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Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Ideye hits China today


Brown Ideye has failed to appear in China to link up with Tianjin Teda, few hours before the close of the Chinese transfer window.  The Nigeria international has reportedly agreed a three-year deal with Tianjin Teda, but both Olympiakos and the Chinese club have not yet announced his signing as a done deal.
Tianjin Teda chiefs have stated that Ideye is expected to arrive in Beijing this morning, and will participate in three training sessions before their opening game of the season against Shandong Luneng.
They are not bothered about the fitness of the Nigerian as he has been active for Olympiakos since July 2016. In truth, there are questions marks on the signing of Brown Ideye as the two African strikers expected to depart Tianjin Teda before the close of the transfer window, Mbaye Diagne (Senegal) and Malick Evouna (Gabon), trained with the club this morning.

2019: I’ll not contest against Buhari, says Tinubu

The National Leader of the All progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, says he has no plan to contest against President Muhammadu Buhari or anybody that the APC may present in 2019.
Tinubu, therefore, dismissed, as false, media reports that he was planning to contest in 2019.
The former governor of Lagos State said this in a statement by his media aide, Mr. Tunde Rahman, on Tuesday.
He said, “This scam will fail. Asiwaju supports and stands behind  President Buhari. He wishes the President well and that he returns soon. Whether the President is here or away, he has the full loyalty of Asiwaju Tinubu. President Buhari can rest assured on this point: Asiwaju Tinubu will never contest against him nor will he support anyone who does.”
Tinubu further slammed a national newspaper (not The PUNCH), for claiming that he abandoned his initial plan of aligning with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party to build a mega party to take on the APC in 2019.
He said he had never planned to join the PDP, having fought against the party for 16 years.
The statement added, “The headline also libels Asiwaju by asserting he was going to join the PDP.  This is as shameless as a lie can be. Asiwaju is acknowledged to be the intellectual father and the driving force behind the APC. It makes no sense that he would abandon the party that he worked hard to build in order to enter the dilapidated building the PDP has become.
“Asiwaju worked for over 16 years to break the PDP yoke on the nation. After breaking that yoke, it is not in his nature to voluntarily place it back on our necks. Anyone who has followed his career, even his staunchest critics, knows Asiwaju for his partisan consistency.
“He is not a party hopper. He is loyal and sticks with the party to which he belongs. After fighting for so many years to elevate his party to the position of national leadership, he would not give that away in order to join with those who blame him for their currently bleak political circumstance.”
The APC chieftain said his comments during an interview with journalists at the inauguration of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu in Ondo State on Friday were twisted and misconstrued by those with hidden agenda.
Tinubu said he stated that he had plans of running for office one day but only on the condition that there was a vacancy in Aso Rock.
He added, “Moreover, if you really listen to his words, Asiwaju did not mention any office or any time-frame.  The conditions he mentioned may not become ripe for years to come and they might not pertain to the Presidency. In effect, all Asiwaju said was the position that any political figure would hold.
“As a politician, he cannot preclude the possibility of running for office in the future because no man knows what the future will hold. To translate this general statement of political reality into a tale that he is actively preparing for a 2019 presidential run is reckless in the extreme.”

JAMB begins sale of UTME forms, reviews registration

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board said, on Tuesday, that it would begin the sale of forms for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination in March, 2017.
A statement by the spokesperson for JAMB, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, said the agency had taken time to add value to the services it had been offering to Nigerians for over three decades.
Benjamin stated, “In the course of conducting admission, many institutions have admitted candidates on merit only for them to discover that such candidates do not have qualified O’Level results or the right combination of subjects for admission and had to delete and start the process all over again. With this, they would have denied other qualified candidates the opportunities for admissions.
“This, we are addressing by ensuring that no candidate is henceforth recommended without his O’Level result being supplied. To achieve this, JAMB will insist that candidates supply their result on its website during registration or later, but before admissions commence for them to be considered for admissions. We believe this will allow only qualified candidates to be considered for admissions.”
The board explained that candidates would henceforth be allowed to make one choice of public university, in which new registration platform will now be first choice, second choice, third choice and fourth choice.
According to him, the restructuring is aimed at expanding the opportunities available to candidates since almost all the public universities do not consider candidates on the second choice list because they hardly exhaust the applicants on the first choice list.
Benjamin said, “We have designed a central admissions processing system, where the board will interface with the institutions and ensure compliance with this reform.
“The summary is that no candidate will be admitted with awaiting result. Candidates and their parents are also to note that JAMB has restructured the registration platform to allow for only one choice of public university.
“The new registration platform will now be first choice, second choice, third choice and fourth choice and not most preferred, preferred e.t.c as it was.
“Candidates’ first choice can be a college, university, innovative enterprises institutions or polytechnic/monotechnic.
“However, if a candidate makes a public university his first choice, he will not have any public university to choose for second, third and fourth choice. He will have on the remaining three choices, a college, polytechnic, private university and IEIs.
“However, candidates for the 2017 UTME can now select the National Certificate in Education (College) or National Diploma (Polytechnic/Monotechnic) as their first choice up to third choice and the fourth IEI. They can select the IEI (Innovative Enterprise Institution, ND) as their first choice up to the fourth choice, but can only pick a public university once.”
He added that the registration for the 2017 UTME and direct entry would go on at the same time, stating that during registration, candidates’ 10 fingers would be captured through the biometric verification machine.
Benjamin also warned candidates that no cyber café would register candidates for the UTME.
Benjamin stated, “On no account should any candidate patronise any cyber café for registration. It is important to note that the board will not deploy the use of any scratch card for the 2017 UTME registration.
“The board is poised to see that a reasonable percentage of candidates, who take this examination and are qualified, find placement in tertiary institutions.

