Tag: World

  • Nsukka Residents Demand Designated Garbage Dumps, Decry Arrest

    Nsukka-residents

    Following ongoing efforts to evacuate refuse heaps that recently submerged the university community of Nsukka in Enugu State, residents have demanded designated dumps where they can dispose their refuse.

    THE WHISTLER reported that the ambience of the community became a thing of the past in recent weeks following the non-evacuation of refuse heaps across the area.

    The failure of the local government authorities to carry out their responsibilities led to overflooding of various road arteries of Nsukka as refuse was washed away by recent rains, blocking the drainages in the process.

    A resident Kenneth Okpe said, “The LG authorities have started evacuating the heaps dotted indiscriminately, especially in the middle of Enugu Road, and by the banks of many roads. It took almost a month before the evacuation resumed. It was disgusting.”

    A tailor, Ifeanyi, said, “We wouldn’t want a repeat of what happened. Many shops closed because the refuse submerged their shops.”

    A health officer, Nkechi Omeye, suggested the way out. According to her, “If the middle of roads is to be designated refuse dumps, which to me is unusual, let the evacuation be more regular. The outlook of a place defines their values. Our leaders should be up and doing.

    “I hear that a task force is arresting people who want to drop refuse at places not designated for that. But the authorities have not told us where we can dump the refuse. With the way they go about it, it will be more indiscriminate because many can choose to dump theirs at gutters in the night.”

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  • Terrorists kill hundreds in Israel, incl. women, children

    After Hamas terrorists killed hundreds of Israeli citizens, including women and children, in a series of surprise attacks on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to turn Gaza into “rubble.”

    “Dear citizens of Israel, this morning, on Shabbat and a holiday, Hamas invaded Israeli territory and murdered innocent citizens including children and the elderly. Hamas has started a brutal and evil war,” Netanyahu said. “We will be victorious in this war despite an unbearable price. This is a very difficult day for all of us. Hamas wants to murder us all. This is an enemy that murders children and mothers in their homes, in their beds, an enemy that abducts the elderly, children, and young women, that slaughters and massacres our citizens, including children who simply went out to enjoy the holiday.”

    “What happened today is unprecedented in Israel and I will see to it that it does not happen again,” he continued. “The entire government is behind this decision. The IDF will immediately use all its strength to destroy Hamas’ capabilities. We will destroy them and we will forcefully avenge this dark day that they have forced on the State of Israel and its citizens.”

    Netanyahu warned the residents of Gaza to leave immediately because “all of the places which Hamas is deployed, hiding in, and operating from in that wicked city, we will turn them into rubble.”

    READ MORE: US will allow Israeli travelers into the country without visas

    CBS News reported that at least 250 people in Israel, including women and children, were killed and 1,500 were wounded in the Hamas terrorist attacks.

    The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) confirmed that the terrorist group also abducted Israeli civilians and soldiers. According to Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli army spokesman, a “substantial” number of Israelis were taken hostage.



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  • How I Battled, Defeated Blackmailers That Opposed Reforms Of Nigeria’s Pension Industry- PenCom DG

    The Director-General of the National Pension Commission Aisha Dahiru-Umar, has revealed the many battles she faced while implementing series of reforms in the Nigerian pension industry.

    She made the disclosure in a book authored by her titled “Fighting for the future: Nigeria’s pension reform journey”

    In the 173 page book, a copy of which was made available to THE WHISTLER, she also narrated the turning point in the pension industry, the policy pillars of the industry, the pushbacks she faced when she was acting DG of Pencom and after her confirmation, the media war she contended with, how she managed stakeholders in the pension, success stories of the industry and how she confronted the challenges faced by her administration.

    Dahir-Umar explained that the mistake which reform agents must avoid is assuming that because a policy is good and the benefits are there for all to see, then everybody will embrace it and become its advocate.

    According to her, in every reform, there are always gradients of reactions and attitudes among the stakeholders because some will “lose” and some will “gain”.

    She recalled how some blackmailers hiding under a Civil Society Organisation attempted to blackmail her with frivolous allegations.

    Dahir-Umar explained in the book that while some heads of government agencies would have panicked and succumbed to the wishes of the blackmailers, she stood her grounds and refused to be intimidated.

