A number of schools in a Utah district, United States of America, removed the King James Version of the Bible from some library bookshelves after a parent frustrated by efforts to ban materials from schools convinced a committee the Good Book contained “vulgar” or “violent” content for younger children, officials said Friday.

The Davis School District—a public system with about 72,000 students—has largely pulled the Bible from its elementary and middle schools, but has decided to keep the book in circulation in high school libraries.

In a copy of the parent’s complaint reviewed by NBC News, they said their effort to ban the Bible was in protest against a 2022 state law that made it easier to remove “pornographic or indecent” content from schools.

“I thank the Utah Legislature and Utah Parents United for making this bad faith process so much easier and way more efficient,” the parent said in the complaint. “Now we can all ban books and you don’t even need to read them or be accurate about it. Heck, you don’t even need to see the book!”

The parent, whose identity is redacted in the complaint, expressed concern in an eight-page list that the religious text contains objectionable verses about incest, prostitution, and rape.

“Incest, onanism, bestiality, prostitution, genital mutilation, fellatio, dildos, rape, and even infanticide,” the parent wrote. “You’ll no doubt find that the Bible, under Utah Code Ann. § 76-10-1227, has ‘no serious values for minors’ because it’s pornographic by our new definition.”

The parent’s challenge to the school board was first reported in March. As per the Utah Code, indecent content includes explicit sexual arousal, stimulation, masturbation, intercourse, sodomy, or fondling, according to Justia.

Christopher Williams, a Davis School District spokesperson, said the decision to remove the Bible will take immediate effect, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

The review committee—which is made up of teachers, parents, and administrators in the largely conservative community—determined the Bible didn’t qualify under Utah’s definition of what’s pornographic or indecent, which is why it will remain in high schools, Williams said. The committee can make its own decisions under the 2022 state law and has applied different standards based on students’ ages in response to multiple challenges, he added.

The committee published its decision about the Bible in an online database of review requests and did not elaborate on its reasoning or which passages it found overly violent or vulgar.

Meanwhile, an unnamed party appealed the committee’s decision on Wednesday, Williams said. The matter will be discussed by a three-member committee of the district’s Board of Education before the full panel finally decides. Should the panel decide the Bible is appropriate, then the book will be returned to schools in the district.

Congressman Responds

Utah state Rep. Ken Ivory, a Republican who sponsored the state’s book ban bill, criticized the parent’s challenge in March, saying: “It’s a backhanded slap to parents that are simply trying to keep a healthy learning environment for all students in the schools. I have every confidence that no school district is going to consider The Bible as violating 76-10-1227.”

In light of the school district’s determination to limit access to the King James Version of the Bible to high school-aged students, Ivory called upon officials to “immediately and thoroughly review” the age appropriateness of all instructional materials in K-12 schools throughout Utah.

“With this determination, the Davis school district has now set the floor for the standard by which age-appropriate, sensitive, obscene, and indecent materials must immediately be reviewed, and if determined to not be age-appropriate, removed from all schools in the Davis district and throughout the state!” Ivory said in a lengthy statement on Friday.

“By this standard, every material that is equal to, or more violent, sensitive, obscene, indecent, or vulgar, must be removed immediately from all schools in classrooms and libraries throughout the K-12 schools in Utah,” he added.

The school district’s determination comes as concerned parents and conservative activists have descended on school boards and statehouses throughout the United States to sound the alarm about sensitive issues that are being taught in public schools today.

Parents who have pushed for more say in their children’s education and the curriculum and materials available in schools have argued that they should control how their children are taught about sensitive matters such as race and gender.

Epoch Times

If you've been truly hurt by someone, it can be hard to forgive. But there is new research that shows forgiveness may just free up more space in your life for happiness.

Everett Worthington has decades of experience studying forgiveness as a clinical psychologist. He is the co-author of a recent study that shows forgiving others may lead to improved mental health and well-being. 

