Mario Balotelli will miss at least three games after picking up an injury in training with Ligue 1 leaders Nice. Balotelli, 26, was absent as Nice were knocked out of the Europa League at Schalke on Thursday having injured himself while shooting in training 48 hours earlier. “He’ll miss the next three games that come in 10 days, that’s a certainty,” Nice coach Lucien Favre told media after his team’s 2-0 defeat in Gelsenkirchen. “After that, we’re not sure.” Following Nice’s league game with Bastia on Sunday, Balotelli will also be sidelined for the Ligue 1 encounter with Guingamp next…
Author: David Folami
Jack Wilshere has made no secret of where his loyalties lie when Bournemouth travel to Arsenal on Sunday, saying he hopes the Gunners will lose. Wilshere joined Bournemouth on loan this season after struggling to get enough playing time at Arsenal but will have to sit out the game at the Emirates as he cannot play against his parent club. The England international, who is a product of Arsenal’s Hale End academy and known for his fierce loyalty to the club, said he hoped Eddie Howe’s side come out on top this weekend. “You know what, at the moment I’m…
Wayne Rooney became Manchester United’s all-time leading scorer in Europe after netting in the 4-0 victory over Feyenoord which keeps his side’s Europa League hopes alive. Rooney’s 35th minute strike at Old Trafford — which was followed by him assisting Juan Mata for the second — took his tally for United in European competition up to 39 goals, surpassing Ruud van Nistelrooy’s previous best of 38, while he is now just one goal off Sir Bobby Charlton’s all-time scoring record for United. United, who would have been knocked out of the competition with a defeat, now head into next month’s…
Leaders Chelsea host Tottenham on Saturday evening, with Spurs looking to end their long wait for a victory at Stamford Bridge. Tottenham have never won at Chelsea in the Premier League, and a 2-2 draw there last season handed the title to Leicester. Mauricio Pochettino’s men are the only unbeaten team remaining in the league, but if they do slip up in west London, the chasing pack will be ready to pounce. Liverpool, knocked off the top spot by the Blues last weekend, have a favourable home match against Sunderland, while Manchester City visit Burnley and Arsenal host Bournemouth. With…
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has challenged Henrikh Mkhitaryan to produce in the Premier League as he did in the 4-0 Europa League defeat of Feyenoord on Thursday. Mourinho handed Mkhitaryan just his second start of the season, while leaving out Anthony Martial. Mkhitaryan’s previous start came in the 2-1 home defeat against Manchester City on Sept. 10. The Armenian had only made one further appearance since then, as a sub in the 2-1 defeat at Fenerbahce on Nov. 3, before being selected to face Feyenoord. Discussing Mkhitaryan’s display, Mourinho said: “He just needs now to try to replicate this…
Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney said he did not “set foot in the wedding” at the hotel where he allegedly took part in late-night drinking while on England duty. Rooney was reported by The Sun to have been up until the early hours at a wedding in The Grove hotel following England’s 3-0 victory against Scotland, leading the forward to ”unreservedly” apologise to interim boss Gareth Southgate, the Football Association and young fans. But Rooney also hit out at media treatment towards him after Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal, and answered his critics by opening the scoring in Thursday’s 4-0…
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has hailed Manchester United colleague Wayne Rooney as “the perfect player” and believes his club’s all-time leading scorer in Europe should be held in higher regard. Rooney’s goal in the 4-0 Europa League win over Feyenoord on Thursday night was his 39th in continental competitions for United, a tally that saw him eclipse Ruud van Nistelrooy as the leading marksman in European games, and it also leaves him just one behind Sir Bobby Charlton’s all-time haul of 249. His latest effort, a delicious dink over Brad Jones, came just five days after he vowed he was “not finished…
The Nigerian Army has revealed that it will soon stop the spate of suicide bombings in the North-East by Boko Haram. This was revealed to newsmen by the Theatre Commander of the Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj.-Gen. Lucky Irabor. Irabor also said the Nigerian Army has put measures in place to put an end to the bombings and called on members of the public to be vigilant. According to Daily Post, he said troops have rescued a total of 5,235 captives from Boko Haram terrorists. Irabor said “I am delighted to be with you again this afternoon to acquaint you with…
The House of Representatives has increased the N180 billion virement sought for by President Muhammadu Buhari to fund critical recurrent and capital items by N28 billion, taking it to N208.821 billion. The president had written the National Assembly on Oct. 26, seeking for the approval of the legislature to vire N180.8 billion from the funds appropriated for special intervention in the 2019 budget. The intervention is to fund critical recurrent and capital items. The report of the House Committee on Appropriation was presented to the House on Wednesday by its Chairman, Rep. Mustapha Dawaki (APC- Kano). In the report was…
