₦airaland Forum

Some Nigerians have called on the FG to appoint an Igbo as Inspector General of Police to 'balance' the 'security chiefs' equation. The Presidency says security appointments can't be based on ethnicity. Do you think the next IGP should be Igbo? https:///OUBglNuTJn

The way insecurity is rising in Nigeria is actually getting out of hands and the government is still muted to that.

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and Moroccan leader, King Mohammed V1, have expressed their determination to ensure the takeoff of the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline and construction of a fertilizer production plant in Nigeria ‘as soon as possible’.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, disclosed this on Monday in a statement titled ‘President Buhari, Moroccan King discuss strategic development projects’.


READ ALSO: Herdsman invites armed kinsmen to dominate Oyo farms, says monarch

Shehu said the President spoke on the telephone with the Moroccan leader on Sunday from his hometown, Daura, Katsina State, where he had been on a four-day visit since Friday.

He further quoted Buhari as thanking the Moroccan leader for his support for Nigeria in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism.

The statement read, “President Muhammadu Buhari and Moroccan leader, King Mohammed V1, on Sunday had a telephone conversation to discuss joint efforts towards realisation of strategic development projects that include Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline and a fertilizer production plant.


ALSO READ: Ogun silent on Igboho’s visit, says Abiodun’s aide misquoted on alleged invitation

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“The Heads of State welcomed the positive and dynamic bilateral relations in all fields between the two nations since the king’s visit to Nigeria in December 2016, and President Buhari’s visit to Morocco in June 2018.”

According to the statement, Buhari also expressed appreciation for Moroccan support in education through scholarships and training.

A pilot preparing to pull a passenger jet away from an airport gate forgot to disengage the parking brake, damaging a part of a towing vehicle that was trying to pull the plane to the runway.

Another pilot had so much trouble landing a passenger jet on a windy day that it took three tries before the plane touched down successfully.

In another incident, the first officer forgot to turn on the anti-icing mechanism that ensures the altitude and airspeed sensors on the outside of the plane are not blocked by ice. Luckily for the passengers, the plane completed its flight without problems.

These incidents are among at least a dozen flying errors and mishaps since May that pilots and first officers have attributed, at least in part, to being out-of-practice because the COVID-19 pandemic—which pushed air travel demand to the lowest levels in decades—had kept them away from flying for a while.

“Because I had not flown in a few months, I was rusty,” the first officer who forgot to activate the anti-icing mechanism said in an anonymous report to a safety reporting system run by NASA. “I felt that my recollection was strong enough, but in reality I should have taken some time to review” the standard operating procedures.

Aviation experts and airline representatives acknowledge that when pilots are inactive for several months, their skills and proficiency deteriorate. Among the most common errors are coming in too fast or too high during a landing or forgetting to get clearance from the air traffic control tower before descending to a lower altitude.

“The key to flying safely is frequency,” said Richard G. McSpadden Jr., senior vice president at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assn.’s Air Safety Institute. “You are not as sharp if you haven’t flown for a while.”

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines have dramatically reduced the number of daily flights on some routes and, in some cases, eliminated service to low-demand destinations.

In April and May, the number of daily takeoffs in the U.S. dropped to about 75 per cent below pre-pandemic levels. In recent months, the number of takeoffs has risen to 43 per cent below pre-pandemic times, according to industry data.

As a result, some pilots have been brought back to work after being away for up to four months. Delta Air Lines announced this week that it planned to bring back about 400 pilots by summer in hopes that the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines will boost demand for travel.

So far, there have been no reported incidents of out-of-practice pilots causing accidents that have injured passengers. Aviation experts say there are enough backup systems in modern passenger jets to prevent minor oversights from becoming serious accidents.

However, an Airbus 330 passenger jet trying to land at Kualanamu International Airport in Indonesia on Sept. 15 veered off the runway and onto the adjoining dirt and weeds. None of the passengers were injured.

Indonesia’s transportation safety agency, known as the KNKT, concluded that, “during the COVID-19 pandemic the operation department had difficulties (trying) to maintain pilot proficiency.” The agency also said that the plane’s second in command had not flown in the previous 90 days and that the pilot had flown less than three hours in the previous 90 days.

To ensure pilots in the US maintain proficiency even when they are not scheduled to work for long stretches of time, the Federal Aviation Administration bars pilots from flying a commercial jet unless they have performed at least three takeoffs and three landings — either on a plane or in a simulator — in the previous 90 days.

But the FAA amended that requirement twice last year, giving pilots more leeway.

For pilots who did not perform three takeoffs and three landings in the 90 days before the end of September 2020, the FAA gave a 60-day grace period. For pilots who didn’t meet the requirement before December 31, the FAA amended the rules again, adding a 30-day grace period.

In federal documents, the FAA defended the grace periods, saying that putting pilots into cockpits or simulators to practice flying increases the risk of spreading COVID-19. The FAA noted that the grace periods were requested by several aviation industry groups, including Airlines for America, the trade organisation for the nation’s largest airlines, and the Regional Airline Assn., a trade group for regional carriers in the US.

No public hearings were held on the changes because the FAA concluded that the pandemic emergency required the new rules take effect immediately.

James Belton, a captain of Boeing 767 jets and spokesman for the union representing United Airlines pilots, said United pilots have met the FAA’s 90-day proficiency policy before going back to work and have not used the grace periods.

