Geezzyworld's Blog

Nigeria’s problem are poverty, ignorance, not restructuring – Muiz Banire Dr Muiz Banire, the National Legal Adviser of the All Progressive Congress (APC), on Monday said poverty and lack of enlightenment were major problems facing Nigeria, not restructuring. Banire made the assertion on the sidelines of an Independence Day Anniversary programme organised by the Lagos State chapters of the Buhari Youth Organisation and National Orientation Agency in Lagos. The programme tagged: “United Nigeria: Challenges and Opportunities” started on Sept. 29 with series of activities. Banire said that poverty and ignorance were the main reasons for agitation for secession in some parts of the country. He called for right representation of people to quell agitations, adding that Nigerians should also learn to ask questions from their representatives at various levels.         “People agitate only when they feel offended and deprived, but the solu...

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the mass shooting in Las Vegas, saying that the perpetrator was “a soldier” who had converted to Islam months ago, without providing any evidence to support the claim. The group released two statements on its Aamaq news agency on Monday, hours after the shooting at a country music concert that killed at least 50 people and wounded at least 400. It did not name the suspected shooter, identified by Las Vegas police as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, but said he had “executed the operation in response to calls to target countries of the coalition” batting the extremist group in Iraq and Syria. IS often claims attacks by individuals inspired by its message but with no known links to the group. Get more stories like this on Twitter & Facebook

The United Nations rights chief said he was disturbed by the violence during a police crackdown on the banned independence referendum in the Spanish region of Catalonia and urged Madrid to investigate any possible misconduct. “I am very disturbed by the violence in Catalonia on Sunday… I urge the Spanish authorities to ensure thorough, independent and impartial investigations into all acts of violence,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, said in a statement. “Police responses must at all times be proportionate and necessary.”           Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, said the country’s security forces “performed their duty” and that the rule of law had prevailed. Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, said police had used “indiscriminate force” against people demonstrating “peacefully”. Catalon authorities said 844 people needed medical attention after the weekend unrest, with at least ...

A man has been charged after a 15-year-old Muslim boy was stabbed outside a Shia mosque in the central English city of Birmingham. Dominic Palmer, who is 29 years old, is expected to appear in front of magistrates early on Monday accused of the attempted murder of Syed Hasan on Friday at the Idaara Maarif-e-Islam Hussainia Mosque in the Small Heath area of the city. The teenager, who had celebrated his birthday two days before the incident, is in critical condition with injuries to his neck. The alleged attacker is believed to have lived on the same road where the mosque is located. “This was a tragic incident and our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time,” said Detective Inspector Jim Colclough of West Midlands Police. “Our investigation is continuing as we work to establish the circumstances of what happened so that we can provide his family with the answers they need,” he added. ‘Open mind’       Earlier, Colcl...

The Presidency on Monday said it was unfair for the Igbo group, Ohanaeze, to blame the recent unrest in the South East on the Federal Government. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said this in a statement made available to journalists. Ohanaeze had in response to the President Muhammadu Buhari’s Independence Day broadcast said the present administration’s anti-Igbo policies fueled agitations in the region. But Shehu urged the group of Igbo leaders to see themselves as partners with the Federal Government in promoting peace and stability in the country. The presidential spokesman said Buhari’s message to all community leaders, that include the Ohanaeze, in his broadcast was that they have a huge role to play i n what happens in their communities and in how their youths behave. He said, “President Buhari was not abdicating his responsibilities. He didn’t request any political leader to do anything seminal or out of t...

Bayern Munich can expect to be without veteran winger Franck Ribery for up to three months with Sky reporting on Monday he has torn a knee ligament. The 34-year-old had to be helped off in the 62nd minute of Bayern’s 2-2 draw against Hertha Berlin on Sunday which left them five points adrift of leaders Borussia Dortmund in Germany’s top flight. Caretaker coach Willy Sagnol was in charge after Carlo Ancelotti was sacked on Thursday in the wake of the 3-0 Champions League drubbing at Paris Saint Germain. Sky reported that Ribery has torn a ligament in his left knee and will be out for between two to three months, although the club has yet to confirm. “I’m in a lot of pain and not doing so well,” said Ribery at Munich airport after the flight from Berlin. “The outside ligament is probably affected, I hope it’s not something worse.” The injury is a particular blow to the Frenchman, who is out of contract at the end of the season, and Bayern, who are already without ...

- Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari said on Sunday he would not allow the country to be dismembered as it faces calls for secession in a region formerly known as Biafra and the Niger Delta oil hub along with a separatist insurgency by Boko Haram. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation and has the continent’s largest economy but it has struggled for unity among its 180 million inhabitants who include Christians and Muslims. Its 250 different ethnic groups mostly co-exist peacefully.  In the last few months calls for a separate southeastern state known as Biafra have grown louder, evoking memories of a conflict there that killed around 1 million people in the 1960s. Militants in the restive southern Niger Delta have also called for independence in the last year. “Highly irresponsible groups” were calling for the “dismemberment of the country,” Buhari said in a televised speech to mark the anniversary of Nigeria’s independence. “We cannot and we will n...

A former governor of Yobe State, Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim, representing Yobe East under the All Progressives Congress, APC, has declared he will die in the National Assembly. Ibrahim was Yobe governor for three times before he went to the Senate in 2007. The former governor was re-elected in 2011 and for the third time in 2015. He is currently serving as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ecology and Climate Change. He made the declaration during a debate on the 57th anniversary of the country on Friday, insisting that only death will take him away from the upper chamber. Bukar turned 68 yesterday when the country marked its 57th anniversary. According to him, “We are very grateful to God and to all Nigerians. Let me categorically say, Mr. Senate President, that I will stay in the Senate until death do us part. “Everybody tells me that I’m Senator for life. I’m going to be in the Senate for life,” he said. Get more stories like this on Twitter & F...

President Donald Trump on Sunday defended US efforts to bring relief to storm-battered Puerto Rico, even as one island official said Trump was trying to gloss over “things that are not going well.” A day after Trump launched a Twitter attack against San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz following her desperate pleas for more help, he tweeted that “we have done a great job with the almost impossible situation in Puerto Rico.” Trump said US military teams and the Federal Emergency Management Agency were doing “amazing work” and credited the island’s governor and others with a “fantastic job.” But two weeks after devastating Hurricane Maria left much of the island without electricity, fresh water or sufficient food, many Puerto Ricans seemed to have a far gloomier outlook. Hilda Lopez, in her 80s, broke into tears when approached as she left Mass at San Juan’s Cathedral. “It pains me that the president of the United States has expressed himself the way he has in recent da...

  Rio Ferdinand says he is “not looking” to have a boxing career but is focused on getting his professional boxing license and having “one fight”. The former Manchester United and England defender launched a professional boxing career last month and said he was “aiming for a belt”. The 38-year-old’s career change is backed by betting company Betfair. “I want to see if I can get a license and become a professional and have one fight,” said Ferdinand. Speaking on BBC Breakfast he added: “I am not looking to have a career here. I am looking to have a professional fight and I will see where I go then. It might grab me and say ‘I want to stay in here’.” Ferdinand, who won the Premier League six times and the Champions League once during his time at Old Trafford, says he does not have an opponent yet. “I need to get a license first, ” he added. “I am taking this seriously, this is not a joke, hopefully I will get a license, go on to become a professional and figh...

South Africa’s Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has hit out at brawling, chair-throwing ANC politicians, describing their behaviour as shameful. He made the remarks at the close of an African National Congress meeting in Eastern Cape province that descended into chaos. “I saw chairs flying – a festival of chairs… It’s something we must be deeply ashamed about,” he said. The ANC is to chose a new leader in December, inflaming party tensions. Mr Ramaphosa is one of the front-runners to replace President Jacob Zuma. Analysts say the eventual election of Oscar Mabuyane on Sunday as the ANC’s East Cape provincial chairman is a boost for Mr Ramaphosa’s leadership bid. At least eight people were injured in the violence that erupted at a conference centre in East London in the early hours of Sunday morning. Footage of the chair-throwing has been shared on social media. A rival faction left the meeting and tried, but failed, to get the High Court to declare the conferenc...

