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UK Exports To European Union Drop 40% In January

Precious Obazee
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UK Exports To European Union Drop 40% In January

The Office for National Statistics (ONS), says UK goods exports to the European Union fell 40.7% in January while imports tumbled 28.8%.

The figures show the biggest drop since records began in 1997, and are the first since new trading rules between the UK and the EU came into force.

The ONS said temporary factors were likely to be behind much of the falls.

Meanwhile, new data showed the UK economy shrank by 2.9% in January amid the third lockdown.

The economy is 9% smaller than it was before the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Both imports from and exports to the EU fell “markedly” in January, the ONS said. The value of goods exported from the UK to the EU fell by £5.6bn in January 2021, while imports from the EU dropped by £6.6bn.

The ONS said the fall in goods coming into the country were largely seen in machinery and transport equipment, and chemicals from the EU.

Legislative Election: Thousands Protest In Algiers To Denounce Plans

Precious Obazee
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Legislative Election: Thousands Protest In Algiers To Denounce Plans

Weekly rallies by the resurgent Hirak pro-democracy movement in Algiers is gaining momentum as thousands demonstrated Friday, rejecting early legislative elections announced the day before.

Protesters defied a coronavirus-related ban on gatherings to rally from different parts of the capital, converging on the central post office, the Hirak movement’s emblematic rallying point.

Demonstrators shouted slogans including “No elections with mafia gangs” and “a civil not a military state”, a key Hirak slogan.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Thursday issued a decree setting June 12 for early legislative elections, after dissolving parliament last month.

The Hirak movement broke out in February 2019 in outrage at then-president Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s bid for a fifth term in office.

The ailing president was forced to step down weeks later, but the movement continued with demonstrations, demanding a sweeping overhaul of a ruling system in place since Algeria’s independence from France in 1962.

Since its second anniversary on February 22, the Hirak has restarted weekly Friday protests, suspended for almost a year due to the pandemic.

People also took to the streets in other parts of the country, including Northwestern Oran, Central Tizi Ouzou and Eastern Annaba.

The CNLD prisoners’ rights group said protesters had been arrested in Tizi Ouzou, without providing further details.

President Tebboune has reached out to the protest movement while also seeking to neutralise it.

Tebboune has pledged that the June elections will be free of corruption and will “open the doors of parliament to young people”.

A constitutional referendum in November saw record-low participation.

Nigerians cry foul over Govt planned seizure of Ibori loot

Henry Williams
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Nigerians cry foul over Govt planned seizure of Ibori loot

Even with the massive mismanagement and re-looting of the economy and recovered loots respectively by successive administrations, especially the present government, the Buhari government has insisted that the about to be recovered money stolen by former Delta State governor, James Ibori, will not be returned to its original owners, Delta State, but retained by the Federal Government, a move many Nigerians have cried foul about.

Ibori was convicted by a court in the United Kingdom in 2012 for various offences ranging from gross misconduct, money laundering and other financial crimes.

It would be recalled that Nigerian courts have already exonerated and acquitted him of all crimes before the UK court’s judgment. Jailed 13 years, but was released on December 9, 2016 after serving a fraction of the jail term.

In a recent development, mixed reactions are playing out on account of Ibori. This is with regards to the British Government’s resolve to return to Nigeria £4.2million (about N2.2 billion) funds recovered from friends and family members of the former governor.

Outrage has trailed Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami’s disclosure that the £4.2million will not be returned to Delta State from where it was stolen, but would be kept by the Federal Government, and be deployed to complete the second Niger Bridge in addition to other projects, he added that the money would also impact significantly on the Lagos-Ibadan and the Abuja-Kano expressway projects.

“In consonance with existing framework engaged in the management of previous recoveries, the Federal Executive Council has directed that the instant repatriated funds should be deployed towards the completion of the Second Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kano expressway and the Lagos-Ibadan expressway under the coordination of the Nigeria Social Investment Authority (NSIA),” Malami said.

Malami and the Federal government’s desire to hold on to the Ibori loot, instead of handing over to the rightful owner, the government of Delta State, may not be unconnected to the fact that the fund is huge.

