Author: Web Desk

To enhance the psycho-social development of orphans, Qatar Charity a Non-Governmental organisation has sponsored 20 Ghanaian orphans to Mecca inkingdom of Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah.

Apart from boosting their confidence levels, the trip will also offer them social, and educational experience.

A statement copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra said the team has already left the shores of Ghana and the Umrahwould also prepare them for greater achievements in the future.

Umrah is a lesser pilgrimage for Muslims because it’s not obligatory but important.

The statement said the Ghanaian orphans would also get the opportunity to interact with other students from different Countries.

According to the statement, the Country Director, Mr. Hasan Owda, who is leading the trip said it would create an avenue for them to visit some other historic landmark places of Islam.

The statement said the trip would last for eight nights in Mecca and during that period, the children would engage in sports and academic competitions with other orphans from other countries who would equally be participating in the Rofaqa programme.

The country Director the statement added that they would visit the zam-zam, Alhafa and Al-Marwah, the Holy kaba, the spot of Abraham, prophet Mohamed mosque in Madina, the Quran Book factory, Gharu Hiraa the first place of revelation of the holy Qur’an among others.

The Director, according to the statement said all preparations concerning flights, accommodation, shopping had been arranged before their departure.

Guardians and relatives of the orphans commended Qatar Charity for the sponsorship

Ahmed Morty, a family member of one of the orphans expressed gratitude to Qatar Charity for the opportunity, saying ‘Today we are happy our son Abdulwahab is among the 20 Ghanaian orphans airlifted to Mecca to perform Umrah, we appreciate Qatar Charity for great charity they are doing.’

Fatima Osman on the other hand was happy that Osman Quanor was part of the trip.

Madam Fatima Mohamed the mother of Mosa Faruq said ‘I could not sleep last night as I had the feeling that my son was traveling to the holy land, may Allah bless Qatar Charity for the opportunity.’

Source: Ghana News Agency

Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno has presented N10m relief package to soldiers wounded in the ongoing fight against insurgents in the state.

The package was presented to General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division, Maiduguri, Maj.-Gen. Peter Malla by the Borno Commissioner of Information and Security, Prof. Usman Tar and the Permanent Secretary Government House, Mustapha Busuguma.

During the presentation, Tar said the package was a fulfilment of the pledge made by Zulum during the Eid-el-kabir lunch for troops in Maiduguri, organized by Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja.

“We are here to fulfil the pledge made by His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum.

“You may recall that the governor was here on a Sallah day for an event, during which he expressed the commitment of the Borno State Government to the welfare of our troops and pledged a donation of N10m to wounded soldiers.

“This morning he despatched us to come and deliver the gift,” Tar said.

He expressed the state goverment’s commitment to continue to complement Federal Government in providing logistics and other support to improve troops’ welfare in view of their sacrifice in protecting the territorial integrity of Nigeria.

In his response, the GOC 7 Division, Maj.- Gen. Peter Malla, expressed appreciation to Zulum for his sustained support to the military in the state.

“Let me on behalf of Theatre Commander, welcome you to 7 Division and also express our appreciation to His Excellency for always supporting the military,” Malla said.

The GOC reiterated the commitment of the military to continue to sustain the relative peace enjoyed in Borno by eliminating the remnants of insurgents who insist on fighting in the state and region.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Sen. Ajibola Basiru, the National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has said that the removal of petroleum subsidy by President Bola Tinubu is for the development of the country.

Basiru said this at a reception organised in his honour by members of the party on Saturday in Osogbo.

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He said that in the last two months when the subsidy had been removed, government had been able to save about N2 trillion.

The APC national secretary said that Nigerians must be ready to support the Federal Government to take the country to a higher level.

Basiru also urged party members in the state to continue to work for the progress of APC.

He said those who worked against the party in the last general elections are now ripping the consequences.

“I want to thank all our supporters for standing with the party in the last general elections.

“APC garnered more than 113,000 votes in Osun Central Senatorial District in the last election.

