Osinbajo meets southern Kaduna leaders

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has met with leaders of various groups in Southern Kaduna at the Kaduna state government house chambers.

Osinbajo was accompanied by ministers Lai Mohammed and Rotimi Amaechi

The leaders include representatives of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Kaduna state, the Jama'atu Nasril Islam and Meyeti Allah representatives.

Representatives of various groups at the meeting

At the meeting, Osinbajo listened to submissions by representatives of various groups from Southern Kaduna.

Representatives of various groups at the meeting

Those who spoke were Bishop George Dodo, chairman CAN Kaduna State, Sanusi Maikudi on behalf of JNI and southern Kaduna Muslims, Mr Tobias Wada and Ibrahim Abdullahi ; the national secretary of Miyetti Allah.

After expressing his condolences for lives lost, Osinbajo called for peace, adding that how many more people would have to be killed before we have peace? "We owe each other peace," he said.

Representatives of various groups at the meeting

He added that the meeting was just a beginning and more would be coming soon, including meeting separately with each of the groups to listen to them then meet all the groups together again.

Osinbajo meets with southern Kaduna leaders over crisis

Osinbajo concluded that what all the people from southern Kaduna should ensure now is that the bloodshed stops.

Representatives of various groups at the meeting

He noted that the crisis started decades ago and can't be solved in one meeting, even as he expressed resolve to stay on the matter.

Governor Nasir El Rufai speaking at the event

Osinbajo storms Kaduna inspect airport,railway terminal link.

A day after visiting Akwa Ibom state where he issued a directive to international oil companies to relocate to the Niger Delta, acting President Yemi Osinbajo is in Kaduna state on an official visit.

Osinbajo immediately proceeded to inspecting the airport

The Transview gathered that Osinbajo, in company of the ministers of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, as well as Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, touched down at the Kaduna International Airport 12:21pm.

He was received by Governor Nasir El-Rufai and immediately proceeded to inspecting the airport which is expected to become busy with the shutting down of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

He is also expected to inspect Abuja -Rigasa Railway terminal link road to the airport constructed by the state government within one month.

While in Akwa Ibom, Osinbajo revealed that the federal government had made provision of N1 billion in the 2017 budget for the development of Ibaka deep seaport in Akwa Ibom.

“I have heard all the requests. We must trust and give this government the patience that is required to put things right.

“We are working on modular refineries. Power stations must be established here. We must make our oil producing communities hub of petrochemical and gas industries.

“We must attract private investments. The biggest benefit is to attract more private investments to the state,” Osinbajo advised.

BREAKING: Ekweremadu leads senate delegate to South Africa over Xenophobic attacks .

Deputy Senate president Ike Ekweremadu will lead the Nigerian Senate delegation to South Africa to probe the ongoing xenophobic attacks in that country.

Ekweremadu will lead the delegation carrying Nigeria's message to South African parliament.

Senate president Senator Bukola Saraki announced the names at the opening of plenary today Wednesday, March 1.2017.

Other members of the delegation are:

1. Leader of the senate Senator Ahmad Lawan

2. Chief Whip Senator Sola Adeyeye

3. Senator Shehu Sani

4. Senator Stella Oduah

5. Senator Magnus Abe

6. Senator Shaba Lafiaji

Details later

History made as African-American actors win BIG at 2017 Oscars

African-American actors won big at this year's Oscars, scooping best supporting actor, best supporting actress and best picture awards

- This follows last year's controversial ceremony that led many to believe that film critics favored white film performers

- Fans have hailed the greater diversity displayed at this year's Oscars

African-American actors have won big at the 89th Academy Awards, popularly known as Oscars, scooping Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Picture awards.

Mahershala Ali became the first Muslim African American actor to win the Best Supporting Actor award

Mahershala Ali became the first Muslim African-American actor to win the Best Supporting Actor award for his role as Juan in the film Moonlight.

Viola Davis also won the Best Supporting Actress award for her role in Fences, in which she acts alongside Denzel Washington.

