Buhari’s arrival: Nsukka residents express happiness

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Nigerian President Mohammadu Buhari addresses members of his cabinet upon his arrival at the presidency in Abuja, on March 10, 2017. President Muhammadu Buhari arrived back in Nigeria on Friday after nearly two months in London receiving treatment for an undisclosed ailment. / AFP PHOTO / SUNDAY AGHAEZE

Some residents of Nsukka near Enugu have expressed happiness on the arrival of President Mohammadu Buhari from a medical trip in the United Kingdom (UK).

Residents, in separate interviews with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Nsukka on Saturday, said they thanked God who healed the president.

Mr Desmond Ugwu, a chieftain of All Progressive Congress (APC) thanked God for answering the prayers of Nigerians on Buhari.

“I am happy the president is back to continue his good work to Nigerians who massively voted for him.’’ he said.

Similarly, Mrs Nneka Ozioko, a lawyer and human right activist, said she was happy that the president came back early to continue good governance and the fight against bribery and corruption.

“Buhari’s administration has good plans for the country as his mission is to rid Nigeria of corruption and restore the dignity of the country in international community.

Ozioko also expressed appreciation to Vice-President Yemi Osibanjo who presided over the affairs of the country in acting-president capacity while Buhari was in UK.

Also, Mr Victor Ezema, a civil servant urged Nigerians to continue to pray for Buhari for speedy recovery.

Since God is the healer of every illness, Nigerians should continue to pray for him even as he has returned.

“We should always pray for our leaders as well as wish them well because leadership comes from God,’’ he said.

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Wenger will weigh fans’ feelings over his future

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Arsenal's French manager Arsene Wenger/ AFP PHOTO / FRANCK FIFE / AFP PHOTO / FRANCK FIFE

Arsene Wenger will take into consideration the views of angry Arsenal supporters when he decides whether to remain at the club beyond the end of this season.

Wenger endured calls for his resignation before and after Tuesday’s humiliating 5-1 defeat against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

The Gunners’ heaviest home loss since 1998 ensured their seventh successive last 16 exit from Europe’s elite club competition, sparking furious protests from supporters.

It is not the first time Wenger has been subjected to vitriolic abuse in recent years as the Frenchman’s failure to build a title-winning team since 2004 continues to frustrate fans.

Wenger, who has been in charge at Arsenal for 21 years, is yet to confirm he will accept a reported two-year contract extension and speculation has grown that he will quit when his present deal expires at the end of the season.

With Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge in tatters, the 67-year-old plans to contemplate his future a while longer and the fans’ opinions will play a small role in that decision.

Asked whether he would consider the crowd’s displeasure when deciding his future, Wenger said: “Yes – you consider. It is not the most important factor to consider of course.

“I don’t work for my image, I work for this club. How I look is not really my problem.

“I have shown since I have been here, I have shown I love this club and am loyal to this club.

“I think I have made the right decisions and respect the values of this club.

“I have worked for 20 years to make our fans happy and when we lose games I understand they are not – at certain times you have to accept different opinions.”

– United –
Arsenal winger Theo Walcott had hinted this week that there was some unrest amongst players and staff at the club.

Walcott’s comments followed on from reports of a training bust-up involving Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez and his team-mates after the Chilean was surprisingly dropped for last Saturday’s defeat at Liverpool.

Wenger brushed off talk he has told his players he is leaving soon and insisted his team still has a strong bond.

“I think a lot has been said about that is exaggerated,” he added. “We have a good united group in terms of the group.

“In the past it’s not always the team that love each other the most that are the best on the pitch.

“When you go through disappointing results you have disappointment, but the best way to respond is to show how united we are on that front.

“It is our job to be competitive and at this club that means being up there always. It’s about performing.”

Amid claims Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will ask for a transfer in the close-season, Wenger said of the England midfielder: “I hope he stays here. He is a very promising player.

“He looks to have the values we want at this club.”

Wenger had strongly criticised refereeing decisions that went against his side in the Bayern clash and he continued to insist the controversial dismissal of Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny, for conceding a penalty when the Gunners led 1-0, was the turning point.

