Lightning kills 16 inside Seventh Day Adventist Church
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lightning has struck a seventh day adventist church in rwanda killing no fewer than 16 people and injuring dozens more a local official said sunday1 fourteen victims were killed on the spot as lightning hit the church in the nyaruguru district in the southern province on saturday local mayor habitegeko francois told afp over the phone1 two others died later from their injuries he said1 he added that 140 people involved in the incident had been rushed to hospital and district health centres but that many had already been discharged1 doctors say that only three of them are in critical condition but they are getting better he said1 according to the mayor a similar accident took place on friday when lightning struck a group of 18 students killing one of them1

FG hails Mo Abudu, Jalade-Ekeinde, Chimamanda
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the nigerian government has congratulated mo abudu chimamanda adichie and omotola jalade-ekeinde over the honours recently bestowed on them on the global stage calling them great ambassadors of nigeria1 in a statement issued in abuja on sunday the minister of information and culture alhaji lai mohammed said the three honorees are iconic women in the creative industry who have brought great honour not only to themselves their families and their industry but also to the country1 he described as well deserved the listing of mo abudu the chief executive officer ceo of ebonylife tv and nollywood star omotola jalade-ekeinde among the top 50 women who are doing extraordinary things on the worldwide stage by variety magazine a weekly american entertainment magazine1 alhaji mohammed also said the already well-adorned cap of chimamanda adichie has been further festooned after her novel americanah was listed in the new york times list of 15 remarkable books by women that are shaping the way we read and write fiction in the 21st century1 he said the women are role models whose achievements will inspire a generation of young nigerians to also do extraordinary things1 of more importance is the fact that these womens achievements have transcended gender nationality or race placing them on the rarefied class of global timeless achievers the minister said1 he said the great honours bestowed on the women will further focus world attention on the nations burgeoning creative industry thus placing it on the right pedestal to take the world by storm1

Studies on HIV prevention in women assuring USAIDS
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it said the dream study showed that more than 90 per cent of the women in the study used the ring at least some of the time based on residual drug levels and the hope study showed that 89 per cent of returned rings indicated that the ring was used at least some of the time within the previous month2 unaids is elated with mid-way results from two studies that show a vaginal ring releasing long-acting antiretroviral medicine to prevent hiv infection in women2 the ring which is replaced monthly slowly releases the antiretroviral medicine dapivirine and could give women an additional hiv prevention option that is discreet and that they can control2 michel sidib executive director of unaids said these results are significant. structural behavioural and biological factors make women more vulnerable to hiv infection2 so it is extremely important that they have the opportunity to protect themselves from hiv on their own terms2 the interim results are from two large open-label studies conducted in south africa and uganda which trials enrolled women between the ages of 20 and 50 years2 open-label studies are studies in which the participants know which medicine is being used that is no placebo substance or treatment with no active therapeutic effect is used2 the hope trial which began in august 2016 and enrolled more than 1400 women by october 2017 the time of the interim review found a 54 per cent reduction in hiv risk2 this means that the rate of new hiv infections was 1.9 women newly infected for every 100 participants in a given year2 based on statistical modelling the researchers determined that the rate of new infections would have been 4.1 for every 100 had the women not been offered the ring2 the dream trial which enrolled 940 women from july 2016 had similar findings with a 54 per cent reduction in the hiv incidence rate2 however the final results from both studies are expected in 2019 according to the un hiv aids agency2 unaids said adherence was shown to be high in both of the trials although the measures of adherence were not able to determine whether the women used the ring all of the time most of the time or just some of the time2 reports say that the results show that studies is up to 54 per cent effective in preventing hiv2 this is the first time that efficacy of more than 50 per cent has been observed in hiv prevention trials involving only women2 two previous phase iii trials presented in 2016 aspiremtn-020 and the ring studyipm 027 which did include a placebo group showed only modest protection 30 per cent against hiv infection for women2 women from both aspire and the ring study were included in the hope and dreams trials unaids explained2 other scientific advances in hiv prevention presented in recent years according to unaids included the proud and ipergay studies which in 2015 reported an 86 per cent reduction in hiv acquisition among hiv-negative men who took antiretroviral medicines to prevent hiv2 another is the 2011 hptn 052 trial announcement which showed that early initiation of antiretroviral therapy can reduce the risk of transmission to an uninfected partner by 96 per cent2 similarly the 2011 partners prep and tdf2 studies showed that a daily antiretroviral pill taken by people who do not have hiv infection can reduce their risk of acquiring hiv by up to 73 per cent2 finally the south africa orange farm intervention trial funded by the french agence nationale de recherches sur le sida anrs and published in 2005 demonstrated more than a 60 per cent reduction in hiv infections among circumcised men2 these important breakthroughs show just how critical it is to continue to invest in research and development into new and effective hiv prevention options sidib said2 the latest reports show that in 2016 funding for hiv prevention research and development was its lowest level in a decade with no indications that investments are set to increase2 unaids stressed that in spite of the recent scientific discoveries there was still no single method that was fully protective against hiv2 to end the aids epidemic unaids strongly recommended a combination of hiv prevention options2 these could include the correct and consistent use of male or female condoms waiting longer before having sex for the first time having fewer partners and voluntary medical male circumcision2 other options are avoiding penetrative sex the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis for people at higher risk of hiv infection and ensuring that all people living with hiv have immediate access to antiretroviral medicine. nan2

