Herdsmen poison 6 lions, 74 vultures to save cows

AS Nigeria tries to work out a way to solve the herdsmen-farmers conflict, Tanzania faces a different dimension of the problem: herdsmen versus the wildlife in the parks.

Tanzania last week found six lions and 74 vultures dead near a national park, south of the country, after they were poisoned to death.

Permanent Secretary for Natural Resources and Tourism Gaudence Milanzi said the way the animals were killed suggested they had been poisoned by local herdsmen amid an escalating human-wildlife conflict in the country.

“I can confirm that six lions were poisoned in the wildlife management area just outside of the Ruaha National Park. We are investigating this incident,” Milanzi said, according to China’s news agency, Xinhua.

“An investigation launched by the government has been able to arrest one suspect, with samples of the poisoned lions and vultures taken to the Chief Government Chemist Laboratory to identify the type of poison used,” he said.

Tanzania’s $2billion tourism sector, which depends heavily on wildlife safari, is the biggest foreign exchange earner, but there are growing clashes between wildlife populations, farmers and livestock keepers.

Conservationists described the latest mass poisoning of lions and endangered vultures near the Ruaha National Park as a “devastating scene,” with the scavengers killed after eating a poisoned cattle carcass.

“Six lions… had been killed, apparently from poison, as they were all found close to a scavenged cattle carcass,” the Ruaha Carnivore Project (RCP), part of Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), said in a statement.

“This event had additional tragic consequences, with dozens of critically endangered vultures found dead or badly affected,” the statement said. “They eventually found 74 dead vultures as well as the six lions.”

Four other sick vultures were taken to the Ruaha National Park for treatment. One died shortly after arrival, but the others are doing well, it said.

“It appears as if someone poisoned a carcass after lions attacked cattle.

Alarmingly, poisoning is a common response to conflict,” said the Ruaha Carnivore Project, which is monitoring lion populations in Tanzania.

In 2014, a herdsman near the Ikona Wildlife Management Area in Serengeti district in Mara region poisoned to death seven lions after they attacked his cows. - The Nation

Ortom: Buhari didn’t visit my people… no campaign in Benue until this crisis is over

Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue, says there will be no campaign for the 2019 elections in the state if there is no solution to the clashes between herdsmen and farmers.

Speaking in an interview on The Osasu Show, the governor said he invited President Muhammadu Buhari to console the people of Benue over the killings and destruction of their property but the president did not honour the invitation.

He said as the president, Buhari is supposed to provide citizens of the country with security but has failed to take the required action to curb the killings.

“For now, my primary concern is to stop these killings; to ensure that the IDPs go back to their homes and live peacefully. Once that is done, we can talk about other things,” he said.
“I don’t care about what happens tomorrow. Even if I am not governor, I can stay back and fight for the right of my people.

“When we visited, we even invited the president to come to Benue state and pay his condolences to his people… Because we are members of the party, he is our president. If these people are attacking us, we expect him to give us security.
“He has done a number of things. He directed NEMA to provide relief materials, he also asked for security to be beefed up but I am not satisfied with what the presidency is doing on this matter. There is no doubt about that.
“I ask for justice for Benue people because we have not been treated fairly.”

Ortom said the attacks on Benue is an act of vengeance by heders for losing the 1804 Jihad. He said Benue people stopped them from penetrating the state through Sokoto.
He said though he did not know the level of “support the herders get from the presidency”, he is sure that the press statements by the Miyeti Allah Cattle Breeders Association are issued by “people living in Abuja”.

“These people have gone beyond grazing, it is about invading the land and taking over. All the places they have attacked, they have chased the people away and they are using their farmlands produce as feed for their cattle,” he said.
“They are conducting international conferences, issuing press releases and writing on social media and they have come out to say look, in 1804 Jihad, it was Benue people that stopped them from penetrating from Sokoto to the sea.

“And this time around, they are not going to stop. They will make sure that the mobilise all Fulani men across the globe, especially from the West African sub-region to ensure that they acquire arms and come and invade and take over the land.
“Because they also said that Nigeria is the only land that God has given them, so no other person will supervene on this land except them. That it is their own land, they got this land by conquest and we have no business staying on this land. It is unbelievable. The statement is coming from Miyetti Allah.

