Trump Sacks Secretary After Visit To  Buhari

World Trump Sacks Rex Tillerson, US Sec. Of State Just A Day After Visiting Buhari - Punch Newspaper

Rex Tillerson has been removed as the Secretary of State, ending a tumultuous tenure as America’s top diplomat that was marked by a series of public disagreements with his boss — President Donald Trump.

Trump plans to appoint CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace the former Exxon Mobil chief executive. The president picked depu

ty CIA Director Gina Haspel to run the spy agency.

Donald Trump 'plans to sack Rex Tillerson and make Mike Pompeo secretary of state within weeks'

Donald Trump and Rex Tillerson look up during a Cabinet meeting at the White House last week

Donald Trump and Rex Tillerson look up during a Cabinet meeting at the White House last week 

President Donald Trump last night declined to back Rex Tillerson, his embattled Secretary of State, amid reports he is set to

sack him within weeks.

In what would be the biggest shake-up of his senior team so far Mr Trump was considering a plan to remove America's top diplomat after less than a year, replacing him with Mike Pompeo, the current Director of the CIA.

Barring a change of heart by the president, no Secretary of State will have been dismissed sooner than Mr Tillerson for nearly 120 years.

A senior former State Department official told The Daily Telegraph: "This is putting Rex Tillerson out of his misery.

"He'll go down in history as probably the worst Secretary of State the United States has ever had. It's been a disastrous tenure."

 Donald Trump, accompanied by Michael Pompeo, left, before speaking at the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, in January

Donald Trump, accompanied by Michael Pompeo, left, before speaking at the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, in January CREDIT: AP

Tom Cotton, a Republican senator and key ally of Mr Trump in Congress, was expected to take over at the CIA in a reshuffle drawn up by John Kelly, Mr Trump's chief of staff.

Mr Cotton, 40, would be the youngest ever Director of the CIA.

The changes were expected to be made around the turn of the year. There was no immediate comment from Mr Tillerson.

Appearing in the Oval Office for a scheduled meeting with the crown prince of Bahrain yesterday, Mr Trump was asked if he would be firing Mr Tillerson. The president would only reply: "He's here. Rex is here."

Rumours of Mr Tillerson's impending defenestration had circulated for weeks as his relationship with the president soured and he became increasingly marginalised in the White House.

Mr Trump has publicly criticised Mr Tillerson, the former chief executive of Exxon Mobil, for "wasting his time" trying to pursue negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear programme.

1 Oct

Donald J. Trump

✔

@realDonaldTrump

I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man...

Donald J. Trump

✔

@realDonaldTrump

...Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!

And last month it emerged Mr Tillerson had referred to the president as a "moron," and used an expletive in doing so, during a meeting at the Pentagon.

Mr Tillerson did not deny making the comment. Mr Trump then suggested both of them should take an IQ test. "And I can tell you who is going to win," the president added.

By contrast Mr Pompeo, a former Republican congressman from Kansas, has developed a better personal relationship with Mr Trump, and better reflects his hawkish stances on North Korea and Iran.

Mr Pompeo has previously been a vocal opponent of the Iran nuclear deal, defended waterboarding, called for Edward Snowden to face the death penalty, and advocated keeping Guantanamo Bay open.

According to officials Mr Pompeo's free-wheeling style when he delivers the president's morning intelligence briefing, three or four times a week, has engaged the president.

Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, had also been viewed as a possible replacement for Mr Tillerson.

According to one theory Mr Trump has been reluctant to sack Mr Tillerson sooner and the leaking of Mr Kelly's reshuffle proposal was an attempt by White House officials to force his hand.

One administration official said it had become apparent in September that Mr Tillerson would not be a long term appointment.

Some decisions requiring the Secretary of State's signature had already been put off until after his expected departure, the official said.

Mr Tillerson, the former chief executive of Exxon Mobil, had no previous experience in politics before Mr Trump chose him.

He immediately set about an overhaul of the State Department, culling large numbers of career diplomats, which left him deeply unpopular there and led to warnings that he was abrogating America's role in the world.

This week two retired senior diplomats, Nicholas Burns and Ryan Crocker, wrote in the New York Times that Mr Tillerson was "dismantling" the foreign service.

