The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has allotted 43,000 seats to Nigeria for the 2022 Hajj.

Sources confirmed this to Daily Trust on Wednesday, saying the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) is working on an official statement.

About 150,000 intending pilgrims may be jostling for the seats being backlog for 2020 and 2021 and a fraction of the 2019 intending pilgrims that couldn’t perform the exercise.

There was no hajj in 2020 and 2021 following the Covid-19 pandemic, which ravaged the world with several countries locking down to contain the spread of the virus.

Therefore, some of the thousands of intending pilgrims who paid for the spiritual journey in 2020 and 2021 said they hoped to perform the hajj exercise this year in addition to those hoping to pay also.

Respite came the way of many Muslims, especially intending pilgrims around the world when the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced about 10 days ago that one million pilgrims would perform the 2022 Hajj, out of which 85 per cent would be allocated to external pilgrims while the remaining percentage would be for Saudi residents.

The one million is 50 per cent less than the usual figure of two million pilgrims that performed the exercise pre-Covid-19.

We all know that "no pain, no gain" doesn't just apply to lifting weights. If you want to get better at something or achieve a difficult goal, the process is almost certainly going to require you to get out of your comfort zone and suffer a little (or a lot).

But most of us view that discomfort as a byproduct of the process, something to expect and endure but also try to minimize. That's understandable, but it's also holding your back, a new study out of Cornell and the University of Chicago finds. If you want to maximize your success, the research shows, you shouldn't actually chase success. Instead, seek out discomfort. You'll end up reaching your goals faster.

The more awkward you feel, the faster you improve

Say, for example, you want to become a famous comedian. As a first step, you might sign up for an improv class. When you walk in the door, what should you say to yourself? Many people's first instinct would be to give themselves a pep talk about trying to be as funny or creative as possible. That's the end goal after all.

But when researchers actually invited 557 volunteers to show up at a beginner improv class, those who were told to try to make themselves feel awkward and uncomfortable actually performed better and were more persistent than those who just aimed to do well in the class.

Intriguing, you might think, but what does that have to do with me? Of course comics have to get used to feeling like fools. Sorry to break it to you, but so do entrepreneurs.

The research team also conducted a series of follow-up experiments. Whether study participants were studying current events or completing a writing task, those who were told to seek out discomfort ended up doing better at whatever task they were given.

"Overall, the results suggest that we should seek out the feelings of awkwardness or discomfort that are often associated with personal growth, and interpret them as signs of progress towards our goals," says the British Psychological Society's Research Digest blog summing up the results. Or, put simply, whether you're a comic, an entrepreneur, or an aspiring writer, aiming for awkwardness will help you improve faster than focusing on mastery alone.

Art and science agree

The BPS blog points out that, while this research is compelling, it only captures a snapshot in time. Do those who seek out discomfort persist and excel over the long haul, or does all the awkwardness burn them out before they can reach their goals? 

This study can't answer that question. But there are reasons to expect that seeking out discomfort might be a winning strategy in life as well as short-term lab experiments.

There is a famous anecdote from the art world that lines up perfectly with this new research. The story goes that a professor at an art school once told half his ceramics class they would be graded on the quantity of work they produced. The other half wre told they would be graded on the quality of their finest piece.

Who did better, the students instructed to produce tons of wonky bowls and lopsided mugs or those told to chase excellence? Those who created more, probably embarrassing work outperformed those who aimed to create a masterwork. Embracing awkwardness won out over focusing on success.

"It seems that while the 'quantity' group was busily churning out piles of work -- and learning from their mistakes -- the 'quality' group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay," the authors of the book that popularized this story explain.

Those who embrace the messy, frustrating process of getting better put in more practice than those who focus on success. Therefore they get better faster. That's why many artists advise those learning their craft to just accept the fact that they will suck at first (their word choice, not mine) and actively try to create bad art.

