Category: Featured

By Our Reporter

Nigeria’s duo of Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori were included in a 25-man squad on Thursday for away Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.

Canadian-born Tomori however, is getting his first call-up for the English senior national team.

Striker Abraham turned 22 on Wednesday, celebrating in style with the opener in his club’s 2-1 UEFA Champions League victory at Lille.

He is the leading English goalscorer in the English Premier League (EPL).

In spite of making two senior appearances for England in friendlies two years ago, he is also eligible for Nigeria and had said he was undecided about his international future.

Manager Gareth Southgate told reporters he had not discussed the matter with Abraham, and had left it to Chelsea boss Frank Lampard to tell the player he was in the squad.

“We’ve got close to hundreds of players now in our system who are dual nationality,” he added.

“I don’t think it’s ethically right just to give a player a cap to make sure that they can’t play for somebody else.

“Fik and Tammy are in on merit and I’m not going to guarantee that they are going to get on the pitch,” said Southgate. “But they have both been part of our junior system right the way through.

“As far as we are concerned the two boys have been developed through English football and are English players.

“I’m sure they have a huge desire to play for England at senior level.”

Meanwhile Tottenham’s Dele Alli and Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard did not make the cut.

Alli, who has made only four appearances for Tottenham Hotspur since returning from a hamstring injury, was omitted along with fellow-midfielders Lingard and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

There was also no place for Manchester City defender Kyle Walker.

Southgate said he was playing well but the bar was set high and he had lost out to strong competition.

He expected Oxlade-Chamberlain and Alli to challenge for places in coming months, while he retained faith also in Lingard fighting back.

England, who top Group A with four wins out of four matches, play the Czechs in Prague on Oct. 11 and Bulgaria in Sofia on Oct. 14.

Southgate said it was getting increasingly difficult to pick the squad, given the intense competition for places, and some of the choices had been hard to make.

Four Chelsea players feature and the manager praised Lampard, who took over at Stamford Bridge in July, for giving them their opportunities to shine.

“I’ve sat here for a few years and talked about opportunities for young English players,” said Southgate. “It’s a hugely positive step.”

Goalkeepers: Tom Heaton (Aston Villa), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Burnley)

Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Ben Chilwell (Leicester), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Michael Keane (Everton)

Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Danny Rose (Tottenham), Fikayo Tomori (Chelsea) Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid)

Midfielders: Ross Barkley (Chelsea), Fabian Delph (Everton), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), James Maddison (Leicester), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Declan Rice (West Ham), Harry Winks (Tottenham)

Forwards: Tammy Abraham (Chelsea) Harry Kane (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)

Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Callum Wilson (Bournemouth) (Reuters/NAN)

By Our Reporter

Arsenal’s young guns continued to shine as they dismantled Standard Liege 4-0 on a hectic night of Europa League action that produced a full house of Spanish victories on Thursday.

Sevilla beat APOEL Nicosia 1-0, Espanyol were 2-0 winners away to CSKA Moscow and Getafe won 2-1 in Krasnodar.

There was a notable 2-0 win for Feyenoord over Porto in a clash of former European champions while English Premier League Wolverhampton Wanderers won 1-0 at Besiktas.

Three-times European champions Manchester United played out a dour 0-0 draw away to AZ Alkmaar —- a Group L match played in The Hague, 70 miles from Alkmaar, on an artificial pitch.

Manchester United now have four points alongside Partizan Belgrade who enjoyed a 2-1 victory in Astana.

Arsenal, runners-up to Chelsea last year, opened their Group F campaign with an impressive 3-0 win in Frankfurt and found goals easy to come by again as they racked up a sixth successive home win in Europe.

Eighteen-year-old Brazilian Gabriel Martinelli scored twice in two minutes with Joe Willock, 20, also on target as a youthful Arsenal blew away their Belgian opponents in a sensational start.

Martinelli also crossed for Dani Ceballos to make it four as Arsenal cemented top spot.

To make it a great night for Arsenal, Hector Bellerin returned to the starting line-up for his first start after nine months out with a knee injury.

Manager Unai Emery praised his team which had an average starting age of 22.

“We have to give the chances to the young players and they take them,” he said.

“They are close to playing for us at the highest levels. They showed tonight that they can perform and they can score.”

His old club Sevilla also have six points in Group A with former Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez on target against APOEL who suffered a second loss.

FC Copenhagen drew 1-1 in a cross-border derby in Sweden against Malmo to lead Group B with four points, the same as Dynamo Kiev who drew 0-0 in Lugano.

Humble Spanish outfit Getafe have six points from two games in Group C with Angel scoring twice in Krasnodar while Basel are second after a 2-2 draw away to Turkish club Trabzonspor.

PSV Eindhoven are another club on maximum points from two games after a comfortable 4-1 victory away to Rosenborg in Group D.

