Headlines
Atiku Will Reopen Nigeria’s Borders If Elected, Says Tambuwal
Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State on Saturday said the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, would reopen the nation’s borders if elected at the 2023 general election.
The Director-General of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council made the assertion at the PDP campaign rally in Illela Local Government Area of the state.
According to him, the PDP presidential candidate has better plans for the country.
“These include reopening of the nation’s borders, addressing challenges of insecurity and the provision of basic necessities of life for Nigerians,” he said.
The governor added that his administration in the state had a lot of sympathy for the people of Illela being among the worst hit areas by bandits’ attacks.
“However, despite challenges of insecurity, economic recession and the negative impact of COVID-19, we have executed several projects under healthcare, education, water supply and social interventions, among others,” he said.
In his remarks, the DG, Sokoto Campaign Management Council, Alhaji Yusuf Sulaiman, asked the people of the area to elect continuity in governance by casting their votes for the PDP.
The PDP governorship candidate, Malam Sa’idu Umar, pledged that the international market project at Illela would receive the attention it deserved from his administration if elected.
Umar said he owed special attention to the people of the state in general. He promised to sustain the legacies of Tambuwal and initiate more developmental projects, if elected.
On his part, the Sokoto North senatorial candidate of the PDP and incumbent deputy governor, Alhaji Mannir Dan’iya, attested to the current administration’s successes in the state.
He urged the people of the state to reciprocate the gesture by voting for the PDP, adding that many developmental projects were planned for Kware LGA in the 2023 budget.
NAN
The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
