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Complaints include visiting athletes sleeping on floors and event venues still under construction.

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Ravi Kumar's quest for a legal document recognising him as an atheist has got him into trouble.

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Apple Maps now shows Crimea - annexed from Ukraine in 2014 - as part of Russia, when viewed there.

 

The leadership of the All Progressives Congress is leaving nothing to chance ahead of a court judgment on Orji Uzor Kalu, former governor of Abia State, who is facing corruption charges by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The public pressure and criticisms have made it difficult and impossible for the office of Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abukabar Malami, to enter Nolie prosique and withdraw the charges against Kalu in the case.

The leadership of the party has since commenced mobilisation of possible force to pile pressure on Justice Mohammed Idris for a favourable judgment come December 2.

Kalu is being tried alongside his company, Slok Nigeria Limited; and Udeh Udeogu, who was Director of Finance and Accounts at the Abia State Government House in an alleged fraud of N7.65bn during Kalu’s tenure as governor.

Kalu, who crossed to the APC prior to the 2019 general election, contested for the Abia West Senatorial District position. 

Justice Idris had fixed judgment in the matter for December 2 and since then all mercenaries of the party had been deployed to reach the judge for favourable consideration.

SaharaReporters gathered that a top leader of the party has been contacted and he is pulling his weight around the case. 

It was said that Justice Idris is being put in a very tight and difficult position.

We are leaving no stone unturned in preventing an embarrassing judgment from that judge. 

"Orji Kalu has invested heavily in the party and it's time to the party to show appreciation for his service and investments,” said sources close to the parties.

Another source in the office of the Court of Appeal President confirmed the pressure on the President of the) who has been left with no option than to reach the judge for understanding and her predicament.

Justice Idris is said to have rebuffed all entreaties considering the amount of pressure on Justice Idris.

“Monday is still a long time to have the judge to concede pressure and consider the request.

“The party leadership are equally in earnest search for other possible contacts to the judge other than President of the Court of Appeal.

“Whichever way the pendulum swings, the public will know by Monday, December 2 when the judgment is expected to be delivered,” the source said.

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The move by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to extradite former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, from the United Arab Emirates where he is being held by the Interpol has received the backing of the Presidency in Nigeria.

SaharaReporters exclusively learnt that while the incumbent Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), made attempts to get President Muhammadu Buhari to block Adoke’s extradition, the President gave the EFCC the nod to go ahead with the extradition plans.

SaharaReporters had reported that top officials in the office of the AGF were blocking Adoke’s extradition to the country.

While the EFCC had sent Adoke’s charges to the Interpol in Dubai, the commission might have to engage in a confrontation with the AGF when he is extradited to the country.

Sources familiar with the case informed SaharaReporters that the EFCC boycotted Malami because of his past dealings and affiliation with Adoke.

“Adoke and Malami have something going on between them. 

"The EFCC is not working with the AGF because they got Presidential support to go on with the extradition so that he can come and face charges at home.

“They did this at a time when the office of the AGF wrote to the President to order the EFCC to stop the trial of Adoke.

“The AGF was pushing for Adoke to be released by the Interpol in Dubai so that he can escape from there and not come to Nigeria. 

"But because of the deal that the Interpol signed with Nigeria and considering the fact that Adoke was listed as wanted on their list, he was not released.”

It was gathered that the same lawyer representing Adoke represented Malami when he refused to appear before the Senate, indicating a working relationship between the two. 

Like in this particular case, Malami had used his office to protect Abdulrasheed Maina, a former Chairman of the now defunct Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, from prosecution for many years before his eventual arrest and ongoing trial.

There are strong indications that Adoke might not be released anytime soon as he is still in the custody of the Interpol.

The EFCC had transmitted the charges to Interpol electronically, while it awaits due procedure to be followed and completed before the former AGF can be extradited back to Nigeria.

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A policeman in Imo State, Paul Joseph, on Wednesday reportedly committed suicide over alleged delayed promotion, a report by PUNCH said. 

