Friday, 10 March 2017
CAF Champions League: Rangers, Rivers Utd ready to roll
Champions League title hopefuls, Rangers International of Enugu and Rivers United will this weekend rub shoulders with the big guns as the continent’s premium, club competition enters its last-32 stage.
Rangers are away in Egypt to face Zamalek while Rivers United host Al Merrikh of Sudan in Port Harcourt in the first of two-legged encounters.
This stage of the Champions League sees the four most successful clubs in African competitions enter the fray – and all are expected to build first-leg leads.
Record 19-time title winners Al Ahly of Egypt face South African league leaders Wits, who are playing in the elite African competition for the first time.
TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo, second behind Ahly with 10 successes, meet unimpressive preliminary round winners CAPS United of Zimbabwe.
Zamalek of Egypt, winners of nine continental competitions and 2016 Champions League runners-up, tackle Enugu Rangers of Nigeria in an attractive match-up.
Etoile Sahel of Tunisia, the only club to win all five current and past Confederation of African Football competitions, also boast nine titles ahead of a clash with AS Tanda of the Ivory Coast.
There are a total of eight past Champions League winners in the round.
Esperance of Tunisia, V Club of DR Congo and Wydad Casablanca of Morocco complete the line-up of clubs who lifted the richest and most prized African trophy.
Another five challengers, Leopards of Congo Brazzaville, FUS Rabat of Morocco, Horoya of Guinea, Al Merrikh of Sudan and Rangers of Enugu have won other CAF titles.
The post CAF Champions League: Rangers, Rivers Utd ready to roll appeared first on Vanguard News.
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Thursday, 23 February 2017
Man caught with N1.9m fake currency
• Another held for producing fake cough syrup
Nasarawa State Police Command yesterday paraded 61 suspects for allegedly committing various crimes in the state.
Among the paraded suspects was a Lagos-based Wale Lawal, who is said to be a specialist in the printing and distribution of fake currency across the country.
According to the state Commissioner of Police, Abubakar Sadiqu Bello, the police acted on intelligence report before storming Ogbolo Hotel, in Bukansidi area, Lafia to arrest them.
Lawal disclosed that he had been robbed and was was seeking financial help from friends without knowing that the N8 million eight given to him by a friend were fake.
Other suspects arrested were Yahaya Haruna, 25, for allegedly raping a 10-year old girl in Sabon Pegi, Lafia.
The suspects also include Hussaini and Adamu Hussaini of Bokoko village Kokona, who were alleged to have killed one Yahaya Jibrin, a 17-year man with a matchet during a fight.
Also paraded were Abdullahi Aminu and Kabiru Mohamed of Akwanaga, who allegedly robbed one Mary Ezuka of N50, 000.
Some suspected highway robbers were also paraded for being in possession of arms and ammunitions.
Five AK 47 guns, various arms and ammunitions were recovered from the suspects. The police said the suspects would be charged to court after their investigation.
In a related development in Awka, Anambra State, a 46-year old man, Ejike Okereke, was yesterday remanded in prison for alleged production and distribution of fake cough syrup known as Codrux Cough Syrup.
Okereke, who was arraigned by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is facing a five-point charge at the Federal High Court, Awka.
However, he pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. Counsel to NAFDAC, Mr. Jombo Adumen, told the court that the accused, who lives at James street, Iyiowa Odekpe, Onitsha, committed the offense on February 2.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lBrjkR
Work resumes at NCS N500m complex
Adebayo Shittu, Minister of Communication
Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) has resumed work on its national secretariat project expected to gulp over N500 million when completed.
Christened ‘Innovation & Incubation Centre’, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, Minister of Communications performed the groundbreaking on December 2015 with a projection that the building will be completed by the next 18 months.
Paucity of funds had delayed the commencement of work at the centre expected to drive technology and innovation in Nigeria.
According to Professor Sola Aderounmu, president of NCS, said that the project was conceived said there is the need to urgently setup an incubation/innovation centre to focus on addressing weak university-industry linkage.
He said: “These incubation/innovation centres are inadequate for Nigeria and could not provide jobs for millions of unemployed Nigerians. Furthermore, none of these centres focused on incubating ideas coming out of our universities. That is, the centre will precisely focus on taking ideas from the laboratory to the market place which allows for commercialization of university research.”
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lQlsKT
Tuesday, 21 February 2017
Groups vow to resist hasty passage of Lagos environmental law
Lagos Assembly
Civil society groups, grassroots campaigners and activists have vowed to resist the Lagos State Environmental Bill which was passed into law yesterday by the state House of Assembly.
This is coming less than two weeks after the groups challenged key sections of the law at a public hearing organised by the House Committee on the Environment.
In a statement signed by Head, Media and Campaigns, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Mr. Phillip Jakpor, the groups said the law was anti-people and unacceptable.
They also asked Governor Akinwunmi Ambode not to assent to the bill but send it back to the House to throw it open again for wider consultations and inputs from Lagos citizens.
The groups criticizing the passage include: Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service, Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), Peace and Development Project (PEDEP) and Centre for Children’s Health Education, Orientation and Protection (CEE-Hope).
Others are Center for Dignity and African Women Water Sanitation and Hygiene Network (AWWASHN), among others.
The bill, which merges eight environment laws in the state into one, is titled: “A Bill for a Law to Consolidate all Laws relating to the Environment for the Management, Protection and Sustainable Development of the Environment in Lagos State and for Connected Purposes.”