“Our pilots only leave our training centre when they are fully trained, comfortable and ready to fly,” he said.

Representatives of the Air Line Pilots Assn. complained in July that several Delta pilots were denied access to simulators so they could practice before flying again and were penalised for making such requests, according to an article in Forbes. Delta denied the accusations and an Air Line Pilots Assn. representative said last week that the concern over access to simulators had since been resolved.

There is other evidence that out-of-practice pilots have been a problem. The International Air Transport Assn., a trade group for the world’s airlines, reported a steep increase last spring in the rate of planes making “unstable approaches,” which typically occur when pilots try to land at too high a speed or without enough thrust and have to make last-minute adjustments.

The airlines’ group reported that the rate of “unstable approaches” jumped from about 13 or 14 for every 1,000 flights before the pandemic to more than 35 per 1,000 in May. The problem of unstable approaches increased in airports around the world in the spring and summer of 2020, the group said, but the rate returned to pre-pandemic levels in the last few months.

“Extended absence of a significant number of flight deck crew can lead to diminished skills, less effective situational awareness and can lead to deviation” from standard operating procedures, the group said in a memo to its members in August.

Aviation experts say they’re not too troubled. Commercial passenger jets always fly with a pilot and a co-pilot to reduce the odds of pilot error, said Kenneth P. Byrnes, chairman of the Flight Training Department at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

“I’m comfortable with the safety requirements,” Byrnes said. “I don’t think there is an imminent danger.”

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assn. recently offered a video series on its website to help out-of-practice pilots sharpen their flying skills. The series includes tutorials on using the radio to communicate with an air traffic control tower and tips on making a smoother landing.

American Airlines, one of the world’s largest carriers, was also worried about pilots being out of practice, so it began more frequent reviews of its data on pilot performance.

The pilot data from 2020 showed no loss in proficiency, said Kimball Stone, American Airlines’ senior vice president of flight operations. “There has been no degradation of skills,” he said.

It is not just the lack of practice that can lead pilots to make errors. During the pandemic, planes have been carrying fewer passengers — an average of 10 per cent of the seats on US flights were filled in April, down from 80 per cent before the pandemic — which means a much lighter load, said Mark Searle, global director for safety at the International Air Transport Assn.

If pilots erroneously assume the plane they are flying is as heavy as it was before the pandemic, they can miscalculate the speed and thrust needed for a landing, he said.

In addition, Searle said the drop in demand for air travel has led to less crowded skies, so there’s less need for planes to take circuitous paths to steer clear of one another. The shorter, more direct routes could confuse a pilot who arrives at a destination sooner than expected, he said.

But Searle said he has faith that pilots are keeping tabs on such changes. “If they adhere to standard operation procedures that we practice, I don’t think there is much of an issue,” he said.

Still, there have been mistakes, as shown in NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System. The system was developed so that pilots and other airline crew members could anonymously report mechanical glitches and human errors without fear of reprisal from airplane manufacturers or airline management.

In one report, a pilot erroneously lined up to land on the wrong runway. Another pilot accidentally pushed the button to disengage the autopilot. The first officer on another flight made an unusually steep bank after misreading the instruments in the cockpit.

In each case, the pilots and first officers blamed the errors on being out-of-practice. In September, the first officer on a commercial jet reported having misjudged the distance to the runway during a landing and causing the plane to descend too low. Instead of aborting the landing and circling the airport for another try—the safest option— the first officer made last-minute adjustments to land.

“Contributing factors included light turbulence requiring constant power adjustments,” the first officer said. “Also, lack of recent flight time due to taking leave — this was my first approach/landing in a number of weeks on top of very limited flight time in the past six months.”

During the October incident in which a passenger plane tried to pull away from a gate with the parking brake still engaged, the pilot and the first officer said in a NASA report that they’d even discussed the risks of being out-of-practice before the flight.”In my case, it had been 40 calendar days since my last flight,” the first officer said.

The captain added: “We are flying less, so we need to be even more attentive. Better attention to detail.”

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has said the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has run out of steam in the fight against corruption.

According to him, this has resulted in the judiciary being manipulated by powerful people in the country.

The playwright spoke on Wednesday during a television programme, Kakaaki, on AIT, which was monitored by our correspondent.


READ ALSO: Fixing health sector important than buying COVID-19 vaccines, Bill Gates tells FG

Soyinka said the system had become corrupted so badly that court cases were being stretched out through technicalities.

“There are so many people who should be in prison if this government had not run out of steam, and so the system is being manipulated. There are cases where the prosecution had reached the level where evidence had been given on governors who had been stealing and depositing in bits and pieces so as not to flout a certain regulation. I mean cases have been taken to that level and suddenly, silence. The EFCC, which I back solidly ever since the days of (Nuhu) Ribadu, in all kinds of ways, we no longer know the distinguishing from rights and left,” he added.

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On restructuring and devolution of powers, the laureate queried why the National Assembly refused to take responsibility since the executive had been hesitant on the issues.

He said the struggle of some selfish lawmakers for committee positions where the “goodies are shared” made them accomplices of the executive.

