probing her: Is it only you he comes around to take out of the class and she replied no.

The child said it was herself and her friend (name withheld) so her mother asked her to show us what he normally does with her friend.The child said he kisses her bum bum and he licks her bum bum, the child demonstrated by using a puppy in the room.

That was the end of the first interview with the child.

Ogedengbe during her lengthy testimony said from her evaluation, the mother and Child X needed psychological help.

She said:Afterwards, I decided to confirm from the mother if the child was exhibiting any symptom of psychological abuse.

I asked the mother if she observed any strange behaviour in the child and the mother said yes.

I had asked because I noticed in the course of interacting with the child that the child was occasionally aggressive.

The mother confirmed this and also stated that the child had sleep problems and had been having nightmares.She also complained of sexual inappropriate behaviour from the child and that after the incident the child became curious to see naked bodies of people.

From my findings I found the child exhibited aggressive behaviour, inappropriate sexual behaviour, sleeping problems and fear.

After the interaction, myself and my colleague realised that the child and mother needed help.

The mother also exhibited signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.

We decided to do an intervention and we held two more sessions of psycho-social intervention for the mother and the mother was counselled on how to help and assist the child.

While being cross-examined by Mr Olatunde Adejuyigbe (SAN), Ogedengbe said that Child X was not tutored on what to say during the interview by either her or Child Xs mother.

We used projective techniques in which a client projects their subconscious minds on paper.

The clinical psychologist revealed to Adejuyigbe that she visited the mother of Child Xs friend who was also allegedly sexually assaulted by Adenekan.

We saw the mother of the childs friend but she was not willing to get involved in the case because of stigma, she said.

Ogedengbe also added that she did not interview the staff of Chrisland School, Child Xs father and her older sister.The clinical psychologist also insisted that the child was of above average intelligence.

Children 0-5 years, are usually not able to form full sentences, the child could string meaningful sentences.

In drawing a picture, most children her age do not draw meaningful drawings but she did.

I have worked with children her age from diverse sections of society and she is of above average intelligence, she said.

On re-examination by Boye, the prosecutor, Ogedengbe insisted that the child was not tutored.

If a child is being brainwashed or tutored, the child wont be consistent in answering several questions.

You will see it in her non-verbal behaviour that she was tutored, there would be no flow of conversation, this child was not tutored, the clinical psychologist said.

Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011 prescribes a life sentence for the offence of defilement of a child.

Justice Sybil Nwaka adjourned the case till March 21 for continuation of trial.

Source: NAN

At least two persons died late Sunday when the helicopter they were riding in crashed into Manhattans East River in New York, officials said.

The red chopper, owned by tourism group Liberty and carrying six people including the pilot, fell into the river near the upscale Upper East Side neighborhood around 90th Street shortly after 7:00 pm (2300 GMT) at the end of a sunny day.

The pilot freed himself, the other five did not, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro told reporters during a brief press conference.

We are told the five people were all tied tightly in harnesses that had to be cut and removed.

Divers rushed to the scene and freed the passengers, two of whom were pronounced dead, amid strong currents and frigid temperatures, Nigro added.

The other three were taken to hospital in critical condition.

Liberty organises aerial tours of Americas financial capital. Police chief James ONeill said the aircraft had been leased by photographers.

New York 1 television, citing police sources, reported that five of the six people flying in the helicopter had died, with only the pilot surviving.

The cause of the accident was not immediately clear, but local media indicated the pilot had sent a distress signal that mentioned an engine problem shortly before the crash.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident.

Source: NAN

The black box from Mina Basarans private jet that crashed in Iran while travelling from the United Arab Emirates to Istanbul on March 11, has been recovered.

Mina, heiress to a Turkish billionaire, seven of her friends and three crew members all died in the crash.

The report byIrans state-run IRNA news agency also stated that officials have recovered 10 bodies so far from the crash in the Zagros Mountains outside of the city of Shahr-e Kord, some 370 kilometers south of the Iranian capital Tehran.

