NEWS : Igbos who can’t unite for presidency are talking about Biafra – Chimamanda Adichie

 

Chimamanda Adichie, an award-winning Nigerian author, has condemned those from the Southeast pushing for the actualization of Biafra,

 yet cannot work towards the actualization of an Igbo presidency.

Adichie said it is ironical that people of the Southeast who can’t unite to ensure a Nigerian president of an Igbo extraction, are pushing for Biafra actualization.

Speaking with Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, the popular writer insisted that there is no Biafra at the moment.

She maintained that people of the Southeast need to restrategize politically to achieve Biafra.

According to Adichie: “There is no Biafra. There are new movements. But for me, it’s a question of being practical. Where would the border be? What is propelling these movements is a sense of marginalization, which I think is completely valid.

“Quite frankly, I’ve observed the terrible leadership that we have in the southeast.

“Igbo people cannot unite. If for example, we say we want an Igbo president, why then are we talking about Biafra. There is a lot of political work we need to do in the Southeast.

“We need to do a lot of rethinking on how we can strategize politically before we can talk about Biafra.”

ENTERTAINMENT : American actress, Tanya Roberts is dead

 

American actress, Tanya Roberts is dead.

She passed on at the age of 65.

Tanya collapsed while out walking her dogs on Christmas Eve, 2020, and was admitted to Cedar-Sinar Hospital in Los Angeles.

She died on Sunday, January 3, 2021, her longtime friend and rep, Mike Pingel made the announcement.

Pingel told The Hollywood Reporter, “I am devastated. She was brilliant and beautiful, and I feel like a light has been taken away. To say she was an angel would be at the top of the list.

“She was the sweetest person you would ever meet and had a huge heart. She loved her fans, and I don’t think she realized how much she meant to them.”

Tanya’s most notable major film role was in the 1985 Bond film A View to a Kill.

She also starred in the fifth and final season of ABC’s ‘Charlie’s Angels.

NEWS : US election, Georgia official opens up on Trump’s request to “find votes”

 

Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s Republican top election official, on Monday, said the

 White House pushed him to take Saturday’s call from President Donald Trump.

Trump has been accused of pressuring the state to overturn his November presidential election defeat.

In a recording published by U.S. media outlets, the President told Raffensperger, Georgia Secretary of State, to “find” enough votes in his favour.

In a chat with ABC’s Good Morning America, the official said: “I never believed it was appropriate to speak to the president but he pushed out, I guess he had his staff push us.”

The Secretary disclosed that he and his office’s general counsel rejected Trump’s assertions of electoral fraud in the hour-long conversation.

“We took the call, and we had a conversation. He did most of the talking; we did most of the listening. But I do want to make my points that the data that he has is just plain wrong.

“He had hundreds and hundreds of people he said that were dead that voted. We found two. That’s an example of just his bad data”, Raffensperger said.

Trump has maintained President-elect Joe Biden did not win, insisting the poll was rigged.

The Democrat won the Electoral College by 306-232 and made history as the first presidential challenger to win more than 80 million popular votes.

David Worley, a Democrat on Georgia’s election board, urged Raffensperger to investigate whether the president had violated state law.

“To say that I am troubled by President Trump’s attempt to manipulate the votes of Georgians would be an understatement”, Worley wrote in a letter seen by Reuters.

Kevin McCarthy, House of Representatives Republican Leader defended Trump’s call.

“The president’s always been concerned about the integrity of the election, and the president believes that there are things that happened in Georgia that he wants to see accountability for”, he told Fox News.

EDUCATION : Enugu State, schools resume January 18 – Govt

 

The Enugu State Ministry of Education has announced January 18, 2021, as resumption date for all schools in the State.

The decision, according to a statement by the State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Uche Eze, was reached at a meeting between the Ministry and major stakeholders in the sector, on Monday.

Prof. Eze disclosed that all schools in the state were advised to ensure full compliance with the NCDC guidelines for the containment of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), stressing that “the Ministry of Education will engage in constant monitoring of compliance when schools resume”.

The Education Commissioner added that “it was also decided that to help engage the students/pupils, all tertiary institutions, Basic and Post Basic schools are advised to activate their e-learning programmes”.

In a related development, the Enugu State government, in furtherance of its commitment to contain the second wave of COVID-19, suspended the annual prayer session, held at the Government House, Enugu, to commence work for the New Year, directing all civil servants to resume duties in their various offices, with strict compliance with NCDC guidelines.

NEWS UPDATE : Humans cannot change into animals – Advocacy for Alleged Witches

 The Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AFAW) has declared that human beings cannot turn into other animals as popularly believed.

A statement by the coordinator, Leo Igwe, said those who entertain the notion are mistaken and deluded.

He noted that the claim that humans can turn into birds or reptiles motivates people to commit atrocities.

Igwe said his reaction became necessary following reports of attack and murder of persons who allegedly turned into animals to perpetrate some occult harm.

Quoting a newspaper report, he noted: “An army corporal, Charles Thomson has reportedly killed the mother because she was a witch. Thomson claimed that the mother used to turn into a serpent at night. Thomson murdered her in cold blood.”

Igwe referred to speculations that alleged witches turn into owls and fly out at night to inflict harm on individuals abroad.

He added that Nigerians, Ghanaians, and other Africans who live in western countries attribute their problems and challenges to alleged witches in their home countries.

AFAW quipped: “Why are there no video recordings of human beings transforming into animals or vice versa? Why do we always receive information about this transformation as hearsay or as something that is perpetrated in the past or as features in ‘Africa Magic’/home movies? Why do we only see published photos of animals and human beings before or after the supposed transformation?”

The body said traditional priests, Christian and Muslim clerics, charlatans and con artists promote the belief.

Igwe demanded that those who use the narrative to mislead and exploit ignorant people be sanctioned.

He further called for the prosecution of persons that commit murder or abuse human beings who supposedly turned into animals.

NEWS : Bandits kill babies, travelers along Birnin-Gwari highway, abduct many

 

Bandits have again attacked commuters at Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The assailants laid siege at Zankoro, along dreaded Birnin-Gwari-Kaduna Highway on Sunday.

PRNigeria reports that they killed nine people, including 3 infants.

The victims were on their way to a ceremony at Doka, Birnin-Gwari Local Government.

Similarly, bandits, on Monday morning at the same Zankoro, shot sporadically and abducted an unspecified number of people.

Six people wounded are receiving treatment at Buruku along Kaduna-Birnin-Gwari Highway.

BBNaija Star, Uriel Says As She Reconciles With Gifty Powers After 2 Years Of Fall Out

 

Reality star, Uriel Oputa and Gifty Powers have finally reconciled after two years of not talking to each other and harboring malice.

Uriel Oputa opened up on reuniting with her former season 2 housemate of Big Brother Naija as she shared a photo of Gifty Powers on her Instagram and revealed that 2021 is a year of positive vibes only.

According to her, she can’t recall why they fell out but after two years, she is so relieved and admitted that their break up affected her as she has lost so much.

After almost two years of not talking. I finally sent my @officialgiftypowers a Direct Message(DM)

” I cannot lie I feel so relieved I’m not cut out for war. Sorry goes a long way! Gifty is a special one.”

“Omo our break up pained me, I’ve missed out on so much!

” I feel like a heavy burden has been lifted. Gifty of Life.”