"There are a lot of benefits to the person who forgives," Worthington says.

"The main way that forgiveness affects mental health is by lowering rumination," which is playing things over and over again in our minds, he adds.

Every time a person experiences rumination, it stresses them out more.

"As we forgive, we get a certain amount of closure on that incident, and that closure dampens down that rumination," he says.

Worthington's study included more than 4,500 participants from five different countries.

During the experiment, half of the participants completed exercises in a workbookthat teaches tools of forgiveness, and after two weeks, they experienced less symptoms of depression and anxiety than those who didn't do the exercises.

The research hasn't been peer-reviewed just yet, but the framework of the workbook is pretty simple and can be used to help you get started on the road to forgiveness.

The REACH model for forgiveness

The workbook participants used in the study relies on a five-step model for forgiveness that Worthington created. It's called REACH. 

The five steps of the REACH model are:

Recall the hurt: Try to think about the hurt without focusing on potentially negative outcomes in the future, says Worthington.

Empathize with the person: Attempt to empathize with the person who hurt you. "Some hurts, they're just horrendous that we just can't get into the shoes of the other person and empathize. In that case, [try] other emotions like feeling sorry for them, sympathy for them or compassion towards them," he says.

Altruistic gift: "Give an altruistic gift," of forgiveness because it's a choice. "No one deserves forgiveness because they hurt me," he says. It's an unselfish gift that we choose to give, he notes.

Commit: Decide to commit to the forgiveness you've given the other person.

Hold onto your forgiveness: This is especially important when you experience emotions that cause you to doubt the forgiveness, Worthington says.

Sometimes, the forgiveness is for you

Outside of studying forgiveness, Worthington was faced with the challenge of forgiving the man who killed his mother in 1996.

After processing his feelings and seeing how the hurt was changing him, he decided to commit to forgiving the man and hold onto the forgiveness.

"I was able to experience emotional forgiveness and make a decision that I would treat him differently if the circumstances arose that I ever met him," says Worthington.

The decision to forgive in that moment wasn't an easy one for Worthington, but it did free him from remaining in a dark place.

"If we can let ourselves forgive, we are literally helping ourselves heal, [even] physiologically with lower stress levels," says Roger Miller, a clinical psychologist at Aviv Clinics who specializes in neurological health.

Chronic stress can do damage to the body, says Miller, especially when your stress hormone, cortisol, is elevated. It can heighten your risk of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, heart disease and diabetes, he adds.

"We have to recognize within ourselves that by not [forgiving], we're hurting ourselves," Miller says. "What are the costs of that grudge?"

CNBC

At least 965 soldiers and policemen have died in the line of duty as a result of escalation of violence in many parts of Nigeria, perpetrated by Boko Haram, bandits, activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and other non-state actors in the last two years.

Daily Trust Saturday tracked the various violent incidents related to killings of police and military personnel between January 2021 and April 2023 in which findings revealed that Nigeria’s security officials bore a significant brunt of killings by non-state actors.

The data metrics, which were exclusively gathered from reported incidents in newspapers, showed that 581 policemen and 384 military personnel died in the line of duty within the period under review.

Daily Trust Saturday could not get official records from the Nigerian Army and police headquarters as efforts to reach the army spokesperson, Onyema Nwachukwu and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, did not yield results after they both failed to respond to calls and text messages.

However, records revealed that the NPF has approximately 371,800 officers across the country, with a ratio of one police officer to 540 citizens. This is lower than the United Nation’s recommended rate of one police officer to 450 people.

For the military, World Bank database revealed that as at 2019, Nigeria had a military strength of 223,000 personnel. This figure, despite a significant loss of at least 384 personnel, was corroborated in February, 2023 by former Nigeria’s minister of defence, Bashir Magashi, during the 25th edition of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s scorecard series to showcase his administration’s achievements.

