We Are Transforming Nigeria With Support Of NASS – Tinubu

We Are Transforming Nigeria With Support Of NASS – Tinubu

President Tinubu was of the opinion that having the Senate President and Speaker of the House by his side, is enough to achieve success for the nation.

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday said the efforts of his administration to transform Nigeria’s economy are yielding results with the support of the National Assembly led by Senate President Godswill Akpabio and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas.

Speaking at a colloquium to mark the 61st birthday of the Senate President in Abuja, President Tinubu said the challenges facing the country will be jointly assessed by the executive and legislature with a view to evolving implementable solutions for the good of Nigerians.

“Having Senate President Akpabio, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Right Honourable Abbas, on my side is enough for me to succeed, and we will succeed,” a statement by Special Adviser, Ajuri Ngelale, quoted the president as saying.

Extolling the leadership credentials of the Senate President, President Tinubu said the Chairman of the National Assembly has always shown commitment to national development, starting out as a commissioner in Akwa Ibom State, where he understudied Lagos; drew up a blueprint and implemented it as a two-term Executive Governor.

“I believe in the person of Sen. Godswill Akpabio. He is truly in God’s will for his life. I was governor in Lagos State from 1999 to 2007, and he was a commissioner.

“As a commissioner, he was extremely inquisitive about what was going on in Lagos. I didn’t know then that he wanted to be a governor. As governor, he transformed Akwa Ibom tremendously,’’ the President stated.

President Tinubu recalled how some of the economic and social programmes initiated by Senator Akpabio, when he was governor, developed the state, noting that the drainage system Senator Akpabio constructed had saved many lives and livelihoods.

In his remarks, the Senate President commended President Tinubu for his visionary leadership, most recently demonstrated in the quality of decisions taken so far to ensure improved security and a revamped economy.

“You are the first President who openly stepped out and said you believed that someone like me would make a difference as Senate President.

“It is not that the National Assembly is an appendage of the executive. President Tinubu is the first to get it right. Mr. President, there’s no country that you have been to that investors did not rush to meet with you,’’ Senator Akpabio said.

The Senate President assured the President that the National Assembly would work with him to transform the country, adding that, “we did not come for a boxing bout. We came to transform Nigeria.”

The Speaker of the House of Representatives thanked the President for articulating his economic vision clearly for the National Assembly, departing from what he described as “impulsive programmes.”

The keynote speaker, Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), appreciated the President for his courage and diligence in leading the nation on the path of growth and recovery with innovative ideas and for appointing competent hands to run the affairs of the country.

Supreme Court To Deliver Judgement On Nnamdi Kanu Today

Supreme Court To Deliver Judgement On Nnamdi Kanu Today

On October 13, 2022, the Court of Appeal Abuja delivered a judgement ordering Kanu’s release from detention.

The Supreme Court will today (December 15th) deliver judgement on the appeal seeking to compel the Federal Government to release the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, from detention.

A five-member panel led by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun  had in October fixed the date after counsel for both the Federal Government and the detained IPOB leader adopted their final briefs of argument.

While Kanu Agabi led the IPOB leader’s team of lawyers, Mike Ozehkome, presented his appeal to the apex court panel.

Ozehkome prayed the court to not only order the immediate release of his client from detention but to equally award very heavy and punitive costs against the Federal Government.

In his submission, however, counsel to the Federal Government, Tijani Gazzali,  urged the apex court to uphold the amended brief of argument he filed on May 3, 2023.

He prayed the court to allow FG’s appeal, set aside the judgement of the Court of Appeal which ordered Kanu’s release, and order the resumption of his trial before the Federal High Court in Abuja on terrorism-related charges.

Gazzali further urged the apex court to dismiss Kanu’s cross-appeal.

On October 13, 2022, the Court of Appeal Abuja delivered a judgement ordering Kanu’s release from detention.

The Court ruled that he was abducted, ill-treated, and “illegally moved” from Kenya to Nigeria to face treason and terrorism charges.

The judges dismissed the criminal case but Nigerian prosecutors have appealed and Kanu, who is in his mid-50s, remains in custody.

Kanu, a former London estate agent who also runs the outlawed Radio Biafra station, was first arrested in 2015 but jumped bail two years later, reappearing in the UK and Israel.

