Sunday
Gernot Rohr backs Samuel Kalu to rediscover best form at Bordeaux
Nigeria head coach Gernot Rohr has backed Samuel Kalu to rediscover his best form for club and country. Kalu struggled to get near his best for French club Girondis Bordeaux last season. The pacy winger managed just one goal and two assists in 20 league appearances for Les Girondis. He fell out with former manager Paulo Sousa, who criticised him for his lack of effort in training. The former KAA Gent of Belgium player was also linked with a number of clubs during the winter transfer window. The 23-year-old is now enjoying a new lease of life under Jean-Louis Gasset. Kalu scored his first goal of the season in Bordeaux’s 2-1 away loss to Lens last weekend. “There’s this Kalu who was playing very, very well with me and Nigeria, who lost a bit of confidence last season. It was not going very ...
Edo election: APC’s loss is masses’ revolution against injustice – Senator Okorocha
Rochas Foundation A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and former governor of Imo State, Senator Rochas Okorocha, has described the loss of his party in the Edo State governorship election as people’s revolution against injustice. This was even as he said members’ respect for President Muhammadu Buhari was the reason the party is still intact, warning that there could be an imminent possible implosion in the party if the leadership failed to address some issues threatening its sustenance. The senator representing Imo West Senatorial Zone, reacting to the outcome of the just-concluded Edo governorship election, insisted that APC’s loss was the masses’ revolution against injustice. “If the report I am getting from Edo is not quite interesting when injustice comes into a ...
Major banks moved vast sums of illicit money – investigation
Massive sums of allegedly dirty money have flowed for years through some of the world’s largest banking institutions, said an international journalism investigation published Sunday, which denounced shortcomings in sector regulations. “Profits from deadly drug wars, fortunes embezzled from developing countries, and hard-earned savings stolen in a Ponzi scheme were all allowed to flow into and out of these financial institutions, despite warnings from the banks’ own employees,” according to the probe from Buzzfeed News and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The investigation, which was led by 108 international media outlets from 88 different countries, is based on thousands of suspicious activity reports (SARs) submitted to the US Treasury Department’s financi...
Survival Fund: Nigerian government releases registration schedule as portal opens Monday
As the portal for the registration of prospective beneficiaries for the Survival Fund opens on Monday, the Federal Government has released the timetable for categories of businesses to register. A statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by the Project Delivery Office stated that the portal which opens at 10 PM, will have educational institutions as the first category of beneficiaries to register. “Nigerians interested in the Payroll Support scheme are to note that the site for registration will be open from 10 pm Monday, September 21, 2020. “In order to ensure a seamless registration process, the Project Delivery Office (PDO) has designed a registration schedule. “Registration for Payroll Support will start with educational institutions on Monday and will be followed with businesses in the hos...
CSR: Dangote Cement commits N4 billion to projects in Ogun host communities
Makamba Online Dangote Cement Plc, says it has committed over N4 billion into various Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects in its 14 host communities in Yewa land in Ogun. The company made this known in a statement signed by the Media and Community Relations Manager of Dangote Industries Limited, Mr Francis Awowole-Browne, on Sunday. “Since the inception of Dangote Cement in Ibese, in the last eight years of creation in Ogun, we have focused on construction and repairs of roads, building of blocks of classrooms, construction and repairs of healthcare facilities. “We have also provided boreholes, some electricity transformers, among others,” he said. The company itemised the projects as 40 classrooms, three health centres, 22 boreholes, three transformers totalling N4.1bn Among va...
Police: Baby survives, mother dies in Anambra building collapse
The Police Command in Anambra has confirmed the rescue of a six-month-old baby from the wreckage of a storey building which collapsed at Obosi near Onitsha on Sunday. The Command’s Spokesman, SP Haruna Mohammed, however, said in a statement, that the baby’s mother died in the incident while many others sustained injuries. Mohammed, who said the incident occurred at about 4:00p.m., could not ascertain the identity of the deceased as at press time. He said the corpse had been deposited at a morgue, while investigation was ongoing to ascertain the cause of collapse. According to him, the scene had been cordoned-off by the police and other security agencies while efforts are ongoing to rescue other victims suspected to have been trapped inside the building. He said: “On Sunday, one-storey buil...
