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  • MAN urges FG to relax conditions attached to textile fund

    MAN urges FG to relax conditions attached to textile fund

    Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadri, the Director-General, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), has appealed to the Federal Government to relax the tough conditions attached to disbursement of the Textile Intervention Fund.

    Ajayi Kadri made the plea in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Sunday.

    He said that the appeal became necessary due to the bureaucracy and strict conditions surrounding the allocation of the fund, saying that there was need to revitalise the textile industry.

    “The textile industry had suffered a lot of bashing, especially as a result of smuggling and other infrastructure deficiencies.

    “At the moment, we do not have more than five textile industries working and they are functioning at low capacity.

    “The government had responded in terms of policy initiatives; the primary of which is the Textile Fund anchored by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

    Ajayi-Kadri said that manufacturers were finding it difficult to benefit from the fund due to some bottlenecks and strict conditions attached to it.

    “As a result, we have been in contact and consultations with the CBN on some of these conditions.

    “Our appeal is for the Federal Government to step in and make things a lot easier so that the end point of revitalisation is not lost,’’ the director-general said.

    Ajayi-Kadri also urged the government to continue its effort at ensuring provision of basic infrastructure to reduce the cost of production by manufacturers.

    He suggested inter-ministerial and inter-departmental cooperation for quick actualisation of the proposed anti- smuggling task force to combat smuggling of textiles.
    (NAN)

  • End of an era for Messi, Ronaldo

    Lionel Messi: Russia may have ended his  international duties for Argentina

    Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi saw their World Cup dreams snuffed out on Saturday as French teenager Kylian Mbappe flew the flag for a new generation in Russia.

    Ten goals were scored on a gripping first day of the knockout phase as France progressed to a quarter-final tie against Uruguay but Messi and Ronaldo may have played their last games on football’s biggest stage.

    In the first match, France roared back to beat Argentina 4-3, with Mbappe scoring twice.

    Ronaldo: May have played his last World Cup in Sochi

    Later in Sochi, Ronaldo — who started the World Cup with a hat-trick against Spain — was powerless to prevent Portugal slipping out of the tournament as Edinson Cavani scored twice in a 2-1 win to send the European champions home.

    The Paris Saint-Germain striker opened the scoring with an early header and curled a superb first-time shot past Rui Patricio to win the match after a Pepe equaliser.

    Cavani, who forms a dangerous front-line pairing alongside Luis Suarez, later limped off, helped by Ronaldo, sparking fears for his World Cup future.

    Ronaldo, who will be 37 by the time of the next World Cup, was unable to keep Portugal alive despite incessant pressure from his side in the dying stages of the match.

    Kylian Mbappe: a new star that may replace Messi, Ronaldo

    France, the 1998 champions, looked a totally different side from the one that struggled to find their cutting edge in the group stage, pouring forward with pace and purpose to stretch the ageing Argentine defence in Kazan.

    Antoine Griezmann gave France the lead from the penalty spot but the South Americans levelled with a sweet hit from Angel Di Maria and edged ahead shortly after half-time through Gabriel Mercado.

    But defender Benjamin Pavard equalised with a thunderous strike to pull France level and once more change the complexion of the game.

    That set the scene for 19-year-old Mbappe, who netted two goals in four second-half minutes to become the first teenager to score at least twice in a World Cup match since a 17-year-old Pele in 1958.

    Sergio Aguero gave Argentina late hope but they ran out of time and head home after a rollercoaster ride in Russia that ultimately ends in bitter disappointment for the two-time former champions.

    Man-of-the-match Mbappe brushed off comparisons with Brazil great Pele.

    “I’m very happy, and it’s flattering to be compared to a great player like Pele,” he said.

    “But he’s in another category. Still, it’s great to join the list of players that have achieved such feats.”

    Mbappe was born in 1998, the year Les Bleus secured their first World Cup title under captain Didier Deschamps.

    Deschamps, now national manager, praised his team’s character to fight back from 2-1 down.

    “If I am a coach it is because I want to live this: a full stadium, highly experienced teams. Our team is much younger, but it’s there,” Deschamps said.

    “We answered the call, we have a lot of character and it was not easy as we were leading, then there was an equaliser, then we were 2-1 behind, but we kept fighting.

    “There is an excellent mentality in this group and we did everything to go further. Since I am responsible for everything, particularly when it doesn’t go well I’m very proud.”

