NSCIA DECLARES TOMORROW AS EID-EL-FITR.

The President of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic
Affairs has declared tomorrow July 6, 2016 as the date for Eid-el-Fitr
in Nigeria. The President General of the association who also doubles
as the Sultan of Sokoto made the announcement yesterday and also added
that the new moon of Shawwal had not been sighed anywhere in Nigeria.
The President General Sa'ad Abubakar has not been seen in the country
for days.
Abubakar therefore enjoins all muslims to observe the fast on
tuesday and also their eid prayers on wednesday July 6. Earlier, the
NSCIA had told all Nigerian muslims to look for the moon between
Sunday and Monday for the Eid-el-Fitr. And on Sunday the secretary
general of the association in a statement released to the public
enjoined all muslims to search for the moon.
Other countries like Saudi-Arabia have already announced wednesday
as their Eid-el-Fitr. The celebrations are used to mark the end of a
month long Rammadan fast by muslims. In Nigeria, the Rammadan fasts
began on monday, June 6.

What you need to know about the Rammadan
The Rammadan is a period of fasting, prayers and meditation observed
by all muslims. It is seen and highly regarded as a sacred period, and
its believed to be the period when the mysteries of the Quran were
revealed to the lowly state of mankind. The Rammadan fasting is a bit
unique, as muslims during this period fast only in the day time. That
is, they are not allowed to it or drink anything at all. Its also a
time for meditation and frequent visits to the mosque for prayers.
Rammadan is a time for muslims to reflect on their lifestyles and work
on their whole persons. The Quaran states that " he who is not willing
to give up false statements and evil deeds is not fit to give up
eating and drinking" meaning that during the fast you must work on
discipline.
The iftaar
The iftaar is a period at the end of each day of fasting during the
Rammadan when families gather to end the fast. Iftaar literally
translates to "break fast". Its usually a family thing, but there
could also be communal and charity feasts at mosques and other
centres.
For the exceptions, there are variations, but as a convention
(and as stated in the Quran), pregnant women,the elderly, top
performing athletes and the diabetics are exempted. Children too, but
sometimes children participate with their parents on half fasts.
On Eid-el-Fitr, muslims will gather at the mosque to say their
final prayers for a successful fasting period and then go on to spend
the rest of the day with families and relatives. With everyone wishing
the other "Eid-mubarak". In core muslim states, the eid holiday span
3-5 days at a stretch.
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SARAKI AND BUKOLA ARE NOT IMMUNE- FEMI FALANA.

One of Nigeria's most prominent Human Rights Lawyers,political
activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN) on saturday, urged the
president of the senate Bukola Saraki and his deputy to face their
trials and stop making it look like they were being victimised.
Femi Falana SAN, said this in a lecture he delivered at the 60th
birthday celebration of the secretary to the Edo State Government
Prof. Julius Ihonvbere. The lecture was titled "The Limits of
Executive Immunity". It was held in Benin, capital of Edo State.
The Lawyer also stated that the constitution provided immunity
from prosecution only to governors and the president and not to
lawmakers. He expressly faulted the invitation extended to the
Attorney General of the Federation by the senate, insisting that the
Attorney General Abubakar Malami was answerable only to the President
himself. Falana went on to urge the Senate leaders to face the forgery
case levelled against them and "stop politicising the whole issue".
"As the leader of the national assembly you are above the board
and that is why you must be very careful". He said. He also added that
there was no more total immunity both at the state and national levels
and so any criminal case must be treated as such. Falana also made
reference to the case of the Ekiti State Governor and EFCC, he said
that contrary to the claims of Governor Fayose that it was
unconstitutional to freeze his Zenith bank accounts, his issue was a
criminal case, involving an account that had a lot to do with illegal
transactions. And so the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had
the right to freeze his accounts pending his leaving office and facing
charge.
Falana also stated that the Senate is mandated by the dictates of
the constitution to reports any activities of forgery of its rules to
the Attorney Genaral but it failed to do that. And that the Attorney
General of the Federation had every constitutional rights to prosecute
the case, while he remains answerable only to the president.
The senate last week had sent a summon to the Attorney General of
the Federation Abubakar Malami on thursday, but the AGF failed to meet
the appointment, the AGF sent the representative of the President
instead. But the representative was promptly walked out of the senate
meeting. With the lawmakers insisting that they wanted only the
presence of the Attorney General. The AGF had been summoned by the
Senate to explain his reasons for prosecuting a case that albeit
mattered only to the Senate and was none of his business.
The prosecuted lawmakers were arraigned before a Federal high
court in Abuja,and were granted release on the condition which they
met there at the court premises. About 24 hours later, Senator Ike
Ekweremadu, the deputy Senate President addressed a letter to the
international community on the case. In the letter,he claimed that he
and his boss Bukola Saraki were being prosecuted as an attempt by the
party in power to threaten democracy and witchhunt its opponents.
The senate is yet to decide on any action to take against the AGF
for shunning their summons.
About a month ago, Femi Falana had heavily criticised the request
of the Senate for immunity and pension for life, terming it "satanic
and devoid of a clear conscience". He said that no serious nation
could grant immunity to a legislature that had been deeply enmeshed in
cases of forgery,rape,sexual abuse and diversion of public funds. He
also said that all hands were on deck around the human rights
community to ensure their request was not granted.
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FRANCE BEATS ICELAND TO REACH EURO SEMI FINALS.

