Woes
Anxiety in Bayelsa as four local councils cannot pay salaries
Trouble is looming in four local government areas in Bayelsa State over the inability of the council to pay the salaries of its workers. The affected local government areas – Ogbia, Nembe, Sagbama and Ekeremor – are said to be owning three months salaries. The other four local government areas namely Kolokuma/Opokuma, Yenagoa, Southern Ijaw and Brass are said to be struggling but have a financial edge due to the internally generated revenue. Bloated wage bills in the troubled local government councils and the various debts they are servicing have eaten up their finances such that they cannot meet the financial obligations to their workers. The state government had recently taken over the payment of teachers salaries in the Ogbia Local Government Area to prevent industrial action by the tea...
Zambian court throws out second challenge to president’s re-election bid
Zambia’s Constitutional Court ruled on Friday that President Edgar Lungu can stand for re-election in August, throwing out a second opposition challenge to his eligibility on the basis of the constitutional two-term limit. The ruling comes as Zambia faces a multipronged economic crisis, after overleveraging its debt right before the brutal global COVID-19 shutdown. The crisis has triggered Africa’s first pandemic-era sovereign default and driven the southern African country to seek emergency IMF help. Lungu’s first term in office lasted a year and six months, when he took over after the death of the previous elected president, Michael Sata. He then won an election in a disputed vote in August 2016. Since this is technically his second term, the opposition had argued that he is no longer el...
West Brom thrash Southampton to boost survival hopes
West Bromwich Albion improved their slender hopes of avoiding relegation from the Premier League as they survived VAR controversy to beat Southampton 3-0 on Monday. Sam Allardyce’s side saw Mbaye Diagne’s goal questionably ruled out by VAR early in the first half at the Hawthorns. But they recovered from that blow to sweep into a two-goal lead by half-time thanks to Matheus Pereira’s penalty and a Matt Phillips strike. Callum Robinson sealed West Brom’s second successive win after the interval as the Baggies built on their stunning 5-2 victory at Chelsea. Second bottom Albion move within eight points of fourth bottom Newcastle with seven games left. The Baggies have scored eight goals in their last two games, two more than they had netted in their previous 11 combined, but their unexpected...
Court declares SEC sanctions against Oando management null, void
Wikipedia Oando shareholders in the persons of Alhaji Yakubu Gumel; Alhaji Kabiru Tambari, suing for himself and on behalf of the Sokoto Zone Shareholders Association; Tunde Badmus, suing for himself and for the benefits of Pacesetters Shareholders Association, bagged yet another win at the Federal High Court (FHC) Kano, in a suit filed against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for overreaching its powers. Justice A. Lewis Allagoa presiding over the ruling dismissed the regulators preliminary objection and granted all the reliefs sought by the Oando Shareholders. The FHC Kano dismissed SEC’s objection on the basis that the shareholders’ claims fall under their rights as shareholders according to the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) and is therefore not a capital markets i...
RB Leipzig boss emerges as Tottenham’s ‘top target’ to replace Jose Mourinho
RB Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmann has emerged as the likely candidate to replace Jose Mourinho, should Tottenham’s current slump continue. Spurs began the season in excellent form and even topped the table as recently as early December, yet just a few months later, Mourinho’s men find themselves 23 points behind leaders Manchester City and with a real job to do to secure a top-four spot. Their defeat to London rivals West Ham United on Sunday means they are now nine points behind the Hammers in fourth, albeit with a game in hand on David Moyes’ side. Despite a late rally in that game, inspired by half-time substitute Gareth Bale, Tottenham’s defensive woes once again came to the fore, the centre-back pairing of Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez looking particularly shaky in recent weeks. With...
RB Leipzig boss emerges as Tottenham’s ‘top target’ to replace Jose Mourinho
RB Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmann has emerged as the likely candidate to replace Jose Mourinho, should Tottenham’s current slump continue. Spurs began the season in excellent form and even topped the table as recently as early December, yet just a few months later, Mourinho’s men find themselves 23 points behind leaders Manchester City and with a real job to do to secure a top-four spot. Their defeat to London rivals West Ham United on Sunday means they are now nine points behind the Hammers in fourth, albeit with a game in hand on David Moyes’ side. Despite a late rally in that game, inspired by half-time substitute Gareth Bale, Tottenham’s defensive woes once again came to the fore, the centre-back pairing of Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez looking particularly shaky in recent weeks. With...
