Finland plans to make the whole country tobacco-free by 2040

Government officials in Finland plan to make the country tobacco-free by 2040.

This means they want less than 2% of their adults to consume tobacco in any form by that deadline and more than 98% of the Finnish population saying no to cigarettes, snuff and other forms of smokeless tobacco, cigars, pipes and even e-cigarettes.

Smoking rates in Finland have been on the decline in recent decades due to measures such as bans on advertising and shop displays, and the creation of smoke-free public spaces.

In 2013, 16% of 15- to 64-year-olds in Finland smoked on a daily basis, while nearby in the UK, 19% of adults were smokers in 2014.

FG threatens to punish peddlers of President Buhari's death rumors

The Federal government has threatened to punish peddlers of President Buhari's death rumors. In a statement released by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, the Federal government says it is investigating the source of the death rumor

"The source/sources of the fabricated messages are already being investigated and the authors should prepare to face the consequences of their actions"the statement read

Lai Mohammed urged Nigerians to disregard the rumor that is being circulated via text messaging and the Social Media. He affirmed that there is no iota of truth in the messages being circulated, adding that President Buhari is hale and hearty Mohammed said while opposition and criticism are all part of democracy, the crafting and circulation of subversive materials and scare-mongering are not, hence the full wrath of the law will be brought to bear on those who are bent on subverting the state.

''The emerging trend of resorting to destabilization and scare-mongering is not unexpected, considering this government's clamp-down on the corrupt elements in the society, the plugging of all financial leaks which has derailed the gravy train of the looters of public treasury and the enthronement of probity and transparency in the polity. While we will neither stifle press freedom nor abridge the citizens' right to express themselves freely, whether through criticism or protests, the security agencies will neither allow any resort to violence nor a willful subversion of the state for whatever reason,'' he said

Ghanaian bishop, Daniel Obinim acquires 9th Range Rover (photo)

Controversial Ghanaian bishop, Daniel Obinim has acquired a $168k customised Range Rover Vogue to add his fleet of cars. He reportedly already has 8 Range Rovers, 5 Infinity SUVs and 3 Chryslers.

In November 2016, the Leader of International God's Way Church made headlines after flogging two members of his church for fornicating and attempting abortion. An act that later got him arrested and charged to court.

Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Ibe Kachikwu meets the Pope (photo)

The minister met the Pope in Rome, Italy this week.

Photo: Gambia's President Adama Barrow names woman as Vice President

Ajaratou Fatoumata Tambajang has been appointed as Vice President of The Republic of The Gambia. Tambajang, a prominent pro-democracy activist was part of the opposition coalition that unseated long time ruler Yahya Jammeh.

She is touted as one of the main brains behind the formation of a coalition going into the December 1, 2016 polls. Her appointment was announced on Monday by Halifa Sallah, the spokesperson of President Adama Barrow at a Press Conference held in Banjul.


Born in on October 22, 1949 in Brikama, Gambia, the mother of eight was a former United Nations Development Program (UNDP) gender/development expert also served as a cabinet minister in the government of Yahya Jammeh. She was Minister of Health, Social Welfare and Women’s Affairs.

I am not a violent person - Madonna defends speech on 'Blowing The White House'

‘I’m angry. Yes, I am outraged. Yes, I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House. But I know that this won’t change anything' were the words uttered by American pop star, Madonna while speaking at the Women’s March held in Washington, Saturday.

Her speech caught the attention of the Secret Service and many other around the world and with an alleged investigation into her claims under way, Madonna took to Instagram to clarify things.

She wrote;

‘Yesterday’s Rally. was an amazing and beautiful experience.

I came and performed Express Yourself and thats exactly what i did.
However I want to clarify some very important things. I am not a violent person, I do not promote violence and it’s important people hear and understand my speech in it’s entirety rather than one phrase taken wildly out of context.
My speech began with ” I want to start a revolution of love.” ♥️ I then go on to take this opportunity to encourage women and all marginalized people to not fall into despair but rather to come together and use it as a starting point for unity and to create positive change in the world.
I spoke in metaphor and I shared two ways of looking at things — one was to be hopeful, and one was to feel anger and outrage, which I have personally felt. However, I know that acting out of anger doesn’t solve anything. And the only way to change things for the better is to do it with love.
It was truly an honor to be part of an audience chanting “we choose love”. ♥️♥️♥️♥️ #revoltutionoflove♥️#revolutionoflove♥️’ she wrote.

An incurable disease that causes his skin to fall off if touched. A baby born

 

One of the joys of every parent is in being able to hold their new baby close. Sadly this cannot be the case for Kadyem, 22, and Kyera, 20, the first time parents of a baby born on December 28 with a rare incurable disease which makes his skin peel off when touched.