Image:Dimitri Payet celebrates scoring France third goal against iceland.
Image credit: Foxsports

France emphatically beat Euro underdogs,Iceland to reach the semi
finals of the Euro 2016 with an amazing scoreline 5-2. The victory
this morning saw goals from Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud, Athletico
Madrid's Antoine Griezman, Juventus' Paul Pogba, and Dimitri Payet.
Giroud scored a brace in the match that was played at Stade de
France.
The win ended Icelands fairytale dreams of winning the
competition. Iceland had previously cleared off England in the last 16
with a scoreline of 2-1. Which came as a pleasant surprise to its
population of 330,000 residents. But the resilence lceland displayed
against England proved futile against France as they were clearly
outplayed by a star-studed and cordinated French team.
At the half time mark, Iceland were 4-0 down and despite much
rallying around with goals from Sigthorsson and Bjarnasson(towards the
end), the damage was already done. France has not gone beyond the
quaterfinals in this competition since they won the tournament 16
years ago in 2000. And they cruised home easily and happily, stamping
down their win with another goal from Giroud to make it five.
Despite the fact that coming into the game, Iceland had been
praised as a team with the most organised and rugged defence which was
used as a very effective weapon against England, that all went down
memory within 20 minutes of the game. France seemed to pieces their
opponents defence with just the most basic schemes in football. The
first goal came after 12 minutes of gameplay, with Giroud latching on
to a long ball and driving home low, far beyond the reach of Iceland
goalkeeper, Hannes Haldorsson. Giroud went on to score a second goal
and setup another.
Juventus playmaker, Pogba headed in the second goal of the
morning after making a hit at Antoine Griezman's right winged corner.
It was his first goal of the European Championship.

Before the break, Payet and Griezmand added the third and fourth
goals for France before the end of 45 minutes. Griezman latched onto a
through pass from Giroud tipping up the ball over the head of the
advancing iceland goalie.
Sigurdsson who netted in Iceland's winner against England, scored
for Iceland after the first half break at 56 minutes.
But France proved they were still the 'favourites' when Striker
Giroud brought them back increasing their lead by four goals once
again. He scored after beating Hannels to a Payet freekick. He was
withdrawn immediately, having been booked once in the match.
At 84 minutes, Iceland had another goal for pride with a powerful
header from Bjarnason.
Didier Deschamps' men will now face a semi final showdown with
Germany in Marseille on thursday as both giants of European football
go on a "horn-fight" to get to the finals.
The coach said: "Germany remains the best team and the world
champions, no doubt about that. Even if Italy gave them a few scares.
But we are their in the final four".

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FOR NIGERIANS,THIS MEANS YOU WILL NOT BUY AIRLINE TICKETS IN FOREIGN CURRENCY AGAIN.

