These are the stories that drove the conversation today:
Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki says drastic action has to be taken to end the killings in the country and protect Nigerians, including the removal of “incapable” security chiefs.
Saraki who made the call on Saturday in Ilorin during a visit to communities in his home state affected by a rainstorm, noted that no society would witness killings as such and go on with business as usual, while calling for drastic action and a collaboration of all agencies and arms of government.
“This is not something to be politicised. If somebody is not capable and cannot do what he has to do, let others have the opportunity to do it. We have had situations where security officials have told us there is poor coordination. One, A is not talking to B, Be is not talking to A. They don’t attend meetings jointly and things need to be done.
“Let us forget the issue of party, these are lives of people – and let’s remove politics. It is not about who is the Speaker of the House, who is the President of the Senate. It is about Nigeria,” he added.
Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto has called for immediate removal of the nation’s security chiefs following the increasing spate of killings across the country.
The governor who made the statement while declaring open the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the Nigeria Union of journalists (NUJ) holding in Sokoto, made a case for fresh and innovative ideas on how best to effectively police the nation, noting that there was no need retaining security heads that could not find solutions to perennial security challenges in the country.
“What happened in Plateau state was unacceptable, President Muhammadu Buhari should think of changing his service chiefs because they failed the country & change security strategies being used to handling killings in the country, bring new people with fresh ideas to tackle the insecurity.
“There is the need for immediate review of the security architecture of the country for efficiency and effective policing,” he added.
Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Lagos chapter, Dr Dele Ashiru has said the craze for the acquisition of higher degrees in the country has had very little impact on national growth and transformation.
Ashiru, while expressing this opinion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Saturday in Lagos, said rather than go after higher degrees such as Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and others; Nigerians should venture into technical and vocational studies for skills acquisition that would directly impact lives, noting that the way out was to pump enough funds into the vocational and technical education as well as meaningful research for socio-economic and political development.
According to him, “Most people are running after the acquisition of these degrees for selfish motives. They feel for instance, that it is a requisite for their progression in life or a ticket for fulfilled life,” adding that such development was regrettably, only peculiar to a country like Nigeria.
President Muhammadu Buhari has on Saturday left Katsina for Nouakchott, Mauritania, to attend the 31st Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly of Heads of State and Government.
At the summit which will hold from June 30 to July 2, Buhari in his capacity as the leader of the AU would make introductory remarks and presentation on the summit’s theme — “Winning the Fight against Corruption, A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation,’’ according to a statement released on Friday by Presidential Media Adviser, Femi Adesina.
Adesina also said that Buhari and other African leaders would take part in an interactive session with President Emmanuel Macron of France and as well hold high-level bilateral sessions on issues of shared common interests of the country, Africa and the world.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on Saturday charged the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) section to engage its members in rigorous traffic training to prevent frequent accidents.
FRSC’s Head of Public Education, Bisi Kazeem, who disclosed this said that such training would minimise accidents involving tankers on the roads, adding that there was an urgent need for government and stakeholders’ consultation, and government needed to initiate a policy or legislation to curb their excesses on the road.
According to him, the new policy would regulate their operations and channel their movement to the rail network as he expressed his belief that the ongoing rail projects across the country would put an end to the menace of tanker accidents when completed.
And……..stories from around the world:
Tens of thousands of people have joined nationwide protests across the US over the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policies.
More than 630 events were planned, with protesters calling for migrant families split at the US border to be reunited.
Major protests took place in Washington DC, New York, and many other cities, using the hashtag #familiesbelongtogether. Marchers held placards calling for no more family separations and for the controversial immigration agency ICE to be abolished.
“It goes against everything we stand for as a country,” one protester, Paula Flores-Marques, 27, told Reuters in front of the White House in Washington DC.
South Sudan’s latest ceasefire has been violated hours after it began with the government and armed opposition trading blame.
The “permanent” ceasefire had gone into effect at midnight, but later on Saturday, rebel spokesperson Lam Paul Gabriel said government forces and Sudanese rebels launched a “heavy joint attack” in Mboro, Wau County around 7am (04:00 GMT) on Saturday, arriving in armoured personnel carriers, trucks and four-wheel drive vehicles.
The Associated Press news agency quoted Gabriel as saying “the fight is still ongoing as I write.”
U.S President, Donald Trump said on Saturday he had received assurances from King Salman of Saudi Arabia that the kingdom would increase oil production “maybe up to 2,000,000 barrels”, in response to turmoil in Iran and Venezuela.
Trump wrote on Twitter that he had asked the king in a phone call to increase oil production “to make up the difference … Prices to [sic] high! He has agreed!” A little over an hour later, the state-run Saudi Press Agency acknowledged the call, but offered few details. (The Guardian, UK)
Seven ancient Korean mountain temples, which typify the way Buddhism in the country has merged with indigenous beliefs and styles, were listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites on Saturday.
The seven mountain temples — Seonamsa, Daeheungsa, Beopjusa, Magoksa, Tongdosa, Bongjeongsa, Buseoksa — were all established during the Three Kingdoms period that lasted until the 7th century AD.
“These mountain monasteries are sacred places, which have survived as living centres of faith and daily religious practice to the present,” UNESCO said in a press statement. (AFP)
Reports of marriage between a 11-year old girl and a man 30 years her senior sparked an uproar in Malaysia on Saturday, reigniting debate on the subject of underage marriage in the Muslim majority country.
The Malaysian government confirmed the incident in a statement on Saturday, but added there were no records in the courts or the regional religious office that permitted this marriage.
If there was no written permission from the sharia court then the marriage would be unlawful, it said.
“The ministry looks seriously upon underage marriage… The ministry wants to discuss and cooperate with religious councils to examine and tighten laws so it can eradicate the issue of underage marriage,” said a statement from the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development.
Temidayo Taiwo-Sidiq is a Journalist, Political Analyst and Satirist with major interest in Nigerian Politics, Governance and Sports.
Leave a reply