Science and art seem to be in agreement. If you have audacious goals or are trying to master something difficult, be that ceramics or starting a business, actively seek out the frustration and embarrassment of being bad at your chosen pursuit. Those unpleasant feelings mean you're doing and learning, and it's only by doing and learning that you actually improve.

All Progressives Congress (APC) has released its primary election timetable for various public offices ahead of the 2023 elections.

The timetable was released by the party after its national executive committee (NEC) meeting on Wednesday in Abuja.

The party’s presidential candidates are expected to pay N100 million to buy the nomination form while the governorship candidates will pay N50 million.

The price of nomination form for state house of assembly was pegged at N2 million while the house of representatives is N10 million and the senate is N20 million.

According to the schedule, a notice of election to state chapters would commence on April 22.

The party said the sale of forms for the various public offices will begin from April 23 to May 6.

It said the congress to elect state and national delegates would be held between May 7 and 9.

The ruling party said aspirants for the state house of assembly and governorship will be screened on May 12.

Those aspiring to hold seats in the house of representatives and senate will be screened on May 17 and those seeking to clinch the party’s presidential ticket will be screened on May 23.

The party said it will screen aspirants for positions of state house of assembly and governorship on May 14.

The primaries for governorship, state house of assembly, house of representatives, and senate will be held on May 18, 20, 22, and 24 respectively.

No date has been fixed for the presidential primary election.

Posters with messages urging former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan to join the 2023 presidential race have flooded major streets in Abuja, the capital city. 

The posters simply say, “Goodluck Jonathan: You Must Run”.

The posters are on major streets but mostly concentrated on Blantyre Street in Wuse 2 District, where the national secretariat of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is located, Leadership reports.

The posters, however, do not bear the logo or name of any political party or group.

Since there is no provision for independent candidacy in the Electoral Act 2022, the former President will have to join a political party if he chooses to contest.

His spokesman, Ikechukwu Eze, disassociated the former president from the posters but said Jonathan had been getting inquiries on whether or not he would contest the 2023 presidential election, and on what platform.

“We are not in any way associated with any campaign poster. Should His Excellency former President Goodluck Jonathan choose to contest, he is eminently qualified to do so.

“After all, in 2015, nobody advised Goodluck Jonathan before he called to concede defeat and congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari. In like manner, nobody should talk of influencing the former president to run or not to run.

“If he’s going to run or not, it’s a question of time and shall be his personal decision. It is within the rights of people to pressure him to run. But it is also within his own right to run or not. The fact remains that he is very constitutionally qualified to run,” Eze stated.

SaharaReporters on March 31 reported that Jonathan had rejected some of the conditions given to him by members of the Aso Rock (Presidency) cabal to get the 2023 presidential automatic ticket of the ruling APC.

One of the conditions was that Jonathan must officially defect to the APC with some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors in the South-South and South-East regions.

The cabal, comprising some members of President Muhammadu Buhari’s extended family and friends, are the powers behind the throne.

This group is said to have the ears of the President, influence policy-making and determine those who get major appointments.

Sources said the former President rejected the conditions and told the cabal he did not have interest in the 2023 presidency again.

His response, it was gathered, embarrassed the cabal members who described the former President as a traitor.

“They are now accusing Jonathan of not fulfilling some of his promises after all the several meetings and soft-landing given to him.

“He was to come on board by converting some PDP states in the South-South and South-East to APC, and that way he would get the automatic ticket uncontested. Some other conditions were also given to him.

“But guess what? He told them he won’t contest again. They are now angry, saying he was deceitful. They said after getting some of his seized monies back, his wife’s monies returned to him, he finally decided not to contest,” a top source had disclosed.

"Members of the ‘Aso Rock cabal’ had promised Jonathan the 2023 presidential ticket of the ruling APC", the sources said.

It was also reported that the cabal members had warned the President against handing over to the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo and Bola Tinubu, the national leader of the party.

