SHOCKER: 85-Year-Old Paul Biya Wins Cameroon's Presidential Election For 7th Term

The incumbent President of Cameroon, Mr. Paul Biya has once again emerged the winner of the country's presidential polls towards serving his seventh term bid as President of Cameroon.

The 85-year-old politician emerged winner of the poll on Monday, 22nd October 2018 after he won 71.3 per cent of total votes, according to official results.

Rostrum gathered that there were calls by the opposition over the weekend for a re-run of the election, but the Constitutional Council rejected the move.

Major cities were under heavy security on Sunday to ward off any attempt to protest the eventual declaration of the results.

 

It would be recalled that Mr. Biya has been in power for more than 35 years, historically emerging the highest serving leader on the African continent.

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BREAKING: China Set To Launch Artificial Moon

 
The night skies might soon have company as Chinese scientists are frantically planning to launch an artificial moon into orbit by 2020 to illuminate city streetlights during dark hours.

Rostrum gathered that scientists are hoping to hang the manmade moon above the city of Chengdu, the capital of China’s southwestern Sichuan province, according to a report in Chinese state media. The imitation celestial body — essentially an illuminated satellite — will bear a reflective coating to cast sunlight back to Earth, where it will supplement streetlights at night.

Scientists estimated that it could be eight times more luminous than the actual, original moon. It will also orbit much closer to Earth; about 500 km (310 miles) away, compared to the moon’s 380,000 km (236,000 miles).

But the ambitious plan still wouldn’t “light up the entire night sky,” Mr. Wu Chunfeng, Chief of the Tian Fu New Area Science Society, told newsmen . “Its expected brightness, in the eyes of humans, is around one-fifth of normal streetlights.”

 

Mr. Chunfeng estimated that new moons could save the city of Chengdu around 1.2 billion yuan ($173 million) in electricity costs annually, and could even assist first responders during blackouts and natural disasters. "If the project proves successful, it could be joined by three more additions to the night sky in 2022," he disclosed.

"But much more testing needs to be done," Mr. Chunfeng further hinted, "to ensure the plan is viable and will not have a detrimental effect on the natural environment."

“We will only conduct our tests in an uninhabited desert, so our light beams will not interfere with any people or Earth-based space observation equipment,” he landed.

However, China’s space goals are not unprecedented. It would be recalled that in the 1990s, Russia experimented with using an orbital mirror to reflect sunlight on some of its sun-deprived northern cities. The project was abandoned in 1999 after the mirror failed to unfold and was incinerated in the atmosphere.

Similarly, in January 2018, American firm Rocket Lab launched an Artificial Star into space. But scientists criticized the “Humanity Star,” as the reflective mini-satellite was dubbed, for contributing to artificial light pollution and cluttering in Earth’s orbit.

 

Remain on ROSTRUM for more on "China Set To Launch Artificial Moon".

SHOCKER: We're Still Struggling to Pay N18,000 Minimum Wage ------ Governors

The Nigeria's governors have cried fowl over their unpreparedness to pay the new workers' minimum wage being agitated by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC).

The states' bosses who spoke under the auspices of Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) said its member are still struggling to pay the current minimum wage of N18,000.
 
The governors stated, however, they were not against the upward review of the minimum wage, but that the ability of states to pay must be considered.

Chairman of the Forum, who is also the Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara, said this while briefing journalists after the meeting of the governors held in Abuja on Wednesday night.
National President of Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, was also at the meeting.

Yari said that the issue was not just on agreed figure to be paid by the governors, but the “ability or resources to take care of that agreed minimum wage.”

According to him, the forum had made it clear that the governors were not against any upward review of salaries or against the NLC to get minimum wage reviewed.

He said, “But, the problem of state is the capacity to pay what is agreed. As we are talking today, we are (still) struggling with N18,000. Some of the states are paying 35 per cent, some 50 per cent and still some states have salary arrears. So, it is not about only reviewing it but how we are going to get the resources to cater for it.”

The governor stated that Wabba was invited to brief the forum on states performance in the use of London and Paris Club refunds.

Rostrum gathered that the Federal Government (FG) disbursed the fund to states with the condition to use a larger percentage of the money to pay workers’ salaries.

He said while some states had recorded some progress in line with the condition they signed with the FG, others were still owing arrears.

According to him, “So, we invited the National President of NLC to give us details on how some states performed. Some other states that are not up to date, where are they.

“So they have signed Memorandum of Understanding with the NLC at the national level and their representative in states on when they are going to overcome the issue of salary arrears. That has been done and it has been taken to the Central Bank Governor to ensure that those states were also paid.”