Nigeria seeks AU support for ITU seat

Shola Taylor, the ITU candidate, has served as a former Chairman of the ITU Radio Regulations Board.

—————————————-

Nigeria is seeking the African Union’s, AU, support for the candidature of Shola Taylor, for the post of the Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunications Union, ITU.

The ITU elections will hold during the plenipotentiary conference of the union in Busan, South Korea scheduled for between October and November.

The Minister of Foreign of Affairs, Aminu Wali, who is expected in Malabo later on Tuesday for the 25th Ordinary Session of the AU, will seek the endorsement of Mr. Taylor.

Already, Nigerian diplomats attending the AU summit have stepped up campaign to get the support of African countries for their candidate.

Nigeria is contesting for the post alongside candidates from Canada, Egypt, Mauritania, Poland, Tunisia and the UK.

An official of the ministry who spoke on the condition of anonymity said Nigeria has already secured the ECOWAS endorsement for Mr. Taylor and was campaigning very strongly to obtain AU’s endorsement.

On the margins of the AU summit in Malabo, foreign ministers of the 15-member states of the AU ministerial candidature committee are expected to select one candidate from among the three African contenders as the AU candidate for the post.

The contest is between Nigeria, Mauritania and Tunisia with the exception of Egypt, which is currently suspended from AU.

Members of the committee are Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Djibouti, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritius, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tunisia and Uganda.

Mr. Taylor, 58, is a leading authority on telecommunications in Africa and has over 30 years of postgraduate experience in international telecommunications.

The Nigerian has extensive experience in radio communication matters, having worked at Intelsat, Washington DC U.S.; ITU, Geneva, Switzerland; Inmarsat, London U.K.; and the Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd. (NITEL).

He has also served as a former Chairman of the ITU Radio Regulations Board.

(NAN)

Plane flying from Nigeria to Gabon ”missing”

                            The plane had only the American pilot on board.

——————————————

A four-seater plane flying from Nigeria to Gabon via Cameroon has disappeared, Cameroon aviation sources said on Tuesday.

The plane, owned by the U.S. company Global Aviation, took off from Kano in northern Nigeria at 1800 hours on Monday en route Libreville in Gabon, where it was scheduled to arrive at 2300 hours, after a‎ stopover in Douala, Cameroon.

However, the station said that the plane, with only the American pilot on board, did not make it to Douala.

It said the last contact the plane had with the control tower took place in Mongo, which is two hours flight from the Cameroonian economic capital.

Report says that search and rescue operations led by Cameroon’s civil aviation authorities have not yielded any positive results.

(PANA/NAN)

Nigerian legislators adjourn sitting to honour late Kuta

                                                  Mr. Kuta died at the age of 65.
                                                     ———————————– The Senate and House of Representatives, at their plenary meeting on Tuesday, adjourned sitting till Wednesday to honour late Dahiru Kuta who died on June 12 while the legislators were on break.

Mr. Kuta, the Senator representing Niger east, died at the age of 65.

The Senate President, David Mark, in his speech, expressed grief at the loss of Mr. Kuta, saying Nigeria lost a patriotic citizen who was always ready to help the nation.

“The Senate has lost a very patriotic citizen who at all times joined hands with other patriots to move the country forward.

“The late Senator Kuta made the Senate committee on Federal character very vibrant and responsive to the needs of Nigerians in terms of making relevant agencies under it to bring about equitable recruitment a into federal service and allocation of resources, ” Mr. Mark said .

He said a valedictory service would take place on Wednesday to enable people pay their last respect to Mr. Kuta.“I don’t want to comment on how the Senate will immortalize or honour him because a special valedictory session has been slated for tomorrow.

 His state governor and some other governors, along with his family members, would be in session”.

The deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, also expressed grief over the demise of the lawmaker.

“We have lost a man I call a congress man, he was indeed a great man, we are going to miss him heavily.”

“Almighty God would accept his soul and that his perfect soul which was indeed perfect would rest in peace.”

Mr. Ekweremadu also extended his condolences to the family of the deceased and the people of Niger State.

Nigeria seizes N10 billion pirated materials in 2 years

The seized materials include home videos, literary, inspirational and educational books.

—————————————————

The Nigerian Copyright Commission, NCC, on Tuesday said it intercepted and seized pirated cinematography, musical and educational books worth N10 billion from January 2012 to date.

The NCC Zonal Manager, Lagos Operational Office, Chris Nkwocha, said this in Lagos.

