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Why Wilfried Zaha is no longer taking the knee
Wilfried Zaha became the first Premier League player not to kneel before kick-off on Saturday since top-flight footballers started using the gesture to protest racial injustice last summer. The Crystal Palace winger instead chose to “stand tall” ahead of the match with West Brom, something he had said in February he was going to do but hadn’t started a game since then due to injury. Zaha released a statement ahead of kick-off outlining his intention to do so and his reasons for it. What he said “My decision to stand at kick-off has been public knowledge for a couple of weeks now,” the Ivorian international said. “There is no right or wrong decision, but for me personally I feel kneeling has just become a part of the pre-match routine and at the moment it doesn’t matter whether we kneel or ...
Management shuts down Nasarawa polytechnic over students’ protest
The Management of Isa Musthapha Agwai Polytechnic Lafia, has shut down the institution for one week following students’ protest on Thursday. Newsmen report that the students had barricaded the Lafia-Jos Road for several hours, to protest the alleged closure of the school’s registration portal by its management. Dr Justina Kotso, Rector of the polytechnic announced the temporary closure of the school while briefing newsmen on the aftermath of the protest in Lafia. She said decision to shut down the institution for one week was reached at an emergency management meeting following the unrest in the school. “We woke up Thursday morning preparing our students for semester examination scheduled to begin on Monday, March 15, then suddenly we realised that the students started a protest.” She said...
Kaduna governor: Bandits have challenged the sovereignty of Nigeria
Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has declared that bandits have challenged the sovereignty of Nigeria, and must therefore be wiped out. He reiterated that the state government would never negotiate with the criminals. According to the governor, the activities of the criminals have driven farmers from their land and shaken the confidence of the people. The governor, who stated this yesterday at the Government House in Kaduna while receiving the 2020 Security Report from the state Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, warned that food security of Nigerians is seriously at risk in view of activities of criminal elements across the country. Kaduna is one of the states in the North-west region that is worst hit by activities of bandits and kidnappers, ...
Minister: PIB will address production sharing contracts issues on gas
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, says the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) currently before the National Assembly will resolve the issues under the Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) on gas. Sylva made this known at a National Assembly Public Hearing organised by the Joint Committee on Gas Resources, Petroleum Resources, Upstream and Downstream, on Monday, in Abuja. The hearing was on the topic: “Inclusion of Gas Terms in Production Sharing Contracts by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).” He said that issues on gas terms was not captured under the PSC especially with the commercial aspect. “Issues on gas terms was not captured in the PSC because at the time, the offshore was just a frontier territory, today, it is no longer frontier, it is a...
Nigeria threatens to ban flights from UAE, Netherlands
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has threatened to ban flights from the UAE and The Netherlands as a reciprocal action. The task force said the Ministry of Aviation and its relevant agencies have been mandated to take the necessary reciprocal measures as may be permissible under the laws and other international obligations expected to be discharged against Emirates airlines operating from the UAE and other airlines from The Netherlands. Mr Boss Mustapha, the Chairman of PTF and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, disclosed this at the routine briefing of the committee in Abuja on Monday. Mustapha said: “For over a month, Nigeria has been engaged with the authorities of the UAE and The Netherlands over pre-departure testing requirements passengers should meet before ...
RTEAN: Commercial buses strike illegal
Pool Photo The Lagos State Chapter of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) on Monday said the stay-off-road action by commercial buses on the Lagos-Badagry Road was unnecessary. The Secretary of the chapter, Abdulrahman Amusan, told newsmen that the N800 ticket imposed on commercial buses in the state was for tax purposes. Newsmen report that the commercial bus drivers had on March 1, embarked on what they called “Cease Commuter Operation” on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway – from Badagry to Mile 2 – following what they termed an unbearable increment in ticketing and brutality by RTEAN. The drivers were still off the expressway while passengers remained stranded at various bus stops. It is still not certain when they will return to the roads. They claim that both the RT...