    Rather, she said the claims made by her blackmailers made her to continue to put in her best to ensure that the reforms being implemented in the pension industry under her watch was never derailed.

    According to the Pencom DG, it is more complicated for the reform agents when what is regarded
    as a “loss” by the opponents of reform is really not a loss but rather a different way of assessing what should be considered as a “gain”.

    She said, “Those opposed to the reform may try to throw away the baby with the bathwater.

    Despite the glaring successes of the pension reform, there has been one pushback or the other.

    “There are usually insiders working with outsiders and extortion is often the ultimate goal. The outsiders are in some of the so-called anti-corruption NGOs — many of them run by one or two hustlers who are available for hire by aggrieved parties.

    It is a huge racket. “They take a document that says virtually nothing and cast it as evidence of impropriety through twisted interpretations. They cook up a petition to blackmail you into negotiating a ransom, otherwise they will threaten to hold a “World Press Conference” to disparage you.

    “They threaten to submit the spurious petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
    (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) or some legislative committee.

    “For the blackmail to be effective, there must be a media outlet to give it oxygen. That is if the media outlet itself is not the orchestrator of the blackmail. Some of these fraudsters masquerading as anti-corruption agents have their own media outlets, mostly online, or they go into partnership with some journalists with whom they share the ransom.

    “Many times, the blackmail works. Some agency heads panic and succumb. Some are guilty and would do anything to kill the story.

    They fall into the hands of the blackmailers who are never satisfied because extortion is what they do for a living.

    She added, “Some public officers may not be guilty of the allegations but fall for the bait all the same
    and offer financial inducements just to avoid the embarrassment of negative media.

    “Some Agency heads told me how they had been held captive by websites that specialise in blackmail and extortion. To them, they had to tag along because they were dealing with a bull in a China shop.

    “For me, I was determined never to be blackmailed. There is a cynical circle of insiders and outsiders all
    interested in extortion rather than anti-corruption. How can the full-time job of anybody be petition-writing and holding “World Press Conferences”?

    “When you discover that some of the full-time anti-corruption campaigners are sending their children to school abroad and building mansions in choice areas of Abuja and Lagos, you know something is not right. There are too many of them on the loose.

    “There were too many half-truths and outright lies. I believed I would be wasting my time trying to engage with the blackmailers.

    “There were so many of them coming at me from different angles, most of them doing the bidding of those who never wanted me to be DG of PenCom in the first place.

    “When I was nominated as the substantive DG of the Commission in 2020, I came under fire in sections of the media as some faceless groups began to attack me on a regular basis.

    “First, they said I was a Northerner and that the Southerner who was there before me did not complete her tenure. Therefore, I was not qualified to be DG in their own books.

    “A body calling itself “Pension Reform Advocacy Group” petitioned the Senate to kick against my confirmation. Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, then Minority Leader, also said my appointment would contradict federal character.

    “For me, I was not really bothered because appointments are at the discretion of the President. If he did not nominate me, I could not have nominated myself. There are enough appointments to go round if the real interest is federal character.

    ‘Second, there were many irrational insinuations being circulated about me. The federal character argument was even a decent one, although weak. I was being cast as a novice who was not suitable
    for the job, yet I was a pioneer member of staff of the Commission in 2005. I rose through the ranks to become a General Manager.

    “This is to say nothing about the fact that I was the Secretary of the Pension Reform Committee that birthed the Commission in 2004. It was clear to me from the fierce and desperate media attacks
    that I was not going to have a fair hearing. I really did not know there were so many vested interests in matters regarding PenCom until I was nominated for the top job.”

    The PenCom DG described the opposition to her nomination as a “blessing in disguise” because it prepared her for what was ahead.

    She wrote in the book, “It (opposition” toughened me up. After my appointment was confirmed, I started facing regular attacks from the purpose-built NGOs and media outlets. Many of the attackers would later confess privately that they were sponsored.

    “They named names. When some were questioned by the security agencies for writing threatening letters to me, they disclosed how much they were paid, usually in dollars, to do the hatchet job.

    “One of them confessed to being given money to recruit protesters, lodge them in hotels on the outskirts of Abuja, bus them to the city, occupy the premises of PenCom and declare that they would not leave until I was fired by the President.

    “These were the ‘anti-corruption activists’ who took over the pages of newspapers maligning me all the time.”

