Pope Francis said Monday that all
priests will be able to forgive abortion, making permanent a temporary
measure he had put in place for the Vatican’s jubilee year.
“I henceforth grant to all priests, in
virtue of their ministry, the faculty to absolve those who have
committed the sin of procured abortion,” the pope wrote in an apostolic
letter marking the end of the “Year of Mercy”, which wound up Sunday.
Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan
AFP PHOTO / PIUS UTOMI EKPEI
Former President, Goodluck Jonathan, may
seek reelection in Nigeria’s 2019 presidential election, the publisher
of Ovation Magazine, Mr. Dele Momodu, has said.
Jonathan, who ruled Africa’s most
populous nation from 2011 to 2015, lost his bid for reelection in last
year’s presidential polls to President Muhammadu Buhari of the All
Progressive Congress.
Since leaving office Jonathan’s profile
internationally has risen, and Mr. Momodu says the Peoples Democratic
Party chieftain may stage a comeback bid in 2019.
In an article titled, “The second coming
of Goodluck Jonathan”, Mr. Momodu explained that the victory of US
President-elect Donald trump “should bring us back to our senses”.
He wrote, “I have been reading about the
rising profile of our former President, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, and
wish to state without equivocation that no one should rule him out of
the 2019 presidential race. I first hinted this possibility about two
months ago and wish to reiterate that Nigerians should prepare for the
shock that awaits us. The story of Donald Trump should bring us back to
our senses. Nothing is impossible. The second coming of Goodluck
Jonathan may be so far-fetched or even belong in those categories of
impossibilities but I wish to plead with our government and my fellow
citizens not to rule it out. As one of those who made our modest and
humble contributions to the coming of this Buhari government, I’m
pleading with trepidation.
Mr. Momodu blamed the ex-president’s rising profile on the failure of the government to maintain “the economy it met”.
He said, “Nigerians would have been
ready to enter fire with Buhari. But there are just too many unresolved
problems and challenges. The excuses that Jonathan and company left this
peculiar mess behind has refused to fly.”
The business magnate said that the
expectation of Nigerians who voted massively for the ‘change’ preached
by the APC during its campaign are “confronted with the reality of an
economic recession they never planned for; a situation they did not
experience under the Jonathan administration and under previous
governments”.
He said, “The BBC reported on Friday how
Jonathan caused a stir in Sokoto State during his visit to the state to
pay his respects to Ibrahim Dasuki, the late former Sultan of Sokoto.
According to the report, Jonathan was received by a large crowd of
admirers, some holding banners bearing the words “Come Back Baba
Jonathan”.
“The same voices that chanted “Sai Baba”
and “Jonathan Must Go” are now fiddling with the tunes of the
possibility of a Jonathan to stage a comeback. Here lies the irony of
political triumph and the paradox of high expectations.
“The euphoria and momentum that saw the
exit of Jonathan and the emergence of the Buhari change administration
has since begun to wane following the inability of the new government to
hit the ground running with the tenacity of a government in a hurry!
“There are many who believe that the
poor management of the ensuing economic recession didn’t help matters.
Suddenly, Nigerians who had high hopes and voted massively for change
are now caught in a limbo between confusion and uncertainty.”
The National Youth Service Corps
authorities have said that prospective corps members can now print their
call-up letters online.
It also adds that the camp for Stream 1, 2016 Batch ‘B’ commences on Thursday.
This is a radical departure from the
practice whereby intending corps members must return to their respective
schools to pick up the letters physically
According to tweets by the agency, as
posted on its twitter handle, “Call-up letters can now be printed for
prospective corps members slated for Stream 1.
“They are to log-in to their respective dashboards with their email password.”
The tweet added that registration in
the camp for Stream 1, 2016 Batch ‘B’ commences on Thursday November 24,
and closes by 12 midnight on November 25, 2016.
“If the ‘Print call-up Letter’ link is
not on the dashboard, it means prospective corps members is slated for
Stream 2 scheduled for January 2017. No cause for alarm please,” the
tweet added.
The Abuja Environmental Protection Board
has seized 31 cows and 53 sheep and their owners were charged to court
for illegal grazing in the Federal Capital Territory.
The owners were fined various amounts of money by the environmental sanitation mobile court.
The AEPB Information and Outreach
Officer, Samuel Musa, told Northern City News in a telephone interview
on Thursday that cattle grazing had reduced in the FCT following the new
approach adopted by the board.
He explained that the Miyetti Allah
Cattle Breeders Association had partnered with the AEPB to enlighten its
members about the illegality of cattle grazing in the FCT.
Musa said, “So far, we have arrested
over 31 cows and 53 sheep for illegal grazing in the FCT. Our tough
approach is paying off, as we now have fewer incidents of cattle grazing
in the city.
“The cattle breeders association is also
working with us to arrest errant herdsmen. Many of them were arrested
with their cattle and arraigned in court and fined.”
The AEPB also said that it had arrested
38 beggars and handed them over to the FCT Social Welfare Development
for rehabilitation, adding that a member of a syndicate that brought
them to Abuja from Suleja, Niger State was also nabbed and handed over
to the police.
