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#CovidScam Trends Again As Vaccine Mandates Resurface

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As the same experts that predicted the 2020 pandemic and all the potential fallouts, have come up again, anticipating a tripledemic, governments like the American government are back asking people to get vaccinated again.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Biden Administration will “encourage” Americans to get the updated COVID-19 vaccine when it rolls out in mid-September.

According to her, vaccinations against COVID-19 remain the safest protection for avoiding hospitalization, long-term health outcomes, and death.

The white house has avoided the conversation of deaths linked to the COVID vaccinations, rolled out and mandated since 2020.

Several Americans have mysteriously fallen dead, most especially athletes and essential workers who were forced to be vaccinated or lose their jobs.

In the last three years, however, with the spread of information and access to more of the COVID agreement documents, dissatisfaction with the vaccine mandates has grown.

Tax Reforms: VP Shettima Urges Committee to Develop Robust Roadmap

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The Vice President, Kashim Shettima has charged members of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy, Tax Reforms to develop a robust roadmap that will transform the economy of the country.

The Vice President gave the charge today when he received in audience members of the Committee led by the Chairman, Taiwo Oyedele at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Shettima, who stressed the importance of fiscal policy and tax reforms, noted that it was a potent tool for resource mobilisation.

According to him, the committee should make recommendations that are quick deliverables in view of the nation’s current economic realities.

President Tinubu Inaugurates Committee on Fiscal Policy, Tax Reforms

In his remarks, the Special Adviser to the President on Revenue, Zaccheus Adedeji, stated that the Presidential Committee would be interested in working with the National Economic Council (NEC) which is chaired by the Vice President “to ensure effective collaboration with the sub-national governments who are critical stakeholder group in the task before the Committee.

Earlier, Oyedele disclosed that members of the Committee were “excited for this opportunity to help our country to redefine, redesign a new fiscal policy framework that is fit for our nation to thrive and deliver the Nigeria we want in order for our people to flourish in their endeavours.”

He assured that the Committee would engage with Nigerians both at home and abroad as well as with all segments of the society.  Also, he expressed the readiness of the Committee to engage with sub-national governments through NEC in achieving the mandate of the committee.

In the delegation of the Presidential Committee were Kyari A. Bukar, Tayo Aduloju, Ismaila M. Zakari, Prof. Abiola Sanni, Dr. Chinyere Almona, Aubakar Suleiman, Bamate Ogara-Lawson, Taminu Yakubu and Muhammad Nami.

Tinubu’s certificate: Chicago State University locks X account after backlash

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Chicago State University, United States has put its X page on private after some Nigerians allegedly stormed the page to inquire whether or not President Bola Tinubu truly graduated from the institution.

This is in the wake of a petition filed by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, in a United States court to obtain information about Tinubu’s academic records at the Chicago State University.

A check on the page which was earlier Public, on Tuesday, showed it has now been put on Private with a message – “These posts are protected. Only confirmed followers have access to @ChicagoState’s posts and complete profiles. Tap a Follow button to send a follow request.”

In January 2022 the university confirmed that Tinubu indeed attended the university.

Beverly Poindexter, who is in charge of official transcript requests, enrollment, and degree verification at the Office of the Registrar, CSU, in a terse email response said,  “Mr Tinubu did attend our university, however, if further information is needed, go to studentclearinghouse.org website to make a formal request.”

In an earlier letter dated August 20, 1999, and signed by then Registrar, Lois Davis, the university stated that Tinubu was its student between 1977 and 1979.

He wrote, “Please be advised that Bola A. Tinubu did indeed attend Chicago State University from August 1977 through June 1979. He was awarded a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business and Administration with honours on June 22, 1979. His major was accounting.”

FCT undecided on what to do – Wike

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The Minister, Federal Capital Territory Administration, Nyesom Wike, has said his administration has yet to make a decision on how to expend the ₦5billion palliative fund expected from the Federal Government.

This is as he noted his administration may consider transportation and food support while noting that efforts were ongoing to bring back urban mass transportation to the FCT to reduce commuters’ suffering.