It was said that Joseph, who hailed from Taraba State, was long overdue for promotion to the rank of Inspector but had yet to be promoted by the Police Service Commission.

A source at the bank he was attached said, “While staff were resuming for work for the day, they heard gunshot at the security house at the gate.

“Upon enquiry, they discovered that the policeman had killed himself.”

Joseph is said to have been venting his anger over the alleged refusal of the police authorities to promote him to the rank of an Inspector.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the police in Imo, Orlando Ikeokwu, confirmed the incident and said the deceased’s corpse had been deposited at a morgue.

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A new report by Moody’s has revealed that top Kenyan banks have stronger cost-to-income ratios than Nigerian banks despite higher retail overheads.

Moody’s added that Kenyan banks' stronger cost-to-income ratios support their profitability and reflect their higher net interest margin.

The report by the financial research firm also compares KCB Bank Kenya Limited, Equity Bank (Kenya) Limited and Co-operative Bank of Kenya Limited with Nigeria's Access Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc.

“Kenyan banks' lower cost-to-income ratios primarily reflect their higher net interest margins derived from their greater exposure to retail clients. By contrast, Nigerian banks' lending is focused on lower-margin corporate clients.

“Additionally, funding cost for Kenyan banks stood 100 basis points lower over the same period, reflecting their wider access to retail deposits.

"Over the coming quarters, we expect Kenyan banks to maintain superior profitability to their Nigerian peers owing to higher margins, stronger cost-to-income and lower loan-loss provisioning costs," said Peter Mushangwe, a Moody's Analyst and the report's co-author.

However, Nigerian banks' cost-to-income ratios will likely improve faster as they increase their higher-margin retail exposure while containing costs as they digitalise their operations and limit branch and staff expansion.

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Daily Mail

 

More than 700 tapeworms were found in a man's body, including his brain and lungs, a month after eating uncooked pork, according to Daily Mail.

Zhu Zhongfa, 46, ingested the eggs of the parasite Taenia solium – better known as the pork tapeworm – from his dinner.

The construction worker from East China had suffered regular seizures for the few weeks following.

When he went to hospital, he was foaming from the mouth and lost consciousness, local reports said.

Doctors said the worm larvae had entered the man's body through his digestive system and then made their way to his brain through the bloodstream.

Symptoms such as chronic headaches, blindness, seizures and dementia followed but may not appear for years after ingesting the eggs.

Dr Huang Jianrong from the Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, ordered brain and chest MRI scans.

It is still unclear whether the man identified only as Zhu will suffer any long-term effects from the tapeworm infection. 

 

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A total number of 60 members of the proscribed Islamic Movement in Nigeria arrested during the July 22, 2019 protest in the Federal Capital Territory, have been arraigned before an FCT High Court, a report by ChannelsTV said.

The members, who were charged to court by the FCT Command of the Nigerian Police, entered a not guilty plea to the charges which border on homicide, disturbances of public peace and destruction of government properties.

The protest, which took place within the Central Business District of Abuja on July 22, left a Deputy Commissioner of Police, Usman Umar, and Precious Owolabi, a corps member with Channels Television, dead.

The defendants, who claimed not to understand English Language, had the charges read to them in Hausa Language.

Prosecution counsel, Simon Laounge, urged the court to remand the defendants at the correctional yard of the Nigerian Prisons in Kuje having being held in custody by the special anti-robbery squad.

He also urged the court to move its sitting to Kuje due to logistical reasons.

Defence counsel, Bala Dakum, did not oppose the prosecutors’ request but told the court that he intends to move a bail application.

The trial judge, Justice Sulaiman Belgore, remanded the defendants in custody until December 10 when bail application will be heard and the venue of trial decided.

 

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Australia's largest city will almost completely remove laws blamed for ruining its nightlife.

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The suspect kept sending plumbers, drug dealers and prostitutes to his victims' home, police say.

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Chinese-owned TikTok has apologised to a US teenager who posted a video criticising China's treatment of Muslims.

