News

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Roman Abramovic, the owner of Chelsea Football Club, had relinquished control of the club. Skynews reported this development on Saturday, February 26.

“During my nearly 20-year ownership of Chelsea FC, I have always viewed my role as a custodian of the Club, whose it is ensuring that we are as successful as we can be today, as well as build for the future , while also playing a positive role in our communities. I have always taken decisions with the Club’s best interest at heart. I remain committed to this values. That is why I am today giving trustees of Chelsea’s charitable foundation the stewardship and care of Chelsea FC ” He said.

“I believe that currently they are in the best position to look after the interests of the Club, players, staff and fans” He added

Abramovic decision is coming amidst the Russian-Ukraine crises and the call for the UK government to take over Chelsea Football Club and other Russian establishments in the country.

Ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel’s purse was stolen while she was shopping in a supermarket in Berlin on 24 Feb.

According to reports, the wallet contained an ID card, EC card, driver’s license and cash.

Berlin police said that the theft took place in a delicatessen supermarket in Charlottenburg’s Morsestrasse.

Merkel is said to have filed a criminal complaint with a police section on Friedrichstrasse.

© Berliner Zeitung

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, February 25, signed the Electoral Amendment Bill into law.

The President signed the Bill at the Presidential Villa on Friday in the presence of the Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo; President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila and others.

In the president’s address, he said, in line with traditions, he received input from different ministries and relevant departments and agencies of government after thorough reviews of the bill and the implications it will have on democratic processes in Nigeria.

He said, “It is gratifying to note that the current Bill comes with great deal of improvement from the previous Electoral Bill 2021. There are salient and praiseworthy provisions that could positively revolutionize election in Nigeria through the introduction of new technological innovations. These innovations would guarantee the constitutional rights of citizens to vote and do so effectively”

Many political commentators have argued that the new law will define the incoming general election in diverse ways.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has decried over the menace of insurgency rocking the North-Western part of the country while lamenting that the bandits use better weapons than the Nigerian security forces.

The governor who described bandits as “massive monsters” stated this while reacting to some questions on banditry and kidnapping in the North- West. El-Rufai spoke on Thursday in Abuja during the weekly briefing organised by the Presidential Communication Media.

He reiterated that insurgency in the North-West is far more severe than the Boko Haram crisis, going by the growing number of people killed and kidnapped every day.

“I am persuaded that the insurgency in the North West is far more serious than Boko Haram, both in terms of the numbers of the people affected. I have shown you the numbers in Kaduna. I can assure you that the numbers on Zamfara and Katsina are up to three times. The numbers in Sokoto, Niger, and Kebbi are also very alarming.

“We are talking of tens of thousands of people getting killed, getting kidnapped. It is far more serious than Boko Haram. The only thing is that these guys don’t occupy territory. They are in the forest and ungoverned spaces.

“So, they do not attract the kind of single-minded attention that Boko Haram does. And because Boko Haram’s ideology is religious, intentionally religious, it elicits more passion, but really, this is a far more serious problem.

“Because, this is a situation largely in which people of about the same ethnicity, same religion are killing each other, stealing each other’s property, creating an industry out of criminality. It’s very serious, and it requires single-minded attention,” said El-Rufai.

By Aisar Fagge

Isah Nasidi, a young Nigerian PhD student of Mass Communication and a research fellow at the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism, developed a new model called SAMCAV. First of its kind, the model aims to combat disinformation and discover the fourth typology of information disorder, which he called dil-information.

A statement sent to The Daily Reality reveals that Nasidi’s discovery was the outcome of the six-month research fellowship of the Kwame Kari-Kari Fact-checking and Research Fellowship, which selected 17 researchers from four West African countries to research information disorder.

The SAMCAV model links six elements of information disorder; Source, Agent, Message, Channel, Audience and Victim. These elements are involved in the production, distribution and consumption of information disorder.

According to the researcher, the model will help researchers and policymakers to know how disordered information flows and the effects it causes in society.

Moreover, the work discovers the concept of ‘dil-information’ as the fourth type of information disorder, which has never been considered as an independent typology separate from disinformation, misinformation, and malinformation.

Dil-information is defined as genuine information diluted with false information, misinterpreted or misrepresented with or without intent to harm. Terms like mostly true, half-true, mostly false and misleading are used to classify claims of this nature.

The research aims to set a research agenda for scholars working in this virgin area and help in policy making and developing mechanisms for solving the problem.

Isah Nasidi, an independent researcher and media consultant, is an indigene of Kano state. He bagged his first and second degrees in Mass Communication at Bayero University, Kano. He is currently a PhD student of Mass Communication, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), and the Secretary of Communication History Division of International Communication Association (USA).