Reps clash over Buhari’s health status, summon IG, CPs

Members of the House of Representatives exchanged words on Tuesday over the health status of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Lawmakers quarrelled over the use of the word “sickness” in referring to Buhari or explaining his reason for being away from the country to the United Kingdom since January 19.
The disagreement was more pronounced among members of the ruling All Progressives Congress, the President’s party.
While some members said Buhari was sick and was away to treat himself, others claimed that he was on “medical vacation.”
It was the House Majority Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, who started the argument when he tried to stop the Chief Whip, Mr. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, from describing the President as a sick man.
Both Gbajabiamila, who is from Lagos State, and Ado-Doguwa, who is from Kano State, are members of the APC.
Ado-Doguwa was contributing and opposing a motion, seeking to investigate the alleged harassment of members of ‘Kwankwasia’ followers, a political group loyal to former Kano State Governor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso.
He had stated that the motion, which was moved by a fellow Kano lawmaker, Mr. Aliyu Madaki, was “basesless” because the Kwankwasia group was known for moving around the state and inciting people against political leaders.
Ado-Doguwa observed that the country was already under tension owing to the absence of Buhari and could not afford any “partisan” activities that could lead to insecurity.
He added that the group was already campaigning for the 2019 presidential election in a volatile place like Kano.
“Our beloved President is sick abroad. These partisan activities are completely unnecessary and baseless. The police must do their work of protecting lives and property anywhere in the country.
“The sponsor of the motion failed to lay the facts of the issues as they are,” he added.
But Gbajabiamila shouted “point of order” and requested the presiding Deputy Speaker, Mr. Yussuff Lasun, to ask Ado-Doguwa to desist from calling Buhari a sick President.
Gbajabiamila stated, “There is no factual basis for what he is saying; that Buhari is sick abroad.
“The President is not sick. At best, he can say that the President is on medical vacation.
“There is a difference between being sick and going on a medical vacation.”
Members reacted, raising voices, some saying there was no difference between being sick and going on medical vacation.
Others shouted in support of Gbajabiamila, saying he was right.
However, Lasun caused more uproar when, in his bid to support Gbajabiamila, he too admitted that Buhari was sick.
“Let me sustain the leader’s point of order.
“Ado-Doguwa, you should not lay emphasis on the sickness of our President because of the security implications,” he said.
There was loud laughter on the floor, which left Gbajabiamila defeated and helpless in his line of debate.
Earlier, Madaki, in his motion, had sought the intervention of the House to halt a potential breakdown of law and order in Kano State due to the alleged abuse of power by the police.
He accused the police of taking sides with the State Governor, Mr. Abdullahi Ganduje, to stop the Kwankwasia group from holding any lawful assembly.
“This is like inviting anarchy and we must act fast before the situation implodes.
“Even in Bauchi State, the home of Mr. Speaker (Yakubu Dogara), the police are stopping groups from conducting themselves peacefully,” Madaki added.
The Peoples Democratic Party lawmakers seized the opportunity to recall the role the police played two weeks ago in Abuja when they stopped the Ahmed Makarfi faction of the PDP from holding a meeting at the International Conference Centre.
The House Minority Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor, told his colleagues that he wept when the police stopped the PDP’s meeting.
“We came together as a party to review the decision of the Federal High Court (Court of Appeal) on our party.
“The police came and blocked the whole place. I wept because that action was totally uncalled for,” he said.
Another PDP member, Mr. Sunday Karimi, informed the House that abuse of power by the police seemed to have increased under the Buhari administration.
He cited instances of Kogi, Rivers and Bauchi states as well as the Federal Capital Territory, where the police had been accused of harassing political groups that were not in support of the government in power in such states.
The House later resolved to summon the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, and the commissioners of police in the FCT, Kano and Rivers states to defend the allegations against the police.

