Can Fani-Kayode bring secessionist agitators to peace table?
The title of this article was the exact question posed by a senior security official at an informal breakfast in August. It was at a time when speculations were rife that Chief Femi Fani-Kayode would defect to the All-Progressives Congress (APC) from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). I have always referred to Femi Fani-Kayode (FFK) as a "Fire-for-Fire" advocate, since February 2004...
Real Madrid held at home by Villarreal
Real Madrid missed the chance to go five points clear at the top of LaLiga as they were held 0-0 by Villarreal at the Bernabeu on Saturday. The result means Carlo Ancelotti’s side move onto 17 points, three above city rivals Atletico Madrid, who lost 1-0 away to Alaves earlier in the day. Villarreal, meanwhile, remain unbeaten but have won just...
Devastated Joshua heads to hospital to check broken eye socket
Anthony Joshua, fresh from being dethroned as world boxing heavyweight champions, is set to go to hospital to check a suspected broken eye socket. Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn, who announced this moments after the loss to Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine on Saturday in London, said also that his fighter was “devastated” by the defeat. He, however, acknowledged that the Joshua camp...
Aston Villa stun Manchester United as Fernandes misses late penalty kick
Bruno Fernandes blazed a stoppage-time penalty kick over the crossbar as Aston Villa earned a shock 1-0 victory at a below-par Manchester United in the English Premier League on Saturday. Kortney Hause’s 88th-minute header had put Aston Villa on course for their first league win over Manchester United since 2009. But the defender’s handball gifted United an opportunity to steal a...
Falconets spank CAR 7-0 in U-20 women’s World Cup qualifiers
The Super Falconets on Saturday in Douala spanked their counterparts from the Central African Republic (CAR) 7-0 in a 2022 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup qualifier. The Nigerian under-20 women national football team won the African qualifiers’ first round first leg match in emphatic fashion to make the second leg in Lagos a formality. The two-time runners-up at the FIFA U20 Women’s...
Ghana names Rajevac as new Black Stars coach
The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has named 67-year-old Serbian Milovan Rajevac as the new coach for the Black Stars, its senior men’s national team. Rajevac replaced former coach Charles Kwabena Akonnor who was sacked with his two assistants early this month. He has signed a one-year contract with Ghana and will have Maxwell Konadu and former Ghanaian international Otto Addo as...
A blow to the butchers of our people
In the last few weeks there has been a remarkable and devastating onslaught on the killer bandits and murderous terrorists of North Western Nigeria. Zamfara State has been the model case and other North Western states including Katsina, Kaduna, Sokoto, Jigawa, Kebbi and Niger states have taken the cue and have also risen to the occasion. What the governors of these...
Wada Maida’s midas touch on journalism
On Thursday, September 16, 2021, headquarters of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja was formally renamed Wada Maida House, a befitting honour to a veteran journalist, who worked most of his life for the agency. Until his death, August 17, 2020, Malam Wada Abdullahi Maida, 70, was the Chairman of the NAN Board. Before then, Wada, as he was...
Reckless comments on 2023 presidency
Fredrick Nwabufo Power. It excites and incites. It can excite hope and strength, or incite tension, hate and bitterness. Why should the regional background of the next president be a vexatious issue, evoking threats and recriminations? Why should brothers be at daggers drawn with each other over the geography of power? What happened to gentlemanly ententes, negotiations and trade-offs? What...
Reps to probe exclusion of Rivers from World Bank loan projects
House of Representatives on Wednesday called for investigation of an alleged exclusion of Rivers from projects to be financed by a fresh World Bank loan. Solomon Bob (PDP-Rivers) had alleged in the House that the Federal Government, as widely reported by some newspapers, is the only state that would not benefit from the loans. He stated that the report, if true,...