“Well, I wouldn’t know about their patrons or the extent of their involvement. But one thing I know is that the people that have been issuing these press conferences and statements are known. They are living in Abuja, they are living with the powers that be.”

Asked why he has not met with Sa’adu Abubakar, sultan of Sokoto and Lamido Sanusi, emir of Kano, to call the herders to order since the monarchs have associated with the herders, Ortom said it is the responsibility of the federal government to enforce the law.

“Why will I sit down with them? We have constituted authority over this country. And it is the responsibility of the federal government to enforce the law. We expected them to have acted,” he said. - Cable Nigeria

Transfer news : Arsenal preparing £53m bid for 'frustrated' Ousmane Dembele

Arsenal are reportedly considering a £53 million bid for Barcelona attacker Ousmane Dembele, according to Diario Gol.

The report claims that Dembele is frustrated with several members of the first-team squad at Barcelona, which has talked up suggestions of a summer move.

Dembele has also reportedly been in touch with former Borussia Dortmund team-mate and recently signed Arsenal striker, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The Frenchman only joined Barcelona in the summer from the Bundesliga side, but has since been plagued by injuries and fallen out of favour with the Catalan outfit.

Dembele has managed eight appearances all season for Barcelona, only two of which were starts in La Liga, where he has failed to open his account for his new side.

Should Barcelona even entertain the idea of selling the former Dortmund star, they would want a large sum of the £97 million they paid the Bundesliga side back. - Read Sport

Yeah ! What FG calls oil blocks are ‘ancestral properties’ of Niger Delta - Dickson

Seriake Dickson, governor of Bayelsa state, says oil blocks in the country are “ancestral properties” of the Niger Delta.

Dickson said this at the foundation laying ceremony of Aziken Petroleum Refinery project at Obunagha Gbarian, Yenagoa, the state capital.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo laid the foundation for the project which is expected to take off in 2019.

Calling on the federal government to consider the region while allocating oil blocks, Dickson said the demand by the Niger Delta to own more oil blocks is a “legitimate” one.

“We are waiting for the oil blocks, what the Nigerian government sits down and calls oil blocks are in fact and in truth the ancestral properties of the Niger Delta,” the governor said.

“They are pieces of our ancestral properties given away at our expenses. We are not saying others should not be included. But if we are not included, it will be wrong.

“We are yet to see the demands by the federal government that oil companies should relocate to the Niger Delta.

“I don’t know of any business which justifies pipelines crisis crossing several areas for building refineries while they haven’t built refineries from the source of crude oil.

“In all the all-producing areas around the world, the activities of those companies are located where the resources come from. We must examine our own conduct and what we do.”

Dickson also said such investments like the refinery project will “take off all the stress and pressures on us”.

“I’ve signed the certificate of occupancy for 99 years in line with the Land Use Act,” he said.

“I do this every week and one of the first things I did when I came to office was to liberalise land.” - Cable Nigeria

SAD ! 3 children suffocate to death in Kano

Three children on Friday suffocated to death in the ancient city of Kano.

The incident happened along Warri/lbo road in Sabon Gari area of Fagge local government area while the children were playing around an abandoned vehicle.

It was gathered that four children, two of them of the the same parents, were playing around the unserviceable vehicle parked for over a year at the spot of the incident.

Unknown to the people around the vicinity, the four children between the ages of two to four years had gained entrance into the vehicle and got trapped and suffocated to death.

However, one of them survived and was immediately admitted in the hospital. He is presently receiving treatment.

When contacted, the Kano state Police command spokesman DSP, Magaji Musa Majia confirmed the incident.

He said “The owner of the vehicle has been invited for questioning, as investigation is ongoing. Details will be communicated later.”

Transfer news : Chelsea could sign Pulisic in exchange for Batshuayi

Chelsea could look to sign Liverpool and Manchester United target Christian Pulisic, using Michy Batshuayi as a makeweight in the deal.

The Daily Mail report that Borussia Dortmund are interested in signing the striker on a permanent basis this summer after his fine start to life in Germany.

Chelsea’s stance on the idea of a deal is unclear, but the addition of Pulisic could be a deciding factor.

Pulisic, at just 19 years of age, is regarded as one of the most promising talents playing in Europe at the moment.

Despite his age, Pulisic has become a key member of the Dortmund first-team squad and the US national team.