According to reports the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ms. Catriona Laing, while concluding a Memorandum of Understanding with Malami, had said  the money was the first tranche of such a planned refund, noting that the Ibori case is complicated and the United Kingdom authorities were still working on the total and actual amount involved in the case.

Malami’s insistence hinged on the fact other than projects that the federal government had all along provided the required mutual assistance and back up to the British authorities while the prosecution of James Ibori lasted in London.

Critics have, however, questioned the rationale behind ploughing the fund into the same projects that previously recovered Abacha loot had been allocated to.

Reacting through the Commissioner for Information, Charles Aniagwu, the Delta State government described the Federal Government’s plan to siphon the recovered fund as the height of wickedness.

“Why should Delta State money be used in building Lagos-Ibadan Expressway or Abuja-Kano rail? Is the Federal Government saying it doesn’t know the origin of the money? The money belongs to Delta State. We would have understood if the Federal Government had said it wants to receive 20 per cent, but to take all the money is wrong,” he said.

Other prominent Nigerians have also lent their voices in condemnation of the Federal Government’s decision to deny Delta State of the recovered looted fund. Among them is the Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay, who in recent times, has been having a running battle with Malami, leading to the Justice Minister expressing a desire to disband the committee.

Sagay, in a Guardian report, supported the Delta State government, saying “The money is Delta State money and must be returned to Delta State. The Federal Government cannot appropriate it for any reason whatsoever. Delta State should officially demand it, failing which the court can be activated for a judicial pronouncement in that regard.”

In the same vein, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), a non-governmental advocacy body, said “the funds should be utilized to compensate victims of corruption in Delta State from whom it was stolen…

Other citizens, who believe the money should be returned to Delta State are Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), Delta State-based lawyer, Chief Albert Akpomudje SAN, Constitutional lawyer and author, Chief Sebastine Hon (SAN), Lagos-based lawyer, Emeka Okpoko (SAN) among a retinue of other voices.

The Federal Government might be leveraging on the judgment of Justice Gabriel Kolawole 2016, who had accused the Delta State government of protecting Ibori, thereby ruling that the $15 million, which Ibori allegedly wanted to use in bribing a former Chairman of the EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu, be paid into the Federation Account and not the Delta State coffers.

Tension remains high as to the steps the Federal Government would take considering that the High Commissioner has said that the £4.2 million would be made available to Nigeria “in the next couple of days”.

Kenyan Athlete Docked For Faking Documents

Precious Obazee
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Kenyan Athlete Docked For Faking Documents

According to the Anti-Doping Association of Kenya (ADAK), long distance runner Florence Jepkosgei Chepsoi has received a one year community service sentence for faking documents as part of her defence on a doping charge.

She becomes the first Kenyan athlete to be found guilty in a criminal court.

The verdict was handed down after the trial in Eldoret following an investigation lasting a number of years.

The 36-year-old marathon runner was banned for two years in 2017 for using performance-boosting drug Prednisolone.

She was found guilty of providing false medical records from Eldoret’s Uasin Gishu Hospital to support her defence case when she appeared before the Kenyan Sports Disputes Tribunal.

Over 60 Kenyan athletes have been suspended in the last five years for doping offences, including whereabout failures, a violation of the World Athletics anti-doping rules.

Coup Plot: Former Interim President Of Bolivia Arrested

Angel Gimalo
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Coup Plot: Former Interim President Of Bolivia Arrested

Former interim president of Bolivia, Jeanine Áñez and several ex-ministers have been arrested.

Prosecutors say she and the ministers took part in a coup against the then President Evo Morales in 2019.

Morales resigned and fled Bolivia after protests and allegations of electoral fraud.

Áñez has said she is the victim of a political vendetta by Morales’s Mas Socialist party, which has since returned to power.

The party won a landslide victory in presidential and congressional elections in October last year, paving the way for Morales to return to Bolivia from Argentina and take over the leadership of the Mas party.

