Nine referees certified, as CCSF/FCT Taekwondo course ends…See full details

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Some of the officials at the CCSF/FCT Taekwondo Association’s Referees Course in Abuja… at the weekend.

Nine referees passed the Chika Chukwumerije Sports Foundation (CCSF)/FCT Taekwondo Association Referees Course held at the Old Parade Ground, FCT Abuja last week. 13 out of the 61 officials that attended the programme from Benue, Plateau, Cross River, Lagos and the FCT wrote the examinations conducted by Mrs. Margaret Elizabeth Binga, who is a World Taekwondo Federation International Referee [Class 2].

Speaking at the end of the workshop, CCSF boss, Chika Chukwumerije, who was impressed with its organization, said, “one of our core competencies is sports event management. FCT Taekwondo has a goal and we helped match resources to help them achieve their goals. We are happy that all the participants left satisfied and that the sport is better off with yet another quality programme delivered.”

He revealed that the nine successful referees would be expected to officiate at the FCT-sanctioned CCSF Prix Series, which takes place this weekend.

The event had a four-hour morning session and a three-hour evening session, which was then followed by the one-hour FCT Referee certification course for participants interested in officiating at FCT sanctioned Taekwondo events.

For FCT based local coach, Francis Solomon, the event added so much knowledge to his arsenal.“This programme has totally changed the way I will teach and instruct my athletes. I am very happy I came for this course. It makes a lot of difference,” he said.

Africa Games’ silver medallist and national champion, Chinazom Nwosu, said the event would keep her highly competitive, adding, “I feel even more confident that I would continue to perform on the competitive mat because I now know these new rules. I would adapt my training accordingly so I can be ready to exploit these rules on the international stage.”

Also speaking on the programme, Mrs. Margaret Binga, who was the NTF Vice President and a two-time African Champion, said the “FCT Taekwondo has decided to develop referees, coaches and athletes through programmes like this. I am ready to organize this kind of world class referee course in any state or region that needs and requests for it. It is important that Nigeria develops a high standard of officiators that can stand any international test.”

The Chairman of the FCT Taekwondo Association, Mr. Tony Anafulu, was very pleased with the entire exercise.“One of our goals is to develop good referees, coaches and athlete. This seminar helped a whole lot. We have five tournaments we have sanctioned for 2017 and we need good local referees to gain experience at this event. We are confident that a few more seminars like this would bring FCT Taekwondo closer to its goal.”

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Makarfi faults Seriake Dickson’s committee report, says it will worsen crisis (Read full details)

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Seriake Dickson

National Caretaker Committee Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ahmed Mohammed, has said the report submitted to Ali Modu Sheriff and the proposed party convention by Reconciliation Committee Chairman and Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson was an ill wind that blows no good for the party.

Makarfi said for Dickson to pull out of the unanimous proposal drafted at a meeting of the 11 PDP governors with former President Goodluck Jonathan and to come up with a personal proposal he submitted to Sheriff’s group was a mischievous act that would further deepen the party’s crisis.

Besides, he also explained that although the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released the timetable for the 2019 general elections, the PDP and All Progressives Congress (APC) would be engrossed with crisis that would threaten their unity before the polls.

He stated this in Kaduna at the weekend when he visited the Kaduna State Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), which was gutted by fire last Monday.

Makarfi said: “Just a week before Dickson submitted his report to Sheriff, the 11 PDP governors met with Jonathan and came out with a unanimous proposal on the way out of the crisis in the party. But he (Dickson) pulled out and made a personal proposal, which he presented to Sheriff.

“For us, the PDP crisis is not just about holding convention, they are about more fundamental issues. How do hold a convention if you don’t address the fundamental issues and achieve reconciliation? You have not talked about the problems and you are more concerned about a committee to organize convention. That means you will hold convention while the crisis is still on.”

He explained that Jonathan’s proposal and the 11 governors was presented to all parties including the Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman and Modu Sheriff but argued that if anything was going to change, they should have gone back to Jonathan and the governors to discuss and review the responses from all parties to see if there was going to be any modification to the proposal.

He said it was wrong for Dickson who was a party to the unanimous proposal to come out with a personal proposal.

Makarfi noted that the way out of the PDP crisis was for all national officials to resign their positions, sign indemnity not to contest such resignation in court, then form a committee, consisting of members from both groups to organise a transparent convention, where there would be a level playing field for all parties.

