The Super Eagles have the objective of coming out of Wednesday’s friendly against the Czech Republic with a win to set them in great psychological tune for the FIFA World Cup finals.
Coach Gernot Rohr has revealed that is bent on seeing his team triumph against the Czechs to further make them determined and prepared for the tournament when hostilities resume next week for the FIFA World Cup.
Rohr is expected to start Francis Uzoho in goal, Bryan Idowu, and Tyronne Ebuehi in the left and right back positions, with Williams Troost-Ekong and Leon Balogun in the central defense.
Wilfred Ndidi is expected to feature for the first time since the warm-up matches began, with John Ogu and Mikel Obi in the midfield.
Ogenyi Onazi is out of the game, while Joel Obi will start from the bench. Victor Moses and Alex Iwobi will be deep at the midfield, while Odion Ighalo will spearhead the attack.
As revealed in the NFF official Twitter handle, the match kicks off at 2:00pm Nigerian time on Wednesday (today).
Rohr said on Tuesday that a win would be the target, against the backdrop of consecutive losses in friendly matches against Serbia and England and with Nigeria’s first match of the FIFA World Cup against Croatia only 10 days away.
“We will go for victory that would boost spirit and earn team confidence ahead of our first match in Russia. It would not be an easy pick but we will work hard for it,” Rohr said.
Wednesday’s encounter at the Rudolf Tonn Stadium – a multi-use facility in Rannersdorf, a city in the sub-division of Schwechat, outside Vienna – will be the third official meeting between both
countries.
Nigeria and then Czechoslovakia drew 1-1 in a group phase match at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, with Vizek scoring for the Czechs in the first half and Henry Nwosu equalising for the Eagles with six minutes left on the clock.
Nigerian forward Emmanuel Osigwe had a goal from a long range free-kick disallowed.
The Czechs edged their second meeting in Rabat on 11th December 1996 by two goals to one – as part of the King Hassan Cup Tournament.
Team spirit was further lifted ahead of the match following the arrival of backroom staff members Nnaemeka Anozie (Team Physiotherapist), Chidi Ngoka (Equipment Manager) and Labaran Awaku (Equipment Officer) from London.
The three persons were denied entry visas into Austria by that country’s embassy in Nigeria, but the Nigeria Football Federation approached the Embassy of Austria in the United Kingdom, with the assistance of the Nigeria High Commission in London, and the visas were issued on Tuesday.
There appears to be no end in sight to the struggle for supremacy between, president Muhammadu Buhari, a one -time military Head of State who is well groomed in jackboot politics and the National Assembly.
Many believe that history is about to repeat itself after about 33 years that Buhari was edged out in a Palace coup by the same system that threw him up into prominence to become the country then military of State on December1, 1983.
This is because same political forces that ganged up in 2015 to prepare the ground that facilitate the defeat of the President Goodluck Jonathan of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, are at work to unseat him in the 2018, Presidential election. This is evident by the alignment and realignment of forces in the National Assembly, forcing the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, to lose its lawmakers to the opposition PDP, thus losing its control of the Senate.
This may have paved the way for the National Assembly to take decisions in the recent time and get the required majority vote to pass it. Take for instance the recent resolution passed by the joint session of the National Assembly to evoke its powers against Buhari over” systematic harassment and humiliation of perceived political opponents”.
Another resolution that was said to have been passed with ease at the floor of the joint session of the Senate and the House of Representatives presided over by the embattled Senate President, Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara, the Speaker was a call on the President to give a ”matching orders to Ibrahim Idris , the Inspector General of Police, IGP, to call his men to order, including other security agencies to curtail the killing of Nigerians across the country, particular, Benue, Taraba, Nasarawa and Zamfara by the dreadwd fulani herdsmen armed to the teeth.
The Lawmakers believe that the rule of law, which is one of the basic principles of Democracy has been abused under the present dispensation. I t is therefore not surprising why Saraki and Dogara, the Senate President and Speaker of the House, respectively allowed the resolution calling for ”strict adherence to the Rule of Law protection of life and property by Buhari and his political appointees to be passed with an overwhelming votes.
