Global Naija Info

Diego Costa celebrating his comeback goal Diego Costa on Sunday scored for leaders Chelsea as the Blues defeated bottom-of-the-table Hull City 2-0 in Week 22 of the English Premier League (EPL) at Stamford Bridge. Costa scored when he converted Victor Moses’ low cross from eight yards out in the seventh minute of first-half injury time. The long stoppage time was a result of a head injury to Hull midfielder Ryan Mason, who went to hospital after being carried off on a stretcher wearing an oxygen mask. This had followed a clash of heads with Chelsea defender Gary Cahill. The Spain striker missed last weekend’s 3-0 win over champions Leicester, citing a back injury after a disagreement with a fitness coach, amid reports of Chinese Super League interest. But the Blues’ top scorer —- cheered throughout the game by home fans —- returned against struggling Hull and had an early impact. He sent an effort from 20 yards fizzing just wide after only 10 seconds. Hull played well but lack

Osinbajo The Federal Government said it had so far released over N375 million toward the implementation of its school feeding programme in five states, this year. Mr Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Vice-President, made this known in a statement on Sunday in Abuja. Akande said that the release of the amount was meant to feed almost 700,000 primary school pupils in the five states. According to him, all states of the federation, except two, are now being processed for the payment of N30, 000 monthly stipends to 200,000 graduates, the N-Power beneficiaries. Akande, who was giving update on the Federal Government’s Social Investment Programmes (SIP), noted that the programmes were proceeding at different stages of implementation. He revealed that the government, last week, released money for the smooth implementation of the Homegrown School Feeding Programme in Anambra, Ogun, Oyo, Osun and Ebonyi, to cover the feeding for 10 school days. “The su

Wale Adeduro Former Chairman of Cashcow Microfinance Bank Ltd Igbosere Lagos Island, Lagos State, southwest Nigeria, Dr Wale Adeduro, who has eluded the police for over two years, has been arrested by detectives from the Special Fraud Unit, Milverton Road, Ikoyi on the directive of the Inspector General of Police. The arrest of Adeduro was sequel to a petition written by Cashcow Micro Finance Bank to the inspector General of Police, accusing the former chairman of N50,389,000.09 fraud. The accused has remained elusive and at large in concert with the former Managing Director and two directors of the bank. They were accused of stealing and diverting depositors funds at Cashcow Microfinance Bank between 2010 and 2015. In the petition, the former chairman allegedly diverted the funds for his personal use and to set up a Bureau de Change named -Stillwater Limited. The other three accused, the former Managing Director Titilayo Adesanya, former Manager, Kemi Adebayo and a director of t

Adejoro Olumofin Relationship Blogger & Consultant Adejoro Olumofin has said on social media that the recession has resulted in men wanting to be with women who can pay their bills themselves. See his post below: Based on Direct / Indirect observation, Psychometrics, and a poll from the thousands of emails I receive from my readers, “bae” searchers and prospective clients ; it seems like Love in our Generation comes with a price. Do you agree? Most men today are looking for the following : 1️⃣ A Lady with an above decent paying Job ( at least 200 -250k) 2️⃣ A lady with a foreign passport ( Born in the US or UK) 3️⃣ A lady who has MBA or Msc. Bsc almost doesn’t count anymore 4️⃣ A lady who has a car, some guys don’t want to pay for uber and taxi fair anymore 5️⃣A lady who has her own place and doesn’t cramp his own personal space 6️⃣A lady whose parents have strong connections in Politics or Corporate world 7️⃣ A lady who contributes money to every date, outing, bills p

NCC The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said telecommunications service providers recorded 27,644 Mobile Number Portability (MNP) activities in December, 2016. This was revealed in the ”Incoming and Outgoing Porting Activities of Mobile Network Operators” on Sunday in Lagos. The report showed that there was a decrease of 6,475 in the porting activities during the period as against 34,119 recorded in the preceding month. It said that out of the total porting activities during the period, 14,059 were “incoming’’ while 13,585 were “outgoing’’. The report also showed 4,747 subscribers migrated from Airtel to other networks during the month and that 4,349 customers moved from MTN to other networks. It also indicated that 3,010 subscribers left Globacom network to others, while 1,479 customers of Etisalat ported to other networks within the period. For incoming porting statistics, the report revealed that Etisalat enjoyed had 10,956 customers on its network to lead others d

Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State Gov Nasiru El-Rufai of Kaduna State has said that all those found culpable in the killing of innocent people in the recent crisis in Southern Kaduna will be prosecuted. He described the incident as unfortunate and condemnable. He said his when the Council of Traditional Chiefs and Emirs, led by Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris, paid him a solidarity visit. “This is not something to talk about because I am not the first governor to receive this kind of treatment, every governor in the last 15 years in this state has been treated this way and it is part of the challenges and burden of leadership. So I am not disturbed. “As you know, leaders especially in any political dispensation, must learn to tolerate a lot of things because you have those who like you and those who oppose you because of political differences. ” That is why I did not take this personal, but what we will do is to prosecute all those responsible for the killings

Kerber Top seed and defending champion Angelique Kerber suffered a fourth-round exit from the Australian Open to world number 35 Coco Vandeweghe. German Kerber, 29, claimed Grand Slam titles at Melbourne and the US Open last year, but lost 6-2 6-3. American Vandeweghe, 25, faces a last-eight meeting with Spain’s French Open champion Garbine Muguruza, who beat Romanian Sorana Cirstea 6-2 6-3. Venus Williams also progressed, beating Germany’s Mona Barthel. The 36-year-old seven-time Grand Slam champion – the oldest player in the women’s singles – won 6-3 7-5 and will take on Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who beat fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3 6-3. Vandeweghe’s victory was her first against a world number one and takes her to a Grand Slam quarter-final for the second time in her career, after reaching the last eight at Wimbledon in 2015. It meant the top seed from the women’s and men’s draws both left the competition on day seven, after Andy Murray’s shock defeat by Germany’s

The prime suspect, Oladimeji A 33 year old suspect and ex-convict, Olawasegun Oladimeji, arrested by operatives of Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command for vandalising Toyota cars in Victoria Island, has confessed that he has vandalised 47 cars and removed their brain boxes in the last two months. Oladimeji, a barber, also said a spare part dealer in Ladipo International Market was the one who gave him the specifications of cars to vandalise. He was arrested in Lekki last week by the RRS officials, barely six weeks after he regained freedom from Kirikiri Prison, Lagos. The suspect, according to report had just vandalised some vehicles around Lekki before he was apprehended by the RRS’s patrol team. Found in his possession were several body parts of Toyota Corolla and mobile phones, which he stole from the garage guards, who were sleeping when he broke in. He disclosed that he was released from prison in November, 2016 after he was convicted for three mont

Nigeria-police The Police in Borno on Sunday denied media report on alleged abduction of Alhaji Modu Ali, the Caretaker Chairman of Bama Local Government Council, by suspected gunmen. Mr Victor Isuku, the spokesman of the command, dismissed the report while fielding questions in Maiduguri. Isuku explained that Ali was arrested by court orderlies using private tricycle. “Modu Ali was not kidnapped or abducted by gunmen as reported in the media. “He was arrested by court orderlies based on an order of a court in Maiduguri,” he said. Isuku added that Ali had been reunited with his family after he was released by the court.

Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State Gov Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State on Sunday threatened to revoke the certificate of occupancy (C of O) of any petrol station whose owner is found hoarding the product. Tambuwal, who inspected some fuel stations in Sokoto town, alleged that some fuel dealers were hoarding the product to cause artificial scarcity. He said his government would commission a joint task force, to include officials of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), to fish out erring fuel dealers. According to him, the task force has become necessary to ascertain that markers comply with laid down rules and regulations guiding their operations. The governor’s threat followed the scarcity of petroleum products being witnessed in Sokoto town and environs in the last two weeks. “The state government will not fold its arms and watch unscrupulous marketers hold the people to ransom. “The supply of the commodity from the NNPC has not been altered. “As such, no one sho

Adeniji Kazeem The Lagos State Government has begun implementation of the Executive Order ratified by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on December 16, 2016 which established the Lagos State Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy. The Executive Order highlights the importance and priority which the State Government placed towards protecting the lives of children and it applies to all State Government organisations, all schools, child centred institutions, orphanages and child related institutions located in the State, both public and private. Speaking during the annual general meeting and intervention programme put together by the Office of Education Quality Assurance which was attended by over 1,000 participants, Coordinator of Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT), an agency under the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi said the State Government was determined to implement the Executive Order to ensure the protection of children. She said the need for