Wike revealed the development to pressmen in Abuja on Monday night, after a closed-door meeting with contractors handling several projects in the FCT.

He said, “We are yet to decide on what to do with the ₦2billion palliative. We have not chosen any area yet. Are we going to concentrate on food, we are thinking that the issue of transportation is very very important, particularly the urban mass transit.

“People would like to have easy transportation to go to where they want to go, and if you give them rice and they eat the rice today, what about transportation tomorrow?

“So, we have not come up with what actually we are going to use the money for, but I believe food support and transportation is very key,” Wike said.

Abure to Nigerians in US: Obi will soon be declared Nigeria’s president

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Julius Abure, national chairman of the Labour Party (LP), says Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the party, will be declared president of Nigeria by the tribunal. Abure spoke while addressing some Nigerians in the United States during a tour of the country.

Obi who came third in the presidential election held in February and his party are challenging the outcome of the poll. They are asking the court to nullify the victory of Bola Tinubu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Abure, who is on a tour to the United Kingdom and the US, said the judgment by the presidential election petition tribunal, PEPT, is expected to come on or before September 16.

“Following Peter Obi’s participation in the 2023 general election, we changed the political narratives in Nigeria. We gave them a run for their money,” he said.

“They have murdered sleep and they will sleep no more. They have stolen what is not for them and they will not sleep until we recover it all.”

Prince William, Kate Join King Charles At Balmoral As King Welcomes Prince Andrew Back Into Family

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Senior members of the royal family were seen with Prince Andrew in Scotland over the weekend.

In photographs taken on Sunday, Kate Middleton, Prince William and Andrew were pictured in a vehicle on their way to Crathie Kirk, a church in Scotland. William was seen driving a car with Andrew in the passenger seat and Kate in the back seat.

In a separate vehicle, King Charles was photographed with Queen Camilla on their way to the same church.

Andrew’s recent appearance with his brother, the King of England, and other senior members of the royal family comes after Andrew’s attempt to keep a low profile as his controversial ties to Jeffrey Epstein are being explored once again.

Andrew was reportedly first spotted at Balmoral Castle on Aug. 22.

Several royal experts claimed in an interview that the disgraced Duke of York accepted an invitation from his brother, King Charles III, to stay at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Royal expert Ian Pelham Turner previously claimed the 63-year-old drove himself to the estate in Aberdeenshire.

“The royal clans are descending on Balmoral,” Pelham Turner said. “It will be interesting to see how many olive branches grow on royal trees. … It has been said that the kilted and booted King Charles does not wish his sgian-dubh [knife] to be placed in the backs of his family, but [instead prefers] a gentle stroll through the heather to harmoniously solve issues. The jury awaits.”

Turner noted that the king may have extended an olive branch to his scandal-ridden brother following Sarah Ferguson’s health battle. Andrew’s ex-wife, 63, announced in June that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer after a routine mammogram. Turner alleged that the Duchess of York was invited by the king as she continued to recuperate. According to reports, Ferguson’s mastectomy lasted about eight hours.

Andrew has a long history of scandal. In his interview with “Newsnight,” Andrew claimed he met Epstein in 1999 through Ghislaine Maxwell. Andrew said he has known the socialite daughter of press baron Robert Maxwell since her university days. However, a 2001 letter to The Times of London from Alastair Watson, the prince’s former private secretary, suggested Andrew and Epstein knew each other from the early 1990s.

It has also been reported that Andrew and Epstein met at least 10 times in New York, the Virgin Islands and Palm Beach.

British Museum Director Resigns, Admits To Failings In Theft Investigation

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DRESDEN, GERMANY - OCTOBER 19: Hartwig Fischer, General Director of the Dresden State Art Collections (Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden), speaks at a press conference at the Residenzschloss Dresden on October 19, 2015 in Dresden, Germany. Fischer is to replace Neil MacGregor as Director of the British Museum in the spring of 2016. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

The director of the British Museum said he would resign after admitting to failings in his investigation of the theft of items from the museum’s collection.