The Lawmakers may have sent a signal to the President is no longer going to business as usual when they made it clear to him that he would be held accountable for the actions and inactions of his political appointees They may have had at the back of their mind the crisis in Rivers state in which scores of people have been killed, forcing the Nyesom Wike, the governor of the state to cry out that his life is under threat.
., Bukola Saraki: Embattled President of Senate.
Wike has failed to blame Rotimi Amaechi, a one time governor of the state, and now Buhari’s minister of Transportation for using Federal might to precipitate the cris. The governor had claimed that that the minister had created the atmosphere for the crisis in the state because of his desire to plant Dakuku Peterside, his political son and now Director, General, National Maritime Administration and Safety agency as the next governor of Rivers state, to still give him the clout to control the affairs of the state. The Lawamakers also may have had at the back of their mind Ekiti state, where Ayodele Fayose, the PDP,governor of the state had accussedKayode Fayemi, a former minister of Mines and Steel Development and now APC, governorship Candidate of introducing ”violence into the body polity of the state, with the intention to frame him up.
More worrisome is the Law is the Lawmakers loss of faith in Buhari led government anti- corruption war which is described as being very selective. They could not understand why politicians identified with other political parties, who had held political office are been hunted by the Ibrahim Magu led Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, while those in the ruling APC, indicted in their various states are regarded as the Mr. Cleans.
the fallout was that many politicians in the then crisis ridden PDP had crossed over to the APC to escape the harassment of the EFCC. It is not surprising why the aggrieved Lawmakers had appealed to the Buhari led government to”. show sincerity in the fight against Corruption instead of being selective’.
Perhaps, what should worry Buhari and his political appointees in the resolutions adopted by the Joint session of the National Assembly was the one that had to do with the sanctity of the of the National Assembly to avoid the unguided interference of the Executive. The Lawmakers argued that the upper and lower legislative bodies have never had it so bad where its functions had been eroded since the return of Democratic rule in the country in May 29, 1989 than under the Buhari led government.
” The santity of the National Assembly should be protected and preserved by the government by not interfering in its day to day running of its business and prosecuting those who invaded the Senate recently to seize the mace ,” the Lawmakers had said. The mace is a symbol of it Authority in the Senate. They are not happy that the President had not shown any level of seriousness in tracking the suspects , fueling speculations that it was Civilian Coup to weaken the leadership of the National Assembly.
Political analysts see the recent travails of Saraki, the Senate President and his political son, Abdulfatah Ahmed governor of Kwara state in the hands of the police over their alleged link in the April Offa Bank robbery which claimed scores of lives as part of the ongoing war to humiliate the leadership of the Senate by the Executive
iT would be recalled that the Senate President had been trial in the Code of conduct Tribunal headed by Justice Danladi Umar over alleged fraudulent declaration of Assets at the instance of the government. the humiliations of the leadership of the Senate by the government because of his alleged Presidential ambition and outspokenness may have forced the National Assembly to fight back to prove that it can bite by making use of its enormous Constitutional powers to Check mate Executive.
Given the absence of cohesion between the National Assembly and the Buhari led government, their fears in both official circles that it may affect the socio-economic development of the country. if the watchword of Ibrahim Babangida, former military President in August 27, 1985 is anything to go by , ” it has become clear that that positive actions by the Lawmakers and the policy makers had been hindered as the body polity lacks a unity of purpose. He had said that ”the concept of collective leadership had been substituted y stubborn and ill-advised unilateral actions and effort made to advise Buhari, who was then the Head of State was met with stubborn resistance and viewd as a challenge to Authority and an act of disloyalty to his Administration. Between December 1, 1983 and now, nothing appeared to have changed in Buhari style of leadership going by the unending crisis between him and the leadership of the National Assembly since May 29, 2015 and now.
