News

By Muhammad Aminu and Uzair Adam Imam

A Senior Lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication, Bayero University, Kano, Dr Ibrahim Siraj Adhama, has urged journalists to fact-check figures to change the narratives by the media that paint Northern Nigeria black. 

Adhama stated this at a One-Day Workshop for Early-Career Journalists on Reporting Northern Nigeria, Fake News and Journalism Ethics organized by a Kano-based online media organization, The Daily Reality. 

The workshop, which was held at Bayero University, Kano, was organized by the management team of The Daily Reality Newspaper to groom journalists in Northern Nigeria on reporting.

He said our northern reporters should have apparatuses to re-examine statistics by the World Bank and IMF, among others, before reporting them for public consumption. 

Adhama, who spoke on “Issues in Reporting Northern Nigeria: A Framing/Agenda Setting Perspective, said the north was represented in media as economically and educationally backward with a high number of out-of-school children. 

He said, “We need to stop swallowing statistics about us. Most of these statistics by the World Bank, IMF, etc., will never favour us. 

“Thus, we should have an apparatus to re-examine them before reporting them,” he added.

Speaking on how those reports affect Hausa-Muslim northerners and, by extension, other ethnic groups, Adhama maintained that all the things we read about us in the Southern media were in themselves, despite claiming objectivity, subjective.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

The Federal Government announced on Monday that the restoration of train service between Abuja and Kaduna is scheduled for this month, November.

The Transportation Minister, Mu’azu Sambo, said this in Abuja while presenting his ministry’s scorecard.

He claimed that sufficient security had been put in place to guarantee the well-being of the travellers. 

However, the Minister did not provide a precise start date.

The incident in March, which claimed the lives of several passengers and resulted in the suspension of rail operations on the Abuja-Kaduna route, according to Sambo, taught the ministry enough lessons.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Qatari government is preaching and introducing Islam to World Cup fans through murals placed in public places.

TRT World reported on Saturday that as Qatar prepares to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, it has placed several murals in public places bearing Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) sayings and traditions written in Arabic and English.

According to the report, the murals feature various sayings on mercy, charity and good deeds. They are situated across the Pearl District, a popular tourist attraction in the Qatari capital, Doha.

The initiative of Qatar’s government has been applauded by many Arab journalists and Muslims worldwide.

Qatar’s government has been unpretentious about not compromising Islamic values because of the 2022 World Cup. However, their stance on homosexuality and the LGBTQ community has been critical; the government deems it unacceptable to their country’s values and norms.

The Head of Security for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Major General Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Ansari, in a statement, said the country does not want LGBTQ flags in the venues of the World Cup, and LGBTQ is not acceptable to the country.

He said: You want to demonstrate your view about the LGBTQ situation, do it in a society where it will be accepted. Don’t insult the whole society because of this. You cannot change the religion for 28 days”.

Qatar is the first country in the Middle East to host the World Cup, the biggest tournament in the football world.

By Habibu Maaruf Abdu

The Executive Director, Kano State Censorship Board, Alhaji Isma’ila Na’abba Afakallah, has tied the knot with veteran Kannywood actress, Rukayya Umar Santa (Dawayya).

The wedding fatiha took place on Friday, November 4, 2022, at Tishama Jumu’at mosque in Kano, after months of speculations about their relationship on social media.

The 37-year-old actress, who is also the founder of Dawayya Movies Nigeria Limited, appeared in hundreds of films in a career which spanned 22 years. Her last production, Ummi Sambo was released in Cinemas on 6 December, 2019.

This is her second marriage as she was previously married and has a son.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

The United Kingdom has warned its citizens in the United States (US) that terrorists are planning to perpetrate an attack on the US.

It also urged its residents there to remain cautious and stay away from public gatherings.

In a new travel warning to British people in the US on Friday, the UK stated that terrorists may target crowded areas, places where foreigners congregate, or transportation routes.

This may be related to the security warning issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to Americans in New Jersey regarding terrorist attacks on synagogues.