The Nigerian government has banned IPOB as a terrorist organisation, accusing it of stoking ethnic tensions by claiming genocide against Igbos.

Super Eagles Are In ‘High Spirits’ For AFCON, Says Osimhen

Super Eagles Are In ‘High Spirits’ For AFCON, Says Osimhen

Nigeria last won the competition in 2013 having clinched the continent's top gong in 1994 and 1980 but Osimhen believes they can do win it again next year.

Basking from the euphoria of winning the CAF Footballer of the Year prize, Super Eagles forward Victor Osimhen says the Nigerian side are in “high spirits” for the delayed 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). 

Osimhen broke a 24 year jinx to become the first Nigerian to win Africa’s most coveted individual prize since 1999.

Buoyed by that win, the Napoli star says the Super Eagles will do well when the competition begins in Cote d’Ivoire next month.

“We are ready and preparing very well,” Osimhen told CAF. “The squad is in high spirits. We are raring to go and hope that we shall do well there.”

Nigeria last won the competition in 2013 having clinched the continent’s top gong in 1994 and 1980.

The Super Eagles are in Group A of the competition alongside the hosts Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Equatorial Guinea.

With 10 goals in the qualification race for the tournament, Osimhen who beat Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and Achraf Hakimi of Paris Saint-Germain to win the CAF award, is optimistic the Super Eagles have all it takes to conquer Africa next year.

The Nigerian side ended the last edition of the competition on an abysmal level, losing to Tunisia in the round of 16, their poorest showing in the AFCON for decades.

They also started their 2026 World Cup campaign on a poor note, drawing their first two games against Lesotho and Zimbabwe.

The draws attracted heavy criticism from football fans in the country with calls for Coach Jose Peseiro’s sack reaching a crescendo in the wake of the false start.

But the country’s football authorities are sticking with the Portuguese gaffer who is expected to release his team list for the African football showpiece. Osimhen is billed to lead the lines for the Super Eagles having missed the last edition owing to injury.

Pope’s Surgeon Investigated For Alleged Fraud

Pope’s Surgeon Investigated For Alleged Fraud

Alfieri performed a hernia operation on Francis at the hospital in June, as well as colon surgery in 2021. The Vatican declined to comment on the investigation.

A top Italian surgeon who has operated on Pope Francis twice is under investigation by prosecutors, the Gemelli hospital in Rome said Thursday, following media reports of alleged fraud.

Sergio Alfieri is accused of having falsely declared to have been the operating surgeon “in many cases”, while being somewhere else entirely, according to Italy’s La Stampa daily, which alleged it was a scam to pocket extra private sector fees.

Alfieri’s lawyer Carlo Bonzano was quoted by Italian news agency Adnkronos as saying the surgeon “is certain he has always respected the rules,” while Alfieri himself told the Repubblica daily he was “not at all worried”.

In a statement, the Gemelli said it “expresses its trust in the judiciary that is carrying out the investigation, to which it continues to ensure the widest collaboration, with a view to clarifying every aspect.”

“At the same time, it expresses the utmost trust in Professor Sergio Alfieri’s work and in his indisputable professional and human qualities,” it said.

The Gemelli hospital is the favoured choice of pontiffs to the point of being dubbed “Vatican III” by John Paul II.

Alfieri performed a hernia operation on Francis at the hospital in June, as well as colon surgery in 2021. The Vatican declined to comment on the investigation.

Pope Calls For Global Treaty To Regulate AI

Pope Calls For Global Treaty To Regulate AI

He warned that those who design algorithms and digital technologies cannot be assumed to want to act "ethically and responsibly".

Pope Francis on Thursday called for world leaders to adopt a global treaty on the use of artificial intelligence to ensure it is used in an ethical way.

The 86-year-old pontiff made the appeal in a six-page message published ahead of the Catholic Church’s World Day of Peace on January 1, which this year is focused on the theme of AI.

While welcoming advances in science and technology that have reduced human suffering, Francis warned some discoveries have the effect of “placing in human hands a vast array of options, including some that may pose a risk to our survival and endanger our common home”.

He highlighted the dangers of using AI, including in disinformation and interference in elections, and also to make decisions — from social security payments to where to target weapons — for which responsibility becomes blurred.

“In the quest for an absolute freedom, we risk falling into the spiral of a ‘technological dictatorship’,” he wrote.

