Author: Chief Editor

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has urged Edo state electorate to be resolved to liberate the State from the jinx of political godfathers. Wike gave the charge at a meeting organised for leaders and elected representatives of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Benin City. He said they have done extensive campaigns from ward to ward and should work together to deliver the PDP during the election. The governor, who is also the Chairman of the PDP National Campaign Council, advised them not to be violent in their determination to liberate the State from godfatherism. “This is an opportunity for…

The Nigerian got little game time post-lockdown as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer relied heavily on a select few…but will that continue in 2020/21? As recoveries go, Manchester United’s second half of the 2019/20 season was certainly impressive. Having been, more or less, outsiders at the midway point to secure a Champions League spot via a top four finish, the Red Devils bounced back, in part aided by the inconsistency if the teams above them to end third with 66 points. Still, the fact Man United were able to supplant a Leicester City side that were 11 points above them after 19…

Negotiations for Anthony Joshua versus Tyson Fury are set to take another significant step, with promoter Eddie Hearn ready to send out a formal contract for the undisputed world title fight. Unified champion Joshua and WBC title holder Fury agreed terms in principle on a two-fight deal in June, with both promotional teams still eager to finalise two blockbuster heavyweight battles in 2021. Joshua’s promoter Hearn has been in regular contact with Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, who guides Fury’s career in America, and there is optimism that further terms can be circulated for discussion. “Yeah, I’ve been talking to…

US Open champion Naomi Osaka has pulled out of the French Open after suffering a hamstring injury. The Japanese player won her second New York major on the weekend and had been scheduled to appear at the tournament beginning on September 27 in Paris. In a statement posted to Twitter, the 22-year-old said: “Unfortunately I won’t be able to play at the French Open this year. “My hamstring is still sore so I won’t have enough time to prepare for the clay – these two tournaments came too close to each other for me.” The world No 3’s left hamstring…

The Premier League season continues this weekend with the first full schedule of fixtures as the Manchester teams-United and City, Aston Villa and Burnley return to action. The standout fixture sees big-spending Chelsea host champions, Liverpool at Stamford Bridge tomorrow as both sides look to build on opening-day victories Chelsea host Liverpool in an intriguing Premier League battle on Sunday with both teams looking to make an early statement of intent. The two sides enter tomorrow’s game having won their respective opening day fixtures, with Chelsea beating Brighton 3-1, while Liverpool edged past newly-promoted Leeds 4-3 in a thrilling affair.…

Having arrived Napoli for a record fee of 80 million euros, he seems not to have been overwhelmed by his big-money move as he settled fast with the Gennaro Gattuso side scoring two back-to-back hat-tricks in two pre-season friendlies. As Victor Osimhen sets for his first Serie A game, expectations are high on justifying his price tag Super Eagles forward and Napoli new signee, Victor Osimhen will taste Italian Serie A action for the first time tomorrow at the Ennio Tardini Stadium when Napoli visit Parma in one of the Serie A matches. All eyes will however be on one…

Abimbola Adelakun aadelakun@punchng.com When the latest brickbat exchange between pastors and Ifedayo Olarinde (aka Daddy Freeze) started, I simply wanted to watch how this round would play out differently from the last time. However, after reading the intervention of the senior pastor of Covenant Christian Centre, Pastor Poju Oyemade, where he made a case for respecting constituted authority, I was spurred to write this. In ideal circumstances, I would agree with the pastor. However, Nigerians already live in troubled times. We cannot afford to make an uncontested case for respecting authorities. There is a growing culture of power abuse, and…

Fola Ojo It commenced as a localised endemic in Wuhan, China. From there, its mangling metastasis hit South Korea, Italy, Japan, Iran, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Few weeks after, it spiralled down into a few African nations including my beloved Nigeria. The manifestation of the novel disease coronavirus or COVID-19, did not consciously hit the world until around January, this year. In the aftermath, humanity slid into a panic mode. From a few numbers of cases, headcounts from the effects of the rabid virus shot up into thousands infected, and thousands more human beings losing…

Ayo Olukotun Today, Nigeria is fast drifting to a failed and badly divided state; economically, our country is becoming a basket case and poverty capital of the world, and socially, we are firming up as an unwholesome and insecure country” – Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, The PUNCH, Monday, September 14, 2020. Controversy has rapidly collated around former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s recent statement quoted in the opening paragraph to the effect that Nigeria is fast developing into a failed state. On the face of it, there is nothing really new or revelatory about Obasanjo’s position, except that in the context…

President Muhammadu Buhari has signed into law the Nigeria Police Bill, 2020. The president, according to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, communicated his assent to the bill to the National Assembly, through a memo to the Clerk of the National Assembly, dated September 16, 2020, According to the statement, the new Act repeals the Police Act Cap. P19. Laws of the Federation, 2004. It also provides for a more effective and well organised Police Force, driven by principles of transparency and accountability in its operations and management of its resources. The statement added: “Among…