 

Local government elections is set to hold in Cross River State on February 22, 2020.

The date for the exercise was made public on Wednesday in Calabar, the state capital, during a stakeholders’ meeting with Chairman of the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission, Dr Mike Ushie.

According to Ushie, the agency was ready to conduct the election three years after the last elected officials left the office at the end of their three-year tenure.

Nominations will close on January 9, 2020, while campaign by political parties will begin on February 7 and end on February 21, 2020, followed by the election on Saturday, February 22, 2020, according to the timetable released by the agency. 

 

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Sahara Reporters Media

 

The Nigerian Government has admitted that the closure of the country’s land borders is contributing to rising inflation, a report by PUNCH said.

According to recent figures from the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, the headline inflation stood at 11.61 per cent as of October.

The Minister of Finance/Budget /National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, told State House Correspondents that inflation rose due to hikes in food prices arising from border closure.

She was responding to questions after the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja on Wednesday.

Ahmed stated that the closure of the borders was a temporary measure adopted by the government to protect the economy against trade malpractices by neighbouring countries.

She said, “We are still discussing with our neighbours to ensure that we all respect our trade protocols, especially now that the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement is coming into effect.”

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I will open this piece with a simple truth: the continued incarceration of Omoloye Sowore and other prisoners of conscience is a prelude of how Nigerian democracy will die. Unknown to the flatterers that are happy with the continued detention of Sowore, they are not good companions and advocates for President Buhari and Prof Yemi Osinbajo. It is these praise singers that will ruin these two. The longer the Nigerian Government keeps Sowore in detention, the more the image of President Buhari is damaged and rubbished as a reformed democrat. It should be that simple.

In a recently released message from detention, Sowore stated that “the world should know that I remain unbroken and in high spirits ... I will continue to fight for the Nigerian people, ensure that the people are not shortchanged and corruption is driven underground ... I will continue to stand up for the downtrodden.”

From this statement, Sowore understands that the dividends of democracy are not measured by the contentment of the affluent political class, but in how the political system has implemented policies and programs aimed at lifting the ordinary Nigerians, the political orphans out of poverty. He should, therefore, not remain incarcerated a minute for standing up for the common man.

What Sowore was urging Nigerians through his “revolution now” call for action is to find a way to re-stitch our fraying social fabric and rekindle our civic spirit. He was simply telling all of us who long for more, but settle for less, and give up too soon, to drive an arrow into the ground and never settle!

The democratic breakdown we are currently experiencing by the refusal of the Nigerian Government to release Sowore is not because the generals in the Nigerian Army are refusing to obey the law. It is because the elected government that has a reformed democrat and a professor of law at the helms of affairs is slowly killing our democracy. These reformed and elected democrats are the ones presently subverting democratic institutions in Nigeria.

In the present democratic backsliding in Nigeria, there are no tanks in the streets of Lagos and Abuja. No coup d’état, the Nigerian constitution is not suspended but the present Nigerian Government has maintained a layer of democracy while slowly gutting its substance. That’s how to describe the continued incarceration of Sowore and his co prisoners of conscience.

The continued detention of Sowore, Mandate, Agba Jalingo and Dadiyata may not be setting off alarm bells simply because martial law has not been declared. People like us attempting to draw attention to these attacks on Nigerian democracy may be dismissed as exaggerating or crying wolf, but, democracy’s erosion in Nigeria is clear.

If indeed President Buhari is a reformed democrat as Garba Shehu and Femi Adesina want Nigerians to believe, his DSS should not be subverting our democracy through the continued detention of Sowore.

If President Buhari is a reformed democrat, he should not be “weaponising” the courts and rewriting the rules of bail conditions to tilt the playing field against opponents. The tragic paradox of the present decline in Nigerian democratic institutions is that democracy’s assassins use the very institutions of democracy to kill it gradually and subtly.

