The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has moved former Anambra Governor, Mr Willie Obiano to Abuja after he was arrested in Lagos on Thursday night.
The spokesperson for the commission, Mr Wilson Uwujiaren, confirmed this when he spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.
“The ex-governor was arrested in Lagos, but was moved to Abuja this morning (Friday),” Uwujiaren said.
The commission busted Obiano at about 8.30 p.m., on Thursday, at the Murtala Muhammad International Airport, Lagos, on his way to Houston, Texas, U.S after handing over to his successor, Gov. Charles Soludo.
Liverpool’s Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah . (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)
Liverpool have become only the second club after Manchester United to score 2,000 goals in the Premier League. The Reds hit the landmark figure in yesterday’s meeting with Brighton and Hove Albion thanks to Mohamed Salah’s 61st-minute penalty to put his side 2-0 ahead.
Jurgen Klopp’s team are still some way off United in terms of all-time goals in the competition, however, with their fierce rivals boasting 2,173.
Arsenal are next on the list behind United and Liverpool with 1,997 goals, followed by Chelsea (1,953) and Tottenham (1,716).
Liverpool’s highest scoring Premier League season came in 2013-14 when netting 101 times, making them one of only three teams to reach the century mark in a single campaign.
Well over half of Liverpool’s 2,000 goals have come at Anfield, while Newcastle United’s St James’ Park is the opposition ground they have scored their most goals at (43).
Somewhat unsurprisingly, then, Newcastle are the side against whom Liverpool have scored their most goals against, finding the net 108 times against the Magpies in total.
Salah’s 32-goal season in 2017-18 stands as the most prolific by a Liverpool player in the competition, with Luis Suarez (31 in 2013-14) the only other to breach the 30-goal mark.
Robbie Fowler remains Liverpool’s top scorer in Premier League history with 128, and is one of four players to reach the century mark for the club – alongside Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen and Salah.
Manchester United’s Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo (R) celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on March 12, 2022. (Photo by Lindsey Parnaby / AFP)
Cristiano Ronaldo set another goalscoring record in a return to form with a hat-trick to keep Manchester United’s chances of playing in the Champions League next season alive with a 3-2 win over Tottenham on Saturday.
Ronaldo had scored just once in his previous 10 games, but three fantastic finishes took him clear as the highest scorer in professional men’s football history according to FIFA’s records with 807 goals for club and country.
Victory lifts United back into fourth, although they are just two points ahead of Arsenal who have four games in hand.
A fifth defeat in eight league games is another blow to Tottenham’s hopes of a top-four finish as they remain seventh, now five points behind United.
Ronaldo’s second spell at Old Trafford has so far proven to be an anti-climax with his poor form sparking debate over whether the 37-year-old’s powers are waning.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner missed United’s thrashing in the Manchester derby last weekend and was criticised for a perceived lack of commitment as he jetted off to Portugal to rehab a hip injury rather than watch his teammates lost 4-1 at the Etihad.
He was restored to Ralf Rangnick’s starting line-up as one of five changes from that damaging defeat with Bruno Fernandes the notable absentee due to illness.
It took just 12 minutes for Ronaldo to make his mark with a stunning strike into the top corner from outside the box.
However, United failed to build on the early goal and were instead forced back in a familiar pattern to previous home games this season against stronger opposition.
Spurs quickly had the ball in the net in response only for Ben Davies to be flagged offside before Eric Dier’s header from a corner was cleared off the line.
A Tottenham equaliser seemed only a matter of time and was gifted to them when Alex Telles handled Dejan Kulusevski’s cross for a clear penalty.
Harry Kane smashed home the resulting spot-kick to continue his fine form for his sixth goal in as many games.
Within three minutes, though, United were back in front thanks to a landmark goal for Ronaldo.
He turned home Jadon Sancho’s inviting cross to surpass Austria-Czech striker Josef Bican as football’s all-time record goalscorer according to FIFA’s records.
United’s defensive deficiencies meant Ronaldo’s work was not done to win the game as Spurs enjoyed the better of the second half.
Son Heung-min hooked a glorious chance wide from Kulusevski’s cut-back.
When a second equaliser did arrive for Antonio Conte’s men it was thanks to more misery for United captain Harry Maguire.
Consistent errors from the England international have played a huge part in his side’s struggles this season and he turned into his own net from Sergio Reguilon’s cross.
Conte screamed for focus from his side on the sideline, but they succumbed again to Ronaldo’s predatory instincts.
