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Substitute Marcus Rashford scored in stoppage time on Saturday for Manchester United to come from behind to beat Bournemouth 2-1 away. The win helped Manchester United close the gap on the top four in an exciting English Premier League clash. Callum Wilson had fired Bournemouth ahead in the 11th minute, but they were later kept on the back foot. An in-form Anthony Martial netted his fifth goal in the last four games in the 35th minute, while Rashford completed the comeback from close range late on.  Poor Manchester United defending had seen Bournemouth miss three gilt-edged scoring chances before Wilson delighted the home fans with a simple tap-in.  This had followed an inch-perfect low cross from the right by Junior Stanislas, after some excellent build-up play.  Martial levelled when he drilled in a powerful left-foot shot from 11 metres, after good work by Ashley Young and Alexis Sanchez. The goal meant the Frenchman has scored in four successive top-flight ...

Sylvester Debe Ojukwu, the first son of the Biafra warlord, Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu, is dead, Tribune reports. He reportedly died on Friday night after  spending a short time at the hospital. He passed on at the age of 62.

Bianca Ojukwu, the widow of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, has said she cannot confirm the death of her late husband’s son, Debe Ojukwu. When contacted on the telephone, Ambassador Ojukwu told our correspondent that it was not her duty to make announcements in the Ojukwu family. When pressured further that as a stepmother of Debe, she ought to be one of the first persons to know about such things, she said Nnewi people had their customs and tradition. “According to our tradition, it is not my role to make such announcements. We have elders in the family, who have such duties and functions. It’s not part of my duties”, she stated. Calls to Emeka Ojukwu for a confirmation of the story were not picked. An online publication,  247report , had reported that Ojukwu’s son died in a Lagos hospital in the early hours of Saturday (today). Details later.

The Falcons don’t need top friendlies to prepare before the 2018 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations in Ghana, according to captain Rita Chikwelu, Chikwelu says the team is working hard in training and believes the lack of competitive top friendlies will not affect the team’s performance in the competition. The Super Falcons are defending champions of the AWCON and have been the most dominant team in the competition; winning 8 out of 10 editions. They are one of the favorites when the competition gets underway later this month, but the coach, Thomas Dennerby doesn’t have the full compliment of players invited in camp. The Falcons have not played together since June, when they defeated Gambia 7-0 over two legs in the 2018 AWCON qualifiers. But that doesn’t seem to bother the 30-year-old midfielder, who told the media at a presser on Thursday that, “We are preparing hard and not worried about playing top friendly games.  I can assure you that will not affect us at the tou...

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Abuja said that his administration would continue to be fair to all Nigerians. He made the remark while receiving a delegation of Bassa Traditional Rulers and Elites led by His Royal Highness, Alhaji Bako Ebiredelu Dogwo, at the Presidential Villa. According to him, his administration has ensured even distribution of political appointments to reflect diverse interests across the country, regardless of the voting patterns of the 2015 presidential elections. The President in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina,  said the Nigerian constitution clearly maps out the need for representation in every government, and he had adhered strictly to the tenets of the law. He noted that Ministers of Foreign  Affairs, Science and Technology, Labour and Employment, and Industry, Trade and Investment emerged from states that he did not record much votes in 2015, but they were given strong portfolios in t...

Your fans are fascinated by your frequent use of some  phrases in movies, do you feel comfortable using these phrases? There was a time I thought that writers have not done enough justice to the screen plays. Information, education and entertainment are the three key elements one must apply in writing. Entertainment for instance, is lacking in most of our scripts, so the idea was to create  specific language slang, phrases, cliches, bylines and cash point to entertain people. If you recall when we produced “Tabo”, the movie was supposed to be full of sorrows: dealing with the Osu cast system in Igboland. Imagine in the Holy Book, where God made us all equal before Him, and man decided to segregate between what he calls ‘ the son of the soil, and a slavery( a living sacrifice to the gods).’Therefore, I decided to create a comic relief to calm down a situation. Even if you are watching a tragic movie, you would have cause to laugh. That was why I introduced the slang in th...

TEMPERS rose yesterday in Anambra State as over 300 Anglican priests barricaded the government house to protest against the seizure of Bishop Crowther Memorial School, Onitsha allegedly belonging to the church by the state government. The priests stormed the government house gate as early as 9am yesterday carrying placards with different inscriptions. The clergymen who were not allowed access into the government house by security operatives, barricaded the government house gate, to stop the governor , Willie Obiano from entering the premises. The Diocese of the Niger, Anglican Communion had been contesting the ownership of the school with the Catholic Church The contest between the two leading denominations in the state led Obiano administration to ban church services in public schools in the state. During the protest yesterday, the priests insisted that the governor and no official of the state government, including the deputy governor, Dr. Nkem Okeke should address them. Inscrip...