A breakdown of the data mined by this newspaper showed that out of the 384 military personnel killed, 192 were killed by Boko Haram and other terrorists, 68 by gunmen and the IPOB, 62 by bandits and 62 by other criminal groups and circumstances.

Newspaper reports showed that from the 581 police officers killed, 344 were killed by gunmen and the IPOB, 119 were killed by bandits and kidnappers, while 53 by armed robbers and other criminal groups. The data also showed that 32 police officer died in accidents while 18 were killed by colleagues and other security personnel and 15 by Boko Haram and the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP).

Regions, states with high military, police killings

Data from media reports collated by this newspaper revealed that men of the Nigerian military recorded heavier casualties in the North, especially Northeast and Northwest, where activities of Boko Haram and bandits are more prevalent. The police, on the other hand, suffered heavier casualties in the southern part of the country, especially the Southeast and Southsouth, where activities of IPOB and gunmen, a term loosely used to refer to attacks by suspected members of the Eastern Security Network, the armed group of IPOB are more prevalent.

The data revealed that out of the 384 military officers killed in the last 28 months, 82.6 per cent of the killings came from the North while the remaining 17.4 per cent came from the South.

On a region-by-region analysis, the Northeast claimed 178 soldiers, Northwest, 90 and Northcentral, 49. The Southeast claimed 41 military deaths while the Southsouth had 24 and Southwest two.

The top five states with the highest military losses include Borno State, where 152 soldiers were killed in the last two years, followed by Kaduna State, where the military lost 35 soldiers, and Kebbi, where 23 soldiers were killed in the line of duty. In Niger State, 28 soldiers were killed, while 20 were killed in Anambra State. The five states combined make 67 per cent of military killings in the country.

The data from police killings revealed that out of 581 police lives lost in the last two years, 60 per cent came from the South while the North has 40 per cent. The data also showed that 305 of police killings were as a result of ambush by gunmen, with the Southeast and Southsouth recording 73.7 per cent.

On a region-by-region analysis, the NPF lost 200 officers in the Southeast, 110 in the Northwest, 106 in the Southsouth and 85 men in the Northcentral. The police also lost 43 officers in the Southwest and 37 in the Northeast.

The five states with the highest police killings are Anambra, where 63 police officers lost their lives, followed by Imo, where 52 officers were killed, as well as Niger State, where 42 police officers were killed.

Others are Delta State, where 37 were killed and Ebonyi, where 35 police officers lost their lives. The five states make 39.5 per cent of police killings in the country.

Daily Trust

Central Bank of Nigeria has sold the dollar at N645 at its latest auction, results showed on Friday, lower than N465 where the currency is trading on the official secondary market.

Nigeria operates multiple exchange rates, which the CBN has used to manage demand, mask pressure on the naira and conserve its dwindling reserves. The system has fueled a black market, trading sharply lower than the spot rate.

The bank held the latest bi-weekly auction on May 26. In April, it auctioned dollars at N630.

The naira has weakened faster at the central bank's auctions than on the spot market, leading many analysts to believe that a devaluation could match the rate traded at the auctions.

On Thursday, the central bank denounced news of a devaluation of the currency after media reported a big fall in the value of the naira following speculation over the outcome of a meeting President Bola Tinubu had with the central bank governor this week, and as the naira is already sold weaker at auctions.

Tinubu on Friday told governors from his ruling All Progressives Congress party in Abuja that the country's multiple exchange rates will be streamlined. "We will not have multiple exchange rates anymore," he said.

The central bank has been adjusting the value of the naira gradually on the spot market to avoid a large-scale devaluation. Former President Muhammadu Buhari, who was in power for eight years, viewed a strong currency as a matter of national pride.

Reuters

Nigeria's main labour union said on Friday it plans to go on strike from Wednesday to protest against a tripling of fuel prices in what would be the first big test for new President Bola Tinubu after he scrapped a costly fuel subsidy.

The price increase has led to a sharp rise in transport fares and Estonian ride-hailing and food delivery startup Bolt said it had hiked its prices in Nigeria, citing increased operating costs due to higher fuel prices.

Nigeria's fuel subsidy cost the government billions of dollars annually but was popular as it helped keep prices low in Africa's biggest oil producer, which is still grappling with high poverty rates among residents.

The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics says 63% of people living in Nigeria are poor while the World Bank said in a report last year that as many as four in 10 Nigerians lived below the national poverty line.

The government said lifting the subsidy - which caused prices to rise to N557 per litre from N189 at the petrol pumps - will help alleviate a government funding crisis.

But Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) president Joe Ajaero, after an emergency meeting of the union's executive council in Abuja, said the state oil company NNPC should reverse the price hike.

"Nigeria Labour Congress decided that if by Wednesday next week that NNPC, a private limited liability company that illegally announced a price regime in the oil sector, refuses to revert itself for negotiations to continue, that the Nigeria Labour Congress and all its affiliates will withdraw their services and commence protests nationwide until this is complied with," Ajaero said.

In 2012, a wave of strikes ensued when Nigeria tried to introduce a similar measure, with authorities eventually reinstating some subsidies. Tinubu, then in the opposition, was among those who opposed ending the subsidies.

On Friday, the president said Nigeria needs to review its minimum wage of N30,000 ($65).

"We need to do some arithmetic and soul searching on the minimum wage," he told the ruling party state governors at his offices in Abuja, adding that revenue collection should be strengthened.

($1 = 460.9200 naira)

Reuters

The court has admitted some presidential election results presented by the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to support its claim against the victory of President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Lead counsel to Obi on Friday informed the court sitting in Abuja that he had a schedule of more evidence which they desire to render before the court.

The counsel continued with evidence (election results) from Rivers and Kogi states, presenting certified true copies of INEC election results from six local government areas (LGAs) in Rivers as evidence.

Also admitted were results from Niger, Adamawa, Oyo, Bayelsa, and Edo states tendered by the LP.

The petitioner also presented additional certified true copies of election results from Bida LGA of Niger and 21 LGAs in Adamawa.

Again, counsel to the first, second and third respondents objected to the admissibility of the evidence.

However, the court admitted the documents as evidence, while awaiting the arguments of the respondents who were opposed to the admissibility of the documents.

Additional evidence tendered by the petitioner are from eight LGAs in Bayelsa, 31 LGAs in Oyo, and 18 LGAs in Edo.

LP also presented further evidence from 20 LGAs in Lagos, where they argued their votes were under-counted. The affected 20 LGAs include Apapa, Lagos Island, Lagos mainland, Ikorodu, Amuwo Odofin, Ibeju lekki, Ikeja, Ifako- Ijaye, Kosofe, and Oshodi-Isolo.

Having presented its evidence from states, Peter Afuba, who is one of the counsels to the petitioner, applied that all the certified true copies of election results tendered as evidence in the court be taken as read.

Again, counsels to the first, second, third and fourth respondents refused to give their consent, in view of their previous objections to the admissibility of the documents.

Obi and his party’s National Chairman, Julius Abure, arrived in court around 9:20 am for continuation of the hearing at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal.

At Thursday’s proceeding, the LP candidate tendered results from 115 local government areas (LGAs) as part of his evidence to back his claims, but the respondents opposed the evidence tendered by the LP candidate.

The LP and its candidate are challenging the victory of President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February 25 election.

CTV

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has given reasons for opposing the tendering of many certified electoral documents brought to court by Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi to prove their case against President Bola Tinubu’s victory in the last presidential election.

The pair, who filed separate petitions to challenge Tinubu’s victory, alleged that the 25 February presidential poll was marred by widespread fraud.

To substantiate their claims, Atiku and Obi have tendered tons of electoral documents comprising data from the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) machines and results sheets from across states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

During the court’s pre-hearing sessions meant to streamline the procedures for hearing the substantive petitions, lawyers to parties in the suits agreed not to object to certified true copies of electoral documents obtained from INEC.

However, at the commencement of the trial on 30 May, INEC’s lawyer, Abubakar Mahmoud, and Tinubu’s lawyer, Wole Olanipekun, objected to the admissibility of the election documents that were obtained from the electoral umpire.

APC’s lawyer, Lateef Fagbemi, equally opposed the admissibility of the documents as exhibits.

Friday’s proceedings

At Friday’s proceedings, one of INEC’s lawyers, Kemi Pinheiro, explained that the petitioners – Atiku and Obi, did not challenge the conduct of the election in the areas relating to the documents that were presented before the court.

Pinheiro said, “Issues were not joined in the local government areas where the result sheets were sought to be tendered before the court.”

He argued that it was wrong of Atiku and Obi to go beyond the areas where the polls are being challenged.

Specifically, the INEC lawyer accused Obi and the Labour Party of mixing up issues by bringing result sheets from places where they did not dispute the election outcome.

Pinheiro contended that the local government areas allegedly smuggled into court proceedings are “strange to the petition and cannot stand in the face of the law.”

As a result, the respondents said they would articulate their objections in written addresses at the close of arguments in the petitions.

Reacting to the objection to the admissibility of the electoral papers, Obi’s lead lawyer, Livy Uzoukwu, expressed shock at INEC’s comment.

Court intervenes

The panel chair, Tsammani, faulted INEC’s lawyer’s explanation concerning its objection to the admissibility of the documents.

The justice recalled that all lawyers to parties in the petitions had agreed to give such explanations at the address stage of proceedings.

In response, Pinhero apologised to the court.

The lawyer clarified that he was compelled to speak up owing to the barrage of media criticisms that trailed their objection to the tendering of the documents.

More documents tendered

At the resumed hearing on Friday, one of Obi’s lawyers, Peter Afoba, tendered additional electoral documents from 21 Local Government Areas of Adamawa and eight Local Government Areas of Bayelsa States and parts of Rivers and Niger States.

The court admitted the documents as exhibits.

PT

A high court sitting in Makurdi, Benue state capital, has affirmed the suspension and removal of Iyorchia Ayu as the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Maurice Ikpambese, the presiding judge, also nullified Ayu’s membership in the party.

BACKGROUND

In March, the executive members of Igyorov ward, Gboko LGA of Benue, passed a vote of no confidence on Ayu over alleged anti-party activities.

The LGA party executives also claimed that Ayu worked against the success of the PDP in his ward during the elections.

They alleged that he was not paying his membership fees and did not vote in the March 18 governorship and the house of assembly elections in the state.

Subsequently, one Terhide Utaan, through his lawyer, Emmanuel Ukala, filed an ex parte motion marked MHC/633/2023 at the same high court and asked the court to restrain Ayu from parading himself as the national chairman of the party, having been suspended.

But Ayu through J.J Usman, his counsel, filed a preliminary objection to the suit.

Ayu said the court lacked the jurisdiction to hear and determine and that the plaintiff did not have the right to file the suit because he did not exhaust the internal dispute resolution mechanism of the party.

THE JUDGEMENT

Delivering judgement on Friday, Ikpambese, who is Benue’s chief judge, dismissed Ayu’s objections to the suit.

Ikpambese said by virtue of article 8(9) of the PDP’s constitution, Ayu ceased to be a member of the PDP due to his failure to pay his membership fees.

The judge said article 46(1) of the PDP empowers the ward to discipline a member of the party’s national executive committee (NEC).

Ayu had also argued that the ward lacked the power to suspend a member of the NEC.

Ikpambese said Ayu failed to prove that he paid his statutory membership fee after asking him and did not also challenge his suspension before any organ of the party or before any court.

The judge said Ayu left the court with the impression that he has consented to his suspension by his ward executive committee.

