Tag Archives: Engage

Chinese People Engage In Sleeping Competition

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While many people are packing their suitcases for a trip during China’s seven-day National Day holiday, also known as “the Golden Week”, some people in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, are packing their sleepwear for a sleeping competition.

The competition lasted two days and participants needed to sleep on their deck chair from 9:30 am to 7:30 pm. During the 10-hour sleeping marathon, the competitors cannot leave their chair for bathroom or meal break…s, or touch any electronic devices.

On the first day, a total of 16 people finished the competition, while only eight stayed the course on the second day amid the rain and temperatures falling to as low as 0? at dusk.

Although it was cold, participants were also not allowed to leave to get thicker quilts.

Participants from different places around the world joined the challenge with different intentions.

“I will win the game for my parents because winners are awarded a two-day stay at a spring hotel in Dalian, a coastal city. I want to take them there,” a female participant told the Harbin-based newspaper, Modern Evening Times.

“My girlfriend registered for me. I will prove that I can win,” a participant, nicknamed Leifeng Cap, said.

It was reported that the sleeping competition was not only a respite from electronics, but a challenge to people’s physical well-being.

Credit: CCTV

Buhari To Engage UN Leaders In Fresh Talks On Security, Economy

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President Muhammadu Buhari will on Monday hold talks with world leaders at the United Nations’ General Assembly in New York on security issues and restructuring of Nigeria’s economy.

The president is expected to discuss with the leaders steps to improve the rehabilitation of Internally Displaced Persons within the country, as well as returning in north-eastern Nigeria and the Niger-Delta.

Also, the increase in the activities of militants within oil-rich Niger Delta region has had its effects on the nation’s economy, in addition to the prolonged terrorism in North East of the country.

A statement by Mr. Buhari’s special assistant on Media and publicity, Femi Adesina, said the president will be attending the UNGA meeting from Monday, September 19 to Friday September 23, to address cogent matters affecting the nation’s polity.

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http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/210544-buhari-engage-un-leaders-fresh-talks-security-economy.html

Lai Mohammed Promises To Engage Artistes

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The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Monday said that the ministry would engage indigenous artists in promoting the nation’s culture and creativity.

The minister said this during a meeting he had with representatives of the Artistes’ Village within the National Theatre complex in Lagos.

He said that everything about life revolves around creativity and that the village, being a home of culture and creativity, could not be neglected.

“The importance of culture and welfare of artistes has been in the forefront of the ministry.

“That is why I had to pay four visits to the village in seven months to brainstorm with stakeholders there and chart the way forward for the sector.

“The ministry is very passionate about the arts industry because it is important to change the old perception of being a fall-back for unserious persons.

“The artistes should not be seen as social misfits, “ he said.

The minister promised to tackle the lingering crises among the artistes without prejudice or bias, a situation he said he inherited from past administrations.

“We will see how we can fast track this settlement; we will find something positive to engage artistes from the artistes’ village here and outside this settlement,’’ he said.

He also promised to facilitate effective communication between the ministry and the stakeholders in the artistes’ village to guard against rumour peddling.

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http://guardian.ng/news/minister-of-information-promises-to-engage-artistes/

Ex-militants Storm Akwa Ibom Govt House, Engage Security Operatives In Gun Duel

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A group of armed young men who called themselves former militants, yesterday, stormed the Akwa Ibom State Government House demanding payment of the alleged suspended allowances.
The former militants numbering about 40 who arrived in three mini-buses engaged security agents in gun fight while trying to gain access into Government House, but they were repelled by the reinforced and heavily armed security operatives.
They accused the state government of not responding to their plight by negotiating the payment of their alliances with the Federal Government.
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Murtala Mani, who confirmed the clash, said he was not sure if there had been any arrest as he was with the new Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone 6, in Calabar.
Mani said he would give details of the event when fully briefed.
Aparently worried by the activities of militants, especially the incessant bombing of oil installations across the Niger-Delta region, prominent elders and leaders of thoughts from the zone have summoned the six core states to a stakeholders’ forum on August 19 at the  Petroleum Training Institute (PTI)  Conference Centre, Effurun near Warri at 11.00am.
Foremost Ijaw national leader and elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, who made this disclosure in  Warri yesterday, noted that the meeting had become imperative to address issues that led to the renewed insurgency in the region.
The states are Delta, Edo, Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Cross River. The meeting will attract traditional rulers, former and serving governors, politicians, youth organisations and other notable stakeholders.
According to Clark, who is also the leader of the South-South Peoples Assembly (SSPA), “there is urgent need to dialogue. The present problem is not Ijaw problem alone. It is pertinent for the six Niger-Delta states to dialogue and chart a way forward with the Federal Government on how to end the crisis. Vandalism and bombing of pipelines are worrisome situations. Crisis does not solve crisis, dialogue is the answer. We are part of Nigeria and we believe in the unity, development and peace of this great nation.”
He disclosed that invitation to the meeting had been sent out to all stakeholders from the six core states, including serving and former legislators (federal and states), youths and other interests who are key in finding solution to the issue that led to the current crisis.
Appealing to the aggrieved youths, especially members of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) to sheathe their swords and allow peace to reign while solution was being sought, Clark, urged the Federal Government to be transparent and sincere in its proposed dialogue with militants in the region.