READ ALSO: Viola Davis wins Oscar award after third nomination (photos, video)

Viola Davis speaking after she won Best Supporting Actress Oscar

Moonlight, which features an African-American majority cast, also won the Best Picture Award. Barry Jenkins, its African-American director, accepted the award.

READ ALSO: Woman presents the 'Oscar' award for 'Best Husband' to her husband

Another African-American director/producer, Ezra Edelman, won the Oscar for Best Documentary for his film, O. J.: Made in America.

Moonlight director Barry Jenkins accepts the award for Best Picture

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Several other African American actors had also been nominated for various awards, including Denzel Washington (Best Actor), Ruth Negga (Best Actress), Naomie Harris (Best Supporting Actress) and Octavia Spencer (Best Supporting Actress).

READ ALSO: Good night at the Oscars for Lupita Nyong'o's friend Leonardo DiCaprio

Ezra Edelman accepting the award for best Documentary

This year's Oscars ceremony has been hailed as more inclusive and diverse following last year's controversial edition that was deemed as favoring white film performers.

Exclusive: Mikel Obi to miss Super Eagles next games

 Super Eagles captain Mikel Obi will miss Nigeria's friendly ties against Senegal and Burkina Faso

- Super Eagles media man Toyin Ibitoye confirmed the news today Wednesday, March 1, 2017

- Ibitoye said Mikel has been granted permission to opt out of the games by coach Gernot Rohr

Nigerian international football star John Obi Mikel will not participate in the Super Eagles' next two friendly ties against Senegal and Burkina Faso as the former Chelsea player has pulled out of the games.

Super Eagles captain Mikel Obi

The 29-year-old has requested to be excused from the games to enable him settle down in his new Chinese Super League club Tianjin Teda as the League would just be few weeks old at the time of the games.

The two friendly games will be played in London in March 2017 and it’s meant to prepare the Eagles for their Nations Cup 2019 qualifiers as well as the World Cup 2018 qualifiers.

Confirming the development to our source today Wednesday morning (March 1, 2017), Super Eagles media officer Toyin Ibitoye explained that Mikel has been given the permission to miss the two games.

Mikel Obi in action

''Yes, Mikel Obi has been granted permission to miss the games by the Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr and we want to wish him a successful start in the Chinese Super League,''the media officer noted.

Meanwhile, Mikel is the only player among the three Super Eagles players playing in China who requested to be left out of the game, as the duo of Brown Ideye and Odion Ighalo are yet to toe same line.

Which city has the worst traffic?

A study by a US think tank has declared Thailand's capital Bangkok as having the worst traffic jams of 2016. But commuters from other gridlocked cities in Asia argue that the situation is far worse elsewhere.

Produced by the BBC's Christine Franciska and Heather Chen in Singapore, Salman Saeed in Mumbai, Nanchanok Wongsamuth and Jiraporn Kuhakan in Bangkok and Rafki Hidayat in Jakarta.

Read more

Traffic to be banned on India's iconic Connaught Place

Why is Bangalore stuck in traffic jams?

Police raid peace corp office in Abuja, arrests commandant

The power tussle between the the Nigeria Police Force and the newly inauguratedPeace Corps has taken a new dimension following the raiding and arresting of the national commandant of the corps, Ambassador Dickson Akoh.

Akoh was reportedly arrested close to midnight on Tuesday, February 28 after the police raided the national headquarters of the corps in Abuja.

The corps, a youth-based organisation, came into force after it was given a nod by the National Assembly through a bill that was passed, but the police had allegedly kicked against the granting it a go-ahead to operate.

READ ALSO: NSCDC, Peace Corps clash: Authorities make critical statements

Transview magazine reports that a training facility belonging to the Peace Corps in Kwara and Abuja had earlier been raided and shut by the police.

Earlier on Tuesday when the corps was being formally inaugurated in the presence of the minister of Sports and Youths Development, members of the National Assembly, traditional rulers, religious bodies and youth organisations, the police joined other security agencies to provide a peaceful atmosphere for the success of the event.

Hours later, the raid was reportedly carried out.

“We don’t know where they have taken him to,” the report quoted a source within the corps as saying adding that Akoh was taken to the FCT command of the Nigeria Police.