President Muhammadu Buhari has hosted governors of the 36 states of the federation, security chiefs and heads of para-military organisations to Iftar dinner at the State House, Abuja, on Tuesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that some of the presidential guests had earlier joined the president in performing the Magrib prayer at the Aso Villa Mosque before the commencement of the breaking of the fast.

The president had hosted the leadership of the nation’s judiciary to Iftar dinner on Thursday.

At the event, Buhari pledged that the executive arm of the government would continue to respect the judiciary within the boundaries laid out in the Constitution to strengthen the country’s democracy.

Buhari had on March 29 met behind closed doors with security chiefs after the terrorist attack on a Kaduna- bound train.

The train was conveying about 970 passengers from Abuja to Kaduna at about 7.45 p.m. on the fateful day.

Those at the meeting with the President included all service chiefs, Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba and Director-General of the State Security Services, Yusuf Bichi.

An aircraft belonging to the Nigerian Air Force has crashed in Kaduna State.

Details of the incident are still sketchy, but sources said the pilots of the ill-fated aircraft were killed in the incident.

A source within the force confirmed the development to Daily Trust.

According to the source, the deceased pilots were on training session at NAF base in Kaduna when the incident happened.

“It is sad that we’ve again lost two of our fine officers. May God rest their souls,” he said.

Spokesman of Nigerian Air Force, Edward Gabkwet, an Air Commodore, could not be reached as calls to his mobile did not connect.

He had yet to reply a text message sent to his mobile phone or issued a statement as at when filing this report last night.

The accident happened less than one year after a NAF aircraft crashed in Kaduna.

The incident, which occurred in May 2021, involved a Beechcraft 350, and the aircraft crashed around the Kaduna international airport.

A former Chief of Army Staff, Ibrahim Attahiru and 10 other military officers who were on board when the plane crashed, were killed.

Attahiru was said to be on his way to Kaduna to attend a passing-out parade for army recruits.

African start-ups attracted a record $5.2 billion in venture capital last year, bouncing back from a pandemic-induced dip in 2020 with a nearly five-fold increase in investments, according to data released by an industry group on Tuesday and reported by Reuters.

The success of companies like Nigeria's Paystack, acquired in 2020 by U.S. payments firm Stripe, and fellow fintech Flutterwave, valued at over $3 billion, has fuelled international interest in up-and-coming businesses on the continent.

"African startups raised more in 2021 alone than the preceding seven years combined," the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA), which promotes private investment on the continent, wrote in a report.

Much of the investor focus has been on fintech start-ups seeking to meet the needs of the continent's largely unbanked population. The data compiled by AVCA showed the financial sector accounted for 60% of the investments by value and nearly a third of deals by volume.

Nigeria, a hotbed of new fintech firms, was the leading destination for venture capital in Africa last year, surpassing South Africa, the continent's most developed economy.

Most venture capital deals were concentrated in early-stage funding rounds. However, late-stage funding ballooned in 2021, including a nearly 40-fold increase in financing raised by Series C fundraising rounds.

Fintechs Chipper Cash, MFS Africa, Yoco, and OPay together raised $833 million via Series C funding rounds.

While deals of less than $1 million represented nearly a third of transactions by volume, those worth over $50 million accounted for 62% of the total value of venture capital financing in Africa last year.

Federal Government says the National Theatre in Iganmu, Lagos State, which is under renovation, will be known as Lagos Creative and Entertainment Center, upon completion, according to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN.

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, disclosed this on Tuesday in Madrid, Spain while signing an agreement on Nigeria’s hosting of first Global Conference on Cultural Tourism and Creative Industry.

The bilateral agreement was signed between Nigeria and United Nations World Tourism Organisation at the organisation’s headquarters.

Mohammed disclosed that the global conference, which would hold from November 14 to 17, would be the first event to be staged at the newly refursbished edifice.

“Nigeria will be hosting the event at the National Theatre in Lagos, which is currently being renovated at a cost of 100 million dollars under a partnership between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Bankers’ Committee/Central Bank of Nigeria.

