Expert urges Nigerians to explore, patronise local products

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Mr Emmanuel Adekoya, a culture expert on Monday urged Nigerians to explore opportunities in the cultural industry and patronise locally made products to boost the country’s economy.

Adekoya told journalists in Abuja that culture was dynamic and could also help the country out of the present economic recession.

He stressed that the country stood a great chance of surviving the current economic meltdown if it could focus more on boosting production and exportation of indigenous products.

He said that the nation could look inward and do things in the cultural way, adding that this could the country to be self sustaining.

“You can get people like weavers, tie and dye experts, and other local experts in fabric making to produce for schools, which can be a starting point.

“You can begin to look at those items we import from abroad which we can be produce locally and begin to do them here.

“Not only that, we must patronise the local producers by so doing, our creative industry will blossom.

“When we begin to do this, you will find out that the quest for FOREX will reduce and automatically our naira will begin to appreciate,’’ he said.

On selling Nigerian’s culture to other countries, he said that it would be easy only if the country valued, appreciates, and placed high premium on its rich cultural heritage.

He said that it would be important for the country to have a good cultural framework which could be used as `soft sell’ diplomacy to reach out to international communities.

“Nigeria has cultural centres abroad, which project the rich diverse cultures that we have in Nigeria and those countries normally accept them.

“And when you are talking about culture, you are talking about our indigenous music, our cuisines, hair styles, body decorations.

“Those things are unique to the country as a whole but when it goes abroad, those people getting in touch with the culture will begin to imbibe and embrace it,’’ he said.

Adekoya said that when people in other countries started to imbibe Nigerian culture, which includes music, clothes, food,  the naira would be getting

 

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Ethiopia garbage dump landslide: death toll rises to 46, dozens missing

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A landslide at a landfill in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa has killed at least 46 people and leaving several dozen missing, spokeswoman in the mayor’s office said on Sunday.

The accident at the large garbage disposal area occurred on Saturday, burying makeshift houses and concrete buildings.

The initial death toll was reported at 35, with 37 people missing, but rescue workers recovered more bodies in the rubble, Spokeswoman Dagmawit Moges said, adding that 32 of the victims were women.

“We expect to discover more bodies but we foresee a decline in the number as most of the excavations are being completed,” said Moges, head of the city’s communications department.

“The number of people missing was still unclear”, she said.

Most of the injured were treated for minor wounds and quickly discharged from hospital. Two people were seriously injured and remain hospitalized under intensive care.

“All my brothers and sisters were rescued but my mother is not answering her phone – she could still be inside that rubble,” said Ruth Tadesee, who lives on the landfill with her family.

Known as Koshe, the Amharic word for “dirty,” the landfill has been used as a dumping ground by Addis Ababa residents for more than 50 years.

Some have blamed recent political unrest for unsafe conditions there.

The city plans to relocate people living near and around the waste site as a result of the accident, Addis Ababa mayor Diriba Kuma said on Sunday.

City officials stopped using the landfill several years ago, but were recently forced to resume dumping at the site after farmers living in a politically restive region blocked entry to a newly built landfill.

Anti-government protests have rocked Ethiopia since 2015, particularly in the Oromia region, which includes Addis Ababa.

Protesters from the Oromo ethnic group say they feel excluded from political and economic power.

 

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See pregnant suicide bomber killed by army

IBB re-echoes support for 2 party system

Spurs boss Pochettino issues Sunderland warning

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Tottenham Hotspur's Argentinian head coach Mauricio Pochettino / AFP PHOTO / Ben STANSALL / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. /

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has urged his side to guard against complacency when they travel to bottom of the Premier League Sunderland on Tuesday.

Spurs head to the northeast nine points behind leaders and fellow London club Chelsea, are on a seven-match unbeaten league run.

While Spurs will be tipped to take all three points at the Stadium of Light, Chelsea have a potentially tricky match at Liverpool.

“For me every game is important in the Premier League and we are in a position where it’s important to get the three points,” Pochettino said.

“It’s a tough game because Sunderland need points, too and always it’s tough to play in the Premier League but our objective is to get the three points to be close to the top, to keep our position, and maybe improve.

“The three points are important for them but they are very important for us, and we have to be aware of the pressure that we need to win, because at the end of the season we need to fight for big things.

“It will bring us the possibility to improve our position and to be nearer the top of the table. So, it is a very important game.”

England forward Harry Kane, who missed Spurs’ nailbiting 4-3 FA Cup win over fourth-tier Wycombe Wanderers through injury, is now fit and available.

