The Federal Government on Wednesday said it had taken appropriate steps to ensure that Admiralty Law (Maritime Law) was included in the curriculum of Universities in the country for speedy resolutions of maritime cases.

Alhaji Hassan Bello, the Executive Secretary of Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) disclosed this at the 15th International Maritime Seminar for Judges, organised by the council, in collaboration with the National Judicial Institute (NJI) in Abuja.

He said that the Ministry of Transportation had set up a steering committee to work collaboratively with the National Universities Commission (NUC) to see how admiralty law could be taken as a course in the tertiary institutions.

The National Universities Commission has been approached to look into making admiralty law a compulsory subject (in the universities).

In fact, there is no hiding from that; it must be done.

We have to have sanctity of contract; we have to respect and effect international treaties, and then we have to boost our export (profile) for example.

And we need legal officers lawyers and judges to be conversant with it and if we are conversant with it, it must start right at the university.

So, we are pushing with that committee; very soon, you will hear what the committee is doing.

And I hope that they will establish the teaching of Admiralty Law in our universities.

He said that the inclusion of admiralty law in the curriculum would serve as the bedrock for future lawyers and judges to resolve maritime cases.

Also, Chief Justice of the Gambia, Justice Hassan Jallow, said that admiralty law had not been included in the university curriculum of his country, noting the impact of these on the timely resolution of maritime cases.

He said that the seminar had impacted participants from his country, as they were now abreast of the importance of admiralty law which was alien to most judges in the Gambia.

We dont have admiralty law being studied in our university unfortunately we dont have it as a course in the faculty of law or at the law school.

Many of us have gone through the university without studying it.;

Its a very important subject incredible; lawyers now recognise the essence of this field and more students will subscribe to it because you need the understanding of the law to be able to regulate the sector.

If lawyers and judges are not familiar with the law, things cannot work well.

So, the familiarisation programme is important.

Justice Abdulahamid Charm, Chief Justice of Sierra Leone said that although his country gets limited maritime cases, legal practitioners were making efforts to familiarise themselves with the law.

He admitted that maritime law was part of the curriculum of schools in the country, adding that efforts would be made to equip legal practitioners with the law.

We dont have maritime law in the curriculum of our universities and we are ready to discuss with the authorities to introduce it.

Because, that will really help to fully equip our judges and lawyers when they have such cases in court.

Source: NAN

FIFAs Referees Committee has reduced the number of referees for the final phase of its 2018 World Cup in Russia.

It has, therefore, selected 17 referees, 37 assistant referees and 10 Video Assistant Referees (VARs) for the final phase.

Pierluigi Collina, the Committees head, told reporters in Moscow that this was because the number of referees at the 32-day competition has to be reduced at this point in time.

The number of referees has been reduced in view of the number of matches left and the teams that have qualified for the next round.

We have only eight matches left and only eight teams left also.

These are in the quarter-finals (four matches), the semi-finals (two matches), third-place or losers final (one match) and final (one match).

Only eight matches are involved in this number of matches also.

So, there is, therefore, a need for a reduction in the number, the former Italian referee said.

The 17 referees picked for the next phase include Alireza Faghani (Iran) and Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain) from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Others are Malang Diedhiou (Senegal) and Janny Sikazwe (Zambia) from the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

From the Confederation of Central American and Caribbean Football (CONCACAF) are Mark Geiger (U.S.), Jair Marrufo (U.S.) and Cesar Arturo Ramos (Mexico).

Also retained for the competition are Andres Cunha (Uruguay), Nestor Pitana (Argentina) and Sandro Ricci (Brazil) from the Confederation of South American Football (CONMEBOL).

From the Oceanic Football Confederation (OFC) is Matthew Conger (New Zealand).

The rest are from the European Football Association (UEFA), namely Cuneyt Cakir (Turkey), Bjorn Kuipers (The Netherlands), Antonio Mateu (Spain), Milorad Mazic (Serbia), Gianluca Rocchi (Italy) and Damir Skomina (Slovenia).

Ten VARs were also picked to continue on in the competition.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 36 referees and 63 assistant referees were selected in March for the competition, with 13 VARs.

They were picked from the 53 groups of three referees placed under FIFAs radar for the competition since September 2014. (NAN)
OLAL/AIB

Source: NAN

Fifty African countries are currently in Beijing, China for a three-week security forum for army chiefs on the platform of China-Africa Defence and Security.

The meeting started on June 26, runs till July 12 and is part of the preparations for the launch of a strategic security and military cooperation between Beijing and Africa.