By Stephen Ubanna
Until last Tuesday, May 29, 2018, there were no signs that Ibrahim Usman Jibrin, the Minister of State, Environment would be visiting Apapa, Tincan Island, Federal Operations Unit, FOU, Zone A, Ikeja and Oyo/Osun Commands on a fact finding mission.
It was business as usual at the Commands as officers and importers with their agents went about their normal routine duties at the seaports and the land border areas.
This is evident going by the interception of about 780 ”50” kg bags of foreign parboiled rice smuggled into the country from Republic of Benin in the West African sub-region. The smuggled rice was said to have been , loaded in a branded Dangote truck but intercepted at Iddo , Oyingbo axis of Lagos Mainland Local government area.
The Dangote truck which was loaded with the smuggled foreign rice from Republic, according to an eye witness account was heading to the south east but credible intelligence forced Riks Lura, a Chief of Superintendent of Customs and the officer in-charge of the FOU, Zone A, Lagos Roving team to lay ambush for the truck at third mainland bridge on Tuesday, May 29, 2018 at about 11pm.
The source disclosed that the truck which was eventually intercepted by Rik and his boys andwas quickly transferred to the Customs warehouse in Ikeja, before the area boys in the area could put up any stiff resistance.
The impounded Dangote truck loaded with the smuggled foreign parboiled rice was a big boost to the Command’s operations as it has a spectacular seizure to show to the visiting Jibrin, the minister of Ste, Environment on Thursday, May 31, 2018.
The Magazine gathered that that officers and men of the Command and others knew about the ministerial visit on Wednesday, May 30, 2018,forcing Muhammed Uba Garba, the Comptroller and his officers to make adequate provision for an escort team that would follow him about despite the internal arrangement made by the minister to use the services of the police in Lagos state Command.
As a prelude to guiding the ministerial movement in his visit to Customs formations in Lagos and Oyo/Osun, Muhammed, the FOU, Zone A, Comptroller, was said to have directed Riks , the Command anti-smuggling arrow head to withdraw one of his patrol teams from the road for the services.
Riks was said to have acted on the instruction of the Customs Comptroller and stationed stationed officers with their patrol vans at strategic locations along the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Road the escort team were said to have accompanied him to the Command to see things himself before continuing his movement to Apapa and Tin-can Island Commands.
The minister was said to have been accompanied on the visit by Juan Carlous, the legal Adviser of the Geneva, Switzerland based Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species, CITES, of Wild faura and flora and another unnamed woman from the Organisation. officials of the Nigeria CITES, Management Authority were also said to be on the ministerial entourage.
The question on the lips of most people was why the minister of Environment and CITES officials from Geneva, could decide to visit some Customs Formations in the south west Geo-political region instead of Kemi Adeosun, the minister of Finance who oversees Customs operations. The visit may not be unconnected to the inter agency and overlap in the functions of the Service which relates to the Environment.
There is no gain saying the fact that Customs personnel have tremendously increased their activities in the recent years because of the implementation of the different international Protocols and Conventions, particular the Convention of international trade in endangered species, CITES 1973. The Convention mandates Customs Administration world-wide to protect wild life by ”intercepting illegal trade on such animals”. The Convention also prevents the killing of endangered species since the tusks are only available after the killing of the Elephant and Pangolin.
Ibrahim Babangida, a retired Army General and former Military President was said to have to have dragged the Nigeria into CITES in 1975, ten years after its formation in Geneva, and therefore bound by its Protocols. and Convention. The fallout was the domestication of the CITES law in the Country.
This may have given FOU, Zone A, Customs personnel the ammunition to smoke out smugglers of Pangolin in their hideout in different parts of the country and those who abuse the provisions of wood export through Apapa and Tin can Island ports.
Aminu Mohammed, a former minister of Environment and Deputy Secretary General, United Nations, UN, , had heard so much about the exploits in making seizures of Pangolin and Elephant tusks including unprocessed wood but have never had opportunity of seeing it.