I understand that Nigerians are polarised between the pro-Jonathan and pro-Buhari groups. But, let me remind fellow Nigerians that there is nothing that can kill democracies as quickly as polarization. Every Nigerian who cares about the health of Nigerian democracy should, therefore, justifiably be frightened by what is happening to Sowore, Mandate, Agba Jalingo and Dadiyata.

Protecting our democracy requires more than just fright or outrage. Nigerians should learn from what happened to other democracy and learn with the present warning signs across our political landscapes. We must be aware of the fateful missteps that have wrecked other democracies. That’s the only way we can, as citizens of this great country, rise, together, and avert breakdown by overcoming our deep-seated divisions.

The continued incarceration of Sowore and co is establishing new norms of behavior and must be condemned by all. His detention by the Nigerian Government through the Secret Service is regrettable and completely unacceptable. The result is that the image of President Buhari is being severely tarnished.

Where there is no shame, there is no honor. The continued detention of Sowore is very shameful.

Even when history does not often repeat itself, it sometimes, rhymes. In addition to ensuring that our democracy is saved by the immediate release of Sowore and his co prisoners of conscience, I also want President Buhari to be mindful of history, his history.

Does President Buhari want to be remembered as a reformed democrat or as a military ruler who carried over the repressive acts of the infamous Decree 4 to a civilian administration?

As an admirer of Mr President, I want to inform him that it is not too late to prove to the world, his friends and critics alike that he is a reformed democrat. President Buhari should not let the praise singers that do not have the boldness to point out where he is failing, ruin him.

I have sung the praises of Mr President but I am also bold enough to tell him that his continued incarceration of Sowore is a terrible political blunder. I thus, want this criticism to be a wakeup call that will save, rather than ruin all his good work.

So, free Sowore, Mr President.

Together, we can.

Churchill Okonkwo, Ph.D.

On Twitter @churchillnnobi

 

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Two journalists with Reuters, Afolabi Shotunde and Camillus, has regained their freedom after they were initially arrested by the police in Abuja while covering a protest of members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria.

After their arrest earlier on Wednesday, Shotunde had revealed through his Twitter handle that they were being taken to an unknown destination.

Afterwards, his telephones became switched off, putting all those, who knew him in distress.

However, not too long after their arrest, both journalists were released with any incident.

SaharaReporters had earlier reported how a schoolgirl was shot by a policeman during the protest by members of the IMN at Wuse Market, Abuja, on Wednesday. 

An eyewitness said that the girl was returning from school when the incident occurred.

Armed policemen upon sighting the protesters opened fire at them, leaving many of them injured in the process.

One of the protesters identified the policeman, who shot the girl as Geoffrey A. Rafah from Wuse Division.

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In a very recent book I co-authored – Urbanisation and Crime in Nigeria (Palgrave Macmillan 2019 with Ojo, Adegbola), we made a bold assertion that Nigeria is presently at an accelerated stage of its urban transition, with more than half of its total population now residing in urban centres. Between 2018 and 2050, it is projected that 189 million more people would have been added to Nigeria’s urban population. Approximately seven in 10 Nigerians will live in cities by 2050 in search of what we described as the Nigerian urban dream – the pursuit of a better life.

Apparently, fewer Nigerian cities have profited marginally from rapid urbanisation, and Lagos has emerged as the dominant engines of economic growth; the main hub of enterprise, creativity and diffusion of innovation particularly for tech start-ups. Nevertheless, the implications of the rapid urbanization in the city are profound for the urban dwellers, both formal and informal economies in the city and the sustainability of development. In the metropolitan Lagos, rapid urbanisation is happening in an unmanaged manner in the midst of highly decaying social and public infrastructure. This has massive implications for the provision of employment opportunities, food, housing, urban mobility, water supply, social services, waste disposal services and environmental management which are integral components of urban governance. These challenges are further compounded by poverty and inequality, weakening social capital base and increasing levels of social disorganization. Despite the systemic weaknesses that characterised Lagos, the city is under huge pressure to deliver the goods of the urban dream for an ever-increasing and impatient Lagosians and thousands of migrants who troop into the city daily to make it their permanent abode.

