July 11, 2024

[GIST] PFL unveils Africa competition, names Ngannou as chair

[GIST] PFL unveils Africa competition, names Ngannou as chair

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THE Professional Fighters League (PFL), the global mixed martial arts (MMA) franchise, has unveiled its plans to create a competition for Africans. This was announced at an event held in Lagos yesterday.
The newly established PFL Africa will introduce an engaging sports-season format with a regular season, playoffs, and championship featuring top African fighters at all events to be hosted on the continent for the first time.

Francis Ngannou, former UFC heavyweight champion, will chair the African league partnered with Helios Sports & Entertainment Group.
According to Peter Murray, the chief executive officer (CEO) of PFL, the African project will begin by the second quarter of 2025. He added that the bouts will be hosted in Nigeria and other African countries and are part of the plan to create a “Champions League of MMA”.
Murray said the initiative will ensure that African mixed martial artists do not have to leave the continent for elite training in the sport, adding “this will happen here in Nigeria and throughout the continent of Africa.”
“This is really about providing the athletes the opportunity to compete and earn a living as professional athletes. PFL Africa is an established African entity that will be led by an African management like Francis (Ngannou) It is a true African company that we are launching.
“In the long term, we will develop not only talents that we sign into the league but also amateur fighters and give them the opportunity to become professionals.

On his part, Tope Lawani, co-founder and managing partner of Helios Investment Partners, said the need to tap the underserved talent of African youth spurred the company’s partnership with PSL.

“We are looking forward to partnering with the PFL, a world-class organization, and with Francis Ngannou, who is a manifestation of the success of African talent on a global stage. This marks HSEG’s fourth investment following our successful partnership with the NBA in Africa.
We see several areas of direct synergies between PFL Africa and HSEG’s existing unique portfolio, and we are excited by the opportunities such collaboration can bring to the continent.”
Juliet Ukah, a Nigerian fighter in PFL, said the establishment of PFL Africa aligns with her dream of bringing MMA to young girls in the country.
“My dream is to have a gym here in Nigeria, train young girls to have confidence in themselves and make them proud,” she said.
“I am happy that the PFL is coming down to Nigeria, and I think this is a good dream to achieve.”

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July 10, 2024

[GIST] Past nine years by APC devastating, says Edo govt

[GIST] Past nine years by APC devastating, says Edo govt

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The Edo State Government, yesterday, said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is clueless about how the government runs, adding that this is the reason Nigerians have been suffering over the past nine years under the APC led Federal Government.

Briefing newsmen in Benin on the state of the nation, the Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, said that the APC has messed up the country’s economy since it came to power at the centre nine years ago, adding that Edo people do not want the APC.

Nehikhare noted that Edo people will continue to support and vote for the PDP, not minding the antics by the opposition to hoodwink Edo people ahead of the governorship election.

He said: “Despite our best efforts to mitigate the suffering that Edo people and Nigerians have been plunged into by the APC government through increase in minimum wage, free WiFi in different parts of the state, free transport scheme that has benefitted over six million Edo residents since its launch in September 2023, food palliative to millions of Edo people, free registration for pensioners into the state’s health insurance scheme,  among others, we want to restate that the people are still going through untold hardship.”Nehikhare added that the nation is slowly descending back into terrorism with the rise of suicide bombing, among others.

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July 9, 2024

[GIST] Hyena escapes Jos Wildlife Park

[GIST] Hyena escapes Jos Wildlife Park

Guardian Nigeria News https://bit.ly/3SeH5mf

The management of the Plateau State Tourism Corporation (PSTC) yesterday announced the disappearance of a hyena which escaped its cage at the Jos Wildlife Park.

This was contained in a statement issued by the corporation in Jos after the animal was discovered missing. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the Jos wildlife park is known as one of Plateau’s topmost tourist attractions and a place in Nigeria where nature has been conserved.

The parks management made the announcement as a cautionary measure to safeguard the public and help in apprehending the animal.

“The hyena is currently being tracked by our dedicated team of Game-guards and Park-rangers with the assistance of drone technology. We assure the public that we are taking all necessary measures to locate the escaped animal and ensure its safe return to its enclosure soonest.

“We kindly request the public to remain calm and avoid any approach to the hyena if sighted and you can kindly notify the park authorities immediately on 09026927620 & 09131000945.

“We thank you for your cooperation and promise to update the public as soon as the situation is resolved” it stated.

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July 8, 2024

[GIST] Students’ loan: 115 state-owned institutions yet to submit enrollees’ data

[GIST] Students’ loan: 115 state-owned institutions yet to submit enrollees’ data

Guardian Nigeria News https://bit.ly/3SeH5mf

Osun ranks top with 13, Delta, Rivers, Sokoto, Kwara, Anambra, others missing 

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has revealed that 115 out of the 151 state-owned tertiary institutions are yet to submit data of their students to enable them to access the students’ loan. 
   
This, according to it, represents 76.2 per cent of the total number of state tertiary institutions. 
   


The agency specifically said that only 36 state-owned tertiary institutions (representing 23.8 per cent) had been onboarded on the platform. 
 
