Covid-19: PSG Crowned France Ligue 1 Champion, As Dutch Eredivise League Cancelled

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May 1, 2020

By Akinwale Kasali

Paris Saint Germain Football Club has been crowned French Ligue Champion for the 2019/2020 Football Season despite the non completion of the expected matches for the Club to be crowned Champions due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

PSG was awarded the league title after the termination of the French league season following a directive from the French Prime Minister that all sporting activities will be suspended till September.

This is the French club’s seventh title in eigth years.

The LFP’s (Ligue de Football Professionnel) plan before the Prime Minister’s decision was to restart the league in June as the lockdown in France was to be lifted on May 11 but the political leader’s address to the national assembly stopped the plan from fruition.

As a result of the points per game classification used by the LFP, Lyon is set to miss the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 1997 with Marseille and Rennes securing Champions League spots for next season. Meanwhile, Lille, Reims and Nice have booked their places in the Europa League for next season.

On the other hand, Amiens and Toulouse have been relegated to Ligue 2 with Lorient and Lens gaining promotion to Ligue 1.

The Dutch Eredivise League has ,however, been cancelled.

Netherlands Prime Minister, Mark Rutte has banned all professional football games until September. The Dutch FA voted to, officially, end the 2019 season, in which there will be no promotion and relegation to, and from the Dutch first division.

Also, the country’s champions will not be crowned with Ajax and AZ Alkmaar being top of the table. The two teams are tied at 56 points but the Amsterdam team has a better goal difference.

Although UEFA has announced that they expect all domestic seasons to be completed, and will issue guidelines to associations which decide to end their campaigns early.

It’s unlikely that La Liga will go the same path. It is expected that the Spanish league will be over by August as the Champions League is meant to be played that month.

As a reminder, Belgium was the first European country to end their league. Unlike the Eredivisie, Belgian First Division A, named Club Brugge as champions as they were topping the league.

France, however, became the third country to call off its football season after Belgium’s Jupiler Pro League and Netherlands’ Eredivisie.

The German Bundesliga which had been planned to start in May is, however, facing uncertainty.

The Bundesliga will have to wait another week to find out when it can resume its season behind closed doors after Chancellor Angela Merkel and the country’s 16 state Premiers delayed a decision on the matter.

The German Football League (DFL) had been hoping for the government to give the green light and end a two-month suspension but Chancellor Merkel told a Thursday press conference that any decision on when sports activities could resume would be taken on May 6.

Football has been suspended in Germany since mid-March due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Covid-19: Gov. Bala Mohammed Breaks Protocol; Asks His Subjects To Use Chloroquine For Disease

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The Source

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May 1, 2020

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By Akinwale Kasali

Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has done the unprecedented.

Without any clearance from the Ministry of Health, NCDC or NAFDAC, he has given an approval for the use of Chloroquine and Zithromax, in his state, for the cure of the deadly Coronavirus.

During a Press Conference in Bauchi, on Thursday, he ordered, and authorized health officials to go for Chloroquine and Zithromax, saying he should be held responsible for the outcome.

Surprisingly, neither Federal Government, the Ministry of Health, NCDC, nor NAFDAC, has taken him up on that.

The Governor was an early victim of Coronavirus in Nigeria.

The Governor’s prescription is welm beyond his area of competence and authority. But, he boldly said he is ready to take responsibility for any consequence of approving such drugs, because they worked for him and some victims in his State.

Bala, who was the COVID-19 index case in the state, revealed that he was treated with chloroquine and Zithromax.

“Our medical team is using their own ingenuity to use chloroquine and Zithromax to treat the patients, even though in some places, they said it is against the protocol,” he said.

“As the governor, I’m taking responsibility for that because I don’t want anyone to die.

“I have given you the directive that you must use something that I have used to get well, just as you have used for all other cases that got well.

“Rather than saying that something is harmful, we should not follow what the white people are saying by not taking anything and die.

