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Folarin Kehinde

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Sexual Assault: Baba Ijesha Sentenced to 16 Years Imprisonment

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court on Thursday sentenced actor Olanrewaju Omiyinka aka Baba Ijesha to 16 years imprisonment.

Baba Ijesha is facing six counts of child defilement that include indecent treatment of a child, sexual assault, attempted sexual assault by penetration and sexual assault by penetration.

The offences contravene Section 135, 137, 261, 202, 262 and 263 of the Lagos State Criminal Law 2015, which stipulates life imprisonment for offenders.

Delivering the judgement, Justice Taiwo said that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of all the charges against him.

However, she found the defendant guilty of two of the six counts against him.

Details Shortly…

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JUST IN: IGP Bans Spy Number Plates Nationwide

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, has ordered a total ban on all use of Police SPY Vehicle Number Plates by vehicle owners across the states of the federation without exception.

This was contained in a statement by Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, on Wednesday.

The statement was titled, ‘Internal security: IGP bans use of spy number plates nationwide … Directs reversal to original registered number plates, seizure of SPY plates’.

The statement read, “This is irrespective of whether it is authorised, or not, as all authorizations are hereby revoked indefinitely.

“This order is necessary to forestall the continuous disregard for traffic rules and regulations and other extant laws guiding road use by individuals hiding under the privileges of SPY police number plates.

The IGP has therefore directed that police officers and officers of other security agencies attached to VIPs who use the SPY number plates should ensure prompt compliance with this directive or risk being arrested for violation of the order.

“Meanwhile, the IGP has directed Commissioners of Police in the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, as well as their supervisory Assistant Inspectors General of Police, to give full effect to the directives as contained above.

The IGP specifically directed the AIGs and CPs to ensure that all SPY number plates currently in use are confiscated henceforth but the owners of such vehicles should not be arrested unless they are police officers or officers of other security agencies on escort duties.

“The IGP however warned that while carrying out these assignments, officers must ensure the rights and privileges of citizens are respected in line with the laws of the land and in accordance with international best practices.

“Other security agencies and members of the public are enjoined to cooperate with the Police in this regard as the moves are aimed at strengthening our internal security.”

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Encomium as Wole Soyinka Celebrates 88 Birthday

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

Nigerian sage and literary genius Professor Wole Soyinka turns 88 today. He was born on the 13th of july 1934 in Abeokuta near Ibadan, old western Nigeria.

After his studies in government college Ibadan (now university of Ibadan) in 1954, he continued at the university of Leeds where in 1973 he took his doctorate. During the six years spent in England, he was a dramaturgist at the Royal Court Theatre in London 1958-1959.

In 1960, he was awarded a Rockefeller bursary and returned to Nigeria to study African drama. At the same time, he taught drama and literature at various universities in Ibadan, Lagos, and Ife, where, since 1975, he has been professor of comparative literature.

He is the author of many renowned plays including: swamp dwellers, the Lion and the Jewel, the trial of brother Jero etc. Soyinka has written two novels, The Interpreters (1965), narratively, a complicated work which has been compared to Joyce’s and Faulkner’s, in which six Nigerian intellectuals discuss and interpret their African experiences, and Season of Anomy (1973) which is based on the writer’s thoughts during his imprisonment and confronts the Orpheus and Euridice myth with the mythology of the Yoruba.

Purely autobiographical are The Man Died: Prison Notes (1972) and the account of his childhood, Aké ( 1981), in which the parents’ warmth and interest in their son are prominent. Literary essays are collected in, among others, Myth, Literature and the African World (1975).

in 1986, he won the coveted Nobel prize in Literature, becoming the first African to win the award.

Professor Soyinka is celebrated as a literacy genius, a pan-African and an avid campaigner for good governance. Many people including the Nobel association have taken to their social media accounts to celebrate the Nigerian writer on his 88th birthday

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2023 Census: NPC Foil Attempt to Hack Recruitment Portal

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

The National Population Commission (NPC) has foiled an attempt to hack its recruitment portal for the 2023 census.

NPC Commissioner for Anambra, Chidi Ezeoke, made the disclosure at a news conference in Awka.

Ezeoke said that the NPC had established a digitalised online geo-fenced portal to recruit personnel from selected communities across Nigeria.

The official assured that the commission was committed to correcting anomalies to ensure an accurate and reliable census next year.

“If hackers were not able to succeed in this, we want to ensure and assure that it will be difficult for them to hack during the 2023 census.

“I’m almost certain that the attempt, to a large extent, was foiled.

“When you are trying out something new, people will try to bypass your efforts”, NAN quoted him saying.

Joachim Ulasi, NPC State Director refuted alleged substitution of recruited officers, saying the ones dropped were those absent during the 12-day training.