“The plaintiff has proven his case. All the questions for determination have been resolved in favour of the plaintiff. He is entitled to all the reliefs sought. I so order,” the judge ruled.

The Cable

PRESS RELEASE

President Bola Tinubu Friday in Abuja announced the appointment of Speaker of House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila as Chief of Staff, and Ibrahim Hadejia, a former Deputy Governor of Jigawa State, as Deputy Chief of Staff.

In a meeting with Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), the President also named former Governor of Benue State and immediate past Minister of Special Duties, George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

Signed:

Abiodun Oladunjoye

Director, Information, State House.

June 02, 2023

Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria has threatened to embark on an industrial action on Monday over the poor welfare of its members in the shipping sector.

The development has forced some operators in the maritime sector to kick, saying the proposed shutdown would affect their business operations.

However, President General of MWUN, Adewale Adeyanju, while briefing journalists at its head office in Apapa on Thursday, explained that the group would embark on the strike action over the failure of the management of shipping companies to discuss and negotiate the welfare and condition of service of its members in the shipping sector.

According to Adeyanju, shipping companies have failed to cooperate with the workers’ unions despite several interventions and meetings to have an amicable resolution of the unresolved welfare issues of their members in the shipping sector.

He said that the several meetings culminated in the issuance of a 7-day ultimatum after the expiration of a 14-day ultimatum issued to the shipping companies.

“But the attitude of the Shipping Association of Nigeria is nothing to write home about and that is why we have said there’s a need to inform you. Yesterday, we were at the meeting but it didn’t augur well with the union and we felt it was an embarrassment to the union and even to the Minister of Transport who initiated the idea of having a minimum standard in shipping workers’ remuneration. It’s like the Shipping Association of Nigeria is now running away from their responsibility. So we called this briefing to let you know that the shipping branch of MWUN will be forced to withdraw the services of her members on Monday 5th of June; because we only suspended the ultimatum. However, we need to renew the ultimatum so we might be forced to withdraw the service of all the shipping workers in the shipping branch.”

The MWUN leader said owing to the unwillingness of the shipping employers to negotiate minimum standards and conditions of service for its members in the shipping sector, the union was left with no option but to resuscitate the earlier 7-day ultimatum issued to the shipping employers in the sector.

He said the former Minister of Transportation, Muazu Sambo, in a bid to ensure a peaceful industrial climate in the shipping sector had directed the management of Nigerian Shippers Council to superintend a collective bargaining agreement meeting between MWUN and all shipping companies in Nigeria.

Adeyanju noted that despite several meetings called at the instance of NSC in their premises, representatives of shipping companies deliberately forestalled the negotiation process.

He said they cited a lack of mandate from their respective principal, insisting on maintaining the status-quo.

He said, “If someone gives you projects he intends to execute in the next two years; Nigerian companies, having listened to the opportunities, should go back and continue to build their capacities in readiness to actively participate.”

He also challenged relevant agencies to address the worrisome security challenges, particularly oil theft in the Niger Delta, as this would enable the production of hydrocarbons at reasonable costs and profitability.

Reacting to this, Founder of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents, Lucky Amiwero, said, the shutdown would lead to huge demurrage.

He said, “If the shutdown of the ports on Monday happens amid the current fuel crisis, there will be a very serious problem. If they are going to shut down the port you will find out that there would be demurrage on goods, delays in cargo delivery, and a lot of things will go wrong. They are talking about poor welfare, I think that is the reason we need a holistic reform. These ports have been operating for years without reforms. Everyone is operating at cross purposes and it is affecting the economy, once you close down those things, it will boomerang, it is going to be a problem.”

Also speaking, a freight forwarder, Abayomi Duyile, advised against the shutdown, saying it would affect port operations.

“The problem is that unions will always shut down the port. Shutting down the port for a day or two has terrible consequences. What they are fighting for doesn’t affect agents.

“If you are having issues with the shipping line, you are not supposed to shut down the port. There are others using the ports.”

Punch