In one of the instances, the FOU, Zone A, Command was said to have impounded 55 sacks of Pangolin Shell, weighing 200kg, worth about N408.32 million and 218 pieces of Elephant Tusk weighing 343 kg valued at about N85.16 million. This is in addition to 407 sacks pangolin weighing 263 kg evacuated from a residential quarters at 64 Opebi Road, off Toyin Street, Ikeja, Lagos, with a Duty Paid Value, DPV, of overN2.01 billion. The minister’s visit to FOU, Zone A, on Thursday 31, 2018, was an opportunity to see some of the items listed in the CITES Protocol should not be traded anywhere in the world.
Inspection Of Customs Ware House
Prior to the ministerial visit , Muhammed confirmed, the Command Comptroller confirmed that the first seizures of the Pangolin Shells and Elephant Tusks had been handed over to the Nigeria Environment and Regulatory and Enforcement Agency, NESREA, for further investigation.
Some of the Pangolin Shells and Elephant Tusks , according to the Comptroller are still in the custody of the Command because the NESREA Enforcement Unit do not have safe place to keep them for now. He is optimistic that the items would be handed over to the agency as soon as it secures a safe place for it.
The Magazine learnt that Jibril, the minister of State, Environment and the CITES officials were taken to the Customs warehouse to see the Pangolin and Elephant tusk items including the Dangote branded truck use in smuggling rice.
An elated Jibrin was said to have applauded Muhammed and his officers for doing the unexpected by smoking out the Pangolin and Eplephant tusks traders in the country. He was said to have promised to reach out toHameed Ali, a retired Colonel and Comptroller General, Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, to initiate a reward system to encourage officers who make such spectacular seizures.
This is good news for Riks, the officer in-charge of the Command Lagos Roving team and Mutalib Sule, an Assistant Comptroller and Head of the Command Warehouse operations team and their officers to smile soon if Ali keys into the minister’s suggestion to reward performing anti-smuggling officers.
The minister’s comment on the FOU ,Zone A, visitor’s note book speaks volume’: I am glad to be at FOU,Ikeja, to see things for myself along with CITES officials from Geneva, Switzerland, to encourage inter agency Cooperation and Collaboration for the general good of our dear country, Nigeria”.
The ministerial applaud of FOU, Zone A, command personnel, was not quite different from the impression of Hope Uzodinma, Chairman , Senate , Committee , on the Command in one of the Committee oversight function to the Command. ” Am impressive that the FOU, Zone A, team are working intelligently to ensure security of the nation”.
It was a different ball game at Tinan Island Apapa Commands where the minister had also visited because of the export of wood to the Asian country of China and other trading partners in other Asian countries and Europe including the United States through the two major facilities which have facilities to handle such exports without CITES permit.
Tministry of Environment guidelines on the exportation of wood through the seaport had made clear that shippers must obtain CITES permit or lose the items to the government . But that as how far the ministry could go.
More worrisome was the news making the rounds that the Commands do not have authentic records of the tons of wood being exported , fueling speculation that there is high level of compromise in wood export at the ports.
Jibrin Musa and Baba-Musa Abdullahi, Comptrollers, Apapa and Tin-can Island Commands respectively were said to have exposed their ignorance about the activities at their respective Command’s export at the recent meeting of the Customs Management involving the Comptrollers atAbuja.
Sources told the Magazine that here was an ominous silence at the meeting as the duo could not stand up speak when exports which was on the said agenda of the meeting was mentioned for discussion, meaning that they have no clean records . The information may have filtered out to the ear of Jibrin, the minister of Environment that there shady deals on the exports of non oil goods through the seaports, despite the generous incentives enjoyed by exporters from past and present government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
It would be recalled that the Environmental Investigation Agency,, EIA, a nongovernmental Organization had alleged of shady of deals in the export of wood through Apapa and Tin-can Island , the two major seaports handling the exports of wood to the Asian country of China and other Countries in Europe and the United States.
EIA was said to have cited a case of over 1.4 million illegal rosewood logs from Nigeria, valued at about $300 million which was detained in the ports of China in 2016 under the nose of Hajia Mohammed, the then minister of Environment.
