News / Security / Transportation

Planned Okada ban will deepen poverty, insecurity – ActionAid Nigeria

A non-governmental organization, ActionAid Nigeria (AAN) said it agreed with the Federal Government (FG’s) plan to ban the use of motorcycles and mining activities, still, expressed concern on the impacts of the move on the socio-economic lives of the people.

The group in a press statement it circulated on Monday admitted that the approach  may cut the supply of logistics and source of funds for the purchase of arms to the terrorists, but it opined while this was being contemplated in the national interest to combat insecurity, “there must be well thought-out alternatives to lessen the effects of the attendant loss of livelihoods on the people that will be affected”.

The statement advised that regardless of the means being considered for the proposed ban on Okada riders, artisanal and small-scale miners, it must be implemented in a way that will not further worsen the country’s dire economic situation, recalling that a World Bank report has already noted that the number of poor persons in Nigeria will rise to 95.1 million in 2022.

ActionAId  added that the number of poor people was 89.0 million in 2020, meaning that over 6.1 million more persons would have fallen into the poverty bracket between 2020 and 2022, a 6.7 per cent increase, while the projected 2022 figures, the number of poor persons in Nigeria has had a four-year increase of 14.7 per cent from the 2018/19 figure of 82.1 million to the projected 95.1 million in 2022. It established that in Nigeria, the poverty rate has been aided by the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, the growing population, the high level of inflation, which stood at 18.6 per cent as of June 2022 and the harsh effects of the Ukraine-Russia warfare, adding that the development is coming after the Nigerian government said it lifted 10.5 million Nigerians out of poverty between 2019 and 2021.

It recalled that the President has repeatedly said the Bank of Industry has created nine (09) million jobs in the country since 2015, and different schemes to create jobs and …

Foreign / Movies / News / politics / War

Actor Morgan Freeman has been banned from Russia

Although many people around the world consider him to have the voice of God, with a booming baritone that may save or damn a movie, this did not stop the Russians from naming Freeman in a list released by the Russian government of more than 900 Americans who have been banned from entering the country for being “anti-Russian.”

The un-Free man when it comes to visiting Russia, was blacklisted (ironically on a list full of whites) due to his role in the creation of a video slamming the Russian government’s involvement in the United States’ 2016 presidential election.

The Stand by Me star directed and narrated the video, which was released in 2017, and also features fellow actor Rob Reiner.

Reiner, naturally, was also on the ban list.

President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former U.S. Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg along with three deceased U.S. Senators, including John McCain, were on the list.

Regarding the McCain and the other deceased senators, this could be Russian President Vladmir Putin’s way of ensuring that, in this world or the next, he will find you like Liam Neeson promised in the movie Taken.

“In the context of responding to the constantly imposed anti-Russian sanctions by the United States and in connection with incoming requests about the personal composition of our national ‘stop list,’ the Russian Foreign Ministry publishes a list of American citizens who are permanently banned from entering the Russian Federation,” the list reads.

“We emphasize that the hostile actions taken by Washington, which boomerang against the United States itself, will continue to receive a proper rebuff. Russian counter-sanctions are forced and aimed at forcing the ruling American regime, which is trying to impose a neo-colonial “rules-based world order” on the rest of the world, to change its behavior, recognising new geopolitical realities.”

Freeman will soon be starring in a movie called “A Good Person”, which Putin would probably rename “A Good Person to be on the Ban List”, but

…
News / politics

FG Insists Twitter’s operation is illegal despite ECOWAS court ruling

Eighteen days after the micro-blogging platform, Twitter, was suspended in Nigeria, the Federal Government insists operation of Twitter in the country’s social media space “is not legally permissible.”

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, disclosed this yesterday when he appeared before a House of Representatives investigative hearing. He said Twitter was used to disseminate information “that endangers the life and security” of Nigerians and cause disunity in the country.

Following the suspension, the green chamber had mandated its committees on communication, justice, information and culture, and national security and intelligence to investigate the circumstances behind the decision.

Speaking at the investigative hearing, Mohammed said the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 does not permit foreign companies to do business in Nigeria if not registered. He said Twitter cannot be given the legitimate rights to operate until it is incorporated in Nigeria.

“As it regards operation of foreign companies in Nigeria, the law provides that a foreign company, which fails to take necessary steps to obtain incorporation as a separate entity in Nigeria for that purpose, but until so incorporated, the foreign company shall not carry on business in Nigeria or exercise any powers of a registered company,” he said.

“Hence, flowing from this background a foreign company as Twitter cannot be clothed with the legitimate rights to operate as a company registered in Nigeria, as they are not licensed, accordingly.

“Notwithstanding the foregoing, it is also observed that the operations of Twitter in the Nigerian social space is not legally permissible when it is used in airing of information that endangers the life and security of the majority of citizens of Nigeria.”

Mohammed said Twitter’s suspension is backed by international laws including articles 24, 25 and 26 of the African Union on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection (CCPR).

He said the government would not hesitate to suspend other social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Google hangout, and others if they are found to be promoting posts or statements capable of destabilizing the country.

There was a …

News / politics

Trump hails Nigeria for banning Twitter

Former US President Donald Trump has congratulated Nigeria for suspending the operations of Twitter in the country.

Trump, in a statement on Tuesday night, commended Nigeria for the action, calling on more countries to “ban Twitter and Facebook for not allowing free and open speech.”

He said: “Congratulations to the country of Nigeria, who just banned Twitter because they banned their President.

“More COUNTRIES should ban Twitter and Facebook for not allowing free and open speech – all voices should be heard.”

The Federal Government had on Friday suspended the operations of Twitter indefinitely due to its use for activities that were capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.

The Federal Government had on Friday suspended the operations of Twitter indefinitely due to its use for activities that were capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.

The former US leader also expressed regrets for not taking action against them while he was president.

He said: “In the meantime, competitors will emerge and take hold. Who are they to dictate good and evil if they themselves are evil?

“Perhaps, I should have done it while I was President. But Zuckerberg kept calling me and coming to the White House for dinner telling me how great I was.”

Trump also made a veiled reference to his speculated 2024 presidential ambition by simply saying: “2024?”

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Twitter and Facebook had in January suspended Trump’s accounts indefinitely.

The two social networking sites claimed that he used the platforms to mobilise his followers to invade Capitol Hill over the outcome of the November 2020 presidential election after he lost.

Facebook had also on Friday announced that it had banned Trump from its two platforms – Facebook and Instagram – for two years, effective January 7, 2021.

Facebook, in a statement by Nick Clegg, Vice-President of Global Affairs, cited “severe violation” after Capitol Hill riots of January 6 and that Trump’s accounts would only be reinstated if conditions permitted.…