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Udom, Dangote task FG on efficient eye care scheme (Read full details)

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Udom Emmanuel

Cross River State Governor Udom Emmanuel has urged the Federal Government to operate free eye care services in the country.The governor stated this at the weekend during the inauguration of ‘Skipper Eye-Q’, an eye care hospital on Victoria Island, Lagos.

According to him: “Nigeria has very good doctors but lack of equipment has always been the challenge. The Federal Government should adopt free eye care services as a national scheme.”

Dignitaries who attended the event include Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu and others.Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Olajide Idris said the state government would partner with the hospital on health care and referral cases.

Dangote said with the facilities available at Skipper Eye-Q, there would be no need to travel abroad for eye care. He pledged his foundation’s readiness to partner the hospital for free treatment to indigent citizens.The founder of the centre, Dr. Ajay Sharma said: “Our focus is on primary and secondary eye care needs of people in Lagos and its environs.”

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NASC, NABDA train 20 scientists on detection of genetically modified seeds

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As the country gears up for the commercialization of Genetically Modified (GM) crops, the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC) has commenced the training of 20 seed scientists on the detection of GM seeds.

As the country gears up for the commercialization of Genetically Modified (GM) crops, the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC) has commenced the training of 20 seed scientists on the detection of GM seeds.

GMO means Genetically Modified Organisms including seeds. The Director of the Agency, Philip Ojo while declaring open the one week training at the National Agricultural Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) noted that there is no difference between GMO and organic seeds except through special techniques.

While noting that the training was apt and significant for the benefit of the farmers “he said now that GMO is not officially in the market it is important to train the seed expect in the detection process as you cannot easily identify the seed with your physical eyes.

Ojo, who was represented by the Deputy Director in charge of seed coordination, Mr. Joseph Omole explained that irrespective of the seed type, farmers should have access to quality and certified seeds to realize Federal Government plan of developing the agriculture sector and increasing food production.

Earlier, DG of NABDA, Prof. Lucy Ogbadu, described GMO as a controversial issue that should be addressed by science experts based on facts and empirical findings.

She said it would be difficult for the seed council to detect GMO seeds, except with the use of modern technological equipment, urging the public to shun sentiments and embrace modern biotechnology, as this would help reduce food insecurity.

Ogbadu explained: “Of recent, we have heard in the news, print and electronic media, outcry over GMOs. Some people say it caused cancer, other said it is dangerous but we as scientists are open minded. Scientists work on empirical evident.

“Our work is experimental, we experiment and wait for observation and make our observation on what we see we don’t talk anyhow, we talk based on facts that are available to us. So it is my prayer today that you will leave here better equipped with answers to some of these questions.

“I want you to open your mind to the science you have come to do. You are to be trained on how to detect GMOs, I want to tell you that from the beginning, there is no where you can identify GMO from the one that is not GMO with bear eyes even with microscope that is to show that they don’t look any different.”

She condemned insinuations that Mosanto, a leading global seed company, was funding the agency. According to her, Mosanto is like many other seed companies that sell GM seeds to countries.

However, she clarified that the firm cannot import GM seeds into the country, adding that the seeds would have to be domesticated and be subjected to field trials before distributing to farmers.

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‘Research should be problem-focused’

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A Professor of Agricultural Engineering at the Federal University of Agriculture, (FUNAAB) Abeokuta, Professor Emmanuel Ajisegiri, has called on researchers in the country to embark on problem-focused researches, as a panacea to solving the myriads of challenges confronting the nation.

Professor Ajisegiri who disclosed this while speaking on his research contributions to the society in Abeokuta decried the existing gap between industries and the nation’s tertiary institutions blaming the negative trend on the attitude of stakeholders to research in the country,.

“I have worked as a research professor for two years in Germany. I know what it means, you also have your place in the industry; it is the problems in the industry that are brought to the university to be solved. When it is solved, it is taken back into the industry”.

The professor of Agricultural Engineering had in Germany worked on determining the optimum temperature, moisture and air velocity for maximum shelf life. He also recorded research feat in 24 other food items including constituted fruits and vegetable salads.

