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Reps Meet Defence Minister, CDS Over Presidential Directive On Military Farming

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…as Rep Benson say LG autonomy will address security challenges  
 
By Gloria Ikibah 
 
House of Representatives Committee on Defence has with the Minister of Defence, Abubakar Badaru, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa on Monday July 15, 2024, to know how the military plans to carry out the presidential directives to farming.
 
Chairman of Committee, Rep. Babajimi Benson who disclosed this when he spoke with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, commended President Bola Tinubu for mandating the Armed Forces to also put farming in the front burner.
 
He said: “If there is food security, insecurity will go down. So the Army takes possession lets say they have 1 million hectares somewhere, there is not going to be insecurity, is going to be manned by the military. 
 
“So we are taking initiative by next week (Monday) we are going to call the Minister of Defence, Chief of Defence Staff to come and explain to us how they want to transform Mr President’s directives into reality. Let the armed forces who protect us, all the vast land (they have) let them go and cultivate it”.
 
Rep. Benson also hailed President Tinubu for ensuring that there is local autonomy, even as he said the development will help in addressing insecurity in the country. 
 
According to him, security starts from the grassroots, even as he stressed that the financial autonomy given to local governments will spur development and close ungoverned spaces which induced insecurity.
 
He further noted that the local government council chairmen will have more funds to develop their areas and secure lives as well as properties.
 
“I I give super kudos to the President of Nigeria for ensuring that there is local government autonomy because security starts from grassroots. So, if you empower a local government to have full receipt of their monthly applications, they don’t have immunity like the governors and people are aware that now the shackles are broken, I don’t think there will be any stretch or space in Nigeria that will not be governable.
 
“When I received report from my military people they tell us that there are a lot of ungovernable spaces, they are areas where no single government presence is existing. These will be made aware that this local government that is next to border or whatsoever has received so much money. So, it also behoves on the people to be wise in choosing people that administer them because if you do that, this is a game changer in my opinion.
 
“There will competition amongst local governments, there will be a spur to develop if they receive their full money and people will be moving from one local government to the other because these local government chairmen can concentrate on his campaign promise, some can be water, some can be infrastructure, some can be housing, some can be medical, some can have super fire service, some can have schools, different things. I think it is a game changer that can be catalytic for Nigeria’s development,” he said.
 
He also elaborated on his motion in which the House asked the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), to immediately halt the unfair business practices against Air peace, Dangote and other businesses by certain foreign businesses operating in Nigeria.
 
He explained: “I moved the motion, my intention was to ensure that there is fairness, justice, good conscience in doing business in Nigeria. It will be very unfair if there are conspiracies by foreign companies to undermine Nigerian companies. What we frowned against is these companies coming together to offer predatory prices that are below the market rates in order to edge out Nigerian own enterprises. 
 
“These practices they do not do it in their own countries. It can stiffle Nigerian businesses by reducing their prices and then they jerk up the prices. So it is speculated that this happened against Air Peace. At some points, tickets from Lagos to London were selling as high as N4 million. All of a sudden, a local company came in and all these companies just dropped prices lower than what Air Peace was offering. So, you ask yourself, why this sudden drop is this sudden dropped aim to undermine or get Air Peace out of it and once Air Peace is out of it, the prices go up. There is also a flip side that at end of day Air Peace can also be added to that cartel.
 
“So my motion is not to protect Air Peace alone but to protect Nigerians to let them know that there are opportunities for operators in a certain industry to collude and whenever it pleases them, some will lower their prices, whenever it pleases others, they all collude. 
 
“Second, we spoke about Dangote, there is also need to investigate because if Dangote Refinery (is reason for) this non sell of crude oil is not part of predatory way of ensuring that Nigeria keeps importing and Dangote refinery is left out.
 
“I am saying the Nigerian authorities, the FCPC should also be watchful of this and make sure that if there is gang up to stiffle Nigerians they should quickly step into it or do investigative hearing. So the world is aware that Nigeria is informed about predatory pricing strategies.
 
“The agency (FCPC) should be alert to its responsibility to know that its mandate is huge, the mandate is to protect Nigerians from being exploited by these oligarchs. The legislation on consumer protection is very robust. It’s new, it is one of the freshest legislations we have, I think the law was passed in twilight of the Buhari administration. 
 
“So, I think the operators of law should ensure that they study and apply the full essence of the clauses that are contained to prevent these practices. It’s a wake up call, it is a motion to make them wake up to their responsibility and to let them know that, that agency can add tremendously to Nigerian sustenance of its business ecosystem.”
 