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is shelling out a cumulative sum of N400million to a lobbyist of US President Donald Trump, in a bid to win the 2019 presidential election for its flagbearer,  Atiku Abubakar,  according to  TheCable. The online newspaper names the lobbyist as  Brian Ballard. Who is Brian Ballard? Politico  magazine writes that Ballard is closer to President Trump than perhaps any other lobbyist in town. He’s parlayed that relationship into a booming business helping clients get their way with the Trump administration — and his clients and even some of his rivals say his firm has a better grasp of what’s going on in the West Wing than almost anyone else. “Ballard was one of the top fundraisers in the country for Trump’s campaign and continues to raise millions for his reelection campaign. Wiles, one of his top lieutenants, ran Trump’s campaign in Florida and delivered the nation’s biggest swing state to the president”,  ...

Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, says conciliation on the national minimum wage will continue on Sunday despite the court injunction restraining organised labour from embarking on strike The National Industrial Court had on Friday  ordered the organised labour not to go ahead with the nationwide strike  scheduled for Nov. 6 Justice Sanusi Kado gave the order in a ruling on an ex parte application moved on behalf of the Federal Government by the Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, Mr Dayo Apata. The minister in the statement, however, insists that the conciliation meeting involving organised Labour, the organised private sector and government scheduled for Sunday remained unchanged. “The conciliation meeting involving the Organised Labour, the Organised Private Sector and Government scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 4 at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation by 6 p.m. is stil...

Kylian Mbappe and Neymar scored late goals to give Paris Saint-Germain a 2-1 win over nearest challengers Lille on Friday as the French champions extended to 12 games their perfect start to the season at the end of a troubled day for the club. The Qatari-owned club were forced to release a statement shortly before kick-off to deny allegations made by a Football Leaks investigation that they had worked with UEFA to cover up breaches of their Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. However Mbappe restored smiles at the Parc des Princes with a magnificent strike from just outside the box 20 minutes from time, and Neymar gave PSG a two-goal buffer before Nicolas Pepe pulled one back for the away side from the penalty spot. PSG extend their lead at the top of Ligue 1 to 11 points after a 12th straight league win that means they have now beaten Tottenham Hotspur’s old record for consecutive wins at the start of a season. Spurs emerged victorious from their opening 11 matches in their dou...

Coaches Duke Udi and Godfrey Esu believe Super Eagles captain Mikel Obi is still relevant to the team despite not featuring for the national team in recent games. Mikel has yet to play for the Eagles since the 2018 World Cup – missing the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Seychelles and the double-header against Libya. The 31-year-old was also excluded from the 23-man list for the crucial 2019 AFCON qualifier against South Africa in Johannesburg on November 17 and the friendly against Uganda in Asaba three days later. His absence from the squad has generated reviews in the social media, with some calling for the midfielder’s retirement from the national team. After disclosing that Mikel missed the Libya matches due to injuries, Eagles coach Gernot Rohr said the former Chelsea star also wanted to be excused from the team for personal reasons, hence his exclusion from the South Africa and Uganda games. Mikel told me that he would tell me when he will be ready to com...

’s not the best of times for Nigerian Athletics! One of the country’s most talented athletes and No.1 in the women’s 400m Hurdles for the past two years, Glory Nathaniel, was a few weeks ago, provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) due to the presence of a prohibited substance, Stanozolol, in her system. A Provisional Suspension is when an athlete is suspended temporarily from participating in any competition or activity in Athletics prior to a final decision at a hearing conducted under the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Anti-Doping Rules or the Integrity Code of Conduct. The AIU was founded by the IAAF last year to combat doping in the sport, and the unit functions fully independently from the IAAF. Nathaniel won Gold for Nigeria at the 2018 African Championships in Asaba, finishing ahead of Morocco’s Lamiae Lhabze and defending champion, South Africa’s Wenda Nel. The details surrounding her positive test are not yet clear, as the da...

Acrimony arising from the recent primaries and conventions to pick standard bearers for the 2019 general polls has left some of the political parties, especially the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and some other parties that have made inroads in many states of the federation shattered. The development has culminated in alignment, realignment and cross-carpeting by some political actors who could not pick their party tickets to other parties. The ruling APC appears the most-hit by the post-primaries crises. With the acrimony trailing the APC primaries and alleged abysmal performance as being propagated by opposition elements and critics, it is obvious that there is fire on the mountain.  As a retired general, a combatant soldier for that matter, President Muhammadu Buhari knows the importance of keeping the party on a good footing, heading into the election. He has taken the initiative to embark on a trouble-shooting mis...

The former governor of Anambra state and vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi, has denied the allegation that he demolished mosques and also sent Hausa people out of the state while he was governor. Responding to questions at an event in Lagos on Thursday, November 1, 2018, Obi said it was pitiful that rather than finding a way to resolve the plight of Nigerians, the opposition is spreading falsehoods in their desperation to be elected into public offices. Obi described the allegations as sheer fabrication, wicked and inhuman as he was accused of snubbing the Sultan of Sokoto,  Saad Abubakar  and former Minister of Planning,  Shamsudeen Usman  in their attempts for mediation. The former governor denied disrespecting the Sultan as it is never in his character to disrespect elders. He said,  "The irony of this concoction is that I have been a friend of His Eminence, the Sultan right from my first year at the ...