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  • Indo-Pacific commander: US military to seek access to more Philippine bases

    This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.

    The United States is seeking access to more bases in the Philippines on top of nine sites already included under an expanded pact, military chiefs said Thursday, amid heightened regional tensions with China. 

    During annual bilateral talks in Metro Manila, he and Philippine military chief Romeo Brawner Jr. recommended giving American forces greater access to bases here, but their governments would need to approve this, said Adm. John C. Aquilino, head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. 

    “Gen. Brawner and I made recommendations to our senior leaders for the consideration of additional sites, but there is still work to do there before we get to that answer,” Aquilino told reporters at the Philippine military’s headquarters in Quezon City.

    Aquilino and Brawner did not give a number for how many more bases might be added under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), but the addition of four bases this past February caused some controversy in the Philippines and it angered China.

    “We are in discussions, but everyone has a boss and we both have bosses, we’ll have those conversations – I think in private, and give our bosses some decision space on how they’d like to go forward,” Aquilino said. 

    Filipino and U.S. officials have denied that giving American forces rotational access to more Philippine bases is connected to tensions with China over a territorial dispute in the South China Sea and Taiwan. China reacted to the move earlier this year, saying it was provocative and aimed at helping the U.S. contain the People’s Republic and its military.

    Aquilino was in the Philippines this week to visit three of the EDCA sites and meet with Brawner to discuss ways to deepen defense ties between the longstanding allies. 

    The U.S. military chief for the region spoke to reporters after the annual meeting of the Mutual Defense and Security Engagement Boards, which are responsible for coordinating cooperation between the two militaries under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty. 

    In February, Manila added four sites that the U.S. could access under EDCA, increasing the total number of bases to nine.

    The decision by the Marcos administration to allow U.S. forces greater access to local bases has angered some Filipinos, who worry that their country, as a consequence, would be in the line of fire should war break out between the U.S. and China over Taiwan.

    In May, hundreds of people protested against the EDCA pact outside the U.S. Embassy in Manila, on the same day that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington. 

    Three of these new sites are in the northern Philippines facing Taiwan, while one is in the island of Palawan facing the South China Sea. Meanwhile in Taiwan on Thursday, the defense ministry reported that 68 Chinese warplanes and 10 navy ships had been “detected near the island,” starting on Wednesday morning, the Agence France-Presse news agency reported.

    The U.S. has added 63 projects for the EDCA sites on top of the previously approved 32, Aquilino said, adding that these projects include multipurpose storage facilities, road networks and fuel storage, among others. 

    “The United States has identified investments of almost $110 million [6.2 billion pesos] to those sites to build capability capacity for the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] to use every day and for the United States to fall in when invited,” the admiral said. 

    For his part, Brawner said that the nine bases in total were meant for joint training as well as humanitarian and disaster-response operations, and were not related to regional security threats. 

    “All of these joint operations, even the selection of our EDCA sites, have nothing to do with the other countries in the Indo-Pacific region, meaning the threats that could come out from these countries,” Brawner said. 

    “We believe that doing certain things together would bring more value, for instance training together,” he said. 

    PHOTO2

    Meanwhile, China has ramped up its presence in the South China Sea. Beijing has deployed its China Coast Guard ships and maritime militia ships in the West Philippine Sea – the part of the South China Sea within Manila’s jurisdiction – to harass Philippine ships, Filipino officials said. 

    U.S. Navy reconnaissance planes were seen flying over the disputed waters during recent Philippine resupply missions to Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal, where the World War II-era BRP Sierra Madre serves as Manila’s military outpost in the disputed atoll. 

    Tour of three sites

    On Wednesday, Brawner, Aquilino, and MaryKay Carlson, the U.S. ambassador to the Philippines, inspected three EDCA sites – Lal-lo airport and Camilo Osias Naval Base, both in Cagayan in northern Philippines, and Basa Air Base in Pampanga, near Manila. 

    Manila has called on Washington to construct a pier and refurbish the airstrip at the naval base along with a fuel storage facility and command center in Lal-lo airport.

    “We are not just looking at how we can operate together more efficiently, but also we are looking at the future operations that we are going to conduct,” Brawner told reporters on Wednesday. “All of these factors should come in as we decide on which projects we’re really going to pursue.” 

