Williams Sisters to visit Lagos From October 30

As part of a planned African Tour, International Tennis champions, The Williams are scheduled to visit Lagos from Tuesday 30 October to Friday 2, November 2012 as part of the first leg of the recently launched ‘Breaking the Mould’ (BTM) campaign, a women’s empowerment initiative that has already garnered international support. 

While in Lagos, the  duo will inspire, motivate and mentor a broad range of audiences through a series of supporting initiatives which include; a gala dinner, a tennis clinic and an exhibition match which will also be the first time the sisters will pit their strengths against one another on the tennis court anywhere in Africa.  

This will underpin BTM’s mission to recognise and acknowledge the role that women play in shifting perceptions and encouraging development on all levels across the African continent.

Connect Marketing Services, Octagon SA’s West African affiliate (the architects of BTM), is coordinating the Nigerian element of the Williams Sisters’ tour of Africa. Tunji Adeyinka, Managing Director of Connect Marketing Services, says that ‘‘Breaking The Mould is an inspiring mechanism to help women at various life stages of their lives - embark on a journey of self-belief so that they can know they can achieve anything.  The message of the African Tour by the Williams’ sisters will resonate with African women as a whole, who are often the champions of change and encourage more women to do the same. Indeed, we are proud to implement Breaking The Mould in Nigeria.”

This event will really boost the image of Lagos state a global sports tourism location, and raise the global profile of all participating brands.

Lagos CP seeks decentralisation of police administration

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Umar Manko, says the absence of sustainable logistics and over centralisation of police administration has impacted negatively on the ability of the police to meet set goals.
Manko made the remark in Lagos at an interview with NAN as he reflected on police activities between the country’s independence 52 years ago and their operations today.
He said the Nigeria Police Force has changed from what it used to be after independence and suggested a return to the recent past, where most police stations and divisional police officers (DPOs) provided the needs of his men and officers.

Lagos CP, Umar Manko.

Manko argued also that making divisional police stations accountable would increase the man-hour committed in managing national security challenges.
He acknowledged that various changes were being effected by the police administrations over the years to change the face of the force for the better, enhance its operational performance and shore up its public image and confidence.
The commissioner said that in spite of the changes, the current Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar’s radical approach towards attitudinal change in the force has restored confidence among the officers and men.
“The situation we found ourselves today is a complete departure from what it used to be.”
Manko identified funding as a major challenge of the police which makes it difficult for the organisation to meet its constitutional responsibilities. NAN

Flooded Apapa-Oshodi Expressway Lagos

171 Nigerian female pilgrims Deported from Saudi Arabia

About 171 of Nigerian unaccompanied female pilgrims, barred from entering Jeddah for the annual Hajj by the Saudi authorities, returned to Kano Nigeria today.
Up to 1,000 Nigerian women were affected by the ban order because they were not accompanied by men, with most stuck at the Jeddah airport, Nigerian officials said Wednesday.
The women, who began arriving Sunday at the airport in Jeddah, in western Saudi Arabia, were facing possible deportations by Saudi authorities, said a report compiled by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, which oversees Nigerian participation in the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.
“Upon enquiries by the reception team officials of the National Hajj Commission in the airport, they were told that the pilgrims were held back because of lack of mahram (lawful male accompanying pilgrim),” said the report, which was submitted to the Nigerian House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs.

“These women were not deported. They were returned based on the decision by the National Hajj Commission because the embarrassment from the Saudi authorities was becoming unbearable,” commission spokesman Umar Bala told AFP.
Bilateral talks were ongoing between officials of the two countries to resolve the issue, he added. He said that about 1,000 women were still blocked at the Jeddah airport.
According to the report, Nigerian pilgrims’ welfare boards have in the past acted as “mahrams” and visas have been granted on that basis.
The report said that officials observed that flights which arrived at the Medina airport were not subjected to such treatment.
“Only those in Jeddah were affected. Checks at the Jeddah airport revealed that only Nigerian pilgrims were subjected to such treatment,” the report said.
Last year, nearly three million Muslim pilgrims performed the Hajj, which represents one of the five pillars of Islam and must be performed at least once in a lifetime by all Muslims who are able to do so.
Roughly half of Nigeria’s 160 million people are Muslim. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation.
Meanwhile, the Saudi ambassador to Nigeria,Khaled Abdurabuh has visited Vice-President Namadi Sambo to explain the stand of his country on the barred pilgrims.