The Sharjah civil aviation authorities said the planes eight passengers were six Turks and two Spaniards. Three others were the flight crew.

The aircraft days earlier carried a bachelorette party bound for Dubai.

Search and rescue teams were deployed to the area of the incident, Kerem Knk, the head of the Turkish Red Crescent, wrote on Twitter on March 11.

The three crew members as well as the eight passengers on board were also identified as female.

A plane belonging to Turkey has crashed near Irans western city of Shahre Kord. The Iranian Red Crescent Society has dispatched 10 teams to the disaster area in ChaharMahal and Bakhtiari province to search for possible survivors, Knk said in his tweet.

Iranian state television quoted Mojtaba Khaledi, the spokesman of the countrys emergency management organization, as saying the plane hit a mountain in Shahr-e Kord and burst into flames.

The plane took off around 4:41 p.m. (1311 GMT; 9:11 a.m. EST) on March 11 and reached a cruising altitude of just over 35,000 feet, according to FlightRadar24, a flight-tracking website. At around 6:01 p.m. (1431 GMT; 10:31 a.m. EST), something appears to have gone wrong with the flight as it rapidly gained altitude and then dropped drastically within minutes, data published by the website showed.

The semi-official Fars news agency said the plane took off from Sharjah International Airport on its way to Istanbul. A private company that handles public relations for the Sharjah airfield, the home of low-cost airline Air Arabia, declined to immediately comment to the Associated Press. Sharjah is a neighboring emirate of Dubai.

Turkeys private Doan News Agency identified the plane as a Bombardier CL604, tail number TC-TRB. The Turkish Transport Ministry said the plane belongs to Baaran Holding.

Mina Baaran, a 28-year-old woman who is part of Baaran Holdings board of managers and is in line to run the business, posted photographs on Instagram of what appeared to be her bachelorette party in Dubai.

Among the photographs was an image of the crashed plane posted three days ago.

The last videos posted to her account showed her and friends enjoying a concert by the British pop star Rita Ora at a popular Dubai nightclub. There was no further activity on her account after that.

The crash of the Turkish jet comes after an Iranian ATR-72, a twin-engine turboprop used for short-distance regional flying, crashed in southern Iran, killing all 65 people on board in February.

Source: NAN

US President Donald Trump has backtracked on raising the minimum age requirement from 18 to 21 for some gun purchases, local media reported on Monday.

Trump indicated support for the measure in the wake of Februarys massacre at a Florida high school.

The latest proposals put forward by the White House instead suggested the establishment of a commission to examine whether the measure would make sense.

There was, however, no proposed timeline for the commission.

The proposals are much more modest than those Trump suggested he would support in February.

Controversially, they do include a plan to help individual states arm teachers on a voluntary basis.

The plan is backed by the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) and opposed by the countrys biggest teachers group, the National Education Association.

Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer said in response to the new proposals that the White House has taken tiny baby steps designed not to upset the NRA, when the gun violence epidemic in the country demands that giant steps be taken.

The White House is also supporting improved background checks.

It is also calling on states to introduce measures which would allow law enforcement to confiscate weapons from people deemed to be a danger to themselves or others, Schumer added.

A 19-year-old has been charged over the killing of 17 people at a school in Parkland, Florida, in February.

The former pupil had legally purchased the weapon used in the attack in spite of having a record of mental health problems and making threats. (dpa/NAN)

Source: NAN

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus conservative governing coalition remains on the verge of collapse on Monday after a night of negotiations over legislation to extend military draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jews.

The crisis, which could spark early elections, came after ultra-Orthodox parties said they would not support the 2019 state budget unless the draft exemption legislation is approved.

Israels Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who heads a hawkish secular party, is the leading coalition member against the draft exemptions.

Lieberman has said that he would only support legislation that is drafted by a committee of military officials.

Report says the crisis comes as Netanyahu faces police allegations of bribery and mounting corruption probes.

Opposition politicians and a leading member of the prime ministers coalition have accused Netanyahu, who is polling strongly of seeking snap elections as a way to bolster his standing in the event of a criminal indictment.