A statement on the official X handle of NELFUND, @NELFUND, yesterday, said that students enrolled in the “36 state-owned tertiary institutions could now apply for student loans effective July 7, 2024.”
 
It urged other state-owned tertiary institutions to submit their complete student data to the NELFUND Student Verification System timely to enable their students benefit from the scheme.
 
According to the Fund, the 36 state institutions include Adamawa State University, Mubi; Ramat Polytechnic, Maiduguri; Borno State University; Mohammed Lawan College of Agriculture, Borno State; Edo State University, Uzairue; Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti; Gombe State University; Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe University, Imo State; Imo State University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Umuagwo; Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria; Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano and Umaru Musa Yar’Adua University, Katsina.

Others are Katsina State Institute of Technology and Management, Kebbi State University of Science and Technology, Aliero; Confluence University of Science and Technology, Kogi State; Lagos State University of Education; Lagos State University (LASU); Nasarawa State University, Keffi; Tai Solarin University of Education, Ogun State; University of Medical Sciences, Ondo; Osun State University; University of Ilesa, Osun State; GTC, ARA Osun State; GTC, Gbongan Osun State and GTC, Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State.
 
The rest are GTC, Ile-Ife, Osun State; GTC, Inisha, Osun State; GTC, Iwo, Osun State; GTC, Osu, Osun State; GTC, Otan-Ayegbaju, Osun State; Osun State College of Education, Ila-Orangun; Government Technical College, Ile-Ife; Osun State College of Technology; Taraba State University, Jalingo; Umar Suleiman College of Education, Gashua, Yobe State, and Zamfara State University, Talata Mafara. 
 

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[GIST] Group decries marginalisation of Lagos indigenes in FG’s appointments

[GIST] Group decries marginalisation of Lagos indigenes in FG’s appointments

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Says representative in NNPC acting as MD without confirmation

A group of eminent Lagosians, De Renaissance Patriots, has again condemned the marginalisation of Lagos State indigenes in Federal Government appointments.

In a statement signed by President of De Renaissance Patriots Foundation, Adelani Adeniji-Adele, and Secretary-General, Yomi Tokosi, the group, while dispelling the misconceptionthat since President Bola Tinubu assumed office, he had been nepotistic in his appointments by favouring Lagos State or its indigenes, said that most of the so-called “Lagos boys” that are beneficiaries of the appointments were not indigenes of Lagos State but indigenous to other states.

It said that only three of the appointees were actually indigenes of the state, including Femi Gbajabiamila (Chief of staff to the President), Hakeem Muri-Okunola (Principal Private Secretary to the President) and Yemi Cardoso (Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) whose appointments are not subjected to any constitutional provision that stipulates spread as in Federal Character.

The statement reads in part: “We are making this clarification so that Nigerians will know that Lagos State has not unduly benefited from the current administration and we are seizing this opportunity to appeal to the President to treat Lagos State indigenes fairly and equally in his appointments. Let’s give unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar.”

“To demand adjustment in federal institutions that will reflect Federal Character, especially in NNPC and its top managerial levels.

“Out of the 55 chief executives in the NNPC, 36 are from northern Nigeria, while only 16 represent the entire southern region.

“When we look into our state’s representation in NNPC, we could only identify one indigene at that level and the person’s career progression has been thwarted unfairly for sometimes.

“We reference Dr AdebimpeFoluso Pearce that joined the NNPC in April 1992 as a medical officer and rose through the ranks and became a Deputy Manager, Occupational Health in 2007 (one of the youngest). She became a full manager three years later in 2010.

“She managed Mosimi Zone (2013 to 2016), Lagos Medical zone (May 2016 till September 2023) and moved to Abuja as acting MD, NNPC Medical Services, but had been stagnated on the acting position since then even after the substantive holder of that position had retired.

“Against the normal trend of things, she ought to have been confirmed as she will retire next year.”

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[GIST] Lifeline for PoS operators as CAC extends registration deadline

[GIST] Lifeline for PoS operators as CAC extends registration deadline

Guardian Nigeria News https://bit.ly/4bBVXSr

A TWO-MONTH lifeline has been handed Point of Sales (PoS) operators in the country by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) for them to register with it.

Specifically, PoS operators now have till September 5, 2024 to register with CAC or risk clampdown.

In May 2024, the CAC gave the operators till July 7, 2024, to register or face sanctions. The need to register was premised on the need to check the rising fraud cases associated largely with PoS businesses in the country.

But due to calls and pressures on the CAC from several quarters across the country, deadline extension was announced.

CAC, on its X handle, at the weekend, said: “The Corporate Affairs Commission wishes to notify fintech operators, also known as Point of Sale (POS) operators, that the initial deadline of July 7, 2024 given for the registration of sole agents, super agents and other agents has been extended for a period of 60 days beginning from July 7, 2024 to the September 5, 2024.

“This is to give sufficient time to the operators, particularly those in remote areas who might have encountered network challenges, to register and continue with their businesses. Operators, who fail or refuse to register at the end of the extended deadline, run the risk of losing such businesses and prosecution for aiding and abetting criminal activities.”