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday night returned to Abuja from Malabo, Equitorial Guinea, where he successfully participated in the 4th Africa-Arab summit. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that President Buhari while in Malabo participated in the opening ceremony and working session of the Summit, on Wednesday. NAN reports that during the summit, Nigeria and other African countries received a pledge of two billion dollars from the Kuwaiti government to fund key development initiatives in agriculture, youth empowerment, education and support to fight terrorism. Mr Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, confirmed…
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The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, on Wednesday acknowledged that the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) made progress during theirs talks. He gave the assurance while addressing state house correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the state House. Ngige said that ASUU had eight demands of which seven had been trashed out, adding that the government conceded to them the right to exclude endowment funds accruing to universities from the Treasury Single Account. The minister said the TSA was not for punishment…
The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, on Wednesday in Abuja said N420 billion was shared in October among the Federal, States and Local Governments. Adeosun told newsmen that same amount was shared in September. She said that N6.3 billion was refunded to the federal government by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The net statutory allocation is N197 billion while Value Added Tax (VAT), is N69.6 billion, an increase of N5.35 billion from the previous month. She said that there was exchange gain of N37.3 billion while excess Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) was N109.1 billion. Adeosun said the Federal Government…
Former Minister of Education, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, says women empowerment guarantees economic growth. She made the remark at a two day conference of Women International Networking (WIN), with the theme: Leading the Way, in Abuja on Wednesday According to her, empowering women will help in development of a nation in terms of productivity and competiveness. She further stated that human capital had become the key in developing a nation and a space waiting for women to be developed as well as support national integration. Ezekwesili said government should put oil aside and depend on human capital and as well develop…
As the battle for who becomes the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag-bearer in the forthcoming Ondo state governorship election continue, Femi Fani-Kayode has made some shocking “revelations” about businessman and factional candidate, Jimoh Ibrahim. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Jimoh Ibrahim the PDP candidate in the November 26, 2016, poll. But an Appeal Court sitting in Abuja sacked Jimoh Ibrahim and ordered that Eyitayo Jegede the PDP candidate. This obviously did not go down with Jimoh’s camp. In a series of tweets on Thursday, November 24, Fani-Kayode said: “Jimoh Ibrahim is a ravenous beast and everything he…
Former first lady, Patience Jonathan has denied ownership of $175m allegedly found in her Skye bank account. According to reports, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been trying to find the whereabout of the $175,750,000 that was deposited in Dame Patience’s account. According to The Nation, a source with the anti-graft agency said the cash was withdrawn from her account and disappeared without a trace. In her reaction, the former first lady said the anti-graft agency has not linked her to the investigation. Mrs. Jonathan also claimed that she only had $10m in her bank account before it…
>Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has gone on the record to lambaste President Muhammadu Buhari–his best friend. And it doesn’t sound pretty. The venue was the annual Akintola Williams lecture series in Lagos. As downtown traffic snarled and thickened in chaotic Lagos, Obasanjo let fly: “The blanket adverse comments or castigation of all democratic administrations from 1999 by the present administration is uncharitable, fussy and uninstructive”. Obasanjo was pissed. Pissed that the present administration has spent more time blaming its predecessors than it has doing the work it was voted in to do. Pissed that Buhari has often pointed the finger…
Veteran actor Saint Obi shares a cute photo of himself and his daughter and they look so adorable. “My mom and now my baba. God is truly awesome,” he captioned the shot shared on his Facebook page on November 23, 2016.
Nigerian rapper and businessman eLDee the Don’s little girl, Temi Dabiri, turns seven today, November 17, 2016. The veteran singer got a birthday wish list from his baby girl and she wants so many things! Apparently, Temi wants an American doll, Roku TV for her room, baby alive doll complete with diapers and candy! She sure has big, happy dreams! Because, according to Eldee, she’s definitely not getting a Roku TV for her room. He captioned the letter, “My little baby turns 7 today. She left me this “birthday list” . A song comes to mind – “…you’re gonna hate…
Stylish Nollywood actor, IK Ogbonna, thinks there is nothing wrong in men wearing earrings or getting tattoos as such actions does not define anyone. In an interview with Vanguard News, the actor insisted that God did not create earrings, yet women wear them. For this reason, he does not reckon that there should be an issue when men are seen putting them on. “Who invented earrings?” he began. “God didn’t create earrings but girls are wearing earrings. These are things that people created overtime and then it became a norm and then people accepted it. “So someone shouldn’t just look…