VIDEO: Fulani who attacked me killed my guard, took away his heart- Former presidential candidate, Falae

“And it is the responsibility of the constituency to remind them of these derelictions, these failures to come up to scratch as expected when they come round next for elections,” he added.

Good afternoon your honor
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A leader of the Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, says the 2023 presidential election is not feasible until there is a change in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“I don’t see the practicability of an election in 2023 without a change of the constitution with all the inequities and iniquities in it,” he said when asked of the criteria for Afenifere to back any presidential candidate in the coming election.


Adebanjo spoke on Wednesday on a PUNCH Online interview programme, The Roundtable.Good afternoon your honor
I need a financial support from you guy's and any help you laid down will just take me like a dream.
Basoene wokoma Access bank 0795807954
' https:///sp10dYpcH1

[READ ALSO] Herdsmen crisis: Oyo deploys 200 Amotekun operatives in Ibarapaland

The Afenifere chieftain argued that no good thing can come from the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) until the restructuring of the country.

He said the president has his personal agenda for not wanting to restructure the country despite overwhelming clamour for it by the people of the South-West, South-East and the South-South geopolitical zones.

A leader of the Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, says a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, is afraid to speak on the Fulani herdsmen crisis in parts of the South-West region because he does not want to offend the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

Adebanjo spoke on a PUNCH Online interview programme, The Roundtable.

According to him, Tinubu has not condemned the attacks by Fulani herdsmen against the Yoruba people because of his presidential ambition in 2023.


ALSO READ: Outrage as police sack single female cop for getting pregnant

The Afenifere chieftain said Tinubu believes that Buhari will help become the next president of the country.

Of late, Fulani herdsmen have been accused of perpetrating crimes ranging from kidnappings, killings, rape to invasion of farmlands with their cattle in the South-West region especially in Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti and Ogun States.

Adebanjo said instead of Buhari to protect all Nigerians, he has taken to defending the Fulani herdsmen despite sundry evidence that they are culpable of the heinous crimes.

“I don’t buy the propaganda of the Buhari government that how do you know they are Fulani? And when they are caught, they will say, they are foreign Fulani. If you are a competent defender of the Nigerian people, the Fulani herdsmen won’t be committing all forms of atrocities unabated,” he said.

Details later…

for good 10years now I've been to this inventing stuff
and the greatest challenge I'm having is finance no way to even buy my project material some times and even talking that one my two kid's and my wife is at the corner looking at my meet to them.
and since I've been in a place of begging Nigerians to support me but never Lucky to have even one sef, but well am still hoping that one day will be a day that man must surely gain favor.
if you are in my shoe please I will advise you to carry on never you be discouraged just keep on trying one day you go win and one day you go rule,
that's one of my upcoming song because am not only an inventor but also are musician.
I salute all my Generals
in case you want to pass little token to support my work you are free
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actually the pics I used refuse showing

for good 10years now I've been to this inventing stuff
and the greatest challenge I'm having is finance no way to even buy my project material some times and even talking that one my two kid's and my wife is at the corner looking at my meet to them.

and since I've been in a place of begging Nigerians to support me but never Lucky to have even one sef, but well am still hoping that one day will be a day that man must surely gain favor.

if you are in my shoe please I will advise you to carry on never you be discouraged just keep on trying one day you go win and one day you go rule,

that's one of my upcoming song because am not only an inventor but also are musician.

I salute all my Generals

in case you want to
0795807954

for good 10years now I've been to this inventing stuff
and the greatest challenge I'm having is finance no way to even buy my project material some times and even talking that one my two kid's and my wife is at the corner looking at my meet to them.

and since I've been in a place of begging Nigerians to support me but never Lucky to have even one sef, but well am still hoping that one day will be a day that man must surely gain favor.

if you are in my shoe please I will advise you to carry on never you be discouraged just keep on trying one day you go win and one day you go rule,

that's one of my upcoming song because am not only an inventor but also are musician.

I salute all my Generals

in case you want to pass little token to support my work you are free
Basoene wokoma
Access bank
0795807954

TANID:
419 REALLY GAT ME LAUGH

the truth remain that covid-19 is real

no doubt that covid -19 is real my dear but some times it looks very funny

sunboy:
Where are those that said CNN stop showing that Covid statistics??

I believe they are watching too

E shock you, the corona virus pandemic in USA finally the numbers has increased to 419. Trouble dey here ooh I been won leave Nigeria go there but my mind don changed.

THE Presidency triggered a needless controversy recently with its brash intrusion into the legitimate efforts by the Ondo State Government to secure the lives and property of residents. In an unseemly and swift reaction to an order by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to cattle herders to vacate the state’s forest reserves that had become hideouts and bases for kidnappers and killers, a presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, weighed in to equate the action to ethnic profiling and a violation of the herders’ constitutional right to free movement. The intervention is wrong on all fronts. It lays bare the rabid sectionalism of the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), its disdain for federalism and how it is ill-suited to crush the rampaging insecurity assailing the fabric of the republic.


Unerringly, the regime never misses an opportunity to promote the interests of the Fulani ethnic group over and above those of other Nigerians. Ondo, like other South-West states, has been under siege from armed herders, mostly identified as Fulani both local and foreign, but also other groups. Security reports indicate that criminals have joined to pose as herders; they invade, destroy farms with their cattle, kidnap, kill, rape and burn homes and property. Invariably, they occupy the lush forests of the region where they have set up camps to coordinate their kidnapping of victims.

