BREAKING NEWS

  Romelu Lukaku missed a string of late chances as Belgium crashed out of the World Cup in the group stage after a 0-0 draw with Croatia on Thursday which sent the 2018 runners-up into the knockout phase. Croatia had a penalty award controversially cancelled by VAR early in a largely uneventful first half. The introduction of Lukaku at the interval changed the game, but he was guilty of three dreadful misses as Zlatko Dalic’s side rode their luck to hold on. Croatia progressed as runners-up in Group F behind winners Morocco who beat Canada 2-1 to also qualify for the last 16 Belgium, the world’s second-ranked side, saw their run of reaching at least the quarter-finals at four straight major tournaments come to an abrupt end. Roberto Martinez’s men managed just one goal in the tournament in a fortunate opening 1-0 win over Canada Martinez dropped captain Eden Hazard to the bench as one of four changes which also saw Leandro Trossard and Dries Mertens start for the first time in Qata...

  The South African mother, Nomboleko Simayile, accused of killing her four children has died in the hospital.    Simayile was  arrested  on November 9, 2022, after she allegedly killed her children by smashing their heads with a sledgehammer at Mhlabubomvu locality, in Engcobo village, the Eastern Cape. According to the media, while in police custody on Sunday afternoon, November 20, she complained about not feeling well.    She was then immediately rushed to a nearby hospital for medical attention where she passed away. The cause of death is yet to be established. Simayile was set to apply for bail in the Engcobo Magistrates Court but she collapsed in the police holding cells. It was a dramatic turn of events as Engcobo residents waited for proceedings to start in the Engcobo Magistrates Court.   Simayile's bail application had to be postponed.    Her lawyer informed the magistrate that she had been lying on the floor in...

  Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly offered himself to Real Madrid to end his Manchester United nightmare. The 37-year-old Portuguese accused the Red Devils of betraying him in a  tell-all interview with Piers Morgan last week. Amid the fall-out with United, Ronaldo has now offered himself to the Spanish giants on a six-month contract, according to Sport. The Spanish outlet claim Ronaldo wants to return to the Bernabeu as a replacement for the injured Karim Benzema in January. The Ballon d'Or winner was forced to pull out of France's World Cup squad after picking up a thigh injury. Man United are looking to terminate Ronaldo's contract seven months early without paying any of the £16million he is predicted to earn by June 2023.

  Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka has said that the removal of history from the curriculum of Nigerian schools by the government is a criminal act.    Speaking at the 24th edition of the Lagos Book and Arts Festival organized by Book Kraft, Soyinka stated that memories of Biafra can't be erased by the removal of history from schools' curriculum as the agitation can never be defeated and can never be wiped away.   He said;    “Collective memory is the key because it is that memory which is related to the mechanisms of relating reality to whatever narrative is given to us. It is far more important and it is more dangerous because you can get trapped in it because it is collected as a community activity and some of that I think is happening to us here in Nigeria. “I’m referring of course to Biafra.  “The collective memory there is very strong, even before the war, I warned that this collective memory might remain to plague efforts at nation being a...

 

  Nigerian-born Canadian councillor, Mrs Khadijah Haliru, in an exclusive interview on Friday advised the political class to give opportunities to youths to govern Nigeria. Mrs Haliru, a graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, who emerged at the polls as a councillor of Ingersoll town, Oxford County, Ontario, Canada, last month also spoke about the brain drain in the country and how the Nigerian government can take advantage of it.

  The Independent National Electoral Commission has stated that it will print a total of 187million ballot papers. According to the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, preliminary registered voters in Nigeria now stand at 93.5 million, noting that 9,518,188 new voters were added to the existing register of 84,004,084 voters.   Okoye on Friday November 17, said  93.5 million ballot papers will be used on the 25 February 2022 for the presidential election and the remaining 93.5million ballot papers will be for run off of the presidential election in a case where there is no clear winner. The same, he said, would be applicable to states. According to him, the Commission decided to print 187 million ballot papers for the presidential elections, as it will be difficult to engage printers at a short notice and also the issue of logistics. Okoye said, “As of today, 18 political parties will participate in the 2023 general ...

  Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen has been named the ’emerging player of the year’ at the 2022 Globe Soccer Awards.   The 23-year-old Napoli superstar was given the prestigious award at the gala which was held at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai on Thursday night November 17.  “Congratulations to Victor Osimhen on winning the 2022 #GlobeSoccer Award for POWER HORSE EMERGING PLAYER OF THE YEAR” according to a statement from official Globe Soccer Awards Twitter official Twitter handle @Globe_Soccer   Osimhen defeated Barcelona’s Gavi and Federico Valverde of Real Madrid for the prize meant for the best young football talent in the world.   The other nominees that did not make it to the final were Hareb Abdullah, Julian Alvarez, Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga, Francisco Conceiçao, Ryan Gravenberch, Josko Gvardiol, Nuno Mendes, Ilaix Moriba, Jamal Musiala, Pedri, Bukaio Saka and Milan star Rafael Leao.   Osimhen has had a stunning start to the season whi...

Manchester United coach, Erik ten Hag has confirmed Cristiano Ronaldo will return to the squad for their UEFA Europa League game against Sheriff Tiraspol on Thursday night, October 27.    The Portuguese star was dropped from the United squad for Saturday's 1-1 draw at Chelsea after walking down the tunnel before the end of their win over Tottenham at Old Trafford having refused to come on as a substitute. Ronaldo and Ten Hag held talks before he rejoined training with the squad at Carrington on Tuesday having been forced to do fitness work alone.   On Wednesday, Ten Hag confirmed at a press conference that Ronaldo would be in the squad for Thursday night. 'Yes, Cristiano will be in the squad tomorrow,' Ten Hag said.   'It is not difficult. I think we said everything, we answered all the questions. He was out for one game and now he is back in the squad.'

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced plans to redesign some naira notes.   The CBN boss, Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this at a press conference on Wednesday, October 26.   According to Emefiele, the Naira notes to be redesigned include N200, N500 and N1000.    He stated that the new design and issues will be effective from December 2022 and advised Nigerians to go to the bank when the time comes to exchange the old notes for the newly designed ones.

  Footwear retailer Foot Locker has become the latest company to sever ties with Kanye West over his anti-Semitic remarks.   A spokesperson for Foot Locker said that while the company remains 'a partner with Adidas and carry a wide assortment of their collections – we will not be supporting any future Yeezy product drops, and we have instructed our retail operators to pull any existing product from our shelves and digital sites.'   The rapper has also lost several lucrative partnerships including Adidas. The German sportswear giant ended a partnership estimated to be worth more than $1.5bn in total, including royalty payments and other fees on Tuesday. Universal Music's Def Jam label, which owns the copyright to West's recordings from 2002 through 2016, and continued distributing his releases until last year, issued a statement condemning Ye's remarks, saying: 'There is no place for antisemitism in our society'.   But the label has not asked for the removal ...

  Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has blamed the silence of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), for the decision reached by many delegates to vote for Bola Tinubu as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress. He said this while appearing as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today. El-Rufai explained that Buhari asked the northern delegates to vote for any of the shortlisted five presidential candidates of their choice. According to him, Buhari didn’t dictate how delegates from Kaduna State should vote at the APC presidential primaries. While speaking Friday night, governor said, “In many of our states, the delegate votes were divided,” El-Rufai said. “Before I went to address the Kaduna delegates for the last time, I went to the President and I asked him, have you decided on who we should vote for? He said, I told you, go and vote for any of the five (candidates selected by APC Governors) “I said, Mr President, the Kaduna delegate...

  Additional voter enrolment machines have been deployed by the  Independent National Electoral Commission to Lagos, Kano, and some southeastern states.   This was disclosed by Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee of INEC, Festus Okoye, on Friday June 10, in a statement titled “Press Release; Ongoing Continuous Voter Registration Exercise.” The commission which released additional 209 machines mainly to the five southeastern states, Lagos and Kano where the pressure was most acute, said this is in response to the upward surge in the number of citizens that wish to register as voters.   The statement read;    “The Independent National Electoral Commission has received reports from our states indicating an unprecedented surge in the number of citizens that wish to register as voters and the challenges they face across the country. In some states, the sudden turnout of prospective registrants is overwhelming. “Consequent...

  The Kremlin has warned it could target military sites in the UK and other NATO countries because of their support for Ukraine.    Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, suggested that strikes could be authorised against NATO states who provide arms to Ukraine.  She warned: 'Do we understand correctly that for the sake of disrupting the logistics of military supplies, Russia can strike military targets on the territory of those Nato countries that supply arms to the Kyiv regime?    'After all, this directly leads to deaths and bloodshed on Ukrainian territory. As far as I understand, Britain is one of those countries.'   Her words came after Britain's Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said that the UK backed Ukrainian airstrikes on Russian infrastructure. He added that it would be 'completely legitimate' for British weapons to be used in such attacks, even though none are currently thought to be.   Heappey als...