The delegates, the forum details indicate, are discussing a major military roadmap aimed at protecting Chinese interests in the continent as well as improving Africans response to crisis situations.

Opening the discussions, the Chief of the Office for International Military Cooperation at the Central Military Commission, Major General Hu Changming, highlighted the need for understanding and cooperation on security matters between Africa and China.

The continental military cooperation plan is expected to be approved at the coming China-Africa Summit scheduled for September in Beijing.

The Chinese military cooperation with Africa at this particular time, is being monitored keenly by both Washington and Brussels.

Chinas ever increasing investment in Africa need enhanced security protection. China has been relying on African partners for its business protection in moments of most crisis.

In 2011 during the Libya civil war, China was forced to send its commando and military vessel to rescue some 36,000 Chinese citizens working in the country.

According to the China-Africa Research Initiative in 2016, there were more than 224,400 Chinese workers in Africa.

China is involved in more than 3,000 infrastructure projects in Africa according to the Brookings Institute, a US-based research organisation.

The Chinese Africa trade volume totalled $220 billion in 2017.

The Asian giant has in the recent past also used the participation in United Nations peace keeping mission to boost its security role in Africa. China has 2,400 soldiers under the UN in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mali. Its navy also deployed in the Red Sea state of Djibouti.

China-built roads, railways and port networks across Africa connect the major global sea routes. Some of the routes traverse highly militarised global waters such as the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, which is a crucial route to connect Chinese trade between Asia and Europe.

Intelligence sharing, joint military training and joint operation between China and African partners is expected to be formally announced soon.

The Chinese forays have seen some African countries which are close allies of the Western world, engage in a delicate balancing act.

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Source: NAN

Chinas bilateral cooperation with Africa has grown phenomenally in the past 40 years with trade leaping from $765 million to $170 billion a year.

Chinas Deputy Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong said the growth was on the basis of interlocking interests since 1978.

The minister said this has therefore made China Africas largest trading partner during the last few decades.

In the same period Chinese investment in Africa reached a cumulative $ 110 billion.

Chen said Africas debt to her country is economically sustainable and should be no cause for alarm.

Chen, made the announcement in Beijing on Wednesday at the opening session of the 7th Forum of the China-Africa Expert Committee.

China is attentive to the situation in Africa and seeks to help the continent to contain the risks of debt and relieve the pressure of payment, the minister pointed out.

The minister said that Beijing also encourages companies in her country to do more investments as well as to explore new models such as public-private partnerships.

China, the official said, understands the importance of debt sustainability in Africa, thereby helping the continent to improve its investment environment.

Chinas investments on the continent range from Zambian power plants, Egyptian trade deals, cobalt mines in Congo, rail links in East Africa and infrastructure in Equatorial Guinea.

Source:

Source: NAN

A British Court sentenced a Nurse, Josephine Iyamu, to 14 years in prison on Wednesday for trafficking five Nigerian women to Germany to work as prostitutes, controlling them through voodoo.

The London-based British citizen, Iyamu, 51, was found guilty in a “landmark modern slavery case’’ after the first prosecution involving victims outside Britain, the National Crime Agency said.

The investigation involved cooperation between Police in Britain, Nigeria and the German city of Trier.

It began after a brothel owner “raised concerns about the identity of a woman working there’’ with German Police, leading to Iyamu’s arrest in August, the agency said.

Prosecutors said she was the ringleader of a network recruiting vulnerable women in rural areas of Nigeria.

Iyamu charged her victims up to 44,000 dollars, which they were forced to repay by working in brothels.

She used a voodoo priest to perform traditional West African “juju’’ rituals, forcing the women to drink blood containing worms, eat chicken hearts, have their skin cut with razor blades and swear an oath of allegiance.

They were threatened with serious harm to them or their families if they broke the oath, prosecutors said.

“Iyamu specifically targeted vulnerable women and put them through the most horrific experience for her own financial gain.

“She thought to live in a different country to where her crimes were committed would protect her,’’ said Kay Mellor of the National Crime Agency after the sentencing.

Police and prosecutors praised the victims’ “courage to describe what happened to them’’ via video-links from Germany.

Source: NAN

Cristiano Ronaldo has received an offer to leave Real Madrid and join Italian champions Juventus, multiple reports indicated on Wednesday.

The BBC reported that Madrid are considering an offer of about 100m euros (£88m) from Juventus.

Ronaldo, who joined Real from Manchester United in 2008 for a then world record 80 million pounds, is the Spanish club’s all-time top scorer with 451 goals in all competitions and has won two La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies with them.