I no longer have a first-choice goalkeeper’- Guardiola



Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has effectively admitted he no longer has a first-choice goalkeeper after declaring he will choose between Willy Caballero and Claudio Bravo on a game-by-game basis. Bravo was brought in from Barcelona in August to be the senior goalkeeper, but has lost his Premier League place to Caballero in recent weeks after a series of inconsistent displays. Chile international Bravo was brought back in for the FA Cup fifth-round tie at Huddersfield 10 days ago, and is widely expected to be selected for the replay at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.

Guardiola, however, has rotated his keepers for domestic cup ties this season, so that would then mean Argentine Caballero returning for Sunday’s Premier League trip to Sunderland. But Spaniard Guardiola, who let England goalkeeper Joe Hart leave City for a loan move to Italian side Torino last year, insisted on Tuesday he was reviewing the goalkeeping situation constantly. “They (Caballero and Bravo) are so professional, they are exceptional, so there’s no problem about that,” Guardiola explained. “You may not believe me, but I am not thinking about who is the first and who is the second. “I decide on what I see, on what is the recent past, on the upcoming situation of the future. We are going to decide game by game. “I have to think about it, not just with goalkeepers. “Tomorrow’s a ‘final’ against one team (Huddersfield) who impressed a lot when we played there away. They are near the top of the Championship. Sometimes, teams at the top of the Championship are stronger than teams in the Premier League. “So it’s one game. We know how many surprises there are in the Cup, so I have to think about it after the training session tomorrow (Wednesday) morning.” – Kompany return on hold – City made eight changes for the goalless draw at Huddersfield’s John Smith’s Stadium, and fringe players such as Pablo Zabaleta, Jesus Navas and Nolito are likely to be given a chance to impress again. Wednesday’s game is the first of five in 19 days for Guardiola’s men, with Premier League tests against Stoke and Liverpool, as well as Sunderland, and the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie in Monaco to come. City captain Vincent Kompany, though, is not ready to return after multiple injury setbacks, with the most recent a leg problem. The Belgium international has played only six times this season, and has been dogged by injury woes over the last two years. Guardiola, though, insisted Kompany was close to a return, and would be able to play a full part in the remainder of the season. “Vincent is not ready for tomorrow,” the manager said. “He is much better but not for tomorrow.” Guardiola and his players had a short break in Abu Dhabi after having no game last weekend, with scheduled opponents Manchester United beating Southampton in the League Cup final at Wembley instead. The Abu Dhabi trip saw Guardiola meet with City owner Sheikh Mansour for the first time. Guardiola, who succeeded Manuel Pellegrini as City manager last year, said he was impressed by the Sheikh’s football knowledge –- but the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss was left in no doubt he will be replaced if results are not good enough. “I was really impressed that he knew absolutely everything about us,” said Guardiola. “It was nice to meet him and spend a few hours together. “He is so happy because he sees all the games and he sees the effort, he demands it. He knows we make absolutely everything, we fight until the end. “I had good relations with almost all my owners in Barcelona and Bayern Munich, of course it is important to know them. “They know, we know, all the managers and owners know that we are here because of the results. If the results are not good we are going to be replaced. I replaced another manager.”