This significant position of Lagos in the scheme of national development is well researched and documented. Over the years Lagos has emerged as a major hub for the headquarters of national, continental and global brands in energy, financial services and the complex business and professional services that support them. Although, it is pivotal to stress that the age-long urbanization challenges that besiege Lagos predate the emergence of its current Chief Executive Officer (Babajide Sanwo-Olu), the urgency of pressure to generate fresh and sustainable solutions (short and long term) to these challenges equally places a burden on the incumbent to think fast and act boldly. We need not to remind ourselves that Lagos presently occupies a major position on the list of the world’s 10 largest cities in terms of population density, it sprawls across nearly 1,000sq km, with stark reality of inequality- vastly wealthy in parts and largely chaotic and impoverished at the other end. For those who are privileged enough to travel by air into the city state, a bird view of Lagos would reveal that a considerable percentage of Lagosians live in informal settlements, or what at best qualifies as slum by every standard definition of the term. The trunk A, B and C roads constructed to enhance the socio-economic development of the city state are choked with uncontrolled traffic which diminishes the productive capacity of the urban workers and inadvertently affects the quality of life of the commuters who spend several hours in transit daily. In the face of these daunting challenges, it suffices to state unequivocally that the CEO of Lagos cannot afford to think like a regular Nigerian Governor superintending over an average state in the country for peculiar reasons. Firstly, Lagos is obviously the only state in Nigeria which can best be described as a city state. With the exception of fringe settlements such as: Badagry, Ojo, Epe and Ikorodu, the remaining 16 Local Government Areas have merged over the year to form what is presently described as metropolitan Lagos. For instance, isolating, Alimosho LGA from the rest, it compares favourably with the entire Ekiti state in terms of population size. Furthermore, by a stretch of comparison, according to the NBS report, the Internally Generated Revenue of Lagos state surpassed what is generated from 11 major states in Nigeria and the FCT in the year 2018. Secondly, the primacy of Lagos as the commercial capital of West Africa and its ranking as the seventh largest economy in Africa confer a huge responsibility on the city’s Chief Executive Officer to take the lead in redefining urban governance in Nigeria. It is against this background that the writer seeks to draw the attention of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and other relevant stakeholders to radical ideas that require urgent incubation with a view to revolutionizing urban planning and policy, promoting liveability and propelling Lagos into the enviable status of a 21st century megacity in intent, character and functionality. These ideas include:

Redistribution of commercial spaces in Lagos metropolis

A cursory glance through the list of challenges confronting urban dwellers in Lagos shows that urban mobility occupies the premier position. From social media to the pages of Newspapers and electronic media, Lagosians complain about the commuting challenges they face on a daily basis moving from home to work and vice versa.  In the recent time, I have personally heard from friends who told me they spend four to six hours in traffic daily. That is a huge loss of productive hours and a major impediment to the wellbeing of such urban workers. The interesting thing about the unpalatable experience is that commuting for work in Lagos is unidirectional. A greater percentage of the traffic flow in Lagos is towards the Lagos Island, Victoria Island and the commercial centres in the Lekki axis. Conversely, the third mainland bridge and other important roads connecting  Ketu, Ojota, Palmgrove, Surulere, Constain, Ogudu, Iyanaoworo, Iyana-Ipaja-Oshodi express, Obalende and CMS etc are often deserted while other carriage is busy and over stretched  when commuters go to work and return in the evening. Therefore, the solution to these challenges is not farfetched at all. The Governor of Lagos state must as a matter of urgency work with the state house of assembly to begin to think about the decentralization of the major land uses drawing such frenetic traffic to important locations on a daily basis. For, instance, the government must access the array of merchandizing going on in the popular Balogun Market in the heart of Lagos Island and decentralize the market into other Local Government Areas within the metropolitan Lagos. The same action can be extended to the headquarters of banks and allied services within the axis. By taking heed to this radical idea, we would have identified increasingly uncontained urban sprawl in metropolitan Lagos as a key threat to the city’s future economic performance and environmental sustainability. The redistribution of commercial spaces within Lagos will ensure that strong and relatively dense city centres are multi-polar and best placed to encourage through the processes of agglomeration, the collaboration and knowledge-sharing that drives productivity and growth in private sector firms within the city. Furthermore, at a time that the campaign for clean energy has taken the centre stage in global environmental discourse, Lagos will also set the pace in Nigeria through this idea by producing fewer carbon emissions as less travel is needed to connect workers to firms, and such new centres would be cheaper for governments to govern effectively, and support more efficient service delivery practices. This is a tough suggestion but it’s a radical solution that must be accorded some long term attention.

