Muhammed Ali: The last of the Camelot giants By Bolaji Akinyemi

My generation, by which I mean the generation which came into political and social consciousness in the 1960s, was lucky in the sense that we had many real heroes, men and women from whom we drew inspiration, who made us feel that the best was within reach and that God’s mission on earth was achievable by doing good. They did not come any greater than John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Kwame Nkrumah, Patrick Lumumba, Nelson Mandela, Kaduna Nzeogwu, Francis Fajuyi and yes, Mohammed Ali (the Greatest boxer of all times). It was also the age of independence for African states, an age that liberated not just territories but the can-do spirit of the whole world.

Of blasphemy, jungle justice and lies By Obo Effanga

As of Friday evening, the news across the country, as “celebrated” on social media, was that irate mob in Kano beheaded a woman on the claim of blasphemy against Islam. The narrative went on and on with a particular photograph going viral. The photograph purported to show some of the mobsters carrying what looked like a human head, supposedly that of the victim. But 24 hours later, it turned out, from the testimony of the deceased woman’s widower that she was killed no doubt, but not beheaded. The widower said he was there with the police when his wife’s body was taken to the morgue. So, the social media again was deployed to lie and blow up the story.

One year on By Sam Omatseye

Lagos has always been a place of small beginnings. A small port town, a puny army, a humble royalty, a seeming patch of land, straggles of settlers. During the Yoruba Wars, it snorted under the shadows of valiant horsemen and kabooms of gunfire exchanges.

But it has not taken its smallness with humility. It is as though it is haunted by Prophet Isaiah: “A little shall become a thousand and a small one a strong nation.”

In the past century and a half, Lagos has dwarfed everyone. It has moved from a tiny port town to a towering harbinger of commerce. It hosts the banks and money, the entrepreneur, soldiers of destiny and the great bards. The nationalist twitted the imperialist, from Macaulay to Azikiwe to Awolowo.

Its heroes have always followed a trajectory from the unknown. I.K. Dairo, Fajemirokun, Gani Fawehinmi, Awolowo, et al. It is the place where Nigerians have patented their geniuses. One of such narratives is in the offing.

Secularity needs clarity By Femi Macualay

It should be clear that a question of religion is not the same thing as a question of secularity. The June 3 ruling by a High Court in Osogbo, Osun State, in favour of religion-related veil-wearing by female Muslim students in public primary and secondary schools in the state, is food for thought.

A report said: “The court, presided by Justice Jide Falola, in a 51-page judgment…held that any act of molestation, harassment, torture and humiliation against female Muslim students using Hijab constitutes a clear infringement on their fundamental rights. Folala cited Section 38 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) to rest his ruling.”  It continued: “Osun State Muslim Community on Feb. 14, 2013, dragged the State Government to the court. They sought an order of the court to allow female Muslim students to enjoy their fundamental rights by granting them order to use veil in public schools.”

My mind went back to April 2014 when the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU) and The State Government of Osun organised an All-Comers Colloquium onFundamental Imperatives of Cohabitation: Faith and Secularism at the centre’s Auditorium, Abere, Osogbo.

Buhari’s appeal

•Senate should accede to President’s request on passage of anti-corruption and other bills

President Muhammadu Buhari’s appeal to the National Assembly to expedite the passage into law of some bills before the lawmakers is welcome. The president made the request during a dinner he held in honour of the National Assembly members at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, as part of activities to mark his one year in office.

These include: the bill for Acts of Domestication of Agreements for Avoidance of Double Taxation between Nigeria and South Korea, Spain and Sweden, respectively; the Federal Capital Territory Appropriation Bill 2016; Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill 2016; Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill 2016; and the Statutory Budget of the Niger Delta Development Commission 2016.

Atiku should define ‘restructuring’ By Ochereome Nnanna

AFTER one year of silence, Vice President Atiku Abubakar seized the opportunity of a book launch in Abuja last week to break his silence. He reviewed the state of the nation under President Muhammadu Buhari, which is what pretty much everyone else has done in the past one week.