The United number seven rose highest to meet Telles’ corner nine minutes from time to power a header into the top corner for just his second United hat-trick and first since returning to Old Trafford in August.
Decades ago, Christopher Okigbo, one of Nigeria’s greatest literary voices, dissected the futility of bad governance, wondering how many million promises could ever fill a basket. Today, more than four decades later, Okigbo’s words ring true with the suffusion of promise-and-fail politicians harassing the political space. Which is why, when the nation spots a departure, it should embrace it wholeheartedly, giving applause to whom it is due and asking for more. Let’s track just one example: in line with its promise made, promise kept character, the Ogun State government, last week, indicated that the agro-allied cargo airport being constructed by his administration in Ilisan Remo will be ready for use by November.
This is a project begun only in March of last year. And then the main gist: the project is set to provide at least 25,000 jobs. Said Governor Dapo Abiodun: “The agro cargo airport will have positive effects on hotels and warehouses being constructed in the area. The Nigeria Customs and the Nigerian Air Force are coming there.” As he noted last year, “we have a firm belief in inclusive agricultural opportunities that will not cut off smallholder farmers, youths and women.”
If the airport is going to give exporters the leeway to export cocoa, kolanut, rubber, tobacco, cassava, yam, maize, sweet potato, oil palm, timbre and cashew, among others, while bypassing the bottlenecks of the Murtala Muhammad International Airport in Lagos, why not? If industries will spring up as soon as it commences operations, why not? An airport strategically located to reach commodities across Ogun and parts of the South-West sounds like a great idea.
In any case, Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital, stands to benefit from the airport since it has only passenger airports. A visit to the site will indeed show that a lot of rigorous thinking went into conceptualising the project, which has the imprimatur of the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). If this project complements the status of the Gateway State as Nigeria’s foremost industrial hub while optimising the logistics and distribution value chain, improving competitiveness and enabling the state to take full advantage of AfCTA for economic growth and development, then so be it.
Located within an aerotropolis with a land allocation of c.5, 000 hectares comprising facilities for commerce, industry, cargo handling and logistics, the airport is projected to consolidate Ogun State’s competitive advantage in food production and agro-allied and manufacturing industries.
Tellingly, in November last year, fully apprised of the potentially immense benefits of the project, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), the International Freight and Cargo Advocacy Centre (CIFAC), urged the Federal Government to lend financially support to the project. As it noted, the perennial lack of storage facilities for farm produce and the challenges arising from aviation bottlenecks had been the bane of exportation by farmers in Nigeria. The completion of the international airport, it said, would tremendously boost the exportation of agricultural and allied products by commercial farmers as well as the importation of farm inputs, while it would further encourage the proliferation of agro-allied cottage industries in the country, thereby boosting its Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and other economic indices within a short time frame.
That sounds so splendid. Hear CIFAC: “The strategic location of the airport on the Sagamu-Epe-Lekki bypass road will not only enhance easier, faster and cheaper access to it by motorists from all parts of Ogun, Oyo, Lagos and other states in the South-West given the opportunity to avoid the incessant traffic on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, but will also boost international trade in the West African sub-region along the Lagos-Cotonou (Benin-Republic) trade corridor and this comes with huge promises in strengthening regional economy and international cooperation among countries in the West African sub-region.”
One vital point that this project conveys very admirably is the value of project continuity in governance. The project was actually conceived in 2007 during the Gbenga Daniel administration and had all necessary approvals, including the Environmental Impact Assessment from the aviation regulatory body, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). But it was jettisoned by the Ibikunle Amosun administration. Happily, all of that changed with the inauguration of the Iperu-born prince at Oke Mosan. He set to work very quickly and designated the cargo airport as a heteropolis (complete airport city) with a special agro-processing zone replete with factories where raw materials could be turned into final products for export. In its bid document for the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) special agro-processing zone, it chose the area to co-locate the special agro-processing zone. Instructively, the AFROEXIM Bank has begun the construction of the first African International Testing Centre in Sagamu; that is, a centre where items for export would be evaluated and approved for export. Talk of strategic thinking.
It really can be no wonder that for two times in a row, Governor Abiodun has won the Governor of The Year Award in Agriculture, wowing the Nigeria Agricultural Award (NAA) panel of assessors with such programmes as the linkage of 800 participants to inputs and credit to the tune of N360 million under the Ogun State Government/Federal Government/IFAD Assisted Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP), with 394 maize farmers, 54 rice farmers and 21 poultry farmers benefitting from the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) through the CBN; his14 solar-powered water schemes in select LGs, and the establishment of a rice processing centre in Eggua.
