ONE WORD

England’s manager Gareth Southgate walks out of the field prior to the Euro 2020 football qualification match between Montenegro and England at Podgorica City Stadium on March 25, 2019 in Podgorica, Montenegro. (Photo by Andrej ISAKOVIC / AFP) Gareth Southgate has called for education to stamp out racism in football as European governing body UEFA opened disciplinary proceedings against Montenegro following abuse aimed at black England players during his side’s 5-1 Euro 2020 qualifier win in Podgorica. Raheem Sterling celebrated the fifth goal on Monday by cupping his ears towards the home fans as a sign of defiance, while Callum Hudson-Odoi said he and Danny Rose heard monkey noises aimed at them. “Sanctions are worthless if there is nothing alongside that to help educate people,” said England coach Southgate. “My kids don’t think for one minute about where people are born, what language they speak, what colour they are. “There’s an innocence about young people that is onl...

Two boys were said to have been terrorizing victims by breaking into their houses to steal when the occupants are not around. Have meet their waterloo  after there were caught burgling a victim’s house. According to reports The underage suspects were caught after sneaking into a house through the window despite having burglary proof as they stole phones and other valuables. The boys who were remorseful of their criminal action, burst into tears after being caught and handcuffed. While some Nigerians have criticized the way the boys were handcuffed due to their age, others have said it serves them right because they need to learn that crime has consequences to avoid getting worse in the future. The young boys also displayed how they broke into their latest victim’s house through the “secured” window in a video recorded source:https://samueljackson12.blogspot.com/2019/03/thieves-immediately-burst-into-tears-as.html

The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) on Tuesday, prayed a Federal High Court in Lagos, to strike out a suit by MTN Nigeria Communication Ltd, challenging an N242 billion and 1.2 billion dollars import duties and withholding tax assessments. Abubakar Malami (SAN) . Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan The AGF, represented by Counsel, Mr T.A Gazali, also prayed the court to decline jurisdiction in the suit, dismiss or strike out same, for being statute barred, while arguing his notice of preliminary objection challenging the court’s jurisdiction to entertain the case. Newsmen gathered that MTN instituted the suit by a writ, dated Sept.10, 2018, challenging the legality of the AGF’s assessment of its import duties, withholding tax and value-added tax in the sums of N242 billion and 1.2billion dollars. The plaintiff is seeking among other reliefs, a declaration that the AGF’s demand of the sums of N242 billion and 1.2 billion dollars from MTN, is premised on a process which is mali...

'Empire' actor Jussie Smollett pleaded not guilty in a Chicago courtroom Thursday to 16 charges stemming from an alleged hate crime hoax. In a shocking announcement Tuesday morning, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office said it will not be prosecuting Jussie Smollett, who was previously accused of faking an anti-black, anti-gay hate crime in Chicago in order to drum up publicity for his role on the TV drama “Empire.” Fox News has learned the judge granted a nolle pros, which essentially means that the case has been dropped and that he will no longer be prosecuted for the alleged crime. It’s unclear at this time why the court decided not to proceed with prosecution, but the former “Empire” star is expected to give a statement after he leaves the courthouse later today. Smollett previously pled "not guilty" to 16 counts of disorderly conduct stemming from the alleged incident in which he claimed two men beat him, poured bleach on him and placed a rope aro...

Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) • OPS faults VAT increment, opts for widening of tax net Nigeria and other African countries could increase tax revenue by as much as $72 billion or 4.6 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) yearly if comprehensive tax reforms are carried out, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) says.The proposed comprehensive tax reform is one of the recommendations in the 2019 Economic Report on Africa (ERA) recently unveiled. Despite measures taken in the last two decades to improve tax administration on the continent, with potentials for raising additional tax revenue by closing obvious gaps, glaring inefficiencies still remain.For Nigeria, however, there are concerns among the Organised Private Sector (OPS) over the planned increment in Value Added Tax (VAT), rather than expansion of the tax net, as this could hinder economic growth and increase misery. The Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Babatunde Fowler, had hinted the ...

Stories by Ediri Ejoh The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB and the Nigeria LNG Limited, NLNG, on Friday signed the Nigerian Content Plan, NCP for the NLNG Train 7 project, taking a big step towards kick- starting the huge gas project that would create a flurry of activities in the oil and gas sector and contribute immensely to the nation’s economy. The Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote and the Managing Director of NLNG, Engr. Tony Attah signed the NCP in Abuja at an event witnessed by senior personnel of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Shell, Total and ENI – shareholders of the NLNG. The Train 7 project is expected to expand NLNG’s production capacity by 35 per cent from 22 million tonnes per annum, MTPA to 30 MTPA. At peak construction, the Train 7 project is projected to provide direct, indirect and induced employment for over 10,000 persons. The Executive Secretary emphasised at the signing ceremony that Train 7, ...

