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UNILAG Speaks On Charging N50,000 For Online Classes

The management of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) has dismissed reports on social media that it is charging N50,000 for online classes.

Newspot reports that UNILAG has last Wednesday announced January 25, 2021 as the resumption date for online classes.

Head of the Media Unit of the university, Mrs. Olufadeke Akinleye said the institution would commence online classes due to the second wave of COVID-19 and end the semester on April 1, 2021.

Both reports that emerged on social media claiming that the students are expected to pay N50,000 for classes.

But reacting in a statement titled, ‘Disclaimer: UNILAG resumption is absolutely free’, UNILAG described the reports as false, urging the public to disregard the report.

The statement reads, “The Management of University of Lagos wishes to inform all students, parents and the general public, that a notice on the internet purporting that returning students of the University of Lagos are to pay a sum of ₦50,000 for online lectures and examinations, is FALSE and should be disregarded.

“All students are to commence online lectures on Monday, January 25, 2021 at absolutely NO COST.

“In the future, it is advised that our esteemed stakeholders and interested individuals kindly check the official University of Lagos website and official social media platforms for verified information about the University.”

Source: Newspot

Man With Gun, Over 500 Rounds Of Ammunition Arrested Near US Capitol – Newspot

Flags and a podium are in place as preparations are made ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on January 16, 2021.

A man with a loaded handgun and more than 500 rounds of ammunition has been arrested in Washington at a security checkpoint near the US Capitol, authorities said.

Wesley Allen Beeler, of Virginia, had driven to a checkpoint on Friday evening and tried to use a phony credential to access the restricted area where President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated next week, according to a document filed in Washington, DC Superior Court.

As officers checked against an authorized access list, one of them noticed decals on the back of Beeler’s pick-up truck that said “Assault Life,” with an image of a rifle, and another with the message: “If they come for your guns, give ’em your bullets first.”

Under questioning, Beeler told officers he had a Glock handgun in the vehicle. A search uncovered a loaded handgun, more than 500 rounds of ammunition, shotgun shells and a magazine for the gun, the court document said.

Beeler was arrested on charges including possession of an unregistered firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition, a police report said.

Following his arrest, Beeler said it was “an honest mistake” and that he was a private security guard who got lost on his way to work near the Capitol.

Washington is under a high state of alert ahead of Biden’s Wednesday inauguration after a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6.

Five people died in the assault, including a police officer.

Security officials have warned that armed pro-Trump extremists, possibly carrying explosives, pose a threat to Washington as well as state capitals over the coming week.

Thousands of National Guard troops have been deployed in Washington and streets have been blocked off downtown with concrete barriers.

The National Mall, which is normally packed with people every four years for presidential inaugurations, has been declared off-limits at the request of the Secret Service, which ensures the security of the president.

AFP

Pigeons That won’t Fly, Bloody Baboon and Philemon Punishment By Festus Adedayo

Festus Adedayo Ph.D

Fatalists haven’t yet returned from the market square. They had rushed there to parrot what they called the eerie signification of the news of pigeons that won’t fly at the National arcade on January 14. It was at the Nigerian fallen soldier heroes’ anniversary. According to them, there was a weird symbolism in President Muhammadu Buhari’s futile move to prod memorial pigeons to fly. Imo State governor, Hope Uzodinma, also encountered same futility in his quest to get the pigeons to fly. Over the years, this ceremonial action had traditionally got the pigeons flying into the sky. However, at the Armed Forces Remembrance event last week, Buhari and Uzodinma’s pigeons merely diffidently looked at them, I dare say, with bemused disdain.

In reality, what have stubborn or hesitant pigeons got to do with Buhari/Uzodinma or the current Nigerian situation? Shamanism and spiritism explain pigeons’ mannerism better. Shamanism is a religious practice which involves practitioners interacting with a spirit world through an altered state of consciousness, the most being through trance. According to it, pigeons, which are one of the first birds that man tamed and creatures that have lived as man’s companions for centuries, symbolize home and security. They equally symbolize love, peace and are thought to be messengers that deliver gifts of physical, emotional and mental healing to man. As spirit messengers, they are a channel of communication between the living and dead worlds. When they are released to fly into the sky on fallen soldiers’ anniversaries, they are a totem expected to be instruments of communication with the land of the dead, a national invocation of the spirits of the dead, if you like. This is in the mould of My Song Burst, a traditional poem of the Ghanaian Ewe tribe that has been around for a while.
In the above poem, the invocator of the spirits of the dead had chanted: My song bursts in the name of Toti with vòsa //Taking a regal step//Dare the hyena howl, let him howl//Let the watchdog thunder endlessly.//The God of song has descended on Ahòsuglo.//War has begun, says So-kple-So,//We shall ourselves adorn.//Master Singers, Choric Leaders//To you we kneel in homage, Announcing neither death nor sickness.
Not minding their unhygienic and slovenly nature, pigeons are complex as a phenomenon and have an intelligence that people seldom connect with. Their messenger assignment fascinates me. One of such was in a song entitled Ajiko’gba ede (Singer of two hundred songs) originally sung by late Yoruba Apala music legend, Ayinla Omowura, which was later redone by another legendary Fuji musician, Sikiru Ayinde Barrister. Therein, Ayinla claimed that the secret of his singing prodigy was from an encounter with a certain mystery Man With Two Hundred Songs who resides in a mystery land. He had sent the pigeon to the mystery man for a clone of his mystical singing gift. The pigeon flew away to deliver the musician’s message and emerged therefrom bearing a pod of songs on its beak. Like the benevolent hunter in another ancient Yoruba creation folktale who swallowed a snake which later became the worms in man’s belly till today, upon the pigeon’s arrival, the musician said he chanted some incantations that turned the pigeon and pod from the mystery Man With Two Hundred Songs into a phial. He then swallowed the phial and that became the origin of his prolific singing ability.

Trump to leave town early Wednesday before Biden inauguration

By the time Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th US president Wednesday, his predecessor Donald Trump will already be far away, having helicoptered out of the White House a last time earlier that morning, an official said Friday.

Trump will be the first president in a century and a half to snub the inauguration of his successor.

An official who asked not to be identified said Trump would go to his Mar-a-Lago golf club in Florida, which is his legal residence and will become home after the White House.

He is expected to be out of town well before Biden is sworn in on the steps of the Capitol building at exactly noon.

After spending more than two months trying to overturn the results of the November election, pushing false conspiracy theories about fraud, Trump’s presence had not been expected at the inauguration.

The final straw came on January 6 when Trump gathered a huge crowd of supporters on the National Mall and once more claimed that they had to fight to stop a fraudulent election. A mob then stormed Congress, halting proceedings underway to certify Biden’s win.

For longer than anyone can remember, outgoing presidents have stood by their replacement on the Capitol steps, watching them take the oath — and in so doing showing visible support for the peaceful transfer of power.

Trump, who was impeached for a record second time in the wake of the Congress storming, has also broken with more discreet protocol by refusing to invite Biden and his wife Jill Biden to the White House for a traditional cup of tea in the Oval Office.

On Friday, Vice President Mike Pence did make the gesture of telephoning his incoming counterpart Kamala Harris, a source said.

Although this came only five days before inauguration day — and more than two months after the election — The New York Times said Pence offered his congratulations and belated assistance to Harris, describing the exchange as “gracious and pleasant.”

Recriminations over the January 6 attack continued to reverberate on Friday, however, when Trump’s health secretary criticized “the actions and rhetoric following the election.”

In a letter confirming he would step down when Biden takes office on January 20, Alex Azar called the violence “an assault on our democracy and on the tradition of peaceful transitions of power,” urging Trump to condemn all violence and help ensure a smooth handover to Biden.

– Inauguration like no other –

Trump’s extraordinary exit adds to the nervous atmosphere around an inauguration that was already set to be like no other.

In the wake of the Congress attack, thousands of National Guard troops have taken up position around central Washington. And even before the security nightmare, organizers had been forced by Covid-19 safety measures to nix the traditional big crowds and long guest lists.

For Biden, the subdued ceremonies will quickly be followed by a mammoth To-Do list. His administration faces multiple crises on day one, including the stumbling national Covid vaccination project, a precarious economic recovery and Trump’s looming impeachment trial in the Senate.

At the same time, Biden will have to cajole the Senate into rapidly confirming his cabinet appointees, allowing him to form a government and bring stability back to the country.

Incoming White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday that the Senate is fully capable of juggling the impeachment trial along with the urgent confirmations.

“The Senate can do its constitutional duty while continuing to conduct the business of the people,” she said.

“Our expectation and hope and belief is that we need to walk and chew gum at the same time.”

[AFP]

Outrage As Kids Vote At Kano LG Election

Nigerians have taken to social media to lambast the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission for allowing children to vote in the election that took place across the 44 local government areas in the state on Saturday. Several pictures and videos circulating on social media show children said to be between the ages of nine and 16, being accredited by electoral officials wearing face masks with the KANSIEC logo. In one of the videos, a young boy who appears to be between the age of 11 and 13, at Gwazaye polling unit, Kumbotso, local government area, is seen fixing his thumbprint against a party logo while other children struggle to receive their ballot papers. Although, many first doubted if the videos and pictures were recent, they were soon authenticated when officials wearing facemasks in compliance with the COVID-19 protocols were seen. In the videos trending, some of the children are seen forming queues and mingling in contravention of the COVID-19 protocol. They subsequently affix thumbprints on ballot papers and cast their ballots. On Twitter, @EduWaltzChuka wrote, “I have watched these videos coming out from Kano and I feel so ashamed for doing the right thing. In 2017 when I was working as an adhoc staff for INEC during voters card enrolment, I personally made sure anybody suspected to be under age 18 never enrolled in Nnokwa.” @osheguy tweeted, “This is sad and appalling.” A tweep, Adegoke Victor, who claimed to have served in Borno State in 2007, said he witnessed underage voting in 2007, wrote, “This is not new to me at all, I served with INEC in Maiduguri in 2007, I experienced it first hand and I made an attempt not to register the underage but I was given a stern warning not to try it otherwise I won’t return home alive. I simply backtracked.”

cknnigeria

Inside Stuff With MARTINS OLOJA

‘DOES SOUTH WEST NEED FEDERAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION?’

Let me state from the outset that the specific objective of this article is to engage the power elite in Western Nigeria, the most developed region in the country, on why they do not need a federal Development Commission at this time to develop their region. It is also not to berate the southwest federal legislators who have sponsored the South West Development Commission Bill (2019) now being debated in Abuja. I just would like us to ‘calm down’ and reason together without raising dust over needless debate and bombast on why the Bill should be withdrawn. I would also like to appeal to those who have been promised some limitless opportunities that will come with setting up of a federal Commission – to develop the South West – to hold their breadth for now.

Let’s debate the feasibility and risk assessment ‘reports’ on the legislative project. I just want us to engage one another on why that legislative project is though promising and prominent, it is not significant at this time. I would like to reiterate here that the bill (SWDC) will complicate development agenda for South West when we all need to persuade the ruling powers in Abuja to fulfil their promises on organic federalism. That is the clincher that will work in the long run for the South West.

So, let’s migrate from the debate on how their strong institutions have helped them to defend democracy and development agenda in America, their America. It’s a time to borrow some brilliance from Tip O’Neill, the proponent of all ‘politics is local’ saying and face our local politics this week.

It is indeed a time to speak again some truths to our local powers, notably to revive and sustain development agenda in Western Nigeria, the pacesetter region, which set the tone for physical, infrastructural development in Nigeria long before independence.

For the young ones who didn’t know, the Western Region, Nigeria set up the first television station in Africa – Western Nigeria Television (WNTV) on 31st October 1959. That is what is today known as Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), which was seized by the military in 1977 when it was merged with Benue Plateau Television Corporation and Radio Kaduna Television and others. The same Western Nigeria built and opened the first stadium (in Africa) in Ibadan since 1960. It was originally named Liberty Stadium with a capacity for 25, 000 seats. It is also worth remembering that Western Nigeria had in (1956) opened its ‘foreign mission’ in the United Kingdom before Nigeria’s independence in 1960. The first Western Region’s envoy called “Agent-General” to the U.K was a lawyer of Itsekiri extraction, Chief M.E.R. Okorodudu. The residence the Western Region procured for its first ambassador is still the official residence of Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. There are other firsts. But this is just to build a case against the South West Development Commission Bill that the region doesn’t need. And here is the epilogue against it: the Western Nigeria, which set the pace recalled above – even before independence should not be competing with war and terror zones that have had interventionist outfits to rebuild their broken walls – Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and North East Development Commission (NEDC). What is more, the NDDC has been fingered as a cesspool of corruption. Even there are snippets already from the NEDC that Nigeria’s public enemy, number one, corruption has found its way into the new northeast development agency, NEDC.

‘AMOSUN & 17 OTHER SENATORS ON THE SWDC BILL’

When Senator Ibikunle Amosun, on behalf of 17 other senators, opened the debate on the Bill in March, 2020 on the floor of the Senate he noted the following:
‘…Mr. President, Distinguished colleagues, it is a great honour and privilege to, on behalf of all the l7 other Senators from the South West geopolitical zone of the country, lead the debate for an Act to establish the South West Development Commission… Mr President, Distinguished colleagues, this Bill was first read on the floor of the Senate in November, 2019. In leading this debate, I would like to crave your indulgence to stress that the issues that necessitated the enactment of this are prevalent in all the other geopolitical zones in the country. What this literarily means is that all the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria have more or less similar issues.
Mr President, Distinguished colleagues, in the pre-independence period up into the early post-independence era, Nigeria was made up of three regions: Northern, Eastern and Western Regions. Midwestern Region was later carved out of the Western Region. In the Western Region, the founding fathers had a development ideology, which focused on the empowerment of the people. A policy mix in such core areas as health, education, agriculture, employment, infrastructural development and a functional and efficient public service agenda for the region was in place. The free primary education scheme and the universal health programme were two elements of their governance agenda, which were meant to produce a vibrant human capital as a basis for sustainable growth of the region.

The result of that policy mix was the transformation of the Southwest into an infrastructural paradise as experienced up to the most remote of locations across the region. Years after, especially since the return of Nigeria to democracy, which has now gone unbroken for 20 years plus, nothing bears similitude in virtually all the six states of the Southwest to the progressive development and assured march to the old Western Region. There is a gloomy picture of the region that is alarmingly in dire lack on almost all fronts.

Today, with an ever-increasing population due to rural-urban migration, facilities in the Southwest region especially social amenities are increasingly stretched, just as living standards continue to plummet. Majority of roads are calling for urgent attention. Many state-owned hospitals have inadequate medical personnel and equipment that can properly manage the health needs of patients. Educational institutions are not what they used to be, Industrial estates have become desolate, while a few which are still functional are struggling to remain in business.

The massive growth and activity of the agricultural sector evidenced with endless rubber and cocoa plantations have since given way while growth of local industries has been stalled. Also, no effective bureaucracy exists, and with the least premium placed on capacity development, human resources development has ceased being a culture. Added to these, are policy inconsistencies and profligacy in governance and leadership styles. Everything seems at the lowest ebb.

Mr President. Distinguished colleagues, the Southwest region has immense prospects and potentials, which are capable of making it rival any of the flourishing Arabian enclaves making waves globally today. Aside hosting Nigeria’s busiest airport, the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, and the busiest highway, the Lagos lbadan Expressway, 60 per cent of Nigeria’s industrial capacity, banking assets and even insurance assets are situated in the region. These are in addition to holding two of Nigeria’s most important deep seaports the Apapa Port Complex and Tin Can Island, thus having access to both land and sea borders.

Consequently, Mr President, Distinguished colleagues the push for the establishment of the South West Development Commission is an attempt to address the dwindling fortunes of the South West region by implementing a regional development plan, taking into consideration the region‘s unique endowments, natural advantages and capabilities. This is one of the major reasons we are proposing the establishment of this commission…

The Bill for this Commission, if passed into law will enhance regional integration, which is capable of delivering the benefits of large economies of scale. It is my firm belief that this Bill will act as catalyst to develop the geo political zone by providing legislative backing to address some of these challenges in the South West, just as it has been done for other geo political zones in this hallowed chambers…’

On the surface, the argument of the former Governor of Ogun state, Senator Amosun appears seminal. But I think all the brains behind this project should note that the bill should be seen for what it is: a diminution to the stature of the South West region, which should continue to be a reference point in the country.

As I once noted here what happened to the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) launched since 2012? What have the South West Governors made of the development plan and the Commission set up to implement the DAWN agenda headed by a Director General? What happened to the spirit that led to the formation of the regional security outfits ‘Amotekun’ despite the powerful opposition forces in Abuja?

As I specifically wrote here on October 28, 2018 in an article titled, ‘Yoruba: Time to Speak Truth To Power’ https://guardian.ng/opinion/yoruba-time-to-speak-truth-to-power/, let’s begin to ask some vital and ‘glocalised’ questions again about Western Nigeria, once a pacesetter region. But our representatives and leaders should note and answer these questions:

Where are the measurable and significant dividends of democracy that southwest leaders have attracted to the Western Nigeria since 1999? Where are the gains of head start and robust investment in education in Western region? What happened to the spirit of the legacy of Chief Obafemi Awolowo on education quality as a weapon of country competitiveness? What happened to the Africa’s premier stadium in Ibadan? What happened to the once great state universities governors Adekunle Ajasin, Lateef Jakande and Olabisi Onabanjo set up in 1983 before the fall of second republic? Where is the replacement for the Great University of Ife (Awolowo set up in 1962) the soldiers of fortune seized since 1975? What happened to the original Oyo State University of Technology (1990) now Ladoke Akintola University of Science and Technology (LAUTEC) set up by Governor Sasaenia Adedeji Oresanya in 1990? Where are the replacements of the Western Nigeria Television (WNTV) Chief Awolowo set up in 1959 and was seized by the military which is now NTA?
Whatever happened to University College Hospital, (UCH) the late Dr. Samuel Manuwa, Nigeria’s first Medical Doctor assisted in establishing when S.L Akintola was Nigeria’s Health Minister? What happened to the roads to the two Apapa Ports in Lagos Chief Bode George once presided over?
Whatever happened to the ‘Daily Sketch’ S.L Akintola, former Premier of Western Region set up? What happened to the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) great document launched in Lagos with funfair in March 2012? What happened to the Lagos-Ibadan Express Road since 1999 when Amosun’s generation of political leaders emerged? What happened to the assets of the Oduduwa Group of Companies? Answers to these questions about the state of the Yoruba nation should not blow in the wind. There are no easy answers but the questions, as I was saying, have just shown that instead of flying over our decrepit road infrastructure, to Abuja to present a bill for a federal Development Commission for Western Nigeria, there are questions of local significant questions the Amosuns in and outside Abuja need to answer at home. What have the governors and political leaders in the region contributed to making the DAWN Commission in Ibadan a huge success since 2012?

We will continue this debate next week

UK to face a gonorrhoea pandemic once lockdown ends, London doctor warns

 London sexual health chief has warned Britain will be faced with a gonorrhoea pandemic once the lockdown ends.

British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) President Dr John McSorley called for Londoners to use the lockdown productively to go and get themselves tested to help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

He also raised concerns that London will see the return of high rates of STI as people’s behaviour returns to normal at the end of the coronavirus pandemic.

British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) President Dr John McSorley told MyLondon: “There are a lot of similarities between Covid and STIs. The notions of social distancing and isolating have been in sexual health for a long time.

“We are on our way back to where we were a year ago. As we open society up again we can expect more gonorrhoea and syphilis.”

mylondon

Wait on God’: Do Your Part, PDP Replies Buhari Presidency

By Kola Ologbondiyan, National Publicity Secretary, PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says that the dismissive statement by the Buhari Presidency that Nigerians should ‘wait on God’ for solutions to the insecurity in our country is a direct admission of failure by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The party notes that the statement has shown clearly that the Buhari administration is completely helpless and has come to its wits end in governance; a development, which validates the position of majority of Nigerians that President Buhari is grossly incompetent and should step aside.