Netanyahu has said he wants elections only at the end of this governments term, November 2019. (dpa/NAN)

Source: NAN

Oil markets climbed on Monday on the back of a drop in the number of United States rigs drilling for more production and as the U.S. economy continued to create jobs, which industry hopes will drive higher fuel demand.

Brent sweet crude was at 65.70 dollars per barrel, up 21 cents, or 0.3 per cent, from their previous close.

A falling rig count and the strong employment data may have helped support prices, said William OLoughlin, investment analyst at Rivkin Securities.

The U.S. economy added the biggest number of jobs in more than 1-1/2 years in February, with non-farm payrolls jumping by 313,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said on Friday.

In oil markets, U.S. energy companies last week cut oil rigs for the first time in almost two months RIG-OL-USA-BHI, with drillers cutting back four rigs, to 796, Baker Hughes (GE.N) energy services firm said on Friday.(Reuters/NAN)

Source: NAN

A Bangladeshi aircraft carrying 67 passengers and four crew crashed on Monday while coming in to land at the airport in the Nepali capital, Kathmandu, an airport official said.

He said that 17 people on board had been rescued.

The state of the other people on the flight from the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, operated by US-Bangla Airlines, was not clear, airport spokesman Birendra Prasad Shrestha said.

We are trying to bring the fire under control. Details are awaited, he said

He added that the airport had been shut down and all other flights diverted.

Were now concentrating on evacuating the passengers.

Television images showed smoke rising from the crash site.

Mountainous Nepal is notorious for air accidents. Small aircraft often run into trouble at provincial airstrips.

Read More at :https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-nepal-crash/bangladesh-plane-carrying-71-people-crashes-in-nepal-idUKKCN1GO0WT

Source: NAN

U. S. Secretary of State Rex Tillersonhas changed his schedule so that he will spend only a few hours in Nigeria before leaving late Monday evening to Washington DC.

A spokesman for the top U.S. diplomat said Tillerson had cut short his first trip to Africa to return to Washington about one day ahead of schedule to deal with urgent work there.

Tillersons travel plans have changed so that he can return to Washington early on Tuesday morning instead of late that night, the spokesman told reporters traveling with him.

The secretary departed the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Monday morning.

He will visit Chad and Nigeria, both oil-producers struggling to contain the Islamist Boko Haram insurgency, on Monday afternoon and evening.

He was billed to spend Monday night in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, before flying back to Washington.

On Saturday while visiting Nairobi, Tillerson, 65, canceled his scheduled events because he had been feeling unwell.

Tillersons week-long, five-country visit to Africa came amid other urgent foreign policy developments, including Thursdays announcement that U.S. President Donald Trump will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

NAN reports that Tillersons visit to the Horn of Africa just days after he announced a new $533m aid package for Africa out of which 128 million dollars was earmarked for Nigeria and countries of the Lake Chad region.

When Tillerson meets Buhari, both men are expected to discuss counter-terrorism efforts and humanitarian issues in Nigerias North-East and the Lake Chad basin.

He is also expected to discuss how to advance peace and security, promote good governance, and spur mutually beneficial trade and investment with the President

During his trip, he is expected also to meet with the U.S. Embassy personnel and participate in events related to U.S. government-supported activities. (Reuters/NAN)

Source: NAN

An oil and gas expert, Alhaji Tokunbo Korodo, on Monday urged the Federal Government to create an enabling environment for investors to build more refineries instead of depots.

Korodo, the immediate past Chairman, Lagos Zonal Council, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

What are we doing with over 100 depots, while we have just four refineries with a population of 180 million?

We should be thinking of how to get more refineries to refine more products than keep building more tank farms.

Go to Apapa now, when I joined the oil sector in 1982, we had only seven tank farms in Apapa, but today, we have more than 62 tank farms in the place alone.

In Lagos alone, we have more than 80 tank farms, while we have over 30 depots in other states of the federation.

What are we doing with all these depots when we dont have refined products? he asked.