    Beaten finalists four years ago, Argentina only reached the last 16 by the skin of their teeth after a shambolic group phase and despite a brave effort against France, the age of their players and an unbalanced squad ultimately caught up with them.

    Messi has spent the tournament trying to hold his squad together, even apparently bypassing coach Jorge Sampaoli to give coaching instructions in the 2-1 win against Nigeria that saved the South Americans from a humiliating group-stage exit.

    He has scored only once and Argentina’s campaign so far was defined as much by Diego Maradona’s erratic and emotional outbursts.

    The Barcelona star, at the age of 31, may have played his last World Cup game in a career curiously unfulfilled at international level despite his astonishing achievements with the Spanish giants and his multiple individual awards.

    *AFP

  • France to peg legal age of sexual consent at 15

    Macron
    France to peg legal age for sexual consent at 15

    France plans to fix the legal age of sexual consent as 15, so that an adult who has sex with someone younger than that will be charged with rape.

    Equality Minister Marlène Schiappa welcomed the move with  advice from doctors and legal experts.

    Currently, prosecutors must prove sex with someone under-15 was forced in order to bring rape charges.

    The change came amid uproar over two recent cases of men accused of having sex with 11-year-old girls.

    The government is to approve the new age limit as part of a package of other laws against sexual violence and harassment in the coming weeks.

    It had been discussing whether to set the age as 13 or 15, which is what groups fighting violence against children had campaigned for.

    Under the existing legislation, if there is no violence or coercion proved, offenders may only be charged with sexual abuse of a minor and not rape.

    This has a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of €75,000 (£66,000; $87,000).

    Sentences are the same for sexual assaults of minors and non-minors, but rape convictions carry much harsher punishments.

    Ms Schiappa told AFP news agency that she was “very glad” that the higher age was chosen. The limit is also supported by President Emmanuel Macron.

    Minister of Solidarity and Health Agnès Buzyn said setting a legal age of sexual consent would allow a “collective awareness” and that everyone would see what was “legal and illegal”, Le Figaro newspaper reports

    Read more at :http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43300313

  • France cracks down on super thin models

    France outlaws super thin models

    Super-thin models and secretly airbrushed photoshoots will soon be a thing of the past in fashion hub France, as authorities passed measures to protect young people from the dangers of anorexia.

    A new law entered into force on Saturday which compels all models operating in France to provide a doctor’s note certifying that their Body Mass Index (BMI) is not too low and that they are in overall good health.

    Under a second law, to come into force in October, all pictures of models that have been altered or photoshopped will have to carry a disclaimer to that effect.

    The health ministry said the two measures aimed “to avoid the promotion of unattainable ideas of beauty and to prevent youth anorexia” as well as to protect the health of models, who are especially at risk from being underweight.

    The doctor’s note will be valid for two years and will look particularly at a model’s BMI, with a reading under 18.5 classed underweight and liable to suffer from health problems.

    BMI is calculated based on a ratio of height to weight with the average range generally between 18.5 and 24.9.

    Employers contravening these laws could be liable to up to six months in prison and a fine of up to 75,000 euros ($82,500).

    Some 600,000 young people are thought to suffer from eating disorders in France, including 40,000 people suffering from anorexia.

    Eating disorders are the second most common cause of death of 15-24 year-olds, after road accidents.

    The new laws follow similar measures taken in Spain in 2006, which banned models with a BMI under 18 from Madrid Fashion Week.

    Israel has also banned agencies from employing models with a BMI under 18.5, as well as photo-shopping.

    In Italy, there is no precise law but the top agencies do not employ models with a BMI under 18.5.

    *AFP

  • EU will die, says Marine Le Pen

    France far right leader Marine LePen
    France far right leader Marine LePen

    French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen told a rally on Sunday, that the European Union will disappear and promised to shield France from globalisation.

    Buoyed by the unexpected election of Donald Trump in the United States and by Britain’s vote to leave the EU, the leader of the eurosceptic and anti-immigrant National Front (FN) party, told the rally in Lille that the French election on 23 April, would be the next step in what she called a global rebellion of the people.

    “The European Union will die because the people do not want it anymore … arrogant and hegemonic empires are destined to perish,” Le Pen said to loud cheers and applause.