“We are used to taking chloroquine in Nigeria. We are going to use them. We have taken responsibility and I have taken responsibility.

“Zithromax and chloroquine are not harmful to our body, our physiological system has adapted to it. If you are having a fever you take chloroquine,” he said.

Recall that the US President, Donald Trump, had also recommended the use of Chloroquine in the US, but the idea was quickly shot down by professionals who have been, frantically, working to develop a Vaccine for the Virus.

Breaking: Former Speaker, Ghali Umar Na’abba, Alive; Releases Video Proof

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The Source

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May 1, 2020

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By Adesina Soyooye

Contrary to the story which made the rounds on a number of Social Media Platforms announcing the passing of former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Umar Na’Abba, family and friends say he is very much alive Na’Abba himself in a video massage has, also, confirmed that he is alive and locking.

Debunking the story that he died in Kano, his home town and state, Thursday night, the very reliable sources revealed that former Speaker has been away to the United Kingdom in the past few weeks.

Putting a stamp of authority, Na’Abba released a video of himself from the UK, where he addressed the story of his death, confirming his trip to the UK.

Na’Abba has joined the league of great men whose deaths were announced while still alive. The most sensational was the first President of Nigeria, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe. He lived several more years after he was announced dead, and condolences sent to his family and Nigeria by at least, one high profile friend and political associate of his. Ironically, the fellow died before the Great Zoo of Africa.

Aged 62 years, Na’Abba was the Speaker of the House of Representatives during the President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.

Even though both were of the same political party, the PDP, he had a very stormy relationship with Obasanjo. It was during Na’Abba’s tenure that huge bags of money were displayed on the floor of the House, allegedly from Obasanjo, to bribe members to support him for a third term in office as President. The ambition was aborted.

Since his troubled relationship with Obasanjo, Na’Abba has never won any election again, or held any important position, even, when, at a point in his chequered political life, he joined the APC.

Born on September, 1958, Na’abba, CFR, is an alumnus of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Buhari Approves N6 bn For Niger Delta, Extends NDDC Board’s Tenure

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Bayo Bernard

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May 1, 2020

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By Fola James

President Muhammdu Buhari has extended the tenure of the NDDC management led by Professor Kemebradikumo Daniel Pondei by eight months.

The federal government has also approved for the commission N6.25 as intervention support fund to complement the efforts of the Federal Government in the nine states that make up the commission.

The interim board of the commission was appointed in February by the president after it sacked Barrister Joy Nunieh as the managing director.

The materials and supplies are to be done through Emergency Procurement method as provided in Sections 42(b) (c) and 43 of the Public Procurement Act, 2007, the federal government said.

A statement issued by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity in Abuja on Thursday, explained that the extension is to cover the period of the forensic audit of the NDDC earlier approved by the Federal Executive Council.

Apart from Professor Pondei, who is the Ag. managing director others are Dr Cairo Ojougboh, Ag. Executive Director (Projects); Ibanga Bassey Etang, Ag. Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Caroline Nagbo (Member); and Cecilia Bukola Akintomide, OON, a former Vice President with African Development Bank, (Member).

They are to oversee the full audit of the corruption riddled commission, the president’s spokesman said.

According to him, “Prof K.D Pondei, the new Ag. Managing Director, is a Professor of Medicine at the Niger Delta University, and former Provost, College of Health Sciences of the institution. President Buhari had earlier approved that the Interim Management Committee would be in place till the forensic audit of the NDDC was concluded.”

Oronsaye Report: Buhari Approves Merger Of NCAA NAMA and NIMET

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Uche Mbah

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May 1, 2020

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By Uche Mbah

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the implementation of the Oronsaye report, which was submitted to President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration before he stepped aside.

A former Head of Civil Service, Stephen Oronsaye headed a committee set up by former President Jonathan to correct inadequacies in the Civil service.

Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this in an interview on Channels Television.