  Nigerian singer, 2face Idibia, has taken to social media to celebrate his daughter, Ehi, who turned 16 years old today, Saturday, April 27th.   Sharing beautiful photos of his daughter, the proud father wrote;    "Feels like I just blinked and boom my little princess has grown into a very bright and beautiful young African Queen. Massive birthday blessings to u Ehikòwoichó. (Gift from God/ God's gift)." "I pray for continuous love, light guidance, and wisdom for u my beloved Daughter." Ehi is one of the three kids 2Face shares with Pero Osayem i  

  Vice president and 2023 Presidential hopeful, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has said that he owes no single individual any allegiance asides from the oath he swore to Nigerians when he came into office in 2015.   Osinbajo said this on Tuesday April 26, during his political consultations in Ogun state. He stated this amidst reports that his decision to run for President was a betrayal of his former principal and erstwhile political godfather, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who had also declared his presidential aspiration ahead of 2023.  Speaking to his supporters in Ogun, Osinbajo said   ' 'After all I have learnt, if called upon to serve the nation, should I say No? I have decided that I will run for the office. I have sworn an oath to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is an oath to our people; our children and the future of Nigeria. I owe nobody else any allegiance outside the oath.”

  The national mathematics centre of Nigeria (NMC) has crowned Miss Faith Odunsi of Ambassador College, Otta in Ogun State Nigeria as "MATHEMATICS QUEEN" for her outstanding performance in the National Olympiads Competition. Miss Faith Odunsi solved 19 mathematics questions in 60 seconds, and became the best girl in mathematics competition. 26 students of both senior and junior secondary Schools across the country were also given awards in different categories in mathematics science. Miss Faith Odunsi, 15 years old represented Nigeria at the Global Mathematics Competition, beats China, United States of America, United Kingdom and others and became the world best mathematics student .

  Nigeria’s currency, reversed its last two trading gains against the dollar, closing at N418.50/$1 on Tuesday at the official market. Naira had on Friday last week and Monday closed stronger to the US dollar in response to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) stance on continuing intervention in the forex market. However, it could not make it three trading days lucky as MDQ securities data showed the  Naira  closing rate on Tuesday was a N1.2 drop in value when compared to Monday’s closing rate of N417.30 to a dollar. The official market performance of the Naira happened as the forex supply declined drastically by 62.40 per cent to $109.43 million compared to the forex supply of $291.09 million on Monday. It was a different story for Naira against the British Pounds and Euro as it again appreciated. CBN data shows Naira to Pounds closed at N527.6/£1 as against N530.54/£1 on Monday. Another Massive gain for the Nigerian currency against the Euro as it closed at N444.03/€...

  The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has marked six residential houses and one plaza allegedly belonging to the embattled former Intelligence Response Team leader, Abba Kyari, in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, for investigation.   The two-storey shopping plaza, Assurance Plaza, located along the Giwa Barracks Road in Maiduguri, has about 100 stores while six other residential houses within the Maiduguri New Government Residential Area allegedly belonging to the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police had also been marked by the NDLEA. This is coming barely 48 hours after a suspected drug dealer allegedly linked to the N3 billion worth of tramadol intercepted by the then Kyari-led IRT team was arrested by operatives of the NDLEA in Lagos.   Recall that on February 14, 2022, Kyari was arrested for his alleged involvement in drug trafficking. He has since been in custody at the Kuje correctional center after his bail application was denied by an Abuja high court....

  The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday, April 26, announced the outbreak of the Ebola disease in Africa following the demise of two people from the heinous disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The report would mark the 14th outbreak of the disease that the country has seen since 1976, with WHO beginning preparations for a vaccine rollout in the country. The National Institute of Biomedical Research reported a 31-year-old patient had died on Sunday, April 24, in the north-western city of Mbandaka, with the man reportedly showing symptoms on April 5 but not seeking treatment until a week later. A 25-year-old woman has also died of the disease, with WHO confirming on Twitter that at least 145 people “came into contact with the confirmed cases”. The woman was said to have started experiencing symptoms 12 days prior to her death and investigations have shown she was the sister-in-law of the first deceased case. It is believed she contracted the disease after coming...