GRAPHITTI NEWS : 2016-01-24

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Chad's Deby Becomes New African Union Chairman

Chadian President Idriss Deby has been in power since 1990 ©Ahmed Ouoba (AFP)

Chad's President Idriss Deby took over the post of African Union chairman on Saturday, replacing Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.

Angelique Kerber of Germany kisses the trophy after defeating Serena Williams of the United States in the women's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016.(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Serena Williams put up both hands after a sending a forehand long and high over the baseline in the first set. She wanted nothing to do with yet another unforced error in her Australian Open final against Angelique Kerber.

It spelled the end of the road for the American as Kerber held her nerve to win her first Grand Slam when Williams put another volley long ©Saeed Khan (AFP)

Literacy rates among young people in England are the lowest in the developed world, with many students graduating high school with only a basic grasp of English and math.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo

The National Economic Council (NEC) rose from its 65th meeting on Thursday in Abuja, with a resolution to engage two audit firms to conduct forensic audit on 81 government revenue generating agencies.

Guilfoil will compete for a place on the team in South Carolina next month. © facebook.com

A 93-year-old man is hoping to bounce his way into the record books by becoming the oldest Olympian in history.

Uba, Oduah

The Supreme Court on Friday sacked senators representing Anambra South, Andy Uba, and his Anambra North counterpart, Stella Oduah, as well as other state and National Assembly legislators elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.

A camp for displaced people in the CAR was set up at Bangui's airport when the recent trouble began in 2014 (AFP)

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has ordered an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse of children by French soldiers in the Central African Republic.

UN Alarm At New Child Abuse Claims By Foreign Troops In Central Africa

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said UN human rights staff interviewed two children who were allegedly abused in 2014 by soldiers from the French Sangaris force ©Fabrice Coffrini (AFP)

The UN rights chief expressed alarm Friday at new allegations of child abuse by foreign peacekeepers in troubled Central African Republic, including cases involving European Union troops.

President Muhammadu Buhari has said the Bureau de Change business has become a scam of recent with the connivance of some Central Bank officials.

World Health Organization

Rwanda has the highest rate of breastfeeding in the world, according to new figures from the World Health Organization.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) on Thursday said it had sold more than 1 million application forms for the 2016 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo

Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s letter to the National Assembly over lawmakers’ “reckless spending” and insensitivity to the country’s economic downturn yesterday generated ripples.

Sevilla's Cameroonian midfielder Stephane Mbia celebrates after winning a Spanish La Liga match in Sevilla, in May 2015 ©Cristina Quicler (AFP)

Cameroon captain and former Marseille centre-back Stephane Mbia has signed for Hebei China Fortune, the club announced Friday, the latest Europe-based player to head east in the current transfer window.

Dr. Anthony Akah, Acting Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission

The new tariffs approved for electricity consumers across the country will become effective on Monday and will enable the power distribution, generation and transmission companies to acquire needed infrastructure, the acting Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dr. Anthony Akah, has said.

3,000 Sacked Workers: NLC Unfolds Strategies To Tackle Imo Govt

*To stop power, fuel supplies, flights; banks to be closed

Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has unfolded strategies to force Imo State Government to recall more than 3,000 sacked workers and pay the backlog of salaries and other benefits of the state workforce.

Displaced Sudanese women set up shelters at the UN's Zam Zam camp near El Fasher in North Darfur ©Hamid Abdulsalam (UNAMID/AFP)

As many as 34,000 people in Sudan's western Darfur region have fled fierce clashes between government forces and rebels around the mountainous Jebel Marra area, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

Dr. Jide Idris (C) Lagos State Commissioner for Health

The Lagos State Government has confirmed the death of another person as result of the Lassa fever.

A former Special Adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Political Matters, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, on Wednesday declared himself as the substantive chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the election of Nyesom Wike as the duly elected governor of Rivers State.

Obasanjo Writes Saraki, Dogara, Accuses National Assembly

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has written the National Assembly accusing the lawmakers of corruption, impunity, greed and of repeatedly breaking the nation’s laws.

Kogi State on Wednesday made another unusual history as its fourth democratically elected governor, Yahaya Bello, was sworn in without a deputy.

Experts say corruption level is high in most African countries (Image credits: Getty Images)

Corruption is a "serious problem" in 40 of the 46 states in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new report by anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI).

Africa sport journalist tweet

Kenyan has refused to say how many troops were killed (Image credits: Reuters)

At least three African leaders are due to attend an inter-faith memorial in the Kenyan town of Eldoret for Kenyan soldiers killed by militant Islamist group al-Shabab in Somalia.

President Muhammadu Buhari and Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie

The Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, yesterday, urged President Muhammadu Buhari, to retool and lead by example on all fronts or risk plunging Nigeria into a state of despondency.

