Tribunal Nullifies 2019 Governorship Election, To Conduct Fresh Election

The Bayelsa State Governorship Election Tribunal sitting in Abuja has annulled the election of Duoye Diri, governor of Bayelsa State.
The election was nullified based on a petition by the Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party, which argued that it was unlawfully excluded from participating in the election.

Diri, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, was sworn in as governor after the Supreme Court sacked David Lyon as governor-elect 24 hours before his inauguration.
In a majority judgment delivered by Justice Yunusa Musa in the petition, the tribunal held that the Independent National Electoral Commission unlawfully excluded ANDP from the November 16, 2019 governorship election in the state.
It, therefore, ordered INEC to conduct a fresh governorship election in Bayelsa State within 90 days.

Credit: SaharaReporters

Ghana President Akufo-Addo re-opens tertiary institutions

President Nana Akufo-Addo has permitted the re-opening of tertiary institutions to receive continuing students, easing more restrictions imposed to address the spread of coronavirus.
Students can resume August 24, the president has announced in his 15th address to the nation as the number of active coronavirus cases continue to drop.
The re-opening would mark about five months since the government closed all schools in March after Ghana recorded its first two cases.
Following the closure of tertiary institutions, several of them resorted to online teaching and learning to trudge through the academic year.
The president acknowledged the completion of studies in universities through this means but also pointed to some exceptions.
He said schools such as the University of Cape Coast, the University of Health and Allied Sciences and technical universities and other colleges.
“After extensive stakeholder consultations, the decision has been taken for continuing students in these tertiary institutions to return to school, on 24th August, to complete their academic year,” he declared.
While announcing a re-opening date for tertiary institutions, first and second cycle schools continue to remain closed with the exception of final year students sitting exams.
President Akufo-Addo directed that there should be no mass gatherings or sporting activities on campus. But he allowed religious activities.
The president said tertiary institutions are to adhere to the covid-19 safety protocols, including the wearing of mask, regular handwashing and use of sanitisers while maintaining social distancing rules.
After months of strategizing to contain the deadly virus, the president continued to hammer on the theme of progress in the country’s fight.
In addition to declining active cases, he said Ghana has cleared its backlog of test results and is now able to provide results within 48 hours.
He said those who claim that the government has lost the fight could only make a “baseless assertion” for the sake of “political expediency”.

Credit: PressExpress

[BREAKING News] All Schools in Nigeria are Resuming on September (University, Poly, Secondary School and Others)

All Schools in Nigeria are Resuming on September (University, Poly, Secondary School and Others) All Schools are resuming on 7th of September 2020 hereby Student need to resume back to their studies.
Learning institution have remained closed since the outbreak of the deadly disease corona virus. learners have stayed home for 6 months nows.
University of Ilorin Releases Urgent Notice on September Resumption
All institutions are working hard to meet the requirement of the ministry of health in order to resume studies on september as said by the CS George magoha.
It could be recalled that the federal government of Nigeria shutdown schools in all levels across the state in 23 March due to the outbreak of the deadly virus (COVID-19) and until date, school activities have been suspended.
Following the reopening of schools in August 4th by FG for final year students year students of JSS 3 and SS 3 in Secondary schools across the country.
The federal government reopened schools for students of junior and senior secondary school after putting all health precaution measures in order to prevent the spread of the virus among students and teachers.
Indication shows that the deadly virus is no longer dominated in Nigeria after NCDC discharged about 11,000 patients from isolation centers after FG eased lockdown on worship centers, reopening of domestic airports, easing of inter-state lockdown and businesses.
Daily updates on confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the announcement of resumption date for final year students in secondary schools across the country has no trace of students or teachers contracting COVID-19.
On this note; every student is looking ahead to resume schools (Universities,P
oly, College of Education and secondary schools) at all level to resume fully for academic activities prior to the preparation by students to write first semester examinations for all tertiary institutions and continuation of Third term for all secondary schools students across the country.
Indication shows that students in all levels are to resume on or before end of August to September 7, 2020.
According to an information reaching us revealed that the
All Universities,Poly, College of Education and secondary schools will resume September, this is because the Joint admission and Matriculation (JAMB) and all tertiary institutions have agreed to commence the 2020/2021 post- Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) screening on September 7.
More also, The national universities commission (NUC) ask all Universities to sent data/ information on their preparedness for the reopening of higher institutions to continue academic activities and the data shows that all schools are ready and willing to reopen in accordance to the guidelines released by the Federal Ministry of Education.
As much as we appreciate the goverment for the acclaimed of love, we condemn in totality the cointuned closure of our institutions, it is pertinent we understand that the same covid couldnt stop the NASS from sharing their exotic jeeps bought with our money, covid couldnt stop our goverment from receiving their salaries and allowances, covid couldnt halt the electoral process in Edo and Ondo states even with multitude participants during rallies, covid couldnt stop the FG from lifting the lockdown on areas where revenue can be generated probably for it to be looted further, what then is the moral jusitification for the cointinuedclosured of our school.
A lot of people are doubting september 7 resumption date but what they fail to understand is that POST UTME will not kick-off successfully if all tertiary institution across the country fail to resume for all academic activities and as such, all universities,poly, college of education must resume and all student must resume in all the campuses to prepare for examination so as to end first semester for 2019/2020 academic session.