He warned that those who design algorithms and digital technologies cannot be assumed to want to act “ethically and responsibly”.

Instead, he called for “binding international treaty” to regulate the development and use of AI, with the goal of preventing harm and sharing good practice.

“Technological developments that do not lead to an improvement in the quality of life of all humanity, but on the contrary aggravate inequalities and conflicts, can never count as true progress,” he wrote.

Concerns about AI have increased since the chatbot ChatGPT, a mass-market gateway to generative AI, exploded onto the scene in late 2022.

The European Union is working on a broad law covering the sector, while Chinese legislation specifically regulating generative AI came into force in August this year.

US President Joe Biden also issued an executive order on AI safety standards in October.

Pope Francis himself has been the subject of several AI-generated images, including one that went viral, showing him wearing a huge white puffer coat with a large crucifix hanging over it.

Thai MP Jailed For Six Years On Royal Insult Charges

Thai MP Jailed For Six Years On Royal Insult Charges

The court also announced it had granted Rakchanok Srinork, bail with a 500,000 baht ($14,000) security.

 

A Thai court on Wednesday sentenced a lawmaker from the progressive Move Forward Party to six years in jail on royal insult charges.

Rukchanok Srinork was found guilty of lese majeste and breaching the Computer Crimes Act for reposting two messages on X, formerly Twitter.

MFP won the most seats in the May general election but was blocked from forming a government by conservative forces opposed to its pledge to reform the kingdom’s tough royal defamation laws.

“Rakchanok Srinork was sentenced to three years on a 112 (lese majeste) charge and three years on a Computer Crimes Act charge” .

The court later issued a statement confirming the charges and sentence.

The court also announced it had granted Rakchanok, 29, bail with a 500,000 baht ($14,000) security.

Rukchanok rose to prominence riding a bike round Bangkok’s traffic-clogged streets while campaigning for the May election.

Thailand has some of the world’s strictest lese-majeste legislation, shielding King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his close family from criticism — but which critics say has been weaponised to silence dissent.

The Computer Crimes Act has also been criticised by rights groups as giving overly broad powers to the authorities to restrict free speech.

There has been an upsurge in charges under the laws — known in Thailand as “112” after the relevant section of the criminal code — since youth-led pro-democracy street protests in 2020.

Authorities have charged more than 250 activists with 112 and jailed some of the top leaders including Anon Numpa, a human rights lawyer who previously represented Rukchanok.

Nigeria Can Lead In Africa’s Efforts To Decarbonise World Economy – Tinubu

Nigeria Can Lead In Africa’s Efforts To Decarbonise World Economy – Tinubu

Despite the nation's readiness, the president noted some challenges could stall any significant progress in the continent.

President Bola Tinubu has stated that the country has the potential to be at  the forefront of Africa’s efforts to be a potent force in reducing greenhouse emissions,

Tinubu made this known on Tuesday in an op-ed on CNN, reiterating the country’s commitment to achieving this feat in a twenty-period timespan

”Nigeria has taken significant steps and acted decisively in enacting the Climate Change Act and committing to net-zero emissions between 2050 and 2070, ” Tinubu detailed.

Despite the nation’s readiness, he admitted that as the President of a country of more than 200 million people and also in his role as Chair of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), he presides over a region battling with security threats and socioeconomic challenges.

”However, challenges persist as energy and food crises caused by conflicts in Europe and the Middle East have weakened the willingness of wealthy nations to cooperate with less developed economies fully.”

”This affects the ability of less developed countries to pursue national plans for achieving net zero emissions, even when those plans are detailed and achievable,” he said,

President Tinubu who in November had participated at the COP28 World Climate Action Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, highlighted steps at collaborative efforts between Nigeria and Germany to reduce gas flaring in the Niger Delta.

”In recent weeks, we signed an agreement with a German energy firm to massively convert flared gas into high-grade natural gas exports to Europe.”

”This is critical to reducing one of the major ways the country contributes to global greenhouse gases.”

He also said,” We are also looking to diversify our economy by engaging in friendly competition with Russia in the supply of energy to European markets. We can do it with natural gas and through green energy. This is why we are investing massively in both.”

”The truth is that we need partnerships for a new green economy in Africa. The European Union’s Global Gateway program and the US Build Back Better World initiative are potential resources we are keen to explore.”