Author: Chief Editor

Manchester City midfielder Fernandinho says he felt fully prepared to play in defence against Shakhtar Donetsk after training as a centre-back all season. The Premier League champions overcame fitness issues to commence their Champions League campaign with a comfortable 3-0 victory in Ukraine. Aymeric Laporte and John Stones missed the match due to knee and muscle injuries respectively, forcing Fernandinho to shuffle backwards in a makeshift central-defensive partnership with Nicolas Otamendi. The pair performed admirably at Metalist Stadium, recording a clean sheet to temporarily ease Pep Guardiola’s headaches. “It was easier at the back because we played as a team…

Manchester United will not give up on extending Paul Pogba’s stay at Old Trafford. Pogba, 26, was heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid during the close season, despite being contracted at United until 2021, with the club also reportedly holding the option for a further 12 months. The LaLiga giants are reportedly still interested in the France midfielder, but United have plans of their own. TOP STORY – POGBA CONTRACT A PRIORITY FOR MAN UNITED Manchester United are looking to sign Pogba on a long-term deal, according to the Evening Standard. New contracts for Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Mason Greenwood are priorities for the…

•EFCC to arraign suspects in P&ID failed deal soon •Concerns mount as Oguntade, other ex-judicial officers hold briefs for foreign interests Former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Alfa Belgore, who has been a regular visitor at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Headquarters, Abuja for a couple of weeks, might have been indicted by the anti-graft agency for misconduct, THISDAY has learnt. The commission’s conclusion might have arisen from his alleged breach of Section 5 (1) of the fifth schedule of the 1999 Constitution as altered, which prohibits former public officers of his status from offering their services to…

“No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” – Nelson Mandela. It was in 1994 that South Africa gained independence from the unconscionable white minority rule, infamously referred to as Apartheid. Before then, Nelson Mandela had been in jail for 27 years, being the perceived cutting edge of the black struggle. Amongst the major countries that supported South…

By Ighodalo Clement Eromosele There seem to be no answers to the multiplicity of burgeoning questions on the state of the country, characterized by heightened security challenges, deep-seated ethnic distrust, lamentations, asphyxiating poverty, socio-political distress, relegation of the rule of law, rising unemployment and failure of governance. On security, it needs be recalled that the activities of the militant Islamic group, Boko Haram took on a violent twist when their leader and founder, Mohammed Yusuf died on July 2009, in an untidy circumstance in the custody of Nigeria police with no clear explanation. Thus, over the years the activities of the…

Earlier on Tuesday, there was a report of two ladies killed at a hotel in the Peter Odili area of Port Harcourt, Rivers State. These ladies were said to be waitresses and responding to room service calls. Their death in a gruesome manner is heart-rending and diminishes us all. Incidentally, in the last couple of weeks, Port Harcourt has witnessed serial murders of young women in hotel rooms and at no time has patriarchy been more at its peak. Of course, as is expected, Nigeria’s moral police, all of whom have gaping clinks in their armour, have announced to us…

Jide Ojo Nigeria’s new Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, on August 21, 2019 caused ripples shortly after his inauguration when he honestly admitted to the press that he knew little about the policies and operations of his ministry. Some people believed he was unsuitable for the position largely because his ministry has a lot to do with internal security of the country and he being a civilian taking over from a predecessor who is a military general was considered unfit. What Aregbesola’s accusers choose to ignore or do not understand is that he was a former governor of Osun State…

Travelling to any country through irregular means is never an easy deal. From the physical and psychological risks to financial and relational burdens, irregular migration often ends in futility. For many migrants attempting to reach Europe from Africa, recent trends show that more restrictions and dangers now exist both internally and externally. Over 900 people are reportedly dead in 2019 while attempting to reach Europe via the Mediterranean Sea. By the day, tougher migration decisions and policies are being implemented across Europe, especially by frontline states, making undocumented arrivals and stay unwelcomed. Italy’s decision to close its borders to rescue…

Celebrated Nigerian entrepreneur and a Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 honoree Obiwanne Okeke has pleaded not guilty to two counts of wire and computer fraud of about $11m fraud at his first hearing on Monday. United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said Okeke and at least six other persons were involved in the crimes. “There is a probable cause to believe Okeke has conspired with several individuals to access computers without authorisation and using such access to cause the fraudulent wire transfer of funds,” FBI’s special agent Marshall Ward said in an affidavit he deposed to before Justice Lawrence…

Henry Boyo The latest widespread currency of the word, xenophobia, is instigated by recent media reports of the looting and burning of shops, allegedly, owned in South Africa by foreign nationals, primarily from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Somalia and Ethiopia. Incidentally, xenophobia is defined as “dislike of, or, prejudice against people from other countries.” Indeed, the rampage is the latest of similar attacks which date back to 1994, when such incidents were first reported against Mozambican and Congolese immigrants in South Africa. After majority rule in 1994, at least 67 people, according to Wikipedia, were reportedly killed in xenophobic attacks between 2000 and…