He said the countrys founding fathers meant well for the nation when they built three refineries and one storage facility in Lagos in the 70s.

Atlas Cove storage was built in Lagos to receive products from the refineries to serve the people in the Western part of the country.

Refinery was built in Warri, Delta State to serve the people in South-South part, while Port Harcourt Refinery will serve the people in South Eastern part.

The Kaduna refinery was built to serve the people in the North.

Unfortunately, the subsequent government messed up the whole plan and allowed these entire infrastructure to decay, Korodo said. (NAN)

Source: NAN

The $5,000 about ( N1.8 million) pledged by renowned musician , David Adeleke , a.k.a. Davido, to a Rwandan music school has continued to generate mixed reactions from Nigerian musicians.

Some of them commended him for the generous act in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos.

Others, however, advised Davido to extend the gesture to music schools established by Nigerians.

They said that those with interest in music could be sponsored by Nigerian artistes in music school to curb social vices.

Nigerian flutist, Omatshola Iseli popularly known as Tee Mac, said that such an act of generosity was not supposed to be publicized.

The donor should have done it quietly without bringing it into public limelight.

Iseli said that celebrities as public figures should be more concerned about giving back to the society just as Davido had done.

They should, however, try to minimise how the members of the public sing their praises due to their generosity.

As celebrities, we need to give back to the society depending on how buoyant we are but this must be done without publicity.

And I believe such will be appreciated more by God, as Davido has tried, he said.

Folklore musician Ayo Orobiyi, popularly called Adunni Nefrettiti said that Davidos generousity was a beautiful development for the Rwandan music industry.

She said that the Rwanda music was below the acceptable standard when compared with music produced by other African countries.

She said that the school should channel the donation to the right direction for the improvement of the Rwandan music industry.

They would be able to pace up with the qualities of music produced in Nigeria and some other African countries.

This is a good development coming from one of us in Nigeria.

I believe he must have observed that Rwanda needed such help more than Nigeria because their music is nothing to be compared with ours, she said.

Nigerian reggae musician, Austin Peters, known as King Wadada urged Nigerian artistes who are financially buoyant to demonstrate such generous act to music schools in the country.

King Wadada who appreciated Davidos gesture to Rwanda said Nigerian youths could also be assisted in enrolling in Nigerian music schools.

According to him, musicians can train the less privileged Nigerian youths who are interested in becoming musicians by sponsoring them in music schools.

Wadada said that this would curb the crime rates and other atrocities engaged in by youths.

Davido has tried so far; aside the pledge to the Rwandan music school, he has created a niche for himself and this is highly commendable.

I will call on other Nigerian artistes to emulate him but this time such assistance must be for music schools in Nigeria.

There are many youths who will appreciate being trained in the music school as a way to further their career in singing.

Such youths can be sponsored in music schools and we will discover that crime rates and some other social vices will be minimised, he said.

Peters also advised Nigerian musicians to ensure that the contents of their music were edifying to the souls of the listeners and serve as tools for behavioural change.

Our music should be capable of achieving positive results, changing the negative behaviour of people to the positive.

Let us change the societal problems through our songs, he said.

Source: NAN

President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has congratulated Mr.Chile Eboe-Osuji (a Nigerian), on his election as the President of theInternational Criminal Court(ICC).

Saraki in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, in Abuja, described the development as positive for Nigeria coming a few days after his deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, was appointed a Professor by the Southern University, United States of America, USA.

He noted that the emergence of Eboe-Osujiduring the 10th session of the Assembly of State Parties of the ICC, at the UN Headquarters in New York, was a testimony that Nigeria and Nigerians have what it takes to continue to provide leadership at both the local and global arena.

While wishing the eminent jurist a successful tenure, the Senate President said he was sure that the Judge would work to justify the confidence reposed in him by his colleagues who voted to elevate him to the position.

No doubt, the Presidency of the ICC represents a huge responsibility. It is my hope that Eboe-Osuji will help lead the Court to new levels of successes in the next three years, Saraki stated.