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has warned all defaulting
airlines to desist from selling airline tickets in foreign currencies
with immediate effect. In a statement released by the Acting General
of public relations unit, Sam Adurogboye, he said that this illegal
act by the airlines which had recently been brought to their notice
was contravening the decreed guidelines of the Central Bank of
Nigeria(CBN) on purchase of goods and services in Nigeria.
On April 17,2015 via a circular the CBN decreed that all pricing
and purchase of any product shall continue to be in Naira only and it
is illegal to denominate or state the pricing of any product in any
foreign currency.
The Acting General said that the aviation regulatory authority is
disturbed by reports of airlines refusing to accept naira as payment
for services. Only accepting payment in just foreign currency.
The statement also disclosed that such activities by the airlines
contravened the stated rules and provisions of the Bilateral Air
Service Agreement (BASA) between Nigerian and countries in articles
8(4) . Standing on this, the statement read that all airlines are
hereby ordered to desist from from such illegal activities and heed to
the provisions of BASA and CBN rules. In other words, airlines are not
allowed to sell their tickets to customers in foreign currency but
only in naira.
Mr. Sam also said that letters of warning had also been
dispatched and read to all the airlines. The letters expressly read:
"Sales of tickets and services should henceforth
be offered to air travellers in naira without further
delay,".
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POLICE SAYS THERE WILL BE NO CHARGE AGAINST WOMAN WHO WHIPPED HER SONS FOR STEALING.

This news was culled from foxnews.com and bbc.com
United States...
A district attorney in Louisiana has announced that he has no
intentions of pursuing any charges against a 30 year old mother was
arrested a few days ago for flogging her three juvenile sons who were
caught stealing 'fancy' items from a neighbour's house.
Shaquana Spears was arrested and convicted of 'felony' charges
which involved to counts cruelty to juveniles. The police arrested
Shaquana on June 20, alleging that she had severely whipped her three
sons aged 13,12 and 10 respectively. The charge also stated that she
had inflicted deep lacerations(cuts) on the 13 year old son that bled
and also on the 12 year old so, but stated that the whipping was
lesser on the 10 year old.
But District Attorney-Hillar Moore has disclosed that Shaquana will
not be charged and that what she did "was perfectly justified as an
attempt to discipline her kids." He also said that he did not see any
criminal intention or attempt at child abuse in the act.
Shaquana had found herself in the media spotlight and all over the
social networks when she whipped her three sons who stole things
ranging from a hoverboard to other 'petty' items and toys from a
neighbour's house. Even though she was immediately arrested, she was
held up high by many state officers and even the media as the ideal
model for mothers. And a republican who is currently running for a
senate seat has insisted that "spearing the rod will only produce a
criminal destined to spend his life in jail"
Shaquana when she was interviewed by the police gave her reasons
for what she did. She said that her husband, the father of her sons
was in jail, and she did not want her sons to "go to jail too". She
said she had to whip them, so they would not take the path of crime.
A judge has advised that it was in the best interest of the 13
year old boy to be placed in the custody of the Louisiana Child Care
services. But he has been transferred to the care of a relative.

Side kick:
In Africa, it is the main responsibility of a parent to 'beat out' the
crime tendency in his/her children and 'beat in' cultural values into
them. And its really some beating because most Africa parents in this
age don't have time to get bamboo stems and canes for whipping
anymore, they just use anything at their disposal to chastised the
derailing child. Shoes, books with heavy thick covers, brooms, sticks.
Or were these are not available their hands will do. And they will
make good use of them, slapping,pounding and boxing.
So many famous men and women in Africa are existing because their
parents and elder siblings made efforts to 'drive home' the essense of
responsibility into the very core of their character. And so no matter
were they are, they can look at the 'scars of purnishment' and pattern
their lives accordingly.
The point here is, the woman should not have been arrested at all.
Infact I support the idea that she should be compensated for the
'unecessary' arrest. And then those her sons should be giving more
whipping for dragging their mother out into the open. She has a
complete and valid reason for not choosing to spear the rod like most
mothers would do. And it was the right decision. At least the scars
will serve to remind the boys that stealing, no matter the type or
level is very bad.
Shaquana Spears I give you my thumbs.
-Ebube EMEKA

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WALES SHOCKS BELGIUM TO HIT EURO SEMI FINAL.

