FIFA bans Luis Suarez from all soccer related activities for 4 months

In an unprecedented move Fifa has banned Uruguay’s Luis Suárez from all “football-related activities” for four months for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini, ruling him out of the rest of the World Cup and the start of the domestic season. The Liverpool striker will not be able to play or train for his club or country for four months after Fifa’s disciplinary committee handed down the hefty sanction, which is sure to provoke dismay from both Uruguay and Liverpool.

Turkey blocks Twitter access, considers outright ban of other social media platforms

Turkey’s courts have blocked access to Twitter days before elections as Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan battles a corruption scandal that has seen social media platforms awash with alleged evidence of government wrongdoing.

The ban came hours after a defiant Erdoğan, on the campaign trail ahead of key March 30 local elections, vowed to “wipe out” Twitter and said he did not care what the international community had to say about it.

Erdoğan’s ruling AK Party has already tightened Internet controls, handed government more influence over the courts, and reassigned thousands of police and hundreds of prosecutors and judges as it fights a corruption scandal he has cast as a plot by political enemies to oust him.

Government bans civil servants from accepting chieftaincy titles.

According to The Guardian

TO sanitise the federal service, the Federal Government Tuesday banned its workers from accepting chieftaincy titles and other sundry awards except after retirements or disengagement from the service.

This latest instruction is coming barely a month after a similar directive was given to prevent civil servants in engaging in any form of business except farming at weekend.  The move, many may see as a welcome development from the part of government in view of making civil servants to be free from undue political interests or manipulations as enshrined in the civil service rules.

In a circular sent to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Alhaji Bukar Goni Aji said that it has come to the notice of government that some civil servants are in the practice of soliciting for chieftaincy titles and sundry awards, an act, he described as inimical to the principles of anonymity, integrity and political neutrality which are the core values of the civil service.

In a statement made available to The Guardian Tuesday, the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, however, directed that where a civil servant must hold a traditional title bestowed on him or her by inheritance or receive any awards, due clearance must be obtained from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation through the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

Lagos state bans hijab in public schools

According to Daily Post

The Lagos State Government on Tuesday insisted that the usage of other appendages, including Hijab, a head scarf for female Muslim pupils will not be allowed in the state public schools.

The State Government maintained that pupils in its public schools would only be allowed to wear conventional uniforms to school.

State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, disclosed this at the ongoing ministerial briefing to commemorate the sixth anniversary of Governor Babatunde Fashola’s administration.

She said, “I summoned a stakeholder’s meeting that was chaired by the Commissioner for Home Affairs and Culture, Alhaji Oyinlomo Danmole. The Muslim students were represented at the meeting, Lawyers were represented. We discussed the issue at length and we reached certain agreement.

“We agreed that students could only use their Hijab when they want to go for prayers, when they want to read Qur’an, and when they are going for Jumat prayer on Fridays.

“It was agreed that no student should wear Hijab on her uniform. Doing so, will cause confusion and break down of the law.

“Whoever wishes that his daughter should be wearing Hijab while going to school and within the school should send such child to a private Muslim school,” Oladunjoye emphasised.

She noted that the knotty issue which had been on since she assumed office required urgent solution which had resulted to the latest decision.

FG bans film on Nigerian poverty, places producer under security watch

The Nigerian government has banned the airing and distribution of the documentary, Fueling Poverty, a 30-minute film which documents the massive poverty in Nigeria and advocates against corruption and greed in the country.

The documentary, released late in 2012, was produced by young filmmaker, Ishaya Bako, in partnership with the Open Society for West Africa [OSIWA].



But in an April 8 letter to Mr. Bako, exclusively obtained by PREMIUM TIMES Friday, the agency prohibited the distribution and exhibition of the documentary in Nigeria, saying its contents “are highly provocative and likely to incite or encourage public disorder and undermine national security.”

The letter, signed by the NFVCB’s Head of Legal Services, Effiong Inwang, warned the filmmaker against violating the order, saying “all relevant national security agencies are on the alert. A copy of this letter has been sent to the Director General, Department of State Services and the Inspector General of Police for their information.”

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