“It’s easy for me to assess the game because we watch and analyse it and I think overall at 11 against 11 we produced a top-level performance,” he said.

“After that (Koscielny’s sending off) it became impossible for us to qualify.”

With non-league Lincoln visiting the Emirates in Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-finals, Wenger will know the expected victory over inferior opponents will do nothing to silence the critics.

He could be without Danny Welbeck and Alex Iwobi due to the sickness bug that forced Welbeck to pull out jut before kick off against Bayern.

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INEC cautions against illegal voters registration in Lagos

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Lagos State on Wednesday cautioned residents against illegal registration of voters going on in Ikorodu area of the state.

Mr Femi Akinbiyi, the Head of Publicity and Protocol of INEC in the state, said in a statement that the commission had not started registration of voters in any part of the state.

“It has come to the notice of INEC that some unscrupulous elements in the society have been engaging in illegal registration of voters in Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State.

“For avoidance of doubt, the commission in the state has not commenced registration of voters in any part of the state.

“Appropriate notice will be issued to the general public when the registration commences,” Akinbiyi said.

He said that law enforcement agencies had been informed of the development with a view to apprehending the criminals behind the illegal act.

“The general public is kindly requested to furnish the office with information regarding any such illegal registration,” Akinbiyi said.

He said that the public could also contact security agencies and give useful information such illegality.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the incident is coming as the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) is urging registered voters who have yet to collect their Permanent Voter Cards to do so.

According to the commission, this will enable them to cast their votes in the forthcoming elections into the 20 Local Governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas of the state.

Though the commission has yet to announce a specific date for the election this year, it has started holding stakeholders’ forum ahead of the poll.

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Breaking the bank: Thai vets remove 915 coins from turtle

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A sea turtle dubbed ‘Piggy Bank’ has had her fortunes restored after Thai vets removed 915 coins from her stomach — a deposit built up after years of gulping down good luck pennies tossed into its pond.

The 25-year-old turtle, called ‘Omsin’ in Thai, underwent a gruelling seven-hour surgery on Monday to remove the five kilogramme hoard of coins.

She was sent to Bangkok vets with a cracked shell and an X-ray unexpectedly revealed the haul, which came in various currencies.

“There were 915 coins in her stomach, we removed them one by one,” said Nantrika Chansue, a veterinarian in charge of Chulalongkorn hospital’s aquatic research centre told AFP.

“Piggy Bank is okay now but she will have to remain at the centre for up to two weeks,” the vet added, saying it was the first surgery of its kind.

The troubled reptile lived for two decades in a small public park in Chonburi Province.

Visitors tossed coins into her pond seeking to ‘make merit’ or good luck, a practice vets have urged the public to stop.

“A turtle can live up to 80 years and the belief is that throwing coins into the turtle pond will make the coin thrower live longer,” Rungroj Thanawongnuvej, Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Science at Chulalongkorn said in a statement.

“Throwing the coins is more bad karma because it is animal torture,” he said.

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Beyonce pulls out of Coachella fest

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Beyonce

Pop superstar Beyonce, who is pregnant with twins, has pulled out of her headlining spot at the Coachella music festival in southern California, event organizers announced on Thursday.

The event is among the world’s premier live music festivals and Beyonce’s performance had been eagerly anticipated.

However, “following the advice of her doctors to keep a less rigorous schedule in the coming months, Beyonce has made the decision to forgo performing at the 2017 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival,” a statement said, adding that “she will be a headliner at the 2018 festival.”

It was unclear who would take the pop diva’s spot at the two-weekend festival in April in Indio, California.

The superstar announced earlier this month that she and husband Jay Z are expecting twins.

The singer already has a five-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy, with Jay Z.

It is unclear when she is due to give birth.

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Roadside bomb kills 12 Afghans including children, UN says

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Afghan security personnel inspect a damaged vehicle after a roadside bomb explosion. AFP PHOTO / WAKIL KOHSAR

The UN has condemned the killing of 12 Afghans, including eight children returning from school, by a roadside bomb in the country’s volatile east, the latest in a growing number of civilian casualties.