“President Bola Tinubu won in Osun Central Senatorial district in spite of all the intimidation and harassment by the thugs,” he said.

In his remarks, Mr Ade Adetimeyin, the Chairman of Ondo State APC, appealed to members of the party in the state to be united and always work for its progress.

Adetimeyin, who spoke on behalf of South-West APC Chairmen, said Basiru has the pedigree to lead the party.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Somalia’s Ministry of Communications and Technology is ordering the country’s internet service providers to turn off access for social media companies TikTok, Telegram, and the gambling site 1xBet.

The Minister of Communications and Technology, Jama Hassan Khalif, gave the order in a statement issued Sunday, citing security and fighting terrorism as reasons for blocking the companies.

The statement said constant violations by terror groups using social media sites affected the safety and stability of society.

In addition, the Ministry said it’s working to protect the moral conduct of the Somali people when using communication and internet tools that have affected the way of life and have increased “bad practices,” according to the statement.

“You are being ordered to shut down the applications mentioned above by Thursday August 24, 2023 at 11:30 evening, at the latest,” Khalif said in the statement. “Anyone who does not follow this order will face clear and appropriate legal measures.”

The al-Shabab militant group regularly uses Telegram’s messaging service to publish its videos, press releases, and posts audio of interviews with their commanders.

Al-Shabab often posts news about its attacks within minutes on Telegram and websites. The group regularly creates new accounts as soon as their Telegram accounts are taken down.

TikTok is believed to be fastest growing site in Somalia. It is used by young people and even government officials.

Last week, TikTok posted a statement saying it has hosted a series of workshops with various stakeholders in Somalia aimed at keeping the platform safe.

“In Somalia, our team removed over 280,000 videos during the same period that violated its guidelines,” the statement said.

“We detected and removed 98.7% of these violating videos before they were reported. Our proactive approach showcases our commitment to maintaining a safe and compliant platform for our users.” https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-africa/digital-safety-a-shared-responsibility-we-are-proud-to-prioritise

The Ministry’s move was criticized by social media users. Abdulkadir Ali Mohamud who is popularly known as Bilaal Bulshaawi, with 1.2 million followers on TikTok said the order will not be implemented.

“It’s not going to work because the [internet] companies have the power to allow this shut down,” he said. “It’s not in the interest of the companies to stop the services because it’s the most used application and the customers use a lot of data.”

Another prolific social media user who did not want to be identified described the government’s move as a “Ridiculous knee-jerk reaction to a serious issue.”

“Rather than create policy around how to target immoral social media accounts, they have settled for a blanket ban,” he said. “A normal government would have engaged the platforms in question and established communication protocols to target specific accounts. There are hundreds of Somali TikTok celebrities that make decent living from TikTok who now have to look elsewhere.”

Khalif defended the move in an interview with VOA Somali, insisting the sites are “hurting the state.”

“These sites are misused, they have created security problems, they are used to destroy the security and society, they promote immoral behavior,” he said.

“Due to this great need to ban them it is the right time to take this decision.”

Somali authorities did not give the number of people who are using betting sites in the country, but said they believe the sites are repatriating large amount of money out of the country.

Khalif said betting on 1XBET is even distracting government soldiers who are fighting defending the nation.

“We know the use is expansive,” he said.

He said the government does not know the people behind these sites in the country.

“That kind of money is not Halal (permissible), no one taxes it, no one knowns what they are and where they come from; and it’s crime.”

Last year, the Somali government ordered internet service providers to block al-Shabab websites, but some of the sites remain to accessible globally to date.

“The federal government of Somalia recognized as crime the dissemination of terrorist messages and encouraging their acts of brutality – by any media or person on social media. Action will be taken according to the law to any[one] who failed this resolution,”the government statement said at the time.

The Ministry Communication and Technology said it has launched a public awareness campaign to warn the public about the dangers of communication and the Internet, which makes it easy to spread news and unfounded information that harms innocent people or incites the community.

Source: Voice of America