Former Vice President and presidential aspirant of All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar Of all that he said, I was intrigued by his call for a “restructuring” of the federation and the shade he threw at the leadership of Buhari, when he observed: “we also have a leadership that is not prepared to learn from the past and the leadership that is not prepared to lead”. Of this snide on Buhari, observers have already determined that it was Atiku’s first step towards a 2019 challenge for the presidency.

The economy and Pandora’s Box By Henry Boyo

In popular Greek mythology, “Pandora’s Box was actually a large jar given to Pandora by the gods, the box contained all the evils of the World, and when Pandora opened the box, all the evils flew out, leaving only hope inside when she closed it again” (paraphrased from Wikipedia). •Pandora’s Box “Poverty will clearly deepen nationwide and severe level of unemployment will persist with serious social consequences, if the preferred strategy for rescuing our economy implies further Naira devaluation and outright deregulation of fuel price, as recommended by the IMF and other likeminded experts. (see “Devalue Naira, Remove Subsidy and Kill Nigerians” Rational perspectives: 02/11/2015 www.lesleba.com).

Incidentally, the dreaded twin evils of Naira devaluation and deregulated fuel price are presently widely celebrated as right steps towards economic restoration and diversification; thus, with the evolving policy thrusts, Nigeria moved closer to IMF’s recommendations. However, international financial media and Banking moguls, and their Nigerian associates and partners, still insist on a steeper slide in the Naira exchange rate and a further hike also in fuel price to reflect market forces of demand and supply. The advocates of these harsh policy thrusts, often boisterously warn of dire social and economic consequences, if we do not fast track bastardization of the Naira and further pump up fuel price.

What Emefiele, Adeosun must do for Nigeria By Omoh Gabriel

It is no longer news that Nigerian economy is at a brink of recession. The nation’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate declined to -0.36 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared to 2.11 per cent in the last three months of 2015, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed recently. Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele This negative GDP growth apparently confirms an earlier statement by the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed that the Federal Government was broke and making tough adjustments.

Mile 12 Market must move …

We regard as unwholesome and unacceptable, strident efforts by former Kano State Governor, Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso (who now represents Kano Central Constituency at the Senate) to take sides with a section of the ethno-regional stakeholders in the Mile 12 Market, Lagos to oppose the movement of the market to a more befitting location at Imota. Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi  Ambode, announced plans to remove the market from Mile 12 in the Ketu axis following the recent bloody ethno-regional clashes in the market.

The Mile 12 Market has, over the years, assumed the ill reputation of recording the highest number of clashes among the major ethnic groups in the market – the Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo. The recent blood-letting which took place in March 2016 was marked by continued killings in the neighbouring communities even after the clashes were quelled by the law-enforcement agencies.

Ending AIDS by 2030 By Michel Sidibé and Isaac Adewole

The AIDS epidemic has defined the global health agenda for an entire generation. The first AIDS-related deaths were diagnosed 35 years ago and HIV rapidly became a global crisis. The epidemic threatened all countries and had the power to destabilise the most vulnerable. By 2000, AIDS had wiped out decades of development gains.

Today, many nations have taken great steps in getting ahead of the virus. Nigeria, for example, has reduced the number of new HIV infections from 240, 000 in year 2010 to 190,000 in 2015. Estimated AIDS related deaths in the country declined from 160,000 in 2010 to 148,000 in 2015 while new infections among children declined by 20% between 2010 and 2015. HIV prevalence among pregnant women also has declined by 48.3% from 2001 to 2014.

Robbers attack Vanguard publisher Sam Amuka …

Suspected armed robbers yesterday invaded the Lagos home of Vanguardpublisher Sam Amuka, injuring him and carting away cash and some items.

The raid was the second on Amuka’s home in about two years.

The invaders  allegedly hit the octogenarian  with an iron rod. He was rushed to a private hospital.

Ten suspects arrested in connection with the attack are being quizzed at the Special Anti-Robbery Sqaud (SARS), Ikeja.

Detectives were said to be screening Amuka’s private guards, domestic staff as well as all the the estate’s security personnel.