The museum was alerted more than two years ago to the possible theft or disappearance of valuable artefacts when an art historian became suspicious about objects for sale online.

But the museum’s director, Hartwig Fischer, said that he did not take the warning seriously enough and announced his resignation on Friday as investigators figure out what happened to hundreds of missing items, including gold jewellery, semi-precious gems and antiquities dating to the 15th century BC.

Fischer, a German art historian who had led the museum since 2016, said that there could have been a better response to the warnings that an employee may have been stealing items and the failings “must ultimately” rest with him.

“It is evident that the British Museum did not respond as comprehensively as it should have,” he said in a statement.

“The responsibility for that failure must ultimately rest with the director.”

The museum, one of London’s most popular tourist attractions, said last week a member of staff had been dismissed after items including gold jewellery and gems dating from the 15th century BC to the 19th century AD, had been found stolen from a storeroom.

Police said on Thursday they had interviewed but not charged an unnamed man over the stolen artefacts.

The British Museum initially said in the statement that Fischer would step down “with immediate effect”, but later removed those words and said he would resign once an interim leader had been found.

Fischer said that he withdrew remarks made about the art dealer who first alerted the museum’s authorities to the stolen items. He claimed earlier this week that Ittai Gradel, an antiquities dealer, withheld information about the scale of the stolen items when he contacted the museum.

Fischer expressed “sincere regret” over the “misjudged” comments.

Gradel said that Fischer had done the right thing by stepping down, and he accepted his apology. But he said the deputy director, Jonathan Williams, should also resign, adding that Williams had assured him that a thorough investigation found no improprieties.

The museum said on Friday that Williams would step aside during the independent review.

“He basically told me to sod off and mind my own business,” Gradel said. “It is beyond me how any responsible museum person could see this evidence without all alarm bells going off immediately.”

The museum’s board of trustees, chaired by former Finance Minister George Osborne, accepted Fischer’s resignation.

“We are going to fix what has gone wrong,” Osborne said.

“The museum has a mission that lasts across generations. We will learn, restore confidence and deserve to be admired once again,” he said.

The museum has also attracted controversy because it has resisted calls from communities around the world to return items of historical significance that were acquired or stolen during the era of the British Empire and Britain’s colonial rule.

The most infamous of these disputes include marble carvings from the Parthenon in Greece and the Benin bronzes from West Africa.

“We want to tell the British Museum that they cannot any more say that Greek [cultural] heritage is more protected in the British Museum,” Despina Koutsoumba, head of the Association of Greek Archaeologists, said in an interview this week.

Under Tinubu’s leadership, investors are losing faith in Nigeria’s economy – PDP

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The Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), has raised the alarm over what it described as President Bola Tinubu’s ill-conceived and hastily implemented economic policies which have imposed excruciating hardship on Nigerians and exacerbated the nation’s security problems.

The main opposition party equally alerted citizens that Nigeria is “asphyxiating, in dire straits and fast grinding to a halt under the Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC), administration.”

National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, said this in a statement, in Abuja, on Monday.

He said, “The Party laments that Nigeria is at the edge of the precipice under the Tinubu-led APC hold which lacks the acceptability and followership of citizens; a situation that has created an atmosphere and feeling of absence of governance in the country.

“Our Party is alarmed that there is a serious disconnection between the government and the citizens arising from the ill-planned and hasty implementation of policies that have brought excruciating hardship, horrifying insecurity and a general sense of apprehension that is already threatening the peace, unity and corporate existence of our nation.

“The administration’s lack of ingenuity, tact and sensitivity towards the wellbeing of Nigerians in the removal of subsidy and floating of the Naira inflamed unbearable high cost of living, crippled our national productivity, crashed millions of businesses and sparked massive job loss with attendant escalated poverty, hunger, insecurity and hopelessness across the country.

“The situation has snowballed into a dangerous loss of investors’ confidence with international companies exiting our nation and leaving millions of Nigerians stranded in the labour market with crippling effect on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) which are the real drivers of our national economy.