Influenza virus causes panic in Kenya
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kenyan health officials have issued an alert after samples taken from patients confirmed the presence of h1n1 prototype 9 influenza virus2 the samples were taken from the patients suffering from flu in laikipia county central kenya reports2 mr donald mogoi a chief officer in charge of health in the area said a child is suspected to have died of the flu two weeks but the deadly virus was confirmed on tuesday by the national public health laboratories2 the five-year-old boy died at the nanyuki cottage hospital and was being treated for pneumonia his dad said2 mrs evelyn obongo a clinical officer at the regional hospital nanyuki teaching and referral hospital said wednesday that her team is attending to at least 60 cases with 15 cases already admitted to the wards2 most of the patients are children mrs obongo said2 cases of the flu have been on the rise in the last two weeks she added2 the diseased is characterised by high fever diarrhoea vomiting dry cough and general body weakness2

Rapper Olamide proposes to long-time partner
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anita eboigbe2 popular rapper olamide adedeji aka baddo has proposed to his long standing girlfriend and mother of his son adebukunmi aisha suleiman1 the love birds have been together since 2011 and have a son maximilaino adedeji born in 20151 he announced the proposal on snapchat @baddosneh some hours after wishing her a happy birthday on the same platform1 the ybnl boss is said to have bent on his knee before aisha as he proposed to her birthday on thursday which coincidentally was marked international womens day with the theme press for progress1 olamide wrote my senior wife oya we have a wedding to plan1 olamide who raps mostly in yoruba has been described as the voice of the ghetto1 the bariga born artist recently released a seven minutes visual to his hit song science student amidst controversies surrounding the message of the song1 he recently bagged the listeners choice award at the just concluded sound city mvp awards1 olamide came into limelight in 2011 with his debut album rapsodi before starting his label ybnl in 20121

Disney launches first-ever cruise line
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source63 disney will in the 2019 summer launch its cruise line the first-ever round trip cruise route starting from the port of civitavecchia a town near rome italy2 disney fans will be able to see italy and southern europe in a more magical way than ever before2 the first voyage begins on june 14 with stops in italy france and spain2 guests will be able to visit salerno on italys amalfi coast la spezia a common launch point for visiting the picturesque towns of cinque terre villefranche-sur-mer and marseilles on the french riviera and spains vibrant beach city of barcelona2 the rome-based cruise is just one of seven new cruise routes that disney has to offer in europe2 the others are cartagena spain toulon provence and brest france belfast northern ireland gothenburg and nynashamn stockholm sweden and fredericia denmark according to the disney parks blog2 we dare you not to sing its a small world after all2 and closer to home for americans disney cruise line is also returning to their popular ports in alaska the bahamas and the caribbean2

The Obamas shows coming on Netflix
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former us president barack obama and his wife michelle are in negotiations with netflix about producing a series of shows for the online streaming giant according to us media reports1 obama and former first lady michelle would provide netflix with exclusive content with the format and number of shows yet to be determined the new york times reported citing people familiar with the matter1 netflix declined to comment1 as the worlds leading on-demand internet television service netflix would offer obama a global platform to delve into topics that marked his presidency such as health care immigration foreign policy and fighting climate change1 his wife michelle would also have a stage to explore subjects she was passionate about while first lady such as nutrition1 the format could include talk-show-style or documentary productions. obama does not plan to use shows to respond directly to president donald trump or other critics but instead to showcase inspirational stories according to the times1 netflix said it ended last year with about 117 million users including slightly more than 110 million paid subscribers1 having shifted its focus to original content netflix has scooped awards and helped shake up both the television and film industries with its deep pockets1 netflix is available in some 200 markets worldwide and produces programs in several languages1 it said it expects to spend between 7.5 billion and 8 billion on content for 2018. afp1

Pacquiao to fight Argentine Matthysse in June
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manny pacquiao is to fight argentinas world boxing association welterweight champion lucas matthysse in malaysia on june 24 the philippine ring legend has announced1 the 39-year-old will be co-promoting the bout after rejecting an offer to fight in las vegas on an undercard to his recent conqueror jeff horn who will be facing terence crawford on april 141 pacquiao said he considers himself the underdog against the brawling matthysse 35 who has 39 wins all but three of them via the short route against four losses1 this is going to be a tough fight. matthysse is also a knockout artist. but im excited to fight and be a world champion again he said in a statement announcing the bout late thursday1 im the underdog in this fight but im used to it. it serves as a big motivation for me to train and fight hard to win the crown said pacquiao who has won world titles in an unprecedented eight weight divisions1 i like his aggressive fighting style. thats what i want to entertain the boxing fans said the elected philippine senator adding that the argentine was not a dirty fighter1 the filipinos trainer restituto fernandez said he expects the kuala lumpur bout co-staged by oscar de la hoyas golden boy promotions to be a real brawl because matthysse is an aggressive fighter1 pacquiao winner of 59 bouts against seven losses and two draws lost his world boxing organisation welterweight title to australias horn last year1 the filipino southpaw who has enjoyed a glittering 23-year pro career retired briefly in 2016 but made a comeback to retake his wbo title from jessie vargas just months later1 the last of his 38 knockout wins came more than eight years ago. afp1

