Author: Chief Editor

By Matthew Hassan Kukah I am not sure I know how to address you especially now that the formal Ranka ya dade is of no use to you since you are now in eternity. However, because this is a very special year, I had decided to write two letters, one to you and the other to Sir Tafawa Balewa. I thought I should start with you for obvious reasons. These letters are my formal way of having an imaginary conversation with both of you. In a way, I want to give you a report of what you left behind, what your…

Andrea Pirlo won his first trophy as a coach on Wednesday as Juventus beat Napoli 2-0 in the Italian Super Cup. Cristiano Ronaldo blasted in his 20th goal of the season following a corner on 64 minutes in Reggio Emilia, before Napoli captain Lorenzo Insigne missed a penalty and Alvaro Morata added a second deep into injury time. Pirlo, 41, clinched his first silverware five months after taking over at his former club where he won four league titles. “Winning a first title (as a coach) is a great joy, different from that felt as a player, it’s even more…

Tiger Woods has recently undergone microdiscectomy surgery to remove a pressurized disc fragment that was pinching a nerve, the 15-time major winner’s foundation announced Tuesday. A posting on Woods’s Twitter page said the 45-year-old golf star would not play upcoming US PGA Tour events at Torrey Pines or Riviera, but doctors expect him to fully recover. “I look forward to beginning training and am focused on getting back out on tour,” Woods said in the statement, which did not reveal an exact date for the operation. Woods was experiencing discomfort after playing in last month’s PNC Championship, a family exhibition…

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp called for some perspective after a four-game winless run that dropped English champions to fourth in the Premier League. The Reds trail surprise leaders Leicester by four points but play their game in hand when Burnley visit Anfield on Thursday. Concern over Liverpool’s ability to retain the title has grown in recent weeks after a run of three league games without a goal for the first time since 2005. “The perception from outside goes really quick. People get very unhappy with the performances when the result is not there,” said Klopp, who again defended his side’s…

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ), on Thursday, denied media reports that terrorists had overrun a military base in Marte Local Government Area (LGA), of Borno between Jan. 15 and Jan. 16. Maj.-Gen. John Enenche, Coordinator Defence Media Operations, made the clarification while giving an update on military operations in the last one week, aimed at addressing current insecurity challenges across the country. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the Boko Haram/Islamic West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists, had attempted to attack troops’ location at the outskirts of Marte, but were repelled. The troops eliminated a number of them and destroyed…

In what can be described as reporting the living to the dead, Bishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese, Mathew Hassan Kukah, yesterday, wrote an open letter to the late former Premier of the defunct Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, and the late former Prime Minister, Sir Tafawa Balewa, over the current ills in the North, in particular, and Nigeria in general. Specifically, the cleric complained to Bello and Balewa about the hardship the people suffer, following alleged destruction of the legacies, including public institutions, they tactically bequeathed to their people to build a solid foundation for prosperous future. In the letter,…

Last Friday, a 22-year-old computer expert, David Ntekim-Rex, was shot in Lagos by armed robbers. The first time I heard about David was in 2018 when he won the IBM Z Academic Initiative Prize, a worldwide contest. This guy is a gift to Nigeria, I thought. I have shared his story a few times when I talk about technology and Africa’s future. Everything about him bespoke promises. Unfortunately, he was shot by robbers -probably young men like him- who wanted to dispossess him of his Samsung phone. In another life, a brilliant young man like him would be working in…

On Wednesday, the United States of America inaugurated a new administration, putting behind it weeks of tension following the refusal of former President Donald Trump to concede victory to Joe Biden, his Democratic rival and winner of the November 2020 poll. SAMSON FOLARIN examines a list of the winners and losers of the US election Winners Joe Biden US President Joe Biden Photo: AFP Joe Biden, a former Delaware senator, served as vice president under former President Barack Obama. His battle with Trump started when it became clear he would be the flag bearer for the Democrats. Trump was alleged to have withdrawn…

Former Nigeria’s Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has urged the 46th president of the United States of America, Joe Biden, and his Vice, Kamala Haris, to remove the travel restrictions placed on some Nigerians by the country. Atiku said this in his ‘Message of goodwill To President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’, on Thursday. The PUNCH reported that Joe Biden was on Wednesday sworn in as the 46th President of the United States at a scaled-down ceremony overseen by over 20,000 National Guards in Washington DC. Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris, the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, became the first Black…

Three senior lawyers and groups, including Afenifere and the Yoruba Council of Elders, on Wednesday, criticised the Presidency over its stand on the Ondo State Government’s ultimatum to herdsmen in the state’s forest reserves. But the Northern Elders’ Forum directed the Fulani herdsmen to disregard the notice to quit forest reserves in the state. Also on Wednesday, the Ondo State Government said it did not tell herdsmen to leave the state or its forests, but forest reserves, which had become hideouts of kidnappers. Recall that the Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, had on Monday ordered herdsmen to leave the state’s…