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The Pains and Gains of POS Business in Nigeria

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

Nelson Uguwagbo, Abuja

POS services now place an active role in the day to day routine of Nigerians. Their operators are in every nook and cranny of Nigerian localities making it easier for individuals to carry out financial services.

The central bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2013 introduced the agent banking system in a move to extend financial services and push Nigerians towards a cashless economy.

Agent or POS banking opened up a new portal for banks and other financial institutions to reach a wide range of customers including those in remote or unbanked places.

They extend the services offered by these financial institutions to make financial transactions more convenient for customers.

In 2020, the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) recorded that POS merchants processed over 650 million POS transactions valued at 4.7 trillion naira. A 50% increase from 2019.

This was partly due to the lockdown which made it impossible for individuals to visit banks.

The services offered by POS merchants include: withdrawing money, deposit and transfer of cash, paying utility bills, opening bank accounts etcetera.

An enormous advantage of POS is the role it has played in Job creation and curbing unemployment especially among young people in Nigeria.

A brief survey of most communities in Nigeria shows that POS merchants are almost at a stone throw from one another.

The requirements to become a licensed POS operator is easy to meet. Some banks even give POS machines for free to interested individuals who have a stipulated amount of money in their account (often less that 150,000 naira).
Most Nigerians have taken that advantage to open POS shops at various locations.

These owners also employ various sales girls and boys to manage their POS shops.

In Dape, a community in Abuja, Nigeria, there are over 30 POS shops that employ lots of sales persons. These persons would have otherwise not been gainfully employed. This scenario is the same in various communities, markets and roadsides across Nigeria.

Advantages of POS business are:

1) Financial Inclusion: POS business in various localities means more Nigerians can be included in financial services.
POS agents help Nigerians open accounts, pay bills, deposit, withdraw and transfer cash among other services.

Many people who were previously unbanked can now carryout financial transactions with the aid of POS services.

Also, since banks and ATM’s are mostly located in urban areas, POS comes as a means to include everyone to bridge the gap and include everyone.

2) Convenience: POS businesses offers financial convenience to their customers. Instead of going to queue up inside a bank or ATM, an individual can just go to one of the numerous POS outlets in his or her locality and carry out the transaction.

Also unlike banks that only work Monday to Friday and close by 3pm, most POS agents work 7 days a week and are available up till 11pm.

However POS business is not without it’s disadvantages. While customers enjoy the convenience that comes with POS services and business owners enjoy the profits, it is necessary to discuss some factors that pose as a risk factor to POS transactions.

1) Network Issues and Failed Transactions

One main disadvantage of POS business is that it is vulnerable to network issues.
4 out of 5 Nigerians have experienced the frustration that comes with having a POS transaction declined due to poor Network.

This poor networks leads to money hanging in transit that can only be gotten back weeks after the customers goes to lay a formal complain at the bank.

2) Exposed Customer Information:
Private details of a customers can easily be stolen by a fraudulent POS operator.

The pins and card details of customers when stolen are used to scam people of their money.
Also names are address of customers available to POS agents can be sold to criminals who might want to harm them. This factor has led a lot of people to be weary and skeptical of POS agents.

3) Theft and Scamming: In an unsecured community or location, the POS agent is not safe as he is susceptible to attack by people who wish to steal the money on them.
Since it is common knowledge that POS agents always have bulk cash at hand, many criminals target them so are to forcibly collect the money.

Also, scammers or Yahoo boys normally extort money from POS agents by using fake alerts to deceive them.

This high rate of crime has led some POS businesses to go bankrupt, worse is that it can lead to injury or death of the POS agent who resists.

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2023: Funke Akindele Dumps Acting for Politics

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

Nollywood actress, Funke Akindele, has put her acting career on hold as she becomes the running mate of the Peoples Democratic Party Lagos State governorship candidate, Olajide Adediran.

Confirming her deputy governorship candidacy on Tuesday, the actress stated that her acting career must be “necessarily put on hold”.

According to her, this was a sacrifice she had to make to “rescue” the people of Lagos State.

In the video she shared on her Instagram page on Tuesday, the actress said, “I am not unaware of the cost of this assignment on my vibrant career, which I must now necessarily put on hold.

“It’s a huge personal sacrifice. My resolve is that no sacrifice is too huge for the actualisation of the urgent mission to rescue our people and our dear state.”

Speaking on her reason for accepting the role, Akindele said, “I saw it as an opportunity to help liberate and improve the wellbeing of our people, particularly the deprived youth, women and the girl child.

“My decision is not just to accept this huge responsibility but to also work tirelessly and complement Jandor’s burning desire to see our dear Lagos live up to its full potential.”