Obasanjo’s statement selfserving, discomfiting, misleading – Fayose

Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti state has asked former President Olusegun Obasanjo to stop making provocative statements that distract and discourage Nigerians from squarely facing up to the onerous task of fixing the economy and building Nigeria into a strong and virile nation. Reacting to a statement credited to Obasanjo, in which the former president said his generation had failed the nation, Fayose who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu. Adelusi, decried Obasanjo’s sanctimonious self-righteousness, saying that apart from the statement being misleading, self-serving and discomfiting, it is also not what the country needs at this time of great economic distraction. “There is much suffering in the land. The people are hungry. Yet, one of those responsible for this unsavoury state of affairs relishes in adding insult to the people’s injury. He makes statements that are not only reckless but also untrue”, he added Fayose said rather than generalise, Obasanjo should speak for himself. “Obasanjo, truly, has failed this country many times over but not all members of his generation failed this country. There are shinning lights in that generation that have served the nation well”, the governor said. “How about Emeka Anyaoku, Wole Soyinka, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Prof. Ayodele Awojobi? The list is endless and they are to be found in all the nooks and crannies of this country who belong in the same generation as Obasanjo and who have done this country proud”, he added. Fayose, however, lamented that Obasanjo wasted all the golden opportunities that he had to make this country great, first as a military Head of State and later as a two-term civilian president. “It is too late in the day for him to now cry over other countries that have passed Nigeria by. This is mere crocodile tears when we realise that no other Nigerian leader had the opportunities that Obasanjo had to make this country great but he bungled them all”. “He should speak for himself and not rope his entire generation into his misadventure in governance. Here is a man who neither recognised nor encouraged any star except himself. He must shoot them down or disparage them. For him, Obafemi Awolowo was not patriotic; MKO Abiola was not the messiah Nigeria needed; Tinubu was a rascal; Jonathan was not good; and President Muhammadu Buhari did not understand economics. Only Obasanjo is good. Only Obasanjo fought and won the civil war. Only Obasanjo understands everything – from economics to military to foreign affairs” “Yet, this is the same Obasanjo that laid the foundation for corruption in this country with his ill-fated third-term misadventure when billions of Naira was used to bribe National Assembly members. This is the same Obasanjo that turned EFCC under Nuhu Ribadu into his private army to harass political opponents. Under this same Obasanjo, eight civilian governors were illegally and unceremoniously removed from office through kangaroo impeachments. Minority members of the Houses of Assembly were empowered to override the majority members. Under Obasanjo, our elections were “iwuru-wuru” and “mago-mago” and we were the laughing stock of the international community. “This same Obasanjo, who came back from prison a pauper, ask him how much he is worth today and how he made the money? The launching of his Presidential Library, which he is preparing to commission soon, attracted donations that ran into billions of Naira while he was in office. Only God knows how many more billions the commissioning will garner this time around. Accusing the former President of an obsession with hugging the limelight, the governor said: “Obasanjo should give us a break. There is no denying the fact that he failed the country. The least he can now do is leave us alone to clear the peculiar mess he and others of his ilk got this country into. Let him retire into obscurity; fade away from the limelight; and allow us our peace and serenity”, Fayose added

Those rating Osinbajo higher than Buhari want to cause division in govt – Presidency



ABUJA-Presidency has frowned at the speculation tending to score the performance of the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo higher than that of President Muhammadu Buhari, saying it was a calculated mischief to cause a division in the current administration. The presidency said that the government was one and as such, there should be no basis for comparisons whatever between the President and his deputy. The Political Adviser to the President in the Office of the Vice President, Senator Femi Ojudu made the remarks while fielding questions from State House correspondents on the speculations making the rounds, preferring Osinbajo’s style of governance to Buhari’s on Monday in Abuja. It will be recalled that Osinbajo has been piloting the affairs of the country since January 19 when President Buhari jetted out to London, United Kingdom on medical vacation.

Since his departure, Osinbajo has apparently taken a couple of initiatives that had elicited hopes that Nigeria may get out of its present state of economic recession sooner than expected. One of those decisions was a directive to the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele to review the country’s foreign exchange policy which seems to be producing results at the moment, judging from the Naira value appreciation over the Dollar. Osinbajo had earlier also forwarded the name of the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Oonneghen to the Senate for confirmation contrary to the Buhari’s perceived reluctance since appointing the CJN in acting capacity in November, 2016. Reacting to trend of comparing the President and his Vice, Ojudu said it was completely unfounded. He said: “I think it is thoughtless. I also see it as a ploy by the opposition to cause an unnecessary ‎division. It is a joint ticket. The president and the vice president were elected based on the manifesto of the party and since they were sworn-in, they have been committed to implementing that manifesto. “The same people who said we never had economic team, no policy, nothing, are the ones saying this. It is now the policies we are implementing are maturing and they are seeing the result. It is not a question of one person being better than the other person. “I will give you an example, there is nothing that has been done since the vice president started acting that is not something that started far back in the past. A good example is the Niger Delta initiative. The President called the Vice President and said I am giving you the mandate, go into the Niger Delta, meet with everyone who is a stakeholder, all the communities, talk to the militants and make sure you solve this problem for the benefits of Nigerians. “We are losing 1.2 million barrels of oil per day. All the gas pipelines powering the turbines are being blown up. And the President has said unless and until we resolve this problem, we will not get out of recession. The VP took up the mandate and went to the Niger Delta. It is the initiative of Mr. President not that of Vice President. “This is mischief makers, those who do not wish this country well, who are always promoting crisis, who will not allow the people to benefit from this democracy are the ones promoting this kind of divisive tendencies.” He said that the Acting President on some occasions consult the President even as he refused to accept that Osinbajo was not in charge. “Almost on a daily basis, yes.‎ Well, there are things he still needs to consult the President. I mean it is not a regular thing but major decisions he still has to consult Mr. President. The president is still the president. ‎”He is in charge but like I said earlier on, this is a joint ticket the president of Nigeria remains the president of Nigeria. He is acting because it is one and the same. He is more experienced, he has been in the game longer than the vice president and if there are major issues that he needs to take decision on, he could call on him and say Sir, what do you think about this we are about to take decision on it. Do you have opinion? That does not mean he is not in charge.” But reminded that Nigerians other than partisan opposition politicians were the ones making the comparisons, Ojudu maintained his position of oneness. ‎”Again, one other thing you have to see is that if you give someone a responsibility, he must be able to show to Mr. President that despite that he is not being around is not going to create any vacuum. He can then decide not to sleep at all, all through the time the president is a way just to show him that he is capable of ensuring that Nigeria goes on well while he is away. “And the President could also have given the mandate let nothing go wrong, I believe in you, I appointed you as my Vice President you must make sure that you do this. If you have a boss who gives you an assignment you will want to impress him and Nigerians as well and that for me is what has happened. ‎It is not that one person is better than the other, certainly not. “I’m telling that I have seen some things sent out intentionally to cause some kind of division within the presidency. Some people who have been condemning everybody in the past, I see them on twitter and on facebook and generally on social media. Some people are trying to promote division and we are not going to allow that. This president and vice president worked together in tandem and I know they both have confidence in this nation”, he said. Also asked to react to the concerns in Katsina State that the president was poisoned, the Political Adviser said it was stupid to believe such stories. “The way I will react to that is that those of you in the media should be careful what you pick from the social media now. It is becoming a factory for fake news in the Nigeria. A lot of things you see on social media can never be true. I saw that, I read it and I assessed it using the prism of these factors, those indices we use to analysis stories in the media and found out that, that it cannot be true. “For example they said somebody kept N77 trillion somewhere, imagine that. What is the total value of Nigeria’s economy that because of somebody keeping N77 trillion therefore some people want to poison him so that they can inherit the money. “I mean we have a president that nobody in this country can question his integrity. As a young officer, a middle officer, a senior officer and as a Head of State till now, nobody has been able to tarnish his image or come up with anything. For me, it is not even worth responding to, as soon as I read it, I dismissed it, it is so ridiculous. Again it is the handiwork of our enemies, the problem is fakeness has almost become global and universal, other countries are experiencing it. Those who want to destabilize the country, they come up with all kinds of stupid stories, some kind of unimaginable stories. So we should just discountenance those things”, he said.