[READ ALSO] Ondo forests: Presidency elevates herdsmen above law, says SMBF

Contrary to the Presidency’s false messaging, Akeredolu did not give a blanket expulsion order. The eviction notice was restricted to the state’s forest reserves, protected areas which no one has a right to occupy. “All forest reserves in the state are to be vacated by herdsmen within the next seven days…,” Akeredolu said. Unambiguously, he explained that it was part of steps to address “the root cause of kidnapping, in particular, and other nefarious activities detailed and documented in security reports, the press and debriefings from victims of kidnap cases in Ondo State.”

“These unfortunate incidents are traceable to the activities of some bad elements masquerading as herdsmen. These felons have turned our forest reserves into hideouts for keeping victims of kidnapping, negotiating for ransom and carrying out other criminal activities.” This is clear enough. And his assertion that as the Chief Law and Security Officer of the state, it is his “constitutional obligation to do everything lawful to protect the lives and property of all residents of the state,” cannot be faulted.

Curiously, in its haste to play the role of champion of the Fulani, the Presidency falsely presented the action as seeking “…to unilaterally oust thousands of herders who have lived all their lives in the state…” There is nothing in the governor’s statement that suggests that. He only rightly ordered illegal occupants out of forest reserves.

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Nature or forest reserves are protected areas for flora, fauna or geological interest designated by national or subnational governments for conservation of nature and resources. The International Union for Conservation of Nature says governments keep out human presence from reserves to prevent exploitation of natural resources through grazing, for firewood, fauna and others. Federal and state governments in the United States, Canada, Russia and Australia maintain many. Egypt has 30 covering 12 per cent of its entire territory; Russia has 100 and South Africa’s 20 national parks approximate to about 3.0 per cent of the country’s land area.

All over civilised societies, reserves are not for unauthorised grazing or settlements. Olu Falae, an elder statesman, who has twice been kidnapped and ransomed, as well as lawyers, say the Forest Reserve law and the 1999 Constitution that vests control and use of land on state governors are enough to curb the primitive, crude and intrusive practice of open grazing.

By virtue of their protective status, the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations says forest reserves should remain free from destructive human intervention. There are about 1,129 forest reserves, 29 game reserves, four game sanctuaries and four national parks in Nigeria. The position of the law is that local governments are responsible for the administration of Communal Forest Areas, the state governments control and manage forest reserves, game reserves and game sanctuaries. The Federal Government, under the Exclusive Legislative list, is only responsible for the control, protection and management of national parks. States and the FCT each have an established forestry services division under the appropriate ministry. Each state forest service is responsible for setting and administering policies for its forests. It, therefore, becomes a dangerous national security issue when a government abjures law and order to profess tacit support for criminality. It would have sounded precariously odd if the Olusegun Obasanjo administration had gone out of its way to defend the O’odua Peoples Congress violence or the Goodluck Jonathan government justifying the Niger Delta militants’ bombings and killings. But on Buhari’s watch, this country has never been this awfully governed.

READ ALSO: Yoruba seek end to open grazing, demand new constitution

Truly, Nigeria is dysfunctional. Every issue is politicised and ethnicised, making it difficult to unite to defeat common security threats. The imprudent statement by the Northern Elders Forum to herders to disobey the quit order sets the stage for further polarisation. For them, fealty to ethnic identity overrides rational, empirical and scientific considerations, human lives and the country. Reactively, South-West groups are also rallying in support of the governor.

Yet, Buhari, state governors and senior officials and credible intelligence reports have repeatedly admitted that many of the killer herdsmen are not even Nigerians. Global bodies, including the International Crisis Group, say that the country is flushed with weapons from imploding Libya, Mali and other Sahelian countries. And that fleeing desertification in the Sahel region, militants have mixed with herdsmen, jihadists and bandits to flood Nigeria.

And is the resultant effect? The far North has become a vast killing field, the Middle Belt smouldering while the South-West is crumbling too. Apart from frequent attacks on farmers, destruction of farms, kidnapping and rapes, local vigilance groups report the presence of well-armed herdsmen and kidnappers’ camps in the region’s forests and reserves. Freedom of movement is not a licence to perpetrate crime. Everywhere else, there would be a national consensus to crush criminality.

Buhari’s regime is however duplicitous, declaring on the one hand that bandits are mostly foreigners, but on the other, rushing to their defence whenever their victims react. No country can defeat insecurity this way. Meanwhile, the same regime allows its police to enforce discriminatory, unconstitutional religious Sharia penal law in 12 northern states, destroying alcoholic bottles and investments of non-Muslim business people in a country that claims to be democratic, multi-religious and multi-cultural. Where is the ideal of unity in diversity in all of this?

Cattle rearing is a business like any other; it is not superior to other enterprises. It is intolerable that the Federal Government reinforces the odious culture of entitlement of herdsmen to other people’s land and their willingness to “draw from a pool of violence” as Catholic cleric, Hassan Kukah, labelled it, to enforce that claim.

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This is not Akeredolu’s or Ondo State’s fight alone; it is a struggle for every right-thinking citizen of this country. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Nigerians should push back against a Presidency fixated on an ethnic, sectional agenda that treats other Nigerians as second class citizens to be subordinated to the interests of local and foreign cattle herders converging on the country from all over West and Central Africa.