As Oyo BCPG commiserates with Ibadan collapsed building victims Stories by  Kingsley Adegboye Following the collapse of a three-storey building in Ita Faji, Lagos Island, last week which has exposed buildings in the entire Island as relics, uninhabitable and unfit to work in, built environment professionals have called for redevelopment of the entire Lagos Island through urban renewal scheme as a matter of urgency. Sympathisers including professional bodies who thronged the Island during the ill-fated collapse, left with the impression that the entire Island neighbourhood was a slum because of its unplanned nature with most of the buildings looking weak and structurally defective. No visible drainage system, no setback in between buildings and no ventilation because of closeness of the buildings to one another. Emergency and rescue personnel are seen at the site of a building which collapsed in Lagos on March 13, 2019. – At least 10 children were among scores of people...

Many heart attacks are survivable, especially if you’ve taken the time to prepare yourself. Anyone who thinks they’re at risk for a heart attack should get a complete medical evaluation as soon as possible. Recognise heart attack symptoms. Shortness of breath, pain or pressure in the chest, and pain in the neck or radiating down the arms are all associated with an attack. African American man holding his chest. Pull over if you suffer an attack while driving. You may only have seconds before you lose consciousness. Don’t try to drive to the hospital no matter how close you are. LASUTH to partner NGOs on free surgery for people suffering heart diseases Call for medical help and describe what symptoms you’re feeling and where you are located. Take an aspirin (325 mg) at the first sign of an attack. Aspirin makes blood platelets less likely to stick to each other, assisting blood flow and reducing clots. Attempt the cough CPR Since many people are alone when they suffer...

Adegoroye The civil service has been described as the policy implementation ‘engine room’ of government. Though the service is imbued with internal mechanisms that position it to deliver on its mandate for the benefit of the Nigerian people, systemic challenges have been the bane of the service. The present chaotic state of the federal service was recently described aptly by Head of Service of the Federation, Ekanem Oyo-Ita, who identified poor funding, attitudinal change and automation as some of the major challenges facing service. Speaking while reeling out the achievements of her office in the last one year, she hinted that the Federal Government is desirous of effecting a positive change in the service through innovation that is aimed at improving productivity. She added that government has designed the 2017-2020 Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation plan to address the challenges and improve productivity, professionalism for efficient and effective in service...

President Muhammadu Buhari. PHOTO: PIUS UTOMI EKPEI / AFP<br /> The fact that President Muhammadu Buhari recently expressed a desire to reverse Nigeria’s mismanaged economy shows that he has finally braced up for the obvious. Nigeria’s economy is in a parlous state following years of mismanagement by successive administrations. Good enough that the president himself is now concerned. The issues are too many to deal with.Had any person or institution, locally or abroad, called on Buhari to reverse the mismanaged economy, he would have taken it as criticism. Before now, some economic experts from local and international arenas had at one time or the other pointed to this fact to no avail. Such interventions are seen as criticism against the government. For instance, the other day, the foremost British bank, HSBC, in a report released by its Global Research unit, entitled, “Nigeria, papering over the cracks” said “Nigeria’s current economic struggles look set to continue if P...

A Kaduna State High Court yesterday adjourned sitting in the murder case involving Shiites Leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and his wife, Hajiya Zeenat indefinitely. El-Zakzaky and wife are standing trial over allegations of culpable homicide, unlawful assembly and disruption of public peace, among other charges brought against them by the Kaduna State government. Justice Gideon Kurada adjourned the matter indefinitely when it came up for hearing, following his appointment as Judge in the Presidential and National Assembly Elections Petitions Tribunal in Yobe State. Speaking to journalists shortly after the adjournment, lead counsel to the defendants, Femi Falana (SAN), lamented that in spite of Kurada’s absence, El-Zakzaky and Zeenat’s health condition has deteriorated, and were in dire need of medical attention. Falana insisted that his clients could not appear in court due to their failing health, adding that they had not received adequate medical care since their detenti...

Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, the Secretary of PEBEC The Federal government is poised to removing bottlenecks in business environment through legislative reforms to harmonise the Company and Allied Matters (CAM) bill and pass it to enhance ease of doing business in Nigeria. Part of the legislative reforms being pursued in conjunction with other stakeholders is the CAM bill, which has passed the third reading at the Federal House of Representatives. The bill, which was passed by the Senate in 2018 is the largest business reform bill to be passed in Nigeria in over 28 years, as it represents the re-enactment of the existing Companies and Allied Matters Act 1990 (CAMA). According to Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, the Secretary of PEBEC and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment, the bill, which had been heavily constrained by several provisions in the old 1990 Act, signifies meaningful progress towards aligning business practices with global standards as it speaks...