“Let me tell you, it is unfortunate that people do not do meaningful research. They don’t do problem -focused; problem- related research and that is what is supposed to be the essence of research, to solve existing problems, and not just a mere academic exercise towards publications for promotion. There is no handshake between the industries, entrepreneurs and researchers”, he noted.

Ajisegiri, who is also a former South-West Coordinator, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), said the way forward is to give research its pride of place.

“This is a knowledge-driven society, without the creation of knowledge, you cannot make it and it is through research that you can create knowledge and good attention should be given to it”, he added.

He further advised the government to fund research adequately, adding that if only one out of 100 research outputs was successful and could solve problems, it was capable of paying off for the other 99 that did not succeed.

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When knowledge is not enough

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A cross section of Nigerian undergraduates

His audience was not gathered to hear him narrate some policy initiatives of the Federal Government in which some technical anecdotes would be spewed in order for those eagle-eyed international investors to be convinced that Nigeria’s mining industry is truly ripe to bet on. He wasn’t standing in the hall spearheading a session of the nation’s captains of industries to spread out those development indicators of the Buhari administration. His outing this time was at the main auditorium of the University of Lagos (his alma mater) where he delivered the convocation lecture titled “The Successor-Generation: Reflections on Values and Knowledge in Nation Building” on Monday, January 23, 2017.

In his introduction, Kayode Fayemi pointed out that his presentation would dwell more on pointing the students back to some of life’s key lessons, that are available within a university, which are enough to prepare (them) for life after graduation. Although he may not have specifically mentioned him as his hero in his convocation speech, there’s no denying the fact that Fayemi revered the late Chief Jeremiah Oyeniyi Obafemi Awolowo whom he quoted copiously.

His speech may have been tailor-made for the body of graduating students, but as an intellectual and researcher with the deepest flair for history, which, incidentally, was his academic discipline at the baccalaureate level of the university, Fayemi first ‘walked’ his audience through the educated world with the hope that they may reflect on whether or not the “Ivory Tower” in general and the Nigerian university system in particular are still living up to their billing in a rapidly changing world. He said: “Part of the crisis of our education sector, and higher education in particular, has been the apparent irrelevance of curricular to life experiences; and the gulf between the classroom and society.” He buttressed this gulf with the new definition that the Nigerian society——including the academe——has given to “elitism” which, according to him, “is often used pejoratively and deployed as though it is synonymous with ‘capitalist fat cats’ or a class of oppressive rich.” He said: “Being elite in Nigeria is wrongly measured in terms of raw wealth and conspicuous consumption.” But “in its classical usage” Fayemi corrected, the “elite refers to the enlightened segment of society” and “the terms ‘elite’ and ‘enlightened’ share the same etymological origins. Thus, elitism is actually defined by the reverence for knowledge, the acuity of intellect and the depth of reason.” It is “that segment of society that devotes themselves to the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom” which makes them “society’s problem solvers” by default.

He espoused these key points: “Knowledge is Power, Discipline, Adaptability, Truly Live, Seize the Moment, and Quit Whining,” which are sort of his “collector’s items” because he called them his “six key lessons and life skills that UNILAG taught (him).” Before sharing with the graduating students what he called his “own personal experiences,” Fayemi first implored the universities to “retool” as they, “like the people within them, must embrace change, re-imagine possibilities, and revitalize continuously.” He added that society has the responsibility “to critically reappraise (its) educational institutions and make necessary interventions to ensure they not only have adequate funding, world class physical structures, and functional teaching equipment, but also the right social environment that supports the education of the ‘total man.’”

The first of his “six key lessons” that “Knowledge is Power” which he also referred to as “Learn How to Learn” can be seen as a duality. One is that “the centrality of academics to university life is the…ability to prove that [the student] has learnt what he or she ought to, in accordance with the curriculum, which is the singular criterion for progression from level to level till graduation.” However, this critical first step to becoming the “total man” is where majority of students often fail to get it right from the outset because they “mistake passing exams for acquiring knowledge.” The other component of this duality is to “learn how to learn” which is that the student should “learn the principles behind actually acquiring knowledge.”