Video: FIFA World Cup Trophy lands in Lagos
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coca-cola has been a very good partner in lagos state especially in the area of sports1 by iyiola pedro1 on hand to receive the trophy at themurtala muhammed international airport lagos were amanju pinnick president nigeria football federation peter rufai rtd. nigerian footballer christian karembeu rtd. french international gernot rohr super eagles technical adviser and ikechukwu ezenwa1 others were representatives ofcoca-cola companynigeria bottling company cultural troupes and many football loving members of the public1 dr. kweku tando chairman lagos state sports commission commended the management of coca-cola and the nigeria football federation for ensuring residents of lagos had an opportunity to sight the trophy1 he therefore urged cooperate brands to support gov. akinwunmi ambodes effort to develop sports in the state1 it was the turn of lagos on friday to receive the fifa world cup trophy after it landed nigeria on march 7 as part of a global tour plan of 91 cities in 51 countries1 i encourage other corporate players to work with the lagos state government in the area of sport development and infrastructure1 we are open to more partnerships with anybody that has such ideas that would guarantee sports development and infrastructure1 we lasg wish the super eagles a wonderful and excellence outing in russia tando who represented gov. ambode said1 nan reports that nigeria is the first qualified country to be toured with the trophy1 video edited by iyiola pedro1

Canadian teenager Auger-Aliassime upsets idol in Indian Wells
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i used to watch these guys on tv growing up and now to stand in front of them its crazy but i guess thats where my level is at right now and im just enjoying it1 teenage qualifier felix auger-aliassime scored a superb 6-2 7-64 first-round victory over fellow canadian vasek pospisil at the bnp paribas open in indian wells california early today1 he pounded down 11 aces and saved all three break points he faced en route to his first career victory1 to come here beat one of my growing idols vasek it felt kind of surreal at first montreal-born auger-aliassime told tennis channel1 all the emotions kicked in. i was trying to stay calm the whole second set the whole tiebreak. after i let everything go. it felt great1 auger-aliassime the youngest player in the mens draw and who shares a birthday with roger federer aug. 8 will face another canadian in the second round 32nd seed milos raonic1 its quite funny to see these guys in my draw he said1 the 17-year-old displayed lightning-quick footwork in his bright pink shoes and delighted the packed crowd with his formidable serve and powerful forehand1 another teenager enjoying the winning feeling on friday was 19-year-old australian wild card alex de minaur who beat 56th-ranked german jan-lennard struff 3-6 7-63 7-651 de minaur ranked 141st started the year by making the final of the sydney international where he lost to daniil medvedev1 he also took alexander zverev to five sets before losing a deciding tiebreak in a davis cup tie against germany in early february1 his davis cup team mate nick kyrgios withdrew on friday ahead of his first match citing an on-going right elbow injury1 kyrgios who had not played since the davis cup tie was scheduled to play medvedev on saturday but had been replaced by lucky loser matteo berrettini1 in other matches wild card ernesto escobedo beat fellow american frances tiafoe 7-5 6-3 while lucky loser dudi sela of israel edged german peter gojowczyk 6-4 6-41

Messi announces birth of third son
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lionel messi announced today that he and his wife antonella roccuzzo have become parents for a third time1 welcome ciro thank god everything went perfectly. he and his mummy are doing very well. we are super happy wrote messi on his instagram account accompanying the post with a photo of the babys hand1 ciro is a brother to five-year-old thiago and mateo who is two1 messi had pulled out of barcelonas squad for saturdays la liga match at malaga to be present for the birth1 the club tweeted change to the squad. messi is out for personal reasons and yerry mina takes his place1 the argentinian couple both 30 first met in their home town rosario in 1996 and started going out a decade later. they were married last year in rosario1 barcelona who face chelsea in the second leg of their last-16 champions league tie at the camp nou on wednesday have an eight-point lead over atletico madrid at the top of la liga1