It was gathered that the criminals stormed Amuka’s Anthony Village residence at about 1:30am after scaling the high fence.

Benin: Crown prince performs Isotan rite

The Edaiken N’Uselu and crown prince of Benin Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Eheneden Erediauwa, has performed the ‘Isotan’ rite as part of the funeral activities for the late Oba of Benin, Omo n’Oba n’Edo Uku Akpolopkolo, Oba Erediauwa.

According to a source in the palace, the ‘Isotan’ rite is considered very important to Edo people because it indicates that a child has played his role in the funeral rites of his late father.

“In the Edo parlance, this enables the Edaiken to formally take over the position of his transited father,” the source added.

Prince Eheneden trekked for about six kilometres from the Edaiken palace at Uselu, through Lagos Street, to the oba’s palace.

Senate considers 65 bills in one year, passes six ……

No fewer than 65 bills, sponsored by either the executive or lawmakers across the six geo- political zones of the country in the last one year, are at various stages of consideration in the current 8th Senate.

A document obtained by our correspondent from the Senate Committee on Rules and Business, shows that six of the bills had been successfully considered, passed and transmitted to the President for assent.

They are the Electronic Transaction Bill, the 2015 Appropriation (Amendment) Bill, the Supplementary Appropriation Bill, the FCT Statutory Appropriation Act, the High Court of FCT Bill, and the 2016 Appropriation Bill.

Also in the last one year, two of the bills were withdrawn due to the controversies they generated.

These are the Constituency Development Catalyst Fund Bill and  the Frivolous Petitions (Prohibition) Bill.

Lagos pays N1bn to 257 retirees

The Lagos State Government has issued retirement benefit bond certificates to the tune of N1.002bn to a set of 275 retirees from the Mainstream, Local Government, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board, Teachers Establishment and Pension Office and parastatals of government, under the Contributory Pension Scheme for the month of May.

A statement from the Lagos State Pension Commission said the payment brought the number of retirees paid between August 2015 and May, 2016 to 3,344.

It stated that the total accrued pension rights under the Pay-as you-go pension scheme paid on behalf of retirees by the state government from the period was N14.70bn.

Trump appears to shift on foreign policy, removing Qaddafi from Libya …….. FOX

Donald Trump said Sunday that he would have approved of removing Muammar Qaddafi as Libya’s leader, an apparent shift in his foreign policy.

The presumptive GOP presidential nominee told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that he would have approved of a “surgical” strike to remove the country’s former prime minister, after telling voters earlier this year that the world would be better off with the dictator still in power.

“I didn’t mind surgical,” said Trump, who has criticized the successful U.S.-NATO effort in 2011 to remove Qaddafi. “And I said surgical. You do a surgical shot and you take him out.”

Trump has been critical of the Obama administration foreign policy, including the decision to remove Qaddafi, which then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton approved.

“We came, we saw, he died,” Clinton, now the Democratic presidential front-runner, said at the time.

Ali’s brother weeps during church service

Muhammad Ali’s brother has taken centre stage at a Sunday worship service at the church where their father was a longtime member in Louisville, Kentucky.

An emotional Rahaman Ali clapped and swayed to hymns and hugged members of King Solomon Missionary Baptist Church in Louisville’s west end. The church features a painting by Ali’s father, Cassius Clay Sr., and isn’t far from the pink house where the boxing champion grew up.

Ali’s younger brother put his hand to his face, overcome with emotion, as church members paid tribute to his brother, who died late Friday in an Arizona hospital.

During the two-hour service, assistant pastor Charles Elliott III asked the congregation to stand to honour Muhammad Ali. In his tribute, Elliott said “there is no great man that has done more for this city than Muhammad Ali.’’

Gingrich: Trump remarks about judge ‘mistake,’ ‘inexcusable’ ………. FOX

Donald Trump supporter Newt Gingrich on Sunday sharply criticized the presumptive GOP presidential nominee for his racially-sensitive remarks about the judge presiding over the Trump University civil fraud case.

“It was one of the worst mistakes Trump has made. Inexcusable,” the former GOP House speaker, who has become one of Trump’s closest advisers, told “Fox News Sunday.”