Recall that a week ago the US and the UK issued security alerts warning that terrorists were preparing an attack on Abuja, the capital of Nigeria.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

Jack Dorsey, the creator of Twitter and former CEO, has introduced a brand-new social networking platform called “Bluesky.”

This is only a week or so after business tycoon and investor Elon Musk bought Twitter.

Within two days of the announcement, over 30,000 individuals had already signed up for the new app’s beta testing, which is still in its testing phase.

According to reports, Bluesky allows designers the opportunity to build independently from platforms and developers while also giving users authority over their algorithms, allowing them to choose the experience they want.

On April 14, 2022, Musk started the acquisition of Twitter and completed the deal on October 27, 2022.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, said the lingering security challenge in Nigeria had weakened the country’s education system.

The minister said the insecurity in the country also contributed to the rising number of out-of-school children today.

He disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja during the ministerial session of the 66th National Council on Education (NCE).

In the event themed ‘Strengthening of Security and Safety in Nigerian Schools for the Achievement of Education 2030 Agenda, Adamu said the issue would soon be addressed.

He added that President Buhari’s administration was working tirelessly to reduce the number of out-of-school children and the illiteracy level in the country.

He said, “I’d like to call on all states to rise up to their responsibilities and provide a safe and secure learning environment for both students and teachers.”

Furthermore, the education minister also said that all schools must be safe and secure at all costs.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, was wounded by gunfire on Thursday, according to a member of his staff.

About 200 kilometres (120 miles) from Islamabad, the country’s capital, the incident happened in Wazirabad.

Many of Khan’s colleagues were also hurt, according to a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party member.

One person has also been reported dead, according to reports.

“A man opened fire with an automatic weapon. Several people are wounded. Imran Khan is also injured,” Asad Umar told Reuters.

A gunshot struck Khan in the shin as he was leading a protest march in Islamabad calling for immediate elections.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, has announced new improvements and features to the messaging app WhatsApp. 

Mr Zuckerberg made the announcement in a Facebook post on Thursday. 

According to him, Meta has launched Communities on WhatsApp. 

He further explained that the Communities make groups better by enabling sub-groups, multiple threads, announcement channels and more. 

He also said WhatsApp is rolling out polls and 32-person video calling.

He said: “Today we’re launching Communities on WhatsApp. It makes groups better by enabling sub-groups, multiple threads, announcement channels, and more. We’re also rolling out polls and 32-person video calling too. All secured by end-to-end encryption, so your messages stay private.”

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) advised the general public to be more security conscious in protecting their personal and financial information. 

EFCC said fraudsters use peoples’ personal and financial information like ATM cards, PINs, BVN, NIN and mobile phones to steal money. 

Aliyu Yunusa, the Sokoto zonal head of the agency, made this disclosure while speaking with newsmen on Wednesday.

Yunusa spoke about the increase in ATM-related fraud in Sokoto and identified two major methods for perpetrating such fraud.

The first method, he said, was “ATM Swap which usually occurs when unsuspecting victims visit the ATM machine or POS terminals where the scammers lurk around looking for prospective victims that may require their help in using the ATM.

“The suspects usually offer to help the victims in operating the ATM and, in the process, swap the card with a dormant ATM card from the same bank.

“After swapping the victim’s card and memorizing his/her pin, the fraudster will simply shrug it off as a temporary network issue and return the already swapped card to the victim while he walks away with the victim’s ATM card.

“The same fraudster will visit another ATM stand at a later time to comfortably withdraw all the money in the victim’s account or transfer all the savings of the victim to another account,” he said

The second method, according to him, was “Mobile Phone Theft”.

“In this instance, the stolen mobile phone is usually sold to fraudsters who will, in turn, use Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, popularly known as USSD, to get your bank details from a simple code.

“It helps them know where your bank account is domiciled, but to the novice fraudster, he may try every bank’s USSD code until he becomes successful.

“Then use your banks USSID code. They will transfer the content of your account to another bank account, usually of a victim whose card and pin are in their possession,” he said.

Yunusa then advised individuals whose phones were stolen to rush to the nearest branch of their banks to block their accounts.