Legal luminary, Afe Babalola, has raised fears that the coming presidential election will be won by the highest spender and not the best among the candidates. Babalola at a media briefing in Ado Ekiti expressed worry that the 2023 general elections will be conducted under the 1999 constitution against his advice saying the poll will only reproduce those who have brought Nigeria to a sordid state. “It is not who can make a difference that will win this election, I repeat, it is not the person who has all it takes – age, health, education, and patriotism, that will win the election; the winner of this election I can bet it, is going to be the person who has made money in this country. “It is the person who has the money that will win,” the legal icon buttressed. In his opinion, the recent endorsement of Peter Obi of the Labour Party by former President Olusegun Obasanjo does not factor in the role money bags will play in the election. He bemoaned the huge and crippling debt owed by Nigeria in addition to worsening security and economic challenges, insisting that only a new constitution with stringent conditions for political candidates, will save Nigeria from a total collapse. “A man who wants to rule the whole country or any part of the country, ought to be screened. Has he ever worked before, what type of work did he do, did he steal there, was he a good manager, does he pay his taxes regularly, what contributions has he made to society? “You cannot just come from nowhere and become president, become governor, become member of house; these are transactional business men. “I still stand by my suggestion that any election conducted under the present 1999 Constitution cannot and will not produce new leaders with new ideas, rather any election conducted with the 1999 Constitution will merely result in recycling people who have brought Nigeria to grinding poverty, unemployment, under-funded education, and insecurity,” the educationist emphasized.

  Amazon, an American multinational technology company, says it is planning to sack over 18,000 employees from its total workforce. The figure, which is the largest number of layoffs in the company’s history, represents 1.2 percent of its 1.5 million employees across the globe. Andy Jassy, chief executive officer of Amazon, announced the development in a public staff note on Thursday. He attributed the job cuts to the “uncertain economy” and the company’s rapid hiring over the last several years. “As I shared back in November, as part of our annual planning process for 2023, leaders across the company have been working with their teams and looking at their workforce levels, investments they want to make in the future, and prioritising what matters most to customers and the long-term health of our businesses,” the Amazon CEO said. “This year’s review has been more difficult given the uncertain economy and that we’ve hired rapidly over the last several years. In November, we communicated the hard decision to eliminate a number of positions across our devices and books businesses, and also announced a voluntary reduction offer for some employees in our people, experience, and technology (PXT) organisation. “I also shared that we weren’t done with our annual planning process and that I expected there would be more role reductions in early 2023. “Today, I wanted to share the outcome of these further reviews, which is the difficult decision to eliminate additional roles. Between the reductions we made in November and the ones we’re sharing today, we plan to eliminate just over 18,000 roles.” Jassy said while the layoffs will be carried out across departments, it would majorly impact Amazon Stores and PXT organisations. He added that all the affected employees will receive packages that also include external job placement support. “S-team and I are deeply aware that these role eliminations are difficult for people, and we don’t take these decisions lightly or underestimate how much they might affect the lives of those who are impacted. We are working to support those who are affected and are providing packages that include a separation payment, transitional health insurance benefits, and external job placement support,” he explained. According to Jassy, the announcement was not expected to be released this early but was done so after an Amazon teammate allegedly leaked the information. “We typically wait to communicate about these outcomes until we can speak with the people who are directly impacted. However, because one of our teammates leaked this information externally, we decided it was better to share this news earlier so you can hear the details directly from me,” he said. Jassy said the company will start informing affected staff from January 18. In November last year, multiple outlets had reported that Amazon had planned to fire around 10,000 employees. The company later confirmed the layoffs but it didn’t disclose how many employees would be affected.

  A family of eight, including five children, has been found shot dead in their home in Enoch City, Utah, the United States. According to the police, the discovery followed a call to perform a “welfare check” in the home. Police in the city conduct a welfare check when neighbours raise concerns or haven’t seen fellow residents for an unusual time. In a statement on Wednesday, police said the shooting was not a threat, adding that the investigation was ongoing. “At this time, we do not believe there is a threat to the public or that there are any suspects at large,” the statement reads. Rob Dotson, the city manager, added that it would likely take days or longer before they could reach any conclusions about what had taken place inside the home. “We don’t know why this happened, and we’re not going to guess,” Dotson said. This community is feeling remorse, feeling pain. There are friends and neighbors and family members who are hurting because of this incident.” Spencer Cox, Utah’s governor, expressed sadness in a tweet and offered his condolences following the horrific announcement. “Our hearts go out to all those affected by this senseless violence. Please keep the community of Enoch in your prayers,” he tweeted. TheCable had earlier reported a separate shooting incident in Baltimore which left a high school student dead and four injured. Police said they were killed during the lunch break outside a restaurant.