“The president has approved that this administration should implement the Oronsaye report”, she said.

“It has reviewed the whole of the size of government and has made very significant recommendations in terms of reducing the number of agencies and that would mean merging some agencies.

“This is a report that has been in place for a long time and there hasn’t been implementation but the president has approved that this should be implemented and we have conveyed Mr. President’s approval to the arms of government that are responsible for this and that will be the office of the secretary of government and the head of the civil service of the federation.”

Part of the report indicates the merger of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Nigeria Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, and Nigerian meteorological services, NIMET. Stakeholders, are, however, not comfortable with the merger. Supo Atobatele, the former spokesperson for NAMA, called it a “misadventure.

“Merging NAMA, NIMET With NCAA To Form FCAA Is A Misadventure”, he said.

“The white paper on Orasonye’s Presidential Committee on restructuring and rationalization of FG parastatals, commissions and agencies released during the week, has confirmed early speculation on a possible merger of Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) to form Federal Civil Aviation Authority (FCAA).

“This is a wrong decision and against the global trend of separating industry service providers from the regulator.

“FG acceptance to merge NAMA especially with NCAA, is an invitation to chaos and anarchy.

“The fusion of the two under the aegis of the new FCAA means it will provide air traffic services, install and calibrate equipment, license its personnel and at the same time perform the oversight function for its own services.

“This is abnormal and it can’t stand the test of time. The scenario here, is like asking a sick patient to diagnose himself, determine the intensity of ailments, recommend drugs, and discharge himself. I hope we are not going back to the era when planes were dropping from the skies.”

Breaking: Access Bank In Big Trouble, 20, 000 Staff To Go

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Bayo Bernard

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May 1, 2020

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By Admin

Access Bank Plc has finally owned up, after months of speculation that all is not well with the Herbert Wigwe-led bank.

Surprisingly, it is the managing director of the new generation bank that has now revealed that the bank is seriously going through a difficult time, and because of the current situation, more than 75 per cent of the staff would be sacked.

The bank, in its website said it currently employs over 28, 000 staff.

Wigwe had revealed in a video that has now gone viral that the bank is in a serious financial problem and so, could no longer accommodate the its bogus wage bill.

According to the capitalng, an online newspaper, Wigwe has warned his staff that the bank faced ‘Armageddon’ in the next few months.

According to him, the bank will no longer be able to operate many of its branches across the country any longer and this would affect thousands of employees working in those branches.

Recall that the bank, last year, acquired Defunct Diamond Bank.

The rushed ‘marriage’ is still being perfected by the merging banks, but many of “the ongoing processes between the partners will now have to stop because of the emerging situation in the lender,” an analyst said.

He said “most diamond banks branches that Access Bank Plc has already rebranded will now have to be shut if what the managing director of the bank said is anything to go by,” he said.

Wigwe had said in the video that the bank “don’t need as many security men as required, even to the fact that we are not going to have all our branches open between now and December. We certainly don’t need all the security men. We don’t need all the tea girls. We don’t all the cleaners. We don’t need all the tellers et cetera et cetera.”

Only 25 percent of the banks staff strength will be left he said.

According to him “So that number of staff which represent 75% of our staff strength, I think, is the one we basically need to speak with their employers with a view to getting them to rationalise to the level that we think will be necessary to basically sustain a mean but actually a customer service oriented institution.”

He also explained that the bank has been surviving on bogus head cost.

“The second” problem Wigwe said “has to do with our professional cost.

Now that is one is very tricky and it is tricky because I do understand and appreciate that it is going to bring its own pain to staff. We basically have to make the adjustment the same way it sounded when we spoke ten days ago with respect to basically cutting down cost.”

The bank must now face the option of adopting a structural adjustment or going down, the chief executive said.

Under consideration is the slashing of the bogus allowance he received as the managing director, as well as the board and top executives of the bank who will now be forced to received a huge pay cut.