“Without discipline, however, knowledge is useless,” he deadpanned. But the real implication of the uselessness of knowledge without discipline soon came into the fore when he stressed that many youngsters of today simply don’t have the self-discipline required, rather, “they are given to blaming everybody but themselves for why things don’t work. As the third “key lessons,” being adaptable is fundamentally important. “A great mistake any student can make is to become so hermitic in the pursuit of excellent grades that he/she fails to robustly interact with other students and learn from them.” He is of the view that adaptability cannot be over-emphasized because “you never know what life would bring your way, and you always have to be in a position to adapt to whatever circumstances you find yourself in.” He reminded the audience to think about the trajectory of his life and said “I studied history and currently find myself in Mining,” a reference to his ministerial portfolio.

On the need for the graduating students to “truly live” by following their passions, Fayemi said “many parents are inclined to encouraging their children to study certain courses in order to become successful in life…(but) your studying certain courses considered lucrative today, might not necessarily guaranty your being gainfully employed tomorrow.” His fifth “key lessons” is to “seize the moment and just do it.” By this he said that “one of the failings of our society is that we don’t give young people enough room to explore their creative abilities and make mistakes early.”

Finally, he said students should “quit whining” as “no one owes (them) anything.” He frowned at what he referred to as “the debilitating entitlement mentality that is commonplace among young people today.” So much food for thught!

Odere is a media practitioner.

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Nigerian Navy promises world-class swimmers, as water sports championship begins…See full details

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The Teslim Balogun Stadium swimming pool and Nigeria Navy Sailing Club, Ojo Lagos, will come alive today when the Water Championship, which forms part of the 11th Nigerian Navy Games, commences today. It will end on February 11.

This year’s Navy Games, billed to take place in Uyo from February 26 to March 4, according to Naval authorities, is geared towards developing sportsmen and women from the rank and file of the outfit to represent Nigeria in international competitions.

According to Chief of Administration, Nigerian Navy, Rear Admiral H.A Babalola, the water event would involve the force’s five commands and the Naval Headquarters, who will compete in various water events, including freestyle relay, medley, butterfly, breast stroke, mixed relay, boat handling, rowing and sailing.

He added that the rowing event will be conducted in five categories, including Kayak male, single Kayak, female Kayak, double Kayak and mixed Kayak.Babalola stated that boat handling, which is a new event to the 11th Nigeria Navy Games, will be non-scoring demonstration sport that involves three operational commands of the Navy, Western, Eastern and Central Naval commands.

‘Our objective is to identify and select talents that will not only represent the force in international events, but also work hard to ensure more quality swimmers are discovered to represent us at the national level, the All Africa Games and Olympics in the future.

“We also use the games to create good military/civilian relationship with the host state. The public is invited to watch the games as it is another way to advertise the Navy and encourage people who are interested and qualified to join the Navy to make the move,’’ he said.

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Ifeanyi Ubah Games Village: Taking the world to Nnewi…See full details

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West Ham United FC's Kinnear in Nnewi last October<br />

When the ongoing construction of the Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Games Village and multipurpose centre at Nnewi is completed, the world would be trooping to the commercial city to behold the wonders of intensive planning, modern engineering and craftsmanship.

It is always a marvel to behold or listen to the man, Dr. Ubah speak. He is constantly full of ideas. New, unique and unassailable ideas backed by unrivaled confidence and enthusiasm.

He sounds very reassuring, makes the realisation of his dream so smooth and simple, that no pessimist stands his gusto. To him, there is no impossibility! He is an embodiment of the true “enyimba spirit.”

One of his ardent admirers had noted, “to be first in anything takes unbridled enthusiasm, unstoppable determination, bulldog tenacity, enormous amount of hard work and a justifiable dose of good luck.”

He added, “If you take all these characteristics, mix it with vivacious ideas, classic intelligence, reluctant patriotism and profound compassion for humanity, you will get an excellent depiction of Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, Ebubechukwuzo!”

Dr. Ubah has truly excelled in virtually all endeavours he has embarked on. That’s why the games village, which would include, amongst other world class facilities and services, an indoor sports hall, two standard stadia, a five-star hotel, large conference centre, Women/Youth development centre, shopping mall, residential housing/estate, a sports academy, a technology hub, hospital, industrial park, administration/corporate office complex, a big shopping mall, a Linguistic school, Police post, Fire service station, Bank and other ancillary services. It will be a one-stop shopping community never seen in this part of the world before. A place where people live, work, play and enjoy! The whole large expanse of land today is like a huge factory buzzing round the clock.