    When the expanded EDCA was announced seven months ago, China immediately stated its opposition to the widened pact.

    “Such moves contradict the common aspiration of regional countries to seek peace, cooperation and development, and run counter to the common aspiration of the Filipino people to pursue sound economic recovery and a better life in cooperation with China,” said Huang Xilian, Chinese ambassador to Manila in a statement issued in February. 

    “It is hoped that the Philippine side stays vigilant and resists from being taken advantage of and dragged into troubled waters.” 



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  • Sanwo-Olu Orders Demolition Of Two Markets On Lagos Island

    Sanwo-Olu

    Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has ordered the demolition of Bombata and Jankara Markets, located in the Lagos Island area of the state, as part of the regeneration agenda of the government.

    Sanwo-Olu gave the directive on Sunday, during an on-site inspection of some areas in the axis, that were affected by floods.

    The governor who visited Jankara, Ojo, Giwa, Oroyiyin, Idumagbo and Pelewura markets respectively, expressed dismay at the indiscriminate dumping of refuse, abuse of drainages and illegal construction of shops and market stalls by some residents in the area.

    He, therefore, issued a one-week quit notice to the affected people, adding that the Ministry of Environment has been instructed to serve the requisite notices and begin demolition of illegal structures immediately.

    “Idumagbo Avenue and adjoining streets are part of a corridor that was once well built, but has failed over the years. It is not only the road network that has failed but also the drainage because of all the activities of markets. We observed traders have built structures over the drainage. We noticed places where the interlocking bricks of the road could be seen, but have been covered by dirts.

    “The is the situation and it is the same at Ojo-Giwa Street where traders have built on drainage along the entire stretch. All of these developments have resulted in the failure of the road and drainage. We can all see the reason why Jankara Market and other areas are flooded. This inspection has offered us the opportunity to see the issues firsthand and empower us to proffer lasting solutions.

    “I am using this as a notice to all illegal squatters on the markets. We will take and clean up the entire market. We will start fully with Bombata Market and Jankara Market, which will be demolished to ground zero. There is a full design of the plan we have to rebuild the markets. This effort, coming up early next year, will be a long-term regeneration of the area.” Sanwo-Olu said while addressing journalists after the tour.

    For Pelewura Market, the governor said adequate notice would be given to illegal squatters to move, adding that the government’s concessionaire, the local government and stakeholders would agree on when the evacuation will start.

    Sanwo-Olu also inspected the ongoing construction of Ilubirin Pump Station, which would facilitate automatic discharge of flood water from the residential areas on Lagos Island into the lagoon.

    According to the governor, the project was at 85 percent completion, pledging that the station would be fully completed by the beginning of 2024.

    He said: “We have built a proper drainage infrastructure, which goes all the way down to where water will be discharged from residential areas in Lagos Island into the lagoon. Piling is being done currently to sink three Pumping Stations. All the equipment and materials needed for the completion of these stations have been procured. The project is about 85 per cent completed, only the civil work is left to be completed.

    “When we open the stations, we will be opening two major drainage channels. One from Thomas and the other from Idumagbo. Both of them will flow into the lagoon through these stations. Each of the pumps will be automatically activated once the water level gets to 4 metres high; Pump 2 kicks off at 5.5 metre water level. We have built capacity to evacuate stagnant water from Lagos Island into the lagoon and we have also built redundancy.”

    Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu briefing the Press during his assessment tour of the flooded areas in Lagos Island on Sunday, 8 October 2023. With him: Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Barr Tokunbo Wahab (second right); Permanent Secretary, Office of the Environment, Dr Omobolaji Gaji (right); Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso (left) and the Special Adviser to the Governor –Environment, Olakunle Rotimi-Akodu (second left).

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  • Huawei’s role in Indonesia raises ‘digital colonization’ concerns

    This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.

    Lush green hills and a majestic lake surround a private university here that is training tomorrow’s elite Indonesian digital workers with help from a Chinese technological powerhouse reviled by the U.S. government.

    The Del Institute of Technology, or IT Del, founded by a key aide to Indonesia’s president, has been collaborating since 2013 with Huawei, China’s leading tech company. 

    Through the partnership, faculty members and students have access to cutting-edge training, certification and research opportunities in fields such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence and cyber security.