There’s indeed an endless list of schemes, including the CBN Cassava 5-Star Programme, Cocoa Development Initiative and Oil Palm Expansion Programme, FG/Ogun/IFAD Assisted Value Chain Development Programme for over 3,000 farmers in 11 local government areas. There is the World Bank COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (CARES) Project; World Bank-Assisted Agro-Processing, Agricultural Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement (APPEALS) Project; EU/GIZ/Federal Government/Lagos State/Ogun State Nigeria Competitiveness Project (NICOP) for 3,000 farmers including youths, in tomato and chilli pepper value chains; International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)’s technological innovations and support to farming and related activities, including technical backstopping, demonstration farms and enterprise development in Ogun State. Then you have the Ogun State Economic Transformation Programme (OGSTEP) targeted at empowering over 40,000 farmers, coupled with the linkage of farmers with tractors, planting material palliatives. An Ogun-Kebbi Joint Commision on Rice Production has emerged under Abiodun’s visionary leadership. And among others, the government kicked off the establishment of an integrated farm estate, gari packaging plant and a 200-trainee soil-testing programme, and signed a good number of MoUs with national and international development partners such as IITA, HarvestPlus and a host of other private sector partners on private sector-led initiatives, thus boosting investor confidence.
It’s clear that the agric airport will begin operations in November, bringing Ogun to the next level in its business development and economic expansion activities. Over 70 per cent of the runway and administrative offices has been completed. Promise made, promise kept. • Bakare contributes this piece through seyibakare@naver.com
An early morning accident involving three vehicles: a trailer, a hummer bus and a Volvo car, yesterday, claimed 12 lives including six males along Ilorin/Ogbomoso Expressway, Ilorin.
The incident, which occurred some metres away from the International Airport, Ilorin according to the Kwara State Sector Commander of Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Jonathan Owoade, was due to the reckless driving by one of the drivers.
When The Guardian visited the scene around 9:08am, it was a gory sight as nothing could be recovered from all the vehicles, with smell of burnt human flesh pervading the area.
Owoade said the accident occurred around 6:47am, though the report got to his office at 7:50 am with his men arriving the scene some 16 minutes later.
One of the vehicles, an 18-seater commercial hummer bus had some passengers trapped inside and were burnt beyond recognition.
No first aide could be administered at the scene, as the six survivors suffered varying degrees of burns and were rushed to Accident and Emergency Wing of University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) for treatments. A survivor said the Hummer bus allegedly took off from Lagos heading to Sokoto State when the trailer fully loaded with bags of cement collided with it.
The badly burnt remains of the victims were deposited at the morgue of the tertiary health institution.
Owoade appealed to motorists plying major roads in the state to shun over speeding and reckless driving to reduce road crashes.
The Federal Government has inaugurated a seven-man committee to renegotiate the 2009 agreements it had with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other unions.
ASUU has been on a one-month warning strike since February 14.
Inaugurating the committee in Abuja, yesterday, Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, urged the members to re-negotiate, in realistic and workable terms, the 2009 agreements with university-based unions.
The committee is chaired by the Pro-Chancellor, Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Prof. Nimi Briggs.
Other members are the Pro-Chancellor, Federal University, Wukari, Lawrence Ngbale (representing North East); Pro-Chancellor, Federal University, Birnin Kebbi, Prof. Funmi Togunu-Bickersteth (South West) and Pro-Chancellor, Federal University, Lokoja, Sen, Chris Adighije (South East).
The Pro-Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Prof. Olu Obafemi (represents North Central); Pro-Chancellor, Kano State University of Science and Technology, Prof. Zubairu Iliyasu (North West); and Pro-Chancellor, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Matthew Seiyefa (South South).
Adamu recalled that the re-negotiation of the 2009 agreements between the Federal Government and university-based staff unions commenced on Monday, February 13, 2017.
“However, due to a number of unforeseen circumstances, including the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), the exercise has, unfortunately, dragged on till now. The earnest desire of every stakeholder in the Nigerian university system and, indeed, the nation at large is to conclude this re-negotiation exercise within the shortest possible period.
“Therefore, I wish to especially appeal to this re-constituted committee to double its effort towards concluding the assignment and producing realistic and workable draft agreements that would holistically tackle the challenges confronting the and reposition it to effectively play its very important role in national development.”
According to the minister, the committee will liaise and consult with relevant stakeholders to finalise the position of the Federal Government on the issues in the draft Federal Government/ASUU agreement.