It is constantly awake. And that would remain the same even after completion. The prototype clearly shows and captures the vision and mindset of Dr. Ubah -big, beautiful and resplendent. He’s a man of class, details and meticulousness Ubah, who told journalists that all his life he has been to and joined in building many cities of the world, including South Africa, Ghana, The Congo, Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Port Harcourt, regrets that he has built none in his Nnewi community. He believes time is ripe for him to do one in his hometown, hence the idea of the one-stop shop called Games Village.

He plans to use it to provide above 50,000 high net worth jobs to citizens of the state, particularly Nnewi. So far, his budding interest and love for football saw the football pitch taking the lead in being completed.

This, according to the chairman of the FC Ifeanyi Ubah Football Club, Chief Chukwuma Ubah, gives the team the enviable lead as the first privately owned football club in Nigeria to own its stadium complex. Why not, after all in just two years of its existence the FC Ifeanyi Ubah has won two Anambra FA cups and the Nigeria’s Federation Cup. Again, within the first few days in 2017 the club has already won the nation’s Charity cup.

It is historical! And from all indications they are not going to let go at all. No champion ever relents; instead he goes higher, brooking no mediocre performance or failure. They are poised to take all comers and to confront all challenges as they come, with zeal and determination.

According to the BOT boss, “We don’t want our fans to get disappointed. We want to stabilize and aspire to go higher for more laurels. As the nation’s Federation Cup champions we would be meeting champions from other countries during the Confederation Cup campaign.”

He disclosed that some new foreign and local talented professional players, especially Brazilians, have already been engaged to beef up the team’s strength in all wings. “It is part of preparations for the expected engagements in the year, particularly the Confederation Cup championship. It is all about passion. We have enlightened Anambra youths on the import of football,” said, pointing out that being a footballer doesn’t stop or take one away from doing other things. “We are also working on launching our female football team soon. Our radio and television stations are almost completed and would soon go on air. We are getting youths enlightened to appreciate and be part of these. These will immensely benefit Anambra State and bring a lot of revenue to the state. The state will soon become actually the best place to be,” he enthused.

Dr. Ubah is the chairman of the Anambra FA, another platform he saw as a veritable channel to impact positively on the lives of youths, the society and the world, seeking no personal gain or interest.

That was part of why he created the Football Made In Anambra’s “One Family, One Footballer” programme. It is aimed at impacting every family in the state positively with the game of football and as well as other games in one way or another. He brought in 50,000 FIFA-approved balls for the project. He targets budding talents as young as 12 for the programme.

According to him, the aim is to raise 50,000 Ronaldos and 50,000 Messis! These are the two most captivating international household names in football. The aim is to discover them from the grassroots from where they will mature and graduate to the senior cadre for their respective clubs and national teams.

Dr. Ubah said he would use the One Family, One Footballer programme to get the youths off the streets and give them jobs.
Currently, the FC IfeanyiUbah, established in 2015, is the most popular, supported and encouraged privately owned football club in Nigeria, competing with age long clubs owned and funded by state governments from the common purse of the people. These facts notwithstanding, Ubah still supports these other clubs, including the national team from time to time.

In 2014, he took a large contingent of Nigerian football enthusiasts to the World Cup in Brazil on all-expenses paid trip. Their presence in no small measure bolstered the performance of the national team, Super Eagles. To almost all on that trip it was an experience and a world eye opener as they suddenly were catapulted by Dr. Ubah’s benevolence to the world stage, live. It was indeed indescribable, they admitted.

In fact, one of the lucky beneficiaries, Mr. Paul Ubi, a 27-year-old professional photographer, who was selected through a game show, said the experience remains everlasting in his young memory. He said that everyday of his life ever since the tour reminds him of the joyous heartwarming experience.

He added that none of the lucky beneficiaries from across the 774 council areas of the nation’s 36 states, including Abuja, could fathom that such was possible until their flight took off.

“It was indeed an experience like no other all my life,” Mr. Ubi enthused. “The exposure and experience helped us see, learn and understand how things are done professionally elsewhere. We in the FC Ifeanyi Ubah want to make things work out well always.”

Just recently, in part consummation of his club’s working relationship with a UK-based first class club-side, the West Ham United Football Club, Dr. Ubah took another set of lucky football supporters from Nigeria, all the members and management team of his own club, on an international tour of West Ham, the home of the West Ham United Football Club. They watched live their darling club play.