President Buhari’s Doctors Also Treating Crohn’s Disease, An Intestinal Malady



A source familiar with President Muhammadu Buhari’s medical treatment in London has revealed to Sahara Reporters that, apart from a lingering prostrate flare-up and other chronic conditions, the Nigerian leader has also recently been battling with a persistent “internal organ” problem, a fact this website reported on Sunday.
The source attributed President Buhari’s inability to eat as well as his progressive loss of weight to Crohn’s Disease, a medical condition that has affected his digestive system.
According to the source, Mr. Buhari had had parts of his colon removed in 2013 and also had another operation to have hemorrhoids, swollen veins near the human rectum, removed in 2016 in London during one of his secret trips to seek urgent medical treatment.
The latest revelation appears to validate a claim by Mr. Buhari’s wife, Aisha Buhari, to the effect that her husband was dealing with “internal organ failure.”

In interviews, several doctors in Nigeria and the UK told Sahara reporters that the fact that Mr. Buhari was an outpatient indicated a condition consistent with Crohn’s disease. Two of the doctors stated that it was likely that President Buhari’s course of treatment for his prostrate and other issues led to a complication and worsening of his Crohn’s disease. Sahara Reporters had reported that Mr. Buhari also has prostate cancer that was first treated by UK doctors shortly after the Nigerian leader lost the 2011 presidential election to former President Goodluck Jonathan. 
Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that causes inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract, leading to abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss and malnutrition. Inflammation caused by the disease can affect different areas of the digestive tract in different patients, but doctors interviewed for this report disclosed that it usually occurs in the intestines, where the inflammation caused by Crohn's disease often spreads deep into the layers of affected bowel tissue. 
Doctors also revealed that Crohn's disease can be both painful and debilitating, and sometimes may lead to life-threatening complications. “When it occurs in younger people, there is a higher chance of future complications than in older patients,” one doctor told our correspondent. He added that the disease “often worsens with age.”
According to the doctors consulted for this report, while there is no known cure for Crohn's disease, palliative therapies can greatly reduce its signs and symptoms and even bring about long-term remission. Some of the doctors stressed that, with proper treatment and management, many patients with Crohn's disease are able to function well.
The doctors stated that the cause of Crohn's disease is largely unknown. However, one doctor said the condition was likely due to an abnormal response of the immune system. Food or bacteria in the intestines, or even the lining of the bowel, may cause the uncontrolled inflammation associated with Crohn's disease.
The doctors disclosed that the inheritance pattern of Crohn’s disease was also unclear, noting that several genetic and environmental factors are often at play in the occurrence of the disease. According to one doctor, the condition tends to “cluster in families.” He explained that having an affected family member was deemed to constitute a significant risk factor for the disease.