Morales fled Bolivia in November 2019 after weeks of violent protests and after losing the backing of the military over his controversial re-election to a fourth term in office.

Several of his allies in senior posts also left the country.

Thomas Tuchel insists he’s not the police, scraps strict Frank Lampard policy

Henry Williams
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Thomas Tuchel insists he’s not the police, scraps strict Frank Lampard policy

Chelsea have witnessed a rejuvenation under Thomas Tuchel since his arrival in January after the sacking of  Frank Lampard with the Blues in the top four of the Premier League.

Thomas Tuchel is said to have scrapped Frank Lampard’s strict disciplinary sheet and insisted he is “not the police”.

Lampard’s regime saw a list of fines and charges for poor discipline.

One of the punishments included a £20,000 charge for being late to training as well as being fined £500 for every minute a player is late for a team meeting.

Tuchel has decided to adopt a different strategy and has placed his trust in the Chelsea squad to keep their own discipline.

He said: “I have no complaints – everybody has been on time, nobody was ever late for a meeting or out on the pitch.

“I’m more into trusting and feeling the same values and convincing them about the values than setting the rules and fines.

“I’m not against fines but I think it should be something in the dressing room…. when you arrive and have an appointment with the physio or doctor you arrive on time.

When Tuchel  took over, the blues were ninth in the Premier League but in a twist of fortunes now sit fourth in the table and have a chance to strengthen their grip of a Champions League spot with a victory over Leeds United today.

N42bn debt: banks’ USSD services face disconnection by Telcos

Henry Williams
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N42bn debt: banks’ USSD services face disconnection by Telcos

The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria say telcos will disconnect Financial Service Providers from Unstructured Supplementary Service Data services from March 15 until they pay their over N42bn debt.

In a statement signed by ALTON and Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, and Head of Operations, Gbolahan Awonuga.

ALTON explained that it became necessary to withdraw services due to the lack of agreement on a payment structure with the banks that did not involve the end-user being asked to pay.

It noted that following the issuance of the USSD pricing determination by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) which resulted in a price review of USSD service by the telcos, the banks decided that they would no longer pay for USSD service delivered to their customers and requested the telcos to charge customers directly for use of the USSD channel.

Meanwhile, the telcos complained that the banks, however, provided no assurances that such service fees charged to customers’ bank accounts for access to bank services through the USSD channel would be discontinued post implementation of end-user billing by the telcos.

The telecom operators said this was in consideration of millions of Nigerians who had become more reliant on accessing financial services through the USSD infrastructure due to COVID movement restrictions.

Eritrea Frees 21 Female Christian Prisoners

Angel Gimalo
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Eritrea Frees 21 Female Christian Prisoners

In Africa’s east, Eritrea has released 21 female Christian prisoners but the country’s forces stand accused of attacking churches in the troubled Tigray region of neighboring Ethiopia.

The women, all reportedly young mothers, had been held in an island prison on the Red Sea since last August.

They were arrested in 2017 after a series of raids on underground churches by the Eritrean authorities.

Many of their husbands were conscripts, leaving their children without anyone to care for them, human rights group Release International reports.

They are the latest Christians to be freed from prison in a string of unexpected prisoner releases over the past half-year.

Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’ now translated in Ekegusii

Henry Williams
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Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’ now translated in Ekegusii

Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart (1958), has been translated by Jane Bosibori Obuchi-Marando, under the title Binto Mbisebererekani (A-Frame Publishers, 2020) in recent publication in Ekegusii language.
Chinua Achebe’s novels such as A Man of The People (Mwakilishi wa Watu), No Longer At Ease (Hamkani si Shwari Tena), Arrow of God (Mshale wa Mungu) and Things Fall Apart (Shujaa Okonkwo), already exist as Kiswahili translations, however Ms Obuchi’s Binto Mbisebererekani is possibly the second translation of Achebe’s novel into another Kenyan language – apart from Kiswahili.

Interestingly, despite the literary work being translated into over 50 languages across the world – and sold more than 10 million copies, the work has not been translated into Achebe’s own (m)other tongue – Igbo language.