Rashford Mourinhos joker against Liverpool
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lukaku beat lovren to a long ball and the england international skipped inside trent alexander-arnold before smashing a shot past the helpless loris karius1 marcus rashford was jose mourinhos joker that made manchester united beat rivals liverpool at old trafford with 74855 fans on the stands1 united are now within 13 points of manchester city but barring a late season collapse by the runaway league leaders that gap looks unbridgeable. more significantly jose mourinhos men moved another huge step closer to guaranteeing a top-four finish by opening up a 12-point lead on fifth-placed chelsea1 liverpool were left to rue a slow start as rashford twice finished impressively after romelu lukaku had outmuscled dejan lovren1 the visitors dominated after the break but could only find a response via a united player when eric bailly turned into his own net 24 minutes from time1 just a second defeat in 21 premier league games leaves liverpool still in third but they could drop to fourth if tottenham win at bournemouth on sunday1 rashford may not have even have started but for an injury paul pogba suffered in training on friday1 without the 89 million 123 million french international mourinho moved alexis sanchez inside behind lukaku and handed rashford his first league start of the year on the left1 the portuguese coachs plans worked to perfection when rashford brought the game to life with a superb finish after 14 minutes1 and then after he was substituted by marouane felliani his colleagues held off a liverpool fightback to move five points clear of their visitors in second place in the premier league with a 2-1 win1 liverpool had chances for an immediate response as sadio mane just failed to get on the end of roberto firminos dangerous cross before virgil van dijk skewed a header wide from close range when unmarked from a corner1 but soon liverpools task became doubly difficult as uniteds power and pace again proved too much1 lukaku shrugged off lovren once more and when his ball through to juan mata was cut out by van dijk rashford swept home the rebound1 an eventful afternoon for rashford continued moments later when he escaped with just a yellow card for a late lunge on james milner1 and he should also have had an assist to his name before half-time when a dinked cross picked out mata perfectly only for the unmarked spaniard to send an acrobatic effort wide1 liverpool enjoyed almost complete control of the ball in the second-half but failed to find a way through the mass ranks of united defence1 the visitors did have two strong appeals for penalties waived away as ashley young pulled at mohamed salahs shirt before an andy robertson cross rebounded off antonio valencias arm1 when liverpool were handed a lifeline it came via a united boot as bailly who had excelled on his first start since november flicked manes cross into his own net1

Ronaldos brace rescues Madrid in Eibar
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zinedine zidane had insisted the success in paris was now forgotten and his starting line-up suggested as much with karim benzema the only key player rested1 cristiano ronaldo came to the rescue again as real madrid followed up their thumping win over paris saint-germain with a narrow victory against eibar1 his double means ronaldo has now scored in seven consecutive games and has a remarkable 13 goals overall in that period1 real move four points behind second-placed atletico madrid who will restore that gap to seven with a win over celta vigo on sunday. eibar stay eighth1 after securing a 5-2 aggregate victory over paris saint-germain on tuesday real swapped the parc des princes for the ipurua municipal stadium the smallest in la liga with a capacity of just over 70001 they were below their best and rode their luck late on when eibar should have converted a pair of excellent chances1 but ronaldo proved the difference again the 33-year-old taking his tally for the season to 35 goals in 37 appearances1 ronaldo scored twice his second six minutes from the end as real won 2-1 and avoided another slip-up in la liga. ivan ramis had equalised for eibar shortly after half-time1 gareth bale started up front alongside ronaldo while luka modric and toni kroos fit enough only to come off the bench in midweek returned1 isco and casemiro formed the top and tail of a midfield diamond1 real were ragged early on as takashi inui kike garcia and joan jordan all went close to giving eibar the lead1 raphael varane had to be replaced by nacho after taking a bang to the head and against the run of play real edged ahead in the 33rd minute1 a sloppy pass out from the back by anaitz arbilla conceded possession to luka modric who quickly picked out ronaldo with a sublime bending pass. ronaldo chested the ball down and slammed it in at the near post1 in front real improved but five minutes into the second half and eibar were level. sergio ramos lost his man at a corner and ramis nodded in from six yards1

Zanu-PF worries over Mugabes mingling with opposition
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source63 former president robert mugabes photograph with brig.-gen. ambrose mutinhiri the leader of opposition party the national patriotic front npf has elicited a shock-waves in the political landscape of zimbabwe1 mutinhiri is taking on the ruling party in this years election1 mugabe grinned broadly in the posed photo standing beside mutinhiri the leader of opposition party the national patriotic front npf which hopes to unseat the government in polls by august1 mutinhiris abrupt resignation from zanu-pf last week followed by his surprise announcement that he would be the presidential candidate of the new party exposed deep divisions in the governing party1 the symbolism of the photo opportunity which was featured at the top of a press release issued by the new pro-mugabe splinter party was unmistakable1 two days later zanu-pf youth league supporters chanted down with mugabe at a rally a rare outburst from the normally disciplined members of the party that mugabe led for nearly four decades1 a leader of the league pupurai tigarepi later said that if mugabe is not responsible we are going to look at him as a new enemy1 in response to the hostility the new president did little to defend the man who was once presented by zanu-pf to the world as a liberation hero and father of the nation1 there is an issue regarding the former president said president emmerson mnangagwa1 the shockwaves ripped through the party he dominated for decades the ruling zanu-pf1 the photo sort of solidifies the whole idea that the mugabe family is behind the project said gideon chitanga an analyst with the johannesburg-based regional think-tank political economy southern africa describing mugabes meeting with mutinhiri as very cordial1 other analysts said that mnangagwa had every reason to be concerned by mugabes sudden re-emergence on the political scene1 there is an understated panic especially within zanu-pf said zimbabwean political analyst brian kagoro who added that the ruling party had already struggled to formulate a response to the opposition following the death of its figurehead morgan tsvangirai in february1 it would have been a much easier task to concentrate on infiltrating the opposition but now they have to deal with uncertainty as to who is with them said brian kagoro a director of the uhai africa think-tank1 mugabe was forced to quit when the military briefly took power in november and zanu-pf lawmakers launched impeachment proceedings against their once beloved leader. since his dramatic reversal of fortune he has largely appeared to stay out of public life1 the military moved against mugabe 94 after he sacked his then-deputy and heir-apparent mnangagwa apparently fearing the nonagenarian was grooming his wife grace to succeed him as president1 the former first lady had cultivated her own factional support base within zanu-pf known as g-40 that was seen as hostile to the security establishment1 there is a fight for legitimacy among the retired military supremos said kagoro who suggested that mugabe was behaving with grand malice over his treatment1 the npf claims to have many members who are outraged by the unconstitutional and humiliating manner in which president mugabe was criminally ousted from the leadership of both zanu-pf and the country1 currently we see in the media various speculations about his activities we are not happy with what the media is saying. we dont know whether its correct or not but it is an issue we are examining1