Should Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari resign?




Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has been away for weeks getting treatment for an undisclosed ailment.

President Muhammadu Buhari flew to the British capital London in mid-January to be treated for an undisclosed medical condition.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is temporarily leading the country.
But opposition leaders say Buhari has been out of the country for too long and he should resign.
What will this mean for Nigeria and the region?

Reports in Italy have claimed that the manager could depart the club this summer, but Goal understands that the Italian is content to stay in London



Antonio Conte is happy at Chelsea, amid reports in Italy suggesting that he is homesick at Stamford Bridge, Goal understands.
The Blues have enjoyed a remarkably successful season thus far, and lead the Premier League by 10 points from second-placed Tottenham.
La Repubblica, though, reported on Monday that Conte is pining for a return to Italy, as he misses his family, and is struggling with his relationship with owner Roman Abramovich.
However, Goal can confirm that Conte is happy at Stamford Bridge, and the Italian has repeatedly said in public that he wishes to remain at Chelsea for many years.

Conte’s wife and daughter remain in Italy presently, but the pair will eventually move to England to be with the 47-year-old, with the manager intending to remain in London for the foreseeable future.
Chelsea is Conte’s first job away from Italy, having previously managed five clubs and also the national team in the country, and he has thus far enjoyed a great deal of success.
The Blues have lost just three games all season – to Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham – and are heavy favourites to win the Premier League title this term, with just 12 games of the season remaining.
Chelsea face West Ham United on Monday in their next Premier League fixture. 

Our Fantasy Football writer looks over our Premier League Team of the Week which includes stars from Tottenham, Chelsea, Leicester, and more

After a 13 day layoff, Premier League action returned with a bang this week. We saw struggling Tottenham dismantle Stoke, Chelsea take another step towards the title, and a Ranieri-less Leicester return to the tactics that won them the league last season. As for the players that impressed? Simply look below to check out our Goal Fantasy Team of the Week.
With March fast approaching there has never been a better time to get involved in Goal'sFantasy Football game. We're giving away an Xbox or PS4 package to the best manager every month. Think you've got what it takes to top the leaderboard over the next few weeks?


Dickson seeks army support towards crime free state

GOVERNOR Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has called on the Nigerian Army to support the state in ensuring that crime and criminality is outlawed in the creeks and to strengthen collaboration towards the development of education and other sectors in the state.
The governor made the remarks while receiving the visiting Chief of Army Staff, lieutenant General Tukur Burutai on a courtesy visit at his office in Yenagoa on Tuesday. He commended the Federal government and the Nigerian Army for making good their promise of establishing 16 Brigade of the Nigerian Army in Yenagoa, stressing that it would further strengthen the bond of relationship between the government and the military Authority.
Dickson said the establishment of the Brigade would complement his administration’s efforts of ridding the state of criminal activities. He says, it is obvious that the government has a clear agenda on security and so it is commendable, as the base will be operationalized, he also called on the Army high command to give the brigade all that is needed for a smooth operation.
He called on the Nigerian Army to take quick advantage of the land provided by the government to bring about development in the state with erecting structures like army schools, and hospitals, he also presented a letter of collaboration to the Chief of Army staff to partner with the Ijaw National Academy which is cut across in all Local Government Areas.
He also thanked them for the proposed Battalion at Nembe, which would assist in addressing some of the maritime challenges in the area and also asked them to operationalize the battalion in no distant time. General Burutai accompanied by the governor shortly after the meeting, commissioned the new Brigade base and assured the people of the commitment of the Nigerian Army to bring peace and stability to the state.
He stated that Bayelsa is strategic to the economic development of the Country and as a result the security agents have major role to play in securing the state. General Burutai further thanked the governor, and assured that Military Authority would not hesitate in supporting the government to achieve his lofty ambition of repositioning the state and make it safe haven for investors.
Reiterating his commitment to peace and stability of the state, the governor called on the Army Authority to tell the good story of the state, submitting that this is the only way to attract local and foreign investors.
Earlier in his remarks, General Tukur thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for the approval of 16 Brigade of the Nigerian Army base in Bayelsa and recalled that last year the Army council proposed a brigade base to be cited in Yenagoa and this has been fulfilled.
He described Bayelsa state as a strategic location with boundaries with the Atlantic Ocean and at a strategic cross line and disclosed that the brigade is working to establish the next unit in Nembe.
He thanked the governor for the support so far shown to the Nigerian army in Bayelsa state, and congratulated him on his new office, describing it as a landmark achievement. He thanked Bayelsans in general for their support and promised that the Nigerian Army would reciprocate by working with other security outfits to ensure that there is calm in the state. Speaking with journalists, commissioner for information and orientation, Hon. Jonathan Obuebite says that the governor will stop at nothing to ensure that Bayelsa state is safe, and when that is done there would be no limit to the number of investors and investments that will be done in the state and that would be in all sectors of the economy.
Obuebite called on Bayelsans to work with the various security agents as all that is been put in place is for the good of all and should not be politicized by any person or group of persons.

