Headlines
For Calling Us Useless People, We’ll Never Patronise You Again, Naira Marley Threatens Executive Jet
Azeez Fashola, popularly known as Naira Marley, and the Chairman of Executive Jet Services, Sam Iwuajoku, have exchanged bitter words over the sanctions imposed on the airline by the Federal Government for violating the COVID-19 guidelines.
While Iwuajoku described Naira Marley and his team as a bunch of useless people, the singer, in a series of tweets on Tuesday, vowed never to patronise the airline again.
The Federal Government had, on Monday, announced the indefinite suspension of the operations of the airline and promised to impose fines on it and the pilot for violating the flight approval it received from the Ministry of Aviation.
The airline had flown Naira Marley and his team to Abuja, where they performed at a concert in violation of the COVID-19 guidelines
Iwuajoku, in a letter dated June 15, 2020, and addressed to the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, apologised for the incident and claimed that he thought the aircraft was conveying a serving minister and his team.
He said he was shocked when he realised that it was Naira Marley and his team, who were conveyed by the aircraft.
The letter read in part, “Please, the flight was to carry (sic) a judge to Abuja on Sunday, 14th of June, 2020, as requested and the permit was granted based on the application, but unfortunately, when I called the judge on Saturday morning to inform him that we have (sic) the permit, he then said he has (sic) reached (sic) Abuja already with (sic) a different flight that someone gave him a lift (sic) to Abuja.
“So, on Saturday morning, 13th June, 2020, my staff called me that they have (sic) a charter flight to Abuja and that the passengers are (sic) already in the lounge. As a rule, passenger manifests are always sent to me before departure.
“When I went through the manifest and saw Babatunde Fashola, I thought it was the honourable Minister of Works (and Housing) going to Abuja with his men. So, we decided to do (sic) the flight since he is a serving minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I didn’t know that it was a bunch of useless people.”
Reacting to Iwuajoku’s letter, Naira Marley regretted using the airline, saying the plane almost crashed.
He tweeted, “Do you know that over 20,000 Marlians travel with executive jets a month? We won’t be using your useless airline again for calling us useless. Thank God we didn’t crash on that flight sha because we nearly did. BTW We didn’t book the flight ourselves.
“The cost of living working-class/middle-class is too high. The fact that the Almighty has blessed you, shouldn’t make you look down on anyone Mr executive jet calling us useless is not only defamation but oppressive. The statement by the CEO is arrogant and silly.”
He, however, added that his younger brother, whose name is Babatunde Fashola, was on the flight.
Meanwhile, the minister has distanced himself from the controversy, saying he has not travelled out of Abuja since March 22, 2020.
Fashola, in a statement on Tuesday by his Special Adviser, Communications, Hakeem Bello, said his attention was drawn to the mentioning of his name in the letter by Iwuajoku.
The statement said, “For purposes of clarity and in order to set the records straight, the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, has not travelled out of Abuja since March 22, 2020, when he returned there after an inspection tour of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway’s construction work and a visit to Lagos before the lockdown.
“The decision of the minister not to travel was taken in strict compliance with the Federal Government’s ban on inter-state travels as part of efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is, therefore, ridiculous for Dr Iwuajoku to attempt to link the minister with any non-compliant flight.”
The Punch
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.”