Nigerian Guild of Editors The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has advised aggrieved persons and organisations to channel their grievances to appropriate authorities rather than resort to arrest of journalists in the country. While calling for caution, the NGE condemned the recent arrest and detention of the publisher of Premium Times, an online publication, Mr Dapo Olorunyomi, and his judiciary correspondent, Ms Evelyn Okakwu, by the police. The guild made its position known in a statement made available on Sunday in Abuja. The statement was jointly signed by the NGE President, Ms Funke Egbemode, and the General Secretary, Mrs Victoria Ibanga. The guild described the action of the police as “unwarranted assault on the freedom of the press and undue interference”. According to the statement, the recent siege on Premium Times was avoidable if grievances were channelled to the appropriate quarters for redress rather subjecting journalists to “inhuman treatment for exercising their

Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, SAN Motorists in Lagos on Sunday expressed huge dissatisfaction with the Federal Ministry of Works, Power and Housing over the abysmal handling of construction work on Lagos roads, especially on Third Mainland Bridge and Kara bridge, saying that the action called to question the ability of those in charge to handle matters professionally. A cross section of the motorists, who spoke to our correspondent about the development, said the negligent manner with which some of the construction works in Lagos were being handled left much to be desired of a government that is ready to carry out its responsibilities without subjecting the people to needless and avoidable inconveniences. They urged the Minister in charge of the ministries, Mr. Babatunde Fashola and the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to wake up from ‘their slumber’ and do the needful by going about their duties with utmost regard for the people. A motorist,

Eko DISCO Head Office The management of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) on Sunday said the company planned to install 200,000 pre-paid meters for consumers in 2017 to end estimated billing. Mr Oladele Amoda, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, made the disclosure in an interview in Lagos. Amoda said the company had signed an agreement with Mojek International, an indigenous smart meter manufacturing company, for the supply of over 100,000 meters in December. “We also signed another agreement with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd, an international company based in this country, to supply the remaining 100,000 pre-paid meters. “We have already started metering consumers under our network with these meters. “It is our responsibility to meter all consumers and we are looking at being able to deploy the 200,000 meters before the year runs out. “The motive is to eliminate estimation of consumers billing by 2017,” he said. Amoda said the company had been on a me

Venus Williams Venus Williams on Sunday swept aside Germany’s Mona Barthel to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for the seventh time. The 36 year-old seven-time Grand Slam champion won 6-3 7-5 in Melbourne. Williams, the oldest player in the women’s singles, will now face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who beat fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3 6-3. It has been 19 years since Venus Williams reached her first Australian Open quarter-final and 14 years since her one and only final when she lost to her sister Serena. In recent years, she has had to cope with the autoimmune disorder Sjogren’s syndrome, but has managed to reach at least the last 16 at six of the last seven Grand Slams. Barthel, ranked 118th in the world, had played Williams twice before but missed four months of tennis in 2015, because of chronic fatigue illness. “I know what it’s like to be down on your luck, but she knows how to play tennis and she’s experienced. “We’d played a couple of tough match

Prof. Olurotimi Ajayi, VC Crawford University. “The capacity to identify critical problems of our society and to provide cutting-edge solutions through research output is the key required to national success,” a said on Saturday. The Vice-Chancellor, Crawford University, Igbesa, Ogun, Prof. Olurotimi Ajayi, made the submission on Saturday at the 12th matriculation ceremony of the institution. Ajayi, addressing the matriculating postgraduate students, said that postgraduate studies should lay emphasis on identifying the needs of the society with a view to proffering solutions. “To the postgraduate students, I will like to restate that postgraduate study is not a tea party. It is the hallmark of academic pursuit in the university system worldwide. “It requires much efforts, hard work and dedication because the goal is to turn researchers into high-calibre manpower critically and also turnaround local, national and global industries. “It is also meant to identify and solve societa

Protesting UNIOSUN students on Saturday after the police shot two students playing football. Students of the Osun State University, Osogbo, on Saturday protested the shooting of two of their colleagues by some policemen. The protesting students lit bonfires on major streets and impeded human and vehicular traffic within Osogbo metropolis. The shot students, Kazeem Adesola and Ibrahim Ajao, were playing football on a pitch at Oke-Baale area of the metropolis when the incident occurred. The policemen, who came in plain clothes, had accused some students on the pitch of being involved in internet fraud. An eyewitness, who craved anonymity, accused the police of persistently extorting money from students. The eyewitness, a student of the institution, said the resistance by those on the pitch led to Saturday’s shooting incident. “We were playing football when the policemen came. They always come like that to arrest students. “They would say that we are involved in Yahoo-Yahoo(inte

