Good Day! Below is a Summary of News Stories Across Nigeria and Abroad:
1. The House of Representatives has summoned the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama and the Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri to brief the House on the challenges associated with the evacuation of Nigerians stranded in Sudan. The House also invited officials from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). Gbajabiamila issued the invite on Tuesday at the resumption of plenary. It would be recalled that the ongoing civil war in Sudan has led to the emergency evacuation of Nigerians in the war-torn country. The Nigerian officials had claimed that it would take $1.2 million to evacuate 3,500 Nigerians via Egypt, however, the evacuation plan has been besieged by problems. Gbajabiamila said the evacuation is experiencing challenges due to inter-agency rivalry. DAILY POST
2. Oluwaseun Osibanjo, the driver of a Bus Rapid Transit vehicle that crashed into a moving train at Ikeja Along, Shogunle area of Lagos State, has been arraigned before an Ikeja High Court for manslaughter. He was arraigned on Tuesday before Justice Oyindamola Ogala on 16 counts bordering on involuntary manslaughter and grievous harm preferred against him by the state government. Osinbajo was conveying some staff members of the Lagos State Government to work on March 9 and wanted to cross the rail line when he rammed the bus into the moving train. At least six persons died from the accident while many others sustained varying degrees of injury. The Director of Public Prosecutions, Babajide Martins, told the court that the BRT driver negligently killed the victims by ignoring warning signals and ran into an on-coming train. DAILY TRUST
3. Former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has claimed that Nigeria is worse off for not having the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo as the President of the country. Sanusi stated this while speaking at a book launch titled: “Osinbajo Strides: Defining Moments of an Innovative Leader,” on Monday. According to the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Nigeria lost by not electing Osinbajo as its president. Sanusi said the failure of the political system to throw him up as president has made Nigeria worse off. VANGUARD
4. Uganda’s parliament on Tuesday passed a new draft of anti-gay legislation, retaining many draconian provisions despite President Yoweri Museveni’s call to rework an earlier version of the bill following an outcry by Western governments. “The bill passed,” parliamentary speaker Annet Anita Among said after the final vote saw the legislation win approval from all but one lawmaker. “We have a culture to protect. The Western world will not come to rule Uganda,” she said. Legislators amended portions of the draft law to clarify that identifying as gay would not be criminalised, but “engaging in acts of homosexuality” would be an offence punishable with life imprisonment. PUNCH
5. Renowned R&B artist Chris Brown from the United States is completely in love with Afrobeats. During a recent episode of the ‘Million Dollarz Worth of Game’ podcast, he shared that he enjoys listening to Nigerian afrobeat music when he’s not playing his own songs. He also shared that he believes that the genre is deserving of the international recognition it has received. PULSE
6. As the countdown to the Gangwon 2024 Youth Olympic Games continues, the qualification for the prestigious curling competition has been finalized. The World Curling Federation through an official statement on its website confirmed Nigeria as one of the countries that would feature in both the Mixed Team Championship and Mixed Doubles Championship at next year’s Youth Winter Olympic Games. Hosts Korea, Brazil, and the United States are among the other countries that would also have representation simultaneously in both the Mixed Team Championship and the Mixed Doubles Championship. LEADERSHIP
7. French trade unions said Tuesday they would call new mass demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron’s bitterly contested pension reforms next month, a day after hundreds of thousands turned out against the law. The fourteenth day of protests will be held on June 6, the unions said, days before lawmakers debate a bill that would repeal the retirement changes forced through without a vote by Macron’s ministers. Police said almost 800,000 people turned out across France against the pension reform on Monday — the Labour Day holiday — while the hard-left CGT union tallied 2.3 million. PUNCH
8. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion and tennis legend Serena Williams announced her second pregnancy at the Met Gala on Monday, May 1, 2023. Williams arrived on the red carpet with her husband, Alexis Ohanian, and confirmed to reporters at the New York fashion show that “three of us” were present. PULSE
9. A group known as Niger Delta Peoples Movement, NDPM, has called for the merging of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs with the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, for the effective and coordinated development of the region. The group lamented that funds meant for the development of the region are being looted by corrupt officials of the ministry in conjunction with politicians to the detriment of the people and development of the region, pointing out that merging the ministry with NDDC will avoid duplication of projects and ensure that resources are pulled together to develop the region. VANGUARD
10. United Nations chief Antonio Guterres held a second day of talks with world powers Tuesday on how to deal with Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders amid warnings from the Kabul administration that the meeting could be “counter-productive”. The talks in Doha were arranged by Guterres after the Taliban government banned Afghan women from working for the United Nations, prompting the world body to put its huge relief operations in Afghanistan under review. Women are also banned from working for other NGOs, and are barred from almost all secondary and university education and most government jobs. The talks involve envoys from the United States, Russia, China and 20 other countries and organisations, including major European donors and neighbours such as Pakistan, but exclude the Taliban government. PUNCH
PROCYON NEWS