Source: NAN

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has resolved to constitute a reconciliatory committee with a view to uniting the students body ahead if its 2018 national convention.

A communiqu issued after NANS meeting at the University of Abuja (UniAbuja) said that the decision to set up such committee was sequel to motion by Mr Friday Adayi, a student of UniAbuja.

The communiqu was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.

It was co-signed by Mr Chinonso Obasi, NANS President, Mr Yazeed Yazeed, Chairman, Communiqu Drafting Committee and Mr Ogunwoye Gbemiga, Secretary, Communiqu Drafting Committee.

Obasi, had in a letter dated March 1, addressed to Nigerian students, convened a conciliatory meeting slated for March 10.

The meeting having resolved through robust deliberation on the inevitable unity of NANS, in a motion moved by Mr Friday Adayi, a presidential aspirant from UniAbuja.

Adayi urged legitimate Nigerian students to appeal to stakeholders, particularly former NANS leaders to come together, champion and ensure the unity of NANS.

He was seconded by unanimous acceptance by voice vote of all attendees.

The meeting suggested that former National President of NANS 2007/2008, Mr Yinka Dada, be appointed Chairman of the Conciliatory Committee with the mandate of meeting Obasi, Aruna Kadiri, factional NANS president, zonal coordinators, stakeholders and selected student union presidents within two weeks.

They are to harmonise a united Convention Planning Committee(CPC) that will organise and conduct an election on an agreed venue and date accepted by all parties.

The communiqu said that it was agreed that the CPC members must have current matriculation numbers.

It listed the presidential aspirants in attendance as-Adayi, UniAbuja, Lukman Salahuddeen, Kwara State University, Berido Henry, Benue State Polytechnic, Adio Odunjo Orlando, University of Ilorin, Kwara State and Obande Gideon -who sent a text.

The communiqu said that the presidential aspirants, Abubakar Gambo, an aspirant for office of NANS Senate President and numerous other aspirants for different offices all agreed that there should be a unity convention.

It also appealed to the Governing Council and Management of UniAbuja to revisit the case of the expelled 2007 SUG President of the institution, Mr Igwe Ude-Umanta.

It said that Ude-Umanta was expelled in 2007, adding that 11years was a long time punishment.

The communiqu appealed for an unconditional waiver for Ude-Umanta.

The communiqu said that Nigerian students would resist any form of opposition that might jeopardise the Energizing Education Programme(EEP) of the Federal Government.

Source: NAN

The U.S. Secretary of State, Mr. Rex Tillerson, will arrive in Abuja on Monday in continuation of his visit to some African countries.

The U.S. Embassy in Abuja said on Sunday that Tillerson would hold talks with President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday.

When he arrives, Tillerson will become the highest ranking official in the Trump Administration to visit Nigeria.

The secretary is expected to hold a press conference at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday by 11.45 a.m

Tillerson is expected to be joined in the press availability by Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama, the embassy stated.

Tillerson has been on a week-long tour of Africa.

He has visited the Horn of Africa just days after he announced a new $533 million package for Africa out of which $128 million was earmarked for Nigeria and countries of the Lake Chad region.

Tillerson and Buhari are expected to discuss counter terrorism efforts and humanitarian issues in Nigerias Northeast and the Lake Chad basin.

He is also expected to discuss how to advance peace and security, promote good governance, and spur mutually beneficial trade and investment with the president

He would also meet with U.S. Embassy personnel and participate in events related to U.S. government-supported activities.

During his visit to Kenyan, Tillerson, said on Friday in Nairobi he had shared his concerns with Kenyas President Uhuru Kenyatta about the importance of democracy.

Tillerson said at a news conference that his concerns were that government should not stifle the media and threaten the courts.

We believe that there are actions that need to be taken in Kenya and that they need to correct certain actions like shutting down independent TV stations and threatening the independence of the courts, he said.

I know Kenya takes these matters seriously. A free and independent media is essential for safeguarding democracy and giving all Kenyans confidence in their government.