PDP: We will resist attempt to declare Edo election results inconclusive
File Photo The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) campaign council for Edo State governorship election, Sunday has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to release the Edo election results, saying that it will resist attempts to declare the election which was held on Saturday inconclusive. Chairman of the party’s National campaign council and Rivers State governor, Mr. Nyeson Wike, who disclosed this to journalists in Benin City cautioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against such move. Wike alleged that the INEC returning officer for Orhionmwon local government has disappeared after supervising collation of results in the area. He saids, “We call on INEC and to let the general public know that the man is locked up in an office in INEC complex.” Offi...
Victor Ezeji warns against rating Victor Osimhen higher than Simy Nwankwo
Former Nigeria international Victor Ezeji believes it will be wrong to focus just on Napoli forward Victor Osimhen for the new Serie A season without paying attention to his countryman Simy Nwankwo at Crotone. Osimhen has been making headlines beyond the Campania capital following his big-money move from Lille. So much attention has been placed on the 21-year-old such that he has been tipped in some quarters to walk in the shoes of club greats like Diego Maradona, Edinson Cavani and Gonzalo Higuain. Ezeji says that the quality of the Napoli squad and Osimhen’s eagerness to impress makes him the obvious pick between the two Nigerians. “Osimhen is younger than Simy. Then you also have to consider the quality of players in Napoli and the quality of players in Crotone,” the Caf Champions Leagu...
Saudi Arabia set to begin Umrah for local pilgrims
The Ministry of Interior announced on Sunday that the “resumption of Umrah will be done gradually depending on COVID-19 conditions.” According to Haramain Sharifain, Umrah will first be resumed for locals (residents of Saudi Arabia) and that too will be allowed in ‘limited numbers’. The source confirmed previous speculations that an application is being developed which will allow for registration of the pilgrim’s intended time and date for the performance of Umrah and also a negative COVID-19 PCR report will be a mandatory requirement. If the intending pilgrim fulfils all conditions then an “Umrah permit” will be issued. Regarding the opening date of Umrah, the source said that the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah will announce the full mechanism in the coming days. It will be recalled that Saud...
Police warns Zamfara APC against intervening in security issues
The Zamfara Police Command has warned the leadership of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the state to avoid intervening in security issues. The State Police Commissioner, Usman Nagogo issued the warning in Gusau on Thursday at a press conference while reacting to a protest by some APC members at the Police headquarters on Sunday in Gusau. The protest was over alleged illegal arrest of 18 APC members by the police. The police had said that the 18 people were arrested over their alleged meeting with some repentant bandits. The police commissioner said the arrest of Alhaji Habu Dantabawa and 17 others was a proactive measure by the police to curtail any act of banditry and related criminality in the state. “On the 12th September 2020, the police on intelligence and credible information g...
Simy Nwankwo: Crotone ready for Serie A return
Crotone forward Simy Nwankwo says the team is battle ready for a difficult campaign in Serie A. The Pythagoreans are back in the Italian top-flight after spending one season in Serie B. Giovanni Stroppa’s men finished in second position behind Benevento last season. Simy emerged top scorer in Serie B last season with 20 goals in 37 appearances. The team was promoted to Serie A, for the 2016–17 season, the first time in the history of the club. That adventure lasted just two years following their relegation at the end of the 2018/2019 season. Crotone is already anticipating another tough spell in the top-flight. “Sunday will start another important season both for Crotone and for our life. It will be difficult and we know it, we are trying to prepare for it better. Serie A is difficult and ...
Gianfranco Zola hails Victor Osimhen’s ‘important qualities’ ahead Parma vs Napoli
Getty Images Gianfranco Zola is in awe of Victor Osimhen’s talent, suggesting that the Nigerian attacking ace has important qualities with which he can help Napoli to succeed this new season. Napoli will kick-start their 2020/21 Serie A campaign against AC Parma at the Ennio Tardini Stadium on Sunday, September 20, and Zola believes Osimhen can continue his fine pre-season form. The Super Eagles striker since joining Napoli earlier this summer from Lille for a fee of 70 million euros has scored six goals – two hat-tricks, in three pre-season games. Zola, ex-Napoli and Parma striker told Radio Kiss Kiss: “Napoli with Gattuso has found equilibrium. it will be an open game. Napoli has grown a lot with Gattuso. “He will be among the protagonists if Osimhen also enters immediately, he has impor...
