NEWS
WESPA, PANASA Endorse Gov Diri Scrabble Classic
From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa
The Governor Diri National Scrabble Championship has received the nod of both the World English-Language Scrabble Players Association (WESPA) and the PAN African Scrabble Association (PANASA).
The fourth edition of the tournament which will be held this weekend on August 24-25 in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital will witness both local and international players.
It is the first time the championship, which has attracted world, African and national scrabble champions, will be listed in the yearly calendar of the global and continental bodies.
Chairman of the Bayelsa State Scrabble Association (BYSA), Daniel Alabrah, who disclosed this on Thursday while speaking with newsmen, said the tournament’s organising committee was elated that their effort to promote the game of scrabble beyond the shores of Bayelsa was beginning to attract positive recognition.
According to Alabrah, the endorsement, the Bayelsa governor’s championship has been listed in the annual tournaments calendar of both bodies and those participants in the competition will be equally rated by them.
“The WESPA and PANASA endorsement is a huge encouragement for the state and organisers of the Governor Douye National Scrabble Championship. It is an elixir for us to keep promoting the exciting and endearing game of scrabble.
“We are very elated and express our appreciation to the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF) for its role in making this possible.”
Alabrah applauded the sponsor of the tournament and governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, for his unrelenting and unrivalled commitment to the development of sports in general.
He said the sports-loving Bayelsa governor has been the driving force in the development of scrabble in the state just as he has supported other sports as part of his administration’s vision to positively engage youths of the state.
The BYSA chairman said all was set for hosting of season four of the scrabble championship with the biggest prize money in the country as well as special prizes for the best female players.
“We look forward to another weekend of the most exciting mind and intellect-building game.
“All is set for this edition of the tournament. No fewer than 250 players and officials from across Nigeria will converge on Yenagoa this weekend and Bayelsa is ready to host them,” he said.
NEWS
Customs Intercept Contraband Worth N510.92m in Two Conths
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit Zone C, says it intercepted contrabands with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N510.92 million between July 15th and September 15th, 2024.The zone covers the six states in the South-South geopolitical zone and the five states in the Southeast geopolitical zone.
This is contained in a statement signed by Jerry Attah, Public Relations Officer, NCS, Zone C, and made available to journalists on Wednesday. According to the statement, Comptroller Michael Ugbagu, NCS, Zone C, gave the statistics while showcasing the seized contraband to relevant regulatory agencies at the Government Warehouse in Edo.Ugbagu said that the zone also recovered the sum of N25.57 million from demand notices raised based on some infractions noticed, making a cumulative sum of N536.49 million recorded within the months under review.“The DPV was derived from our seized goods, which include 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without an NAFDAC number.“1,015 sacks of dry donkey meat and skin, 75 jumbo bales of second-hand clothing, 463 cartons of foreign spaghetti, 269 pieces of used pneumatic tires, and 56 cartons of smuggled foreign tomato paste.“More worrisome is the interception of 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without NAFDAC registration numbers.”He noted that the cough syrup with codeine and tramadol without NAFDAC registration numbers, if not intercepted, could have had adverse effects on youths.He added that the items were mostly intercepted along the Ewu-Okada/Benin expressways based on credible intelligence. (NAN)NEWS
APC Forum Decries Deplorable Condition of Federal Roads
The Forum of Stakeholders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has decried the deplorable condition of some federal roads in Nigeria. Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, the North-Central Chairman of the forum, said this in an interaction with newsmen on Wednesday in Jos. Zazzaga described some of the federal roads as ”death traps”, particularly those within the north-central region.
He said that some of the deplorable roads in the region include Jos-Akwanga, Makurdi-Oturkpo-Otukpa, Makurdi-Ankpa, and Jos-Saminaka. Other roads that needed urgent attention, he said, included Suleja-Minna, Ejule-Otukpa, Ganawuri-Manchok, Lokoja-Abuja, Lapai-Agaie-Bida, Birnin-Gwari-Bokani-Mokwa, Minna-Zungeru-Tegina-Kontagora. ”Currently, the north-central region has the most deplorable roads and highways in the country. ”These deplorable roads have brought severe hardship on the people and lost lives and property through preventable road traffic crashes. ”We call on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and ensure the rehabilitation of these roads because good roads are vital enablers of development,” he said. The chairman also called on governors of states within the region to reconstruct the dilapidated roads and seek refunds from the federal government. ”Though these are largely federal roads, they are located within states, and the beneficiaries are the people of these states. ”So we call on state governments to reconstruct these roads and seek refunds from the federal government,” he added. (NANNEWS
Yuan Strengthens 7. 087 Against Dollar
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 160 pips to 7.087 against the dollar on Wednesday.This is according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.In China’s spot foreigners exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by two per cent from the central parity rate each trading day.
The central parity rate of the yuan against the dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day. (Xinhua/NAN)