The blast occurred in Paktika province on Friday when their vehicle hit a pressure-plate improvised explosive device planted on a public road, the UN said, adding that four others were wounded.

“Children are once again the main victims of these indiscriminate and illegal weapons,” said Pernille Karde, the UN’s deputy special representative in Afghanistan.

“There is a simple message to the perpetrators: stop using these weapons if you are serious about safeguarding Afghanistan’s civilians and the country’s future generation,” Kardel said in a statement late Saturday.

There was no immediate reaction from officials in Paktika.

The bombing comes just days after the UN voiced alarm over the killing of 25 civilians in the escalating conflict in southern Helmand province, most of them in US air strikes.

An American bombardment in Helmand’s Sangin district last week killed 18 people, nearly all women and children, the UN said.

Afghan civilian casualties in 2016 were the highest recorded by the UN, with nearly 11,500 non-combatants killed or wounded.

More than 3,500 children were among the victims, a “disproportionate” increase of 24 percent in one year, the UN said in a report earlier this month.

Afghanistan last year also saw the highest recorded civilian casualties caused by pressure-plate IEDs in a single year, the world body said.

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My HIV positive wife insists I shouldn’t use comdom

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A Jikwoyi Customary Court, Abuja, on Friday dissolved the marriage between Joseph Danjuma, a farmer, and his HIV positive wife who insists her husband have intercourse with her without using condom.

The Presiding Judge, Everyman Eleanya, who ordered the dissolution of the marriage, said that the court had done everything possible to reconcile the parties.
“ The court did everything possible to reconcile the couple but all efforts failed.’’

Eleanya dissolved the marriage and ordered that the bride price be returned to the husband.
Earlier, Danjuma had told the court that he still loved his wife even with the HIV.

“My wife got pregnant and put to bed in 2012; the child got terribly ill and died.

“Due to the ailment and death of the child, I insisted that my wife be tested of HIV, which the doctor did and she tested positive.
“Because I still loved my wife, we used condom as a means of protection during sexual intercourse.
“But as time went on, she refused me using condom on her, and insisted on intercourse without condom,” he narrated.

The respondent, who admitted being HIV positive, consented to the dissolution of the marriage, adding that she was tired of the marriage.

 

The post My HIV positive wife insists I shouldn’t use comdom appeared first on Vanguard News.

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I didn’t call Venus Williams “gorilla’’- ESPN commentator

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An ESPN commentator who was sacked for making controversial statements about Venus Williams during the Australian Open is now planning to sue his former employers for wrongful termination, a report from Independent says.

Doug Adler, a former athlete who played professional tennis between 1979 and 1981, was on air during Venus Williams’ second round match against Stefanie Voegele in Melbourne when he appeared to call her a “gorilla”.

Adler was subsequently sacked by the broadcaster for the alleged slur, but he has rejected the claim and said that he was actually calling Venus’ playing style “like a guerilla.”

When many viewers complained of racism, ESPN suspended Adler, and then later decided to sack him.

He did apologise to the seven-time Grand Slam champion, but still insisted that what he had said was, “Venus moved in and put the guerrilla effect on.”

Adler’s lawyers, who claim that he suffered “emotional distress” on account of being accused of racism, also said that the term “guerilla tennis” is commonly used in the sport and cited an advert featuring Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras which coined the term.

ESPN, though, hasn’t received any official notice, and thus refused to comment on the issue.

“We have not been served and are declining further comment,” said an official statement from the American broadcasting giant.

The post I didn’t call Venus Williams “gorilla’’- ESPN commentator appeared first on Vanguard News.

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Niger Delta youths back Kachikwu’s reforms, peace efforts

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The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu PHOTO: TWITTER/NNPC

An assembly of Niger Delta youth leaders on Tuesday applauded the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, for his relentless efforts at restoring peace to the region.

The group, Niger Delta Youth Leaders Assembly (NDYLA), also pledged their support for the minister in achieving President Muhammadu Buhari’s new roadmap for the oil sector and the Niger Delta.