Baby Kaheel Clark-Smith was diagnosed at birth with Epidermolyosis Bullosa (EB) after he was born with small blisters on his arm, but the doctors dismissed it as a mild case and sent him home, however, he had extreme breakout days later that resulted in blisters and the loss of 60% of his skin and that was when it was discovered that he has the worst case of the disease.

Kaheel's parents, who are unable to cuddle or kiss their baby, are raising funds to fly their son to a specialist EB centre in Ohio since the hospital where their son was born in Seattle, Washington has very little experience in handling such case.

Khaleel's aunt, Brandi Smith, revealed the extent of the trauma these new parents and their child are having to deal with;

"This is their first child and they are so overwhelmed and broken. We found out the day he was born and didn't know anything about it. We had to do all the research at home," She said.

"We found out this was the 'worst disease you've never heard of' and we were so heartbroken. Even a cuddle or a kiss can cause his skin to blister. The doctors gave us false hope because he was eating and all his vital signs were fine. Then he had a bad breakout and he was admitted to NICU on Jan 4th.

"We just got back the results from the biopsies and have been told it's the worst type of EB."

Brandi started a GoFundMe page to help raise $30,000 for the medical flight to get the baby to the care of experts in Ohio and also for the expensive special clothing and bandage needed to wrap Khaleel.

Ghanaian woman and her three children perish in fire outbreak in Finland

A Ghanaian woman, Nana Ago Prah, and her three children ages 3, 7 and 8 were killed in a house fire which occurred at their home in Helsinki, Finland on Dec 9th. The victims were believed to have died from suffocation resulting from a fire which started from the sauna in their sixth-floor apartment.


A neighbour who noticed the fire early in the morning before 3 a.m. called the police and they arrived the scene eleven minutes later and quickly extinguished the fire.

Sadly, resuscitation attempts to save the lives of Nana and her children failed. The husband of Nana and father of her children, John Owusu, a board member of the Ghana Union Finland, was at work at the time of the incident hence was able to escape death.

Nana and her children will be buried on the 4th of February 2017 in Helsinki Finland.

Abike Dabiri warns Nigerians to avoid Libya for now

The attention of the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora has been drawn to a video and pictures being circulated on the purported killing of black immigrants in Libya. While the authenticity of the pictures and tapes in question cannot be verified, it is a known fact that Libya has been executing alleged black illegal immigrants for years.
As the Chairman Committee on Diaspora in the House of Representatives in the Seventh Assembly, we intervened in the case of 24 Nigerians about to be killed in Libya. The Committee, in collaboration with SERAP, an NGO, petitioned the UN, AU, ECOWAS, and Ghadaffi yielded to pressure and released them. As at two months ago, NEMA alongside, the Nigerian Embassy in Libya evacuated over 2000 Nigerians from Libya. The Nigerian embassy in Libya, working with NEMA has relentlessly intervened in cases involving Nigerians in trouble in Libya and will continue to do so. Libyans are dealing with their own struggles as there is no recognised government in place.

The office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora hereby appeals again to Nigerian migrants to avoid Libya as penalty for illegal migration to Libya, when caught, is usually a death sentence. Signed. Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa SSA to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora

Six students of College of Education ambushed and killed in Southern Kaduna

As the crisis in Southern Kaduna continues, music entrepreneur, Audu Maikori, shared the sad story of how his driver's brother and five of his schoolmates at the College of Education, GidanWaya in Kaduna state, were ambushed and killed by herdsmen while on their way back to school yesterday January 22nd. More tweets

New Gambian president promises to hand over power peacefully at the end of his tenure

The Gambia's president, Adama Barrow, has promised that he will hand over peacefully to his successor when his tenure as president elapses.

While speaking to the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, on Sunday night, Barrow recognised the contribution of African and world leaders to ensure that Justice and the will of the people prevailed in Gambia.

Barrow, who had to leave his country for a while and was inaugurated as president in Senegal due to his predecessor's refusal to peacefully step down has promised that his successor will not experience the same thing he did. He also pledged to put laws in place to ensure the smooth transfer of power and also presidential term limits to prevent any one person from holding on to power indefinitely.

"This time the democratic principle will be reinstated. And we will improve on them. We will put in place laws that nobody will stay long. Laws like term limit.“ 

Every president will know that; ‘look I am president but at this time I will leave power.’ You will behave yourself and try to work for the country so that you will leave a good legacy,” Mr. Barrow said.