Since the deadline was announced in May, some of the PoS operators have been complaining about difficulties in getting their registration done on the commission’s portal. This prompted the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to appeal to the commission to simplify the process.

The governor appealed to the commission, on Thursday, during a courtesy call on him by the Registrar-General of CAC, Hussaini Magaji, at Alausa, Ikeja.

Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by his Deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, suggested that the CAC could adopt a model similar to the state tax card, which provided a database for the government to manage infrastructure needs without burdening businesses.

While expressing the state government’s willingness to collaborate with the CAC to ensure seamless registration of businesses in the state, he emphasised the need for more sensitisation to correct the perception that registering with the CAC was difficult.

The Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN) claimed that the move by CAC would hinder the growth of the agent banking sub-sector, whose worth was put at N13 trillion.

AMMBAN, while responding to earlier deadline of July 7 by CAC , had stated the forceful registration would impact on members negatively.

The National President, Fasasi Atanda, noted that registration was not a means of fighting fraud, as a lot of registered companies are into all forms of fraud.

According to him, fraud in agency banking is not about CAC registration, but about collective action of the stakeholders, which AMMBAN is working with all the security agencies.

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July 7, 2024

[GIST] Deadly strikes hit Gaza as war enters tenth month

[GIST] Deadly strikes hit Gaza as war enters tenth month

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Israel carried out deadly air strikes in the Gaza Strip as the war entered its tenth month on Sunday, with fighting raging across the Palestinian territory and fresh diplomatic efforts under way to halt the violence.

Israel has said it will send a delegation in the coming days to continue truce talks with Qatari mediators that began recently in Doha.

But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman said “gaps” remained with Hamas on how to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

“It was agreed that next week Israeli negotiators will travel to Doha to continue the talks. There are still gaps between the parties,” the spokesman said in a statement on Friday.

Meanwhile, the fighting in Gaza continued unabated, with the Palestinian Red Crescent saying Sunday that the bodies of six people, including two children, who were killed in Israeli strikes had arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah.

Paramedics also said Sunday that six people had been killed in an Israeli strike on a house in a northern area of Gaza City.

The day before, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said 16 people had been killed in a strike on a school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) that was sheltering displaced people in Nuseirat, in central Gaza.

The Israeli military said its aircraft had targeted “terrorists” operating around the Al-Jawni school.

The military earlier said it had conducted operations across much of the Gaza Strip, including Shujaiya in the north, Deir al-Balah and Rafah in the south.

Shujaiya is among the areas the military had previously declared to be cleared of Hamas, but where fighting has since resumed.

The Hamas press office and paramedics said four journalists working for local media outlets were killed in strikes overnight into Saturday, and UNRWA said two of its employees had been killed.

UNRWA, which coordinates much of the aid delivered to Gaza, says 194 of its employees have been killed in the war.

– ‘Ball in Israel’s court’ –
The United States, which has mediated ceasefire negotiations alongside Qatar and Egypt, has talked up the prospects of a deal, saying there is a “pretty significant opening” for both sides.

US President Joe Biden announced a pathway to a truce deal in May that he said had been proposed by Israel.

It included an initial six-week truce, an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza’s population centres and the freeing of hostages held by Palestinian militants.

Talks subsequently stalled, but a US official said Thursday that a new proposal from Hamas “moves the process forward and may provide the basis for closing the deal”.

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told AFP that new ideas from the group had been “conveyed by the mediators to the American side, which welcomed them and passed them on to the Israeli side”.

“Now the ball is in the Israeli court.”

There has been no truce since a one-week pause in November when 80 Israeli hostages were freed in return for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

Pressure has mounted domestically for another hostage release deal, with regular protests and rallies in Israel.

“It’s important that we reach a deal so that all the mothers can embrace their children and husbands, just as I hug my mother every morning now,” rescued hostage Almog Mair Jan said in a recorded message to a rally in Tel Aviv Saturday.

The war began with Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

The militants also seized hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza, including 42 the military says are dead.

In response, Israel has carried out a military offensive that has killed at least 38,098 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory.

The war has uprooted 90 percent of Gaza’s population, destroyed much of its housing and other infrastructure, and left almost 500,000 people enduring “catastrophic” hunger, UN agencies say.

The main stumbling block to a truce deal has been Hamas’s demand for a permanent end to the fighting, which Netanyahu and his far-right coalition partners strongly reject.

The veteran hawk demands the release of the hostages and insists the war will not end until Israel has destroyed Hamas’s ability to fight or govern.

– Lebanon attacks –
Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement have exchanged cross-border fire almost daily since the Gaza war began, but attacks have escalated over the past month.

This has raised fears of a major conflagration between the bitter enemies that could draw in others including Iran.

Israel’s army said late Saturday that its jets had struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and troops had fired artillery across the border “throughout the day”.

Earlier Saturday, sirens blared over northern Israel and the military said it had downed a “suspicious aerial target” and that two “hostile aircraft” launched from Lebanon had hit open ground.

A source close to Hezbollah said an Israeli drone strike targeted a vehicle in eastern Lebanon Saturday, killing a Hezbollah official.

Israel said he was part of the group’s air defence unit.

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