Encourage organised private sector investment in modern transport system

A city performs optimally according to the efficiency of the road system and the alternative means of transportation available within the city.  However, the palpable condition of public transport in Lagos is that the carriage system has been left in the hands of unorganized private sector players such as the National Union of Road Transport workers who ply the road with their ubiquitous rickety yellow buses which can hardly meet the daily demand of the city dwellers in an efficient, effective and modern standards of commuting. The challenges imposed by these players are further compounded by their utter disregard for traffic rules, order and decorum on the roads within city. However, the joke is on the city managers and the governor if they pay lip service to this idea and think a city of a population hovering around 20 million will take the leap into modernity with this outdated approach to public transport system. Sequel to the earlier suggestion on the redistribution of the commercial land uses, the governor must prioritize mass transit system in terms of intercity rail system and tramps. There lies the authentic solution to the lingering mobility challenges in Lagos. This cannot be delayed further and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu should show the bold commitment in pursuit of this idea. A city state that boasts of N34billion monthly IGR according to the state’s official record cannot continue to offer pedestrian excuses on why the rail project has not kicked off in the city as we have read in notable report. More importantly, this should be achieved through public and private partnership devoid of corruption. The state is extremely capable and has the potential to draw investors within and outside Nigeria to realize this dream in good time.

Strengthen partnership with the adjoining states

Development challenges confronting the city of Lagos particularly in terms of mobility and housing require that the government think through internal and external solutions as well as partnership with the adjoining states such as Ogun and Oyo. Accurate information on the amount and location of land use and land cover changes is necessary to develop and implement a sustainable-urban planning. An authoritative research on urban growth dynamics of Lagos Metropolis in the recent time shows that about 50% of urban land expansion happened beyond the administrative boundary of Lagos State during the period of 2000–2015. The study predicts that more than 75% of future urban growth will occur across the border of Lagos State, in the neighbouring Ogun State by 2050. The study suggests that the implications of these results is that a strong and consistent collaboration between the Lagos and Ogun states is crucial to establish an effective regional planning framework and ensure a proper planned growth of the metropolitan region. Thus, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu should take the lead on this and marshal the plan that will deliver these fundamentals. Truth be told, it is very difficult to envisage a conducive and prosperous Lagos without forging a symbiotic relationship with the Ogun state government in the face of daunting urban challenges presently confronting the city.

Lead the cause of regional integration in South-West

The Lagos state occupies a very strategic position in the scheme of national development and this confers a gracious advantage on the Governor to lead on perennial issues of regional integration in the South West. Five of the six governors in the region belong to the same party while the only opposition governor has shown himself to be more progressive in thinking and action. Thus this season offers a peculiar opportunity for the six governors to collaborate and act on the integration plan for the region. This partnership is pivotal and one wonders why previous governors in the region have reduced the idea to mere political rhetorics over the years. The governor of Lagos has mentioned on notable occasion that a serious challenge facing his administration is population explosion; although, this is an imperfect argument which can be out rightly challenged. Population explosion is not really the problem; it is the inability to manage such population increase as an asset and not a liability that is the problem. The good news is that most Lagosians do not necessarily desire to live in Lagos and would rather prefer to work in Lagos and live in adjoining states if there is an efficient transport system to realize this objective. This is where Governor Sanwo-Olu taking the lead in regional integration becomes pivotal. Regional integration is something that works seamlessly in Europe and elsewhere. Books have been written and the lived experiences are available for us to copy and adapt to suit our own realities. In one of my trips to Europe, I took a train from Munich to Vienna that lasted for about four hours covering a distance of more than 400 kilometres. In other words in most European countries, where many citizens work is different from where  they live in terms of countries and cities, and they commute efficiently without any form of discomfort as we see in Lagos. Therefore, Governor Sanwo-Olu should work with other Governors in the South West to facilitate this experience by investing in rail infrastructure that would span the whole of South West. This will practically decongest Lagos as urban workers  can now work in Lagos and live in Sagamu, Remo, Ibadan, Ikire, Gbongan, Ife and even as far as Akure once there are light rails that can cover this journey in less than three hours!

