The Ebonyi Government has confirmed the payment of 30 per cent of pension arrears to state pensioners who are asking for 100 per cent payment. The reports said that the pensioners were saying that they had been paid only 20 per cent of the arrears. This was one of the pressing issues in the recent protest in Abakaliki. Dr Dennis Ekumankama, the State Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, however said the issue was never a speculation. According to him, the decision to increase the payment up to 30 per cent was reached at the last executive council meeting of…
Author: David Folami
Oby Ezekwesili, a former minister of Education, has described presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu as a sycophant. She said “@GarShehu Why not move over to Nollywood and write scripts for their movies? Can’t you folks learn that GOVERNANCE is a SERIOUS MATTER? “Our public officials fail to #Benchmark what they spend their time on against their contemporaries in say, emerging economies. It’s tragic. “When information comes out from the stable of the President of a country, Citizens should want to take it SERIOUS. STOP YOUR COMEDIES pls. “The sort of Genuflecting sycophancy that you, .@GarShehu have written on the Pres @MBuhari…
The Federal Government has praised farmers all over the country for their contribution toward getting the country out of recession. Chief Audu Ogbeh, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, while briefing newsmen in Abuja on Friday, made this statement. Ogbeh however begged farmers, middlemen and traders to avoid indiscriminate increase in the price of food items. “I also want to thank Nigerians, especially the farmers (big and small), who have yielded the call of Mr President to return to the farms. They have done amazing things. “And if there are any new zeros in this country, they are the…
Marek Hamsik has suggested that he may consider switching to a club like Manchester United in the future, although he says he is not presently giving any real thought to a move away from Napoli. Hamsik, 28, joined the Italian side a decade ago and is now just two goals away from equalling the club record of 115 scored by Diego Maradona. He enjoys a similar status among Napoli fans, and he has not previously given any sign that he would consider playing for anybody else. However, when asked by if he would contemplate a switch to United, he said:…
Florentino Perez has come out to say he would have signed Lionel Messi if the Barcelona forward had been an established performer during his first spell as Real Madrid president. Perez was first elected as president in 2000, partially on the promise of bringing in Luis Figo from rivals Barca, which began the “Galactico” era at Madrid. Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham were among the players that followed Figo to the Santiago Bernabeu and Perez says Messi would also have also joined at the time. “In my first spell as president I probably would have [tried to sign Messi],”…
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane says Gareth Bale must be ready to accept whistles once in a while from the Bernabeu crowd, but claims the winger’s form has not been affected by criticism of his start to the 2016-17 campaign. Bale was booed as he was taken off early following a poor display in the 2-2 La Liga draw with Valencia before the international break. “No player is happy when he is whistled,” he said. “But I see [Bale] in good spirits. Not as bad as people say. Gareth is a very important player in the squad, and will do…
Jose Mourinho insists he is still in support of ending the transfer window ahead of next season despite Manchester United’s decision to vote against it. United were one of five clubs that refused the summer transfer window closing before the start of the 2018-19 season. Mourinho said: “My thoughts are by the coach’s point of view, Jose Mourinho as the head coach of Man United, and obviously I am in favour of that because if I focus just on the training process. “Of course, I want to arrive, day one, I want to have my squad, my players, I want…
Liverpool forward Sadio Mane, not Mkhitaryan has been named the Premier League’s Player of the Month for August, while Huddersfield Town’s David Wagner clinched the manager’s award. Sadio Mane had never won the award before but has finally been recognised after scoring three goals in three games for Liverpool — making him the Premier League’s joint-top scorer this season alongside Romelu Lukaku. “I want to say thanks to all of my teammates because without them I am nothing,” Mane said. “I am happy with my start to the season. Everyone loves to score goals for their team, and it gives…
Antonio Conte described the claim that Chelsea prevented him from speaking to Ross Barkley on transfer deadline day as “ridiculous” and insisted that the Premier League champions “did their best” in a difficult summer window. Barkley had a dramatic change of heart over joining the EPL champions in the final hours of deadline day after Chelsea had agreed a fee of around £35 million with Everton, summarizing a troubled final week of the window that also saw Chelsea get rejected by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. A report earlier this week claimed that Oxlade-Chamberlain decided to join Liverpool after speaking to Conte, and…
Ivan Perisic has extended his contract with Inter Milan until 2022, further confirming his commitment to the Serie A club despite links with a move to Manchester United during the transfer window. Croatia winger Perisic, who switched to Inter from Wolfsburg in 2015, already had a contract through to 2020. “It’s a special day for me, an emotional and happy one after the stress of the summer. Now we are all looking forward and I’m only thinking about Inter. “For a long time I kept my counsel, and now I can say that [head coach Luciano] Spalletti told me that…