The agency had stopped short of calling the minister a corrupt government official as she was accused of signing out thousands of allegedly backdated CITES permits in 2017 which were said to had been used to clear illegal rosewood exports to China . But the former minister had denied the allegation , insisting that she spent her time at the ministry working to eliminate illegal export of the tropical hard wood used for rosewood furniture in China. She dismissed EIA claims that CITES permits signed by her were backdated. ” No permits were backdated or illegal signed by me”, she had said.
Giving an insider information, she disclosed that as the minister of Environment, she was faced with the problem of deforestation as the rate at which the country was losing its forest cover was very alarming., stressing that she has no option but to face the problem headlong by tackling ” illegal logging”, which was considered alarming. Jibrin, may have followed the foot step of his predecessor to tackle the problem of deportation in the country that he has beamed his search light on wood exports and trade in endangered species and Elephant tusks. The minister’s visits to the Customs formations may have given him an insight into the operations of the Customs Federal Operations Units and other Customs formations across the country, particular those at the seaports which handle wood exports.
An earth-shaking reconfiguration is looming in the Nigerian Senate. There are indications that a number of Principal Officers of the red chamber-excluding President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki and his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu- are set to lose their positions as gale of defections hits the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC in the coming months.
The APC is currently in the majority in the upper chamber but insiders told The Source that at least 35 of its Senators, including defectors from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, are set to dump it. While majority of the APC Senators, the Magazine was informed, are headed for the PDP which sources say will soon undergo complete rebranding with new name, motto, slogan and insignia, some of the other Senators are eyeing other parties. For example three APC Senators from the North Central geo-political zone are wrapping up plans to jettison their party for the Social Democratic Party, SDP while two Senators from the South west are on their way to the African Democratic Congress, ADC promoted by Former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Saraki: Earthquake hits the Senate
Though the soon-to be rebranded PDP is inheriting majority of the APC defectors, the opposition party is also set to lose two of its Senators from the South east to the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA. One of the Senators is said to be Stella Oduah representing Anambra North Senatorial district in the Senate. If APGA eventually gains two new Senators, the party will be boasting of three Senators in the upper chamber. Senator Victor Umeh, elected in January this year, is the party’s only Senator.
With about 30 APC Senators expected to join its ranks soon, the PDP which has close to 50 Senators already in the Senate will effortlessly achieve a comfortable majority. Leading the pack of defectors, The Source learnt, is the Senate President, Saraki. Saraki was a PDP governor for eight years in Kwara before berthing at the Senate in 2011.He was among PDP chieftains, including governors and federal lawmakers who rebelled against the Party in 2013 under the aegis of ‘New PDP (nPDP) and, fought re- election seeking President Goodluck Jonathan to a standstill and eventually joined forces with the then fledgling APC to install Muhammadu Buhari as President in 2015.
However, after emerging Senate President in June 2015 against the wishes of demi-gods in the mainstream APC, relationship between the former Kwara state governor and his new party has been anything but cordial.However, he has been able to build close-knitted relationship with his colleagues so much so that many Senators from the APC and PDP can go to battle on Saraki’s behalf blind folded.
The confidence Senators repose in Saraki, it was learnt, became firmer following his implication in the Offa bank robbery.Many Senators are said to be angry over the development, describing it as politics taken too far. Credible National Assembly sources told The Source that it is on this ground that some of the defecting APC Senators are doing so in solidarity with Saraki.
Meanwhile, in the reconfigured Senate, APC will become a minority party and with it comes lose of its positions in the Senate leadership. Sources are emphatic that APC will lose positions of Senate majority leader, Deputy leader, Chief whip and Deputy Chief Whip.
The PDP is also confronted with problems, inheriting APC defectors notwithstanding. For example, Senate Minority Leader and former Akwa Ibom state governor, Godswill Akpabio is tipped to transmute into Senate Majority Leader but it is being argued that there is need to make former members of the party returning to its fold to feel at home hence a section of the party is canvassing former Kano state governor and an nPDP kingpin, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso for the position, a situation that is not going down well with some chieftains of the party who insist that treachery should not be rewarded with a pat on the back.