Credit: PressExpress

Naira Marley Is Not A Revolutionary __Written By Banwo “Proficience” Olagokun

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride, every pop sensation would be an activist and every fan club would be a rebel movement. But the barricades are not for dreamers. Political rebellions are carried out by those willing to defy the repression the state wields towards a serious challenge against the status quo.
Azeez Fashola popularly known as Naira Marley is a rapper and singer, known for his witty Yoruba rap lyrics laced in the idiom of Lagos street life. He comes out of the recent school of millennial Afrobeat superstars who have both caught the eye of the globe and held sway over Nigerian pop culture since around 2017. He grew up in South London, in the UK, where his career also started and where he developed an early following. But it was in Nigeria that he became a star. It started when in 2019 he released the song “Am I a yahoo Boy.” The latter refers to online scammers who have given Nigeria a bad name. The song offered a comical defense of Marley against supposed allegations that his wealth and fame were a product of online scams. Then, the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crime Commission) raided his house, detained him and charged him with fraud.
Banwo “Proficience” Olagokun
Judging by internet reactions to his viral hit song and the news of arrest which was largely perceived as unlawful, many young Nigerians embraced Marley as a challenge to the status quo. Marley seemed to reinforce this perception when he threw up the black power fist during one of his court sessions. Marley’s travails at the hands of the anti-corruption agency appealed to a widely held cynicism among a strata of Nigerian millennials who view internet fraud as an almost pardonable sin in comparison to the level of financial impropriety associated with the worlds of Nigerian politics, religion, and business. Naira Marley aptly captured this position in “Am I a yahoo boy”: “Government na barawo, bloggers na arm robber, imam dey gbaladun, pastor na enjoyment,” meaning the government is a thief, bloggers are armed robbers, imams are living luxuriously while the pastors enjoy opulent living.
But are we too quick to see anti-establishment figures and countercultural youth such as Naira Marley as political rebels? That may be the case with Naira Marley, someone who has articulated no politics of liberation. It is important to remember that popularity among the dispossessed is not equivalent to a political vision.
Naira Marley’s fan club, now popularly known as Marlians, lack the socio-political consciousness or to be called a social or political movement. But of course, this was not inevitable. In a different world, Naira Marley, after his release from detention might have offered a more radical message to his followers, particularly at a time when young people the world over are increasingly calling for an end to violent and unaccountable policing. The rapper has amassed a following of diehard fans who would listen to him if he did decide to take it up a notch by educating his fanbase on why they should organize against class oppression.
However, that is not the world we live in. Though misconstrued as a revolutionary movement, Marlians are bereft of every modicum of organizational or ideological coherence. Naira Marley does not fundamentally deviate from a well-worn path within mainstream rap music of offering playful lyrics about a life of sex, drugs, and crime. Though his message challenges the cultural conservatism of Nigerian society, it is inconsistent with the political status quo. He is not the first pop star to explore these themes or to garner a large followership as a result. Rather, Marley shares the mentality of many of his contemporary musicians in Nigeria who see music as a means to “blow”— to secure capital through selling appealing music as well as by singing the praises of popular and affluent people regardless of their source of wealth. A classic example of the latter is Burna Boy’s 2019 song “Dangote”, which eronnously casts the billionare as a successful hustler to be emulated, but stays silent about how Dangote’s monopoly has been supported by state tax waivers and public private parternships that have done little to improve the general state of life in Nigeria.
Popular Nigerian musicians have not always prioritized the need to blow. To take a well-known example, Fela Kuti sang about all the ills of various military and corrupt civilian governments,
then became more vociferous against the ruling class after every release from detention, formed a revolutionary movement called MOP (Movement of the People) and almost registered it as a political party until he was wrongly disqualified. He led protests and took every opportunity to sensitize his fans whenever the media were around for interviews irrespective of what the media initially came for. He prioritized revolutionary conscientization over self-promotion and slang slinging.
I personally enjoy Naira Marley’s music and, aside from his glorification of fraud, I have never been opposed to the counter-cultural content of his lyrics. However, being a proud deviant (departing from usual or accepted standards, especially in social or sexual behavior) as we Marlians are, can too often remain a socio-cultural disposition. For instance, it would be inappropriate to describe certain strands of Nigerian hipsterism as social awareness or overt political rebellion. Though countercultural, Marlians do not appear to exhibit the conscious effort or necessary awareness to challenge Nigeria’s economic or political system. No such challenge can be launched by an un-shepherded fan base.
In contrast, radical artists speak to issues that affect the masses either directly or through their lyrics and art. This requires more than chanting “marlians come forward” and “gbe body eh” [ lift your body or turn up] on stage. You can’t promise your fans not to be afraid because you are with them – “mafo mo wa Pelue” [pledging fake solidarity] but become gravely silent when Nigerians are oppressed or killed by the state agents like the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and the Nigerian army. Even by the standard of online political activism, Marley has remained noticeably absent from anti-corruption or police brutality hashtags on social media and has offered no public acknowledgement in support of the victims of the current violent policing regime.
Beyond symbolic displays of dissent, has Marley yet offered us a practical act of political rebellion? As a fan of Naira Marley, I have sought in vain for an example of this. At the end Marley inadvertently teaches young Nigerians an important lesson about politics: that it will take more than counter-cultural popularity to effect any tangible change in our society.

Credit: SaharaReporters