The player is under contract until 2020 and the Bundesliga side will be desperate to keep hold of the 19-year-old for the considerable future.

Both Liverpool and Manchester United have been heavily linked with the player in the past, with the winger making it known that he one day wishes to play in the Premier League. - Read Sport

Novelist, playwright Akinwunmi Ishola dies at 78

A renowned playwright, actor, culture activist and scholar Professor Ishola Akinwunmi has passed on after a prolonged illness.

He died yesterday in his Ibadan residence at 78.

Isola, who wrote the popular play Efunsetan Aniwura when he was a student of the University of Ibadan in 1961 died in Ibadan after age-related ailment according to a family source.

“Baba has gone,” said the source, who preferred anonymity, because he was not authorised to speak on behalf of the family.

“He had been sick for some time and was getting better. But this morning, he died peacefully. He left a good legacy and his life was a good example for mankind.”

Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi described the death as a colossal loss not only to his immediate family but to Oyo state, the Yoruba race and the world at large.

The governor, in a statement by his Special Adviser, Communication and Strategy, Yomi Layinka, said that he received the news of the death of the Ibadan-born culture ambassador and progenitor of Yoruba literature with disbelief and utter shock.

By his death, the governor said that the state had lost a venerated son of the soil, who devoted his life to the promotion of Yoruba culture through his creative works and huge contributions to the global body of knowledge.

Ajimobi said: “The late Prof. Ishola was also a blessing to his Alma Mata, Wesley College, Ibadan because he composed the school anthem, which is still in use till date.

“He was a man of many parts. Not only was he a prolific writer but he was also a talented actor and astute broadcaster who churned out many plays, drama series and box office films.

“Prof Akinwumi Isola was an unabashed believer in the promotion of the Yoruba language, which he once demonstrated by being the first person to deliver a university convocation lecture in Yoruba at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, which was very unconventional.”

A friend of the deceased and chairman of Kakanfo Inn and Conference Centre, Dr Lekan Are, who also confirmed the demise of the professor of Yoruba and writer of several Yoruba plays, praised Akinwumi for his passion for Yoruba culture, language and tradition.

Are said: “When his wife called me this morning and told me that Isola had died, I was shocked because I had visited him two weeks ago he told me that he was getting better. We had a vibrant discussion. He was excited to see me again.

“This is why I was taken aback by his death. He was a brilliant individual who made Yoruba history popular beyond Africa.

“He delivered lectures in Yoruba language. He wanted the language of Yoruba to feature prominently in our education system but unfortunately, this did not happen in his life time. May his soul rest in peace.”

Also, a very close associate of the deceased , a  foremost

cinematographer, Tunde Kelani confirmed the departure of the famous playwright .

“Yes, Prof Ishola died this morning in Ibadan. He has been down for about two years now,” Kelani said over the phone.

Ovation Publisher, Dele Momodu, also confirmed the death in a Facebook post.

“Sad to receive the news that Nigeria has lost the legendary writer PROF AKINWUNMI ISOLA, my former lecturer and supervisor; author of O LE KU and EFUNSETAN ANIWURA and others… Rest in Peace Sir…,” Momodu wrote.

Born in Ibadan in 1939, Ishola attended Labode Methodist School and Wesley College in the capital of the old Western Region of Nigeria.

He studied at the University of Ibadan, earning a B.A. in French.

He also earned an M.A. in Yoruba Literature from the University of Lagos in 1978 before commencing academic work as a lecturer at Obafemi Awolowo University where he was appointed a professor in 1991.

Among his most popular plays are Efunsetan Aniwura, Madam Tinubu, Oleku and Olu Omo.

His works Oleku, Koseegbe, Saworoide, Agogo Eewo and Campus Queen were adapted to film by Kelani.

He worked with Kelani as a member of a trio of late Adebayo Faleti and late Larinde Akinleye. - The Nation

Shock stem cell breakthrough will allow human organs to be grown in SHEEP

 

Scientists are set to create sheep which can donate organs to humans. 

They plan to produce them from genetically modified embryos which have been injected with human stem cells. The initial aim is to develop a sheep with a human pancreas inside it ready for donation.

The experiment is being seen as a huge step towards filling the shortage of donor organs that leads to thousands of people dying every year.