2019: Much ado about election sequence
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in 1983 the order of election was changed and once we had that that is when we started having landslide victory. that was when npn started taking everything1 a news analysis by obike ukoh1 inec fixed presidential and national assembly nass elections for saturday feb. 16 2019 while governorship and state assembly elections come up saturday march 2 20191 the national assembly however reordered the sequence of the elections demanding that the national assembly election should come first and the presidential last1 the argument of those opposed to the reversal besides contending that nass has no powers to change what inec put forward was that it was targeted at president muhammadu buhari1 some senators event walked out of the chamber to protest the adoption of the reordering of election sequence put forward by inec by the senate1 senate president bukola saraki before the adoption had told his colleagues to remember that they would not be senators forever1 we will come and go but the institution will stay. we need to come up with laws that will build strong institutions. let us not be personal about this. let us behave like statesmen. we have procedures on some of these things1 there are many bills we have passed. if there are issues there are mechanisms we can use to resolve them1 abdullahi adamu apc- nasarawa a former nasarawa governor and chairman of the northern senators forum led the nine protesting senators1 they contended that the action of the national assembly breached the constitution which they claimed empowered only inec to fix dates for elections1 considering the strategic importance of the bill it does not need to be rushed. many members of the committee did not sign. we need to know why they did not. i believe that the content of the bill is not fair. we need to be fair. why the rush i will not be part of it adamu said1 andrew uchendu apc- rivers who accompanied abdullahi said the amendment would not stand1 chairman of the senate committee sen. suleiman nazif apc- bauchi who spoke on the issue outside the chamber dismissed the insinuation that the report targeted buhari1 the sequence of election came from the house of representatives. the senate only adopted what the house passed1 for the avoidance of doubt this bill which makes provision for a sequence of election different from the one earlier did not violate any provisions of the laws governing the operations of the electoral body1 this sequence had been adopted in past elections particularly in 1979 when presidential election was held last that is aug. 11 election to the senate was conducted on july 7 followed by the house of representatives election on july141 also in 1992 the senate and house of representatives elections were held on july 4 while the presidential was held later on june 12 1993. in 1999 elections to the senate and house of representatives were held on feb. 20 while the presidential was held february 271 in 2003 the national assembly election was held april 12 while the presidential held april 19. similarly in 2011 national assembly elections held on april 9 while the presidential held april 161 chairman house committee on inec edward pwajok apc- plateau also said the bill was not targeted at anybody1 the sequence of election provision in the bill is not targeted at anybody1 it is aimed at further giving credibility to the electoral process by way of giving the electorate the opportunity to vote based on the individual qualities of candidates vying for national assembly seats1 pan-yoruba socio-cultural group afenifere in their reaction described it as rare news from the national assembly1 national publicity secretary of the group yinka odumakin said the new election timetable was a positive development which will allow participatory democracy1 odumakin recalled that the election sequence which was used in 1979 recorded success as it revealed the strength of each political party1 according to him the new election sequence will allow each party express its strength and prevent bandwagon effect1 this is one of the very rare good news that has come out of the national assembly. it is a good development that will allow participatory democracy in our country1 if we go back into history in 1979 the order of elections was the one that we started with national assembly elections and ended with the presidential election1 in that election the npn that formed government at the national level then won only seven out of 19 states while upn gnpp prp npp won the rest1 you saw the strength of each party reflected1 controversy over sequence of election is on the front burner since the independent national electoral commission inec released the 2019 general elections timetable1 elections stopped reflecting the wishes of the people. this is because the presidency is the most powerful office in the land therefore once a party takes it the rest is a bandwagon he said1 odumakin said that the new sequence is beneficial as it will allow each election stand on its own1 the reason to the best of my knowledge is to ensure that each election stands on its own. people are able to make their choices not based on the fact that a party has won the presidency therefore there is no point voting for the other political party1 buhari support organisation bso enugu state chapter on its part condemned what it called the unconstitutional amendment of section 25 of the 2010 electoral act by the national assembly1 the group called on buhari to veto the bill and distinguished senators and house members to support the veto1 the group warned that obstacles or booby traps should not be planted to block president muhammadu buhari from firming the solid foundation he is laying in the provision of critical infrastructure rails roads agro and power1 gov. yahaya bello of kogi a staunch supporter of buhari said reordering of election sequence would not affect the presidents electoral fortunes1 bello who spoke recently to state house correspondents in abuja said that the president would still win by a landslide irrespective of which election comes first1 whichever order it comes this upcoming general elections i can assure you that mr president will win landslide and the good ones will return to the national assembly1 sen. enyinnaya abaribe south-east senate caucus chairman said those opposed to the reordered election sequence were those who cannot win elections except they climb on the back of president muhammadu buhari1 he said anybody who attaches himself to buhari for re-election is not fit ab initio to be a senator. it is high time politicians stopped riding on the back of some political establishments or parties to win elections in nigeria1 dr uwakwe esse in apparent reference to personal strength and popularity of politicians recounted how chief ejieke ukaegbu was elected into the eastern house of assembly during the first republic as an independent candidate1 ukaegbu represented bende the present bende federal constituency currently represented by nnenna ukeje pdp-abia1 ukaegbu was a member of the ncnc but dr michael okpara then premier of eastern region from the same cultural and political zone with ukaegbu preferred oji iheukwumere from uzuakoli as the partys candidate1 ukaegbu consulted with his constituents and he contested the election as an independent candidate and won1 in the case of ukaegbu personal charisma and acceptance gave him the victory rather than sequence1 when the issue of order of election sequence became an issue in 2014 during debate on amendment of the electoral act daily trust newspaper wrote an editorial on the issue1 the april 9 2014 editorial was titled inec can hold all elections in one day. in the editorial the paper wrote inter alia1 members were sharply divided over some of the proposals including a proposal to grant the independent national electoral commission inec powers to use electronic voting machines in future polls1 perhaps the most crucial of the bills is the one that proposes that inec should conduct all elections in one day. leading the debate on the proposed legislation sen. abu ibrahim its sponsor argued that such procedure would be in tune with global best practices and cost effective1 although inec chairman prof. attahiru jega foreclosed rather unfortunately the conduct of all elections in a single day in the 2015 elections it would be useful for the country to prepare to do that in subsequent polls1 if the yearnings and hopes for credible elections are to be addressed in a positive way holding all elections in one day is the way to go1 the huge resources that the country expends on elections are a trend that is disturbing and should end1 with only a day slated for all elections this cost will be drastically reduced1 in the last elections in 2011 staggered over three weeks inec paid the ad-hoc staff it engaged for the exercise n50 billionfor one day according to figures that sen. ibrahim referenced in arguing the bills relevance1 besides cutting cost holding elections in one day will promote greater participation of all political parties in the process even if many of them relatively do not have enough resources as the ruling party does1 crucially such a process will eliminate the so-called bandwagon effect in which the outcome of preceding election shapes voter attitude in subsequent ones1 not surprising ruling party stalwarts opposed the thrust of the proposed bill hinging their argument on the tenuous argument that inec lacked the capacity to embark on such exercise1 inec can actually set the ball rolling even in 2015 by reordering the sequence of the forthcoming elections so that the presidential poll comes last1 afterwards it can begin to plan for all-elections-in-one-day scenario in 2019 and beyond. nanfeatures1