He said “I would be the first to take the hit and I’m going to take the largest cut, which would be as much as forty per cent (40%).

The rest, we shall have to cascade right through the institution. Everybody may have to make some adjustments of some sort.”

Meanwhile, the magazine has leant from competent sources in the new generation bank that its management is not happy with the way its chief executive has mismanaged the lender’s fortunes.

Breaking: Deaths, As Eight-Storey Building Collapses In Owerri

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The Source

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April 30, 2020

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By Adesina Soyooye

A monumental tragedy, early Monday evening, hit Owerri, the Imo state capital.

An eight-storey building, still under construction, collapsed, trapping, at least, 40 people. At the time of writing this, five people have been pulled out of the rubble, with one of them confirmed dead. The others were rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri.

Located along the Yar’adua Drive, New Owerri, it is said to be a hotel and, has been under constuction for years. It was billed to be the biggest hotel in Owerri, comparable, in size, only to the very run-down, and raped Imo Concorde Hotel, built by the administration of the late former Governor Sam Mbakwe.

The cause of the sudden collapse is not yet known, but a high profile Quantity Surveyor, who spoke to the magazine, said it wouldn’t go beyond cutting corners.

Neither the identity of the owner, not the contractor was known yet, but the site is swarming with a sea of people, including the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security, CP Dan Okoro, rtd, other government officials, and the Police, all frantically searching for survivors.

Details, later.

Scandalous: Cross River Government Says NCDC Inducing Residents With Money To Accept Covid-19 Positive

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The Source

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April 30, 2020

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By Akinwale Kasali

Is it possible to bribe people to accept testing positive for Coronavirus? Yes, answers the Cross River State Government.

Proof? Look no further. The Government says the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, NCDC, is doing exactly that.

It was reacting to NCDC’s recent comments that the State Government is negligent in testing and tracing for having not recorded a case of Coronavirus since its outbreak.

The Cross River State Commissioner for Health, Betta Edu, in response, flayed NCDC for making such comments which she tagged, ‘Unreasonable, hypocritical and unjust’ about some Nigerian states who are yet to record Coronavirus cases.

The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, had stated that Coronavirus will get to every state in Nigeria as he pointed out that some states are yet to send in enough samples for tests. He averred that some states which are yet to record cases of COVID-19 are either negligent in testing and tracing, or actively hiding the disease within their territories.

Reacting to this statement, Health Commissioner Edu slammed the agency over the comment while addressing newsmen on Wednesday April 29, stating that she wants the pressure on Cross River State to stop.

She also alleged that some residents of the state have been receiving text messages in which they are promised millions if they can claim they are Coronavirus positive.

The health commissioner also stated that they are expected to conduct Coronavirus test in a community with 500,000 people with just 50 test kits.

She added that Cross River State is yet to record any case, and they wouldn’t be pressurized by the NCDC to fake reports where there is none.

Video Vixen, Picture Kodak, Dies Of Electrocution At Producer, Clarence Peters House, Fans Eulogise Her

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The Source

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April 30, 2020

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By Akinwale Kasali

It was a moment of grief, sadness and melancholy, when the news broke of the death of Love Divine, popularly known as Picture Kodak.

Picture Kodak is a well-known Video Vixen, whose dance steps was widely appreciated by cross section of Nigerians, who love the energy she puts into her act.

The late dancer had hundreds of thousands of followers on her Social Media pages.

Sadly, the late Vixen died in the house of popular Music Producer, Clarence Peters.

Vixen was said to have died from electrocution.

According to reports gathered by the magazine, the dancer died while charging her mobile phone battery at the home of prolific music video director, Clarence Peters.

Divine reportedly gave up the ghost after she was rushed to an undisclosed hospital at Omole Estate, Ogba, and was declared dead On arrival.