A staggering loan of N1.2billion allegedly borrowed by a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwart  Dr. Ngozi Olejeme to enable  her prosecute her aspiration of  contesting the  2015 governorship election in Delta State has now landed her in court. The lender and Olojeme’s long standing associate, Prince Arthur Eze is frustrated that repayment of the alleged loan is not forthcoming, and prays an Abuja High Court to compel her to pay. The loan, according to the suit filed by Eze, is in two parts:$2.8million and  N240 million. He said the agreed repayment dates for the funds have long expired without any attempt by the defendant to settle the debt. Attached to the suit are 39 pages of Eze’s Oranto Petroleum Limited’s domiciliary and Naira-denominated bank statements detailing dates and amounts transferred into Olejeme’s accounts. Eze, in an affidavit in support of his claims, said that even though the interest -free loans which he began to disburse afte...

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has insisted it will embark on a nationwide strike over the non-implementation of N30, 000 as the new national minimum wage, despite the National Industrial Court’s ruling in Abuja which has ordered that the action be suspended. Mr Ayuba Wabba, President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja. DAILY POST reports that the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) in Abuja has restrained the organised labour from proceeding on a nationwide strike on Nov 6. Wabba, reacting said the Labour-union was not aware of any court ruling and have not been served any notice. “We have just concluded our joint organ meetings of the Central Working Committees of the Labour Centres of the NLC, Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the United Labour Congress (ULC) here in Lagos. “The meeting is the final preparation for a full engagement with the government on the new National Mi...

Chelsea forward Eden Hazard will return against Crystal Palace in the English Premier League on Sunday but is unlikely to play the full match, manager Maurizio Sarri said on Friday. Hazard, the league’s joint-top goalscorer this season with seven goals, has missed the last three matches with a back injury. “Yesterday (Thursday), he had a large part of the training with the team,” Sarri told reporters at a news conference on Friday at Stamford Bridge.

ABUJA- The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to keep faith in his undertaking to accept the outcome of the 2019 Presidential election. The party in a statement issued on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan invites Nigerians and the international community to note that the pledge made by the Director-General of Buhari’s Campaign Organisation and Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, to a delegation from the European Union (EU), should be kept now that “the tide is flowing against their candidate.” The statement read: “The Buhari Campaign Organisation has seen the handwriting on the wall; that Nigerians across board have reached an irreversible consensus to end the Buhari administration and vote in our candidate, Atiku Abubakar, as their next President and that no amount of smear campaigns, intimidation and threats can shake their will or cow them from firmly defending their resolution after the elections. The ...

  Nigeria’s No. 1 friendship beer, “33” Export has unveiled plans for the 2018 edition of its signature friendship event “City of Friends” at a media briefing at the Nigerian Breweries Headquarters at Iganmu Lagos on Tuesday 10th July, 2018. The event which is in commemoration of the United Nations’ World Friendship Day is in line with “33” Export’s brand positioning as Nigeria’s foremost friendship beer. Widely reputed for its strong friendship credentials, “33” Export has consistently deepened friendship across the nation by organizing several consumer activities that seek to promote the culture and spirit of friendship and conviviality. The premium beer brand has taken great pride in creating unique friendship experiences for consumers across the country. Addressing journalists on the plans in place for the event, the Marketing Director of Nigerian Breweries, makers of “33” Export and other premium beer brands, Mr. Franco Maria Maggi, said: The “33” Export brand is ...

I’VE spent the past few weeks in Nigeria, doing a lot of informal opinion-polling, as in randomly sounding all sorts of people out about their political views, their fears and their hopes for the future. Many of us spend most of our time in bubbles that are full of like-minded folks who have identical or very similar socio-economic profiles, lifestyles, expectations, educational backgrounds and so on.  Often, we don’t even realise how limited our perspectives are. For example, a friend of mine told me, a couple of months ago, that she was very depressed because:  “I’m so short of money right now that I cannot travel abroad on holiday this summer like everyone else.”  I reminded her that “everyone else” is a farcical exaggeration and that the average Nigerian doesn’t even classify certain months of the year as “summer” (summer being a totally foreign season and concept), never mind assume that he or she is entitled t1o take time off work in some far-flung location e...

A former Minister of Aviation and senator representing Anambra North, Stella Oduah, has disagreed with the saying that the youths are the leaders of tomorrow. According to Oduah, the youths only need to have their potential productively enabled and the country will see a fast rise in their abilities to lead today as opposed to the tomorrow that ‘never comes.’ The former minister, who said this at a youth convention in Anambra, noted that certain requirements must be met before the youths could have an amazing life. She said, “They say that the youths are the leaders of tomorrow but I believe the contrary. I believe that youths are leaders of today. All they need is the necessary support and enabling environment. Also, the youths can reach their full potential if they are productively enabled. This is one of the underscoring points of my action for what I call Fundamental Human Capital Development. “The need to build a constituency of independent, enterprising and self-relian...