Despite the glut of silverware, however, the five-times world player of the year has had frequent fallouts with Real and has declared on several occasions that he wants to leave the club.

Moments after lifting a third consecutive Champions League trophy by helping beat Liverpool 3-1 in the final on May 26, Ronaldo appeared to suggest he had already decided to leave Real, telling a television reporter on the pitch at Kiev’s NSC Olympic Stadium: “It was beautiful to play for Real Madrid.”

Ronaldo, 33, appeared to backtrack on that statement during Real’s celebration parade through the Spanish capital the next day, when he told a mass of supporters: “See you next season.”

The Portugal forward was reported to be on the verge of leaving last June after a news story appeared in Portuguese newspaper Record declaring he was unhappy with the club.

Which team are you supporting in the 2018 World Cup? To get the latest soccer news, text ‘SPORTS’ to 22840.

He also caused a stir in 2012 when he declared in a post-match interview after a game with Granada: “I’m sad and the club know why.”

Juventus declined to comment when contacted by Reuters, while Real Madrid said: “Our official comments are made through our official media channels.”

Real have not issued any statement on their website about Ronaldo, although in the past days they have issued statements denying reports they have made transfer bids for Paris St Germain forwards Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.

Spanish newspaper Marca suggested on Wednesday that Ronaldo is unhappy at Real because they are searching for his successor and president Florentino Perez has publicly courted Neymar, urging the Brazilian last year to come to Madrid if he wants to win the prestigious Ballon d’Or award.

Ronaldo scored two goals against Juventus in Real’s 4-1 win in the 2017 Champions League final and earlier this season struck a jaw-dropping bicycle kick against the Italians in a 3-0 win in a quarter-final first-leg game in Turin which prompted Juve supporters to give him a standing ovation.

The Portuguese converted a stoppage-time penalty in the second leg to knock the Italians out 4-3 on aggregate.

Ronaldo enjoyed an explosive start to the 2018 World Cup by scoring a hat-trick in his side’s 3-3 draw with Spain, also hitting Portugal’s winner in a 1-0 win over Morocco. But he missed a penalty in a 1-1 draw with Iran and failed to score in his side’s 2-1 defeat by Uruguay in the last 16.

The Federal High Court in Osogbo has ordered the National Assembly to immediately commence impeachment process against President Muhammadu Buhari.

Justice Maurine Adaobi Onyetenu gave the order on Wednesday based on the suit filed Kanmi Ajibola and Sulaiman Adeniyi.

They had three months ago written to both the lower and the upper chambers of the National Assembly on the need to impeach President Buhari, citing alleged constitutional breaches by the President and threatened that they will approach the court if they fail to act accordingly.

But when the lawmakers refused, they headed for court and filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Osogbo asking for an order of mandamus to compel both the Senate and the House of Representatives to start the impeachment proceedings of President Buhari.

In the suit filed on Tuesday, June 19, 2018, they hinged their arguments on four grounds on why the National Assembly should impeach the Buhari.

In the motion ex-parte, the duo claimed that in flagrant violation of the 1999 constitution, President Buhari contested the election, won and was sworn in as the President on May 29, 2015 without possessing the basic constitutional requirement, which would have made him qualified for the contest of the election.

They further alleged that the fourth respondent, which is President Buhari in flagrant violation of section 137 (1) (j) of the 1999 constitution presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the purpose of the 2015 presidential election that brought him to the office of the President.

“In the light of the fourth respondent’s placement to continue in the office as the President, he has no certificate and basic requirement upon which this placement to continue in the office can be placed.”

Besides, they accused the President of treating the orders of the court with a great disdain and abusing the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at will, particularly from the angle of the observance of the Federal character as contained in section 14 of the constitution.

“The fourth respondent on May 29 2015, took an oath of office, among others, to the effect that, he would rule in accordance to and protect the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, particularly section 14 (2) (b) which stipulates that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.”

They accused Buhari of contravening due process and sections 80 and 81 of the 1999 constitution by spending about $496million on the purchase of Tucano Jets without the approval of the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as required by the law.

A rebel group announced its excision from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), on Wednesday, calling itself Reformed APC (R-APC).

Alhaji Buba Galadima, an engineer from Gashua, Yobe State, and former secretary of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change was introduced as the National Chairman of the group.

He told a press conference at the Sheraton Hotel in Abuja that the R-APC includes all the progressive forces in the APC, without mentioning the names, except the parade of paperweight politicians who were named as ‘officers’.