    “It’s a win-win situation for Huawei and us,” Humasak Simanjuntak, IT Del’s deputy president, told BenarNews, a news network affiliated with Radio Free Asia. “One of the ways they achieve success is by supporting education in Indonesia.”

    Indonesia has welcomed Chinese investment to develop its digital ecosystem. IT Del was founded by Luhut Pandjaitan, Indonesia’s coordinating minister for investment and maritime affairs, and its top official coordinating cooperation with China.

    Huawei’s interaction with Indonesia is part of China’s broader strategy of expanding its economic and political influence across Asia and beyond through its Belt and Road Initiative – a global infrastructure, technology and investment program launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping 10 years ago.

    That includes developing digital systems, which Jakarta views as key to future prosperity. Indonesia’s internet economy is projected to reach US$124 billion by 2025, according to a 2020 report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company.

    But Huawei’s dominance has raised alarm among some experts here amid warnings from the U.S. and other Western countries that the Chinese firm engages in espionage and sabotage activities, which it denies.

    Ardi Sutedja, chairman of the Indonesia Cybersecurity Forum and a former government consultant, said Huawei is deeply embedded in the national telecommunications infrastructure, from the core network to the end-user devices.

    “It’s going to be so difficult for us to transition to another company because from upstream to downstream, our 3G and 4G infrastructure is already being managed by Huawei,” he told RFA.

    ‘Technology can colonize them’

    Huawei has been providing its products and services to Indonesia since 2000. 

    It has established partnerships with more than 100 local companies and more than 30 universities, and created more than 20,000 jobs directly and indirectly, according to the company’s website. It also has an agreement on cybersecurity cooperation with Indonesia’s National Cyber and Crypto Agency, or BSSN.

    Ardi warned of the potential dangers of Indonesia relying on one foreign company, especially for cybersecurity. He noted that people “enjoy the wave of new technology without realizing that technology can also colonize them.”

    Alfons Tanujaya, another cybersecurity expert, said Indonesia needs to be careful about allowing outsiders’ controlling its networks — “not only China but also the United States.” 

    “When we talk about spying, without 5G we can already be spied on,” he said. “All our hardware is from China, we use modems, CCTV cameras, and everything from China.” 

    The United States has voiced increasing concern over Huawei. It has banned Huawei from its 5G networks and put pressure on its allies to do the same. 

    In 2020, Robert O’Brien, then the U.S. national security adviser, said the United States had evidence that Huawei could “access sensitive and personal information” in the systems it maintains around the world. He contended that Huawei is influenced by the Chinese government and must comply with directives of the Chinese Communist Party.

    Huawei has repeatedly denied these allegations, saying it is an independent company and that no government has ever asked it to compromise its products or customers’ data.

    Provider of choice

    Huawei devices and networks are ubiquitous in Southeast Asia.

    Last year, researchers at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a think tank in Washington, said that Huawei “has positioned itself as Indonesia’s cybersecurity provider of choice” through its vast cybersecurity and other training programs for groups ranging from senior government officials to rural students.

    Luhut, the minister who leads Jakarta’s cooperation with Beijing, summed up the approach in 2021 – under which China provides hardware and training, and Indonesians install, maintain and use the networks.

    “Why do I get along with China? China is very generous in sharing its technology with us,” he said then. “They have always been willing to give us whatever we ask for. This helps us to keep up with technological advancements.”

    Some Western tech companies, such as Ericsson, Nokia and Google, also cooperate with the Indonesian government and its educational institutions, but not as extensively as with Huawei, according to experts.

    They said Huawei had dominated Indonesia’s telecommunications infrastructure by offering low prices, credit from Chinese banks, and training for locals.

    Huawei equipment is mainly used in the Palapa Ring project, a 35,000-kilometer (22,000-mile) national fiber-optic network that covers more than 500 regions and cities in the Indonesian archipelago, the first phase of which was carried out by Huawei Marine.

    “We welcome Huawei’s support for developing digital talents in Indonesia and around the world,” said Wayan Toni Supriyanto, the director general of international cooperation at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

    Hurdles for Huawei

    With an average rate of 4 U.S. cents per gigabyte, Indonesia has some of the lowest cellular data costs in the Asia-Pacific, according to the Indonesian Telematics Society, a forum for stakeholders in the Indonesian digital industry.