Ojudu joins Ekiti race, to probe useless government of Fayose
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ojudu who assured the people that the administration of the outgoing governor ayodele fayose would be probed stated that it is time to vote out corrupt leadership in the state saying say bye bye to fayose and his useless government1 senator babafemi ojudu has promised to probe the useless government of ayo fayose if he is elected the governor of the state on 14 july 20181 senator ojudu will be contesting under the auspices of the all progressives congress apc party1 the colourful occasion which was witnessed by a mammoth crowd had juju maestro saheed osupa and small doctor on the bandstand dishing out songs to the delight of the crowd1 while declaring his intention ojudu revealed his plans for the state and the residents1 today i declare my desire to be the next governor of our state. today i ask you to join me in bringing sense back to our government house. today i ask you to join me in bringing better jobs to the state. i call on you indigenes and residents to join me aboard our train of progress. if you want a better life for your children join us and let us make our state a pacesetter state. i know that the journey cannot be easy because we will have to climb mountains but our work will not be in vain1 he promised that his administration would give priority to education health infrastructure agriculture asking with the resources that this state is endowed with why are we so poor why are we this broke and have become a laughing stock why has our land become a land of grief and pains can we continue like this no we cannot. this is the reason why i am telling you that the time has come to rescue our state from the oppressors and the time has come for the voices of our people to be heard1 ojudu who is the special adviser to president muhammadu buhari on political matters made his intentions known at a rally held at ado ekiti the state capital during which he formally declared his interest in the governorship race1 the governorship aspirant promised that during his tenure if elected he would not demolish houses but respect the traditional rulersand pay workers salary as well as pay pensioners allowances and make life better for the people1 he further cautioned the sitting governor against any act of hooliganism assuring that he would do anything to protect his supporters1 ojudu born 27 march 1961 is a nigerian journalist who was elected senator for the ekiti central constituency of ekiti state nigeria in the april 2011 national elections. he ran on the platform of the action congress of nigeria acn1 he attended ado grammar school in ado-ekiti between 1973 and 1977 after which he proceeded to to the university of ife ile-ife to study english. he also attended the university of lagos between 1985 and 1986 where he studied for a masters degree in political science1 before venturing into the murky water of politics he worked at guardian newspaper and concord newspapers where he rose from a reporter to the position of assistant editor1 he later joined his professional friends to establish independent communications network limited icnl parent body of many reputable titles in nigeria including the news magazine and pm news1 reported by pmnews1