  Femi Adesina, special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity, has explained why his principal didn’t remove petrol subsidy. Speaking during a Channels Television interview on Wednesday, Adesina said the government has to weigh its options carefully before making any decision. In January 2012, former President Goodluck Jonathan faced stiff resistance when he attempted to end subsidy on petrol. Owing to the public outcry, he abandoned the idea. Buhari had in 2015 said there was no good reason to remove fuel subsidy. He had said the removal of fuel subsidy would add to the economic woes of Nigerians. However, the federal government recently announced that it will stop the payment of fuel subsidy in June 2023. Adesina explained that the subsidy wasn’t removed due to “economic and social factors”. “Each time there is an effort to fight the fraud in the subsidy regime, you have to contend with labour, you have to contend with the people. The government needed to weigh its options because of the social consequences in it,” Adesina said. “In the beginning, his (Buhari’s) position was: what was subsidy really? But over the years it became evident that the country was bleeding, the economy was bleeding, there was a lot of hemorrhage which needed to be stopped and the time came and that time is now. “It’s a phase the country must pass through and has passed through and that phase is coming to an end.”

  The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has warned the United States and its allies not to underestimate Russia in the ongoing war against Ukraine. Stoltenberg made this known on Thursday at a business conference, in Oslo, the capital of Norway, according to Reuters. U.S. warns Putin of ‘catastrophic’ consequences over nuclear weapons Prince Harry says his brother, Prince William physically attacked him He said it would be dangerous to underestimate Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ambitions amid the war in Ukraine. “They have shown a great willingness to tolerate losses and suffering,” Stoltenberg said. “We have no indication that President Putin has changed his plans and goals in Ukraine. So it’s dangerous to underestimate Russia.” Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, as Putin said his country sought the “demilitarisation and denazification” of Ukraine. Putin has threatened to use nuclear weapons which could jeopardise the peace and safety of the world if the West aids Ukraine in the war. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) verified a total of 6,919 civilian deaths since the war began.

  The Military Pensions Board said it has commenced the payment of the owed Security Debarment Allowance to eligible military retirees or Next of Kin of deceased military personnel. A Security Debarment Allowance is the money paid to retired military personnel to discourage them from using the skills they acquired while in service against the government. Over 90,000 military retirees who retired before 2017 were originally not among those to benefit from the allowance. The reason for their exclusion according to the Minister of Defence, Major-General Bashir Magashi (retd), was that personnel who retired before the law was signed were not entitled to the allowance. The affected retired military personnel have embarked on a series of protests in the last two years to demand the payment of their allowance. However, the president, Major General Muhammadu (retd ), last year, during the inauguration of the 2023 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Emblem and Appeal Fund said he had approved N134.7bn for the payment of the allowance to all military veterans. In a statement on Thursday by the Chairman, Military Pensions Board, Rear Admiral Saburi Lawal, said the board has commenced the payment after an agreement had been reached with the retirees. The statement read, ” Sequel to the approval given by the President for the payment of the Security Debarment Allowance to military retirees who originally were not covered by the November 9, 2017, effective date and the agreement reached at the ensuing tripartite meetings of the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Finance and representatives of the Veteran Associations. “The Military Pensions Board wishes to inform our esteemed military retirees and the general public that the Board has commenced payment of the first and second tranches (that is, for 1st and 2nd Quarters 2023) of the SDA to eligible military retirees/Next of Kins of deceased military personnel. “The payment, which is in fulfilment of the Presidential approval of the provisions of the reviewed Manual of Financial Administration 2017 will commence on Thursday 5 January 2023. “ Lawal retirees who are on their database and retired before November 9, 2017, would be paid. The statement added, “The beneficiaries of these payments are: military retirees on the MPB database who retired before 9 November 2017, deceased military retirees who were alive when the MAFA was signed on 9 November 2017, and non-pensionable retirees who retired before 9 November 2017 but were only paid gratuities. ‘However, our esteemed retirees are please requested to note that the SDA is calculated as a function of 10% of the retiree’s annual basic salary at the time of retirement multiplied by the number of years served in the services. ‘” He, however, urged all concerned military pensioners and NOKs of deceased military personnel to contact their banks for their entitlements.