    The Indonesian Internet Service Providers Association says internet penetration in Indonesia has reached 78%, or 215.6 million users — although there is still a significant gap between urban and rural areas. The government said around 7,000 small and remote villages are still underserved by internet providers.

    Against this backdrop, Huawei still faces headwinds in building its business.

    It confronts legal challenges in several countries over its alleged theft of trade secrets, violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran, fraud, racketeering and patent infringement. Huawei has denied or contested these charges as well.

    It faces restrictions or bans on its equipment or services in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the United Kingdom. 

    These moves have hampered Huawei’s global expansion and market share, especially in the 5G sector.

    Huawei has also faced supply-chain disruptions due to the U.S. sanctions that prevent it from accessing key components and technologies from American suppliers. This has affected its ability to produce and sell its products, such as smartphones and network equipment.

    Huawei has sought to develop its own alternatives, such as its HarmonyOS operating system and its HiSilicon chips. It has also been seeking new markets and partners in other regions, such as in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East.

    Huawei has also been lobbying and suing to defend its rights and reputation, as well as engaging in P.R. campaigns to win over public opinion and trust.

    Career boost

    Among tech-savvy Indonesians, the cachet of Huawei appears high.

    Muhammad Ihsan Fawzi, a lecturer at South Tangerang Institute of Technology near Jakarta, said he had received several job offers and speaking invitations after obtaining a Huawei certification for mobile development. He learned how to create applications for Huawei devices and platforms, and to include features such as location, analytics, push notifications, in-app purchases, and cloud functions.

    “After I received the certification and published it on my LinkedIn, several companies contacted me and offered me a job position as a mobile developer or a project manager,” he said.

    He didn’t take up those offers as he did not want to leave his present job. 

    Istas Manalu, a lecturer from IT Del who participated in a summer camp organized by Huawei in China in June, said the camp offered leadership sessions and further training in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and IT governance.

    He said it was an opportunity for both lecturers and students “to familiarize ourselves with the development of 5G technology, cyber security, cloud computing, and AI, as they have a strong base in those areas.” 

    Onno W. Purbo, a computer engineering lecturer and a proponent of open-source tech, warned however that digital colonization by China was now a reality in Indonesia. 

    “We are really dependent on them because we don’t have the capacity,” said Purbo, a deputy rector at the South Tangerang Institute of Technology.

    But he likened it to Indonesia being “colonized” by Japan through the domination of Japanese car and motorcycle brands.

    Simanjuntak of IT Del, however, dismissed concerns about Huawei.

    He said that his institution’s partnership with the company was purely technical and practical. He noted that his institution also collaborates with Western companies, including Cisco and Google.

    “We are not discriminating against specific companies, but it’s free competition, let it be free. When we partner with someone, there should be mutual benefits,” he said.



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  • EndSARS: Abuja Customary Court Awaits Rebuilding 3 Years After Attack (PHOTOS)

    The Customary Court building in Dutse, Abuja, remains almost inactive, nearly three years after it fell victim to vandalism and arson during the 2020 EndSARS protests.

    The situation continues to affect its functioning, with its windows and glass doors shattered, and some cars and the security post still in ruins.

    Recall that in October 2020, irate youths across the nation united under the banner of EndSARS to protest against the now-defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a police unit notorious for its involvement in extrajudicial killings and inhumane treatment of suspects.

    EndSARS garnered international support, compelling President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to disband the controversial police unit and establish state panels to investigate victims’ claims.
    However, during the protests, opportunistic hoodlums took advantage of the chaos to target government properties and public institutions.

    The Dutse Customary Court building became one of their targets, suffering extensive damage.

    Despite visits from the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and other relevant authorities offering assistance, THE WHISTLER observed that no visible progress has been made to restore the court property during a visit.

    This is despite billions in budgetary allocation to the judiciary as well as the FCTA

    For instance, the House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary, chaired by Onofiok Akpan, revealed that the 2021 Judiciary budget was N110 billion, but it was deemed insufficient to address the courts’ needs and those of the judges.

    As the Customary Court Dutse languishes, litigants can only file applications there. Actual proceedings now take place twice a week at the Customary Court building in Ushafa, Bwari.

