CC™ VideoScope
Thursday
Wednesday
Afenifere chieftain, Opadokun identifies those sponsoring terrorism in Nigeria
By Correspondent
Former Secretary-General of Afenifere, Ayo Opadokun, has said that those who do not want the current government to succeed are responsible for the lingering insecurity.
He said there was a deliberate plan by destructive elements to tear the country apart, insisting that terrorism, banditry and other forms of criminalities going on across the country, especially in the north, is not by accident.
The chieftain of NADECO stated this on Sunday in Offa, Kwara State shortly after his installation as Grand Patron of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, in the local government chapter.
He claimed that the terrorists have their sponsors from individuals of diverse interests determined to destabilise the country.
“Some Nigerians, including agents who want to destabilise Nigeria and those who do not want this government, took far-reaching decisions long ago,” he said.
“The current situation is not accidental. It is planned,” he stressed.
He said the Federal Government must erase every doubt in its fight against terrorism and intensify efforts to chase the insurgents out of Nigeria’s territory and prosecute their sponsors.
Tuesday
Trump recalls Richard Mills, US ambassador to Nigeria
United States President Donald Trump has recalled Richard Mills, the US ambassador to Nigeria, as part of a sweeping diplomatic shake-up affecting more than two dozen American missions worldwide, with Africa emerging as the most impacted continent.
Nigeria is among 15 African countries whose envoys have been recalled.
Others affected on the continent include Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Madagascar, Mauritius, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia and Uganda.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the shake-up affected Fiji, Laos, the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Vietnam, while Armenia, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovakia were impacted in Europe. Guatemala and Suriname were affected in the western hemisphere.
State Department officials told The Guardian UK that the affected chiefs of mission were informed last week that their tenures would end in January.
Although the diplomats had initially survived an early purge during the first months of Trump’s second term — largely aimed at political appointees — the situation changed on Wednesday when notices of their imminent departures were issued from Washington, DC.
According to Politico, the recall forms part of a broader effort to align US diplomatic representation abroad with President Trump’s “America First” foreign policy priorities.
A State Department official confirmed that the ambassadors were appointed during the administration of former President Joe Biden and would now conclude their postings as chiefs of mission in January.
Envoys typically serve between three and four years. While their roles as ambassadors will end, the officials said the diplomats are not losing their foreign service jobs and may return to Washington for other assignments if they choose.
Mills, who was confirmed as US ambassador to Nigeria in May, is being recalled at a time of strained US–Nigeria relations, particularly over visa issues and security concerns.
However, his departure also comes amid ongoing efforts by both countries to strengthen bilateral ties.
Recently, Mills met with Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, to discuss areas of cooperation, following comments by US Congressman Riley Moore that Washington and Abuja were close to finalizing a “strategic security framework” aimed at tackling terrorism in Nigeria.
NAIJA NEWS
Monday
Amazon blocks 1,800 North Koreans from applying for jobs with the company
US tech giant Amazon said it has blocked over 1,800 North Koreans from joining the company, as Pyongyang sends large numbers of IT workers overseas to earn and launder funds.
In a post on LinkedIn, Amazon’s Chief Security Officer Stephen Schmidt said last week that North Korean workers had been “attempting to secure remote IT jobs with companies worldwide, particularly in the US”.
He said the firm had seen nearly a one-third rise in applications by North Koreans in the past year.
The North Koreans typically use “laptop farms” — a computer in the United States operated remotely from outside the country, he said.
He warned the problem wasn’t specific to Amazon and “is likely happening at scale across the industry”.
Tell-tale signs of North Korean workers, Schmidt said, included wrongly formatted phone numbers and dodgy academic credentials.
In July, a woman in Arizona was sentenced to more than eight years in prison for running a laptop farm helping North Korean IT workers secure remote jobs at more than 300 US companies.
The scheme generated more than $17 million in revenue for her and North Korea, officials said.
Last year, Seoul’s intelligence agency warned that North Korean operatives had used LinkedIn to pose as recruiters and approach South Koreans working at defence firms to obtain information on their technologies.
“North Korea is actively training cyber personnel and infiltrating key locations worldwide,” Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP.
“Given Amazon’s business nature, the motive seems largely economic, with a high likelihood that the operation was planned to steal financial assets,” he added.
North Korea’s cyber-warfare programme dates back to at least the mid-1990s.
It has since grown into a 6,000-strong cyber unit known as Bureau 121, which operates from several countries, according to a 2020 US military report.
In November, Washington announced sanctions on eight individuals accused of being “state-sponsored hackers”, whose illicit operations were conducted “to fund the regime’s nuclear weapons programme” by stealing and laundering money.
The US Department of the Treasury has accused North Korea-affiliated cybercriminals of stealing over $3 billion over the past three years, primarily in cryptocurrency.
NAIJA NEWS
Sunday
AFCON - South African born CAF President Patrice Motsepe cowers to Infantino and his (Infantino’s) sectional cronies
CC™ PersPective
By CC™ Sports Desk
Breaking News
The South African born President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Patrice Motsepe has announced that the African Cup of Nations (AFCON), will now be played every four years after the 2028 edition.
It was also revealed that there would be two consecutive editions in 2027 and 2028, with the next edition then to be held in 2032. It is obvious that Patrice Motsepe, who has been criticized by many in African football circles for allowing undue interference in African football from FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, is again succumbing to the demands of FIFA.
The cancellation of the African Nations Championship, a tournament that was instrumental to the development of local African talent, as well the movement of the flagship AFCON tournament, seems to be geared towards placating Infantino, probably the most corrupt FIFA president in history, and the broader agenda of a section of the global football community (the Gulf and so-called Arab States), as it relates to the newly installed FIFA Club World Cup (for which the AFCON was moved this year) and the FIFA Arab Cup, just concluded, merely days before the start of the AFCON.
The creation of an African Nations League, to be implemented on an annual basis from 2028, could prove to be both a financial and logistical conundrum as well. Infantino’s uncomfortably close association with Motsepe continues to cloud any decisions made by the African football governing body under Motsepe’s leadership.
The AFCON has been a staple of the African continent for generations and unlike his predecessors who resisted any attempts to compromise the integrity and standing of the biennial African football showpiece, Motsepe has consistently done just that, including moving this years AFCON from its June 2025 schedule to accommodate Infantino’s bloated World Club Cup tournament.
More to follow.
#TotalEnergiesAFCON2025
Saturday
Full List of countries stopped by US from applying for green card, citizenship
CC™ PersPective
By Deji Komolafe - Editor-at-Large
A US government official has disclosed that the Trump administration has directed the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to suspend green card and citizenship applications filed by Nigerians and nationals of other countries newly added to the expanded US “travel ban.”
The official, speaking in a report by CBS News on Thursday, said the move is tied to national security concerns and an ongoing review of immigration vetting processes.
The development follows a proclamation signed by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, which further restricts entry into the United States for nationals from countries deemed high-risk.
The proclamation cited “demonstrated, persistent, and severe deficiencies in screening, vetting, and information-sharing” that it says pose a threat to US national security and public safety.
Among the 15 additional countries newly subjected to partial restrictions under the expanded travel ban is Nigeria.
Trump had previously, on October 31, labelled Nigeria a “country of particular concern” following allegations of Christian genocide in the country.
Below is the full list of countries revealed to be affected by the suspension of green card and citizenship applications:
Burkina Faso
Mali
Niger
South Sudan
Syria
Laos
Sierra Leone
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Benin
Côte d’Ivoire
Dominica
Gabon
Gambia
Malawi
Mauritania
Nigeria
Senegal
Tanzania
Tonga
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Afghanistan
Burundi
Chad
Cuba
Republic of the Congo
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Haiti
Iran
Libya
Myanmar
Somalia
Sudan
Togo
Turkmenistan
Yemen
Venezuela
Friday
Qatar-owned PSG and FIFA boss Gianni Infantino accused of corruption in FFP probe
CC™ PersPective
By Arab News
“FIFA boss Infantino helped PSG get around Financial Fair Play rulesAlso alleged former French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised French backing for the Qatar World Cup if the gulf state bought the Paris club.”UEFA helped Paris Saint-Germain get around their own Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, and according to a Football Leaks investigation published this weekend.
It has also been alleged that former French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani that then UEFA president Michel Platini would back the Gulf state’s bid to host the 2022 World Cup on condition of Doha buying PSG and launch BeIN Sports channel in France.
The leaks form part of a treasure trove of allegations that further undermine the credibility of the FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, who promised to clean up football’s governing body on taking over from the discredited Sepp Blatter, and the decision to award the 2022 hosting rights to Qatar.
Among the allegations it is said that Infantino, as UEFA secretary general, allowed PSG to operate with impunity regarding FFP, the body dishing out only minor penalties for violations to the Qatar-owned club, falling way short of the most severe penalty that could have been thrown at them — expulsion from the Champions League.
Infantino — despite an obligation to strict neutrality — reportedly met for secret negotiations with club bosses PSG.
Since Qatar took over Paris Saint-Germain in 2011 it has invested over €1 billion on players alone and greatly increased the budget of the capital club.
Football Leaks points the finger at PSG's five-year agreement with the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA), valued at €1.075 ($1.22 billion), or €215 million a year.
That is despite the investigation claiming that "two independent auditors assigned by UEFA valued the contract as (far less than the value ascribed by PSG).”
UEFA rules say clubs cannot spend more than they earn in any given season and deficits must fall within a €30 million limit over three seasons.
PSG were fined €60 million by UEFA in May 2014, but were told they would get €40 million back if they stuck to the terms of their settlement. This bypassed the Financial Control Panel of European football's governing body. Infantino’s proposal, it is reported, was for a "fine of €20 million instead of €60 (million).”
FIFA have blasted the claims as an attempt to "undermine the leadership" of the global body.
"It seems obvious from the 'reporting' carried out in some media outlets that there is only one particular aim — an attempt to undermine the new leadership of FIFA and, in particular, the president, Gianni Infantino, and the secretary general, Fatma Samoura,” football’s governing body said in a statement.
The under fire Infantino added: "It is always a challenge to change things, to move forward, and to bring people together in order to do things better.
"And, as we are resolutely implementing the reforms at FIFA, it was always clear to me that I would face strong opposition, especially from those who cannot anymore shamelessly profit from the system they were part of."
PSG have responded to the allegations by insisting they have "always strictly complied with all applicable laws and regulations and firmly denies the allegations published today by Mediapart.”
FIFA made no mention of the reported promise made by Sarkozy to Qatar regarding the World Cup, but it once again brings into question the decision to award the hosting of the tournament to the gulf state.
It has long been rumored that the sale of PSG to Qatar was part of a deal in which France would back the Doha bid for the 2022 tournament — something Sarkozy and then UEFA president Michel Platini have always denied.
But since the shock announcement that Qatar would be hosting the 2022 event, allegations of dirty deals and corruption have never been far away and the pressure to see the World Cup played somewhere else will likely only increase.
ArabNewsSport
Thursday
Wednesday
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