THE Federal Government has banned non-Nigerian passengers who visited Brazil, India, and Turkey in the last two weeks from entering the country.

Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation Boss Mustapha made this known in a statement issued on Saturday.

Mustapha said the decision followed increasing cases of COVID-19 and fatalities in Brazil, India, Turkey and some other parts of the world.

Mustapha said this did not include passengers transiting through those countries, stressing that the travel advisory would take effect on Tuesday while it would be subjected to review after an initial period of four weeks.

“These precautionary measures are a necessary step to minimize the risk of a surge in COVID-19 cases introduced to Nigeria from other countries.

“Non-Nigerian passport holders and non-residents who visited Brazil, India or Turkey within days preceding travel to Nigeria, shall be denied entry into Nigeria,” the statement partly read.

He noted that defaulting airlines would be made to pay a mandatory penalty of $3,500 for each (defaulting) you passenger.

The SGF also said that Nigerians and permanent residents who had been in those countries in the last 14 days would be placed on mandatory quarantine for a week in a government-approved facility on arrival.

If positive, the passenger shall be admitted within a government-approved treatment centre, in line with national treatment conventions.

“If negative, the passenger shall continue to remain in quarantine and made to undergo a repeat PCR test on day 7 of their quarantine,” Mustapha added.

In India, more than 200,000  people have died from COVID-19 after a third wave, a condition said to have risen from lack of oxygen in the country. Brazil has recorded over 400,000 deaths while Turkey has over 40,000 deaths from the disease.

 The Department of State Services (DSS) on Sunday warned that some powerful people are planning to disintegrate Nigeria by their inciting utterances.

DSS, in a statement issued by its spokesman, Dr Peter Afunanya, said these people were desperate and had penchant to collaborate with external forces and influences against Nigeria.

The DSS condemned the unsavoury statements by misguided elements who had continued to threaten the government, sovereignty and corporate existence of this country.

It said notable were the unnecessary vituperation and activities of some religious and past political leaders who had either called for a forceful change of government or mass action against it.

According to the DSS,  it had been established that the main objective for these was to cause a disintegration of the country.

It said it was unfortunate that those in the forefront of this were respectable individuals who should be patriotic and not allow their personal ambitions to ruin the nation.

“The Service has also noted their desperation and penchant to collaborate with external forces and influences against Nigeria,” the statement said.

The body said even though democracy offered free speech, it did not give room to reckless pronouncements capable of undermining security.

The DSS warned self-centred individuals and groups to stop engaging in acts inimical to the peace and sovereignty of this nation.

The statement added that the DSS recently invited and cautioned some persons who deniably recounted their earlier statements or said they were quoted out of context.

It urged the public to be wary of such individuals and their co-travellers who, incite them in the open but turn in the secret to retrieve their words after they had caused the damage.

 Inter Milan clinched the Serie A title after Atalanta could only draw at Sassuolo on Sunday.

Inter, 2-0 winners at Crotone on Saturday, have held a commanding lead over the chasing pack for some time and have now been crowned champions of Italy for the first time since 2010, ending Juventus’ nine years of dominance.

Atalanta overcame an early red card for goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini by taking the lead through Robin Gosens after 32 minutes. Domenico Berardi equalised from the penalty spot at the start of the second half before Marlon Santos was sent off for the hosts.

It remained 1-1, leaving Inter 13 points clear at the top of the table with just four matches left to play.

Antonio Conte’s side snatched top spot from city rivals AC Milan on February 14 and have stayed there ever since, running away with the title in the end.

It is Conte’s fourth Serie A title after winning the league three times with Juventus in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

OTHER FOOTBALLS NEWS

Napoli dropped points in the race for the Champions League places as they drew 1-1 with struggling Cagliari. Victor Osimhen’s 13th-minute strike looked to be enough for Gennaro Gattuso’s team, but Nahitan Nandez equalised in stoppage time.

Lazio gave their hopes of a top-four finish a boost with a 4-3 home success against Genoa. Goals from Joaquin Correa and Ciro Immobile, from the penalty spot, gave the hosts the half-time lead, but an Adam Marusic own goal after 47 minutes gave Genoa hope.

Luis Alberto immediately restored the two-goal cushion and, when Correa added a fourth before the hour mark, the game looked to be over. However,  Gianluca Scamacca’s penalty and an Eldor Shomurodov effort made it a tense final 10 minutes for Lazio.

There were also plenty of goals at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, where Bologna and Fiorentina shared the points in a 3-3 draw. Rodrigo Palacio scored a hat-trick for the hosts, while Dusan Vlahovic (2) and Giacomo Bonaventura replied for the visitors.

Villarreal warmed up for the second leg of their Europa League semi-final against Arsenal on Thursday with a 1-0 home win against Getafe in LaLiga, with Yeremi Pino on target after 79 minutes.

Unai Emery’s side climbed up to sixth place above Real Betis, who drew 1-1 at Real Valladolid. Aitor Ruibal put Betis ahead, but Shon Weissman’s equaliser meant a sixth successive draw for the visitors.

Rennes’s hopes of finishing fifth in Ligue 1 were dealt a blow with a 1-0 defeat at Bordeaux. Steven Nzonzi’s eighth-minute red card made life difficult for the visitors and Sekou Mara’s goal three minutes later proved to be the winner.

Nantes gave their survival hopes a boost with a 4-1 win at Brest. Moses Simon, Ludovic Blas, Imran Louza and Kalifa Coulibaly scored for the visitors before Romain Faivre’s late consolation.

Nimes remain in relegation trouble after a 2-2 home draw with Reims. Renaud Ripart and Moussa Kone scored for the hosts, while Nathanael Mbuku and Alexis Flips were on target for Reims.

Relegated Dijon’s misery continued with a 5-1 defeat at home to Metz, while goals from Yoane Wissa and Fabien Lemoine saw Lorient win 2-0 against Angers as both teams finished the match with 10 men, and Saint-Etienne came from behind to win 2-1 at Montpellier

 Roy Keane warned the Glazers that Manchester United fans’ protests against the Glazer family on Sunday were “just the start” as furious supporters stormed Old Trafford before against Liverpool.

The Premier League clash with Liverpool had to be postponed on safety grounds after fans broke into Old Trafford and invaded the pitch, with the Premier League condemning “the actions of a minority”.

Long-standing anger with the Glazer family has increased in intensity since it emerged United were one of the driving forces behind the breakaway European Super League, which collapsed within 48 hours due to huge, unrelenting pressure.

“The United fans have had enough and they’re doing it because they love the club,” Keane said on Sky Sports.

“It’s not just as a result of what’s happened the last two weeks with the Super League...it’s been building for a number of years. They’ve come to the end and feel enough is enough. It’s a huge statement for the game to be called off.

“There’s been a build-up in tension, whether it be about ticketing, poor communication, things going on in the background. The leadership of the club has not been good enough.

“When they look at the owners, they feel it’s just about making money. The United fans have looked at the Glazers and thought: ‘enough is enough’.

“They’re doing it because they love the club. Some people won’t agree with it, but sometimes you have to put a marker down for people to take notice.

“This will go out all over the world and hopefully the owners of Manchester United will sit up and take note. These fans are deadly serious and this is just the start of it from United fans - I can guarantee you.”

Another former United captain, Gary Neville, said the Glazers should do “the honourable thing” and sell up.

 When Satoshi Nakamoto introduced the Bitcoin (BTC) white paper over a decade ago, it was hard to imagine what role the cryptocurrency sector would play in global finance. Some argue that the invention of blockchain technology is comparable to the revolution brought on by the invention of the internet back in the 1980s. Starting as a niche space for tech enthusiasts, in just 12 years Bitcoin has become a serious player in the financial field, with its market capitalization closing in on Google, one of the world’s largest tech giants.

One of the reasons for the increasing popularity of, and people’s increasing interest in, crypto lies in the fact that the technology that forms the backbone of cryptocurrency promises more financial inclusion compared with legacy finance. It is especially important for developing countries and emerging markets with fast-growing economic potential — the regions with the most promising potential for mass crypto adoption. And while blockchain cannot solve all of society’s problems, it’s the community behind this industry that should address the factors causing financial exclusion. Being decentralized in its origins and driven by the community, the crypto industry indeed greatly prioritizes diversity and inclusion, including valuing the contributions of women and the LBGTQ+ community.

The general public discourse on the crypto space still suffers from the notorious reputation of the Silk Road saga and the ICO craze back in 2017 — 80% of initial coin offerings ended up being scams. Meanwhile, by appealing to the younger generations — who will soon enough be the major drivers of the world’s economy — crypto is certainly gaining its momentum. Just last year, PayPal, the world’s largest payments processor, announced it would allow its customers to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies, and the demand for that service has been greater than the company expected.

Also last year, the world witnessed the rise of the decentralized finance industry, and some even argue that DeFi will complete what Bitcoin started, proving “to be the guarantee of a better, more liberated future.” DeFi has become a symptom of the real shift from centralized to decentralized services, fueling massive innovation and growth in Web 3.0 protocols and the demand for the decentralized internet. Since the old financial system has rotted and degenerated, we have witnessed an unprecedented amount of money-printing by governments all over the world amid the COVID-19 pandemic. DeFi brings forward the prospect of a paradigm shift, promising not just the democratization of money but the democratization of finance, representing a seismic shift in the way people will bank in the future.

Due to its decentralized nature, the crypto industry is not and will never be a local trend — the changes that it causes to the financial landscape are global. With central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, being researched by governments all over the world and more institutional players — such as MicroStrategy, Mastercard, Bank of New York Mellon, Tesla and many others — entering the space, it seems inevitable that the global economy will have to accept that crypto, and the technology behind it, is here to stay. These examples also clearly represent signs that the industry is maturing.

Meanwhile, not all countries treat crypto equally: India has had a difficult relationship with the crypto space for some time already; China is leading CBDC development; the European Commission has proposed its Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, which has raised concerns within the crypto industry; and in the United States, while the crypto space is hopeful about new appointments in the administration of President Joe Biden, regulators are tightening the belts for crypto users. Cointelegraph decided to reach out to experts from China in the blockchain and crypto space for their opinions on the following question: What role will emerging technologies — such as blockchain, crypto and DeFi — play in shaping the future of finance in the world in general and in China specifically?

Bobby Lee, founder and CEO of Ballet:

“I think the way that blockchain and crypto have changed finance globally is by essentially introducing a brand-new asset class. Traditionally, the world only had gold and silver. After that, we had the invention of paper money, which became currency, and that was a new asset class. And then after a few more hundreds of years, the invention of stocks. Equity stocks in a company became the notion of ownership in the company, so stocks became an asset class. And of course, we've had loans and bonds. So, whether it's government or corporate bonds, that's another asset class.

And what we're seeing with crypto for 12 years now is that we have Bitcoin and now a new asset class called digital currency. Now, it's called digital currency, but it really doesn't have to be used like currency. It should be just treated like a new asset class. But why do we need that new asset class?

The issue with paper currency is that people in power always want to change rules to sort of strengthen their power over and hold on the economy, and thus over the people. So, they introduce the notion of unlimited printing. And this was only introduced in 1971. We're now at the 50-year anniversary of this new kind of asset class, which has a new feature: unlimited printing. Pretty much, before 50 years ago, the U.S. dollar did not have unlimited printing because it was backed by gold. So, you couldn’t have unlimited printing, but now you can have a little bit of printing because you've uncoupled from gold. Fiat currency has changed.

And now because of its change, the world’s locomotive has introduced a new asset class called Bitcoin, which is meant to counterbalance the change in fiat currency — to give people and give the world a choice. Do you want to continue to use an asset class that keeps on printing with no limit? Or would you prefer to put your savings at value into an asset class that has a strict upper limit of 21 million units? That's what crypto is bringing to the world.

Important questions are: Who wins? Who's right? Who's wrong? I think crypto will win because of its limited issuance, strictly limited in nature. My thoughts on Bitcoin as an asset class can be read in my book The Promise of Bitcoin: The Future of Money and How It Can Work for You. Cryptocurrency is bringing to the world the notion of a new asset class. And it's also bringing balance back to the world because before Bitcoin, the most relevant form of money was currency issued by governments, what we call fiat currency, and crypto has changed the very nature of it.”

Chang Jia, founder of Bytom and 8btc:

“First of all, the digital yuan mentioned in the first article, which integrates the cutting-edge blockchain technology and cryptography technology, has started to carry out the application in several first-tier cities in China. One could say that DCEP is already serving the national economy and the people’s livelihood. The prototype of China’s future financial network is gradually emerging. Therefore, in terms of digital finance, China is in a leading position over the world.

For the world, blockchain technology has a major mission in the future, including promoting currency internationalization, trade globalization and a better structure for the world’s top-level financial system to avoid the recurrence of a financial crisis.

At present, we can perceive that Bitcoin created by blockchain technology is becoming the preferred hedging asset of mainstream finance and has reached a market value of 1 trillion U.S. dollars within a short decade.

In the long process of financial evolution, Bitcoin and other high-quality cryptocurrencies will bring a new logical switch and asset portfolio to the world from the nature of currency and finance.”

Source: Cointelegraph

 Berkshire Hathaway’s Charlie Munger Finds Bitcoin 'Disgusting and Contrary to the Interest of Civilization

Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s right-hand man, says he hates bitcoin’s success. “I don’t welcome a currency that’s so useful to kidnappers and extortionists and so forth,” Munger said.

 Buffett, on the other hand, dodged the question about bitcoin because he did not want to upset the sheer number of investors who are long on the cryptocurrency.

Charlie Munger Hates Bitcoin’s Success

At Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting Saturday, Vice Chairman Charlie Munger commented about bitcoin. The 97-year-old said during a Q&A session:

Of course I hate the bitcoin success. I don’t welcome a currency that’s so useful to kidnappers and extortionists and so forth.

Munger, who is often known as Warren Buffett’s right-hand man, added that he also does not like “shuffling out of a few extra billions and billions and billions of dollars to somebody who just invented a new financial product out of thin air.”

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett (left) and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger at the company’s shareholder meeting on Saturday. Source: Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

The billionaire vice chairman of Berkshire continued:

I should say modestly that the whole damn development is disgusting and contrary to the interest of civilization, and I’ll leave the criticism to others.

After Munger finished expressing his view about bitcoin, Berkshire CEO Warren Buffett quickly added: “I’m alright on that one.”

The “Oracle of Omaha” avoided answering a bitcoin question earlier, emphasizing that he did not want to comment on the cryptocurrency directly.

“We’ve probably got hundreds of thousands of people watching this that own bitcoin, and we’ve probably got two people who are short,” Buffett said, elaborating:

So, we have a choice of making 400,000 people mad at us and unhappy or making two people happy, and that’s just a dumb equation.

Munger has long been a bitcoin critic. “It’s really kind of an artificial substitute for gold. And since I never buy any gold, I never buy any bitcoin, and I recommend other people follow my practice,” he said in February. “Bitcoin reminds me of what Oscar Wilde said about fox hunting. He said it’s the pursuit of the uneatable by the unspeakable.” The Berkshire vice chairman previously called bitcoin “rat poison” and likened its trading to “trading turds.” Buffett then called the cryptocurrency “rat poison squared.”

What do you think about what Charlie Munger said about bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below.

 The regional court says there is no "amount of money enough to compensate a teenager gruesomely raped by her superiors on her way to womanhood".

The ECOWAS Court of Justice on Friday in Abuja ordered the Nigerian government to pay $200,000 in damages to an ex-air force woman who was illegally dismissed by the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) after being allegedly raped by a superior officer.

The money is about N96 million at unofficial exchange rate and about N76 million at a parallel market’s rate.

Ugbei Uzezi, in her suit presented before the court in 2019, said she joined the Nigeria Air Force in 2010, and was “brutally raped” by his superior officer, B. S Vibelko, a flight lieutenant, in 2011.

The 29-year-old Ms Uzezi, was only 19 as of 2011 when she was reportedly raped.

She was dismissed in 2015 at the peak of the victimisation, intimidation and harrassment that she faced after she reported the case to the Air Force authorities, her court documents stated.

A panel of the court, in its judgment, delivered in the suit instituted by Ms Uzezi ordered NAF to investigate and prosecute the superior officer, Mr Vibelko, over the alleged rape.

Judgment

Sahara Reporters quoted Dupe Atoki, the ECOWAS Court judge who delivered the lead judgment of the panel, as describing the applicant’s experience as “undeserving of a human being”.

The judge added that “the brutal rape of the applicant is beastly, undeserving of a human being, and the failure of the Nigerian Air Force to investigate and punish its perpetrator is a show of impunity by the Air Force and the Nigerian authorities.

“The Nigerian Air Force and the Nigerian authorities are hereby ordered to arrest, investigate and prosecute the perpetrator,” adding “what amount of money is enough to compensate a teenager gruesomely raped by her superiors on her way to womanhood?”

The court ordered that her dismissal be converted to retirement with attendant benefits.

The court also ordered the Nigerian government to pay her $200,000 as compensation and a report of compliance be submitted by the Nigerian authorities within three months of being served notice of judgement.

Suit

Ms Uzezi had in her suit filed through her counsel, Marshal Abubakar of Femi Falana’s law firm, stated that she was enlisted into the Nigerian Air Force on August 15, 2010 with Service No NAF10/25157F.

She said during her over five years of active and meritorious service, she worked at various military formations including the Nigerian Air Force Base, Kaduna, the Base Services Wing, Abuja and lastly the Air Service Wing, Ikeja, Lagos on military assignments.

She recalled that on May 17, 2011 she was “sexually assaulted, brutally raped and de-flowered” by her superior officer, Mr Vibelko.

According to her, the development resulted in her being admitted at the accident and emergency ward in 345 Aeromedical Hospital Kaduna.

She said her health suffered greatly, and that she contracted “severe sexually transmitted infections as a result of the rape”.

She said her male superiors, rather than investigate and mete out appropriate sanctions, “subjected her to unprecedented intimidation, victimisation and threat to her life”.

This inhuman treatments, according to her, “included being regularly locked up in the guardroom for no reason, being placed on constant punishment duties, being constantly accused and put through various degrees of punishment and imprisonment with hard labour and often dragged through the ground and beaten to coma while nude resulting in bruises all over her body”.

The applicant claimed that she also received death threats from several officers of the Nigerian Air Force, for daring to report an officer who raped her.

She also stated that regimental entry was made into her file stating that she should never be promoted with her colleagues, adding that this continued until her unlawful dismissal.

She noted that she was orally dismissed from the Nigerian Air Force and unlawfully evicted from her official residence Flat 445 Nigerian Air Force, Ikeja, Lagos, without adherence to the statutory provisions in the Armed Forces Act.

Prayers

She had among other prayers sought a declaration by the court, that her purported dismissal from the Air Force by the respondent without arraignment, prosecution and sentence by a duly constituted Court Martial was “irregular, illegal, unlawful, null and void, and that the act of the respondent herein constitute a violation of the Applicant’s Fundamental Rights to fair hearing as stated in the provisions of SECTION 36 (1), (5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic.”

She sought an order “compelling the respondent, its agents, organs, servants, privies to pay her $20,000,000 as aggravated and punitive damages that will serve as a deterrent to the respondent, and another $500,000 as the solicitors fees and other incidental cost.”