Meanwhile, when she said her name at the end of the video, the Ikorodu-born indigene of Lagos didn’t include her husband’s name, Bello.

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APC Muslim-Muslim Ticket Is An Insult To Our Sensibilities’ — Lawyer

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Human Rights Activist, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa SAN has strongly condemned the APC’s choice of Vice Presidential Candidate, describing it as a terrible choice in many ways.

Recall that earlier today, news broke that the APC Presidential Candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has settled for Former Governor of Borno State, Sen. Kassim Shettima as Vice Presidential Candidate replacing Aliyu Masari, who was earlier picked as placeholder.

Adegboruwa in his response to the news in very strong terms condemned the choice of a Muslim-Muslim ticket urging Nigerians to reject the APC.

He said: “It is a terrible choice, in one million ways.

Nigerians, whether Muslims, Christians, Traditionalists, etc, should reject APC with their votes come 2023.”

According to him “A Muslim-Muslim ticket in present-day Nigeria is fuel for Boko Haram, incentive for ISWAP and a call for more terrorists.

Unless of course those parading the ticket are themselves complicit.

There is no better way to insult our sensibilities.

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Sallah: Kano Residents Settles For Camel as Prices of Ram Skyrocket

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

Camel sellers in Kano State are smiling home or perhaps to the banks with millions of naira as residents are trooping in to buy camels as the prices of rams, which are the common livestock killed during Sallah festivals have skyrocketed beyond what many residents can afford.

On Friday, Kofar Na’isa livestock market in the metropolis, PREMIUM TIMES noticed that camel sellers were making brisk business and dominated the selling points hitherto used by cows and ram sellers in previous years.

At one of the stalls still selling rams, Idris Illiyasu, a ram dealer from Sokoto, decried the low sale. He said the soaring cost of rams is the reason he was finding it difficult to get customers.

Mr Illiyasu said the prices of the rams start from N40,000 to N105,000. He said the rams selling at N105,000 were sold for N90,000 last year.

Rams selling at N50,000 now were sold at N35,000 last year,” Mr Illiyasu said.

“The surprising thing about this year’s rams market is that there is no panic buying as the Sallah celebration approaches, unlike in the previous years.

“As the Sallah approaches, the prices of rams remain higher while the buyers are shrinking,” Mr Illiyasu said.

“I have been a ram dealer, coming to Kano for over a decade, but this is the year I witnessed such high cost of rams in all the years I have been engaging in the business,” Mr Illiyasu added.

Muslims across the world use rams to celebrate Eid-el Kabir festival because it attracts the highest reward when compared to other livestock.

It Is recommended that one use a ram for the sacrifice provided one can afford it, the next in the reward is a cow.

Islam also recommends animals like the sheep, he-goat, and she-goat which are relatively cheaper than the ram, cow, and camel.

A survey of Kano livestock market suggests that the prices of cows have also skyrocketed.

Muslims across the world use rams to celebrate Eid-el Kabir festival because it attracts the highest reward when compared to other livestock.

It Is recommended that one use a ram for the sacrifice provided one can afford it, the next in the reward is a cow.

Islam also recommends animals like Islam also recommends animals like the sheep, he-goat, and she-goat which are relatively cheaper than the ram, cow, and camel.

A survey of Kano livestock market suggests that the prices of cows have also skyrocketed.

Even when groups of people contribute to buying cows, the cost still places a huge financial strain on them.

Halliru Diso, a cow dealer in the Kofar Na’isa livestock market, also complained about the increasing cost of the livestock.

He said cows are sold for between N250,000 and N1 million.

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Breaking: Eedris Abdulkareem Diagnosed With Kidney Failure

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

Abdulkareem Ajenifuja, popularly known as Eedris Abdulkareem has been diagnosed with kidney failure.

This is according to a statement by his management, Lakeem Entertainment Inc.

The singer’s management, however, revealed that the singer has been undergoing dialysis at a hospital in Lagos state.

The statement read, “The Lakreem Entertainment Inc. boss has recently been diagnosed of kidney failure and have been undergoing dialysis since the detection at a reputable hospital here in Lagos, Nigeria.”

The ‘Jaga Jaga’ crooner is billed to undergo a kidney transplant at the end of this month.

“The date for the transplant surgery is now fixed for the end of this month of July, and all arrangements and texts have been concluded, including certifying the compatibility status of the gracious donor (a family member),” they said.

His management, therefore, called for prayers from fans and concerned Nigerians on behalf of the singer.

“Therefore, on behalf of the Abdulkareem family and Lakreem Entertainment Inc., we most sincerely ask for prayers and good wishes for Eedris, as we face this challenging times.”

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