  Pope Francis led the funeral of his predecessor Benedict XVI on Thursday in front of tens of thousands of mourners in St Peter’s Square, an event unprecedented in modern times. Red-clad cardinals, dignitaries and thousands of priests and nuns from around the world gathered to say goodbye to the German theologian, who stunned the Catholic church in 2013 by becoming the first pontiff in six centuries to resign. For the first time in modern history, the proceedings were led by a sitting pope, Francis, who delivered the homily in Italian as part of a multi-lingual service with a Latin mass. “Benedict… may your joy be complete as you hear his (God’s) voice, now and forever!” the pontiff said in tribute to his predecessor, who died last Saturday aged 95. At the end of the service, Francis made the sign of the cross over Benedict’s simple cypress wood coffin and bowed his head, before 12 besuited pallbearers carried it into St Peter’s Basilica. Benedict will be interred in a tomb in the crypt beneath the basilica, where John Paul II’s body lay in state before it was moved for his beatification in 2011. He was made a saint in 2014. Born Joseph Ratzinger, the ex-pope had not been a head of state for a decade, but world leaders including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni were among those in attendance. An estimated 50,000 people were in the square for the funeral, according to police, many of them having queued up since dawn to bid farewell. “Benedict is a bit like my father, so I had to pay homage to him,” said Cristina Grisanti, a 59-year-old from Milan, who hailed the former pope’s “purity, his candour, his mildness”. An estimated 195,000 people had already paid their respects earlier when the body lay in state. Benedict was the first German pope in 1,000 years and church bells rang out across Germany as the funeral finished on Thursday, while many Germans were also at the Vatican. “We owe him so much. We want to show that we stand behind him,” said Benedikt Rothweiler, 34, who came from Aachen with his family. “We actually know too little about Benedict. He always accepted everything the way God wants it. This is a good example for us humans.” – Two popes – Benedict was a brilliant theologian but a divisive figure who alienated many Catholics with his staunch defence of conservative doctrine on issues such as abortion. His eight years as head of the worldwide Catholic Church was also marked by crises, from in-fighting within the Vatican to the global scandal of clerical sex abuse and its cover-up. When he quit, Benedict said he no longer had the “strength of mind and body” necessary for the task, retiring to a quiet life in a monastery in the Vatican gardens. His death brought an end to an unprecedented situation of having two “men in white” — he and Francis — living in the tiny city state. He and Francis, an Argentine Jesuit, were said to get on well, but Benedict’s later interventions meant he stayed a standard-bearer for conservative Catholics who did not like his successor’s more liberal stance. The last time a pope presided over the funeral of his predecessor was in 1802, when Pius VII led the ceremony for Pius VI — but the circumstances were very different. Pius VI died in 1799 in exile, a prisoner of France, and was buried in Valence. His successor had his remains exhumed and brought back to Italy, before he was treated to a papal funeral at St Peter’s. – European royals – Beyond St Peter’s, many of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics had been expected to follow the funeral proceedings on television and the radio. In the majority Catholic Philippines, churches held requiem masses for the former pontiff, including at Malolos Cathedral near the capital Manila. “This is an unexplainable feeling to witness this,” said Cherry Castro, 67, who was among around 500 gathered for the special ceremony. Portugal declared a national day of mourning on Thursday, while in Italy, flags were flown at half-mast on public buildings. The only official delegations were from Germany and Italy. But other dignitaries, including Belgian and Spanish royals, the presidents of Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Hungary, Slovenia and Togo, and the premiers of the Czech Republic, Gabon and Slovakia among others attended in a personal capacity. The service followed traditional papal funerals, with a few changes to prayers and readings to reflect Benedict’s status as emeritus pope. Before being laid in the crypt, his cypress coffin was due to be placed first inside a zinc coffin, then a wooden case. As is traditional, coins and medals minted during his papacy and a written text describing his pontificate, sealed in a metal cylinder, will be placed alongside his body. AFP