Nigeria’s reality as a disparate amalgam of many nationalities, cultures and interests is daily amplified under Buhari’s divisive watch. Akeredolu and South-West states should not buckle to the harassment and threats. Regional and state security agencies like the South-West’s Amotekun should be strengthened. Open grazing should be banned completely and the rules enforced. Like every other business and social activity, cattle grazing should be regulated, restricted to enclosed and designated areas and carrying of arms prohibited. Institutional laxity that allowed illegal herders, loggers and criminals to flourish in protected reserves to the point of becoming existential security threats should be arrested and the heritage sites effectively managed. Akeredolu and indeed the governors that take the security and welfare of their people as sacrosanct, have the constitution and the law behind them. The task is to use the law to fight crime without fear or favour, religious prejudice or ethnic profiling.

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The inauguration of Joe Biden
By Meg Wagner, Melissa Mahtani, Melissa Macaya, Mike Hayes, Veronica Rocha and Fernando Alfonso III, CNN
Updated 12:49 PM ET, Wed January 20, 2021
article video

The inauguration of Joe Biden What you need to know
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have been sworn in. Harris has made history as the first female, first Black and first South Asian vice president.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump is back at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
DC and states across the country are under strict and heightened security over fears of possible new threats today.
12:54 p.m. ET, January 20, 2021
World leaders congratulate newly inaugurated President Biden and Vice President Harris
From CNN’s Valentina Di Donato and Vedika Sud
World leaders, politicians and religious leaders congratulated the newly inaugurated President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in a series of messages today.

Here's what they said:

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga

Chile's President Sebastian Piñera

Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe
"All the best for the US and Joe Biden's Government. US: Exemplary democracy and fundamental ally," Uribe tweeted in Spanish.
Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador
He wished President-elect Joe Biden well ahead of his inauguration on Wednesday. During his daily briefing, Lopez Obrador also said the coronavirus pandemic, economic recovery and migration will be key areas of the bilateral relationship with the United States. "Those three themes are verry important: pandemic, economic recovery and migration," he said. Lopez Obrador also said Biden should take steps to settle the immigration status of Mexicans working in the US.

Pakistan Prime Minster Imran Khan

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
In a series of tweets, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his “warmest congratulations” to Biden and Harris.

Pope Francis
The Vatican has published Pope Francis’ message to President Joe Biden following his inauguration, extending "cordial good wishes and the assurance of my prayers that Almighty God will grant you wisdom and strength in the exercise of your high office."

“Under your leadership, may the American people continue to draw strength from the lofty political, ethical and religious values that have inspired the nation since its founding. At a time when the grave crises facing our human family call for farsighted and united responses, I pray that your decisions will be guided by a concern for building a society marked by authentic justice and freedom, together with unfailing respect for the rights and dignity of every person, especially the poor, the vulnerable and those who have no voice,” it continues.
The message concludes: “I likewise ask God, the source of all wisdom and truth, to guide your efforts to foster understanding, reconciliation and peace within the United States and among the nations of the world in order to advance the universal common good. With these sentiments, I willingly invoke upon you and your family and the beloved American people an abundance of blessings.”
12:50 p.m. ET, January 20, 2021
Biden and Harris are two ends of the experience spectrum
Analysis from CNN's Harry Enten
There are obvious differences between President Biden and Vice President Harris (race and gender), but it’s really worth thinking how different they are in terms of their political background.

Biden has waited forever for this moment. He first ran for president more than 30 years ago. He was first elected to the Senate nearly 50 years ago.

Harris’ trek to the vice presidency was much shorter in political life. She was elected attorney general of California only 10 years ago. Harris came to the Senate just four years ago.

It’s one of the most lopsided differences in favor of the president in terms of electoral experience for any president and vice president.

Usually, presidents choose vice presidents who have more experience than they do (e.g. Trump and Pence or Obama and Biden).

You probably have to go all the way back to the Nixon/Agnew administration to see an instance of a president having so much more elected experience than the vice resident.

It’ll be interesting to see how this dynamic plays out this time around.

12:53 p.m. ET, January 20, 2021
President Joe Biden sends first tweet as POTUS
President Joe Biden tweeted from the @POTUS account for the first time following the inauguration ceremony, writing: "There is no time to waste when it comes to tackling the crises we face."

He continued: "That's why today, I am heading to the Oval Office to get right to work delivering bold action and immediate relief for American families."

Vice President Kamala Harris has also taken control of @VP account.

Published January 19, 2021

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President Donald Trump began his final full day in the White House Tuesday with a long list of possible pardons to dish out before snubbing his successor Joe Biden’s inauguration and leaving for Florida.

On Wednesday at noon, Biden will be sworn in and the Trump presidency will end, turning the page on some of the most disruptive, divisive years the United States has seen since the 1960s.

Biden, a veteran Democratic senator who also served as vice president to Barack Obama, was set to travel to Washington on Tuesday with his wife Dr Jill Biden from their hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.


READ ALSO: One feared dead, scores of cars burnt as tanker explodes in Ogun

Together with incoming vice president Kamala Harris — the first woman ever to hold the job — Biden was due to deliver an evening address on the Covid-19 crisis, from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

By contrast, Trump has remained uncharacteristically silent as the clock ticks down to his departure to a new life in his Mar-a-Lago golf club residence in Palm Beach.