The faceoff between the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and the police Inspector General, Ibrahim Idris, has recently taken a dangerous turn when recently the Police invited the President of the Senate on the strength of an allegation of one of the robbers of Offa Robbers who claimed that he recruited by the Senate President and the Kwara state Governor, Abdulfatai Ahmed.
The invitation was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. The senate recently has been inviting the IG to come and answer questions on the security situation in the country. Twice he has been invited, and twice the IG snubbed them. And the IG has been looking for a stick to flog the Senate president.
When, during an official function in Kano, the IG was seen on a trending video struggling to read an address, he had allegedly accused the senate leadership of masterminding the doctored video.
The current imbroglio started when the Offa bank robbery, being investigated by the ace officer, Abba Kyari. The suspects were interrogated in Kwara state, but it was only when they were transferred to Abuja on the instruction of the IG. It was only then that they claimed that they were thugs armed by Saraki who used their weapons for armed robbery. And the Police high command invited the senate president for interrogation on the strenght of their allegation.
This has generated a strong backlash on the social media. The general consensus was that the office of the senate president is being demeaned by such inanities, particularly as there were rumors of the Directorate of state security withdrawing the security details of the principal officers of the National assembly-the Senate President and the speaker of the House of Representatives. The DSS, however, has denied the allegation.
The battle has resurrected the specter of dictatorship the President Muhammadu Buhari was linked with particularly in his first coming. And, apart from indirectly making a hero of Saraki, it further puts a knell on the APC led central government to project the current leadership of the country for presidential election come 2019.
By Bayo Bernard
Top new generation bank, Fidelity Bank Plc has surpassed last year profit margin with over N8 billion. The management of the bank disclosed this at the recent annual general meeting held in Lagos. According to the record made available to the magazine, the bank ended the 2017 fiscal year with 83.5 percent increase in profit after tax to N20.3bn from N11.1bn in 2016.
The managing Director of the bank, Nnamdi Okonkwo said the phenomenal profit margin recorded by the bank came despite high inflationary environment in the country in 2017. According to Okonkwo, the financial performance indicates that the bank recorded double digit in all key indices. “We were able to achieve this stride through discipline balance sheet management, strategic cost reduction and driving retail banking strategy on the back of a robust electronic digital banking infrastructure.
Noting that the business environment was harsh in 2017, the chief executive officer of the high flying bank said “ business operations were restrictive in 2017, the limited foreign currency liquidity in the banking industry, low financing opportunities, especially in the public sector space, and high cost of business operations.”
Okonkwo noted that the restrained business climate moderated growth in non interest income of banks. Particularly, earnings from trade finance businesses and electronic banking activities as most banks either suspended or partially restricted the use of naira denominated cards for international transactions.
He explained that gross earnings increased by 18.3 percent to N179.9bn primarily driven by an increased yield on earning assets to 15.4 percent.
According to Okonkwo “ we expect the current economic recovery to continue with headline inflation receding to lower double digit. However the yields on fixed income securities would most likely trend downwards as the federal government re-balances its debt profile towards more foreign debt issuance. We are aware of our growing opportunities in our market.“
“We will continue to focus on redesigning our systems and processes to enhance service delivery deepen our cost optimization initiatives to reduce operating expenses and cost-to- serve , and enhance our overall risk monitoring capacities to ensure both internal and external risks are identified and mitigated before they crystallized” he said.
President Muhammadu Buhari has a big task at hand to prove to Nigerians that he has all it takes to organise a free and fair election in 2019 without bloodshed. Fears are being expressed in both official and unofficial circles that the election might run into murky waters because of the politically motivated crisis in different parts of the country. There is no gain saying the fact there is proliferation of arms which had been smuggled into the country through illegal routes by desperate politicians and their agents .