Defenders Toby Alderweireld and Danny Rose — who both missed the Cup tie — are set to return as Pochettino reverts to his first-choice side after making several changes against Wycombe.

The Argentinian manager, who has not yet added to his squad this month, said he was unlikely to bring any new players to White Hart Lane before the January transfer window shuts late Tuesday.

“It’s nought point nought one per cent the possibility to sign (a player),” Pochettino said. “We are happy with the squad, I am happy, and I think in the next four months we will be all right until May.

“It’s not too much time to bring players from different leagues or from a club in England that can adapt to a different style or philosophy and can help us.

“We are involved in three competitions, and it’s up to us to finish well and try to achieve our objectives.”

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Queen Yetunde Barnabas bags double endorsements

Muslims barred from flights to US, as others detained

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Iranians and Iraqis planning to fly to the United States were prevented from boarding on Saturday after US President Donald Trump’s order to restrict arrivals from seven Muslim countries.

Iran slammed the “insulting” ban and said it would reciprocate.

On Friday Trump signed a sweeping executive order to suspend the arrival of refugees and impose tough new controls on travellers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.

His move sparked widespread international criticism.

Travellers from the Middle East were stopped from boarding US-bound planes.

Some who were already in the air when Trump signed the executive order were detained on arrival, the New York Times reported.

In Tehran, two travel agencies told AFP they had been instructed by Etihad Airways, Emirates and Turkish Airlines not to sell US tickets or allow Iranians holding American visas to board US-bound flights.

An Iranian studying in California said she could not now return because her ticket had been cancelled under the new restrictions.

“I had a ticket for Turkish Airlines on February 4, but it has been cancelled,” the girl, who did not wish to be identified, told AFP in Tehran.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani did not comment directly on the ban Saturday, but criticised Trump, saying that now was “not the time to build walls between nations”.

Iran’s foreign ministry said it would “respond in kind after the insulting decision of the United States concerning Iranian nationals” until the measure is lifted.

It said the decision was “illegal, illogical and contrary to international rules”.

More than a million Iranians live in the United States.

– Legal challenge –

In Khartoum, the Sudanese foreign ministry expressed its “regret” at the US ban.

On Saturday in Egypt, a country not included in the new restrictions, an Iraqi couple and their two children were told they could not board an EgyptAir flight from Cairo to New York.

Airport officials said the four Iraqis all had American visas.

The New York Times reported that two Iraqi refugees were detained on arriving at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport hours after Trump signed the order.

On Saturday, the American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy groups filed a legal challenge to Trump’s order.

Lawyers representing the Iraqi pair also filed a court appeal for their release, saying they were being unlawfully detained.

The United Nations responded by urging Trump to continue his country’s “long tradition” of welcoming refugees and to ensure their equal treatment, regardless of race, nationality or religion.

French President Francois Hollande said Europe must have a “firm response” to Trump, and “when he refuses the arrival of refugees, while Europe has done its duty, we have to respond”.

Hollande was due to speak with Trump later Saturday.

In Lebanon, Syrian refugees struggling to get by in makeshift camps bemoaned their fate.

“What on earth have the Syrian people done to deserve this?” asked Abu Mahmoud al-Ghol, at one informal camp in the Marj area.

“And to think it’s a democratic country doing it,” the 44-year-old said.

– Refugees barred –

Nearly six years of conflict in Syria have driven more than half the population from their homes, with many fleeing abroad and dreaming of new lives in the West.

Trump’s executive order specifically says no visas will be issued for 90 days to migrants or visitors from the seven Muslim-majority countries.

It also bars Syrian refugees from the United States indefinitely, or until Trump himself decides that they no longer pose a threat.

His decree suspends the entire US refugee resettlement programme for at least 120 days while tough new vetting rules are established.

Qatar Airways, which flies to around 15 American cities, said it would abide by the new regulations, adding however that passengers who have “the proper documentation” will be able to fly.

An alert on its website said citizens of the seven barred countries could travel to the US if they have permanent residency there.

Government officials and their immediate family are exempt from the travel restrictions along with representatives of international organisations, the Gulf carrier said.

Trump’s move has also angered one of Iran’s most popular actresses, Taraneh Alidoosti who stars in the Oscar-nominated “The Salesman”.

She said she would boycott next month’s Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.

“Trump’s visa ban for Iranians is racist,” she tweeted. “Whether this will include a cultural event or not, I won’t attend the #AcademyAwards 2017.”

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