•Used condom, empty energizer caplets litter ground – Cleaner •Margaret Ekpo Int. Airport mgt unaware of sexual escapades – Spokesperson By Emmanuel Una CALABAR—LOVEBIRDS have practically converted the grassland of Margaret Ekpo International Airport, Calabar, Cross River State, garlanded with ornamental trees by the state government some years ago, for leisure to Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodom and Gomorrah are two cities in the Bible destroyed as punishment for the sexual escapdes of the people, who lived there. People sometimes say that a place is like Sodom and Gomorrah as a way of saying that they are very shocked by people’s sexual orgies in that place. Supplementary polls: Police IG directs AIGS, CPS in affected states to ensure adequate security Stretching over three acres and covered in green turf, the ornamental trees protect from both sunshine and rainfall and that is exactly its allure to love bugs. Previously abandoned For several years, the Airport authoritie...

Democracy is often a series of new problems to solve. One such new-ish problem that really became acute in this electoral cycle is that of low turnouts. How can so many people be disengaged from the process that can determine their future at least for 4 years at a time? I tried to find this out by subjecting my social media friends to a short anonymous survey that asked the simple question – why didn’t you vote? In the end, I received just over 1,000 responses from 31 out of Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT. 71% of the respondents said they were in the 25 – 40 age bracket, 18% were in the 18 – 24, while 11% were 40 and above. This age distribution of the respondents has implications, I think, for the type of overall result it turned out. Many people reported the absence of young people on voting lines on Election Day. That is, it is likely that the people who completed the survey skewed heavily towards those who wanted to vote but couldn’t or simply didn’t. That is to say, younger p...

A Boeing737Max aircraft grounded • ET refutes ill-trained pilot claims United States’ commercial airplane manufacturer, Boeing, has tested software changes to a key stabilisation system on the embattled B737Max aircraft.Pilots from three U.S. carriers – American, Southwest and United – conducted the test-run that proved successful, ahead of an update session with about 200 pilots and technicians this Wednesday. In a related development, Ethiopian Airlines (ET) has refuted claims by Western media that the airlines’ training programme on the new aircraft-type is deficient, and might be linked to the plane crash about three weeks ago. More than half of 350 active B737Max aeroplanes have been grounded in 41 countries in the wake of the Ethiopian plane crash, over safety concerns on the Max model. The software changes are intended to decrease the chances of triggering the Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), which is believed to have played a role in the Lion Ai...

President of the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce (NACC), Oluwatoyin Akomolafe The Nigerian American Chamber of Commerce (NACC), has emphasized the need for both the public and private sectors to deploy global technologies to transform the nation’s economy.According to the chamber, developed economies of the world have moved on to deploying the use of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT), to increase productivity and human capacity development, and Nigeria cannot afford to lag.   The President, NACC, Otunba Oluwatoyin Akomolafe, at the chamber’s breakfast meeting, themed, “Improving Quality Outcomes through Health Information Technology,” explained that strategically incorporating ICT tools in transforming different sectors of the economy is the way to go to change the Nigerian narrative.He said deploying ICT tools in healthcare delivery, for instance, will improve healthcare quality and safety, increase the efficiency and public health service delivery, imp...

This year’s edition of the Employee Health Week took off at First City Monument Bank (FCMB) on Monday, with an assurance by the lender that it would continue to encourage and execute programmes that will promote healthy living and work life balance of its employees. The week long programme, which runs till March 22, is aimed at promoting the well-being and reducing the health risk factors of employees, as well as their respective family members.The objective is to generate sustainability through several health and exciting activities that ultimately enhance productivity, good focus on nutrition, exercise and early detection of diseases like diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol, among others. The Divisional Head, Corporate Services of FCMB, Felicia Obozuwa, said it is one of the key initiatives of the bank carefully designed to promote its great place to work philosophy. “Because employees spend so much of their time in the office, mostly sitting at a desk, it is important...

In this exclusive interview with Channels Television’s Ladi Akeredolu-Ale, Senior Advocate of Nigeria and human rights lawyer Femi Falana, talks about major issues arising from Nigeria’s general election. From the menace of ballot snatching, through the role of the military in the electoral process and the number of political parties in the country, the debate over electronic voting and more, Mr Falana explains what should be and what should not be. Excerpts. What is your general impression about what has happened in 2019 with the general elections; what has been your impression about the process? Well, you know there are many actors and many actors are involved in the process. At the level of the political parties, the use of thugs across board, the attempt to derail and manipulate the electoral process, the illegal deployment of troops, as well as bombing of INEC offices, destruction of election materials, snatching of ballot boxes and general terrorisation of voters… we tho...