He said the committee would also negotiate and recommend any other issue it deemed relevant to reposition the university system for global competitiveness, including submitting the draft agreements within three months from the date of inauguration.
Adamu added: “Indeed, your nomination to serve the Federal Government in this capacity is not unconnected with your track records of invaluable impact on the development and progress of the university system. Therefore, I have no reservation that you would conduct this all-important assignment with the seriousness and the urgency it deserves. This is, more so, considering the ongoing industrial action by one of the unions.”
Before now, the Ministry of Mines and Steel had been faced with dwindling revenue generation. But a Road Map 2007 launched by the former Minister of Mines and incumbent governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, ensured a turn-around in the fortunes of the sector such that it began to meet-up with its constitutional obligation and to generate needed revenue for the country.
Though, industry players have faulted the attitude of successive governments in neglecting the solid mineral sector in favour of the oil sector, claiming it has led to non-industrial development, they expressed the opinion that with adequate funding, specifically in research and development, the sector would experience economic growth and sustainability.
The stakeholders stressed that for Nigeria to metamorphose from a mono economy, it must improve its drive for development and diversification of the economy in such manner that mineral resources will take centre stage and help shore the dwindling economy.
In view of this, the Mining Cadastre office (MCO), led by its Director General, Simon Obadaih Nkom noted that to move the sector to an enviable level, the federal government must have a rethink and concentrate on the solid mineral sector to diversify the economy and increase the nation’s revenue base as prices of oil continue to dwindle internationally on a daily basis.
While noting the need to attend to the issue of budget constraints, which had been hampering efficiency of the ministry, Nkom stated that with about 44 Minerals, there is also a need to invest in accurate data gathering in order to attract the right investors to the sector.
The Director General disclosed that as part of the re-engineering process, the focus of Mining Cadastre office (MCO) is to be able to imbibe transparency, security of tenure and non-subjectivity, all with a view to attracting the needed investment to the sector.
The main agenda of the present administration is diversify the economy through non-oil sector, particularly solid mineral and agriculture. And seven years into the administration, the mining sector has received adequate attention after several years of neglect.
Recall that Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo recently highlighted the need for the country to get the fundamental of its solid mineral resources right, if it must change the narrative of suffering in the midst of plenty.
Osinbajo noted that while the Ministry of Mines and Steel has legislative mandate to regulate mining, many state and local councils have embarked on the imposition of their own rules and regulations including issuance of registration, permits, Community Development Agreements (CDA) and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU] on miners.
The Vice President further said that some state governments, in a bid to shore up their revenues, impose illegal fees, taxes and levies on foreign and local licensed mining companies and operators.
He added that enforcement of the taxes often lead to the frequent arrests and harassment of licensed miners and their workers, and closures of mine sites.
It was part of the bid to revamp the sector that birthed the 2007 Road Map, which has now made the sector attractive to investors and placed the mining sector on the path of recovery, growth and development.
It was also in an effort to regulate all aspects of exploration and exploitation of solid minerals in the country that the Nigerian government re-enacted the Nigeria Mineral and Mining Act.
The Act was to foster the growth and development of the sector, while also vesting the ownership and control of all lands in which minerals are found in commercial quantities in the government. This prohibits unauthorised persons from exploration or exploitation of the mineral resources.
The Act further stated that the right to explore or exploit minerals in Nigeria is evidenced by the grant of a Mineral Title, which can be granted to an eligible applicant under the Act in accordance with the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Regulations (NMMR) and after the submission of an irrevocable consent form by land owners or occupiers.
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Tuesday, sacked Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State and his Deputy, Dr Eric Kelechi Igwe, following their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC.
The court, in a judgement that was delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo, held that the total number of 393, 042 votes governor Umahi secured during the March 9, 2019 governorship election in Ebonyi state, belonged to the PDP and same could not be legally transferred to the APC.
According to the court, having defected to the APC, both Umahi and his deputy, not only jettisoned the PDP, but also the votes that belonged to it.
It held that going by the outcome of the governorship election, the office of the governor and deputy governor in Ebonyi state, “belong to the Plaintiff and no other political party”.
“There is no constitutional provision that made the ballot transferrable from one party to the other”.
It held that the PDP is bound to retain the votes and mandate that was given to it by electorates in Ebonyi state, as both governor Umahi and his Deputy could not validly transfer same to APC.
Two people were reportedly killed by bandits while working on their farmland at Sardauna community in Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State. The leader of the vigilante group in Sabon Birni, Musa Muhammad (aka Blacky) who confirmed the incident to Daily Trust said that the farmers were killed around 3:30pm on Sunday, […]
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