“It is horrifying that in the last two months, over 150 million Nigerians can no longer afford their daily meals with families now going to bed on empty stomachs.

“It is appalling that the APC government continues to tout their fraud-prone palliative program of a miserable average of 1,200 bags of rice to Nigerians in each State of the country.

 “The APC has expanded its capacity to deceive and defraud Nigerians through phoney programmes; a situation that has heightened frustration across the country.

“Moreover, the PDP describes as distressing that the APC government had turned a blind eye to the plight of Nigerians with no concrete commitment towards the safety of lives of our citizens despite the killing of over 500 Nigerians in Plateau, Benue, Niger, Kaduna and other States of the federation, with many more abducted since May 29, 2023.”

The opposition party further said, “The failure of the APC government to decisively act since the abduction of eight corps members who were on their way to Sokoto State for their one-year mandatory national service is another ugly testament of the APC government insensitivity towards the security, safety and wellbeing of citizens.

“More disturbing is the recent downing of a Nigerian military aircraft with attendant loss of lives of our brave and gallant military personnel without a corresponding reassuring statement from the APC government.

“Currently, under the APC, life expectancy in Nigeria has plummeted. Citizens and residents live in constant apprehension and cannot move freely across the country for fear of being killed or abducted.

“Instead of protecting Nigerians, the APC government is desperate to plunge our nation into a needless war in Niger Republic over a conflict in that nation that does not constitute any threat whatsoever to our National Interest.

“Our Party is concerned that the general sense of despondency, anxiety, distress and disconnection in the country, if not urgently addressed, could deteriorate into a serious crisis.

“The PDP charges Nigerians to remain calm, law-abiding and continue to support one another in their quest for a secure and economically thriving nation.”

Niger: Paris backs ‘president Bazoum’ and ‘ECOWAS’ military action should it be the case’

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Niamey and Paris’ differences seem irreconcilable. During a major foreign policy speech to ambassadors in Paris, Monday (Aug. 28), French president Emmanuel Macron doubled down on his government’s line regarding the juta.

Macron insisted on Monday that France would not change position in condemning the coup and offered support to Mohamed Bazoum and ECOWAS.

“Our policy is the right one. It depends on the courage of President Mohamed Bazoum, the commitment of our diplomats, of our ambassador on the ground who is remaining despite pressure,” Macron told a gathering of French ambassadors in the capital.

French Ambassador Sylvain Itte was ordered to leave Niger within 48 hours in a letter Friday (Aug. 25) from the Nigerien Foreign Ministry that accused him of ignoring an invitation for a meeting with the ministry. The letter also cited “actions of the French government contrary to the interests of Niger.”

Niger’s President Bazoum was toppled on July 26. France, the Economic Community of West African States and the UN among others have called for him to be reinstated.

“We do not recognise the putschists, we support a president who has not resigned, who we remain committed to. And we support the diplomatic action and, military action should it be the case, of ECOWAS, within a partnership approach which is the one I presented last February, ” the French head of state said.

The de facto ruling CNSP have since the coup appointed a new government. ECOWAS has hit the nation with sanctions, threatening to send troops.

Egypt: Opposition coalition denounces detention of leader

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A coalition of Egyptian political parties publicly criticized the country’s current government Monday (Aug. 28) for persecuting politicians, in a rare act of political dissent.

In a news conference Monday, Emad Gad, a spokesmen for the Free Current coalition, said the practices of President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi’s government “represent a severe danger to the political and economic future of our country.”

Since coming to power in 2013, el-Sissi’s government has detained thousands of suspected supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist party banned as a terrorist organization, and also secular activists and dissidents.

Rights groups and former prisoners have accused the Egyptian government of deploying brutal tactics to curb dissent, such as forced disappearances, torture and long-term detentions without trial.

The Free Current coalition was formed in June this year, comprised of an array of mostly liberal opposition parties and figures.

One of its leading figures, Hashim Kassem, was detained last week following a public spat with a former government minister. According to The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a leading rights organization, Kassem will be tried next month with several charges including slander, defamation, and assaulting a public servant.