Tillerson called Kenya a leading democracy in Africa, praising President Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga for meeting on Friday and pledging to bring their people together after 2017 contentious and bloody elections.

He said they had shown a commitment to working for all Kenyans, regardless of party, to take the long journey that is necessary to restore the country, eliminate these divisions that are creating obstacles to Kenyas future.

Tillerson said all the credit for the meeting went to the Kenyan political leaders, in response to a question as to whether the U.S. had a role in organising it.

Both Kenyatta and Odinga had said in a joint statement that they agreed to establish a new office staffed by advisers.

They are to tackle the divisions ranging from opposition complaints over the election to tensions between ethnic groups and corruption.

We have a responsibility as leaders to find solutions. Elections come and go, but Kenya remains, Kenyatta said.

Kenyatta was sworn in for a second term in November after an extended election season which saw the Supreme Court nullifying an August presidential poll.

The apex court went on to order a re-run in October, which Odinga boycotted.

Around 100 people died mainly in clashes between the security forces and opposition supporters during months of acrimonious campaigning and protests.

The election season blunted growth in Kenya, East Africas richest economy and a Western ally in a volatile region.

In January, Odinga took a symbolic presidential oath in a Nairobi park in a direct challenge to Kenyatta.

Before Fridays meeting, the two men had defied calls from Kenyan civil society, religious leaders and Western diplomats to hold talks to overcome deep divisions opened up by the disputed elections.

Odinga said the opposition had decided to change tactics for the sake of the countrys unity.

We refuse to allow our diversity to kill our nation, he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in the Kenyan capital later on Friday as part of a seven-day visit to Africa.

The move was in the face of U. S. attempt to bolster security alliances on a continent increasingly turning to China for trade.
(NAN)

Source: NAN

The Nigerian Senate said today that Senator Shehu Sani was in order when he revealed the N45m quarterly allowance that each Senator takes home.

And it quickly added that the information about the emoluments of senators was never a secret.

Senate Spokesman, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, said thefigure Sani gave out about running cost of the offices of Senators was contained in various line items and expenditure heads of the budget of the National Assembly which has been made public.

According to him, Senator Shehu Sanidid not disclose anything new.

Sani who represents Kaduna Central disclosed the figure and the N700,000 salary of senators in an interview with magazine. The interview was published last week, triggering social commentaries about the Senators well kept secret.

Abdullahi dismissed any insinuations that Sanis colleague were unhappy with him and said if people had looked critically at the budget of the National Assembly which has since been made public, they would have seen that various line items like travelling , medicals, consultancy and the rest were captured in the budget and they were the funds divided for each Senators use.

Almost all holders of elective and appointive offices have running costs allocated to their offices and that cannot be said to be part of their salaries, Abdullahi stated.

In the interview, Sani said: I think what we can say is that the running cost of a senator is N13.5 million every month.

He was responding to a question on alleged bogus salaries and allowances of Nigerian lawmakers.

According to him, while there is no specific instruction on what the fund should be used for, lawmakers must provide receipts to back up their expenses from the running costs. He added that the running cost is in addition to funds earmarked for each senator for constituency projects.

But what I am saying is that that money (N13.5 million per month) must be receipted for what you do with it. But what you are given to go and spend without any accountability is N750,000.00.

The constituency project itself is given on a zonal basis and almost every Senator will go with a constituency fund of about N200 million, but it is not the cash that is given to you.

You will be told that you have N200 million with an agency of government for which you will now submit projects equivalent to that amount. And it is that agency of government that will go and do those projects for you.

Now, the corruption comes when the projects are not done and the money is taken. But right now, it is difficult to do that because NGOs and transparency groups have come into it. They track every allocation made to you and where they are being used.

So, its becoming difficult for what used to happen in the past to happen now.

But I can tell you that I would love a situation where we do away with running costs, constituency projects and leaves senators and members of House of Reps with salaries.

And also, the public should be informed that nobody should come to any senators house asking for any kobo. That also would be helpful.