Scientists claim farming human organs in animal hosts could become reality in the next 10 years.

But the move has been blasted by Pro-Life campaigners and the US Catholic Church who say it will create an animal-human hybrid species.

US researchers, led by Stanford University genetics professor Dr Hiro Nakauchi, insist that is not what they are trying to do.

Dr Nakauchi is famous for growing a mouse pancreas in a rat before transplanting it into a diabetic mouse, curing the condition.

 He said: “Many non-scientific people seem to think we are generating new species so they can expand and eventually they may take over. But we are just making an organism with both human and sheep cells. It’s nothing like a pig with a human face or human brain.” His latest project was outlined at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Dr Nakauchi told how he has injected pluripotent stem cells — which can become any organ — from a human into the embryos of sheep genetically modified not to produce a pancreas.

It is hoped the human stem cells will fill the void as the embryos develop.

If successful, it could lead to other large animals being able to grow organs such as the heart, liver and lungs.

Dr Nakauchi revealed stage one of his study had developed embryos with 0.1% human cells to 21 days of gestation. He said they had also found a way for these cells to multiply to form a certain organ.

Stage two will see researchers applying for approval to extend this to 70 days and at the same time “knock out” the sheep’s ability to grow its own pancreas. Prof Nakauchi added: “It could take five or 10 years, but I think eventually we will be able to do this.” 

Geneticist Prof Martin Bobrow, of Cambridge University, said “1% of human cells could be enough” to develop the pancreas.

But Dr Abi Herrmann, of the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, said she thought the sheep would have to be 10% human for it to work. - UK Mirror

10.2m people in need of humanitarian assistance in Nigeria - UN

The United Nations says a total of 10.2 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in various parts of the country.

Edward Kallon, UN humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, disclosed this on Thursday during the launch of the 2018 humanitarian response plan (HRP) launch in Abuja.

He said the affected states include Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe.

He gave the breakdown as:

• 1.7 million are internally displaced persons (IDPs)
• 1.3 million returnees form outside the country
• 7.2 million others in various groups

Kallon, however, added that UN’s primary concern is the 7.7 million people who he said are in need of such support in the north-eastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.

“These (the 7.7 million) are people who have been displaced and are living in camps or host communities, people who have returned home to nothing, and people living in other areas that are hard to reach for humanitarians,” he said.

He said out of this number, 6.8 million are being targeted for humanitarian assistance in the 2018 HRP by sixty organisations, including UN agencies and international and national NGOs.

He said a total of $1 billion dollars would be required for such target, while $196 million is being rolled over from the $196 million derived last year.

Kallon added that the aim of the plan in 2018 is to build on the humanitarian work carried out in previous years, with three strategic objectives: “Providing life-saving emergency assistance to the most vulnerable people in the conflict-affected areas, ensuring that all assistance promotes the protection, safety and dignity of affected persons and helping people to kick-start their lives again.”

According to him,

• 3.7 million people are being targeted for food assistance.
• 2.7 million vulnerable persons being targeted for protection services following “grave” violations of human rights.
• 5.1 million to be accommodated in medical care.
• 2.7 million malnourished children and nursing mothers also to be provided for.

Also speaking, Abdou Dieng, regional director of World Food Programme (WFP), said the agency spent a total of $126 million in providing 200,000 metric tonnes of food in 2017.

“More than 75 percent of the food we provide are procured in Nigeria and as many as 75 percent of WFP in-country staff are Nigerians,” he added.

Dieng said in 2018, WFP requires a total of $227.4 million for humanitarian services in the areas of food security, nutrition, logistics, emergency telecommunication among others.

Zainab Ahmed, minister of state for national planning, thanked the humanitarian agencies for their commitment in the north-east and other crisis-affected states in the country.

She reiterated the commitment of the federal government in providing the “enabling environment”

“2018 will be a year we will be concentrating on supporting the internally displaced persons (IDPs) to return to their original communities,” she added. - Cable Nigeria

China and Russia ‘preparing for war with West’

China and Russia could soon match the military might of the US and her allies - and the decline of western supremacy could lead to all-out war.

Those are the conclusions of a report by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS), which says that although war between the great powers is not inevitable, Washington, Moscow and Beijing are now preparing for the possibility.