Reports indicate that after its passage yesterday, Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa directed the Clerk of the House, Mr. Azeez Sanni to send a clean copy to Ambode for his assent.
The bill criminalizes sinking of boreholes, imposes fines and sets prison terms for any Lagos citizen who sells or transports water, among others.
The House members had cut short their six-week recess to attend to the bill and same week it took the first and second reading and held the public hearing where activists picked holes in the law. The members went on another recess after passing the law.
Activists particularly decried sections of the law that guaranteed payment for contractual services and concessions with an Irrevocable Service Payment Order (ISPO) as the first line charge on the state internally generated revenue (IGR).
This means if the law is assented to by Governor Ambode, the state will use tax payers money to pay the corporate entities, without fail before considering payment for other services like salaries, healthcare, education or road construction, no matter how pressing they may be.
ERA/FoEN Deputy Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, National President of AUPCTRE, Comrade Solomon Adelegan, Executive Director of PEDEP, Francis Abayomi and Executive Director of CEE-HOPE, Betty Abah, said they will mobilise Lagosians to protest the bill, which they described as a conspiracy against the people.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kXneW8
Tuesday, 31 January 2017
Ikoyi Club provides platform for young swimmers, says Adekoya…See full details
Set, go…primary school children competing in the second edition of Ikoyi Club 1938 inter-school swimming gala last weekend in Lagos. The event was sponsored by Zenith Bank. Photo: Gowon Akpodonor
St. Saviours School wins Zenith Bank inter-school swimming gala
It was thrills and glamour for primary school children in Lagos at the second Ikoyi Club 1938 inter-school swimming gala, which ended at the weekend.
The exercise, sponsored by Zenith Bank was attended by children from nine primary schools, with St. Saviours School emerging overall champions. They scored 241 points to top the table ahead of Children’s International School, Lekki, who finished second with 156 points, just as Corona School placed third with 131 points.
The chairman, swimming section of Ikoyi Club 1938, Segun Adekoya, told The Guardian that the exercise was part of the Club’s effort to lay a good foundation for young Nigerian swimmers. “For some years now, the swimming section of Ikoyi Club 1938 has been in the forefront of discovering young swimmers for this country. Our target is to see that one of these children becomes an Olympic medalist in the nearest future. I am very grateful Zenith Bank sponsored this year’s edition and we hope they will continue to play in this building process of our young swimmers,” Adekoya stated.
He revealed that secondary children would take their turn on Saturday in the inter-school swimming gala also being sponsored by Zenith Bank.
The President Aquatics Federation of Nigeria, Babatunde Fatai-Williams, described the completion as ‘wonderful,’ saying: “This is a catch them young competition because primary school is the foundation for swimming. All over the world, swimmers usually start early. If they started learning from age six, it would be very good for them because at that stage they tend to learn very well and the basics learned will stick to their brains.
“The problem facing swimming and other sports in the country has been lack of funds and for Zenith Bank to put money in this competition shows their love for sports and development of youths,” he stated.
The General Manager, Power and Infrastructure Group, E-Business and Card Services, Zenith Bank, Wunmi Ogunbiyi, told The Guardian they would continue to play their part by providing the platform for children to exhibit their skills in every part of the country. “This is part of our social responsibility for our people, and we will continue to do so, particularly for the sake of our young swimmers who are leaders of tomorrow. We have been doing it in football, tennis and other sports. It is a way of developing the young one to attain their potential,” she stated.
The star athletes of the competition were the duo of AbdulJabar Adama and Iman Adama, who won four and three gold medals respectively for Corona School. Their father, Tunde Adama, was full of praises for Zenith Bank for the sponsorship of the competition.
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These Educative, Entertaining And Inspirational Pictures Will Blow Your Mind – 76
These are just pictures but they tell stories that will either Educate, Entertain or Motivate you…
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Rivers CP, ex-presidential candidate, Pere Ajunwa die (Read full details)
When The Guardian visited the command’s headquarters on Moscow Road, Port Harcourt yesterday, a petrified senior police officer, who did not want to be named, said: “I am aware that the Commissioner of Police had been having health challenge for a while now, but no one envisages this tragic turn of event.
“To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time we are experiencing the death of a serving CP. It is indeed a sad day for us here.”
He, however, refused to mention the nature of Odesanya’s aliment.
In Abuja, the leadership of the police announced the demise of Odesanya after a brief illness in a hospital in India where he went for treatment.
A statement by the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Moshood Jimoh, yesterday, said the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, and the management announced the death of the 56-year-old officer.
The IGP, police management and the entire force commiserated with the Odesanya family in Ikenne town, the government and people of Ogun State for the passing on of their illustrious son.
Also, a presidential candidate of the Liberal Democratic Party of Nigeria (LDPN) and the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the 2003 and 2007 elections, Chief Pere Ajunwa, is dead.
In a statement issued by Daniel Markson-Iworiso, his Chief Press Secretary, Governor Seriake Dickson described the passing on of the prominent son of Bayelsa State as an untimely, sad, shocking and a monumental loss to the government, the Ijaw and Nigeria.
The governor said that even though Ajunwa was dead, his worthy legacies and strides as an Ijaw patriot and a fighter for the rights of Nigeria’s minorities would live long after him.
He, therefore, prayed for the peaceful repose of his soul and for God Almighty to grant the family the strength, courage and fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2kOos7e