    “The time has come to defeat globalists,” she said, accusing her main rivals, centrist Emmanuel Macron and conservative Francois Fillon, of “treason” for their pro-EU, pro-market policies.

    Opinion polls forecast that Le Pen will do well in the April 23 first round of the presidential election only to lose the May 7 run-off to Macron.

    But the high number of undecided voters means the outcome remains unpredictable and motivating people to go to the polling stations will be key for the top candidates.

    Its opposition to the EU and the euro currency underlines an anti-establishment stance that pleases the FN’s grassroots supporters and attracts voters angry with globalisation. But it is also likely to be an obstacle to power in a country where a majority oppose a return to the franc.

    Le Pen has over the past few months tried to tackle this by criticizing the unpopular EU while telling voters she would not abruptly pull France out of the bloc or the euro but instead hold a referendum after six months of renegotiating the terms of France’s EU membership.

    On Sunday, while predicting the EU’s demise, she was careful to say she would seek to replace it with “another Europe,” which she called “the Europe of the people”, based on a loose cooperative of nations.

    “It must be done in a rational, well-prepared way,” she told Le Parisien daily in an interview. “I don’t want chaos. Within the negotiation calendar I want to carry out … the euro would be the last step because I want to wait for the outcome of elections in Germany in the autumn before renegotiating it.”

    Reacting to Le Pen’s comments on the death of the EU, France’s ambassador to the United States, Gerard Araud, tweeted: “That’ll be the real significance of the French elections: the survival or the demise of the EU. A quasi-referendum.”

    Some 72 percent of French voters want to keep the euro, an Ifop poll published in Le Figaro newspaper showed.

    But unlike voters overall, a large majority of FN voters back a euro exit, the poll showed.

    “I’m convinced it will explode anyway, so she is right to anticipate it and prepare for an intelligent and organised exit from the euro before we head for even more of a disaster than we are in now,” 56-year-old bank employee Marie-Dominique Rossignol said after the rally.

  • Redoine Faid notorious French thief breaks jail by helicopter

    Redoine Faid: escapes prison by helicopter

    Interpol is on the manhunt for a notorious career thief, Redoine Faid, after he pulled off a daring jailbreak on Sunday, fleeing a prison in the Paris area by helicopter.

     Faid, 46,  was once France’s most wanted criminal.

    He broke out of the prison in Reau in the city’s southeastern suburbs within minutes, helped by a number of heavily-armed men, sources close to the case said.

    The escape came after an appeals court sentenced him to 25 years for masterminding a May 2010 botched armed robbery, in which a policewoman was killed.

    The Interpol notice for Redoine Faid

    Faid fled on Sunday with three accomplices, according to the sources.

    The helicopter was later found in a northeastern suburb of the French capital, they said, adding that a police search has been launched across the entire Paris region.

    It is the second time Faid has pulled off a spectacular jailbreak — in 2013, he blasted his way out of a prison in northern France using dynamite.

    He had been in prison since mid-2011 for breaking the terms of his parole over past convictions for bank robberies and brazen heists of cash-in-transit vehicles.

    Armed with a pistol, he briefly took four guards hostage before escaping in a waiting getaway car. All the hostages were released unharmed.

    Faid was eventually recaptured six weeks later at a hotel in an industrial area on the outskirts of Paris.

    A woman working at the hotel told AFP at the time that Faid’s accomplice had paid for the room in cash and that the two men had been there for several days.

    Prior to the 2013 escape, Faid had been released from a previous stint of a decade behind bars after convincing parole officials that he regretted his criminal past and was determined to start afresh.

    Faid, who grew up in tough immigrant suburbs outside Paris, has made several television appearances and co-authored two books about his delinquent youth and rise as a criminal in the Paris suburbs.

    He said his life of crime was inspired by American films such as “Scarface” and “Heat”.

  • Macron to visit Fela’s Afrika Shrine Tuesday

    Fela’s African Shrine in Ikeja, Lagos

    French leader Emmanuel Macron will on Tuesday visit the Afrika Shrine, a nightclub in Lagos founded by Nigerian music legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti.

    Macron will  become the first “real president” to enter the club synonymous with marijuana smoke, sexy backup dancers and protest music. And he is not a stranger to Nigeria. He trained as a senior civil servant at the French Embassy in Lagos in 2004, seven years after Fela died.