For instance, the situation in the oil rich Rivers state where the conflict of interest between Nyesom Wike, the governor of the state and Rotimi Amaechi, a former governor of the state and now minister of Transport, which had turned the state into a theatre of war, forcing the governor to cry out that his life is under threat. The security situation in the state , appears to have degenerated so badly in the state that politicians in both divides in the state fear that they could no longer be protected by the state.
Some of them were said to have raised their own private Armies to guard them. The situation in Rivers state is not quite different from what is happening in Ekiti state, where Buhari, had directed Ahmed Bola Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos state and the party National leader of the All Progressive Congress, APC, to ensure that the party take over the state from the Peoples Democratic part, PDP, in the upcoming governorship election in the state.
Tukur Buratai: Chief Of Army Staff
Many are worried that with the political tension in the state, the July 14, 2018, governorship election in state as may be a” do or die affair” between Kayode Fayemi, a former governor of the state and later minister of Mines and Steel Development and now Candidate of the APC, will slug it out Fayose’s deputy, Kolapo Olusola Eleka, the PDP candidate for the Ekiti governorship election.
This is evident going by the violence that trailed the welcome rally of the APC Candidate in the state, which party supporters claimed was an assassination attempt on Fayemi. Eye witness account confirmed that four gun men had positioned themselves at the party secretariat in Ado-Ekiti for the attack. The assailants were said t o have fired at Fayemi but hit a former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Opeyemi Bamidele and several others who were quickly rushed to Ekiti State, University Teaching Hospital for treatment.
Taiwo Olatunbosun, the APC, Spokesman in the state in statement said ”bloody politicking has returned to Ekiti state,” thus giving an insight of what would between now and July 14, 2018, in the state. Ayodele Fayose. a trenchant critic of the Buhari Administration have never his plan to install Olusa, his former Deputy as the next governor of the state.
Many see him as a one man riot squad in the state who is fighting in many fronts to see that the PDP flag bearer in the July 14, 2018, governorship election emerge victorious, notwithstanding the powers behind Fayemi, the APC, flag bearer. He was said to have accused Fayemi, the former minister of Mines and Steel Development and APC, flag bearer, of introducing violence into the in the name of politics and winning the July 14, 2018, governorship election in the state. He delivered a puncher at Fayemi at a meeting Isan-Ekiti, the former minister home town when he accused him of plotting a set of killings that would take place between now and July 14, 2018, in the state.
Given the accusations of threats and counter threats to lives and property in the states, the President appears to have given a marching order to Tukur Buratai, a Lt. General and Chief of Army Staff, CAS, Ibrahim Idris, the Inspector General of Police, IGP, and Hameed Ali, a retired Colonel and Comptroller General , Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, to mobilise their men to tighten up security at the nation’s land borders to forestall smuggling of arms into the country .
But the arms runners appear to have devised strategies to beat Customs personnel on the road to it to smuggle arms into the country to prosecute the 2019 general election . Last Thursday, May, 31, 2018, three trucks laden with alleged 300,000 live ammunitions were said to have fallen into the waiting hands of officers of 35 artillery Brigade of the Nigeria Army at Owode in Ogun state. The live ammunitions, were said to have been concealed in an artificial bottom of a truck which was suspected by the Army personnel at the Owode checkpoint as the Customs personnel on the failed in their responsibility to do so.
Iniobong Udoh, a Major General and General Officer Commanding, GOC, 81 Division, Ibadan, Oyo state, reportedly said the ammunitions which was smuggled into the country from Republic of Benin was intercepted based on intelligence gathering which gave out the number of the trucks for easy identification on the road.
Many belie that arms smugglers may have taken advantage ofIbrahim Usman Jibrin, Minister of State, Environment to Federal Operations Unit, Zone A, Ikeja and the attention of Muhammed Uba Garba, the Comptroller and his officers to give the minister adequate security to strike. They noted that both not for the ministerial visit which took most of their time , it would be difficult for arms smugglers to have entered the country on the morning of Thursday , May 31, 2018, undetected.