The arrangement was novel. It was cheering. It was indeed life transforming, as according to the Board of Trustees Chairman of the FC Ifeanyi Ubah, Chief Chukwuma Ubah, “…it was a capacity building trip. It wasn’t a jamboree as some people thought it was.

“Participants were picked from all areas of club, including sports administration and management. It was meant to impact them positively and in turn be able to impact on others. We were at the West Ham home city and we learnt a lot.

“All these were investment in human capital because we believe that when you invest in human beings, it will further go down,” the club boss disclosed.
Ubah had shortly before the UK tour facilitated the coming to Nigeria, nay FCIU stadium at Nnewi of the West Ham United Managing director, Angus Kinnear, last October when the two clubs formally launched a historic football cooperation and development partnership.

This thus made FCIU the first such African partner club with the West Ham United FC. It was celebrated before a well-attended ceremony of sports administrators and stakeholders in Lagos. They included former and current international football stars in the country such as Henry Nwosu, Victor Ikpeba, Peter Rufai, Taribo West, Victor Agali, Julius Aghahowa and current Super Eagles midfielder, John Ogu.

Also on hand to witness the epochal event were the Senate Committee Chairman on Sports, Senator Joseph Ogba; the Minister of Sports, Mr. Solomon Dalung; the Nigerian Football Federation Chairman, Amaju Pinnick; League Management Company Chairman, Mallam Shehu Dikko, as well as the management and coaching team of the FCIU. It was indeed an historic moment that no sports buff anywhere would want to miss. Virtually everyone was there.

According to the details, the partnership was just part of the long term agreement the West Ham United FC management singed with Dr. Ubah earlier in August, 2016.

The relationship would see the two clubs work together in a long term partnership to produce and develop young Nigerian footballers. Dr. Ubah, whose eyes were on the development of youth football, noted that, “…Our vision is to get kids involved in football. Nigeria is a nation of over 180 million people. Nothing should stop us from producing the future Cristiano Ronaldos and Lionel Messis of this world.

“We have at least 18 areas we are partnering with West Ham United, ranging from scouting and merchandising to going to England to play friendly matches, among others. We chose West Ham United because they are famed for running the best academy in the world.

“With this partnership with West Ham United, we will produce over 50,000 footballers in [FC Ifeanyi Ubah’s home state of] Anambra soon.” Fantastic! A sport administrator from Anambra State said that hearing Ubah say those words made him feel like skipping up and down like a young deer in excitement.

Clearly, it wasn’t only Dr. Ubah that was basking in the enthusiasm. The West Ham United FC boss, had noted that, “We believe FC Ifeanyi Ubah are ideal partners as they share West Ham’s vision and ambition for youth football development.

“We are delighted to seal our first partnership in Africa and this trip has proved we could not have made a better choice. Whilst we are confident this partnership will deliver elite playing talent we will focus initially at the grassroots level where it has the capacity to turn young lives around.

With this, Anambra would soon return to the pinnacle of sports where it had always been before now. And the citizens would be the greatest beneficiaries.

That would be when the world would be trooping to Nnewi, the city of FC Ifeanyi Ubah’s place of domicile, to watch the club play, as well as other FIFA-backed national, continental and international football matches live. This would be just like the way they currently throng continental Europe to watch West Ham United FC, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea, Juventus, Galatasaray and others play.

Ubah is already looking forward to the future. “In the next two to ten years, we want to look back and see that we have created a lot of value for Nigerian football, whilst simultaneously building the West Ham fan base in Africa’s most populous nation,” he said.His eyes are clearly fixed on the mark, and he would excel.

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MFM shock Sunshine Stars, as Rangers fall again…See full details

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MFM Football Club of Lagos caused an upset in the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) when they beat Sunshine Stars 1-0 in Akure… yesterday.

MFM Football Club of Lagos, which barely escaped being relegated out of the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) last season, yesterday in Akure registered the shock result of the week by beating home team, Sunshine Stars 1-0.

Teenage star, Stephen Odey, who has been one of the shining lights in the youthful MFM team, scored his fifth goal of the season to down Sunshine Stars inside the Akure Township Stadium.

Odey’s goal in the 48th minute ensured that the Fidelis Ilechukwu coached MFM rose to the second position on the log with 13 points.Plateau United, who lead the table with 14 points, held Nasarawa United to a goalless draw in Lafia.

