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Independence Day: Gov Wike Spits Fire, Says Nothing Like Nigeria

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Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has expressed anger over the current state of the nation, saying there is nothing like Nigeria that needs to be celebrated.

In a video posted online, Wike was sighted speaking during a sermon in a church as part of activities to mark the 2021 Independence Day.

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Governor Wike, who referred to the country as an old man at 61, said Nigeria is characterized with hatred, division and enmity, stressing that some persons in authority are hating a whole state because of an individual.

The Governor lambasted the National Assembly for allegedly misrepresenting Nigerians, particularly on the constant approval for loan whenever it is requested by the executive.

Wike expressed sadness over the lawmaker’s failure to ask questions on how the monies were being used.

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He also alleged that there is no court in the country, stating that they have been intimidated by those in power.

He stressed that the Nigerian judges have abandoned their responsibilities for the fear of unknown.

He said, “You have a child that is 61 years old. In the next few days, Nigeria will be 61 years old. So many people celebrate when they get to 60 years thanking God.

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“Now Nigeria is 61 years but the only reason why we can thank God is because there still appears a name called ‘Nigeria’. That is the only reason we are thanking God. But indeed, is there anything called Nigeria?

“An old man at 61 years, full of enmity, division and hatred. At 61 years, you hate a state because of an individual, discriminating against some people because of their religion, because of where they come from. And we are here clapping hands for Nigeria.

“At 61 years old, where is legislature? A legislature that cannot think, a legislature that anything they bring is right. A legislature that cannot say that Nigeria has come to the age of conducting a free and fair election.

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READ ALSO: PDP Holds Parallel Congresses In Oyo

“A legislature that would close its eyes and say “anytime you want to borrow, borrow”. A legislature that will not ask questions “this money that you are borrowing, where is it”?

“61 year old, giant of Africa. The money they are borrowing, where are they applying it? We have no congress to ask questions.

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“Indeed what are we celebrating at 61 years old? Where are the courts? The judges are been intimidated, they have abandoned their responsibilities out of fear of what would happen”.

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Spain Busts Criminal Ring Shipping Hazardous Waste To Ghana

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Spanish police have broken up a criminal network accused of illegally exporting hazardous waste to Ghana, authorities said Friday.

Three people were arrested in Seville and a fourth investigated in Murcia after officers intercepted a container at the port of Algeciras holding 19 tonnes of vehicle engines, fuel tanks with gasoline residue and other oil-soaked waste, the regional government of Andalusia said.

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The customs paperwork did not match the container’s contents, indicating alleged document falsification and possible customs fraud,” it said in a statement.

READ ALSO:Three Children Freed In Spain After Three Years Indoors

International rules ban sending hazardous waste to countries without proper treatment facilities.

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The suspects, all Ghanaian nationals, face charges including environmental crimes and belonging to a criminal group.

Environmental watchdogs and Interpol have long warned that European countries are a major source of hazardous shipments disguised as second-hand goods.

The lucrative trade exploits weaker enforcement in receiving countries and the high cost of proper recycling in Europe, turning parts of Africa into dumping grounds for the world’s unwanted electronics, machinery and industrial refuse.

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Mourners Pay Respect For 27-year-old Ukrainian Journalist Who Died In Russian Captivity

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A woman mourns at the coffin of Victoria Roshchyna, a Ukrainian journalist who died while in captivity in Russia, during her funeral ceremony on Independence Square in Kyiv on August 8, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Victoria Roshchyna, a Ukrainian journalist, died at the age of 27 on September 19, 2024 while in captivity in Russia, and was subjected to 'systematic torture’ and 'deprived of medical care', according to the Ukrainian prosecutor's office. She was captured while reporting on the occupied Ukrainian part of the southern region of Zaporizhzhia. (Photo by Roman PILIPEY / AFP)

Dozens of mourners packed into a cathedral in central Kyiv on Friday to pay their respects to independent journalist Victoria Roshchyna, who died in Russian captivity last year aged 27.

Her body, which Russia returned in February, remained in a closed coffin throughout the service.

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Roshchyna, who worked freelance for several Ukrainian news outlets, disappeared in August 2023 on a reporting trip to the Moscow-held part of Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region.

She died in Russian detention just over one year later, her body showing “numerous signs of torture” including abrasions and a broken rib, according to Kyiv.

The circumstances of her arrest were never made public, and Russia has not explained her death.

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READ ALSO:Russia Strikes Ukraine After Kyiv Offers Fresh Talks

The priest at the funeral service said she had endured “torments”.

The most important thing in journalism is to report the truth. And they don’t like the truth,” he said, referring to Russia.

