News recap: Buhari’s Onnoghen debacle and the gift of New Year

A new year, for some, brings with it new opportunities, better prospects, reprieve, recognition and sometimes, bad tidings.

For Hillary Rodham Clinton, the woman who almost become the president of the United States of America, the new year brought her recognition as the Guardian person of the year. And for Nigerian governors and the president, it brought relief, albeit temporarily, from an onslaught against the immunity they enjoy while in office.

These news items and more made the round at the start of the year. Read on.

WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 16: Former Secretary of State and former Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton delivers remarks while being honored during the Children’s Defense Fund’s Beat the Odds Celebration at the Newseum November 16, 2016 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP

On the first day of the year, The Guardian announced Hillary Clinton as its person of the year for 2016 for “making history as the first woman to get that close to the American presidency, for standing out among men and women, for standing up for her beliefs and standing against the dark forces of discrimination and oppression.”

PHOTO: Mashable

For tech buffs, 2017 is already presenting new realities beyond smart technologies as the Consumer Electronics Show opened on Tuesday in Lss Vegas. The mega-extravaganza of the tech world in Las Vegas is showcasing an array of new devices that get smarts from computer chips, sensors and artificial intelligence, but go further by opening doors to augmented or virtual realities.

But for crime lords in the ultra-conservative Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2016 was gruesome. The Kingdom authorities executed 153 persons for various crimes during the year with 47 of them put to death in January 2016. Will January 2017 be that bloody? Fingers crossed!

In Nigeria here, governors, president and their deputies are exempted from being prosecuted in criminal cases. But left to some people, that privilege should be binned. Legally, that is. But the process of doing that has suffered a setback.

Justice Walter Onnoghen in a handshake with President Muhammadu Buhari

The nomination and confirmation of a substantive chief justice of Nigeria is currently suffering a setback of its own with President Muhammadu Buhari not in a hurry to nominate the acting CJN Justice Walter Samuel Onnoghen for the position. And the People’s Democratic Party is miffed at the “shockingly embarrassing” situation.

While the president is decidedly slow in nominating someone for the post of CJN, he quickly signed off on raising import duties on luxury goods such as yachts and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) imported into the country. Also affected were some food items that have local alternatives.

Tottenham Hotspur’s English midfielder Dele Alli (2nd L) jumps to score his and Totenham’s second goal with this header during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea at White Hart Lane in London, on January 4, 2017. PHOTO: Adrian DENNIS / AFP

Record-chasing boys at Chelsea FC were given a reality check by Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday with Dele Alli’s near-identical headers delivering a damning verdict on the Blues. Obviously, Willian’s teammates failed to heed to his ominous warning ahead of the game.

Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja

Like Willian, some Nigerian aviation stakeholders have an ominous warning. They said there will the loss of revenue by the aviation sector if Nigerian authorities divert traffic to Kaduna airport ahead of the planned closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport runway, Abuja inr March. The federal government is not bothered about the dark warning, anyway.

Another not-so-cheerful warning: sugar and red meat are injurious to your health, scientists said. While sugar increases the risk of being diabetic, red meat, they said, are carcinogenic. But those ‘assumptions’ have been challenged by new studies conducted by other sets of scientists.

David Babachir Lawal

While you are contemplating which side of the divergent opinions you are on, the Guardian is quick to make up its mind on the alleged misadventure of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal. The paper said, “Mr Lawal should forthwith, as a matter of personal honour, leave voluntarily or be removed by his integrity-conscious appointer, President Muhammadu Buhari.”

That’s all for news recap this week. Adios!