Author: Chief Editor

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has paid tribute to its candidate in the 1993 presidential election, late Chief MKO Abiola; his wife, Kudirat; democracy activist, Pa Alfred Rewane; and others for making sacrifices for the country. The chairman of the party in the state, Dr Webster Okonkwo, said the sacrifice by the trio and other activists during the 1993 election was geared towards moving the country forward, but regretted that the country has instead fallen to violence and ethnic rife. Okonkwo regretted that the only chance Nigeria had of getting things right was truncated, but said that the party still…

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), House of Representatives members have enjoined Nigerian leaders to tow the path of justice, equity, dialogue, and rule of law in the country. Rep. Toby Okechukwu, the Deputy Minority Leader of the House, said this in a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja to commemorate the Democracy Day. He added that such path would help to arrest worsening insecurity and arrest separatist agitations across the country. Okechukwu said that opportunities still abounds in preserving the nation’s democracy and reconstruct the union to a more workable piece. He said that June 12 was designated Democracy Day…

South Africa, which is struggling to roll out its inoculation programme as it enters a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, said Sunday it will pull millions of doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine following contamination concerns at one of the US drugmaker’s sites. On Friday, the US Food and Drug Administration told J&J that millions of doses produced at the group’s Emergent BioSolutions facility in the city of Baltimore were not suitable for use. Following a review of the FDA decision, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) said in a statement that it had decided “not…

Harry Kane holds the key to England’s bid to end 55 years of hurt as Gareth Southgate’s side start their Euro 2020 campaign with a revenge mission against Croatia on Sunday. England have not won a major trophy since the 1966 World Cup and their under-achieving history is littered with heartache and embarrassment on the big stage. One of their more painful defeats in recent years came at the hands of Croatia, who beat Southgate’s men in the World Cup semi-finals in Russia three years ago. But England have been revitalised under the former international defender and they go into…

Waidi Akanni, a former Super Eagles player, says the late Moshood Kasimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola still remains a reference point in sports development the country. Akanni said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos. He said the void created by MKO in sports development after his death in 1998 was yet to be filled. “I think times have changed and we have to look at what other people are doing for football in recent times. “Although there are some privately owned football clubs, kudos to them for empowering the young boys and…

Spanish defender Diego Llorente believes the team’s Covid-19 chaos has pulled the players closer together ahead of their Euro 2020 opener against Sweden on Monday. Llorente tested positive for the virus on Tuesday but has been allowed to rejoin the squad after giving a fourth consecutive negative test on Friday. Sergio Busquets is still self-isolating at home after testing positive last weekend, which meant the team had to train individually this week and sit out a final warm-up game against Lithuania. “All of us here see the glass half-full, not half-empty,” said Llorente in a press conference on Saturday. “All…

Stefanos Tsitsipas was once described by Novak Djokovic as having “the traits of a champion” and on Sunday he will hope to prove the Serb’s glowing reference was not a misjudgement. The charismatic 22-year-old, one of the widely-touted ‘NextGen’ of the sport looks to land the first significant bodyblow on the old guard when he tackles the world number one for the French Open title. “He is a hard worker, dedicated, nice guy,” said Djokovic. “He’s very smart and wise. I love the fact that he is more than just a tennis player and he’s always looking to learn from…

David Moyes has been rewarded for guiding West Ham to sixth place in the Premier League with a new three year contract and says he is “really excited by the ambition” at the club. The 58-year-old Scot surpassed expectations in his second spell at the Hammers securing them a place in next season’s Europa League with 65 points, their highest Premier League tally. The previous season after replacing the sacked Manuel Pellegrini in December 2019 he had saved them from relegation. “We have made tremendous progress in the past 15 months and that has been a collective effort from everyone…

Harry Maguire could play for England in their opening Euro 2020 clash with 2018 World Cup finalists Croatia on Sunday although manager Gareth Southgate says it “is a longshot.” The 28-year-old central defender has not played since injuring ankle ligaments in Manchester United’s Premier League defeat by Aston Villa on May 9. However, he resumed training with England on Thursday and trained again on Saturday. Southgate told ITV it was not beyond the realms of possibility that Maguire — a key player as England reached the 2018 World Cup semi-finals where they lost to the Croats — could appear. “It…

Nigeria’s Senate President Ahmad Lawan  Friday was still evasive about taking a stand on the ban by the Federal Government on Twitter, an action that has generated widespread reactions. Lawan, however, expressed optimism that the planned dialogue between the federal government and Twitter will end the ban on the microblogging site in Nigeria. The Senate may have disappointed many Nigerians on the expectations that it will at the resumption of plenary on Tuesday touch the issue of the ban on Twitter by the Federal Government as no motion or any matter of urgent national importance was moved. There were high…