    Late Fela Anikulapo Kuti, afrobeat king

    The  Afrika Shrine located in the teeming Lagos district of Ikeja replaced Fela Kuti’s original club that burnt down in 1977, but for millions of fans it still represents the original Shrine built by the musical maverick.

    President Emmanuel Macron : First real President to visit the Shrine

    “The Shrine is a must-see place,” said Olivier Laouchez, the head of the TRACE media and entertainment group and organiser of the event Macron will attend, adding that Lagos is “Africa’s cultural capital”.

    The evening will feature concerts, fashion shows by leading African designers and a meeting with stars from Nigeria’s booming Nollywood film industry.

    The sexy dancers at Fela’s Shrine that will entertain President Macron on Tuesday. AFP Photo

    Lagos is also giving Johannesburg — the other African cultural hotspot — a run for its money in the art world with its annual Art X event.

    “There is clearly something abuzz in Lagos, with auctions mushrooming, and this will explode,” said contemporary art specialist Marie-Cecile Zinsou, who is based in neighbouring Benin.

    “The idea is to show the richness and diversity of African cultures,” said Laouchez.

    “Europe does not know Africa or at least its cultural dimension.”

    Macron, who is visiting the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott to attend an African Union summit on Sunday, will go on to Nigeria’s capital Abuja for talks with his counterpart Muhammadu Buhari on security and terrorism, before coming to Lagos, a vibrant megapolis of 20 million people.

    Fela Anikulapo Kuti came from a patrician Nigerian family whose pioneering music and quest for social justice made him an international star and the bugbear of Nigeria’s former military rulers. Fela died on 2 August 1997. He was 59 years old.

    Called the “black president” by adoring fans, Fela Kuti’s trademark style, christened Afrobeat, featured songs in his native Yoruba and pidgin and were searing indictments of corruption and incompetence.

    Ibrahim Tcha-Tchere, a veteran employee of the Alliance Francaise cultural institute in Lagos, said Macron’s visit was fitting given that “France has always had great cultural cooperation with Nigeria.

    “It was the French who organised Fela’s first European tour in 1981,” he said.

    “Then his sons Femi and Seun launched their international careers in France.”

    The shrine is a big hall, painted brown and yellow, with patterns of green, red and black, suggesting African symbolism.

    Laouchez joked that organising the event was no cakewalk, saying: “It requires great organisation because there are frequent power cuts and you have to ensure that the ceiling fans do not fall on the heads of guests… but it’s exciting.”

    “Musically speaking, the new Nigerian Afrobeat movement is global,” he added, pointing to stars such as Davido, Wizkid and Mr Eazi.

    *AFP

  • CBN directs banks to resolve USSD disputes in 3 days

    CBN directs banks to resolve USSD disputes in 3 days

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Saturday directed all commercial banks to resolve disputes arising from use of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) channel within three days.

    Mr Dipo Fatokun, CBN’s Director, Banking and Payment Systems Department, gave the directive at the ‘Meet The Executive’ forum organised by Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN) in Lagos.

    Fatokun, represented by Assistant Director, Banking and Payments System Department, Mr Taiwo Oladimeji, said such resolution would help build more confidence in the payment system and bring more people into the financial services net.

    The director said some provisions of the regulatory framework for USSD were meant to make the channel more effective.

    He listed some of the provisions as authentication measures for transactions, International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), Date of SIM Swap, Date of Device change, International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI).

    The director said the maximum USSD transaction limit remained N100, 000 per customer daily, and that any amount above that required customers to execute indemnity at the bank.

    “USSD transactions above N20,000 require two-factor authentication (2FA).

    “No USSD financial service should be activated for customers unless the deactivation mechanism is put in place with effect from October, 2018.

    “In addition, the CBN is currently working to properly structure and formalise the sandbox arrangement in Nigeria by collaborating with some infrastructure providers like the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) to interact with FinTechs,” he said.

    Fatokun, however, said the financial system was undergoing transformation through technology, and that it was not only peculiar to the financial services sector but all sectors of human endeavours.

    “We are seeing new operators with technology savvy, more efficient models, and collaborations among new entrants as well as established participants in payments systems in ways that exhibit regulatory challenges.

    “To meet up with the challenges, some countries have adopted regulatory sandbox approach which is not totally novel to the CBN.