Sierra Leones election results ready soon
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by emmanuel oloniruha8 in the election of chairs and mayors 19 chairs contested to head the 19 local councils into which sierra leone is sub divided nan1 in readiness for the announcement the national electoral commission nec on friday conducted officials of political parties and some observer groups round its results management facilities and tally centre in freetown1 the sierra leone nec chairman mohamed alie-conteh had promised that the commission would produce and announce elections results that are credible and acceptable1 mr paul ejime the spokesman of ecowas network of electoral commission econec and a member of the ecowas observer mission noted that the inspection of the facilities was to address issues raised by parties on the processing of the results1 observer groups represented at the meeting were ecowas au eu and the national elections watch new1 ecowas head of mission prof. amos sawyer was represented by commissioner for political affairs peace and security gen. francis behanzin and head of un office for west africa and the sahel dr mohamed chambas 1 results of the general elections conducted on march 7 in sierra leone will be released any moment from now1 if no candidate was able to score 55 per cent the two candidates with the most votes will participate in a runoff or second round1 in this case the runoff is concluded according to a simple majority or first past the post fptp system1 this means that the candidate who receives the majority of valid votes in the second round is declared the winner1 in all other types of elections the simple majorityfttp system is used to determine winners1 in parliamentary elections there are 112 constituencies in the country and one member is elected from each constituency1 they may run either as members of any of the registered political parties or as independent candidates1 a presidential candidate must receive 55 per cent of the total valid votes cast to win the elections1

Shehu Sani: Nasir El-Rufai a tyrant
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as a journalist if i asked you please show me any clip on radio tv audio or newspaper of the acting chairman of kaduna apc you would not have any. the person that is supposed to be the chairman of the party now is danladi wada who is on our own side. but he brought somebody called shuaibu laoje. the only thing he does at apc meeting is opening prayer and closing prayer. apart from that he doesnt know anything1 the kaduna apc crisis came in different stages- the one that began with me and the one that is continuing with senator hunkuyi and others. there are both ideological and political differences between me and governor el-rufai. he came from a political establishment. for the 16 years of pdp rule he spent 13 years as a pdp man he was never known until 1999 when he was appointed the dg of bureau of public enterprises and later minister for fct. this was a man who used to call obasanjo his mentor and1 a oh my god we live in a world of google now. if you google nasir you will see where he generally said that he supported general saleh. we are not in 1960 we are not in 1950. check the interview he granted in 2016 to vanguard newspaper where he said he supported general saleh. so which one are you going to believe what his aides say or what he said personally and as far as i am concerned you can check my facebook posts i said it very clearly that i would not give and delegate any kobo to win el1 the next thing i want you to understand is that the apc raised funds for its campaign the election centrally with the support of asiwaju bola ahmed tinubu bukola saraki and other business moguls. that money was shared to all the 36 states and put in custody of the gubernatorial candidates to pay agents of the party. did we pay the people who voted for us no we didnt. did we give them some incentives to vote for us no we didnt. we differ politically and ideologically. he has a different candidate1 many things happened in the past three years. first of all he induced members of my ward to issue a fictitious suspension against me a suspension that has no constitutional value in the party but was only done for the purpose of just announcing it to embarrass me publicly. and i also warned senator hunkuyi that we are heading to tyranny but he never agreed with me until two years after when the fangs of the tyrant in kaduna now descended on him1 after my purported suspension first for eleven months then indefinite suspension and nasir discovered that that would not give him the peace he needs because i simply kept on my activities the next thing he did was to send his agents to start moving round the schools which i attended from primary school secondary to the polytechnic to even the nysc trying to see whether i forged my documents or not1 i have all their correspondences and letters and the contacts which they have made with my schools. that also did not work. the next thing was that my constituency office was attacked eleven times by thugs but that was not enough. and now they moved to organising protests spending heavy amounts of money on radio trying to destroy my reputation and incite people against me but that also did not work. they went around planting stories that i am anti-buhari and i said i can criticise buhari i dont1 i do not believe that people should be punished for their ideas or for dissenting because i am a chief dissenter myself. but you cannot be in the senate where you have the opportunity to disagree and you walk out to go and call press conference and make false allegations against people. i am not elected into the senate to be pro or anti-buhari. a senator has a set of rules and order to which he is duty bound to comply with. but when you tag somebody as being anti-buhari all you are trying to do1 now i and senator hunkuyi agreed that this party is not working because he too becomes a victim of the man he has been working with. and then we said we should open our own apc office because what nasir did after he won the 2015 election was to appoint 18 of the 26 members of the kaduna apc into his cabinet leaving the party empty. and by the constitution of the party those persons appointed into political offices have virtually lost their seats in the party. and now having seen that the party i1 a no i came from a social political movement and he came from the political establishment and then we found ourselves in apc. i was not his favourite candidate for the senate. his favourite candidate was then the incumbent candidate1 so when it comes to the point of going to the media the governor will hide shuaibu laoje and will bring an acting secretary or the acting publicity secretary to speak on behalf of the party. that is what they have been doing.the chairman of the party became the deputy governor of the state so the party now is only having a deputy chairman who happens to be danladi who is on our side. but nasir said he cannot be the chairman because he is our candidate. he brought laoje and for the past two and a1 if nasir thinks we are irrelevant why did he move bulldozer there if you think and believe that the masses of kaduna state are with you and these people are simply rabble rousers why move the bulldozer there so what he did was to simply engineer his own faction to suspend me for two and a half years. he used his own party to suspend senator hunkuyi and the two groups that were set up the akida and the restoration group. he even expelled them from the party. but when his own suspension came for1 yes kaduna state is the only state with a pdp senator in north west. ten local governments out of 23 are effectively under the control of pdp. so what becomes of the other local governments that are under apc but are not united so if this disunity continues it is going to affect us. if he el-rufai believes in tinubu why is he moving a bulldozer we are saying that nobody could have addressed the problems of apc except the president himself because the governors are party to the crisis the senator1 i can tell you when you are talking of reconciliation and peace in apc there are some fires that tinubu can extinguish with a cup of water and there are some fires he has to use a bucket of water and there are some fires he has to pipe an ocean in order to extinguish. there are areas tinubu can have some achievements. but he can only make that achievement if the parties are prepared to make peace. if one party is prepared for peace and the other party is not there cannot be peace. but it is bett1 a i can tell you that if tinubu fails there is going to be mass defection from apc1 i have the constitutional rights to contest if i want to. but as things are now we need to put our ambitions in our pockets and allow the process of reconciliation to continue because reconciliation cannot go on with ambitions and bulldozers. even before you have peace in war situations you must have a ceasefire. for now we are giving a grace of time for tinubu to succeed. if he succeeds the outcome of the deliberations will form the roadmap for the future of the party and if he fails we will si1 it is always good to look at the messenger and the message. governor el-rufai is the chief architect of that committee because he wants political relevance. how can an apc that promised restructuring only think of restructuring when it is a year to an election documents of that committee is more or less a campaign document for 2018. there will be no restructuring you can quote me1 excerpted from1

