Author: Chief Editor

Napoleon was famously quoted as saying that promises are meant to be broken. Millions of politicians in under-developed, developing and developed countries would gladly accept it as wise and pragmatic. Wherever politicians are gathered, there they are surrounded by jagged shards of broken promises. It is not that they are not men and women of their words, it is simply that breaking a promise is a time-honoured part of the game of politics. Because the game itself is in deficit in honesty, making and breaking promises smack of smartness. A president is a politician but his promise is meant to…

The latest report published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on its website which among other things noted that Nigeria Unemployment Rate has risen from 27.1% in the second quarter of 2020, to 33%, has helped Nigerians see clearly how the deck is stacked against the poor and the disadvantaged. Aside making it the second Highest on Global List, the NBS report going by analysis, shows that ‘more than 60% of Nigeria’s working-age population is younger than 34. Unemployment for people aged 15 to 24 stood at 53.4% in the fourth quarter and at 37.2% for people aged 25 to 34. The jobless…

Neymar and Paris Saint-Germain are heading into a potentially decisive week in their season, with Mauricio Pochettino’s side facing Ligue 1 title rivals Lille on Saturday before a trip to Germany for a rematch of last season’s Champions League final against Bayern Munich. The quarter-final first leg away to a Bayern side missing Robert Lewandowski is already dominating headlines in France, as PSG seek revenge for their 1-0 defeat in the final in Lisbon last August. The absence of Lewandowski could even swing the tie PSG’s way, especially as the French giants have Neymar fit again after a recent spell…

Manchester United have set up an online system encouraging supporters to report incidents of racism and other hate crimes. United’s “See Red” campaign follows Arsenal’s launch earlier this week of an action plan called #StopOnlineAbuse. United stars Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Fred have all been subjected to racist abuse this season. Fred hit back saying “we cannot feed that culture” of racism after he was racially abused following his side’s FA Cup quarter-final defeat by Leicester. Former Arsenal star Thierry Henry recently quit all his social media platforms in protest at the rise in internet abuse. “We challenge our…

The Olympic torch relay will not be run on public roads in Osaka city given rising virus cases, the Japanese region’s governor said Friday, but a cancellation has not yet been decided. “We’re sorry for torch relay runners… but we won’t do the torch relay on public roads in Osaka city,” Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura told reporters. “We’ll discuss with the Tokyo 2020 organising committee if there are any alternatives,” he added. His comments came a day after he and the city’s mayor called for the torch relay leg to be cancelled given a recent spike in Covid-19 infections in the…

Cristiano Ronaldo returns to Serie A on Saturday with Juventus looking to reboot their title defence against struggling city rivals Torino. Hopes of a 10th consecutive league title were rocked when Juventus fell 1-0 at home to lowly Benevento before the international break. Juventus are third, 10 points adrift of leaders Inter Milan, with both teams having 11 games left to play this season. Ronaldo returns from international duty where his fury at a winner ruled out against Serbia was followed by joy at scoring against Luxembourg. The Portuguese striker will play his sixth Turin derby, which could be his…

On Sunday, the All Progressives Congress National Leader, Bola Tinubu, commended Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, for his efforts in strengthening anti-corruption institutions. The efforts, of course, were tied to the office building of the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission Ganduje renovated. Tinubu went on to state that “in ensuring Nigeria becomes a member of a committed international community that frees us from the burden of corruption, this and similar edifices could play an important role in that.” This comment was repeated across several publications, so it was no misquote that he tied “edifices” like a renovated building…

Members of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors on Thursday morning commenced a nationwide strike despite Federal Government’s last-minute efforts to stop the action. The resident doctors, however, assured Nigerians that their action was not meant to hurt them. They gave the explanation in a message posted on the association’s Twitter handle, @nard_nigeria, on Thursday morning. The message read, “Nigerians must understand that we love them and the strike is not intended to hurt them but to challenge the Nigerian government @MBuhari @Fmohnigeria @LabourMinNG whose responsibilities amongst others is to care for her citizens and labour force to do the needful.” The…

A former governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi, said there was no truth in the claim that  he demanded N7bn for installing the state governor, Willie Obiano. He wonderd how he could have left N75bn for the governor and turn around to ask him to give him N7bn out of it. The former governor said since he left office about seven years ago, he has not received anything from the state government as entitlement or gift. Obi spoke during an interactive/stakeholders’ meeting of the Anambra State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party held in Awka, the state capital on…

• Corruption pervasive in government including judiciary, security agencies – US • Rights abuses under Buhari govt worse than under military dictatorship, says PDP The United States has accused authorities in Nigeria of massive corruption and stifling of free speech in 2020. The US stated this in the ‘2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,’ released on Tuesday, but made available to The PUNCH on Wednesday. In their separate reactions on Wednesday, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party and a former President of the  Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, Malachy Ugwumadu, berated the regime of Muhammadu Buhari. Expressing concern about corruption…