Image:cctv
Wales player, Sam Vokes celebrates scoring Wales' third goal
against Belgium in the quarter final game.


Yesterday night, Wales beat a top rated Belgium side 3-1 to
progress to the semi-final of the Euro 2016. And it's history for the
UK team because it is actually the first time a Welsh national team is
reaching the semi finals of any international competition.
Not withstanding the goal margin, it was still tough for wales to
pull the feat through as Belgium hit the lead first in the 13th minute
when Radja Nainggolan fired home a stunning strike from about 26
yards. But the Welsh team responded in kind with an equaliser from
team captain-Ashley Williams. Williams headed in the ball which came
in from a corner taken by Arsenal man-Aaron Ramsey.
After 24 minutes of both teams moving from end to end on the
pitch, Wales got the lead from Hal Robson-Kanu who received the ball
from a through pass and with some wonderful moves cleared off two
defenders. After turning and twisting them right inside the penalty
area he drilled home a shot past Belgian and Chelsea goalkeeper
Thibaut Courtois into the corner of the net.
Approximately five minutes to the end of regular time, Wales
cemented a sure win on friday night with a header from substitute-Sam
Vokes. Ending Belgium's quest officially.
Welsh fans and supporters are in a joyous mood as the victory
means a lot to them. For the first time they would be cheering their
national team in the semi final of a tournament that has been full of
surprises. The Belgian is also the highest ranked team by FIFA in the
Euro, the rank number 2 in the world, but faced a resilient and very
energetic Welsh team on friday. And the Welsh team made use of
extremely quick counter attacks to over work the Belgian backline.
While Wales had a tough job getting to the quarter finals of the
competition, only managing a Gareth Bale inspired 1-0 win against
northern Ireland, Belgium sporting world class stars like
Hazard(Chelsea),Kevin De Bruyne(Manchester City), Lukaku(Everton),
Thomas Vermalen(Arsenal) saw of Hungary in style. With a clear 4-0
thrashing.
The 2016 Euros have been full of a number of 'exciting
surprises'. With Iceland a nation that can only boast of
330,000beating England 2-1 to reach the quarter finals. Iceland will
be playing tournament hosts France, and will be hoping to win and join
Wales in the Semi Finals. Germany will be meeting Italy on saturday in
a clash the is sure to be Crunchy. The first team to qualify for the
tourney also turned out to be a shock.-Low rated Portugal. After win
over Poland on Penalties.
Portugal will meet the Wales in the Semi Final
While the winner of Iceland-France will meet the winner of
Germany-Italy game.
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FASHION TOAST: LARA OSHIOMOLE LOOKS 'ALLURING' ON THE VANGUARD 'ALLURE'.

allure.vanguardngr.com
The first lady of Edo state is such a stunning beauty indeed, and it
became more obvious when the newest edition of vanguard allure was
released. The Cape Verde beauty-Lara Oshiomole looked utterly
beautiful,with her very light and illuminating complexion and a layer
of make that seemed not to be there but complimented her looks on the
magazine.
For the cover, the wife of the Edo state governor Adams Oshiomole
sat looking more like a 'cover-godess' in an all white blaze and faint
make up. In another shoot, she sat this time wearing an angry red gown
looking miles above 'gorgeous'. In yet another photo inside the
magazine she blazed on with the 'corporate chic' style in a navy blue
and red coloured suit.
In the magazine she opened up on her life and roles as the first
lady of Edo State and her aims and goals for the state. The new
edition of vanguard allure is set to hit the news stands come sunday.
Side kick:
Earlier this year, Lara Oshiomole had signed for a divorce over
claims that her governor-husband was 'too fetish and diabolic'. This
came as a surprise to just a few who know the 'big deal' behind the
marriage between the two. After the lavish wedding which even the
President Buhari himself attended, there were gossips and whispers
that the marriage was just motivated by the carnality of beauty and
money. She even blamed her 63 year husband for killing his late wife
Mrs. Clara Oshiomole.
So much for a wedding between the 'beauty' and the 'beast'
Anyway, be up at the new stand closest to you on sunday and grab
your copy of the vanguard allure. Its a branch publication of the
Nigerian Vanguard newspaper. Visit the site at allure.vanguardngr.com
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