OBJ pays solidarity visit to Benue state
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former president olusegun obasanjo on saturday arrived in makurdi the benue state to condole with the government and people over herdsmens attacks1 since the deaths caused by herdsmens attacks the state has become a mecca of sort to all politicians opposition inclusive1 president muhammadu buhari is also expected to visit the state early next week1 obasanjo who landed makurdi on saturday on solidarity visit to the governor and people was received at the airport by the state governor samuel ortom and other top government officials in the state1 not less than 158 persons have been reported killed in the state as a result of sustained herdsmen attacks in the state since the january 11th an event that led to a mass burial and protest by youths in makurdi the state capital1 the former president is expected to visit the mass burial grave site and also meet stakeholders at the government house1 he is also expected to visit the internally displaced persons idps camp located in agan toll gate where over 34 displaced residents of the state are taking refuge1 ekiti state governor ayodele fayose had earlier paid a condolence visit to benue state on thursday february 81 during the visit he declared support for the anti-grazing law implemented by the state government in 2017 warning that it must not be compromised1 governor nysome wike of rivers state also visited and donated some money to the state1

Video: Over 50 Nigerian migrants rescued on way to Italy
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the second boat was turned back off garabulli east of tripoli and had 112 people on board2 no fewer than 50 nigerian migrants were among the hundreds ofmigrants rescued today in the mediterranean by libyas coastguard and an international charity doctors without bordersmsf2 according to reuters more than half the migrants on that boat were nigerians with the rest from other sub-saharan african countries as well as two palestinians2 watch the 19 sec. video posted by msf2 rt msf rt msfsea the will remain on standby in international waters ready to rescue other boats in distress. s doctor dan explains2 nicolacois @nicolacois2 the libyan coastguard vessels alsointercepted two of the migrant boats the first an inflatable dinghy that had broken down with 125 people on board off zawiya just west of the capital tripoli said ayoub qassem a coastguard spokesman2 the nigerians were aboard a boat with 110 migrants. they were rescued by a ship being operated by msf 21 miles from the coast west of tripoli. the ship will deliver the migrants who included 18 women and one child to italy2 the migrants and their smugglers were trying to take advantage of calm seas as they launched a flurry of boats towards italy2 meanwhile the coastguard in zuwara a former libyan smuggling hub west of zawiya said they had foiled a departure during the night and arrested some migrants whilst others had escaped with smugglers2 the coastguard posted pictures of detained sub-saharan african migrants sitting in an inflatable rubber boat on the beach in the dark2 libya is the main departure point for migrants attempting to reach europe by sea. more than 600000 migrants have crossed the central mediterranean to italy over the past four years as people smugglers took advantage of a security vacuum in libya2 since last summer the rate of departures dropped significantly after smugglers in the libyan town of sabratha struck a deal with the tripoli government to halt their activities and were then pushed out of the town by rival armed groups2 libyas eu-backed coastguard has also stepped up interceptions often cutting migrant boats off before they can reach international vessels that would bring them to europe2