    “We are, however, working to properly structure and formalise the sandbox arrangement in Nigeria by collaborating with some infrastructure providers to interact with FinTechs,” he said.

    Fatokun further said a functional National Payments System (NPS) was crucial to the financial sector development as it would increase confidence in the financial sector by ensuring a credible, reliable and efficient payment system.

    He observed that in recent years, the Nigerian payment landscape had experienced a lot of innovation, bursting with enterprise and reaching the unbanked and undeserved. (NAN

  • Army inaugurates cenotaph in memory of fallen heroes in North East

    The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen Tukur Buratai has inaugurated a cenotaph at Gudumbali, Guzamala Local Government Area of Borno in memory of troops, who died in the course of battle.

    Buratai said that the town was one of the strongholds of Boko Haram terrorists in Borno North during the heat of the insurgency.

    He also admitted that the army suffered heavy casualty and loss of equipment in the battle to liberate the town in 2015.

    Gudumbali is about 125kms to Maiduguri, the state capital, but 15kms to neighbouring Niger Republic.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Buratai inaugurated the memorial arcade shortly after he flagged-off sanitation to clean up the town as part of activities to mark the 2018 Nigerian Army Day Celebration (NADCEL).

    “It was very difficult from 2014, in fact from 2013, 2014, it was difficult to come into Gudumbali from the eastern axis, it was very difficult, Gudumbali was heavily mined and fortified.

    “Several attempts were made by 134 Battalion to enter here but it was not successful.

    `Similarly, when the unit 157 attempted to move in for the first time, they had to withdraw. So many mines or IEDs were laid along the road to this place.

    “At last, when the final directive was given, they were able to muster and successfully entered Gudumbali and crossed over and then habour here.

    “It was at this point after habouring late in the night that the Boko Haram terrorists came and surprised them – troops, and the rest is history.

    “We lost quite a number of soldiers and quite a number of equipment,’’ Buratai lamented.

    He, however, explained that the major cause of the loss of personnel and equipment was as a result of the “heat on the logistics vehicle that further ignited the fuel, ammunition and other items that set the whole camp into confusion.’’

    “It was not all that a defeat but it was an incident that happened as a result of attack by the Boko Haram terrorists,’’ the army chief added.

    According to him, we will continue to pray for the souls of the departed both here and other places; may their gentle souls rest in perfect peace.

    Buratai said: “this cenotaph will remain in our memories so that it will be a symbol, so anyone that comes here will associate himself and pray for the repose of the souls of the fallen heroes in this operation.

    “We do not want to forget them.

    “They will have their names inscribed here on the monument, each and every one of them that paid the supreme price here will be remembered.

    “With time, the cenotaph will become a national monument for everybody to remember that the Nigerian army is an institution that is the pride of the nation and fallen victim of the insecurity that bedevil this part of the country. They paid the supreme price.’’

    He promised that the families of the fallen heroes would be taken care of and not forgotten.

    Earlier, while flagging-off the sanitation, Buratai described Gudumbali as a historical town well known for its economic activities, peace and tranquility but was disrupted by the activities of the Boko Haram terrorists.

    “We chose this place as a symbolic gesture to further consolidate on our successes in the North East in our operation against the Boko Haram insurgents.

    “The choice of this location to flag-off this exercise is not a coincidence but was deliberately chosen because of the strategic and economic importance of Gudumbali.

    “Gudumbali was one of the strongholds of the (once) dreaded Boko Haram sect which was illegally occupied by them.

    “Our gallant troops fought a fierce battle to regain this town,’’ he said, and expressed happiness that the people had returned after they fled over seven years ago.

    NAN reports that Buratai used the occasion to donate two tractors to the community to enhance their farming activities.

    Maj-Gen. Abba Dikko, the Commander of the ongoing “Operation Last Hold” designed to facilitate return of displaced persons to their communities said the exercise was to clean up the town of its “bad memories.’’

    Dikko said that this was necessary to enable Gudumbali to thrive again in commerce, farming, fishing, administration and to give the people a sense of belonging.

    On June 14, the chief of army staff, represented by Maj.-Gen. David Ahmadu, the Chief of Training and Operations, visited the town to perform “Sharan gona’’ – set fire to bush.

    It was to signal the commencement of the 2018 bush clearing and farming activities for the people and assured them that their security was guaranteed. (NAN)