Support big data solution in urban governance

Urban governance plays a critical role in shaping the physical and social character of urban centres as it influences the quantity and quality of local services and efficiency of delivery; and affects residents’ ability to access government and engage in decision-making, influencing government accountability and responsiveness to citizen demands. Thus, as traditional policies and approaches to urban governance fail to keep pace with emerging development realities in Lagos, it becomes pivotal to rethink urban governance and consider the application of big data in the management of the city. Big data has emerged as a powerful technology trend affecting many aspects of life. In the public policy realm, the collection and processing of personal data has already transformed intelligence and surveillance practices. Given the above-average connectivity and data penetration in Lagos, the city lies at the heart of the trend towards data-driven approaches in addressing urban challenges. With a growing population of over 20 million by the year 2020, there is an increased pressure to explore data-driven solutions in the urban context. This holds particularly true for Lagos metropolis, where failed infrastructure represents a major impediment to sustainable development. Lagos presents a potential prototype to demonstrate how government can work, but can Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu take the lead in redefining urban governance in Nigeria?

Oluwole Ojewale is a scholar in urban affairs and a global development professional with vast project experiences on accountable governance, security and community resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa. He tweets @woleojewale

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A British Airways flight heading to Abuja from London on Tuesday returned to Heathrow Airport after the plane lost one of its engines mid-air.

The airline confirmed that BA 083 flight returned to Heathrow and was met by emergency services as a precaution measure after what it called “a minor technical issue.”

In a mail sent to THISDAY, the airline said, “For your information, the aircraft experienced a minor technical issue and our pilots elected to return to Heathrow.

“In terms of the emergency services meeting the aircraft, this is standard practice.

“Our teams looked after our customers last night, providing them with overnight accommodation. We’re sorry to our customers for the delay to their travel plans.”

 

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Justice Liman Mahammad of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on Wednesday fixed January 8, 2020 for the arraignment of Kenneth Ndubuisi Amadi, Chief Executive Officer of Idid Nigeria Limited.

Amadi and his company are alleged to have obtained the sum of N1,115,000,000 by false pretence from a petroleum company

The offences are contrary to section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other fraud  related offences Act, CapA6, laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and punishable under section 1(3) of the same Act.

When the matter was called for the defendants to be arraigned, they were not present in court.

Chief State Counsel from the Department of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, A.K Alilu, told the court that it had been very difficult to serve the defendants a copy of the charge.

However, counsel to the defendants, Emeka Etiaba (SAN), told the court that they are not opposing arraignment and trial and he had spoken to the prosecutor to receive a copy of the charge on behalf of his clients.

The prosecutor has since served the defence counsel with a copy of the charge.

Presiding Judge, Mohammad Liman, adjourned the matter until January 8, 2020 for arraignment.

 

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Scientists are shocked at what they find in the polluted waters, but say there is hope.

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Demonstrators stormed the building, in a dramatic escalation after weeks of anti-government protests.

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Falesi Mwajomba and a group of cervical cancer survivors are encouraging other women to get screened.

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At least two people have been injured in the explosion at the Port Neches plant, police say.

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The herd was shown "a unique summer field simulation program" in a bid to boost milk yields.