Mr. Nkwocha explained that other seized materials include home movies, literary, inspirational, and educational books.

He said that over 17 container-loads of pirated books and other‎ confiscated merchandise had been seized between January 2012 and June2014.

The NCC boss said that the containers were intercepted and seized at‎ Bollere Logistics West African Terminal, Kirikiri, Lagos and AP Moller‎ Terminal, Apapa Area Customs Command, Lagos.

He said that over five container-loads of pirated books and musical‎ were seized in 2012; and about eight container-loads were seized in 2013, while four container-loads were confiscated between January and June 13.

“Over 17 containers of pirated cinematography, musical, movies, and inspirational books have been seized in the last two years.

“The containers were loaded with over 300,000 copies of pirated materials in 50,000 cartons.

“Some of the materials are best-selling American titles: `Daughter of Destiny’ by Kathryn Kuhlman, `Me and My Big Mouth’ by Joyce Meyer and The Midas Touch’ by Kenneth Hagin.

“Others are `Mysterious Secrets of the Dark Kingdom’ by J.P Timmons, and copies of Oxford Advance Learners Dictionary, which originated from China and bible titles belonging to Bible Society of Nigeria.

“The seizures were done in collaboration with the Nigerian Customs Services, State Security Service, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, the Media and the Nigeria Police,” Mr. Nkwocha said.

He said that the commission would continue to fight piracy in line with the Copyright Act Cap C28 LFN 2004.

(NAN)

Ekiti Election: NGF congratulates Fayose, Fayemi

“The peaceful conduct of the election assures us all that the future of democracy is bright”.

———————————————-

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, has congratulated the newly elected Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, on his election at the just concluded gubernatorial elections in Ekiti state.

The forum in a statement by its Director General, Ashishana Okauru, on Tuesday in Abuja also commended the people of Ekiti for their conduct during the election.

“We also congratulate the incumbent Governor Kayode Fayemi for demonstrating a rare spirit of sportsmanship by accepting the outcome of the election and promising to work with Mr. Fayose to take Ekiti state forward,” the NGF said.

It also said the people of the Ekiti have made all Nigerians proud by demonstrating, again, that the citizens, on their own can choose their leaders on their own terms, in an ordered manner.

“The peaceful conduct of the election assures us all that the future of democracy is bright.

“We commend the handling of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC]. We urge all other national institutions and security agencies to emulate INEC, eschew partisanship and learn to discharge their responsibilities with professionalism. They should put their services at the disposal of all Nigerians irrespective of political affiliations.

“We call on the governor-elect to see the election as one in which there is no victor and no vanquished.

We urge him to put behind him the acrimony and controversy that characterized electioneering in the state in the past few months and begin to work out a master plan to give quality governance to the people of the state.

“We trust that Mr. Fayose will demonstrate the requisite large-heartedness to warm up to all Ekiti people irrespective of their political affiliations,” it said.

Egypt’s president won’t ‘interfere’ in al-Jazeera case

Egypt’s president has said he will not “interfere” with the judiciary over the sentencing of al-Jazeera journalists in Cairo, which triggered global outrage.

Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said “we must respect judicial rulings and not criticise them even if others do not understand this.”

A court in Cairo found Australian Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed guilty of spreading false news.

The trio had denied the charges and are expected to appeal.

Earlier, Australian Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, told the BBC Canberra would work with the Egyptian government to try to secure Mr. Greste’s release “as soon as possible.”

The journalist father, Juris Greste ,said, “We are devastated, shocked and dismayed at this finding.
“We support Egypt’s transition to democracy, but that also includes freedom of speech and press.”

Babatunde’s best yet to come – Keshi

 

Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi , has warned that the best is yet to come from Michael Babatunde.

The Volyn Lutsk forward was a surprise choice to start in place of Victor Moses against Bosnia Herzegovina, but his performance in the match surprised many Nigerians.

Keshi warned that there was more to come. “Why were people surprised? He’s a good player,” Keshi told KickOffNigeria.com.

“That’s why we brought him here. We don’t play with names. If you’re good you’re good.
“I tell people, I don’t use names, if I see you’re good, you can do the job, I’ll put you in the team and you’ll play.

“Names, you show me on the pitch, and Babatunde, he just started. He needs more confidence, by the time he gets more confidence, like Azeez, the sky is their limit.”

Babatunde is expected to start again in Wednesday’s game against Argentina.
Kick-off is at 1PM local time (5PM Nigeria time).