Hon. Rita Orji

The Chairman House Committee on Diaspora Affairs, Hon. Rita Orji, representing, Ajeromi/Ifelodun federal constituency has decried the recent killing of Nigerians in South Africa, describing it as an epidemic that is getting worse by the day.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal has said that the current anti-corruption war by President Muhammadu Buhari is within the confines of the Nigerian law.

More than a third of the world's population, or 2.6 billion people, live in nations and territories gripped by repression, corruption and human rights abuses, with the worst being Syria, Tibet and Somalia, an advocacy group said on Wednesday.

*Buhari’s anti-graft war within the law, insists SGF Babachir

Critics of the Muhammadu Buhari administration’s anti-corruption crusade yesterday got a reply – no intimidation or blackmail will stop the war.

2-IN-1 STORY: Russia, OPEC Hint At Oil Production Cuts

Both Russia and OPEC have separately implied they are ready to cut crude output amid collapsing prices.

President Muhammadu Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari said Monday in Abuja that poverty, injustice and the lack of job opportunities were mainly responsible for inter-communal and intra-communal conflicts in Nigeria.

Serena Williams during her Australian Open match against Maria Sharapova in Melbourne on January 26, 2016 ©Saeed Khan (AFP)

World number one Serena Williams muscled past Maria Sharapova for an 18th straight time Tuesday to set up an Australian Open semi-final against Agnieszka Radwanska, who has never beaten the dominant American.

Cameroon: 4 Suicide Attackers Kill At Least 28 People

Boko Haram had used Cameroon's Far North region as a base for recruiting and supplying its operations in Nigeria until last year, when Cameroonian forces drove it out. Here, President of Cameroon Paul Biya (L) walks with his Nigerian counterpart Muhammadu Buhari following his arrival at the airport in Yaounde on July 29

Four suicide bombers attacked a market and town on Monday in Cameroon's Far North region near the border with Nigeria, killing at least 28 people and wounding 65 others, officials said.

Mr Mandela met Baroness Thatcher at her official residence after his release from prison in 1990

Then-UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s government tried to stop Nelson Mandela receiving an honorary degree at the University of Lancaster from a member of the royal family, the London-based Times newspaper reports.

Jibril Aminu (Image source: naijalumia.com)

A former minister of petroleum, Jibril Aminu, has expressed concern over what he described as state governors’ unlimited access to spending of public funds.

Al-Qaeda-linked militants said they carried out both Mali and Burkina Faso attacks AFP

Hotels across Burkina Faso, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Francophone West Africa are boosting security as the threat of attacks by militant groups increases.

The governments of the United States and the United Kingdom have said they do not recognize the passports being issued by the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra.

AFP

The UK government and US philanthropist Bill Gates have announced a $4bn (£3bn) initiative to try to eradicate malaria.

WAITING: Queue for kerosene at a NNPC Mega Filling Station in Yelwa, Bauchi State, yesterday.

The Federal Government, weekend, hiked the price of Household Kerosene (HHK) to ₦83 per litre from ₦50 per litre, thereby, officially ending subsidy on the product.

Maryam Abbas emerged the overall graduating student with a CGPA of 4.93 points at the 19th convocation ceremony of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) held on Saturday, Jan. 23. (Image/caption source: lindaikejiblog.com)

President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday declared the current low ranking of Nigerian universities as unacceptable.

•CBN says no going back on zero COT

Bank customers are to pay a maintenance fee on current account transactions, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced at the weekend. The new fee is a negotiable current account maintenance fee not exceeding ₦1 per mille (₦1 per ₦1,000,000) may be charged in respect of all customer-induced debit transactions.

FOR THE RECORD: The Maidens Bursary: KZN Mayor Insists ‘Virginity Bursary’ Is An Incentive Programme

It’s believed the girls are regularly examined, allegedly to ascertain if they’re still virgins. Picture: Stock.xchng.

People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA) has slammed an alleged bursary programme that funds studies for young women, but only if they can prove they’re virgins.

The United Nations has deprived a number of countries of voting rights following their failure to pay the membership charge. The list of non-payer states includes Venezuela, which is set to take over the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in February.

Lassa fever (INSET) Image source: telegraph.co.uk

Tension over Lassa fever outbreak has continued to unsettled patients at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Asaba following the death of two patients within four days.

A Melbourne, Australia man accused of posing as a gynecologist faces more than 80 charges, including 28 counts of rape, an Australian court heard. He is said to have provided medical services, including fertility treatments, without a license for over a decade.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Information and Culture Minister

• Officials lose jobs in N160m deal

Some top Federal Civil Servants have been fired for allegedly extorting about ₦160million from desperate job seekers.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo

The federal government plans to tinker with the tax regime as part of efforts to deal with the financial crisis brought on by falling oil prices, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has stated.

Inferno: fire razes Baboko Market in llorin (Image credits: Leadership News)

The Kwara State Fire Service said it recorded over 30 cases of fire incidents in the month of January, which resulted from storage of petroleum products.

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Friday, January 29, 2016

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Monday, January 25, 2016

Sunday, January 24, 2016