“It is the first of such renovation of the iconic edifice in over four decades.

“In addition to the renovation, new hubs are being constructed, within the premises of the National theatre, for fashion, Information, technology, film and music.

“With that, the National Theatre is now known as the Lagos Creative and Entertainment Centre.

“In addition, the Lagos surface rail system to serve the National Theatre will be commissioned ahead of the Global Conference,” he said

Mohammed said the signing of the bilateral agreement signified Nigeria’s commitment to host the event.

He, therefore, directed that the contractors handling the reconstruction project must ensure its prompt delivery for the global event.

The minister added that in an effort to ensure that the complex is ready for the hosting in November, he recently undertook an inspection tour of ongoing work there with stakeholders.

The stakeholders on the inspection tour, according to the minister, were Lagos Governor, Babajide Sanwoolu; Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele and Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Sunday Dare.

According to the minister, there was every indication that the venue will be ready early enough to host the global conference.

Nigeria Ambassador to Spain, Ademola Seriki, who said he is a member of Board of Directors of the company handling the reconstruction project, said the edifice would be completed before the global event.

Seriki, who accompanied the minister to the bilateral agreement signing ceremony, thanked the UNWTO for giving Nigeria the right to host the maiden global conference.

He said the conference would bring a huge reputation to the country and assert Nigeria’s lead in music, theatre and other areas of entertainment in Africa.

The National Theatre, an iconic centre for performing arts, was established to preserve, present and promote arts and culture in Nigeria.

Construction of the monument was completed in 1976 in preparation for the Festival of Arts and Culture hosted in 1977.

There was panic at Ungwan Bulus in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State as bandits killed three of the 26 villagers abducted on March 21, 2022, the Daily Trust reports.

After abducting them, the bandits had demanded N20 million ransom for each of the captives.

The bandits executed three of the victims on Monday night, threatening to kill more by 12 noon on Tuesday if their demands were not met.

‎The Chief of Ungwan Bulus, Gideon Haruna Goni who confirmed the killing of the three victims‎ said the bandits called the community to inform that they should pick the corpses around Dutse Community along the Kaduna-Abuja highway.

The Chief said the corpses had been retrieved, adding that the bandits said if the family failed to pay N20 million each for other captives before 12pm on Tuesday (April 19, 2022), the remaining victims would be killed.

“We came together as a community, raised some amount and they called us and told us to pick corpses of victims from Dutse. They threatened to kill more, especially women, if their demands are not met. 26 were abducted, one was released, three were killed,” he said.

He explained that the person, who was released was considered on health grounds.

The chief, who appealed to the abductors not to kill any of the victims, pleaded with the state and federal government to come to their aid.

‎State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Jalige Mohammed, didn’t pick his calls as at the time of filing this report.

Three persons have been killed, while several others sustained injuries in an explosion that occurred in Iware community of Taraba state, the Cable reports.

The incident occurred on Tuesday at a drinking spot within the Iware cattle market axis.

Usman Abdullahi, Taraba police spokesperson, who confirmed the incident, said the explosion is suspected to have been caused by an improvised explosive device (IED).

“Three people were killed in the explosion, while 19 people were injured,” he said.

“The explosion is suspected to have been caused by an improvised explosive device which detonated at the market area.

“You know the history. Iware is a prominent market that has about three markets. We have the cattle market, where cattle and other animals are sold, and we have another market where people sell and buy grains and other stuff.

“We also have an attached market at the outskirts of the town which is where the locals drink. The unfortunate accident happened at the joint market where people were busy drinking.”

He added that an investigation into the incident has begun, while security operatives have been deployed to the area.

Meanwhile, the development comes days after gunmen attacked a mosque in Maisamari community in Sardauna LGA of Taraba and killed Abdulkadir Sufiyanu, the district head.

Days before the attack on the mosque in Maisamari, several residents were kidnapped when gunmen invaded a mosque in Bali Jali village of Taraba state as worshippers were breaking their fast.