Yahaya Bello of Kogi has once again reassured his commitment to pay salaries and pension arrears of all genuine workers in the state. He said “I am assuring you by the grace of God we shall pay everybody. “Though there are few pockets of issues why some workers are yet to receive their salaries, but I want to assure you that everybody will be paid by God’s grace. “I am promising you that as the leader of the youths across the length and breadth of this country, I will not disappoint you. “When our workers were hungry and not paid…
Author: David Folami
The Edo government has revealed that more than 55,000 youths in the state are expected to benefit from its agripreneur programme, which will be fully implemented in 2018. Mr Joseph Eboigbe, the Special Adviser to the Edo Governor on Budget, said this recently. “In 2017, the state government launched the pilot phase of the agripreneur scheme and by the first quarter of 2018, we will roll out the programme fully. “The agripreneur programme will target more than 55,000 youths who have indicated interest in agriculture through the Edo Jobs Scheme,” he said. “Each person will be allocated five-hectares of land…
The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in Kaduna State tackled Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, the Governor of Kaduna State, over the sacking of over twenty-one thousand (21,000) teachers who failed a Primary Four competency test conducted by the Kaduna State government. The government duly advertised for vacant positions of the sacked teachers, and in a bid to prevent this, the NUT sought for the intervention of the National Industrial Court (NIC). Judgement was given in favor of the teachers. El-Rufai had said, ”My son, Abubakar Sadiq, is four years old now. In the next two years when he is six, whether…
A rights activist and social commentator, Kayode Ogundamisi, has blasted the timing of the release of a documentary on Buhari by the presidency amidst fuel crisis. He said the “Buhari documentary commissioned by Femi Adesina during fuel scarcity is an insult on Nigerians.” Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, Babatunde Fashola, Nasir El-Rufai, John Odigie-Oyegun, some governors, ministers and a few other politicians were also shown. In an interview, Femi Adesina (the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity), rhetorically inquired “Should we then be perpetually like King Lear at his worst, and consign ourselves to the doldrums occasioned by fuel scarcity…
Capt. Emmanuel Iheanacho has linked the constant scarcity of petrol to monopoly of the product by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Iheanacho said that this was not realistic for marketers to import and sell at that rate. “The selling of the product at N145 per litre is no longer feasible with the current exchange rate. “Shortage of foreign exchange and increase in crude prices have made it unprofitable to import petrol and sell same at N145 per litre. “The problem is that importation of petrol is being handled, almost 100 per cent, by NNPC, while private importers backed out…
Rep. Abdulmumin Jibrin, the suspended member of the House of Representatives recently met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja. He rejected the suggestion that he was in the villa to seek presidential intervention over his political crisis in the House of Representatives. He said: “well, I cannot comment in that regard. The most important is that I saw him and he is a very high spirit. I greeted like a son and he spoke to me like a father.’’ “Of course Nigerians like justice, my constituency has been suspended for 16 months. “So, is only normal that…
Aminu Masari of Katsina State has described the recent defection of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as an exercise in futility. He said the defection of the vice president would not in anyway affect the electoral success of the ruling APC, stressing Atiku had just answered his popular name. He said the APC was aimed at repositioning the nation by creating leaders that would lead the positive cause of the nation; “about 65 per cent of our political appointments were allocated to the youth”. Masari said the era of “do or die politics was over as individual character and his…
Prince Uche Secondus has declared that Nigeria would return to the safe hands of his party by the next presidential election, in 2019. Secondus confidently stated that the PDP is ready and divinely positioned to bear the responsibilities of leading the country. He said: “We are going according to the plans and purpose of God. This country will be returned to the PDP, whether you like it or not”, and added that there cannot be an otherwise outcome in the next general election because “it is (has been) approved in heaven.” He also appreciated the Governor, Nyesom Wike and his…
Blaise Matuidi has come out to say the Serie A club’s experience will be key when they face Tottenham Hotspur in the round of 16 of the Champions League next year. “Tottenham are a strong team, both from a technical and physical point of view,” he told Juventus TV. “They play fast and box-to-box as we see in the Premier League, but Juventus have great experience in the Champions League and we’ll be looking to impose our own game and do well.” Matuidi featured in all six of Juve’s Champions League group games and has been a regular since arriving…