    Dilapidated Customary Court, Dutse
    Burnt vehicle at Customary Court, Dutse
    Dilapidated Customary Court, Dutse

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  • 17-year-old arrested for shooting friend in Florida, Sheriff’s Office says

    A 17-year-old was arrested Sunday after shooting a friend in the back late Friday in a Deltona park, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said.

    The 17-year-old boy was arrested on charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, carrying a concealed firearm, discharging a firearm in public and improper exhibition of a firearm after seriously injuring a friend who also was 17, the Sheriff’s Office said.

    The Orlando Sentinel does not publish names of minors who are arrested unless they are charged as adults.

    The 17-year-old, who was sitting in the right rear passenger seat, and three friends were in a car near Three Island Nature Park when he accidentally shot his friend in the back, the Sheriff’s Office said.

    The 17-year-old then ran away from the scene and tossed the gun, which has yet to be located, the Sheriff’s Office said.

    Deputies responded around 6:15 p.m. on Friday to a shooting and were flagged down by two men waiving and yelling for help at Howland Boulevard near Candler Drive, the Sheriff’s Office said.

    The victim was transported to a nearby hospital, where he is in stable but critical condition, the Sheriff’s Office said.

    ___

    © 2023 Orlando Sentinel

    Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.



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  • Osimhen Scores As Napoli Lose At Home 1:3 To Fiorentina

    Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen scored and missed a sitter as his Napoli team slumped to a 1:3 defeat on Sunday to Fiorentina at the Maradona.

    The champions have been struggling to replicate the form that got them the scudetto last season, leaking goals in defence while Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia have been the major culprits scoring few goals upfront.

    Fiorentina with all their indifferent form have shown so far this season they are giant slayers and started the match well by opening the scoring after just seven minutes into the match.

    The fans at the Maradona had hardly raised their voice with some still trying to take their seat when the ball went into the net.

    Osimhen equalised after five minutes in added time before the final whistle brought the first half contest into a close.

    Napoli began the second half with all seriousness but it was Fiorentina that went ahead again when 34-year old Bonaventura latched onto the ball to steer it into the net.

    It sent shockwaves across the stadium especially as Osimhen had missed a glorious chance moments earlier to put his team ahead.

    The Nigerian striker was substituted after 77 minutes as two more of his team mates as coach Rudi Garcia tried to change the trajectory of the game.

    But for all their enterprise, it was Fiorentina that got the next goal via Gonzalez three minutes into added time to consign Napoli into their second loss of the season.

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  • Groundbreaking choreographer Rudy Perez, a trailblazer of postmodern dance, dies at age 93

    Groundbreaking choreographer Rudy Perez, a pioneer of 1960s postmodern dance, died Friday, according to Sarah Swenson, a fellow choreographer, friend and member of Perez’s company.

    Perez died of complications from asthma. He was 93.

    Perez’s minimalist but wildly experimental work, marked by spare, precise movements, helped ignite a budding Los Angeles dance scene after he moved west from New York in the late 1970s. L.A.’s open spaces and natural landscapes inspired his innovative, site-specific works; and his interpretive abstract expressionism was so revelatory at the time, it opened up the dance landscape to new approaches.

    “He came to L.A. as a major artist, a choreographic genius known for making his own rules,” choreographer Lula Washington told the Los Angeles Times in 2015, adding that Perez was an influence on her. “There was nobody here doing that type of experimentation then. He allowed other people to see the possibilities.”

    Perez told The Times that his work sprang from the unconscious.

    “Nothing is planned,” he said in 2015. “When I put things together, unconsciously, it comes from my lifetime experience up to that moment. Then ultimately, it turns out to be about something for someone, certainly for me. But I don’t expect for it to be the same for the audience.”

    Perez was born Nov. 24, 1929, the son of a Peruvian immigrant and a Puerto Rican, and grew up in East Harlem and the Bronx with three younger brothers. He began improvising on the dance floor at an early age, with cha-cha and the samba, at family gatherings. His father was a merchant marine who traveled frequently; his mother died of tuberculosis when he was 7, at which point he contracted the disease and spent the next three years in the hospital, mostly bedridden.

    “I think a lot of the pain you see in some of my work that’s very sort of contained comes from that experience, from being in the hospital and hardly having any visitors,” he once said. “It’s all very suppressed, but it’s there in my work.”