Trump has argued that American-born District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, whose parents are from Mexico, is biased against him, considering Trump’s vow to build a wall along the southern U.S. border to keep out Mexicans.

“He’s Mexican,” Trump told CNN on Friday. “We’re building a wall between here and Mexico.”

Gingrich, whose is considered a potential Trump running-mate, also called the comment a “mistake” but stopped short of calling it racist.

“That judge is not a Mexican. He’s an American,” he said. “I hope it was sloppiness.”

FG opens special account for recovered loot ………

The Federal Government has set up an account for the stolen funds it recovered in the last one year.

The Muhammadu Buhari-led government revealed on Saturday that N78, 325,354,631.82; $185,119,584.61; £3,508,355.46 and €11, 250 had been recovered from alleged looters, an amount which adds up to over N115.7bn using the official exchange rate of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The funds were said to have been recovered separately by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation; Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission and the Department of State Services.

Speaking with The PUNCH on Sunday, the Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay, said an account had been set up for the funds.

Sanders campaign reportedly divided over whether to take fight to Democratic convention…… FOX

A split is emerging inside the Bernie Sanders campaign over whether the senator should stand down after Tuesday’s election contests and unite behind Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, or take the fight all the way to the July party convention and try to pry the nomination from her.

One camp might be dubbed the Sandersistas, the loyalists who helped guide Sanders’s political ascent in Vermont and the U.S. Congress and are loath to give up a fight that has far surpassed expectations. Another has ties not only to Sanders but to the broader interests of a Democratic Party pining to beat back the challenge from Republican Donald Trump and make gains in congressional elections.

Stumbling dollar, Nigeria sabotage push up oil …….. REUTERS

Brent crude oil prices rose on Monday, lifted by a plunge in the dollar that could spur demand just as attacks on Nigerian oil infrastructure tighten supplies, but signs of recovering U.S. output capped gains.

Brent crude futures rose as high as $50.10 but retreated to be up 36 cents or 0.7 percent at $50.00 a barrel at 0620 GMT. U.S. crude futures were up 41 cents or 0.8 percent at $49.03 a barrel.

Traders said oil prices rose on a sharp fall in the dollar on Friday after weak U.S. jobs data sparked concerns over the state of the world’s biggest economy, cutting expectations of a near-term cut in U.S. interest rates.

Dejo Tunfulu Yoruba actor's 17-year-old daughter weds in Lagos

Kunle Mac Adetokunbo also known as Dejo Tunfulu was a proud dad on Saturday, May 28 when he gave out his 17-year-old daughter's hand in marriage in Lagos.

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Dejo Tunfulu's teenage daughter weds in Lagos

Beauty Tip Of The Day: The terrible thing wearing weave, tight braid does to your hair!

Fixing weaves, braiding and tugging and pulling at the hair all the time definitely result in hair loss.

Grooming Tips: 4 ways to make your cologne last the whole day

Wearing cologne is the icing on the cake, when itcomes to getting dressed. However, it’s annoying to get to work and not even smell the faintest trace of it. Not to worry, here are four ways tomake your cologne last the whole day.

New Music: Olamide - 'Konkobility'

Olamide of YBNL fame is out with a spanking new jam titled 'Konkobility' produced by Young Jonn.

This comes off on the heels of his freestyle heat'Who you epp' and 'Abule sowo'.

It's Olamide in his typical fashion, when he talks about getting with a lady.

Novak Djokovic: Serbian completes career Grand Slam at Roland Garros

The irrepressible Novak Djokovic cemented his position as the dominant figure in men's tennis by finally completing a career Grand Slam with a four-set victory over Andy Murray in the French Open final.

Although Djokovic came into Sunday's clash on Court Philippe Chatrier having won the last three slams, taking his overall tally to 11, success at Roland Garros had eluded him - the Serbian falling at the final hurdle in 2012, 2014 and 2015.

That agonising run looked set to continue when an error-strewn first-set performance from the world number one enabled Murray to move ahead in confident fashion.