In the advent of  Things Fall Apart more than 60 years ago, it raised a debate within the literary community about language choice in African fiction.
More because of the late literary giants position that it was possible to transform English in such a way that it would represent African reality.

From 1919, when W.B. Yeats wrote his poem in 1958 when Achebe penned Things Fall Apart for almost four decades. In 1993, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, who abandoned writing his creative works in English in the 1980s, published a collection of 21 essays under the title: Moving the Centre: The Struggle for Cultural Freedom (James Carrey, London). The tone and echoes in Ngugi’s essays is a recommendation of a very simple but yet radical suggestion on how to confront the ‘problematic centre’: Why not move the centre?

Ms Jane Obuchi-Marando’s effort to translate Things Fall Apart experience into Ekegusii can be seen as an endorsement of Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s crusade of defending African languages in general and decolonising the African mind in particular.

Ms Jane Obuchi-Marando, a career teacher, has written other works such as Endabasia Y’echinkwana Chi’Ekegusii (A Dictionary of Ekegusii Phrasal Verbs ), Ekegusii Nekiya (Ekegusii is A Good Language) and Emegano y’Abana (Children Stories), among other works.

More kudos to her for embarking on this library expedition that expands the frontiers of the African experience and strengthens our heritage through language.

Nigeria’s Amaju Pinnick Confirmed FIFA Council Member

Emenike Agu
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Nigeria’s Amaju Pinnick Confirmed FIFA Council Member

President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Melvin Pinnick, was on Friday in Rabat, Morocco elected into the FIFA Council – the highest decision-making organ in world football.

He attained the exalted seat after defeating his only rival, incumbent Walter Nyamilandu of Malawi by 43 votes to 8 at the Congress held inside the Royal Ballroom of the Sofitel Hotel in Morocco’s administrative capital.

our of Pinnick’s five rivals, Lamin Kaba Bajo (The Gambia), Wallace Karia (Tanzania), Nick Mwendwa (Kenya) and Andrew Kamanga (Zambia) threw in the towel before the vote and opted to back the Nigerian.

General Secretary of Nigeria Football Federation, Dr Mohammed Sanusi cast Nigeria’s vote.

It is a remarkable case of rapid global football boardroom upliftment for a man who, a little over six-and-half years ago, had no intention of contesting for even board membership of the Nigeria Football Federation, but has now been in the post for six-and-half years (becoming the first person to democratically secure a second term), won election as Member of the CAF Executive Committee, served as CAF’s 1st Vice President, still serving as Member of the Organizing Committee for FIFA Competitions, and now a revered member of the world’s highest decision-making organ for football.

Pinnick’s entry into the 37-member FIFA Council came at the 43rd Ordinary and Elective General Assembly of CAF, and was accomplished hours after the man he supported for the CAF Presidency, Dr Patrice Motsepe of South Africa, mounted the ‘throne’ unchallenged. Motsepe’s challengers Augustine Senghor of Senegal, Ahmed Yahya of Mauritania and Jacques Anouma of Cote d’Ivoire had all withdrawn from the race before today’s poll.

The elevation is for a four-year term, and automatically makes Pinnick a Member of the Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Football.

A man who sets and pursues his vision doggedly, Pinnick thus becomes only the third Nigerian to serve in world football’s highest decision-making body, after the late Etubom Oyo Orok Oyo and Dr Amos Adamu.

The quest by the suave and effervescent football administrator for the seat was solidly backed by the Government of Nigeria, which delegation, led by the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Nebolisa Anako was on ground in Morocco.

A mining billionaire who is also into banking and telecommunications and has businesses in 40 African countries, Dr Patrice Thlopane Motsepe is also the owner of top South African club, Mamelodi Sundowns.

In his acceptance speech, Motsepe expressed gratitude to the African football family for his attainment of the position, saying it is a huge honour to serve African football at the highest level. “All of us can and will work together,” he said, underscoring the need for team work, collaboration and sense of togetherness as he praised Senghor, Yahya and Anouma who withdrew from the race.

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