Ahead of a re-run presidential election, supporters of Kenya’s opposition have called for electoral officials to be sacked and demanded the ruling party is blocked from changing voting laws. In the opposition strongholds of Kisumu and Siaya, police on Monday fired tear gas at protesters who were jammed roads and burned tyres. Security forces hurled fired tear gas canisters at demonstrators in capital, Nairobi. The nationwide demonstrations were called by Raila Odinga, the opposition leader, on Thursday. He has promised that protests will take place twice a week until the demonstrators’ demands are met. “We have no other option but to take the battle to the people,” Odinga said at a press conference on Thursday, as he called his supporters to turn out in force. “I call upon on this generation to resist. They must arise and resist an attempt to try and take them back to the eras of single-party dictatorship. We are calling our people to action,” Odinga said. On the ...

A coalition of women group under the aegis of the Nigerian Women for Peaceful Coexistence and Unity has said that the unity of Nigeria is non-negotiable. The group’s leaders, former senator, Florence Ita-Giwa; former deputy governor of Lagos State, Sinatu Ojukutu; and rights activist; Kafilat Ogbara, made the assertion in Lagos on Sunday at an event organised to commemorate Nigeria’s 57th independence anniversary. On the demands of the Indigenous People of Biafra, the convener of the group, Ita-Giwa, recalled the consequences of the 1967-70 civil war and called on the separatist group to sheathe their sword. “Many of us here are living witnesses to the horrors of the Nigerian Civil war between 1967 and 1970. Two million innocent souls were lost in that war. We lost spouses, fathers, and siblings and loved ones. Many of us lost three years of our lives and our parents had to start life afresh at the end of the war,” she said. While stressing that the group is no...

A HOLIDAYMAKER was marched off a passenger jet after asking a shocked male cabin crewman: “Oi queer boy, where’s my seat?”   Drunken Thomas Howorth, 28, berated easyJet staff when disorientated as he boarded his flight at Manchester Airport. As fellow passengers were being guided onto the aircraft, Howorth abused purser William Compton. When his colleague Jemma Grieves intervened, Howorth pushed her out of the way and said: “I’ll f***ing headbutt you.” Police later arrested him, marched the labouring business owner off the plane and he admitted assault and using threatening behaviour. At Manchester Magistrates Court on Friday Howorth, of Rochdale, narrowly avoided jail with a 16-week suspended sentence. He was also ordered to complete 120 hours unpaid work and told to pay £200 court costs. Prosecutor Hayley Bennett explained how trouble started when the drunken defendant boarded the easyJet flight to Europe last April. Angry with passing purser William Compton that ...

A NORTH Korea ship was seized after it was caught carrying a huge supply of weapons to Egypt as tensions continue to mount with the US. More than 30,000 rocket-propelled grenades discovered on board the freighter named the Jie Shun which the hermit kingdom had decorated with deceptive Cambodian colours. Despot leader Kim Jong-un’s cargo was stopped in its tracks when the US warned Cairo about the incoming ship. An investigation launched by the United Nations found that Pyongyang had made nice with Egyptian business executives who had ordered millions of dollars worth of North Korean weaponry. The monumental weapons supply was disguised under bins of iron ore that were used as a front for the hugely destructive delivery. Washington has accused Egypt of attempting to conceal the transaction, claiming there was a lack of action taken until US intelligence alerted Egyptian authorities to the then unidentified vessel. Despite the country’s attempts to conceal the transact...

Soccer-United injuries are opportunities for others - Mourinho Oct 2 (Reuters) - Manchester United's injuries gives team mates the opportunity to prove their worth and flourish for the starting side, the Premier League club's manager Jose Mourinho has said. Frenchman Paul Pogba is the latest to join United's long-term injury list with a hamstring problem but the club have won five consecutive games without the playmaker, including Saturday's 4-0 league win over bottom-side Crystal Palace. United have been dominant over the last five games, scoring 17 goals and conceding just two, and Mourinho is focused on the players on the pitch rather than those absent from it. "When we moan all the time about injuries it looks like we don't trust the other people and we have to. We never miss the players that are injured, that's our way of seeing," Mourinho told British media. "They are injured, we don't think about them. It...

