Author: Chief Editor

• Urges police to investigate • LCC gives reasons to reopen tollgate Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, yesterday, condemned the alleged brutality against protesters at the Lekki tollgate. The governor, therefore, ordered the state’s Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, to investigate the incident. The state’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotosho, disclosed this at a joint briefing by the state government and the Lekki Concession Company in Lagos. He reiterated that Lagos State government, under the leadership of Babajide Sanwo-Olu, would never trample on people’s rights. MEANWHILE, making clarification on some issues, Managing Director, Lekki Concession Company (LCC),…

Cristiano Ronaldo returns to his native Portugal for the first time as a Juventus player as his side face Porto on Wednesday with the Italian giants fighting to keep up with Europe’s most powerful clubs in the Champions League. On the field Juve are still finding their feet under novice coach Andrea Pirlo but they crave European glory more than anything having lost five Champions League finals since last winning the trophy in 1996. Off the pitch, meanwhile, their chairman Andrea Agnelli is one of the leading figures behind plans to reform the continent’s elite club competition. Agnelli, also the…

• Mounts surveillance at entry points • Outbreak in Guinea, Congo DCR worry PTF • FG assures on COVID-19 vaccine’s availability, safety, efficacy The Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 (PTF) is enhancing surveillance at the nation’s points of entry to respond to recent outbreak of Ebola in neighbouring countries, especially, Guinea and the Congo DCR. Nigeria’s Port Health Services have been put on alert on land, while sea and Air borders as well as major hospitals have also been put on notice for a keen index and to check patient travel history, especially at Outpatient departments, and report concerns to infectious…

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang decisively put a shortage of goals this season behind him at the weekend by scoring his first Premier League hat-trick as Arsenal defeated Leeds United 4-2 at the Emirates. The Gunners captain and Gabon star had scored just five goals before he punished Leeds’ expansive style by netting from a low shot, a penalty and a far-post header. In France, Nigerian Terem Moffi raised his goal tally to seven from eight matches for Lorient by scoring twice in a 2-2 Ligue 1 draw at Monaco. Here, AFP Sport rounds up the performances of African stars in the major…

Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman insists his resurgent team can still compete with the strongest in Europe as they prepare to take on a Paris Saint-Germain side missing Neymar in their Champions League last 16, first leg on Tuesday. “I don’t see other teams who are much better than Barcelona, but I think it’s not good if you are changing a lot of things in the team, if you are playing with young players, to expect that we will win the Champions League,” Koeman told media ahead of Tuesday’s game at the Camp Nou. Barcelona remains a club in crisis off…

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has congratulated former Minister of Finance for her emergence as the first female and African Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Abubakar in a statement signed by himself said Okonjo-Iweala was well known to him and “not hyperbole” when he said that no one could be more qualified for the job of D-G of WTO than her. He described her as an apostle of free trade and astute manager of people and resources, adding that the world would be much more prosperous with her recent elevation. “As the world prepares to emerge from the…

The Speaker, House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, has congratulated Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on her emergence as the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Gbajabiamila, in a statement by Lanre Lasisi, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, on Monday in Abuja, said that Okonjo-Iweala’s track record speaks volumes. Similarly, Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives through Rep. Ndudi Elumelu, the House Minority Leader, congratulated the former Minister of Finance for her successful emergence as WTO director-general in spite of all hurdles. Gbajabiamila said Okonjo-Iweala’s unanimous confirmation by the General Council of the WTO to head the body…

Julian Nagelsmann has the chance to inflict more misery on Jurgen Klopp when the two German coaching heavyweights do battle as RB Leipzig take on Liverpool in the first leg of their last 16 Champions League tie on Tuesday. Klopp, 53, has earned cult status on Merseyside having ended Liverpool’s 30-year-wait to be crowned English league champions in 2019/20, the season after lifting the Champions League. But a run of three wins in 12 games has left the Reds relying on a European run to save their season. Twenty years his junior, Nagelsmann is seen as a rising star. Under…

• Delay in deploying vaccines causes virus to mutate • South Africa was smart to do clinical trials, Says Agwale • 75% doses deployed in only 10 countries • 130 countries yet to administer single dose Unlike South Africa and some developed nations, Nigeria lacks the capacity to conduct clinical trials on COVID-19 vaccines. Chairman, Expert Review Committee on COVID-19 and a consultant virologist, Prof. Oyewale Tomori, told The Guardian yesterday his committee and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) could only test for safety and not efficacy of food and drugs to be used in…

Romelu Lukaku scored twice to reach 300 career goals as Inter Milan moved above AC Milan to the top of Serie A with an impressive 3-1 home win over Lazio on Sunday. Lukaku’s brace came in the first half as Inter made the most of their city rivals’ surprising 2-0 loss at Spezia on Saturday. Inter, bidding for a first Scudetto since winning the treble under Jose Mourinho in 2010, are now one point clear of AC Milan, with Roma six points further back in third. The stage is set for a mouthwatering Milan derby at the San Siro next…