On State Police, Rep. Benson said: “If I have power to make legislation I will say state policing is not by force. If you want it, apply. If a governor applies for state policing, the authority veting it may be the Police Service Commission whatever, looks at it and if they pass they should be given on a pilot scheme. There should also be conditions if you give them the license and they don’t do well you can suspend, revoke and you may not renew.”
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Worldwide Prayers For ‘Critically’ Sick Pope Francis

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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Pope Francis spent his tenth day in hospital Sunday as Catholics around the world prayed for his recovery, the day after the Vatican warned the 88-year-old’s condition was “critical”.

The Argentine pontiff, who is being treated for double pneumonia, suffered a prolonged asthma-style attack on Saturday and required blood transfusions for a low platelet count.

On Sunday morning the Holy See said “the night passed peacefully, the pope rested” — indicating no repeat of the crisis the previous day, Vatican sources said.

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But Francis, who had part of a lung removed when he was a young man, is still receiving oxygen through a tube in his nostrils in the papal suite at Rome’s Gemelli hospital.

In a message published Sunday but written in the past few days, the Jesuit thanked hospital staff and said he had confidence in his treatment.

“I am confidently continuing my hospitalisation at the Gemelli Hospital, carrying on with the necessary treatment — and rest is also part of the therapy!” he said.

“I ask you to pray for me,” he concluded in the text published in lieu of his weekly Sunday Angelus, which he normally delivers from a window overlooking St Peter’s Square.

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People pray at the feet of a statue of John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for pneumonia in Rome on February 23, 2025. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP)

Francis, who has been head of the Catholic Church since 2013, was admitted on February 14 initially with bronchitis, but his condition has deteriorated since then.

In its evening update Saturday, the Vatican warned his “condition continues to be critical, therefore the pope is not out of danger”.

It said Francis was alert and “spent the day in an armchair even if he was suffering more than” the day before.

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It said he had a “prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis, which also required the application of high-flow oxygen”.

Daily blood tests also “showed thrombocytopenia, associated with anaemia, which required the administration of blood transfusions”, it added.

Thrombocytopenia is a condition that occurs when the platelet count in the blood is too low, which can cause trouble stopping bleeding.

Blood or platelet transfusions, delivered via an intravenous (IV) line, are given to people who are either bleeding heavily or at very high risk of bleeding, according to the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).

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“The pope gets worse,” headlined Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper on Sunday, while La Repubblica described it as the “darkest day” at the Vatican.

Well-wishers have been leaving candles outside the Gemelli since Francis was admitted, and a special mass was planned for Sunday evening in Rome.

“I am praying for him, for his health, because he is a special person for all of us,” Italian teacher Ilde Zito told AFP at the hospital.

Prayers and messages of solidarity also came in from among the almost 1.4 billion Catholics across the globe, alongside other Christians and world leaders.

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In the cathedral of Buenos Aires, where Francis was once archbishop, TV screens at the entrance showed images of then Jorge Bergoglio’s good works, and the priest held a special mass.

“He is strong, he has always been strong, but there is nature. I know he is very ill and old. I hope he recovers, but it makes me sad,” Hector Armando Diaz, 76, a retired sales clerk, told AFP there.

Across the world in Iraq’s northern city of Mosul, a former bastion of the Islamic State group that Francis visited in 2021, at least a dozen churches also held prayers for him.

“This is the least we can do to express our solidarity, love, and appreciation for this great person,” said university professor Adnan Hadi.

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Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, offered her hopes on social media for a speedy recovery for the “great humanist” Francis, the first pope from the Americas.

Francis’s continued hospitalisation has sparked huge concern about his health but also speculation about whether he might step down.

He has always left the door open to following his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who in 2013 became the first pope since the Middle Ages to resign.

But he has repeatedly said it was not the time.

The pope maintains a punishing work schedule. He carried out a mammoth 12-day tour to the Asia-Pacific in September, but has suffered increasing health issues.

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He underwent colon surgery in 2021 and an operation for a hernia two years later. He is overweight and has constant hip and knee pain, which forces him to use a wheelchair.

AFP

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Liverpool thrash Man City, Go 11 Points Clear

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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Liverpool took a big step to winning the Premier League, crushing an uninspiring Manchester City in a showdown on Sunday.

Mohamed Salah stole the show, scoring one and providing an assist to send Liverpool 11 points clear at the top of the table although they have played a game more.

The Egyptian opened the scoring with his 30th goal of the season before setting up Dominik Szoboszlai to double the lead before half-time.

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Just days after exiting the Champions League to Real Madrid, this was another sobering defeat for the dethroned English champions, who are now 20 points adrift of the leaders.