By Uzair Adam Imam 

Bandits have shot ASCII Muhammad Maradun, a Customs officer with Federal Operations Unit (FOU), to death in Kaduna.

The Daily Reality gathered that six people, among whom was a bride-to-be, were abducted in the process. 

It has been discovered that the bandits had stormed his house at Rogachikun Community of Igabi local government, Kaduna, in the early hours of Wednesday.

The deceased, Mr Maradun, was reported to have sustained gunshot injuries.

The FOU Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), M.A Magaji, confirmed the victim’s death.

However, the deceased was said to have died while undergoing surgery, putting all attempts to save his life in vain.

By Muhammad Sabiu

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia is a “catastrophe” for Europe, according to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has asked for an emergency summit of the NATO military alliance led by the United States.

He was quoted as saying on Twitter: “This is a catastrophe for our continent.”

Mr. Johnson added that he would make a national address on the developments.

“I will also speak to fellow G7 leaders and I am calling for an urgent meeting of all NATO leaders as soon as possible,” he said.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy calls on citizens to fight

Zelenskyy has appealed to all civilians who are willing to protect Ukraine against Russian soldiers to come forward, stressing that Kyiv will provide firearms to anyone who requests them.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko also urged Russians to resist Moscow’s plan to invade their country’s neighbour.

Recall that Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the launch of attacks on parts of Ukraine as part of the move to support intending breakaway regions in the Eastern part of the country.

The attack has caused outrage and condemnations from world powers as citizens flee Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital city, although Putin stated that the attacks were not targeted at unarmed civilians.

Ukraine claimed that it had shot down fighter jets belonging to the Russian forces stationed in the unresting part of the country.

By Muhammad Sabiu

Reports coming from Gusau have it that Mahdi Aliyu Gusau, the state’s deputy governor, has been impeached by the Zamfara State House of Assembly.

The members ousted Mr Gusau from office on Wednesday during plenary after 20 out of 21 voted in favour of his removal.

Following the submission of a panel report by the state’s chief judge, Kulu Aliyu, to investigate alleged impeachable offences against the deputy governor, the parliamentarians quickly voted.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has threatened to occupy all roads to Abuja Monday if the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) ’s strike is not brought to an end.

The association stated that the protest would involve students, parents and civil servants.

The Vice President of the Union, Comrade Yazid Tanko Muhammad, disclosed this to BBC Hausa on Tuesday, February 22, 2022.

He added that they would all gather to tell the world the situation they are facing in the country with regards to their education.

Muhammad also reiterated that the protest had become necessary to rescue the country’s educational system from incessant strike actions.

Comrade Yazid Tanko Muhammad said: “The reason we choose to embark on a protest is that it is the only language that can be understood, and it is the only way we can show the world our situations and feelings towards the strike.

“So, it is a protest which, if we start, will not stop until the issues are resolved, and the lecturers resume work.

“So we will block the roads linking Abuja from Kogi, Abuja from Kaduna and Abuja from Nasarawa states.

“That means we will block the whole Abuja on that day. We will also block the Federal Secretariat.

“That is why we are calling on Mr President to show concern and solidarity to us by not attending to work on that day.

“He should please remain at home. Since everyone is a student, either a Minister, Senator, House of Representatives member, they were all students before they reached the level they are now.

“So, we are doing this because of the future of our education and the country.

“We can’t just stay at home and watch. No country in the world can go on strike for a whole month without any concrete reasons like a pandemic or similar things,” he stated.

By Ahmed Deedat Zakaria

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). The MoU aims at a partnership that combats financial crimes. 

The EFCC Chairman, Abdulrashid Bawa, received the Director-General of NYSC, Major-General Shuaibu Ibrahim, at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja on Monday, February 21, where the MoU was signed. 

Addressing the audience at the event, Mr Bawa said the document is important as it will guide the two agencies on what is expected of them.

“We are delighted to have you. NYSC has been part of us from the beginning, as we have always had the opportunity of welcoming corps members to help us in one area or another where we have gaps in our staff, even though the sensitivity of what we do requires trained officers, but they are actually helping us a lot,” he said.

Bawa also commended the role of corps members in the fight against corruption.

“Corps members are agents of enlightenment. I want to assure you that our collaboration will address fraudulent acts, and I assure you that we will continue to sensitize members of the public on the dangers of corruption,” he said.

On the other hand, Ibrahim asked for the support of EFCC in arresting online scammers attempting to defraud unsuspecting Corps Members and the public. 

“All of us have to fight corruption for the sake of our country, and I can assure you that the NYSC will play its part as enshrined in the MoU,” he said.