Friends and fans have flooded social media with condolence messages, warning about the dangers of using mobile phones while plugged to sockets

See some reactions to Divine’s passing:

SIR_Lazy

@umehchibuzor

Picture Kodak died from being electrocuted while charging , the crazy thing is that most of us do this on a daily basis, tbvh it’s just the grace of God that keeps us , Rip picture kodak

Duke of Ibadan

@AsiwajuLerry

Death is an inevitable circumstance that doesn’t need you to be sick before it takes you. RIP Picture Kodak.

DANNY Walter | PA•

@Danny_Walterrr

Am so Sad now

This life is not promised

Picture Kodak & I were on IG LIVE recently. Rest in Peace.#RipPictureKodak #PictureKodak

Nigerian Adele

@BlaqBonez

RIP PICTURE KODAK

I will always remember you for the amazing person that you were, you brought life to everything you touched, it’s too hard for me to grasp the concept of your death but I hope you’re in a better place

Nigerian Adele

@BlaqBonez

the vixen in the Haba Video, ‘picture Kodak’ just died, it hurts so much cos we became close after, I don’t know how to handle my emotions

FG Disburses World Bank Grant To Kano, Others, Lagos Misses Out

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Bayo Bernard

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April 30, 2020

0

Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed,minister of finance

By Tosin Olatokunbo

The federal government has disbursed over N43 billion to 24 states in the country, ignoring Lagos and 11 other states for their failure to achieve the requirements to qualify for the World Bank grant.

The minister of finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed said in Abuja, the nation’s capital that states who got the grant were eligible for the results they achieved in 2018 under the performance-based grant component of the World Bank-Assisted States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Programme-for-Results.

States that met the eligibility criteria, the minister said are Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Ondo, Ogun,Oyo, Osun, Sokoto, Taraba and Yobe States.

While the 12 States that missed out on the 2018 grants because they did not meet the Eligibility Criteria are Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Borno, Cross River, Ebonyi, Imo, Lagos, Nasarawa, Plateau, Rivers and Zamfara States.

The grant is financed with a loan of US$750 million from the International Development Association (IDA), a member of the World Bank Group.

According to the minister “the disbursement followed the participation of the 24 eligible states in the recent Annual Performance Assessment (APA).”

She stated that the assessment was done by the Office of the Auditor- General for the Federation (OAuGF) as the Independent Verification Agent (IVA), in collaboration with a third party firm, JK Consulting Limited and the SFTAS Programme Coordination Unit (PCU).

The minister further added that the SFTAS Programme was established by the Federal Government with a loan of $750 million to support states through the provision of performance-based grants of $700 million.

In addition, a technical assistance worth $50 million was also factored into the grant “to enhance their capacity to achieve the Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) i.e. the Programme results,” according to a statement signed by the Ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations. Hassan Dodo.

“The DLIs are derived from the country’s 22-Point Fiscal Sustainability Plan and the 14 Open Government Partnership (OGP) commitments aimed at strengthening fiscal transparency, accountability and sustainability across states, the minister said.

She stated that for states to qualify for the grant they must meet the Eligibility Criteria (EC) through online publication of the approved annual budget and audited financial statement for the previous year and the DLIs that eligible States receive grants for achieving.

Some of the DLIs include: improved financial reporting and budget reliability; increased openness and citizens’ engagement in the budget process; improved cash management and reduced revenue leakages through implementation of State Treasury Single Account (TSA).

Other conditions to be met to qualify for the grant are: strengthened Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) collection; biometric registration and Bank Verification Number (BVN) used to reduce payroll fraud; improved procurement practices for increased transparency and value for money.

Also required are strengthened public debt management and fiscal responsibility framework; improved clearance/reduction of stock of domestic expenditure arrears; and improved debt sustainability.

The finance minister reiterated that “the World Bank-assisted SFTAS Programme is principally to strengthen fiscal management at the State level so as to ensure effective mobilization and utilization of financial resources to the benefit of their citizens in a transparent, accountable and sustainable manner, thereby reducing fiscal risks and encouraging a common set of fiscal behaviours.”