LONDON (Reuters) - Everton manager Ronald Koeman is under mounting pressure after they lost 1-0 at home to Burnley on Sunday, while Liverpool drew 1-1 at Newcastle United as the Merseyside clubs continued to struggle in the Premier League. Liverpool’s latest slip allowed Arsenal, who beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0, to leapfrog them into fifth place as the chasing teams scrambled to keep up with the ferocious pace set by the Manchester clubs who are five points clear at the top. City and United have 19 points ahead of Tottenham Hotspur on 14, after they won 4-0 at Huddersfield Town on Saturday, with Chelsea, who lost 1-0 at home to Manchester City also on Satuday, and Arsenal both on 13. Sixth-placed Burnley have 12 points, above Liverpool on goal difference, as their first league win at Goodison Park since 1976 saw them continue their best start to a Premier League season. Sean Dyche’s side have taken eight points from four away games -- more than they mana...

Mass shooting at open-air country concert in Las Vegas Thousands dive for cover during Route 91 Harvest Festival Automatic gunfire reported from nearby Mandalay Bay Hotel At least two killed and 24 injured with gunshot wounds Police say one suspect 'down'; do not belive other attackers Motive for Las Vegas Strip shooting remains unclear 'We thought it was fireworks': Witnesses describe shooting Two people have been killed and dozens more injured in a mass shooting during an open-air country music festival in Las Vegas. The city's famous strip was on lockdown after prolonged automatic gunfire, which reportedly came from a top floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. Thousands of people dived for cover as hundreds of shots rained down on the crowd during the Route 91 Harvest Festival at about 10.20pm on Sunday local time (6.20am Monday BST). Police later said one suspect was "down", adding that they did not believe ther...

Oyo State Gov. Abiola Ajimobi, CP Abiodun Odude geezzyworld: Ibadan Suspected armed robbers attacked residents of Tella Estate in the Akobo area of Ibadan, Oyo State, on Saturday in a reportedly coordinated operation that lasted several hours. Residents said the seven-man gang arrived at the residential estate a few minutes after 12am and raided one house after another, carting away valuable items belonging to the residents. It was also gathered that a large number of residents were injured in the attack. Several expended cartridges were found at the scene of the raid, while a private guard, identified simply as Victor, received machete cuts to his head from the suspected robbers. Chairman of the landlord association in the area, Basiru Shodeyinde, said the incident was reported at the Akobo Police Station. Shodeyinde said, “From the information I have, the robbers have been in the community since midnight. I was not aware until around 2am whe...

A wild boar spread havoc in a peaceful residential area in southern Japan, upending a man in a wheelchair, biting two pensioners and smashing into both a motorbike and a car, police said. The woman and the man in a wheelchair both suffered broken fingers. A local man then set about the animal with a golf club before police shot it dead. At least three people were injured in Sunday’s rampage in Sasebo city before the boar, measuring 1.2 metres (3.6 feet), was stopped by a local man wielding a golf club and, eventually, police shooters. During the wild animal’s eight-hour reign of terror it charged at a motorbike, attacked a 59-year-old wheelchair-bound man, and bit an 89-year-old woman on her left thumb and arm, Sasebo police official Yasutaka Urago told AFP. It also “smashed into a small car, and before getting caught late in the afternoon, bit a 78-year-old man”, a member of the local hunting club who tried to stop the beast. The woman and the man in a wheelchair bot...

Singer Oritsefemi posted lovely photos of him and his wife Nabila donning their traditional attire for the country’s Independence Day. Oritsefemi captioned one of the photos “My twin” and another with “Femi and the queen”

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had acknowledged on Saturday, after meetings in Beijing with Chinese leaders, that the Trump administration was keeping open direct channels of communications with North Korea and probing the North's willingness to talk   President Donald Trump said Sunday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was "wasting his time" trying to negotiate with North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs, raising speculation about whether Trump could be undermining efforts to maintain channels of communication or somehow bolstering the diplomat's hand in possible future talks. It was not immediately clear what prompted Trump's tweets, among a series of weekend posts that ranged from hurricane recovery efforts in Puerto Rico to NFL players' allegiance to the national anthem, and at whom they were aimed: Tillerson, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, those pushing for continued diplomacy, those favoring a military response to r...