Source: NAN

A wealthy Turkish socialite, Mina Basaran and seven of her friends were among the 11 people killed on Sunday when a private plane bringing them home from a Dubai bachelorette party crashed into an Iranian mountainside.

The plane was owned by the private holding company of her father, the Turkish businessman Huseyin Basaran, and carried eight passengers and three crew, an official for Turkeys transport ministry said.

Those on board were all flying back from a party ahead of Minas planned wedding next month.

Huseyin Basaran, a former deputy chairman of Trabzonspor football club, owns businesses that span yachts to energy.

One of his companies is the top shareholder in Bahrain Middle East Bank BSC, a small investment bank. His construction projects include a series of luxury apartment blocks on Istanbuls Asian side called Mina Towers, named after his daughter.

The last photo on 28 year-old Mina Barasans Instagram account showed her surrounded by seven other young women, all wearing robes and sunglasses. The post, tagged #minasbachelorette, said it was taken at the One and Only Royal Mirage luxury hotel in Dubai.

By late on Sunday evening, just a few hours after news of the crash, there were more than 7,000 comments on the photo.

The wreck of the jet and the bodies are found. They will be carried down from the mountain when sun comes up. My condolences to those who lost their loved ones, the head of the Turkish Red Crescent, Kerem Kinik, said on Twitter, citing his Iranian sister organisation.

Kinik had earlier told Reuters there was no chance of any survivors, given the aircraft was a jet and it was flying in snowy weather, although he was unable to officially confirm fatalities.

Calls to Basaran Holdings office in Istanbul went unanswered.

Reza Jafarzadeh, spokesman for Irans Civil Aviation Organization, told state television the jet had crashed near the southwestern city of Shahr-e Kord.

Local residents who had reached the site of the crash said there appeared to be no survivors and victims bodies were burnt, ISNA news agency reported, quoting Mojtaba Khaledi, spokesman for Irans emergency services.

ISNA earlier quoted emergency services as saying the wreckage was burning and was clearly visible.

Emergency crews had a difficult approach to reach the crash site because of the mountainous terrain, ISNA said.

Source: NAN

The trial of Senate President, Bukola Saraki, at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) has been adjourned indefinitely.

Chairman of the Tribunal, Mr. Danladi Umar, announced the adjournment in a short ruling on the resumption of trial in Abuja today.

He said the tribunal would await the decision of the Supreme Court on the appeals filed by both Saraki and the Federal Government.

Saraki is being tried on three of the 18 count-charge for false declaration of assets.

Umar gave the ruling after listening to the addresses of both the defence and prosecuting lawyers.

In his address, the prosecuting counsel Mr Rotimi Jacobs urged the Tribunal to proceed with taking the final address from the parties in the suit.

He based his request on the fact that the defence had already opened and closed their case and the Tribunal had adjourned for the adoption of final addresses.

However, Counsel to the Senate President Mr Kanu Agabi urged the Tribunal to be mindful of the dignity of the Supreme Court and prayed for an indefinite adjournment.

Agreeing with the defence counsel, the CCT chairman held that the Tribunal has decided to tarry awhile so that the integrity of Supreme Court would not be played with.

The Tribunal will adjourn this matter sine die pending the outcome of the appeals at the Supreme Court, he added.

On Tuesday last week, the Tribunal had adjourned the case till March 8 to hear the final address by the parties in the suit and for its final judgment.

The parties will have to await the decisions of the Supreme Court to proceed with the rest of the trial.

*Reported by Channels TV

Source: NAN

Britain will build a new 112-bed wing at Kirikiri Prison in Lagos so that it can transfer Nigerian prisoners there, foreign secretary, Boris Johnson announced in London today.

In a written statement to parliament, Johnson said tenders had been placed and a supplier identified to conduct the building work at Kirikiri. He did not name the supplier.

The project will be funded from Britains Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, which has an annual budget of more than 1 billion pounds and aims to commission projects that can help prevent conflicts and stabilise countries or regions.

The new 112-bed wing, which will cost 700,000 pounds ($973,000) and be compliant with United Nations standards, will make it easier for Britain to comply with a prisoner transfer agreement it signed with Nigeria in 2014.

