Opportunity
Oyo council polls: OYSIEC to refund nomination fees to candidates
Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC), has expressed its readiness to refund the sum of N50,000 for Councillorship candidates and N250,000 for Chairmanship candidates as stated on Time-Table and guidelines released for local government council elections, coming up in the state. The Commission also released the names of screened and qualified Chairmanship and Councillorship Candidates of 17 political parties who have signified their intentions to participate in the election, slated for May 22, 2021. These were contained in a statement issued and signed by the Electoral Commissioner in charge of Voter Education, Prince Afeez Adeniyi, on behalf of the commission and made available to journalists in Ibadan . Similarly,the statement stated that the commission has resolved to refun...
Edo governor: Nigeria’s unity must be on social justice, equity
The Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, has called for unity in Nigeria in order for the country to overcome its many challenges. He identified equity, social justice and fairness as imperative in the pursuit of the nation’s unity. Obaseki noted that “Nigeria is one indivisible entity that must remain united irrespective of our regional or political differences.” The governor who spoke to journalists after a closed-door meeting with Southern Governors in Asaba, Delta State, reiterated the need for Nigerians to imbibe the spirit of love, tolerance and peaceful coexistence. According to him, “the meeting is geared towards solidifying the cooperation between Southern Nigeria. “We looked at issues affecting us, ranging from security, economy, regional cooperation and certain positions and h...
Oliver Kahn rules Bayern Munich out of race to sign Erling Haaland in summer due to high fee
Erling Haaland moving to Bayern Munich is “unimaginable” at this time, according to the club’s future CEO Oliver Kahn. Haaland has established himself as one of the most prolific frontmen in Europe since joining Borussia Dortmund in January 2020, and is attracting attention from a number of top clubs heading into the summer transfer window. Bayern are among those being linked with a swoop for the Norwegian, but Kahn claims that they won’t be able to match his price tag in the current financial climate. “Sorry, whoever spoke about that didn’t understand the situation,” the Bayern director, who will succeed Karl-Heinz Rummenigge as CEO later this year, told Bild. “A package that costs – as we heard – over €100m is unimaginable for FC Bayern at the moment.” Kahn went on to insist that Bayern ...
Donny van de Beek accused of making Manchester United move with ‘big boy’ attitude
Donny van de Beek has been accused by Marco van Basten of leaving Ajax for Manchester United with a “big boy” attitude, with the Dutch icon of the opinion that too many players depart Amsterdam believing that they have already made it. Van de Beek is among those to have been brought down to earth with a bump after leaving the comfort zone of life in his native Netherlands. A £35 million ($49m) switch to Old Trafford has not played out as planned for the 24-year-old midfielder, with only two Premier League starts taken in as questions are asked of his value to the Red Devils’ cause. Van Basten, who made his name at Ajax before going on to win the Ballon d’Or three times with AC Milan, told Ziggo Sport of Van de Beek and his struggles in England: “It just shows what a great life they have wh...
Nollywood actress: Why I changed my name
Nollywood actress, Belinda Effah, has revealed that she will now be officially addressed as Grace-Charis Bassey. The actress recently announced this development on her Instagram page. Speaking at a press conference which held on the set of “Nollywood Queens” reality show during the week, Effah disclosed that she changed her name from Belinda Effah to Grace-Charis Bassey. According to the actress, her divine encounter with God prompted the name change. Her words; “I had to change my name and the only thing that can make me change my name will be the most supreme being which is God. A lot of people will not understand that. So I don’t bother to explain to people when they ask me why. On the 15th of August last year. I had a divine encounter with God to change my name to Grace. Nobody changed...
Manchester City boss reacts to Sergio Aguero’s penalty miss vs Chelsea
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has reacted to Sergio Aguero’s shocking penalty miss during Manchester City’s 2-1 defeat to Chelsea at the Etihad on Saturday. Man City took the lead through Raheem Sterling in the first half and Aguero shockingly missed the opportunity to give the home side a 2-0 lead before the half time whistle. The Argentine attempted a Panenka penalty but the chipped effort lacked conviction and was comfortably saved by Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. Chelsea came back very strong in the second, putting up an impressive display that gave them 2 goals from Hakim Ziyech and Marcos Alonso. With the win, the Blues delayed Manchester City’s Premier League title celebrations and also gave the west London outfit a psychological advantage ahead of the Champions League fina...