A major political player, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, chairman of the New Peoples Democratic Party that had joined the APC in 2014, was at the conference.

He said on Sunday in Ilorin that the New PDP would make its stand known this week. His presence may therefore be taken that the R-APC and n-PDP are one and the same.

Galadima, who had expressed frustrations very early in the life of the APC government claimed members of the R-APC included most of the leading members of the defunct new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and others.

Galadima recalled that in the build up to the 2015 General elections, some political parties and groups came together, and formed a brand called the APC.

He said Nigerians however entrusted power to the APC based on its promises and potentials.

“We are sad to report that after more than three years of governance, our hopes have been betrayed, our expectations completely dashed.

“The APC has run a rudderless, inept and incompetent government that has failed to deliver good governance to the Nigerian people.

“It has rather imposed dictatorship, impunity, abuse of power, complete abdication of constitutional and statutory responsibilities, infidelity to the rule of law and constitutionalism.

“It has failed to ensure the security and welfare of our people and elevated nepotism to unacceptable height. The APC has failed to deliver on its key promises to the nation.

“There is no evidence of any political will to reverse the decline of our party, while leaders who have created these circumstances continue to behave as if Nigerians owe our party votes as a matter of right.`’

“The APC government, has been a monumental disaster, even worse than the government it replaced.

“The political party that was a vehicle for enthroning the government was rendered powerless by manipulations and complete lack of due process in its operations.’’

Galadima said the last straw, that broke the party was the congresses and Convention of the APC held recently.

He said that the congresses were intensely disputed as it was conducted with impunity, total disregard for due process, disregard for the party constitution and naked display of power and practices that had no place in the party.

“There are countless cases in courts all over the country challenging the legality of congresses and even the National Convention itself.

“It is very likely that the judicial decisions on these cases will result in massive chaos, confusion and uncertainties.

The fate of a party in this state with a few months to the elections is best left to the imagination, but it is not a fate we believe our millions of members should be abandoned to.’’

He said there were parallel congresses in 24 States while congresses in Wards, Local Government Areas and States all over the federation produced different sets of delegates.

“The so-called National Convention of the APC was even worse.

“The National Convention of the party was ridiculed with constitutional infirmities that were so glaring and obvious that no fair minded person can claim that a legitimate and lawful executive emerged from that process.’’

The Chairman of the organising Committee, Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, he said, declared 18 seats unopposed “since only one valid candidate stood at the end of the grossly manipulated nomination exercise for each of the offices.’’

This according to him was in flagrant abuse and violence to the Constitution of the APC.

Galadima added that even before the “illegal exercises’’ that had alienated millions of members, there had been widespread disenchantment with the manner the party had been run, and the conduct and performance of APC governments.

He said that the nPDP, which made a major contribution to the emergence of the APC administration, made strenuous efforts to invite attention to inequities, injustice and poor management in the party without any success.

The nPDP had shown good faith and commitment to the party, but it had been rewarded with indifference and even contempt.

“Under the circumstances, patriotic elements and most of the original founders of the APC have found themselves in the opposing side of this charade.

“Most of the delegates who bought and paid for forms for the congresses and convention and were elected as delegates have come together to take control and give legitimacy to APC to be now known as and called R-APC.

The R-APC as constituted have officers in all the wards, 774 Local Governments, and all the 36 States of the Federation including the FCT.

Galadima said that the R-APC also had National Executive Committee, the National Working Committee and other organs of the Party were properly constituted and functional.

He listed some of the National Officers of the R-APC to include Bala Gwagwarwa from Kano as national Deputy Chairman,North; Chief Theo Nkire, Abia State, as National Deputy Chairman, SouthEast; and Eko Olakunle, Ondo State, National Vice Chairman South West.

Others include Godwin Akaan as Deputy National Secretary; Dr Fatai Atanda, National Secretary; Kazeem Afegbua, National Publicity Secretary; and Daniel Bwala as Financial Secretary.

Galadima, who said the R-APC was the real party, said the reformed party would work with like-minded political parties and groups to offer Nigeria qualitative good governance in 2019.

He added that the party would in concert with others offer real change to Nigeria and “not fake change.’’

“It is clear that our party needs a leadership that will live by its founding ideals.

“We have therefore decided to legitimately lead those members to work to rebuild our nation more firmly on genuine democratic principles, to enshrine good governance and restore the faith of Nigerians in the possibility of the existence of a prosperous, secure and peaceful nation.’’

He called on all Nigerians, not to despair as a rescue plan was in the works and would be unfolded soon.