In a communiqué issued at the end of a strategic meeting in Yenegoa, the assembly commended Kachikwu for his conscious efforts at rallying his kinsmen towards restoring peace in the troubled region.

“As youth leaders in the Niger Delta, We are fully aware of the steps taken by the Petroleum Minister to restore sanity in the oil and gas sector.

“The successful launch of the “7 bigwins” a new oil sector roadmap, which identifies the development of the Niger Delta as crucial to the progress of the petroleum sector.

“Efforts by the minister to revamp the nation’s ailing refineries are also a big plus.

“We equally appreciate the minister for championing the China, India, Eni deals, which will create employment for thousands of skilled and unskilled youths across the region,” the communiqué said.

It commended the ongoing fact-finding tour by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, to the Niger Delta, with the aim of having first-hand knowledge of the peculiar nature of the oil producing areas of the region

The assembly, however, asked Osinbajo to extend the visit to Bayelsa and Rivers to enable him get first-hand information on the situations in strategic oil communities.

According to the assembly, the strategic communities include Koluama, Brass, Ezetu, Sangana, Bonny, Soku and Omoku.

The youth leaders appealed to President Buhari to speed up the inauguration of the Dialogue Committee to demonstrate his administration’s seriousness in restoring peace in the region.

It said that the assembly’s objective was to transform the oil industry, while taking into consideration the need to speed up human and infrastructure development of the region that laid the golden egg.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the communiqué was signed by Mr Amaibi Hornby and Mr Kenedy West for NDYLA.

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Ghana MPs push for probe into bribery claims

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Ghana MPs. PHOTO: Buzzghana

Lawmakers in Ghana on Monday called for an investigation into claims that a minister in new President Nana Akufo-Addo’s government bribed the committee vetting his candidacy.

Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko has been accused of attempting to bribe some opposition party members of the committee with 3,000 cedi (about $700, 650 euros) each to approve his nomination.

The allegations were made by an MP from the National Democratic Congress party who sits on the committee but one of his NDC colleagues rejected the claim.

Three other lawmakers on the committee on Monday wrote to parliament asking for an internal enquiry “into the veracity of the claims… of attempted bribery”.

The allegations emerged last Friday and prompted a swift denial from parliament, which called them “frivolous and vexatious and should be discarded”.

Akufo-Addo, who took office earlier this month after beating the then-president John Dramani Mahama in elections last December, has promised to fight corruption.

During his campaign he promised to appoint an independent prosecutor to deal specifically with claims of graft to avoid the perception of investigations being used as a political witch-hunt.

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ASACCIMA honours 9 outstanding members (Read full details)

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The Asaba Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ASACCIMA) says it has honoured nine of its members who distinguished themselves in various sectors of the economy in 2016.

The President of the Chamber, Mr Emmanuel Moweta, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Asaba on Sunday that the award ceremony was part of its activities in 2016.

Moweta said that the awardees, including Chief Sunny Odogwu, Chairman, Grand Hotel Asaba, were selected from various sectors of the economy.

The president said that Odogwu received a life-time award for his achievements in the hospitality industry.

He said that Mr Abel Adeleke got an award of excellence in the construction industry, while Mrs Margaret Ajufo was honoured for excellence in the food and beverage industry.

According to him, they were honoured for adding value to their various sectors and impacting positively on the socio-economic lives of the people of the state and the country at large.

Moweta also said that the chamber recorded some marginal increase in its membership,adding that some corporate bodies also joined chamber.

The chamber chairman, however, disclosed that the chambers could not hold its planned domestic trade fair due to the present economic situation in the country.

“In 2016 we had some laudable dreams but the economic situation in the country did not allow us to achieve our dreams. We did not meet our aspirations.

“We are calling on government at all levels to provide an enabling environment for businesses to thrive and ensure stability in the economy.

“ We are looking forward to a period of economic liberalisation when the private sector will drive the economy in the overall interest of the nation,” he added.

ASACCIMA honours 9 outstanding members

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