Sergio Aguero apologises after embarrassing penalty miss vs Chelsea
Manchester City forward Sergio Aguero has issued an apology for his penalty miss against Chelsea. Aguero made a hash of his Panenka effort on Saturday, spooning the kick straight into the arms of Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. It was a surprising slip from the usually unerring Argentine, but it was in keeping with a torrid season for the Premier League leaders from 12 yards out and contributed to a 2-1 defeat that prevented City from claiming the title. City boss Pep Guardiola refused to criticise the forward following the game, but Aguero has taken to Twitter to issue an apology. “I would like to apologise to my team-mates, staff and supporters for missing the penalty,” Aguero wrote. “It was a bad decision and I take full responsibility.” Aguero’s Panenka nightmare was the fourth penal...
NOA sensitises Oyo residents ahead of council election
File Photo The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has embarked on sensitisation of residents of some local government areas in Oyo State, ahead of the May 22 council elections. Newsmen report that the programme was tagged: “Voter education and mobilisation campaign towards free, fair, peaceful and credible local government elections.’’ NAN also reports that the exercise, led by the NOA Director in the state, Mrs Folake Ayoola, took the agency to Ibarapa, Ogbomoso, Iseyin and Egbeda local government areas of the state. Other council areas, which had earlier been visited, included: Ibadan North, Ido, Ibadan South-West, Ibadan South-East, Ibadan North-East and Ibadan North-West council areas. Ayoola said that the sensitisation was aimed at intimating the electorate in the state on the importan...
CP Yaro: How I will end insecurity in Imo
The newly posted Imo state Commissioner of Police, Abutu Yaro, on Thursday, said that he would introduce visibility policing as well as reinvigorate community policing in the state to restore fully the security of lives and properties in Imo. Yaro started this to newsmen in Owerri, while taking over from Nasiru Mohammed, the outgoing commissioner of police. To achieve it, he said it would be a community participatory process where everybody will be involved. According to him, “Within the period the Imo State Police Command will be under my watch, we will do our best to revive our visibility policing. Visibility policing by way of ensuring that police asset and personnel are seen in the public domain and in ungoverned places because visibility policing has the potentials of reducing crimina...
2023: NULGE threatens to mobilise against PDP over bill
President of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Comrade Hakeem Ambali, has threatened to mobilise Nigerians to vote against the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in 2023, if it fails to call its member Solomon Bob that sponsored the bill to delist local governments from the constitution to order. Speaking with newsmen in Lagos, Ambali said he was disappointed that a member of the PDP, a party that had the opportunity to rule Nigeria for 16 years could sponsor a bill that can lead to the scrapping of local government administration in Nigeria He wondered why his party had kept quiet over the matter, without mounting pressure on him to drop the bill. Hon Bob who is from Rivers State sponsored the bill which has gone through first reading. Since the introduction of the bi...
Premier League issues major announcement on fan attendance for last two games
Only home fans (a limited number) will be able to attend the final two league games of the season, as confirmed by the Premier League. This update comes from The Athletic, following suggestions that away supporters could be permitted access to the stands as part of the 10,000 spectator figure previously touted. “The Premier League today confirmed the final two match rounds of the 2020/21 season will be limited to home fans, subject to the Government easing lockdown restrictions,” as the Premier League statement read. “Following consultation with clubs, it was agreed matches would not be open to away supporters due to varying operational challenges across the League and the need to deliver a consistent approach, while maximising the opportunity for home-fan attendance. “The safety and secur...
Kwara partners with TIIDELab to train youths on software development
The Kwara State Government has set up a plan to empower youths in the state with tech skills to meet 21st century market demands. The government, in partnership with TIIDELab, is organising a tech training session for young people ahead of a fellowship programme that will feature the best hands picked from the qualifying session, according to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Youths Engagement Kaothara Adeyi. ‘The pre-fellowship session is a prelude to a six-month software engineering fellowship programme,’ the statement said. ‘The fellowship will take participants through the nitty-gritty of software engineering alongside several other software skills required to transfer their technical knowledge into solution-driven products.’ It said the participants in the...