Security analysts fear that the situation would have been very worrisome if the arms had fallen into wrong hands that might threaten the 2019 general elections. The alleged arms seizure by the Army at Owode may have forced Muhammed, Comptroller of FOU, Zone A, to go back to the drawing board to effectively cover identified routes used by the unrepentant smugglers in the owode axis of Ogun state.
Vy Head coach of the Super Eagles, Gernor Rohr, has named his final 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup.
Rohr has dropped Ola Aina and Mikel Agu, from the players that travelled to London to play the Three Lions yesterday.
“It’s Ola Aina and Mikel Agu. They will be on standby. We go with 23 players to Austria; if there is another problem or injury like happened four years ago when Elderson was injured, they will be on standby for that,” Rohr told KweséESPN on Sunday.
Nigeria will face Czech Republic in their next warm up game on Wednesday, before heading out to Russia.
The Eagles get their 2018 FIFA World Cup campaign underway in two weeks’ time against Croatia on June 16.
FULL SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Francis Uzoho (Deportivo La Coruna), Ikechukwu Ezenwa (Enyimba), Daniel Akpeyi (Chippa United).
Defenders: William Troost-Ekong and Abdullahi Shehu (Bursaspor), Tyronne Ebuehi (Ado Den Haag), Elderson Echiejile (Cercle Brugge KSV), Bryan Idowu (Amkar Perm), Chidozie Awaziem (Nantes FC), Leon Balogun (Brighton), Kenneth Omeruo (Kasimpasa).
Midfielders: Mikel John Obi (Tianjin Teda), Ogenyi Onazi (Trabzonspor), Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City), Oghenekaro Etebo (Las Palmas), John Ogu (Hapoel Be’er Sheva), Joel Obi (Torino, Italy).
Forwards: Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow), Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City), Victor Moses (Chelsea), Odion Ighalo (Changchun Yatai), Alex Iwobi (Arsenal), Simeon Nwankwo (Crotone). Kasali
Nasarawa State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr. Jameel Zakari, says some butchers in the state have been selling meat of sick and dead animals to customers.
He told the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Lafia that his ministry had discovered the unwholesome practice and therefore vowed to sanction any butcher caught in the act.
“The ministry of agriculture is working with security agencies to ensure that all those perpetrating this act are arrested and brought to justice in order to safeguard the health of the people.
“We recently busted some of them in the act and discovered that they often slaughter sick or even dead animals between 12 midnight and 3 a.m., which they bring to the market.
“That is why you will notice that some of the meats you buy from the market are often tasteless,” he said.
According to him, the act is criminal and will not be condoned by the government.
He noted that about 60 per cent of diseases affecting humans were animal-related, hence the need to check the excesses of the butchers in order to safeguard people from health hazards.
Zakari also said that the ministry recently issued warning to fishermen using chemicals in fishing, saying it would henceforth view such acts seriously.
He said the practice was endangering the fish species, as most of them were not allowed to grow to maturity.
Few days after winning his third consecutive UEFA Champions League trophy with Real Madrid, coach Zinedine Zidane is set to bid the Los Bloncos farewell.
Zidane made this disclosure earlier today that he was leaving the Spanish giants, which is presently surprising to many soccer fans and analysts around the world.
“I have taken the decision to not continue next year as Real Madrid coach. After three years I need another discourse, another method of working,” he told a hastily convened press conference.
Zidane has called a previously unannounced press conference for 1100 GMT on Thursday, generating reactions from journalists who were contemplating on what the [press conference is going to be about.
“At 1pm, Zinedine Zidane will appear before the media,” the club said in a statement, without giving details about the reason for the press conference.
Zidane, 45, had been under pressure to win the European crown after finishing way off the pace behind La Liga winners Barcelona.
Real beat Liverpool 3-1 in the final in Kiev on Saturday, making Zidane the first coach in history to win three successive Champions League titles.
Zidane officially announced his departure from the Madrid club.
He was flanked at the press conference by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez who said Zidane’s announcement was “totally unexpected”.
Zidane said his decision had nothing to do with Cristiano Ronaldo hinting that he will also leave the club.