Police: Why we detained OPC members after arresting ‘kidnapper’
The police in Oyo State have confirmed detaining three members of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) for arresting suspected kidnapper, Iskilu Wakili, on Sunday. The police in a statement by its public relations officer, Olugbenga Fadeyi, said the three members of OPC detained are being interrogated for their involvement in arson and murder. “The Oyo State Police Command would like to inform the general public that at about 0900 hrs of date (7th March 2021), information was received that a group of persons, (later found out to be members of the Odua Peoples Congress OPC), had invaded Kajola community in Ibarapa axis of the State. “The invasion was reportedly aimed at arresting one Wakili, a Fulani by tribe, who is alleged to be the sponsor and mastermind of various criminal attacks against ...
Lobbyist says Myanmar junta wants to improve relations with the West, spurn China
An Israeli-Canadian lobbyist hired by Myanmar’s junta said on Saturday that the generals are keen to leave politics after their coup and seek to improve relations with the United States and distance themselves from China. Ari Ben-Menashe, a former Israeli military intelligence official who has previously represented Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and Sudan’s military rulers, said Myanmar’s generals also want to repatriate Rohingya Muslims who fled to neighboring Bangladesh. The United Nations says more than 50 demonstrators have been killed since the Feb. 1 coup when the military overthrew and detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy party won polls in November by a landslide. On Friday, a U.N. special envoy urged the Security Council to take action against t...
Arsenal provide update on Smith Rowe ahead of Burnley clash
Arsenal have this evening revealed a late update on the fitness of Emile Smith Rowe, ahead of their showdown with Burnley. Mikel Arteta’s men are set to return to action tomorrow afternoon, in a Premier League meeting with the Clarets. The Gunners will of course head into the Turf Moor clash with their tails up, on the back of a morale boosting pair of wins over the last couple of weeks. First, a last-gasp Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang header saw Arsenal get the better of Benfica, to book their spot in the Last-16 of the Europa League. And this was followed last weekend by a hugely impressive 3-1 downing of Leicester City at the King Power Stadium. The news, as a whole, proved of a positive nature, with only two players – including 3rd-choice goalkeeper Alex Runarsson – struggling as things st...
Policeman arrested for stealing AK-47 rifles in Abịa
A police man, Shedrack Aleke Igwe, working in armoury section of MOPOL base 28, Umuahia, Abia state has been arrested with 5 AK-47 rifles he stole from the armoury. Igwe, a constable, was reported to have carted away rifles in the armoury section with the help of others unnoticed. He was arrested in Ikwo local government area of Ebonyi state where he hails from He committed the act on 2nd of March after which he fled to Ebonyi state. But two days later, a combined team of policemen from Abia and Ebonyi states arrested and moved him to Abia Police Command for investigation. The combined team from the two states had trailed him to his Ikwo community by where he was hiding. He was immediately arrested with the help of Divisional Police Officer, Ikwo and investigation commenced. Five of the mi...
Food blockade: AFAN blames institutional failure, inequity
The All Farmers Association of Nigeria, AFAN, Friday, blamed institutional failure for the blockade of foodstuff supply and transportation to Southern Nigeria as the Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria, AUFCDN, embarked on the protest over factors militating against their business. Speaking with newsmen, National President, AFAN, Arc Ibrahim Kabir, said the whole issue boils down to poor discharge of constitutional duties by relevant government organisations that would have mitigated the plight of members of AUFCDN earlier, and such blockade of food supply would not have happened. Kabir said: “The situation arose principally due to institutional failure and inequity. The institutions saddled with maintaining national security must work properly so also those charge...
Borno governor urges Nigerian government to seek external support to end insurgency
Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno has called on the federal government to seek external support from neighbouring countries, in order to end insurgencies in Nigeria. Zulum, who is also the Chairman, North-East Governors’ Forum, made the call in Bauchi, on Wednesday, at the commencement of the ‘4th North-East Governors’ Forum meeting’. He lamented the high rate of insurgency, especially, in the Northeastern part of the country, and called on the new Service Chiefs to devise tactical measures to counter the current and future attacks in the region. “As it is now, especially in Borno state, violence being perpetrated by insurgents seems to be on the increase. “It has become a matter of tactical necessity for the new Service Chiefs to devise new and authentic strategy to counter the current att...
