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Kindly Share This Story:All Progressive Congress (APC)Musa Muhammadu has emerged the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the bye-election into the vacant Babura/Garki Federal Constituency of Jigawa.Muhammadu pulled 547 votes to beat his rival Aliya Muhammadu, who secured 32 votes in the primary held on Monday at Babura Local Government Secretariat. Declaring the result, Muhammad Ibrahim, the Partys Electoral Committee Chairman, said Idris Zangi came third with 21 votes.News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that three aspirants contested to be the party flag bearer including two siblings. Both Musa and Aliyu are the sons of late Alhaji Muhammadu Adamu Fagen Gawo, member House of Representative, who died in office on Dec. 31, 2019.Dr Mahmoud Isa, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, declared the conduct of the election as free and fair.Isa said that the primary was conducted peacefully without any rancour.He also announced that a total of 11 political parties are participating in the bye-election slated for March 14.[NAN]Kindly Share This Story:

Kindly Share This Story:Muhammad-Bande speaking at the declaration event in New YorkPresident of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Amb. Tijani Muhammad-Bande, on Monday in New York, decried the engagement of untrained teachers in many schools around the world.Muhammad-Bande, who spoke at the opening session of the 2020 Annual Parliamentary Hearing at the UN Headquarters, described the trend as worrisome and called for investment in teacher training. According to him, the use of unqualified teachers in schools is a threat to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, which borders on quality education.We must invest in teacher training in order to provide students with the highest quality education.The current trend of having untrained teachers in many schools is worrying. I call on all Member States to provide quality training for trainee teachers, he said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event is tagged Education as a Key to Peace and Sustainable Development: Toward the Implementation of SDG 4.The programme is at the instance of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), an organisation of lawmakers from 178 countries that aims to promote democracy and inter-parliamentary dialogue.He said that the SDG4 was one of his key priorities, adding that it must be approached as a stand-alone and cross-cutting goal to ensure a peaceful and prosperous world for all.Muhammad-Bande, who is Nigerias Ambassador to the UN, highlighted other issues critical to the provision of quality education, including funding, security, gender parity and curriculum development.He said at least one in four countries did not meet the SDG4 funding benchmarks set in 2015.The benchmarks require countries to allocate no fewer than four per cent of their Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and 15 per cent of their annual budgets to education.Parliaments have a major role to play in scaling up action in this vital area.READ ALSO:I urge you to ensure that adequate financial resources are allocated to education, girls education and technical and vocational training throughout your national budgetary processes.If we are to address the learning crisis and for students to meet the minimum levels of literacy and basic proficiency in mathematics globally, we must invest in our people, in particular our youth, he said.Muhammad-Bande underscored the need for countries to provide a safe learning environment free from bullying for students.He called on the member states to provide adequate sanitation facilities and clean running water, safe paths to school, electricity, and Internet connectivity.It is therefore clear that we can only make gains on implementing SDG 4 if we approach it as a cross-cutting area which spans multiple government portfolios.Throughout your discussions, I trust that you will pay due consideration to the importance of curricula.A strong curriculum taught by well-trained teachers is essential to ensuring a high level of learning which meets the needs of students, indeed the needs of society.The Fourth Industrial Revolution challenges us to re-commit our promise to leave no one behind, he said.The Nigerian envoy advocated the integration of ICT into school curricula to equip young people with the skills they require for a rapidly developing world and to bridge the digital divide.For children trapped in conflict, school provides stability and hope for a brighter future. Indeed, each year of education reduces the risk of a youths involvement in conflict by 20 per cent.Moreover, people with a second-level education exhibit more tolerance towards people of a different race, religion and migration status than their peers with only a primary-level education.We must provide young people with the tools they need to become peacebuilders, he added.Muhammad-Bande, therefore, urged countries to collaborate to guarantee children equal access to holistic quality education, noting that failure will amount to failing a generation.As we begin the Decade of Action and Delivery to implement the SDGs, I call on you, as elected representatives of the people, to take action to implement SDG 4.There is no justifiable reason for 265 million children to be out of school at this very moment.There can be no barriers to entry into education. We must guarantee at a minimum, universal access to basic education for every child, everywhere.Education is the great equaliser and if we fail to invest in our people, especially our youth, we will fail in implementing the primary mandate of the United Nations, which is to uphold peace and security for all, Muhammad-Bande said.[NAN]Kindly Share This Story:

Kindly Share This Story:A resident of Benin, Chuks Moses, 25, on Monday appeared before an Oredo Magistrates Court in Benin, for allegedly damaging electric security wire valued at N250,000. The defendant is being tried for an attempt to commit a felony and malicious damage.The Prosecution Counsel, ASP Patrick Agbonifo, told the court that the defendant committed the offenses on Feb. 11, at No 148 Building Materials shop, Lagos street, in Oredo Magisterial District, Benin.Agbonifo alleged that the defendant had on the said date, stolen traveling bags from travellers at Edegbe Motor Park, adding that an attempt to escape from mobs, the defendant jumped from one fence to another.READ ALSO:He added that the defendant damaged the security electric wire of Mr. Chukwudi Ekwueme.The prosecutor said the offenses contravened the provisions of sections 509 and 451(6)(c)of the Criminal Code Cap. 48 Vol. 11, Laws of the defunct Bendel State of Nigeria, 1976, now applicable in Edo.News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 509 prescribes seven years jail term, while section 451 prescribes two years if found guilty.The defendant, however, pleaded guilty to attempt to commit a felony and not guilty to maliciously damage of security electric wire.The Magistrate, Ivie Akere, adjourned the pronouncement of a jail sentence of count one until Feb.18.Kindly Share This Story:

Kindly Share This Story:Robert DurstThere is almost no physical evidence connecting New York real estate heir Robert Durst to the slaying of his best friend in Los Angeles 20 years ago.What does link him to the killing of Susan Berman, though, is a cryptic note sent to police with her address and one word: CADAVER. The slip of paper intended to lead authorities to her lifeless body in December 2000 was penned by Durst. His lawyers have admitted as much. Durst himself has said more than once that only the killer or someone involved in the shooting could have written it.Prosecutors intend to use the note and a web of circumstantial evidence to put Durst behind bars for three killings hes suspected of committing over nearly four decades. They will be up against a legal team that won Dursts acquittal in one of those deaths.Our defence is, one, he didnt do it, and, two, they cant prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he did it, defence lawyer David Chesnoff said. It is a highly circumstantial case and we will have strong responses to explain the circumstances. Jury selection begins Wednesday in a case built around a story so sensational it inspired a feature film starring Ryan Gosling as Durst and a six-part documentary on his life that helped lead to his arrest.Durst, 76, the eccentric son of a late prominent New York real estate developer, has pleaded not guilty. Said to be worth $100 million, and having jumped bail before, Durst has been awaiting trial in a California jail.Suspicion has dogged Durst since his wife vanished in a New York suburb in 1982, a mystery that brought not only attention from the citys tabloids, but The New York Times. Berman was Dursts unofficial spokeswoman at the time and prosecutors said she helped him cover his tracks. No has ever been charged in the wifes disappearance and presumed killing.Durst was back in the news following his arrest in October 2001 on charges he murdered his elderly neighbour in a $300-a-month rooming house Galveston, Texas. Prosecutors say he fled New York and disguised himself as a mute woman to elude possible arrest in his wifes suspected killing.While Durst is only charged with one count of murder in Bermans killing, prosecutors plan to show he knocked her off Dec. 23, 2000, to keep her from telling police what she knew about the disappearance of Kathleen Kathie Durst.They will introduce evidence that he killed and dismembered Morris Black in Galveston because the elderly neighbour had discovered his true identity and Durst feared he would inform police of his whereabouts.Kathies death was the impetus for all of the tragic events that happened afterward, prosecutors said in court papers. They said Durst devised and carried out a diabolical plan to cover up the killing of his wife which ultimately cost two other people their livesKathleen Dursts body was never found, though shes officially been declared dead. Blacks dismembered remains were cast out to sea in garbage bags by Durst, who was cleared in the killing after testifying he shot the man in self-defence. Berman, 55, the daughter of a Las Vegas mobster, was found face down in her Los Angeles home in a pool of blood. She had been shot point-blank in the back of the head.Dursts arrest in Bermans killing came five years ago in New Orleans on the eve of the final instalment of The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst documentary on HBO. The finale contained a made-for-TV gotcha when filmmakers confronted Durst with a letter they unearthed that he had once written to Berman that contained nearly identical block-letter writing as the so-called cadaver note. Beverly Hills was misspelt the same way in both: BEVERLEY.READ ALSO:Durst had denied penning the cadaver note, which he acknowledged only the killer could have written, but couldnt distinguish between the two.He blinked, burped and put his head in his hands before denying being the killer. After the interview, he went to use a toilet unaware he was still wearing a microphone. Filmmakers didnt realize until two years later as they were editing the film that they captured audio of him in the bathroom.The film ends with Dursts voice: Youre caught! What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.But what sounds like a confession was actually a result of editing. Durst said all three of those sentences, but not in that order and interspersed with seemingly unintelligible or unrelated remarks, according to court records. Placed in their proper context, as jurors are likely to hear, will make them less of the bombshell that struck viewers.Defence lawyers have said the filmmakers deceived Durst and were acting as government agents, providing evidence they unearthed to police.Prosecutors also will be relying on former friends of both Durst and Berman, who have provided damaging accounts in pretrial testimony of Dursts alleged abuse of his wife. Some have said Berman confided in them that Durst had killed Kathleen. Berman said that if anything happened to her, they should suspect Durst.His lawyers are likely to focus on why some of those accounts were not shared with police and only surfaced recently after years of silence.A star witness for the prosecution, New York ad executive Nathan Nick Chavin, who was best friends with both Durst and Berman, acknowledged that he lied to and misled prosecutors for months before coming clean about what he knew of the killing.Chavin testified that in 2014 Durst confessed to Bermans killing on a New York sidewalk.I had to, Durst said, according to Chavin. It was her or me, I had no choice.Chavin, who became emotional during the pretrial testimony because of his deep friendship with Durst, said his loyalties were torn and ultimately he sided with Berman.[AP]Kindly Share This Story:

Kindly Share This Story:By Lawani MikairuMore than 1,500 Nigerians have been stranded in Kotoka International Airport, Accra, Ghana after they were dumped there by British Airways, BA, Delta Air, and other foreign airlines. Their flights were diverted by these foreign airlines to Ghana due to the inclement weather in Lagos and poor visibility at the Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.Instead of thinking of alternate airport within Nigeria where visibility is good for landing, these foreign carriers took the unilateral decision to divert their flights to Ghana and subject Nigerians who had urgent engagements in Nigeria to untold hardship. British Airways is reported to have told some of the stranded Nigerians who could not get airlines from Ghana to bring them to Nigeria that they will take them back to Britain if they can no longer endure their hardship at the Accra airport in Ghana. In their advisory, British Airways said: We would like to sincerely apologise for the disruption to your journey to Lagos. Due to adverse weather at the airport, we were unable to safely land into Lagos Airport. We regret to inform that due to the operational constraints, we have had to cancel this flight. We recommend you make your own travel arrangements to Lagos as we are unable to operate safely in the coming days.READ ALSO:If you wish to travel from Accra to London, Heathrow, there are limited availability of seats to book on. Please speak with our colleagues at the airport to adjust your ticket, subject to availability. BAO78 Accra to London Heathrow is scheduled to depart at 23.00 local time, it added. The advisory further said, We understand this is not what you expect when you travel with us ..The Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika while expressing concern over the diversion noted that the flight diversions and, in many cases, outright cancellations, due to the inclement weather conditions were regrettable. He, however, decried the diversion of flights to other country stating that the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja could have conveniently handled those flights revealing that Qatar Airways is already diverting Lagos bound flights to Abuja.Sirika said: On the diversion of incoming international flights to neighbouring countries, we wish to reiterate that the decisions are purely those of the airlines which we have no control over. However, it should be noted that those flights could, and should have been rerouted to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja which is shorter or equidistant from Lagos to the foreign airports to which some of the flights have been diverted.In recognition of Abuja as an alternate airport, Qatar airlines has applied to divert its flights to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport, to which the Minister granted immediate approval. It is left to be seen why some others decided to divert to another country, he said.Kindly Share This Story:

Kindly Share This Story:People watch waves and rough seas pound against the harbour wall at Porthcawl in Wales, as Storm Dennis sweeps across the country, Saturday Feb. 15, 2020. PHOTO: APKBritain issued severe flood warnings Monday, advising of life-threatening danger after Storm Dennis dumped weeks worth of rain in some places. One woman swept away by the floodwaters was feared dead.To the east, Dennis gale-force winds also left nine people injured in Germany as their vehicles crashed into broken trees littering roads and train tracks. Flooding and power outages were reported elsewhere in northern Europe. By late afternoon Monday, Britain issued six severe flood warnings in the central English counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire. The Environment Agency also said 205 flood warnings were in place, meaning that flooding was expected and 254 alerts, meaning flooding was possible.Some 480 flood warnings and alerts were issued across England on Monday, the highest on record, the agency said.Yet the storms death toll of two looked certain to rise as West Mercia Police said the search for the woman, missing near Tenbury in Worcestershire since Sunday, had become a recovery operation. A man pulled from the water in the same incident was airlifted to a hospital, where he remains in stable condition, police said. Theweather system brought windsof more than 145 kph (90 mph) and up to 150 millimetres (6 inches) of rain to Britain over the weekend. And the tumult is not over.We expect disruptive weather into the middle of this week bringing a significant flood risk for the West Midlands, and there are flood warnings in place across much of England, said Toby Willison, Executive Director of Operations at Britains Environment Agency.Forecasters said river levels in parts of northern England had yet to reach their peak. In the northern England city of York, authorities were piling up more than 4,000 sandbags as the Rover Ouse continued to rise. Its expected to peak on Tuesday.Other residents in Wales and western England were cleaning up Monday after the storm flooded roads, railways, homes and businesses and disrupted travel across Britain. Some told stories of fleeing for their lives.Jeanette Cox, 68 and her daughter Rachel woke up to the sound of water in their home in the Welsh village of Nantgarw, near Cardiff, about at 4 am. Sunday. Cox said the only object that survived downstairs was her wedding day photograph that she had kept on a windowsill. Her husband Bill died from cancer in 2009.It was pitch black, she said. All you could hear was the water running. Ive never seen anything like it. I was very frightened.Britains environment secretary said climate change was making extreme weather events more common, but denied that Prime Minister Boris Johnsons Conservative government was unprepared for such storms.Well never be able to protect every single household, just because of the nature of climate change and the fact that these weather events are becoming more extreme, but weve done everything that we can do with a significant sum of money, Environment Secretary George Eustice said.In Germany, at least nine people were injured in weather-related car accidents as high winds brought trees down onto roads and train tracks.A commuter train with 67 passengers also crashed into a fallen tree in the western German city of Dortmund, but nobody was injured. And in the German city of Hamburg, the citys famous fish market was flooded for the second time this month.Further north, strong winds and heavy rains caused flooding, road closures and electricity outages across the Nordic and Baltic regions and forced the cancellation of several ferries between Denmark and Norway.In Denmark, the southwestern city of Kolding was flooded as gale force winds and heavy rains battered the area. In nearby Horsens, police protectively evacuated residents near Bygholm Lake out of fear that a levee would collapse.In southwestern Norway, more than half a dozen roads and several mountain passes were closed amid heavy snow and high winds.[AP]Kindly Share This Story:

Kindly Share This Story:Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina StateGov. Aminu Masaari of Katsina State on Monday visited Tsanwa and Dankar villages and sympathise with the residents over Fridays attack by bandits, during which 30 people lost their lives.Masari urged the villagers to consider the incident as an act of God and assured them that the government had taken necessary steps to prevent a reoccurrence of the unfortunate situation. READ ALSO:The governor directed that foodstuffs be provided to the residents and boreholes be drilled there to tackle potable water shortage in the communities.He also pledged to construct a school in the area, adding that the state government would come to the aid of all communities attacked by bandits.At Dankar, the village Head, Malam Muhammad Suhura expressed worries over the pathetic condition of his people and called for immediate government support for them to move on with their lives.Kindly Share This Story:

Kindly Share This Story:Sher Bahadur, a victim of toxic gas leak, talks to media outside a hospital after receiving initial treatment in Kamari neighborhood of Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Feb. 17, 2020. PHOTO: APA toxic gas leak killed five people and sickened dozens of others in a coastal residential area in Pakistans port city of Karachi, police said Monday.The source of the leak, which occurred on Sunday night, and the type of gas that had leaked were not immediately known. There was no suspicion of sabotage. Authorities said they became aware of the incident when people in the Karachi neighbourhood of Kamari, which is close to the main port where incoming ships anchor, suddenly started rushing to the areas hospitals with severe breathing problems overnight, police chief Adil Malik told reporters. On Monday, officials were still trying to determine where the gas leak started and what caused it.He said three women and two men died in the incident. No further information was immediately available.Karachi is the capital of southern Sindh province, Pakistans largest city and also the countrys chief commercial hub. It also has oil refineries nearby.[AFP]Kindly Share This Story:

Kindly Share This Story:As AfDB set to fund project with $500mEach SAPZ to 30, 000 jobs targetedAlhaji Sabo NanonoBy Gabriel Ewepu AbujaThe Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Muhammad Nanono, Monday, said the success of the six Special Agro-Processing Zones, SAPZs, depends on agricultural mechanization.Nanono stated this while declaring open a two Special Agro-Processing Zones Inception Workshop in Abuja, where he maintained that the only to make the project a reality is for all hands to be on deck. While commending the African Development Bank towards the SAPZs also pledged the support of the ministry to ensure the project comes on stream to boost food production, security, and employment generation, said there is no reason for the project to fail this time around.He said: This project is crucial to the development of this country. I think attempts have been made from where it is taken for these processing zones in six processing zones, unfortunately, it has never been able to take off.READ ALSO:I am proud and heavily elated that this project is taking off with strong collaboration from the African Development Bank.Nigeria is a major stakeholder in the African Development Bank, and also the President of the African Development Bank is a son of the soil. So it is a big opportunity now to partake and appreciate this agro-processing zone.The clustering of farmers in this exercise is very crucial, and also we have to understand that it not clustering the farmers but what the farmers do and what they produce we can have the cluster of processing zones but we may end up losing the process.If green is the word then we have excess or surplus to even feed entire Africa not just the West African Sub-region. But why not see potential challenges or research on those things on agricultural mechanization to improve the yield of what is planted, and then extension workers to guide on how to go about producing these things. These three challenges are there and unless you get them right you can uplift your agricultural production.We are trading on an average of 1.5 to two tonnes per hectare across the board. But in those countries that we are sighting, you are talking of eight to 10 tonnes per hectare. The answer is agriculture mechanization and is crucial to this cluster of the industry we are talking about.Meanwhile, the Senior Director, AfDB, Mr. Ebrima Faal, disclosed that the bank is funding the six SAPZs with $5000 million for a long period.This is a project that the President of AfDB, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has been working on while he was the Minister of Agriculture. We are focusing on Nigeria being the biggest economy and target farmer land in the African region.Our effort is to strengthen commercial farming and industrialization. We are committing from our resources a total of $500 million and we hope to leverage on funds from partners, Faal said.He also added that The project will be led by government and the private sector, we are financier and we hope the project will last for a long time.While speaking with journalists on the sidelines, Senior Special Adviser to the President on Industrialisation, AfDB, Prof Oyebanji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, said the project will kick-off in August 2020, which possibly each SAPZ could generate 25, 000 to 30, 000 direct jobs.He also explained that the six SPZs are not according to the six geopolitical zones but based on what they state to produce and already 18 states are on the first four SAPZsREAD ALSO:Hopefully by August this year, it will take off. The money will be released this year and then the construction will start before the end of the year. For the first stage, almost 18 states are involved in the four zones and the other states will be taken on board in 2021.We are going to be aggregating small farmers into groups, associations, cooperatives in each zone because you need them. Whether you like it or not you need them and if you want to reduce poverty you have to include the small farmers and begin to scale them up. What we have done is that every state is done. It is six zones but not six geopolitical zones. They are on the crops in the geopolitical zones.When we get these six zones right and once people see that it is working, you will even see individuals building zones by themselves. This is why I am committed to it, Oyelaran-Oyeyinka said.Kindly Share This Story:

Kindly Share This Story:The police in Kogi said that one of the JAMB staff kidnapped on Kabba Lokoja in road last Sunday had been rescued.The state police command spokesman , DSP William Aya, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the man was rescued inside the bush where he was abandoned by the abductors. He said that the incident was first reported as armed robbery to the police which immediately embarked on a hot chase for the kidnappers and the victims.Aya said it was in the process that the abandoned victim who claimed to be JAMB staff was found in the late hours of SundayHe said that another ID card of a JAMB female staff was also recovered from the bush.READ ALSO: The police spokesman said that the number of those kidnapped can not be ascertained for now, saying that the figure of six victims being bandied by the media may not be correct.He said that the man rescued was still in hospital receiving treatment, saying that the police had not been able to obtain any information from him.Aya said that the private car in which the victims were travelling is now in custody, adding that police were intensifying efforts to rescue the remaining people unhurt.Kindly Share This Story: