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Online platform X could introduce a monthly fee for all users, its owner Elon Musk said Monday, citing the need to cut down on bots.

The tech tycoon has made multiple changes since taking over the site for $44 billion in October last year when it was known as Twitter.

He has fired thousands of employees, introduced a paid premium option, cut content moderation and reinstated formerly banned accounts including that of former US president Donald Trump.

He said in July the platform had lost roughly half its advertising revenue.

Bots — accounts run by computer programs rather than humans — are common on X, where they can be used to artificially amplify political messages or racial hatred.

During a talk with Musk on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised the question of online anti-Semitism, and how X could “prevent the use of bots — armies of bots — to replicate and amplify it.”

Musk replied that the company was “moving to having a small monthly payment for use of the X system.”

“It’s the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots,” he said.

“Because a bot costs a fraction of a penny — call it a tenth of a penny — but if somebody even has to pay a few dollars, some minor amount, the effective cost of bots is very high.

“And then you also have to get a new payment method every time you have a new bot.”

The conversation, which was broadcast on X, came as the Tesla tycoon is mired in a row with the Anti-Defamation League, a US-based Jewish organization.

Musk has accused the ADL of making unfounded accusations of anti-Semitism that have scared away advertisers and hurt his company’s revenue, and has threatened to sue for billions of dollars.

A privately owned radio broadcast station, Fresh FM 106.9 FM, in Ekiti State, has banned the airplay of all songs and contents under the banner of Naira Marley’s Marlian Records till further notice following the sudden death of his former label signee, Mohbad. 

It was disclosed in a statement signed by its Head of production and Music Content, Oluwaseunfunmi Williams.

This comes after a radio broadcast station, Splash FM 105.5 Ibadan, Oyo state, banned the playing of songs by Naira, citing the ongoing investigation into the mysterious death of his former label signee, Mohbad. 

Mohbad, a former signee of Naira Marley at Marlian Records, died at the age of 27 last Tuesday under mysterious circumstances.

On Monday, the Nigerian police force set up a special investigative team to probe the death of Mohbad and is expected to submit an interim report within two weeks.

Dolly Parton’s plan to let Elvis Presley cover her song ‘I Will Always Love You’ fell apart following a row with his manager Colonel Tom Parker.

The 77-year-old country superstar has revealed she was talking to Elvis about letting him record his own version of the ballad because he loved the track and even sang it to his wife Priscilla after they got divorced, but Dolly says the deal was canned after the singer’s controversial manager tried to force her to sign over the publishing rights to him.

During an appearance on BBC Radio 2 , Dolly explained: “I wouldn’t let Colonel Tom Parker [have the rights to the song]. Elvis loved it. I talked to Priscilla not very long ago – she said: ‘Elvis sang it to me when we were on the courthouse steps after we got divorced.’

“He loved the song and wanted to do it. Had it worked up. They’d already called me to come down to the studio and to hear part of the song.”
However, a phone call from Parker changed everything. Dolly went on: “But then Colonel Tom Parker, called me the afternoon before the session and said ‘You do know we have to have at least half the publishing on any song that Elvis records?’ And I said ‘No, I did not know that’. He said ‘Well, it’s just a rule’. So I said ‘Well, it’s not my rule’… This is the most important copyright in my whole publishing company, and I can’t do that.”

The singer confessed she was “heartbroken” and burst into tears because she was so upset.

Dolly added: “I cried all night long, ’cause I was so disappointed. It wasn’t Elvis, I loved Elvis. And I’m sure he was as disappointed as I was because he had it all worked up and ready to go. I know he loved the song.”

The track has been covered by stars including Linda Ronstadt and LeAnn Rimes over the years, but it was Whitney Houston’s 1992 version that turned the track into a global sensation.

The wife of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Taiwo, has begged all Yoruba worldwide to forgive her husband over his statement at Iseyin, Oyo state during Friday’s inauguration of projects executed by the state Governor, Seyi Makinde.

Taiwo, in a statement on Sunday, titled, “Oyo Kings: A plea for forgiveness”, begged, “for permanent and eternal forgiveness and pardon from all Yoruba sons and daughters worldwide, fathers and mothers, youths, teenagers and children, Christians, Muslims, traditional worshippers, all leaders in Yoruba land and the Council of Kings in Yoruba land.”

While begging the traditional rulers to not “avenge on any of us the misdeeds of Daddy Obasanjo”,  Taiwo said she was appealing with humility as a mother.

The statement reads; “This is my own personal stand on the manner Chief Olusegun Obasanjo addressed the Kings at Iseyin at the road inauguration by Governor Makinde of Oyo State on Friday, September 15, 2023.

“As a legitimate member of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s family, l will like to state publicly worldwide and privately that the manner in which Daddy Obasanjo addressed the monarchs is not acceptable to God, to the Yoruba race and to the throne of Kingship and it must not be repeated again by any leader in Yoruba land.

“Daddy Obasanjo should not have treated the kings with open contempt and humiliation in order to correct them and reveal their secret that they bow for him privately. It is not good at all. It is too humiliating.

“Protocols could have corrected them privately and respectfully, humbly with love and friendliness. The only person that is infallible is God. God Himself is known as the King of kings and mortals too speak up to God when there is a misunderstanding of His intent. An example was when God in annoyance wanted to destroy the Israelites in the wilderness, Moses had to speak up and beg God not to destroy them. Another example was when Cain after killing his brother Abel, God pronounced terrible judgment on Cain but Cain pleaded with God that the punishment was too much and unbearable for him, that anyone who sees him will kill him.

“God listened to Cain’s appeal despite his horrible act of murdering his brother… etc There are many examples in the Bible of men speaking up to God, but they spoke not in arrogance or self-justification but in humility and remorse. God Himself sent his priest to King David privately to correct him with respect on his error when he killed Bathsheba’s husband. God didn’t humiliate King David because of his error and because He is Almighty God, God still accorded respect and honour to a mortal king he created and crowned when he erred.

“Monarchy is an institution God Himself established before any political government came up to manage the affairs of men.

“I want to publicly state here that on behalf of the family, the children, the wives, the grandchildren, and all members of the family of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, l am offering a big and genuine apology both spiritual and physical to all the kings of Oyo State, all the kings of Yoruba land and the entire Yoruba race both in Nigeria and Diaspora.

“Please, l beg for permanent and eternal forgiveness and pardon from all Yoruba sons and daughters worldwide, fathers and mothers, youths, teenagers and children, Christians, Muslims, traditional worshippers, all leaders in Yoruba land, and the Council of Kings in Yoruba land. Please l humbly appeal with all humility don’t avenge on any of us the misdeeds of Daddy Obasanjo.

“I am a full Yoruba woman married to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo for over 40 years and l have two children for him both male and female. I am a grandmother. I do not support the humiliating treatment of the kings of Oyo State by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Let history bear my record that l came out to apologize to the Oyo kings and Yoruba land on behalf of the family of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo”.

Obasanjo who was a special guest of honour had chastised some Yoruba traditional rulers at the event for not standing up to accord him respect as a former president. He consequently ordered them to stand up and recognize his presence.

“Please, please, all of you, the traditional rulers, I greet you. Thank you for your presence. But, let me say something. Anywhere there is a Governor or President, no traditional ruler, has to stand up and greet the governor or the President. Stand up, sit down.

“Please in the Yoruba land, we respect two things: age and position. The governor’s position is superior to that of any king in as much as he is a governor. When I was a president, I prostrated for kings openly. But indoors, the king would bow down for me. Let us respect our culture,” he had admonished.

The development has however drawn the ire of stakeholders including the Yoruba Council Worldwide, the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdurosheed Akanbi and others who have asked him to apologize within three days or face the consequences.

Recall, Obasanjo who was a special guest of honour had chastised some Yoruba traditional rulers at the event for not standing up to accord him respect as a former president, while he ordered them to stand up and recognize his presence.

The issue has sparked anger among stakeholders such as the Yoruba Council Worldwide and Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdurosheed Akanbi, along with others. They have demanded an apology from him within a three-day period, or else they threaten there will be repercussions.

A school-turned-residential building in the Ketu area of Lagos partially collapsed on Sunday.

The building housing over 800 rooms with hundreds of residents known as Agboye Estate on Oduntan Street, Ketu, first caved in on Saturday afternoon following hours of rainfall that greeted most parts of Lagos.

On Sunday afternoon, as residents were still trying to salvage their belongings, the building crumbled again, destroying another structure inside the compound before collapsing completely.

It was learnt that two persons are battling for life at a private hospital.

Edo State deputy governor, Comrade Philip Shaibu, was on Monday morning, locked out of his office at the Dennis Osadebey Avenue seat of power in Benin City, Edo State capital.

Shaibu got to his office and met a chain and heavy padlock at the entrance.

The embattled deputy governor and his aides waited for about one hour and thereafter left.
Shaibu also made frantic phone calls to his principal, Governor Andrew Obaseki, but to no avail.

Sources revealed that Shaibu had some discussions with the State’s Commissioner of Police and the Director of State Security Services (DSS), alerting them of how he was locked out of his office.

He was said to have summoned the Government House camp commandant, SP Ibrahim Babatunde, and asked him why he was locked out of his office and a senior Police officer said it was a directive from above, adding that the Chief Security Officer (CSO) in the Government House, Wabba Williams, will be in a better position to explain.

Shaibu made calls to Williams and promised to come but never showed up all through the waiting Shaibu at the gate.

“Up till now, I don’t have any official communication that I should relocate. The only people that have official communication are my civil servants. The civil servants have official communication but I don’t. As I am speaking to you now, I am standing by the gate,” he said while on a phone call to a yet-to-be-identified person.

Last week, a letter said to be from the office of the Head of Service, Anthony Okungbowa, was reported to have been sent to the Permanent Secretary, Office of the Deputy Governor, directing Shuaibu to relocate to a new office situated at No 7, Dennis Osadebey Avenue, GRA, Benin City.

About two weeks ago, a signboard sprang up at the former State Procurement Office, showing the Deputy Governor’s workplace some few meters away from the Government House, but Shaibu insisted that he was not informed of the development..

Three people have been reported deceased in the towns of Gangere, Rikkos, Bauchi Road, and Eto-Baba in Jos North Local Government as a result of a downpour that lasted for many hours on Sunday and Monday.

Eugene Nyenlong, the National Emergency Management Agency’s Zonal Coordinator, who confirmed the occurrence, claimed his organization received a distress call informing them that three people had perished in the water.

Nyenlong revealed that NEMA and other stakeholders would visit the impacted communities to evaluate the situation.

He said, “As I speak to you, we are moving to the scene with other stakeholders to have an on the spot assessment of the disaster, and also carry out advocacy visits.

“From the information before us, three persons have lost their lives from the flood that has become a recurring decimal in those areas.

“I appeal to the Plateau State Government to take stringent measures to ensure that the people vacate the flood prone areas.

“If the people do not want to move out permanently, they can vacate the areas during rainy season and return during dry season.”

He claimed that a stream connecting the communities makes them vulnerable to flooding.

In addition, he pointed out that the areas’ drainage infrastructure was subpar aside from the river.

They were en route to the affected communities, according to Sunday Abdu, the Executive Secretary of the Plateau State Emergency Agency.

Abdu claimed that following an immediate assessment, the organization will know the best course of action.

The state’s APC chapter in Ondo has vowed to punish Mr. Olumide Awolumate, the party’s ward chairman in Akoko North-West Local Government Area, for allegedly assaulting Mrs. Juliana Osadahun, the state’s commissioner for woman affairs and social development.

During the distribution of painkillers in Arigidi Akoko on Sunday, the embattled chairman was captured on camera fighting with the commissioner and allegedly causing damage on his head.

The party’s state chairman, Mr. Ade Adetimehin, expressed resentment over the alleged attack on the commissioner in a Monday interview with Newsmen on the incident and said the party would meet to discuss it today (Monday).

He said, ” We don’t tolerate indiscipline in our party. The erring chairman would be suspended for being involved in such a public, embarrassing act.

“I have directed the party chairman in the local government to bring everybody to Akure today (Monday) and we will deliberate and appropriate sanction will be meted out where necessary. But, the ward chairman would be suspended.”

Princess Oluwatosin Ajirotutu, the deputy majority leader of the Ondo State House of Assembly, also denounced the alleged assault on the commissioner. She urged the state police command to detain and charge the APC leader.

The legislator said, “It is displeasing and barbaric to have viewed a video clip that surfaced and has caused pandemonium in the media space and Arigidi in Akoko Northwest of Ondo State following the directive of Ondo State Government on subsidy palliatives distribution across the state.

“The action of Mr. Awolumate Olumide on Hon. Adebunmi Osadahun is condemned and he should be arrested and made to face maximum disciplinary sanction by the Ondo State Commissioner of Police while the Attorney General of Ondo State should prosecute Mr. Olumide immediately.

“Assault on womenfolk should not be tolerated in any part of Ondo State and the country. Women deserve our caring in every situation because of their sensitive roles in society.”

The death toll from catastrophic flooding in Libya’s eastern city of Derna has climbed to 11,300, the United Nations said in an update on Saturday, citing the Libyan Red Crescent.

Another 10,100 people are still missing in the devastated city, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said, using Red Crescent figures.

Elsewhere in eastern Libya outside Derna, the flooding took an additional 170 lives, the update said.

“These figures are expected to rise as search-and-rescue crews work tirelessly to find survivors,” the UN update said.

Nearly a week after Storm Daniel hit northeastern Libya, “the humanitarian situation remains particularly grim in Derna,” the update said.

Severe drinking water problems have gripped the city, and at least 55 children were poisoned from drinking polluted water, it said.

In surrounding areas, most of which have seen years of armed conflict, the UN warned of the dangers of landmines shifting from floodwaters, threatening civilians who enter on foot.
-AFP

A socio-cultural group, Yoruba Council Worldwide, has issued a three-day ultimatum to former President Olusegun Obasanjo to apologize for “showing disrespect” to Oyo monarchs.

Obasanjo had ordered Oyo traditional rulers to stand up in his respect while speaking at an event in Iseyin on Friday.

The Yoruba socio-cultural group, in a statement on Saturday, criticized Obasanjo for “desecrating” the Yoruba cultural heritage, norms, tradition, and values.

It threatened to mobilize all market women, youths, and leaders of thought to protest against Obasanjo.

The group said if the former leader failed to apologize, he would “face untold traditional and legal reprisal consequences, not limited to filing an action at a court of competent jurisdiction for defamation and scandalous libel”.

In addition, the group called for stripping Obasanjo of all chieftaincy titles conferred on him by any Yoruba monarch.

While also lamenting the recent “barrage of monumental embarrassment, ridicule and brazen abuse” of Yoruba monarchs, the group said the most shocking was the one committed by Obasanjo in Iseyin, Oyo State, when he commanded the monarchs to stand “like schoolboys”.

The group said the act was the “biggest bombshell taboo” in the history of Yorubaland and perhaps the most disturbing sacrilege as Obasanjo addressed the monarchs as if they were toddlers.

It was a “most disparaging, most distressing and disrespectful” act against the monarchs, said the Yoruba group, in a statement signed by its president, Aare Oba Oladotun Hassan, and Secretary, Siyanbade Adekanmbi.

“On this note, we wish to set the records straight that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is no longer the President of Nigeria, and he should stop parading himself deceitfully and impersonating or creating a scenario to command such ill-motivated authority.

“We have seen Omoluabi President Bola Ahmed Tinubu accord high-level respect during his recent visits to the Awujale of Ijebu Land, Oba Sikiru Adetona and Alake’s Palace, as well as Governors like Hon. Abiodun Abayomi Oyebanji of Ekiti State prostrate before Kings and Elders.

“This standard practice should be emulated and not the disrespectful manner done by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the Former President of Nigeria.”

The group then urged President Tinubu to call Obasanjo to order.