The IISS’s annual Military Balance 2018 report sets out at length how China’s leadership has stepped up its military programme in recent years, with huge spending on new technology that could give it an advantage on land, sea and air.

The opening of China’s first overseas military base in Djibouti will enable it to carry out missions over vast distances, and has been viewed as a major statement of intent.

While the pace of militarisation is slower in Russia, partly due to a shortage of funding and industrial capacity, the country is “benefiting from experience of real life combat in Syria and Ukraine and has shown extensive capabilities in the field of hybrid warfare including cyber attacks”, says The Independent.

The Foreign Office said last night that the Russian military was reponsible for the NotPetya cyber attack on Ukraine last year.

In a bid to combat the growing threat posed by Russia and China, reports CNN, the US Pentagon is asking for a boost in military spending for 2019, requesting Congress approve a budget of $686bn - one of the largest in US history.

The budget proposal also included cuts to international diplomacy and overseas aid.

Touting the plans earlier this week, Donald Trump said the additional spending would make the US military the strongest it has ever been, with “increasing arsenals of virtually every weapon”.

But Dr John Chipman, the chief executive of the IISS, said the US could still find itself outgunned.

“Some governments in the West will look to ‘leap-ahead’ technologies to augment and even deliver military power,” he said, “but these are no guarantee of success.” - The Week

Alaafin warns Ifa priests against ill-gotten wealth, dubious characters

The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi 111 on Friday warned priests of Ifa traditional religion against desperation for ill-gotten wealth capable of bringing the cherished Yoruba culture and traditions into disrepute before foreigners.

Oba Adeyemi gave the warning in his palace when he received three Cubans who had been initiated as Ifa priests.

He said dissemination of truth about Ifa mythology and other traditional religions to foreigners was necessary in order to ensure that the legacies of Yoruba forefathers were not bastardised and desecrated.

The newly initiated Ifa priests include, Jase Lara, Dasiel Guerra and Fernauco Garrico who were led to the palace by an Oyo-based senior Ifa priest, Ifaniyi Omoyemi, the Ajitena Awo of Alaafin.

The monarch cautioned that the porous and fraudulent awards of chieftaincy titles, especially to foreigners, by some Oyo Ifa priests must stop, adding that only Irokin and white caps must be used in their installation, rather than the crown and staff of office used by priests.

He said ‘’No matter the mastery of Ifa traditional religion and proficiency of its practice and mythology, no practitioner has the right to confer on anyone the title of Ifa king and presents such person with staff of office. As an Ifa priest, you are to interpret the oracle and not to confer chieftaincy titles. It is illegal and unconstitutional”.

Alaafin expressed dismay over disregard to the due process of Oyo traditions before the installation of foreigners as Ifa priests by some disgruntled adherents of the traditional religion.

He said “The Yoruba traditional beliefs see the world as a product of two connected worlds; the visible world of material life and the invisible spiritual world. The connection of these two worlds produces power that is called Ase in Yoruba cosmology’’.

For the Yoruba, Alaafin stressed that the Creator rules over the entire universe manifesting the elements of nature, adding that these indigenous beliefs and practices were a life of philosophy and natural science.

He added that‎ ‘’Oyo metropolis not only remains centre-piece of Yoruba nations world-wide, but Mecca and Vatican of the richest culture and traditions in the universe.

“All traditional religions, including the Ifa, are registered under one umbrella called Asa Orisa. All the religions under the authority of the Alaafin are independent of one and another and co-exist harmoniously. The same is applicable to both the Islamic and Christian religions. This is the reason why there can never be any religious upheavals in the metropolis. There is no way anyone or group from this association can operate in isolation and disregard to the due process and succeed in their motive. They cannot go away with it.

‘’Our traditional religions are part of our heritage, which needs to be jealously preserved from bastardisation for pot of porridge.’’

Oba Adeyemi expressed delight that in spite of the assaults and attacks by Western powers in the past, Yoruba culture and traditions had demonstrated its resilience and beyond that relevance in a troubled and confused world.

Dasiel Guerra who spoke on behalf of his colleagues noted that they were in the palace in acknowledgement of Oyo as bulwark of Yoruba culture and traditions, and the Alaafin as the custodian.

Guerra added that they were also in the palace to intimate the royal father of a Yoruba cultural organization established about thirty years ago and to seek for his support and guide. - Daily Post