In the same group, Sporting came from a goal down to beat Austrian minnows LASK 2-1 in Lisbon.

Scottish champions Celtic moved top of Group E as they avenged a UEFA Champions League third qualifying defeat against Romanian side Cluj, winning 2-0 in Glasgow.

Lazio beat French club Rennes in the same group to get off the mark after losing to Cluj.

Group G looks like being a real dogfight with all four sides on three points after Feyenoord’s 2-0 win over Porto and Young Boys beating Steven Gerrard’s Rangers 2-1.

Jens Toornstra and Rick Karsdorp scored for Feyenoord in a lively second half.

Bulgaria’s Ludogorets remained 100 percent in Group H with a 3-0 win away to Hungary’s Ferencvaros.

Espanyol are second with four points after their win in Russia.

In Group I, Wolfsburg drew 1-1 in St Etienne to stay top alongside Gent who also drew 1-1 away to Oleksandriya.

Group J has Roma and Wolfsburg leading after their 1-1 draw.

A stoppage-time winner by Willy
ABoly gave Wolves a 1-0 win away to Besiktas ——- their first points in Group K.

Slovan Bratislava and Braga drew 2-2 to move to four points.(Reuters/NAN)

By Our Reporter

Emmanuel Oghenejobo, pioneer of the annual Agoma Open Taekwondo Festival, said that he was glad to have first timer Cameroon 11-member team amongst 181 athletes in the 18th edition which kickoff on Wednesday in Kebbi.

Oghenejobo told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on telephone that other African countries such as Niger Republic, Ghana and Gabon were regulars in the competition participated by state teams and taekwondo Clubs.

He said that the annual tournament holding in Kebbi Stadium, with Poomsae, Hoshindul, Kyopa and Kyorugi events for junior and adult categories, would end Oct. 5.

“The Agoma tournament is a consistent tournament that is helping our taekwondoist and neighbouring athletes to be improving in their career and we have 181 entries this year against the 145 last year.

“We are making progress and I am happier because we are having 11 athletes from team Cameroon amongst others that will take part in the events which starts this evening”, he said.

The 1992 Barcelona heavyweight taekwondo Olympian said the tournament had produced national athletes that represented the country in continental and intercontinental games, and would remain committed in developing taekwondo sport.

According to him, the urge to give back to the society and discover more talents for the nation through the annual Agoma Festival have sustained his drive and efforts in organising the annual tournament.

Meanwhile, Ferguson Oluigbo, tournament director of the festival, told NAN that accreditation, weigh-in and health fitness test as well as officials seminar have been concluded for the athletes and referees.

Oluigbo said that the Kebbi State Taekwondo Association (KSTA) host tournament would also have the Electric Scoring System (ESS) as device which was part of effort to make the competition standard.

“The athletes have been certified and good to go for their events and the idea is to avoid any form of deficiency but rather have a hitch free event and to maintain good image.

“Application of current rules in line with the ESS must be brought to play and that was extensively treated in the technical officials course yesterday, so we set,” he added.

NAN reports that the tournament was introduced in 2001 with the name ‘Agoma Martial Arts Sports Festival’ by Emmanuel Oghenejobo, with Taekwondo, Karate, Kickboxing, Judo and Wushu Kung-fu events.

In 2016 Oghenejobo settled for taekwondo event only and changed the name of the tournament to ‘Agoma Open Taekwondo Festival’ which is known for till date. (NAN)

By Our Reporter

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), on Thursday said 90 per cent of cars in the country were smuggled into the country by unscrupulous elements.

Ali, who said this while addressing newsmen in Abuja, alleged that many vehicles on display for sale in auto shops across the country were also smuggled.

He explained that the recent raids of the various car dealers’ spots in some parts of the country were to ascertain whether the vehicles were brought in genuinely or not.

According to him, the country needs revenue for development, hence, it became necessary to collect duties on those smuggled vehicles.

“We want to use this opportunity to ensure that cars within our borders are fully customised, which means duties are paid on them.

” We are looking for revenue from everywhere and we have these people who brought in vehicles and failed to pay duties.

“What we are doing now, we are just enforcing the law, which allows us to collect revenue on behalf of Nigeria and also ensure those vehicles you and I will go and buy have genuine papers that are roadworthy.

“If you meet our officers on the road and they ask for the papers, if they discover you have not paid your duties, they will seize the vehicles.

“We are doing all these to save car buyers from running into trouble,” he explained.

The customs boss said the organisation would continue to mount road block from time to time to stop vehicles to ensure duties were paid on cars.

“The law allows us to stop you and ask for the car papers, if your papers are intact, we thank you and bless you, if it is otherwise, we will ask you to pay the duties

“If we find out you are not a smuggler, you are just an innocent buyer, we will value the car and ask you to pay the required duties on the car and you will be freed,” he said. (NAN)

By Our Reporter

The FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, has urged chairmen of Area Councils to develop infrastructure in satellite towns to make life more meaningful for the inhabitants.