Answering questions, Galadima promised to deliver 75 per cent of the votes that president Muhammadu Buhari always could gather in any election.

The new Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole sued for calm and asked disgruntled party members to sheathe their swords.

The Director of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), South East Zonal office, Mr Walson Ibarakumo has warned of impending flood risk in specific areas of Enugu, Anambra and Ebonyi States.

He disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Wednesday.

Iberakumo said his warning was based on the forecast by National Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) and Nigeria Meterological Agency (NiMET).

The NEMA boss said the reason for the impending flood and storm was due to climate change.

The heavy rainfall, storm and wind currently experienced in these states is as a result of climate change so, the people should not be taken by surprise whenever they start experiencing it.

You know climate change has brought about a lot of changes to our environment amongst which is the flood risk that has been forecasted, Ibarakumo said.

He, therefore, advised that residents of the aforementioned states needed to have a change of attitude especially as regards to energy use until the climate returned to its normal state.

Ibarakumo said that NEMA had started creating awareness in the affected states and would be conducting simulation with other relevant response agencies soon.

The director noted that it was necessary to begin preparations on time in readiness for such disaster as it might eventually become big and devastating.

Ibarakumo went ahead to reel out the names of the forecasted areas describing some as highly probable and probable.

Enugu South and East are the highly probable areas while Oji River, Udi and Uzo Uwani are the probable flood risk areas.

In Anambra State, Aguata, Idemili North and Ogbaru are the highly probable flood risk areas while Anambra East and West, Anaocha, Ayamelum, Onitsha North and South, Dunukofia, Orumba North, Njikoka and Oyi are the probable areas.

In Ebonyi State, Afikpo South, Abakaliki, Ebonyi, Ezza South, Ikwo, Ohaukwu and Afikpo itself are areas prone to flood risk, he said.

In addition, he said, NEMA had been able to effectively and successfully handled 30 emergency situations from January to June 2018.

Ibarakumo mentioned that these emergency situations involve floods, fire outbreaks, collapsed buildings and communal clashes.

He said that they were able to manage these disasters with the help of the Local Emergency Management Committees at the local government level and the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

He said NEMA was facing a big challenge in terms of funding which was limiting its operations.

Source: NAN

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says it is looking out for underage tanker and truck drivers to prevent accidents on the expressway.

Mr Hyginus Omeje, the FRSC Sector Commander in Lagos State, made this known on Wednesday at the 3rd Quarter overview of 2018 Corporate Strategic Goals and Projection at Sector Command, Ojodu Berger.

According to him, the legal limit for driving in the country is 18 years and above, but that somebody is looking small does not make him below 18 years.

We are always watching out for underage tanker and truck drivers to prevent crashes on the road, especially on the expressway, he said.

The FRSC official said that there were downward trends in the crashes involving tankers and articulated vehicles since 2016.

He said that the corps had intensified its patrol to prevent crashes in all the six geopolitical zones in the country.

It was so serious, particularly in 2016 when we were recording tankers and trucks crashes almost regularly, until the Corps Marshal, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, flagged off the training and retraining programmes for tanker drivers.

Since then, the corps has been sensitising them through various programmes to ensure that minimum standards are maintained on the roads, he said.

The sector commander also advised tanker drivers to desist from giving their vehicles to motor boys to drive.

He said that such action could lead to crashes on the roads as some of them have no skills and experiences to drive such vehicles.

Omeje urged truck and tanker drivers to follow rules and regulations of driving articulated vehicles by fixing their speed limit devices.

He also charged them to avoid alcohol intake and shun reckless driving for safety on the road.

Also, Mr Bisi Kazeem, the FRSC Head of Public Education, said that the corps was taking precautionary action following the June 28 tanker explosion at the Otedola Link Bridge on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Kazeem said: We are charging them to start engaging their members in rigorous traffic training so as to meet minimum safety standards concerning their vehicles.

It is very important to train and retrain them to enable them to follow the rules and regulations at the same time to meet the road standard concerning their vehicle.

In his remarks, the National Chairman, NUPENG/PTD, Mr Salmon Oladiti, on behalf of his members, commiserated with the families of those who lost their lives in the fire incident.

Oladiti described the incident as an unfortunate occurrence, saying that members of the NUPENG /PTD have been avoiding such calamities.

According to him, the union has been collaborating with the FRSC and other law enforcement agencies in observing minimum safety standards on the highways.

All efforts will be put in place to ensure that this kind of disaster does not recur on our roads, he said.

Source: NAN