Elsewhere, Shooting Stars ended Rivers United’s seven-game unbeaten run with a 2-1 defeat with goals from Sunday Faleye and Jide Apena.Faleye opened scores in the 17th minute of the encounter, but Lukman Mohammed got Rivers United level in the 29th minute. Apena, however, ensured that 3SC went home with the three points when he struck the winner in the 68th minute.

In Nnewi, FC Ifeanyiubah defeated defending champions, Enugu Rangers 1-0, with Prince Aggrey getting the winner from the penalty spot in the 75th minute. Ivoirian, Seka Pascal, had earlier missed a first half penalty kick for the homers.

Substitute Adamu Mohammed scored late at the Sani Abacha Stadium to give Kano Pillars a 1-0 victory over hard-fighting ABS of Ilorin, while Musa Newman sent Akwa United fans into celebration with an 83rd minute goal that gave the Uyo team a 1-0 defeat of Remo Stars, their first victory of the season.

Lobi Stars beat struggling Wikki Tourists 2-0 in Makurdi with Kingsley Eduwo and Solomon Kwambe getting the goals, but Niger Tornadoes were not that lucky as they had to come from a goal down to hold 10-man Katsina United to a 1-1 draw at the Confluence Stadium, Lokoja.

Nasiru Sani opened scores for Katsina United from the penalty spot 25 minutes into the game, but they were reduced to 10 men in the 70th minute when Udechukwu Chinedu was sent off for a second bookable offence.

That numerical advantage paid off for Tornadoes two minutes later when Ifeanyi Okoye got the home team on level terms.In Umuahia, Abia Warriors beat Gombe United 1-0 with Sunday Adetunji scoring the winner six minutes from time, while Enyimba lost to El-Kanemi Warriors 1-0 in Maiduguri.

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Umahi seeks FG’s intervention in Ebonyi, Cross River communities boundary dispute (Read full details)

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David Umahi of Ebonyi State.

Governor David Nweze Umahi has appealed to the Federal Government to quickly intervene and provide lasting solution in settling the boundary dispute between the people of Azuofia Idda and Ohene in Ebonyi and Cross River states, which has claimed many lives.

According to a statement yesterday by his Chief Press Secretary, Emma Anya, the Ebonyi State governor made the appeal when the General Officer Commanding 82 Division, Enugu, Maj.-Gen. Adamu Abubakar, came to brief him on the outcome of the surveillance of the two communities at Government House, Abakaliki.

Umahi advocated a security meeting where the military commanders of both states and heads of other security agents would be in attendance .He said: “The problem between Cross River and Ebonyi states is quite known and unfortunately, the problem of boundary in our country is quite funny. Nobody is really taking any definite action.

“I strongly believe that we need political will; we need commitment to solve the problem. I will plead that since the Cross River command is also under you (GOC), let’s have an interaction between the two commanders as quickly as possible.

“I believe strongly that by Tuesday, I will visit there with security chiefs from Ebonyi State and look at what and what we can put in place to show government’s presence in that area.

“Let’s see what and what we can do for a police post to be there immediately. I believe strongly that Cross River should do the same thing.”The governor also commended Acting President Yemi Osinbajo and the GOC as well as the security chiefs in the state for their timely intervention which brought the situation under control.

Abubakar said he led the team to the communities and had meetings with the traditional rulers and the youths.The GOC, who noted that calm had returned to the area, promised that the perpetrators of the violence would be fished out and punished accordingly.

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Reps query poor work in Jos Airport after gulping N406 million (Read full details)

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The Minister of State for Aviation, Mr. Hadi Sirika

Committee pledges to fast track second phase of Amnesty Programme

The House of Representatives has queried the ministry of aviation over alleged poor rehabilitation work done at the Jos Airport terminal building after gulping N406 million.

The Nkiruka Onyejiocha-led Committee on Aviation said it was taken aback when it discovered that in spite the release of the money, the details of the level of execution of the project were no where to be seen in the document at the disposal of the lawmakers.

The Director of Finance and Administration (DFA), Mr. Akin Ijiwole, who accompanied the Minister of State for Aviation, Mr. Hadi Sirika during the 2017 budget defence session with the lawmakers explained that he thought such details were unnecessary since there was no monetary release for the project worth N700 million in the 2016 budget.