    Perez studied with Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham in the 1950s, as well as Mary Anthony, but found his voice in New York’s ‘60s-era, avant-garde dance scene. He was part of the experimental collective Judson Dance Theater with Yvonne Rainer, Steve Paxton, Lucinda Childs and Trisha Brown.

    His first choreographed work, “Take Your Alligator With You” (1963), parodied magazine modeling poses. Three years later, he put together his first solo piece, “Countdown,” which featured Perez in a chair smoking a cigarette. He recalled that initially audiences weren’t sure what to make of his unique form of dance. But eventually, he broke through the largely white dance establishment of the time and won over audiences.

    Perez moved to L.A. in 1978 for a yearlong substitute teaching job at the University of California, Los Angeles and formed a dance company shortly thereafter.

    “In L.A., I felt freer; I was able to go beyond,” he told The Times. “I wanted to get away from the emphasis on dance, and work more with theater and natural movement.”

    In recent years, Perez’s vision had been severely impaired because of glaucoma and macular degeneration. He continued working every Sunday with his Rudy Perez Performance Ensemble at the Westside School of Ballet. During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, several dancers in Perez’s ensemble kept the workshop going over Zoom. They have since moved it to MNR Dance Factory in Brentwood.

    “Rudy was so pleased that we continued the workshop,” said Anne Grimaldo, who danced in Perez’s ensemble for 35 years. “Even when his eyesight was going, (Perez) could still ‘see’ like a fine-toothed comb. He’d say, ‘point your toes.’ … He could see everything with extreme detail.”

    Shortly after she graduated with her master’s degree in dance from UCLA in 1988, Grimaldo met one of Perez’s dancers at an audition. He told her to come to his class. Grimaldo hesitated; she had heard Perez had a reputation for being tough. She eventually ended up going. “Right away he said he wanted me in the company,” Grimaldo said. “And I never left.”

    “Rudy changed all of our lives,” Grimaldo added. The workshop “wasn’t just dance: It was theater, it was choreography, it was improvisation. It was up to a performance level and professional. You didn’t sit down during a break and lean against the bar. When we first started out we’d always wear black. And the company was very tight. It was like a collaboration with all of us and Rudy and his direction.”

    “Rudy was a titan of minimalist movement,” Swenson said, “achieved by just being himself, unique in his approach and product. Fierce and demanding in the studio, he secretly had a tender heart, and I’ll miss that more than anything.”

    Perez insisted his dancers take Pilates, Grimaldo added. “Now I’m a Pilates instructor,,” she said. “I met my husband, Jeff, in the company and we have a daughter. … I mean, everything I do and what I have is because of Rudy and my connection with him.”

    Throughout his career, Perez created dozens of pieces, including work for the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival. He was also a teacher whose influence — at the University of Southern California School of Dramatic Arts and the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, among other places — lives on in generations of choreographers and dancers.

    Dance critic Lewis Segal told The Times that Perez’s vision sparked “a real firestorm in L.A.” in the late ‘70s. “Teaching it and choreographing (in his style), he made a difference,” Segal said. He added: “It encouraged people to really go with their instincts, to go for broke.”

    In November 2015, University of California, Irvine presented Perez with a lifetime achievement award during “The Art of Performance in Irvine: A Tribute to Rudy Perez.” Perez’s dance ensemble debuted work there that he’d choreographed for the event: the three-piece performance “Slate in Three Parts.” A month later, Colburn School restaged Perez’s 1983 piece “Cheap Imitation.”

    Among his many honors, Perez was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship and L.A.’s the Music Center/Bilingual Foundation’s ¡Viva Los Artistas! Performing Arts Award. He held honorary doctorates from the Otis College of Art and Design in L.A. and the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, and his archives are part of the USC Libraries’ Special Collections.

    “I’ve been very fortunate,” Perez said in 2015 of his long-running career. “I’ve always been told, ‘Grow old gracefully’ — and I’m good at that. At this stage of my life, sure, it’s hard, but I’m striving for excellence. I wanna go out with a flash.”

    He is survived by his brother Richard Perez, his niece Linda Perez, and nephews Stephen and Anthony Perez, as well as numerous former Rudy Perez Ensemble Members, collaborators, and friends. A memorial for Perez is being planned.

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