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Many in the crowd were fellow reporters, some of whom wept when the cameras were turned off.

A joint investigation by Reporters Without Borders and Ukrainian investigative news outlet Slidstva reported that she was arrested in Energodar in southern Ukraine, and later held for several weeks in the Russian-held city of Melitopol.

From there, she was transferred to a jail in the Russian port city of Taganrog. Upon arrival, she had scars and “knife wounds” on her body, the investigation found, citing a cellmate.

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During her time in Taganrog, she stopped eating and was placed in solitary confinement, according to the investigation.

Thousands of Ukrainians opposed to Moscow’s rule have been detained in occupied territories since Russia’s invasion in 2022, many of whom face torture at the hands of security forces, according to rights groups.

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Ukraine said it would press criminal charges against the governor of the prison in Taganrog where she was held, alleging she was subjected to “systemic torture, beatings, humiliation, threats, severe restrictions on access to medical care, drinking water and food”.

It has described her death as “premeditated murder” and accused Russia of a war crime.

A UN expert panel last year demanded that the Russian government provide answers over her death.

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READ ALSO:US Will Send Ukraine Patriot Air Defense Systems

Russia does not comment on the treatment of individual prisoners but says it is committed to investigating torture and abuse in its penal system.

During the funeral service, her father Volodymyr, fixed his eyes on the coffin while her sister looked on. They held hands throughout the ceremony.

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Angelina Karyakina, editor-in-chief at Ukrainian news outlet Hromadske for whom Roshchyna worked, described her as a tireless and ambitious journalist who preferred to work alone.

She didn’t like to depend on other people,” she told AFP.

She would take the camera herself, often shoot photos and videos on her own, and was a one-woman band.”

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READ ALSO:Russia Denies Kidnapping 20,000 Ukrainian Children

Roshchyna worked for various independent news outlets, including Ukrainska Pravda, and had collaborated with the Ukrainian service of US-funded media outlet Radio Free Europe.

In 2022, she was awarded the Courage in Journalism award by the International Women’s Media Foundation for her reporting from eastern Ukraine.

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After the church service, the mourners moved to Kyiv’s main square, where Radio Liberty editor Taras Ilkiv paid tribute to her “historic work” in the occupied territories, his voice breaking.

“I am convinced that Viktoria believed like no one else that these are our people, in Mariupol, in Berdyansk, in Kherson,” he said, referring to cities that Russia had captured at various points in the war.

Almost no one is capable of such work,” he said.

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Nigerian Egusi Seeds Return From Space

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If Earthlings are ever going to colonise Mars, they won’t be able to do so on an empty stomach — and Temidayo Oniosun thinks a helping of Egusi soup, a Nigerian staple, might just hit the spot.

Space in Africa, the Lagos-based firm Oniosun founded, is expecting its Egusi melon seeds to splash down in the Pacific Ocean Saturday — fresh from a trip to the International Space Station.

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Once Earthside, experiments will begin on what is being hailed as the first food native to West Africa to be sent to space.

As Oniosun told AFP on Friday, it could herald an era where space exploration reflects the planet’s diversity.

When we talk about humans colonising other planets, this is not just an American mission or a European mission — this is a global mission,” he told AFP.

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And future African space explorers might enjoy a taste of home.

Experiments on extraterrestrial food, which is to say, tested in space, have been going on for years.

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Growing food in space is seen as a crucial part of long-distance space flight and long-term missions, where frequent resupply won’t be feasible.

– International tests –

Scientists at the University of Florida in the United States and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, in the southwestern Nigerian city of Ibadan, will examine the seeds “to see the effects of exposure to space” and zero gravity, including on the seeds’ DNA.

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Once planted, researchers will monitor their post-space performance and germination.

READ ALSO:Alarming Food Shortage Forces People To Eat Animal Feed In Sudan

The seeds went up to the ISS on a SpaceX Flight last week, as part of NASA’s partnership with private firms.

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Oniosun said the inclusion of Egusi seeds marked an important step forward, both for those on Earth as well as future astronauts.

High in protein, they are typically used to prepare soups and stews across West and Central Africa.

Africa’s most populous country has a small space industry, but the launch of the seeds seemed to generate more excitement on social media and in newspapers than previous launches of Nigerian satellites, he said.

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The moment that we’re sending food that they love, a food that holds significant cultural contexts to Nigeria… everybody starts getting interested in the subject,” Oniosun told AFP.

The launch of Egusi melon seeds into space is more than a symbolic gesture,” he added.

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The future of humanity among the stars must reflect the diversity and richness of life on Earth.”

Whether pounded yams — the key dish served alongside Egusi soup — will make its way to the final frontier remains to be seen.

AFP

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