So often during Pep Guardiola’s glorious reign, Liverpool have come up just short in English football’s great rivalry of recent years.

However, their time to match Manchester United’s record of 20 English top-flight titles now appears just months away in Arne Slot’s first season in charge.

Arsenal’s shock 1-0 home defeat to West Ham on Saturday had eased the pressure on Liverpool, that had built after dropping points in two of their last three games at Everton and Aston Villa.

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A trip to the Etihad has for so long been the stiffest test of all, but City’s defensive frailties were easily exposed and they also badly missed the presence of the injured Erling Haaland in attack.

Liverpool, by contrast, had their talisman fit and firing as Salah took his staggering tally this season to 25 goals and 16 assists in 27 Premier League appearances.

However, their time to match Manchester United’s record of 20 English top-flight titles now appears just months away in Arne Slot’s first season in charge.

Arsenal’s shock 1-0 home defeat to West Ham on Saturday had eased the pressure on Liverpool, that had built after dropping points in two of their last three games at Everton and Aston Villa.

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A trip to the Etihad has for so long been the stiffest test of all, but City’s defensive frailties were easily exposed and they also badly missed the presence of the injured Erling Haaland in attack.

Liverpool, by contrast, had their talisman fit and firing as Salah took his staggering tally this season to 25 goals and 16 assists in 27 Premier League appearances.

The Egyptian fired the visitors in front on 14 minutes thanks to a brilliantly executed set-piece routine.

Alexis Mac Allister’s corner was flicked by Szoboszlai into Salah’s path and his shot deflected off Nathan Ake past the despairing dive of Ederson.

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At the other end, City’s own Egyptian international showed his ability to finish, but Omar Marmoush had strayed offside before being played in by Phil Foden.

City winger Jeremy Doku was skipping past Trent Alexander-Arnold at will, yet the Belgian consistently failed to deliver a telling cross or shot.

Salah was not so forgiving as he raced onto a long ball over the top and teed up Szoboszlai to wrong-foot Ederson.

The final outcome could have been much more humiliating for City had Liverpool had been as accurate on the counter-attack after the break.

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Curtis Jones had a third goal ruled out by a VAR review for offside after Szoboszlai just failed to time his run through the heart of the City defence.

Ederson was forced into a stunning save from Luis Diaz and only a brilliant last-ditch tackle from Abdukodir Khusanov denied Szoboszlai a second.

Marmoush scored a hat-trick in last weekend’s 4-0 win over Newcastle and remained a lively threat as he flashed another effort across the front of Alisson Becker’s goal.

But City lacked the end product to make nearly 70 percent possession count.

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Despite an eighth league defeat of the season, Guardiola’s men remain in fourth and will be confident of securing their place in the Champions League next season with a top-five finish likely to be enough.

However, after an unprecedented run of four consecutive titles, City look like yesterday’s team with Liverpool now champions in waiting.

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Saudi Arabia donates 100 tonnes of dates to Nigeria as fasting approaches

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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Abuja has held an official ceremony to distribute 100 tonnes (100,000kg) of dates to Nigeria as part of its annual humanitarian relief efforts.

The initiative, facilitated by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), aims to support vulnerable families across the country and strengthen the deep-rooted ties between the two nations.

During the ceremony, the Ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to Nigeria, Faisal bin Ibrahim, conveyed the Kingdom’s dedication to humanitarian causes.

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He expressed his profound gratitude to King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for their unwavering support in providing aid to Muslims and underserved communities worldwide.

He emphasised that Saudi Arabia remains steadfast in its commitment to fostering Islamic solidarity and providing relief to those in need.

Mr Al-Ghamdi explained that this year’s distribution includes 50 tonnes of dates for Abuja and another 50 tonnes for Kano, continuing Saudi Arabia’s tradition of assisting Nigeria through humanitarian donations.

He noted that the initiative represents the Kingdom’s broader mission to uplift Muslim communities, alleviate suffering, and promote unity, particularly during significant religious periods such as Ramadan.

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The embassy, in collaboration with local authorities and humanitarian organisations, will ensure the proper distribution of the dates so that they reach the most vulnerable families in various regions of Nigeria

Saudi Arabia has been a longstanding partner in providing humanitarian aid to nations across the globe, including Nigeria. The Kingdom’s continued efforts in supporting food security and welfare initiatives exemplify its role as a global leader in charitable and humanitarian endeavours.

Through Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia seeks to expand its contributions to international humanitarian causes, reinforcing its dedication to fostering peace, stability, and prosperity worldwide. The ongoing provision of aid to Nigeria is a testament to these commitments and highlights the decades-long partnership between the two brotherly nations.

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