Author: Chief Editor

Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho said Friday that being under pressure was “like oxygen” for him as he seeks to turn around the club’s terrible Premier League form. Mourinho’s job has come under scrutiny after a run of five Premier League defeats in six games left them ninth in the table — nine points outside the top four. But the Portuguese, whose team topped the table in December, said it was just part of the job. “The problem is if you don’t have pressure,” he said. “I felt in trouble when I was at home and did not have pressure for…

A youth group has called on the former Lagos State Governor and National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to run for the 2023 presidential election under the platform of the ruling party Mr Samuel Alamoh, the Director-General of the group known as Tinubulate Nigeria Agenda (TINA), made the call at the inaugural press conference of the organisation in Abuja on Friday. Alamoh described TINA as a group of reputable Nigerians, young professionals in diverse fields with passion and commitment to drive togetherness, love and peaceful coexistence among Nigerians. He said the group members are convinced…

Manchester City have set their sights on a clean sweep of the four major trophies as the runaway Premier League leaders prepare to host high-flying West Ham this weekend. To have any chance of putting City under pressure, second-placed Manchester United must end Thomas Tuchel’s unbeaten start as Chelsea boss. AFP Sport looks at some of the main talking points ahead of the weekend action in the English top-flight. Man City flex muscles Manchester City’s march to the top of the Premier League was not a surprise given their title-winning pedigree, but their record-breaking surge has fuelled belief that they…

Atletico Madrid has left the door ajar in La Liga’s title race but who steps forward first will depend on a battle of the contenders this weekend when all of the top six faces each other. First against sixth pitches Atletico against Villarreal on Sunday night before second-placed Real Madrid host Real Sociedad in fifth. Before both of those, Barcelona travels to Sevilla on Saturday in a contest of third against fourth. Sevilla’s seven-point cushion ahead of fifth-place appears to have cast Real Sociedad and Villarreal adrift in the scrap for Champions League qualification but Julen Lopetegui’s side remains very…

Lionel Messi will hope to carry on his superb recent form in La Liga, while AC Milan’s Serie A title hopes face a huge test, there are massive showdowns in Portugal and the Netherlands, and Lyon head to Marseille. AFP Sport selects some of the standout action in Europe this weekend: Messi to continue form against Sevilla? Sevilla v Barcelona, Saturday 1515 GMT Barcelona were outclassed by Paris Saint-Germain in their Champions League last 16, first leg recently, but since early December they have only lost once domestically inside 90 minutes. Undefeated in 14 in La Liga, they did lose…

Tottenham defender Eric Dier has rejected Jose Mourinho’s claim that he is suffering from a dramatic loss of confidence. Dier has been at fault for several goals conceded by Tottenham during a wretched run of five defeats in six Premier League games. Tottenham’s slump has put their top-four hopes in jeopardy and piled pressure on under-fire boss Mourinho. Mourinho had hinted Dier had seen his confidence dip significantly during the troubled spell, but the England defender disputes that unflattering idea. “Confidence-wise I don’t feel I have been in a bad place all season,” he said. “I have gone through periods…

Unmistakably, there is an existential threat to Nigeria at this time. Alas, the government at the centre is not at all responding with the clearheaded strategy and the sense of urgency required. But under the extant structure of this aberrant federation, it is the Federal Government first that has the primary duty to protect the country and the people. To this end, it controls the bulk of the resources so required. It is strange, therefore, that, for reasons best known to the federal authorities, it fails to marshal these resources to act decisively, and seek help where and when it…

The Federal Government has declared that 29 out of the 43 road intervention projects within tertiary institutions across the country have been completed. Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, who stated this at the handover ceremony of a rehabilitated 1.62km internal main access road at the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR) in Benin City, said the current road intervention projects are critical to improving the learning environment as well as the quality of education. Fashola, who was represented by the federal controller of works in Edo State, Ademola Aransiola said of the 29 completed roads, 17 had…

• You must act fast, Sultan warns • Northern govs, elders resolve to tackle almajiri, bickering President Muhammadu Buhari has insisted that Nigeria’s security challenges would be tackled militarily, just as the Arewa Elders, under the umbrella of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), yesterday, cautioned northern governors to work together and avoid public disagreement on how to combat the issue. The 19 northern governours met with the President’s representatives, yesterday, to seek an immediate end to the general insecurity plaguing the country. On the president’s team were Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, all traditional rulers in the North, led by…

The Zamfara Government has confirmed the abduction of female students of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe in Talata-Mafara Local Government area of the state. The confirmation was made by the Commissioner of Security and Home Affairs, Alhaji Abubakar Dauran in a brief interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gusau on Friday. The abductors in their hundreds invaded the town and took away the students at about 2 am. “I can confirm to you now that we have sadly received the report on the abduction of the students of GGSS Jangebe and right now, I am on my…