READ ALSO: Peace and Security: UN approves 7 annual grant pass for Nigerian Peace Corps

The reason for his arrest has not been given. The police is also yet to issue an official position concerning the incident at the time of this report.

This Brain Treatment Could Be a Cure For Anorexia, Depression, and More .

For those suffering from life-threatening eating disorders, a new hope comes from a treatment called deep brain stimulation (DBS). This FDA-approved treatment has historically been used for neurological disorders (primarily involving physical tremors); a study in the Annual Review of Neuroscience said this treatment has a "dramatic clinical benefit" for Parkinson's, Tourette's, and depression. Another study said it may be "the most significant single advance in decades in the treatment of neurological disorders."

Now, researchers are looking to DBS as a treatment for anorexia recovery. DBS is a neurosurgical procedure that implants a "brain pacemaker" (electrodes) into the brain (the particular area of the brain in which the electrodes are inserted is dependent on what the patient's symptoms are). An electrical current (which the patient doesn't feel)stimulates those different parts of the brain.

Because the procedure is typically quite risky with potentially life-threatening side effects, this surgical treatment is reserved for patients with extreme cases whose symptoms are not alleviated with medication. A 2012 study stated that DBS is a "valuable option for weight restoration in otherwise-refractory and life-threatening cases" but that "further scientific investigation is essential to warrant the long-term efficacy and safety

And until recently, not much else has been said about DBS's role in weight recovery. In a small but detailed study conducted at the University of Toronto Department of Surgery (published just last week), 16 severely underweight patients between the ages of 21 and 57 underwent deep brain stimulation, and the results were particularly positive. These patients — who were averse to all other treatments before DBS — experienced increased BMI and "significant improvements in measures of depression." The study found that a year post-treatment, the patients were still healthy, saying that DBS is "well tolerated, and is associated with significant and sustained improvements in affective symptoms, BMI, and changes in neural circuitry at 12 months after surgery."

Human trafficking: FG evacuates 41 Nigerian girls from Mali, arrests 6 suspected traffickers

The Federal Government on Monday, February 27, evacuated 41 Nigerian girls who were trafficked to Mali for forced labour and sexual exploitation.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that six persons, alleged to be human traffickers, were also arrested and brought back to the country alongside their victims.

The Hercules C-130 military aircraft, with registration number NAF 913, conveying the returnees landed at 7:45 pm at the Airforce Base of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.

They were brought back by the Nigeria Air Force in collaboration with the Office of the Senior Special Assistant, Diaspora and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

They were received at the Hajj Camp area of the airport by officers of the NAPTIP and the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).

Addressing newsmen, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, commended the Chief Of Defence Staff, for facilitating the return of the victims to the country.

“We want to thank the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Sadique Abubakar, and the Chief of Defence Staff, Maj Gen. Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin, for making the return of the girls possible, otherwise they would have still be there.

“The girls came back voluntarily. Some of these girls are between 15 and 17 years old who thought they were being taken to Europe for greener pastures but ended up with traumatic experiences in the hands of their traffickers and their madam.

“So they should not be ashamed of themselves because they are victims. We are going to rehabilitate them through skills acquisition programmes. I am therefore calling on non-governmental organisations to join us in this regard,” she said.

Dabiri-Erewa advised Nigerian parents to watch their children carefully and ensure that they don’t succumb to peer pressure and other activities that could exposed them to traffickers.

She confirmed that six of the alleged traffickers, who were arrested and brought back to the country, would be handed over to the appropriate authorities for prosecution.

According to her, the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration remains committed to the welfare of Nigerians all over the world, hence this intervention.

Also speaking, Mr Joseph Famakinwa, Zonal Commander, NAPTIP, South-West Zone, said 512 victims were returned to the zone in 2016.

Famakinwa said Nigerians needed to go back to the basics of bringing up their children uprightly and discouraging the ‘get rich quick’ syndrome.

He said poverty was not solely responsible for the increase in the human trafficking, stressing that other factors such as negligence, peer pressure and greed were also responsible.

He said NAPTIP would reveal the identities of the suspected traffickers in due course and ensure that they are brought to justice.