In response Mr Tillerson said: "There is no hollowing out. I am offended when people say we don’t have a State Department that functions."

It was unclear whether Mr Tillerson would be attending a meeting of Nato foreign ministers next week in Brussels. Culled from Telegraph   News

Lagos releases calendar of arts and culture programmes

As the Lagos State Government reiterates its  commitment to tourism and culture promotion all-year round, it has released a calendar of over 70 state-sponsored and endorsed arts, as well as culture programmes slated for the rest of this year, in its bid to garner visibility for tourism-oriented art programmes.

It is a move that will delight investors, tourists and other stakeholders who have persistently sought such a calendar that would guide their steps from January to December.



The novel exercise, according to a release signed by the State’s Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, is designed to frontload public and privately-driven arts, culture and entertainment events that will have positive impact on tourism and the image of Lagos as an arts-friendly state.

“This initiative is in fulfilment of the state government’s promise to announce a yearly calendar of events to guide programming, tourists and visitors’ decisions,” he stated.

According to Ayorinde, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, started the year with his attendance at Ali Baba’s January 1 comedy concert at The Eko Hotel and Suites. Other arts and culture events held in January and February so far and included in the calendar are Angel and Muse, an art exhibition by a Lagos-trained world renowned artist;  Eebi, a month-long Indigenous Cultural Festival in Epe; Wazobia FM Carnival as well as the Lagos City Marathon, amongst others.

Ayorinde noted that the idea of creating a calendar of events for state-sponsored and state-endorsed programmes was to make event planning, tour bookings and business decisions easier for tour operators and the general public.

“The calendar is part of the state’s innovative intervention to project arts, entertainment and leisure benefits inherent in Lagos, which makes the state attractive to domestic tourists, business travellers and stop-over passers-by. The state is forging ahead in expanding the consumption of its tourism products by improving access to tourism information and creating an events guide for the media and tour bloggers,” the commissioner said.

Although not exhaustive, the calendar contains most of the well-known indigenous cultural festivals across the state, entertainment events, concerts; visual and performing arts, as well as fashion and culinary events.

The state is expected to leverage its infrastructural development, regeneration and creation of iconic monuments and attractions for entertainment, arts and culture enthusiasts to boost economic activities and expand opportunities for job creation during the various events slated on the calendar.

“The administration of Governor Ambode believes that the quantum of cash transactions across the tourism and entertainment value-chain, as tracked in December 2017 when about N50bn was spent on entertainment and leisure alone, is a testimony to the huge economic gain that exists in promoting tourism in Lagos State. This and other economic factors make Lagos one of the most vibrant and culturally significant cities in Africa with the potential to make enormous impact in driving in-bound tourists from across the globe,” Ayorinde said.



Major events listed in the calendar include Gidi Fest, Lagos Water Regatta and Fanti Carnival around the Easter Period; the International Jazz Day celebration on April 30, which will be dedicated to the South-African Jazz legend, Huge Masekela; the Lagos Comedy Festival (incorporating Lagos Laughs on World Laughter Day) on May 6 and the Eko Art Expo in the last weekend in May.

June will be rich with the first ever Lagos Golf Funfair and the Lagos Cinefest,   designed to take cinema-going experience to all the five divisions of the state.

The Lagos Festival of Plays is a major highlight in the third quarter of the year; so is the Lagos Fishing Festival (Oshoroko) in Ibeju-Lekki; Akwaaba Travel Market and Faaji Agba — a special concert for the elderly to mark World Elders Day.

October to December will be the most intense period on the calendar with Olokun Festival; the MUSON Festival; AFRIMA, AFRIFF; Kayo-Kayo Festival in Epe; the Lagos Luxury Summit/Fair; Felabration which will be used to celebrate Deal’s 80th birthday posthumously; the Lagos Books & Arts Festival, which will be used to welcome Lagos into Africa’s Creative Cities club as well as the phenomenally popular One Lagos Fiesta which will hold between December 24 and 31 across the five divisions of the state in its forth unbroken year.

“The state is grateful to corporate sponsors that will make many of these events happen” Ayorinde said; adding that  “our aim is to use the calendar and other strategic initiatives to enrich the entertainment and creative economy as an integrsl component of tourism promotion.”