By Clever Advertising
Banned by Twitter for his stream of inflammatory messages and misinformation, he has largely stopped communicating with the nation. He has also yet to congratulate Biden or invite him for the traditional pre-inauguration cup of tea in the Oval Office.

Instead, Trump has spent his time meeting with a dwindling circle of loyalists who backed him during a doomed, two-month effort to overturn the results of the November election.

READ ALSO: Kim Kardashian, Kanye West stop attending marriage counselling


That effort culminated on January 6 with Trump encouraging a crowd to march on Congress.

After the crowd broke through police, killing one officer, and trashed the hallowed Capitol building, Trump was impeached for the second time in just over a year — another first in a presidency of many firsts.

His final Gallup poll as president on Monday showed him exiting with 34 percent approval, his record low. Trump’s overall average of 41 percent since taking office is also the lowest for any presidency’s approval rating since Gallup began measuring in 1938.


Biden, meanwhile, is putting the finishing touches to an inauguration that will feature a small crowd and massive security — more fallout from the pro-Trump riot, on top of existing concerns about Covid-19.

– Pardons –

Trump issued a scattering of last-minute orders on Monday, most notably a lifting of the travel bans imposed because of the coronavirus on most of Europe and Brazil.

Under Trump’s order, borders were to have reopened from January 26, almost a week after he leaves office. Responding almost immediately, Biden’s spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the measure would not stand.


For Trump, the main piece of unfinished business is now the expected slew of pardons that he is reported to be preparing.

READ ALSO: Rivers begins admission into Madrid academy

According to CNN and other US outlets, Trump has a list of about 100 people he will grant clemency to.

After what The New York Times reports has been an intense lobbying effort, these are expected to be a mix of white-collar criminals and people whose cases have been championed by criminal justice activists.

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More controversial possible pardons that have been the subject of speculation for months would be for the likes of Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Trump’s influential advisor Stephen Bannon.

If Trump gave himself or his family a pardon — something currently not expected, according to latest US reports — that would likely harden anger among previously fully supportive Republicans in the Senate, which is expected to start an impeachment trial soon after Biden takes office.

– Unity and fear –



Biden’s inaugural speech is expected to focus on his appeals for Americans to reunite and to take on the Covid-19 pandemic with new seriousness.

He is also set to announce a dramatic shift away from Trump’s “America First” ideology, taking the United States back to its traditions of alliance-building. This will begin with the new president ordering the United States back into the Paris climate accord on day one.

But the 78-year-old Democrat’s fervent appeals for optimism and healing are running up against the hard reality of multiple crises.



Covid-19 is out of control, vaccine distribution is stumbling, and economic recovery remains in the balance. And after Trump’s refusal to accept the results of November’s presidential election, the country is seething.

Biden will take the oath of office on the steps of the Capitol under the protection of more than 20,000 National Guard soldiers. Checkpoints and large zones closed to ordinary citizens mean there will be only a smattering of guests.

The acting defense secretary said Monday that the military and FBI were vetting the National Guard troopers, who carry automatic weapons, in case any of them pose a threat.



– Inauguration snub –

Trump, the first president to lose reelection since George H.W. Bush was replaced by Bill Clinton, will also be the first ex-president to snub his successor’s inauguration in a century and a half.

On Wednesday, he will depart for Florida from the White House early, in order to benefit from full presidential travel privileges up to the last minute.

Marine One will take him from the White House to Joint Base Andrews to catch Air Force One — the presidential plane that, from noon, will no longer be his to use.



According to a Bloomberg report, Trump is organizing a military sendoff for himself at Andrews, watched by a crowd of invitees.

First Lady Melania Trump released a farewell message Monday as she prepares to leave the White House, saying that “violence is never the answer,” weeks after the president’s supporters stormed the US Capitol.

In a formal, six-minute speech recorded on video, she made only a fleeting reference to her husband as she paid tribute to military families, pandemic health workers and those helping victims of opioid abuse.

READ ALSO: Why Biden won’t support Buhari’s govt –Utomi


“The past four years have been unforgettable,” the First Lady said. “As Donald and I conclude our time in the White House, I think of all of the people I have taken home in my heart and their incredible stories of love, patriotism and determination.”

“Be passionate in everything you do. But always remember that violence is never the answer, and will never be justified,” she said.

“When I came to the White House, I reflected on the responsibility I have always felt as a mother to encourage, give strength and teach values of kindness.”

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The Trumps’ departure has been fractious, with the president refusing for months to accept the election result due to false allegations of fraud, and declining to congratulate his successor Joe Biden.

The outgoing president and his wife have also not invited Biden and his wife Jill for the traditional tea visit in the Oval Office, and will not attend Biden’s presidential inauguration on Wednesday.

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“The promise of this nation belongs to all of us who do not lose sight of our integrity and values, use every opportunity to show consideration for another person, and build good habits into our daily lives,” Melania Trump, 50, said.

President Donald Trump has been largely out of the public eye since his supporters rampaged through Congress on January 6, triggering his historic second impeachment a week later.

