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Jorge Mendes rubbishes Cristiano Ronaldo’s Sporting Lisbon return links
Former Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo will not be returning to Sporting Lisbon this summer. The Portuguese international has been linked with a fairy tale return to his boyhood club ahead of the 2021/22 season after enduring a mixed campaign with Serie A giants Juventus. Ronaldo’s mother Dolores Aveiro also fuelled speculation over him going back to Lisbon by claiming she would ‘talk to her son about a return’. However, despite speculation over the 36-year old’s next move, as he enters the final year over his contract in Turin, his agent Jorge Mendes has confirmed there will be no move this summer. “Cristiano is proud of the title won by Sporting (this season), as he has publicly demonstrated,” Mendes told an interview with Portuguese outlet Record. “But at the moment his career p...
VP Osinbajo: Nigerian government democratising broadband connectivity
It’s the first in sub-Saharan Africa and one of the three such cutting-edge facilities on the continent, with top prime global certifications for smart card manufacturing and it is based in Lagos, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, relished yesterday afternoon while touring SecureID company’s premises, and affirmed Nigeria’s extremely bright economic future, which he said cannot be aborted despite current challenges. According to him, “the economic future of our nation is extremely bright. Yes, we have challenges today and they may look daunting. But let me assure you that these issues will be resolved. The march of this nation to its manifest destiny as Africa’s leading economic power will not be aborted. We are more than able to overcome.” An impressed Prof. Osinbajo said the Buhari Admi...
African Union mission urges return to ‘constitutional order’ in Chad
An African Union mission recommended on Wednesday that Chad’s military share power with a civilian president, as one of three options towards restoring constitutional order following last month’s killing of president Idriss Deby. A military council led by Deby’s son Mahamat Idriss Deby seized power in April after his father was killed while visiting troops opposing a rebel insurgency. The African Union, which could suspend Chad over the military takeover, sent a fact-finding mission to develop strategies for a return to constitutional order and democratic governance. In a report, the mission recommended the AU’s security council could support the military transition as it stands, while appointing a special envoy to ensure the military keep their promise to organise elections with 18 months...
Elon Musk says he is first SNL host with Asperger’s syndrome
Elon Musk kicked off his “Saturday Night Live” debut by declaring himself to be the first person with Asperger’s syndrome to host the US comedy sketch show. “Or at least, the first person to admit it,” he said. In his opening monologue, the eccentric tech entrepreneur behind Tesla and SpaceX offered an explanation for some of his past eyebrow-raising behavior. “Look, I know I say or post strange things but that’s just how my brain works. To anyone I’ve offended I just want to say, I reinvented electric cars and I’m sending people to Mars in a rocket ship,” he said. “Did you think I was also going to be a chill, normal dude?” Musk has previously drawn criticism for moves like publicly mocking the US Securities and Exchange Commission and calling a cave diver who rescued boys trapped in Thai...
Ondo governor commiserates with Pastor Adeboye over son’s demise
Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu has commiserated with the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, over the death of his son, Pastor Dare Adeboye. Governor Akeredolu described the sudden death of the late Dare as tragic and a huge loss to Christendom, Adeboye’s dynasty and the youths considering the roles of the deceased in youth mentorship as a Regional Youth Evangelist. In a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Richard Olatunde, the governor said: ‘If Christ tarries, no one is excused from the tragic end of death. What is most desirable is that we all come of ripe age and live our lives well in the hope that we bury our parents and not the other way round. ‘It becomes devastating when a father experie...
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...
Kidnappers demand N100 million ransom for abducted Kogi council boss
The Kogi State Government has assured the family of abducted chairman of Yagba West local government council, Hon. Pius Kolawole, of its commitment to ensure his release. In a statement issued by the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, in Lokoja on Monday, the state government assured citizens of its avowed commitment to make Kogi the safest state in the country. Meanwhile, it was gathered that the abductors of Kolawole have demanded N100 million for his release. The abductors were said to have on Sunday night called one of the family members of the chairman to make their demands known. An unofficial source said the kidnappers had also contacted the Kogi State Chairman, Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Mr. Taufiq Isah, who doubled as the chai...
Nigerian journalist: Why I returned missing $3,000 to owner
Mr Abdulkadir Shehu, a journalist with Progress FM, a private radio station in Gombe, said he returned the $3,000 dollars he found along the road to its owner, because it would be wrong for him to claim it. Shehu told newsmen in Gombe on Monday, that as at the time he returned the money, he had less than N2000 on him. “I was really in dire need of money at the time because I had received a call from Kano that my son was sick and needed to be tested for kidney and liver diseases at the hospital. “They couldn’t go ahead with the test because there was no money. “My son is still under medical supervision, but I will try to get the N35,000 for the test on Tuesday,’’ he said. Shehu stressed that poverty should not be an excuse for anyone to do what is wrong, adding that a person’s honesty is be...
Chadian rebels, government forces clash in area where slain leader was shot
Government troops and rebels clashed on Thursday in a region of western Chad where president Idriss Deby Itno was killed earlier this month. The fight in the desert region of Kanem, near Chad’s border with Niger, pits Libya-based rebels against forces loyal to a new military junta led by Deby’s son. Fiercely criticised for authoritarianism and inequality, Deby was seen as a trusty ally by many Western countries including the former colonial power France. He was seen as a stabilising force in the fight against jihadism in the wider Sahel region on the southern fringes of the Sahara desert. “Fighting is continuing in Kanem — we are going to have continue to fight, otherwise they will destabilise us,” junta spokesman General Azem Bermandoa Agouna told AFP. The Military Transition Council (CMT...
Cross River monarch, three others nabbed for kidnapping
The Cross River State joint military outfit code-named, Operation Akpakwu on Monday arrested a traditional ruler along with his two wives and son for alleged kidnapping. The royal father named Etiyin Akamba Eyo is the Clan Head of Ikot Atambi in Akpabuyo Local Government Area and was arrested for using his houses as base for kidnapping activities. His shrine and two houses where kidnappers and militants are fortified with juju were demolished by the security outfit The operation was led by the State Security Adviser, Mr Leo Nyambi, where the chief confessed that his son was involved in kidnapping. Also on Monday, a building at the Eta Agbo Satellite Town was demolished after kidnappers who abducted a medical consultant in the University of Calabar were kept some weeks back. Get more storie...
Chad rebels ready for ceasefire; opposition presses for civilian rule
Rebels in northern Chad are ready to observe a ceasefire and to discuss a political settlement after the battlefield death of President Idriss Deby last week, a rebel spokesman said on Sunday. The rebels, known as the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), came over the northern border from Libya on April 11 calling for an end to Deby’s 30-year rule. They came as close as 200-300 km (125-185 miles) from the capital N’Djamena before being pushed back by the army. Deby was killed on Monday while visiting troops at the front, just after he won an election. His death shocked the Central African country, which has long been a Western ally against Islamist militants. The air force has since bombarded rebel positions, the military and rebels said. The military said on Saturday it had “annih...
NULGE to occupy homes of lawmakers supporting bill to scrap LGAs
File Photo The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) is planning a protest to occupy the country homes of all federal lawmakers in support of a bill calling for the scrapping of local government councils. The union says all in support of the bill are enemies of Nigeria and democracy, and were insensitive to the plight and governance needs of Nigerians in rural areas. NULGE president Ambali Olatunji spoke in reaction to the bill before the House of Representatives seeking to abolish the third tier of government. The bill is being sponsored by a House of Representatives member, Bob Solomon, PDP-Rivers. Olatunji said if the bill was not killed immediately, the workers would in the next few days stage a protest at the National Assembly, after which they would storm the country ho...