Barrow spoke on the Exile of Yahya Jammeh to Equatorial Guinea, revealing that Jammeh was allowed to leave so as to ensure his safety.

He said:

 “We don’t want him to stay in the Gambia, because we cannot guarantee his security. The security situation in the Gambia is fragile. It’s a very difficult situation. And if you allow a former President to stay in your country, you have to guarantee his security. 

"If you cannot guarantee his security, it will be impossible for us to keep him. That is why our stand is; let him leave to a foreign land. In the future he might come back if things settle down.”

Umaru Yaradua University denies alleged ban of Christian religious groups on its campus

There was a public outcry over the weekend after a memo from the authorities of the Umaru Yaradua University in Katsina state surfaced online, announcing that the school only recognizes the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria MSSN, as the only religious association allowed to operate in the University, a copy of the memo above.

Some Nigerians felt the memo was targeted at stopping Christians in the school from associating.

Reacting to the controversies surrounding the memo, the Dean of Student Affairs in the school, Dr Sulaiman Kankara, told Premium Times that the memo had nothing to do with Christians.

“Actually there is one misconception in the memo. But the fact of the matter is that in Umaru Yar’Ádua University, there is no association known as Christian Students Association. There is one religious association and subsidiary Islamic students associations like the Tijjanniya Students Movement in Nigeria, Academic Forum of Islamic Movement in Nigeria and many associations like that. They are Islamic students association. So what we want is to have a single union which will be the mouthpiece of muslim students and that is the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria. It has nothing to do with any Christian group because up till now, I have not received any application requesting registration of Christian Students Society. And once they do that, we are ready to register them. Even as at last week, we said the two religious group to be recognised by the university will be the Muslim one and one from Christian side. Up till now we are to receive any application for the registration of any Christian association in the university from any group.”he said

MLB star, Yordano Ventura dies in car accident at 25

25 years old Royals pitcher and Major League Player, Yordano Ventura has died. According to Cristian Moreno of ESPN, he died in a car crash in the Dominican Republic early this morning Jan. 22nd. His team, The Royals have since confirmed Ventura’s death, according to MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan.

Ventura made his debut for the Royals in 2013 and was immediately known for his fastball. Sadly, he is the second major league player who has died over the past five months. Former Marlins ace Jose Fernandez was killed in a boating accident on September 25, 2016.

Indian authorities seize over Rs58 lakh from Nigerian man at Delhi airport (photo)

Indian authorities seized over Rs 58 lakh (around $85,000) from a Nigerian national identified as one Tochukwu Chijioke, who was travelling to Coimbatore on at the Delhi airport.

Of the total cash seized, almost Rs 54 lakh, was in the newly introduced Rs 2000 & Rs 500 currency notes, while the remaining Rs 4 lakh was in discontinued high-value notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000.


Tochukwo Chijioke was identified by CISF personnel present at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on December 23.

"He was allowed to travel after information was shared with tax and customs sleuths. A total cash of over Rs 58 lakh was detected with the Nigerian with Rs 53.78 lakh in new currency and Rs 4.29 lakh in old notes,” an official said.

“We have informed the Airport Intelligence Unit (AIU) and the Custom department. He was travelling by an Indigo flight,” the official added.

The AIU and the Custom department questioned Chijioke on his arrival at the Coimbatore International Airport about the source of the money.

This seizure is one of the many instances of illegal cash being recovered currently by the Income Tax department, the Enforcement Directorate, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and other authorities

Check out the last photos of Gambia's ex-president, Yahya Jammeh, as he lfet the country on exile

On Friday, January 20, 2017, Gambia's ex-president, Yahya Jammeh accepted the December election by announcing that he was finally stepping down for his successor President Adama Barrow after weeks of Political crisis.

After stepping down from power, the former leader was flown into political exile to Equatorial Guinea. He traveled with mediator Alpha Conde, the president of Guinea. Check out his last photos in Gambia taken at the airport

Bakery claims Trump copied Obama's inauguration cake in 2013

Celebrity chef, Duff Godman, who designed former US President Barack Obama'a cake for his inauguration in 2013, took to Twitter on Friday to post photos of the cake he made for Obama and the one made for Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday, implying his cake design was recreated by another baker

On Saturday, January 21,  Buttercream Bakeshop who did Trump's cake issued a statement on their Instagram account, giving credit to Goldman while revealing they were simply following their client's demands.

'While we most love creating original designs, when we are asked to replicate someone else's work we are thrilled when it is a masterpiece like this one, @duff_goldman originally created this for Obama's inauguration 4 years ago and this years committee commissioned us to re-create it.'