Blame selfishness for lingering PDP crisis — Chieftain


A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State, Mr Opeyemi Falegan, has said that the prolonged leadership crisis rocking the party is as a result of some selfish, egocentric and self-centred politicians within the party.
Falegan said in a statement made available to newsmen in Ado Ekiti, on Tuesday, that it had become imperative for all PDP stakeholders across the country to work together as an entity and rebuild the party to salvage it.
He said “there is no other time to rebuild the PDP than now, hence the need for all to close our ranks and move on in the interest of Nigerians.”
He explained that with the latest development from the Court of Appeal, the coast was “clear that Ali Modu Sheriff’s chairmanship position is the undoubted and authentic one and it is now the responsibility of all lovers of democracy within and outside the party to support him.”
According to him, “PDP remains the only party in Nigeria that believes in the principles of justice, equity and good governance at all levels and the party will not derail from such attributes, but rather continue to promote democracy in the country.
‪”Therefore, anybody who believes he is too big to submit himself to the constituted authority in the party must be shown the way out in order to allow peace and tranquillity to reign in the party.
‪”Whoever believes he has grown above the law of the party and the Nigerian constitution, no matter how highly placed he may be, must also be called to order as a way of bringing sanctity and ideal into PDP. This will go a long way in restoring the lost glory of the party.
‪”Nobody will accept a situation whereby a certain cabal will continue to hold a whole party and country to ransom because of their selfish agenda at the expense of all party loyalists in and outside the country, especially in the build up to another general election in Nigeria.”
The United Kingdom-based politician also called on PDP chieftains to come together and support the Sheriff-led national executive members who are determined to always protect the interest of all party members without bias to reposition PDP, saying “this will encourage him to organise an all inclusive national convention where an acceptable new chairman will emerge soon.”
‪He called on the national chairman to, as a matter of urgency, look at all issues affecting the party dispassionately and bring everybody on board again in order to make the party come back stronger and take up its leadership position in Nigeria’s politics soon.
‪”Efforts must be concentrated on how to make reconciliation and call a truce where necessary in order to reposition PDP and win subsequent elections and at the same time, those who erred must also be sanctioned to serve as a deterrent to others in future,” Falegan said.

FG to support snail farming to curb food insecurity in Nigeria

IN order to curb food insecurity ravaging virtually all the states of the Federation, the Federal Government, on Tuesday, promised to support snail farming in all its ramifications in order to curb food insecurity in Nigeria.
It pointed out that snail farming was a veritable source of raw materials for the country’s pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries and animal feed manufacturing companies.
Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, made this promise, while responding to the requests from the Federation of Snail Farmers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (FSFPMAN) led by its National President, Honourable Ebeh Ikechukwu, who paid him a visit in Abuja.
He said Nigeria could not afford to continue to depend on foreign sources for its protein requirements.
According to him, “I would like to inform you that National Bio-Technology Development Agency (NABTDA), one of the agencies under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, is conducting a lot of research and developmental work, and also innovations are in the area of small farming and processing.
“We would like to link you up with the management of NABTDA so that they would avail you of a lot they have already done in snail farming; there is a lot of improvement in the technology for snail farming.”
“So, we will support you, we will assist you in all areas you need our support, because by doing so we are supporting the well being of our nation. We can’t continue to rely on foreign sources for our protein requirement and also to meet the needs of our pharmaceutical industry as well as cosmetics industry and even for animal feed.
We will give you the support that is desirable; we are ready and willing. After this meeting, we will make arrangement for you to visit the NABTDA headquarters, here in Abuja, and they will take you to some of their centres where research and developmental work are ongoing in areas of snail farming, processing and so on.
“Snail farming, processing and marketing is very important for the food security of our nation, as snail is a very good source of protein and is a delicacy so many people enjoy, not just in Nigeria but also all over the world; so, snail farming has tremendous potentials. Not only will it help us to achieve our food security in Nigeria but is also a source of raw materials.
“It can be used for export and it will help our nation in the creation of wealth as well as the creation of jobs, because it is not only a source of protein for our food but also is a raw material that is needed in large quantity in the pharmaceutical industries, in cosmetics industries, in animal feed producing industries and so on. So, snail farming is extremely important to our food security and to our economy”, he added.
Earlier, the National President, Honourable Ikechukwu, said snail farming would generate far more revenue for the nation’s economy than crude oil, thus creating more jobs and wealth for the citizens.
Ikechukwu then called on the ministry to assist in making snail farming a viable venture in Nigeria, pointing out that it was a good source of raw materials for pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries, among others.