Pep Guardiola has said he has no regrets about not signing a new centre back despite Vincent Kompany’s injury worries ahead of Saturday’s pivotal game with Liverpool. Pep Guardiola spent more than £200 million on new signings in the summer but missed out on West Brom defender Jonny Evans at the crucial end of the transfer window. Kompany has been City’s most quality defender since coming back to the team but has suffered from persistent muscle injuries in recent seasons and suffered a calf strain playing for Belgium on international duty. “We wanted [a centre back] but we were not…
Jose Mourinho has insisted Manchester United’s title challenge this season will be on the foundation of attacking football, unlike Chelsea’s stint under Antonio Conte. United lead the pack after three games, clinching nine points, scoring 10 goals and conceding nothing. They battle their toughest challenge of the season so far this Saturday when they visit Stoke on Saturday evening — a ground United have not won a league game since 2013. But Jose has promised his side will attack Stoke, and every other team in the Premier League this season, while having a clear dig at Conte’s champions. “We try…
Jose Mourinho has said Manchester United are “in control” of their players’ futures as they club look to activate extensions for five first-teamers. Ander Herrera, Juan Mata, Daley Blind, Luke Shaw and Ashley Young all have contracts at Old Trafford until next summer, with United holding an option to extend each deal by a further year. Mourinho suggested at his news conference at Carrington on Friday that only Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Michael Carrick will have to share their plans at the end of the season when both will be out of contract. Marouane Fellaini is also out of contract next…
Eucharia Anunobi was joined many of her colleagues, family and friends to bury her son who passed on a few weeks ago. Raymond Ekwu, gave up the ghost at the age of 15, on August 22, 2017 after battling sickle cell anemia since birth. Amongst Nollywood celebrities who turned out for the burial on Tuesday, September 5, 2017, were Ini Edo, Rita Dominic, Monalisa Chinda, Lilian Bach and veteran movie producer, Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen. Eucharia Anunobi was also present to bid her son a final farewell. Raymond, who is a child from the short-lived marriage between Eucharia and her ex-husband,…
Simi has released her second album “Simisola.” The album finally dropped after weeks of promotion for the project which marks time as the first project from Simi since she broke out as a pop artist. “Simisola” will contains 12 tracks, with three bonus records inclusive of her hits ‘Love don’t care’, ‘Jamb Question’, and ‘Tiff’. Only Adekunle Gold appears as a guest on the project. He features on a song titled ‘Take me back’. The project is filled with production from her long-time collaborator Oscar. There are also contributions from Seyikeyz, Sess and Vtek; live instruments on the project are…
DJ Cuppy is very aware of how to enjoy the good life. She is currently in New York with her billionaire father Femi Otedola and her sister Temi Otedola. The Otedola sisters who went with their dad to America decided to take him along to one of their shopping sprees. The oil tycoon had an amazing time going out with his girls even though he got bored at a certain point. DJ Cuppy shared a photo of her father looking bored as they were shopping. DJ Cuppy and Temi bought Gucci and Louis Vuitton clothes during their shopping spree in…
Skales has talked about the nature of his relationship with Wizkid. In an interview with Moet Abebe, the Baseline record label act was asked about his relationship with the pop star. “I am inspired by his works’’, he went further by saying “Wizkid is a great guy, we are all doing great in our different ways”. “It has always been about business between the two of us.” He also said he is actually from Edo state but grew up in Kaduna, Nigeria. “I am a vegetarian, I don’t even know why I am adding weight, I eat late at night,…
Tolu Oniru-Demuren popularly known as Toolz has shared pictures of herself and her dad on Instagram that was taken on her wedding day, to celebrate his 80th birthday. She wrote “Today is a great day!!! Happy 80th Birthday to my daddy Oba Idowu Abiodun Oniru!!! I celebrate you today and thank God for your life! May He grant us many many more years of celebration with you. May you live to see your grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Love you, Daddy! #DaddysGirl #Thanksgiving” Toolz at the start of the year marked her one year wedding anniversary to her pilot husband, Tunde Demuren.…
Falz recently had surgery after he sustained an injury playing football. He captioned the photo “Minor Surgery. Juz something light. Falzinho back in few weeks.” Falz is a huge fan of football and recently shared his views on the world record breaking transfer fee of Neymar from Barcelona to PSG. Falz released a new single ‘Something Light’ which featured fellow rapper YCee on August 18, 2017.
Juliet Ibrahim is currently raising funds for victims of the flood in Benue. The Ghanaian movie star is doing that through her “Juliet Ibrahim Foundation”. In her own way, she has created the hash tag #MakurdiFloodReliefChallenge which is a way to inspire a lot of people to help donate both money and relief materials. Among those who have shown compassion towards the plight of the flood victims is Made Men Music Group C.E.O Ubi Franklin. He posted a video on his Instagram page begging his friends and fans to also come to the aid of the people of Benue. In…