The Peoples Democratic Party in Oyo State has said that some opposition political parties in the state were behind the production of fake Amotekun Corps uniforms purportedly for hoodlums to disguise as personnel of the security outfit to cause violence in a bid to discredit Governor Seyi Makinde-led government.

The PDP made the claims in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan by its state Publicity Secretary, Akeem Olatunji, on Monday, in reaction to the Saturday’s arrest of some unauthorised tailors said to have been sewing fake Amotekun Corps uniforms.

READ ALSO: Buhari shuns Senate, approves acting DG for NDE

It read that some political enemies were out to blackmail the governor as nothing could have emboldened members of the public to venture into such criminal act without being backed by some forces.

The statement added, “It was another great achievement for the state and the Amotekun Corps to have discovered and apprehended one of the agents of darkness in our dear state who have, perhaps, been recruited by the opposition in Oyo State to heighten insecurity and create an atmosphere of chaos.

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“It is not a news anymore to residents of Oyo State that the Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has deployed all forms of evil machinations, treachery, and malicious propaganda against the PDP government under the leadership of Governor Seyi Makinde.

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However, the interim state Publicity Secretary of the APC, Dr Abdulazees Olatunde, in a reaction said, “We are out of mundane politics. Whoever gets in the way of the law should be made to pay. It is as simple as that. The allegation they are making is questionable and we want them to substantiate it. If care is not taken, we might take it legally.

“No APC member sponsored anybody. We have no hand in the hoodlums activities. They brought in hoodlums and now they are facing the challenge. They brought insecurity to Oyo State when we governed the state for eight years peacefully.

“What is our gain in the insecurity of Oyo Sate? We see it as a failure on his (Makinde’s) part because it is not good. It is only a bad craftsman who complains about his tools; they should rather look for how to solve their problem elsewhere. They are just playing propagandist politics.”

The Dangote Group says it has completed Nigeria’s longest rigid pavement located in Kogi State. According to a statement issued by the group on Sunday, the 43KM Obajana-Kabba road constructed by Dangote Industries Limited, has been described by motorists as the country’s most strategic highway aiding travellers between the North and the South.

The Project Director, Olatunbosun Kalejaiye, expressed his excitement on the completion of the Corporate Social Responsibility Project to be used by Nigerians, adding that while the rigid pavement had been completed, the company was dressing the shoulders.

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Site Engineer, Samuel Obosi, assured that the dual carriage way would be durable and less susceptible to potholes and repairs like asphalt road.

He added that it would crash the rate of road accidents in the country.

 The Bajana of Obajana Land, King Idowu Senibi, described the project as gigantic and the first of its kind anywhere in Nigeria.

“This is a great opportunity for us and many generations to come. Our society will be opened as you can see vehicles and commercial activities have started coming up. May God Almighty bless Dangote and all his staff,” he stated.

Speaking in the same vein, the traditional head of Akpata Land, Frederick Balogun, said his people were very proud of Aliko Dangote, adding that the Dangote Cement Obajana plant had brought honour and respect to their kingdoms.

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The King of Okebunku Land in Kabba Bunu Local Government, Timothy Omonile, also noted that the construction of the road had helped cut down the criminality rate in the state.

He commended the president of the Dangote Group and charged other philanthropists to emulate him, adding that that was the only way Nigeria could develop its economy and infrastructure.

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THE Rivers State Police Command has arrested a policeman, Sergeant Ibrahim Odege, attached its Operations Department and another 32-year-old Sampson Inomoghe over their alleged involvement in armed robbery in Elekahia community, Port Harcourt Local Government Area of the state.

The suspects, it was gathered, entered the community with a motorcycle on Saturday night, robbing their innocent victims with a pistol until one of the victims raised an alarm and all exit routes from the community were blocked, leading to their arrest.


Spokesman of the state Police Command, Nnamdi Omoni, in a statement on Sunday, said operatives of the Elekahia Division responded to a distress call at the Elekahia Housing Estate around 10pm and arrested the two suspected armed robbers, who were robbing people and dispossessing them of their valuables.

Omoni disclosed that assorted handsets and a locally made pistol were recovered from the suspects, adding that one of the victims, Mrs Doris Elechi, identified the suspects as the same persons that robbed her of her valuables.


The state police spokesman, who stated that the suspects had confessed to have carried out the robbery, added that the Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mukan, had condemned the act and ordered the immediate transfer of suspects and exhibits to the State Criminal Investigation Department for Investigation.

He said, “Operatives of the Elekahia Division on 16/1/2021 at about 2200Hrs responded to a distress call at the Elekahia Housing Estate, where two armed robbers, who were robbing people and dispossessing them of their valuables were arrested.


“The timely arrival of the police led to the arrest of the two armed robbers, who were later identified as Sergeant Ibrahim Odege attached to the Operations Department of the Rivers Police Command and one Sampson Inomoghe ‘m’ 32yrs from Nembe in Bayelsa State, but resides at Rumuokwrushi in Obio/Akpor LGA.

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“The duo were arrested at the scene of crime with the following exhibits; three different handsets belonging to their victims and one locally made Bareta pistol. One of the Victims, Mrs Doris Elechi, identified them as those that robbed her of her Tecno handset, which is one of the exhibits recovered.”

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President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill will become the new White House residents when he takes office on Wednesday.