Osinbajo inaugurates private sector advisory group



THE Acting President on Tuesday inaugurated Private Sector Advisory Group for the Sustainable Development Goals (PSAG), stressing the need for elite to deemphasize the pursuit of wealth.
Performing the ceremony at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, he observed that there was so much corruption in the country because of the importance attached to wealth.
He said countries that placed more value in the contributions of individuals to the society tended to develop more than those in which people attached value to self worth.
According to him, “We have decided as elite in this country that wealth is a measure of worth. It is a decision we made consciously or unconsciously.”
“The political elite have decided that wealth is a measure of worth and that is why you find so much corruption among the political elite. Even the religious elite believe that it is a blessing of God.”
“There are some societies that have decided that the value of human beings is in their contribution to the society. Those societies, of course, have done better than those who have decided that wealth, no matter how it was obtained, is a measure of worth.
“I think is important if our elite decide that dealing with poverty is worth the while and that it will measure whether or not we are serious about our society.”
Osinbajo described the inauguration as the beginning of the unique partnership between the public and private sector, admonishing that the Nigerian elite had the responsibility to ensure that they do something for the society which will affect it fundamentally.
He said: “Everywhere in the world, it is that elite that have always make a difference in the societies. Those are the ones responsible for transformation.”
“Many of the societies that have been truly transformed have done so when their elite decided that it was necessary to do so.”
“Sometimes, when you look at our situation, you think that it is necessary to force the political and private sector elite together to do something.”
“But the truth is that whether or not we recognise it formally, they are doing things together whether it is for good or ill. The important thing is to recognise that we have an important role to play.”
In her remarks, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, observed that the inauguration of the (PSAG) was a landmark event as Nigeria was the first United Nation member state to have it.
According to her, it was a renewed partnership between business and government at the highest levels to build the consensus needed for the successful implementation of the SDGs.
Noting the connection among prosperity of business, a flourishing society and the health of the environment, she said few businesses can only thrive unless the countries in which they operate are thriving.
Orelope-Adefulire added: “No country has significantly improved people’s lives without the driving force of a vibrant economy.”
“In the face of a prevailing fiscal crunch, it has become urgent to leverage multi-stakeholder engagement to mobilize non-government resources for SDGs implementation.”
“It is in this recognition that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals-Fund established the global Private Sector Advisory Group as a powerful platform for business leaders from across the world to interact, leverage comparative advantages, exchange lessons learned, promote South South, North South and Triangular Cooperation and in the process, accelerate the attainment of the SDGs.”

Strike paralyses activities in Kogi

Activities at government establishments were paralysed in Kogi State, on Monday, as workers commenced the three-day warning strike that was declared over their welfare.
Many of the offices at the state secretariat, local government areas offices, public schools and other public institutions were under lock and key in compliance with the strike declared by the organised labour unions in the state.
Many of the public school pupils and students that went to their various schools for academic activities were turned back as their teachers also complied with the warning strike.
The warning strike that started on Monday is expected to end tomorrow, when the workers are expected back at their various desks.
The three unions in the state, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Joint Negotiating Council (JNC), had directed the workers to embark on the warning strike over the fate of their members following the ongoing staff verification exercise.
The chairman of the NLC, Onuh Edoka, while addressing newsmen over the hardship being faced by their members due to the screening exercise, said the warning strike was to make government comply with the March 31 deadline date set for the screening.
Speaking over the compliance with the strike, Edoka lauded the workers of the state for their total adherence to the warning strike, saying the development showed that the workers were more united than ever.
According to him, the workers’ action was a pointer to government that the deadline date must be adhered to, adding that failure might make the unions embark on total strike that would completely paralyse government’s activities across the state.
It would be recalled that the state governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, had during his meeting with the leadership of the unions last week promised that very thing about screening in the state would end by March 31.
He said his administration was determined to clear the rot in the civil service, pledging that every cleared worker would be paid their salaries by the deadline date.
He lamented that despite the existence of anomalies in the civil service that had hindered the system from serving the people as spelt out by the constitution, successive administration could not have the courage to address the problems.
According to him “The damage of over twenty five years cannot be tackled within one year. If my predecessors summon courage to check the excesses in the civil service by now it couldn’t have been so cumbersome, but we will not be deterred by the existing challenges and act of sabotage, we are already in it and we shall follow it to logical conclusion”.

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