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http://sunnewsonline.com/ex-militants-storm-aibom-govt-house-engage-security-operatives-in-gun-duel/

Engage In Female Genital Mutilation, Go To Jail– Aregbesola

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Worried by the recent rating of Osun State as number one on the hierarchy of the six Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) most endemic states, the wife of Osun State Governor, Alhaja Sherifat Abidemi Aregbesola has warned perpetrators of the risk of going to jail.

Addressing a press conference in Osogbo, Alhaja Aregbesola  expressed  sadness that despite efforts being put in place to eradicate the practice, the recent rating by the National Demographic Heath Survey (NDHS) calls for drastic step to stem the ugly trend.

She vowed not to only continue to intensify campaign against the practice but ensure that whosoever is found culpable henceforth is brought to book.

Brandishing copies of the law of Osun State that prohibits the practice of FGM in the state, the First Lady said after the on-going campaign and widespread awareness in all the nooks and crannies of the state, violators would be prosecuted to serve as deterrent to others.

Alhaja Aregbesola further posited that FGM is also a violation of fundamental human rights as it is sometimes carried out at a very young age when there is no possibility of individual’s consent.

She noted that the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), through a study, has confirmed that the practice of Female Genital Mutilation in the endemic states in Nigeria was only anchored on various traditional beliefs and the social pressure to conform to culture.

According to her, “documented studies have shown that the health implications of FGM range from dangerous infections arising from unsanitary conditions in which the practice is carried out to death through severe bleeding as well as pain and trauma as mutilated infants, girls and women face irreversible lifelong health risks among other consequences.”

Aregbesola noted that the reason adduced by those engaged in removal of the external female genitalia was not tenable and that they were just inflicting unwarranted lifelong trauma on the circumcised females and denying them sexual pleasure simply for cultural beliefs and tradition.

Credit: Leadership

U.S To Engage Fed Govt On Foreign Exchange Flexibility

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The United States (U.S) has said it would this week, engage the Federal Government in talks to adopt a more flexible foreign exchange (forex) rate to boost growth and investment.

Its Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told an audience at the U.S. Institute of Peace that Nigeria should ensure that the value of the naira versus the U.S. dollar was “more realistic.”

“While most people complain about the possibility of  a devaluation, people are already operating on a devalued currency, and the only people who are not, are people who are doing it officially.

“Our recommendation is, and we will have discussions about it … that they should look at the exchange rate and try to make the exchange rate more realistic to what the value of the naira is to the dollar,” Thomas-Greenfield was quoted to have said by Reuters.

She spoke before the talks  to be launched in Washington by Secretary of State John Kerry today. The talks will focus on Nigeria’s economy, security and development.

Nigeria faces its worst economic crisis in decades as the falling prices of oil has slashed revenues, prompting the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to peg the currency and introduce curbs to protect forex reserves, which have fallen to an 11-year low.

Some members of CBN bank monetary policy committee have backed the devaluation of the naira.

Thomas-Greenfield said the parallel currency market in Nigeria was “alive and well,” warning that a rigid exchange rate, capital controls and import bans could undermine President Muhammadu Buhari’s efforts to expand economic growth and fight corruption. Buhari has rejected the idea of devaluing the naira.

“Capital controls that limit access to foreign exchange rewards insiders and undermines the stated goals of Nigeria to increase domestic production because both Nigerian and export investors alike tell us many businesses are unable to obtain the capital to purchase badly needed intermediate goods,” she said.

The naira trades some 40 per cent below the official rate in the black market versus the dollar. The CBN last year pegged the exchange rate to curb speculative demand for the dollar and conserve foreign exchange reserves after it restricted access to hard currency for imports of certain items, frustrating businesses.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called on the Federal Government to lift the curbs and let the naira reflect market forces more closely, as the restrictions have significantly affected the private sector.

Credit: Nation