Biden has made his family a major focus throughout his career, and his 2020 presidential campaign thrust them fully into the spotlight — with some members causing controversy but others breaking barriers.

Here is a look at the members of America’s new “first family.”


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– The First Lady –

Jill Biden, an educator, is set to transform her new role before she even moves into the White House.

While first ladies traditionally only fulfil ceremonial duties, “Dr B,” as her students call her, intends to keep her full-time job as an English professor.

As first lady, Jill is expected to work on education issues and relaunch Joining Forces, a mission to rally around military families that she and predecessor Michelle Obama started in 2011.

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The Bidens met in 1975, a few years after the Delaware senator had faced the unthinkable — his young wife and daughter were killed in a car crash.

Biden often says his second wife “put us back together.”

The couple wed in 1977, and she became “Mom” to his sons Hunter and Beau, who survived the car accident. They also have a daughter, Ashley, together.

While raising her family, Jill, 69, also earned two Master’s degrees, and would eventually earn a doctorate in education.

She supported her husband through his three previous presidential bids and was one of his most vocal advocates and tireless campaigners during his most recent run.

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– The First Children –

Biden has often spoken about how his relationship with his sons helped him cope with grieving as he built his political career, as well as when he married Jill.

For years, while working as a senator, he commuted by train two hours each way between the family home in Delaware and Washington in order to be there for Hunter and Beau.

Beau was seen as inheriting his father’s public service ethos and political skills. He served in the military in Iraq and became Delaware’s attorney general.

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But Beau died of brain cancer in 2015 at age 46, less than two years after he was diagnosed.

Biden refers to his late son often in political speeches, and he regularly visits Beau’s grave, as well as those of his first wife and daughter.

Biden’s other son, Hunter, has stayed farther from the spotlight. He struggled with alcohol and drug addiction, and was discharged from the Navy Reserve in 2014 after a positive test for cocaine.

He became a regular focus of Donald Trump’s attacks ahead of the November 3 vote for his business dealings in Ukraine and China.

Hunter, 50, now an artist based in Los Angeles, has admitted to displaying “poor judgment” in some of his business dealings, but denied any wrongdoing.

Biden, however, has been unwavering in his support for his son. During the final presidential debate, when Trump mocked Hunter’s cocaine use, the former vice president simply said: “I’m proud of him. I’m proud of my son.”

– The First Pets –

After Trump was the first president in more than a century not to have a dog, the Bidens are bringing two with them.

The German shepherds — Champ and Major — as well as a cat, whose breed and name have not yet been revealed, will move into the White House on January 20.

Champ has been with the Bidens since 2008. The family fostered and then adopted Major in 2018. According to Biden’s team, Major will be the first foster dog to live in the White House.

The canine companions featured in one of Biden’s campaign ads that warned voters to “choose your humans wisely,” highlighting clips of Trump scoffing at the idea of a presidential pet.

The two good boys also starred in the Bidens’ holiday message. A video cut between shots of Champ, relaxing by a Christmas tree with a sedate instrumental version of “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” playing in the background, and clips of Major playing and zooming around the house to an electric guitar version of the holiday carol.

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House impeaches Trump as Capitol riot probe continues What you need to know
The House voted yesterday to impeach President Trump for inciting the US Capitol riot last week, making him the first US president to be impeached twice.
The article of impeachment now goes to the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has made clear a trial won’t start until President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in.
Law enforcement agencies meanwhile are on high alert as they continue to investigate the Capitol riot and try to prevent follow-up attacks ahead of Inauguration Day.
1:05 p.m. ET, January 14, 2021
Man photographed holding Confederate flag in US Capitol arrested, law enforcement official says
From CNN's Evan Perez and Paul P. Murphy

Kevin Seefried carries a confederate flag in the US Capitol Rotunda on January 6 in Washington, DC. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Authorities have arrested a man who was pictured in the US Capitol last week holding a Confederate flag during a riot, according to a law enforcement official.

The law enforcement official told CNN that Kevin Seefried of Delaware has been identified as the man in the photo.

Charging documents were not immediately available.

CNN has reached out to the FBI for comment and is pursuing more information.

The Police in Rivers State has arraigned two suspects in a Chief Magistrate Court in Port Harcourt in connection with an alleged attempt to kidnap a lawyer, Mr Tamuno Igbikiberebima at his residence, near the state capital.

Recall that Barr. Igbikiberebima, a worker with the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation told newsmen at the Police headquarters in Port Harcourt last December how he disarmed AK-47 wielding men who attempted to kidnap him in front of his residence at Rumuigbo in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State.

The police later arrested the two suspects identified as Godspower Saturday and David Simeon in the course of their investigation.

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The suspects who were arraigned before Chief Magistrate Beauty Okere are facing a seven-count charge including attempted kidnap and armed robbery of four persons.

However, the Chief Magistrate decline to entertain the matter for lack of jurisdiction and directed the case file to be transferred to the Department of Public Prosecution for advice.

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She also adjourned the matter to February 24, pending the outcome of the DPP’s legal advice.

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Meanwhile, one of the four victims who were robbed by the suspects before they attempted to snatch the lawyer narrated her experience.

“It was at the NNPC filling station. They drove in and stopped at my pump. After putting the N3000 fuel they asked for, he (one of them) was still asking me for the money. That was how he brought out a gun and pointed at me,” she said.

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