Dani Carvajal has insisted that Real Madrid can still win the Spanish league, despite the 3-0 El Clasico defeat by Barcelona that left them 14 points adrift in the La Liga title race. “La Liga is not won or lost in December,” he said in an interview published Wednesday in Spanish sports daily AS. “It was a hard loss, but we are Real Madrid. We have had a fantastic year and there are still six months left in the season,” the 25-year-old added when asked about Real’s loss at home to Barcelona. “The qualifying round against PSG is going to…
Antonio Conte has begged Chelsea to take a crucial step towards a top four finish in the Premier League by beating Stoke on Saturday. “In this league there is great motivation for all to try to stay there and fight until the end,” Conte said. “I don’t know if we can do this for the title because it depends on Manchester City, who are doing something extraordinary. “To win every game and draw one means you are having a fantastic run. “But there is great motivation to find a place in the Champions League next year, there are four places…
Arsene Wenger has accepted he is no nearer to establishing where Arsenal’s Chilean star Alexis Sanchez’s future lies. “First of all nobody knows what will happen really,” said Wenger. “It’s difficult to speculate. At the moment we are focused on short-term, that means the next game (against West Bromwich Albion on Sunday) with the players committed and ready to fight. “It’s not a guarantee of how long you stay somewhere. As long as you are somewhere, you give your best. “I felt he was very good tonight from the first minute on, focused on the game. This kind of Sanchez…
Raheem Sterling has said Manchester City are motivated by the chase for silverware rather than the promise of breaking more records as the Premier League leaders chase another landmark at Crystal Palace this weekend. “I don’t think everyone is really too focused on records. The most important thing is the three points,” said Sterling, who scored City’s winner at Newcastle on Wednesday. “Once you win the game and the stats come up, that’s all well and great, but you can’t be thinking about that. “We’ve just got to have a single focus. At the end of the day, if it…
Neymar has said that doctors told him he was fortunate to be able to walk again following the challenge that ended his participation in the 2014 World Cup with Brazil. “I remember that I had my head on the ground, and Marcelo was saying: ‘No, no…Get the doctors in.’ And I said: ‘No, no, no. I want to play.’ Because I wanted to score,” Neymar said. “But I couldn’t manage to lift my legs. I couldn’t move my legs. And the doctor took me out and I started to … to cry, because it was very painful and I didn’t…
Jurgen Klopp has said he is pleased with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s self-critical assessment of his display against Swansea City on Boxing Day. He told the official Liverpool website: “Ox is a smart player. He knew it was not even close to his best possible performance — but it’s no problem, that’s football. “You have to win the game somehow on an average day as well. It was not an average day but it was not brilliant over 90 minutes. “Ox needs to adapt to the position still, that’s no problem. He has a lot of space for improvement. But it’s nice…
Mohamed Salah has enough quality to play for Real Madrid, according to Egypt coach Hector Cuper. He said “I have no doubt he has the level, for sure. He has a lot of qualities and everyone knows that and can see that. He is a very fast player, good from a technical standpoint, he is a good finisher and that would be good for Madrid.” Meanwhile, Roma’s general manager Umberto Gandini says he has no regrets about selling Salah to Liverpool because the player had asked to leave. Roma doubled their money on Salah, whom they had signed from Chelsea…
Dele Alli has said he is not performing as well as he could this season but is paying no attention to the critics. “At 21, when you set your standards as high as I did the last two years it’s not always the case that you’re going to be able to reach them all the time. Some people think if you’re not scoring or assisting you’re playing badly. “I criticise myself all the time. I think I can do better, I can do more for the team, so I think it’s just working on myself and my own game.” “People’s…
Claude Puel has said he believes Virgil van Dijk can become the best defender in the world after his record £75 million move to Liverpool. Puel said: “He is one of the best defenders in the world and he has all the qualities to become the best. It is fantastic for Liverpool. “He can play in different good teams and it is a good reward for him. At the beginning of the season it is difficult for him because he wants to join another club, but now he will find his level. “I am happy for him and happy he…
Wizkid on Sunday night signed a young boy simply identified as Ahmed to his record label, Starboy Entertainment. He made the announcement during his show at the Eko Convention Centre, Lagos. Wizkid had spotted Ahmed from Ijebu-Ode in the crowd and brought him up to rap. He later announced a record deal for him and blessed him with N10million in celebration of Christmas. Wizkid told Nigerians to watch out for the young lad in 2018.
Davido has spoken about rift between Psquare. This was in response to questions on why they did not perform at his N30 billion concert. He preached unity on his snapchat page and said the Psquare brothers could not perform at the show because Paul had a show in Calabar. According to him, there is no beef between the brothers as reported. He said “Let us preach unity, Psquare were ready to perform but one of them Paul was not present but Peter Okoye was at the show. “He already had a show which made it impossible for them to perform…