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Manchester United linked with Nick Pope with club concerned Dean Henderson is ‘too inexperienced’
Manchester United are being linked with Burnley stopper Nick Pope this summer, with the club concerned that Dean Henderson is not ready to be the club’s number one. Following Henderson’s return from two seasons on-loan at Sheffield United in the summer, there has been constant debate over who should be the Red Devils starting goalkeeper, particularly with David De Gea having been inconsistent in the last 18 months or so. The majority of this campaign has seen the Spaniard remain as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first-choice, with the younger Englishman largely having been deployed in domestic cup competitions. With De Gea granted leave to return to Spain for the birth of his first child last week, the 24-year-old has been handed the chance to impress with a run of games, although after a strong p...
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 ...
Senator Okorocha meets VP Osinbajo over feud with Governor Uzodinma
Rochas Foundation The former Governor of Imo State and Senator representing Imo West Senatorial District, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, Wednesday took the feud between him and Governor Hope Uzodinma to the Presidency. Senator Okorocha after meeting behind closed doors with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo told State House correspondents that he would not want an escalation of the conflict arising from the government’s sealing of some of his property in Owerri, the Imo State capital, insisting that he wants peace to reign in the state. The proponent of ‘Iberiberism’ doctrine also said that becoming governor was a sacrifice for him. According to him, “The whole thing to me sounds like a movie, a joke, a dream that does not reflect any practical reality, but I am a father, I’m a leader of that state an...
Twitter opens its audio chat room Spaces to Android users
Twitter has opened its audio chat room, Spaces, to Android users, the company tweeted Tuesday. Twitter introduced a limited version of the Clubhouse competitor on iOS in January. While any users of Twitter’s iOS app can join and listen to Spaces, only a few can host them at the moment. Twitter said it was giving Spaces to “a very small feedback group” to start, with women and people from other marginalized groups given priority. Now, users of Twitter’s Android app can join and listen to Spaces as well. Android folks, our beta is growing! starting today you will be able to join and talk in any Space. SOON you’ll be able to create your own but we’re still working out some things. keep your 👀 out for live Spaces above your home tl — Spaces (@TwitterSpaces) March 2, 2021 The announceme...
Okomu Oil Palm wants central bank to review anchor borrowers programme
Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc. wants a review of CBN’s Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) to accommodate more farmers and to shore up the nation’s foreign earnings from agriculture. The ABP is targeted at smallholder farmers engaged in the production of rice, maize, wheat and cash crops like oil palm, cocoa and rubber, among others. Speaking with newsmen on Monday in Benin, Okomu Oil’s Managing Director, Dr Graham Hefer, noted that cash crop farmers were yet to fully benefit from the programme. He said food crop farmers had an edge because they could cultivate, harvest, sell and repay their loans within the specified one year period. “It is easy for farmers engaged in annual crops to meet their targets. “This doesn’t happen with cash crops because in the first three years of oil palm production...
Senator Saraki moves to reconcile Ayo Fayose, Seyi Makinde
Ex-Senate President Bukola Saraki, is brokering peace between former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose and Governor of Oyo State Seyi Makinde. Fayose and Makinde have been on a warpath for quite some time now. Fayose insists that Makinde shouldn’t be carrying himself as leader of the PDP in the southwest because he’s the only PDP governor in the region. Fayose has also warned Makinde that he’ll work against his re-election in 2023 if he doesn’t stop disrespecting him. “When Makinde was to contest, I was the one that presented the flag to him and a red pen. It is a higher authority that hangs your rank, a senior officer hangs the rank of a junior officer, that means he saw me as a leader at the time I was giving him the flag at Ogbomoso,” Fayose said recently, adding that Makinde was ...
SSANU, NASU suspends strike after three weeks
File Photo The Joint Action Committee, JAC, of non-teaching staff unions of universities has announced the suspension of its three weeks old strike with effect from midnight of February 26. The national leadership of JAC non-teaching staff comprises of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and Non-Academic Staff Union of the Universities (NASU). The union which conveyed its decision during media briefing it held after the conciliatory meeting with the federal government, explained that it agreed to suspend the national strike after extracting some concessions from the government. Speaking through NASU General Secretary, Peters Adeyemi, the union said its demands have been harmonized to the satisfaction of both parties, just as he stressed that they will continue to ...
Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Brazil legend Ronaldo ‘the best player in history’
Milan star Zlatan Ibrahimovic has named Brazil legend Ronaldo as ‘the best player in history’. Ibrahimovic expressed his admiration towards the World Cup winner ahead of Milan’s Europa League clash with Red Star Belgrade on Thursday night, while putting him ahead of modern-day greats such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the all-time list of top players. The 39-year-old thinks Ronaldo Nazario, who inspired Brazil to World Cup glory in 2002, transcended the game with his unique talents and still stands out as the unrivalled master of the footballing craft to this day. Zlatan told Discovery Plus: “I don’t need to describe Ronaldo, ‘The Phenomenon’. “I always say you have the players that play the game, and the players that are the game. For me, Ronaldo is the game. When you watch him...
Australia’s competition chief claims victory after Facebook standoff
The architect of Australian media reforms being watched around the world claimed victory on Wednesday, even as critics said concessions to the laws forcing Big Tech to pay for news content have given Facebook and Google a get-out clause. The Australian government made late changes to the laws after Facebook last week blocked news content in Australia, escalating a dispute over the proposed legislation and catching international attention. The amended legislation is expected to pass the Senate this week, despite opposition from some minor opposition parties and independent politicians who argue it disadvantages smaller news companies. Rod Sims, the chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), told Reuters the bargaining power imbalance he was tasked with correcting...
Minister: When Nigeria receives coronavirus vaccines doesn’t lie in our hands
Since the beginning of January 2021, Nigeria has been expecting the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, but nothing has happened to date. The World Health Organisation, WHO and GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, CEPI, came up with the COVAX initiative to ensure that low and middle-income countries have access to vaccines. But COVAX has not given a precise date for when it will begin distributing the vaccines. Nigeria has put all its hopes on the COVAX Facility. The federal government is also expecting some vaccines from the Africa Union arrangement, expected to deploy from March. This development has attracted criticisms about the government’s readiness and commitment towards ensuring the timely vaccination of Nigerians against the dreaded pande...
Minister: When Nigeria receives coronavirus vaccines doesn’t lie in our hands
Since the beginning of January 2021, Nigeria has been expecting the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, but nothing has happened to date. The World Health Organisation, WHO and GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, CEPI, came up with the COVAX initiative to ensure that low and middle-income countries have access to vaccines. But COVAX has not given a precise date for when it will begin distributing the vaccines. Nigeria has put all its hopes on the COVAX Facility. The federal government is also expecting some vaccines from the Africa Union arrangement, expected to deploy from March. This development has attracted criticisms about the government’s readiness and commitment towards ensuring the timely vaccination of Nigerians against the dreaded pande...
Senator Saraki: Former governor committed to PDP victory in 2023
Former President of the Senate and Chairman, National Committee on Reconciliation and Strategy of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bukola Saraki, has said that former governors under the platform of the party are committed to the victory of the PDP in the 2023 general elections. Saraki also said that although the PDP doesn’t make noise about who is joining the party, but many, even those, who left the party are coming back to join the PDP. Addressing newsmen shortly after meeting with the former governors in Abuja, Saraki said, “yesterday we met with one of our former Presidents. Today we are consulting with our former governors who are key stakeholders and leaders in their states. “There is no way we can talk about consultations and unity of the party without consulting them. We have b...