Under that deal, eligible prisoners serving criminal sentences in Nigeria and Britain can be returned to complete their sentences in their respective countries. The British government did not indicate how many prisoners might be moved or when the project is likely to be completed.

Nigerian prisons many of them built by British colonisers more than 100 years ago are severely overcrowded, leading to the spread of diseases.

The Nigerian government has said it is developing a strategy to tackle the issue.

Britains own prison system has been showing signs of severe strain in recent years, with overcrowding, rising suicide rates and a growing problem with drug trafficking and other crimes within jails that were sometimes built in the Victorian era.

Kirikiri is not one of the oldest prisons in Nigeria but it does date back to colonial times.

Last month, the government said the prison in the southern city of Port Harcourt, which was originally designed to hold 800 prisoners, currently has nearly 5,000. It said 3,700 of them had been awaiting trial for more than five years.

Source: NAN

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson cancelled scheduled events on Saturday on the second day of a visit to Kenya because he is not feeling well, a State Department spokesman said.

The secretary is not feeling well after a long couple days working on major issues back home such as North Korea and has canceled his events for the day, spokesman Steve Goldstein said.

The announcement comes little more than 24 hours after US President Donald Trump stunned the world by accepting an invitation to meet North Koreas Kim Jong Un before the end of May.

The audacious diplomatic gambit, which was taken before consulting key confidantes including Tillerson who was in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa at the time left aides scrambling to catch up.

Just hours before the summit announcement, which emerged late on Thursday, Tillerson had said Washington was a long way from talking directly to North Korea as he kicked off his five-nation Africa tour.

The US diplomat, who arrived in Nairobi on Friday, had been due to visit the AIDS-relief programme PEPFAR on Saturday and also attend a ceremony marking 20 years since Al-Qaeda bombed the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 people.

Plans to lay a wreath at the site could be rescheduled, Goldstein said.

Tillerson is due to travel to Chad on Monday then on to Nigeria a day later.

Tillerson arrived Kenya on Friday after visiting Ethiopia and Djibouti.

After talks with President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday, he told newsmen he had shared his concerns with Kenyatta about the importance of democracy and said the government should not stifle the media and threaten the courts.

The Kenyan government shut down three television channels in January on the day opposition leader Raila Odinga took a symbolic presidential oath, then defied a court order to switch them back on. The stations had planned to live-stream the oath.

We believe that there are actions that need to be taken in Kenya and that they need to correct certain actions like shutting down independent TV stations and threatening the independence of the courts, Tillerson told a news conference in the Kenyan capital.

I know Kenya takes these matters seriously. A free and independent media is essential for safeguarding democracy and giving all Kenyans confidence in their government.

Asked at the news conference with Tillerson if Kenya could call itself a democracy in light of restrictions appeared intended to stifle dissent, Kenyas foreign affairs minister, Monica Juma, said that the notion that there is a restriction of the media is not backed by fact or reality.

She said that only three of more than 10s of TV stations were temporarily shut down. The three stations taken off air reach the majority of viewers in the country.

In September, after Kenyas Supreme Court overturned President Uhuru Kenyattas election victory and ordered a new poll, Kenyatta dismissed the judges as wakora, meaning crooks in Swahili. He also said the country had a problem with its judiciary that needed to be fixed.

Tillerson, the top U.S. diplomat, praised Kenyatta and opposition leader Odinga for meeting on Friday and pledging to bring their people together after last years contentious and bloody elections.

All the credit for the meeting went to the Kenyan political leaders, Tillerson said, in response to a question as to whether the U.S. had a role in organizing it.

As expected, Tillerson also emphasized the U.S. security partnership with Kenya and what he called our shared fight against terrorism. He said he would pay his respects on Saturday in Nairobi to victims of the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The bombings killed 224 people.

He also recognized the 4,000 Kenyan troops fighting al-Shabaab in Somalia as part of the African Union peacekeeping mission AMISOM.

Source: NAN