This statement further goes to confirm that the Buhari’s administration has outlived its usefulness, if it had any, and that the promises and assurances made by President Buhari, on the fight against insecurity amount to mere lip service, the PDP further declared.

While we believe in the powers and interventions of God, our party restates that such comes with the commitment, determination and show of responsibility on the part of those in leadership position; an obligation in which the Buhari Presidency has completely failed.

The PDP therefore finds it disturbing that while our nation passes through this trying time, officials of the Buhari Presidency are shamelessly alluding to how they sleep in comfort of their homes “ensconced in the tender bosom” of their “wives and girlfriends”.

This is even more distressing coming from the office of the Commander in Chief, who had failed in his promise to lead the fight against terrorists from the fronts.

It is however instructive to note that the Buhari Presidency acts as if it is not in sync with the reality of our nation.

It appears that it does not appreciate the situation in which terrorists, who had been pushed to the fringes, before President Buhari took over in 2015, had now resurged to hold our nation to ransom under his incompetent watch.

Instead of this dismissive stance, our party calls on President Buhari to brace up for leadership as required by God, take steps to equip our security system, sort out issues of welfare of our men in harm’s way; and replace his service chiefs, who have apparently become fatigued, with more competent hands to tackle the security challenges of our nation.

Moreover, the overwhelming position by Nigerians today is that if President Buhari cannot review his parade, the service chiefs themselves, having seen that they are outliving their usefulness, should voluntary vacate their offices in the interest of our nation.

Our party however urges our gallant and patriotic young men and women in the fronts not to be discouraged by such unguarded statements emanating from certain officials of the Buhari-led APC administration, who appears not to appreciate the sacrifices being made by our troops for the security of our nation.

Signed:

Kola Ologbondiyan
National Publicity Secretary

Abuja gets 20 NIN enrollment centres, NIMC office excluded

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isah Ali Pantami, has approved the activation of 20 NIN enrolment centres within the FCT, to make the process easier, beginning from Jan. 18, Mr Kayode Adegoke, Head, Corporate Communications of NIMC, Abuja, has said.

A statement he issued, on Saturday, said in the same vein, the minister had approved the closure of enrolment activities at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) office.

“Members of the public, residents and visitors to the FCT, wishing to enroll for the National Identification Number (NIN), should use the NIMC centers”, he said.
He identified the locations of the centres as: NIN State offices in Wuse, Abaji area council, AMAC, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kwali, Kuje, alongside special centers at Dei-Dei, Dutse and Federal Housing Authority, Gwarinpa.

Other centres, he said, include: High Court, Lugbe, AEDC office Jiwa, Women Development Secretariat Karshi, Kenuj Angles Schools, Jikwoyi, Chief’s Palace, Kurudu, Nigerian Custom Service, Karu and NIPOST Kubwa.

The statement further identified other approved centres, run by licensed private agents, at NIN Enrolment Centres Ibro Hotel, Wuse 2, Afritech multi Concept, Gwandal plaza adjacent EFCC, Wuse 2, and NIN Enrolment Centre at No 8, Nairobi Street, Wuse 2, Abuja.

“Members of general public within the FCT are hereby advised to visit any of the above listed enrolment centers closest to them for NIN registration and issuance,” the statement said.

▪︎ By NAN

When Covid-19 infections were 500 daily, FG shut schools for 7 months; why reopen when daily infections is over 1,000?

The Chairman of the House of Representatives on Basic Education and Services, Professor Julius Ihonbvere has raised a very pertinent question that has continued to nag Nigerians in the last few days over the federal government’s decision to reopen schools at a time its own agencies are telling citizens there is a more virulent strain of Covid-19 is in the air.

Said Ihonvbere in a statement:“The Committee on Basic Education and Services, House of Representatives, has received with concern the decision of the Federal Government to reopen schools on January 18, 2021.

“We are particularly concerned that when the infection rates hovered around 500 and under, schools were closed; but now that it hovers well above 1,000 infections daily, schools are being reopened. Why are we rushing to reopen schools without adequate verifiable and sustainable arrangements to protect and secure our children?”

Also, the Committee is asking that schools be kept shut for another three months for a comprehensive review of the situation, according to a media report. (Everyday)

TIPS