Onyejiocha remarked that such excuses could not stand since there was the need to ascertain basic details relating to performance of projects and money so far released to enable the committee how much to appropriate for projects in the 2017 budget.

Onyejiocha, who suspended deliberations on the budgetary defence, thereby directed the DFA to make the details of performance of projects available to the committee within 48 hours.

Sirika, who assured that the national carrier would take off this year, remarked that there was no going back on the plan to temporarily close the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport from March 8 to April 19 to enable rehabilitation work be done on the runway.

He said intending travelers should exercise no fear of insecurity for their lives and properties as an assistant inspector general of police, in conjunction with other security personnel would mount a 24-hour surveillance on the Abuja -Kaduna Expressway to keep commuters’ safe.

Meanwhile, the House Committee on Niger Delta has promised to fast track the implementation of the second phase of the Federal Government Amnesty Programme in the Niger Delta region.

This assurance was given yesterday at Okochiri Town in Okirika Council Area of Rivers State, when the House Committee visited an ex-agitator, Mr. Ateke Tom, on a fact finding mission to the region over controversies in the payment of beneficiaries’ stipends.

Leader of the team, member representing Nassarawa Federal Constituency, Mr. Nassir Ali Ahmed, said the committee would prevail on the Federal Government to ensure that it commenced the second phase of the programme, which includes the rehabilitation and integration of the ex-agitators.

Ahmed noted that the programme was successful considering the relative peace in the region, hence the need to continue it.He noted that the essence of the mission was to acquaint themselves with developments in the programme and to resolve issues regarding payment of stipends in Ateke’s camp.

The Special Assistant to the President on Amnesty Programme, General Paul Boroh (retd) said that the second phase of the programme would include engaging the beneficiaries in agricultural activities.

Boroh said the idea was in line with the ongoing diversification of the economy by the Buhari administration.He disclosed that the ex-militants would be trained in agro allied, fishery, poultry and other areas that would benefit the society and would be empowered to be self-reliant.Ateke’s promised that he would continue to support the government to ensure that peace is sustained in the Niger Delta.

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FG commits N30 billion to housing programme (Read full details)

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Head of Service of the Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita

Registers 23,000 civil servants, lists challenges

The Federal Government yesterday said it had committed over N30 billion to provide affordable houses for civil servants under the Federal Integrated Staff Housing (FISH) programme.

It said it had equally registered no fewer than 23,000 civil servants nationwide for the programme.The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSoF), Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, who gave the details at a one-day housing workshop yesterday in Abuja, said that the programme was a strategic initiative designed purposely as an intervention project for massive housing delivery to federal civil servants predicted on soliciting for group land allocation with title deeds and relevant documents from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) administration and the states.

She said: ‘’The financial commitments in this arrangements, which is currently in the region of N30 billion, brought us to the realisation that we require innovative strategies in financing the FISH project beyond the traditional sources like the Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board (FGSHLB), which grants housing loans to public servants at three per cent interest rate and the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), which grants mortgage at six per cent interest rate through primary mortgage institutions to civil servants and other Nigerians who are contributors to the National
Housing Funds.”

She further said that the programme, launched by the government last year, was aimed at reducing the bottlenecks usually encountered in securing land for good cause projects and most importantly, to eliminate middlemen and land speculations from the housing value-chain.

Oyo-Ita noted that the progress made so far has witnessed several challenges, including the ‘’land construction finance, mortgage loans, rising cost of building materials, high interest rate on borrowed funds, especially those from off-shore investors compared to income of potential housing benefits.’’

She, therefore, called on stakeholders in the affordable housing delivery sub-sector to assist in finding ways and means of solving the housing challenges in the country.

Earlier in his remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Common Services Office of the Head of Service and Chairman of the FISH committee, Yemi Adelakun, said: ‘’Our committee has looked in the direction of Pensions Commission of Nigeria, Nigeria Mortgage Refinancing Company, Central Bank of Nigeria, Sovereign Wealth Authority and Family Homes Fund in search of revolving or special intervention funds at single-digit interest rate. The minister of finance recently announced the approval of N13 billion mortgage refinancing fund through NMRC and FGSHLB for the programme.’’

The workshop is expected to come up with better ways to finance the project for the benefit of Nigerians.

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