Bello made the call on Thursday in Abuja, when a delegation of elected officials of the FCT, led by Sen. Phillip Aduda, visited him.

He said that infrastructural investment in the satellite towns would boost security, sanitation, education, healthcare and traffic management.

The minister said that the activities of area council authorities must be in sync with the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA)’s efforts toward quality primary education and healthcare delivery.

Bello stated that much would not be achieved by the FCTA except the area councils were proactive at the community levels.

“The level of responsibility bestowed on you as elected representatives of the people are enormous; the people you represent must be touched positively.

“Allocations meant for the councils are released promptly, so no area council chairman can complain of funding as hindrance,” he said.

He told them that primary education, health care and basic sanitation fell within the purview of the area councils, adding, “we can serve the people better through good governance instead of politicking”

The minister further urged the council chairmen to play active roles in the boards that they serve as members, to ensure effective service delivery.

“Mobilise your people to engage in more community service. With such synergy, the sanitary state of the localities can be made better,” he said.

Earlier, leader of the delegation, Sen. Phillip Aduda, had commended the minister for the efforts towards enhancing working synergy with the area councils.

He reiterated the readiness of the elected FCT officials to support the FCTA in achieving objectives that would impact positively on the people.

In her remarks, Dr Ramatu Tijjani-Aliyu, Minister of States for the FCT, said that there was need for cooperation and synergy between the elected officials and the FCTA. (NAN)

By Our Reporter

The Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege says the National Assembly will give legal backing to card reader in the new Electoral Act, to further enhance the integrity of the electoral process in Nigeria.

He gave the assurance when he received the Nigerian Representatives of the African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council, (AU-ECOSOCC), led by Dr. Tunji Ashaolu in Abuja on Thursday.

A statement by his spokesperson, Yomi Odunga in Abuja, quoted Omo-Agege as saying that it was important the card reader be made part of the legal regime for elections.

He said the senate maintained that card reader would ensure credible polls.

According to him, the mistake of the Eighth National Assembly is that the amendment of the Electoral Act breached ECOWAS Protocol, which will not be repeated.

“I am sure any minute from now, we are going to be coming up with a revised Electoral Reform Amendment Bill that will address issues that are very dear to us and issues that came to the fore in the 2019 elections, most especially revolving round the legality of the card reader.

“We know that there is no way you can have genuine, credible, free and fair elections in this country without addressing the issue of the card reader.

“Most of the litigations that arise from the 2015 and 2019 elections have always centred around the legality or otherwise of the card reader.

“The courts have made it very clear that as far as they are concerned, Section 49 of the Electoral Act is very clear that the only document recognised by law for purpose of accreditation is the voters register.

“To the extent that we believe that we want to introduce any innovation including but not limited to the card reader.

“We have to do the right thing, the right thing as far as we are concerned is for us to pass the law to make the card reader.

“We are hellbent on doing that, and we actually tried in the committee that I served on in the eighth senate but the leadership of the eighth senate delayed it and by the time it passed, it had ran into challenges with the ECOWAS Protocol,” he said.

He, however, explained that contentious areas in the amendments made by the eighth National Assembly would be removed before the bill will be passed and sent to the President for assent.

Omo-Agege, who represents Delta Central Senatorial District, also expressed the desire of the ninth senate to ensure that the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) was given accelerated approval.

He assured that the bill would have the buy-in of the executive arm of government to avoid the mistakes of the past.

He said: “This time around, it is the determination of the ninth senate that we are going to have this (PIGB) passed.

Earlier, leader of the delegation, Dr. Tunji John Ashaolu, emphasized the need for Nigeria to take its rightful place in the African Union (AU).

He also called on the National Assembly to immediately revisit the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, as well as the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB). (NAN).

By Our Reporter

Mallam Haruna Idris, North Central Zonal Director, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) has urged staff of the corporation to shun indolence and poor attitude to work.
Idris gave the warning on Thursday during a meeting with staff of the North Central Zonal Headquarters in Lafia.
He noted that irrespective of the challenges facing the corporation, truancy and nonchalant attitude to work would not be tolerated.
The zonal director, said that the essence of the meeting was to create an interaction platform for FRCN staff in the North Central zonal headquarters.
He said the meeting marked the end of his tour of all FRCN FM stations in the zone.
Idris charged the staff to be committed and diligent in the discharge of their official duties.
He pointed out that management would not hesitate to sanction any act of indiscipline, dereliction and absenteeism by staff.
Idris assured the staff of his commitment towards their welfare and conducive working environment.
Umaru Ibrahim, an Assistant Director Administration, said the meeting was a morale-booster for the staff because it provided an opportunity for them to express their feelings and challenges. (NAN)