NLC: Nigeria’s insecurity, poverty getting out of control
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Wednesday held their National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, at the Nigerian Airforce Conference Centre, Abuja, where they lamented the precarious state of insecurity and economic woes in the country. According to President of the NLC Ayuba Wabba, hardly does any day passes by without one negative report of citizens either kidnapped or abducted for payment of ransome. Lamenting the situation, Wabba said our beloved country has never been emmeshed in the grips of insecurity turbulence and crisis as we witness today. He said in the past two years or so, we have witnessed an intense resurgence of terrorism, armed banditry, kidnap-for-ransom, militancy and resource conflicts all over the country. According to him, there is also the challenge of criminals ...
Rapper Jawara Headley sues Nicki Minaj for song ‘Rich Sex’
Nicki Minaj may have ushered in 2021 with adorable baby pictures of her son but the rapper has legal woes as she has been sued for $200 million. The lawsuit is over her song “Rich Sex” which Queens rapper and songwriter Jawara Headley says she stole from him after he played it for her. Jawara who goes by the name Brinx Billions is suing Nicki alongside Universal Music Group, Young Money, and Cash Money for damages. In court documents obtained by TMZ, Jawara who is already credited as a writer of “Rich Sex” according to the ASCAP database claims that he let Nicki listen to his version of “Rich Sex” in 2016. He also claims that he is the sole author/creator/composer/writer/producer of “Rich Sex” and Nicki told him it would be extremely marketable and become a global hit. The rapper and songw...
Chelsea boss admits to facing ‘reality check’ after Manchester City drubbing
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard acknowledged that he was given a sharp jolt of reality as the Blues capitulated at home to Manchester City on Sunday. Lampard’s charges have been in torrid form since the start of December, following up a run of nine unbeaten Premier League games with four defeats in their last six outings. The latest, a 3-1 reverse at Stamford Bridge at the hands of City, was concerning not just for the result but also the subdued display offered by the hosts. Chelsea mustered just two shots on target to give debutant goalkeeper Zack Steffen a quiet afternoon between the posts, and only troubled the scorers late into injury time through Callum Hudson-Odoi when the game was already out of reach. And with the Blues having slipped down to eighth as a result of their recent woes,...
Tijani Babangida: Gernot Rohr to blame for Eagles poor form
Former Super Eagles winger Tijani Babangida has blamed Gernot Rohr for the national team’s poor form after ending the 2020 calendar year without a win. Babangida made this known during an interview on Friday. The Eagles drew 4-4 against Sierra Leone in Benin City and 0-0 in Freetown in their final games of 2020, and thus failed to clinch an early ticket for the Africa Cup of Nations scheduled for Cameroon in 2021. Former Ajax winger Babangida blamed Rohr for the national team’s woes. “The coach of the Eagles is the one to be blamed for the poor form of the team. He is the one in charge of the team and one thing I know he has deviated from is that he has not followed the football culture of Nigeria’s national team,” Babangida said. “We used wingers during our time with the team, but looking...
California hospitals overrun even as vaccine is rolled out
Even as high profile figures like U.S. Vice President Mike Pence rolled up their sleeves for COVID-19 vaccinations, patients already ill with the disease crowded emergency rooms and overran intensive care units in California, now a worldwide epicenter. Another 41,000 people tested positive in the most populous U.S. state on Thursday, and 300 died, state public health officials said. In a state with 40 million residents, only about 1,200 intensive care beds remained available by Friday – just 2.1% of the total, the California Department of Public Health said. “We anticipated a surge, but I’m not sure if anyone imagined it would be as bad as it has been,” said Adam Blackstone, a spokesman for the Hospital Association of Southern California. Hospitals are strained under the press of patients,...