Serena Williams Serena Williams gave compatriot Nicole Gibbs a lesson in grand slam tennis with a 6-1 6-3 thrashing to charge into the fourth round of the Australian Open on Saturday. Having passed her earlier tests against more accomplished players, second seed Williams had far too many weapons for the 92nd-ranked Gibbs, who appeared overawed by the occasion at a sun-drenched Rod Laver Arena. Williams suffered a brief lapse when serving for the match at 5-2 and was broken for the first time, but she promptly broke back to close out the one-sided contest in just over an hour. The 35-year-old American, bidding for a record 23rd grand slam title in the professional era and a seventh at Melbourne Park, heads into the second week, and a clash against 16th seed Barbora Strycova, in fine touch. “I feel like I have been able to do pretty good,” Williams told reporters, having had only two tour matches to warm up for the tournament after calling off her season after the U.S. Open last S

Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, SAN Motorists plying the 3rd Mainland Bridge in Lagos have been attacking the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola over the ongoing repair works on the bridge. Many of them have taken to the social media to vent their anger at Fashola over the long hours they spent on the bridge before getting to their destinations. Some of them accused the minister of insensitivity by not informing them earlier of government’s intention to commence repair works on the bridge. Following the ongoing repair works on the bridge, a twitter user, @Miz hazy complained that she spent nine hours on the bridge on Friday. Another twitted: ”Na wao, this Fashola man no send us o. which kind suffering be dis.” Majority of them called on the minister and his team to complete the repairs quickly so that they could carry on their activities without delay.

Gylfi Sigurdsson scored the winner to seal Swansea’s first league victory at Anfield Swansea lifted themselves off the bottom of the Premier League table and dealt a huge blow to Liverpool’s title hopes with a thrilling win at Anfield. Gylfi Sigurdsson scored from close range with 16 minutes left to give Paul Clement his first win as Swans boss and the club their first away league victory over the Reds. Roberto Firmino had struck twice to draw the hosts level after Fernando Llorente’s two goals in four minutes after the break. The defeat leaves Liverpool seven points behind leaders Chelsea, who now have a game in hand, at home against Hull on Sunday. The Tigers are one of three teams, along with Sunderland and Crystal Palace, leapfrogged by Swansea, who move up to 17th after only their second win in eight league games. In the wake of last weekend’s demoralising 4-0 defeat by Arsenal, Clement said Swansea would be “naive” to ignore the possibility of Premier League relegation thi

Femi Aribisala The love of life is the basis of all sin. The salvation popularly preached in the churches is not the salvation of Jesus Christ. The notion that Christians are already saved is beguiling, bewitching and illusory. Paul says we are saved without works. (Ephesians 2:9). Then he enjoins us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12). However, there can never be salvation in this world. True salvation is not attained until we arrive at the safe harbour of the Father’s house. The Israelites celebrated their deliverance from Egypt with tambourine and dance. But, alas, only two of those who left Egypt entered the Promised Land. Like some Christians of today, if you had interviewed them after the Red Sea miracle, they would have told you they were saved. Salvation of God We need to understand salvation strictly from God’s perspective. Jesus provides its basic features in the parable of the Prodigal Son. (Luke 15:11-32). There we see a sinner at

Egypt National Team Egypt scored a last-minute goal to secure the three points at stake when they beat Uganda 1-0 in a Day 2, Group D match at the ongoing 2017 AFCON at the Stade de Port-Gentil in Gabon Abdalla El Said netted in the 89th minute for Egypt, the most successful nation in AFCON history. The Egyptians, now in second place on the Group D table with 4 points, won the title in 1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008, and 2010. Earlier in the day, Ghana defeated Mali 1-0 in the same group and qualified for the quarter-finals.

Jammeh-bye-bye-to-Gambia Disgraced former Zambian president Yahya Jammeh finally left the country on Saturday night with the Guinean president Alpha Conde after agreeing to step aside and allow the will of the people to prevail. Here is Jammeh’s speech on his decision to relinquish power after West African troops entered his country to flush him out by force. “I have decided today in good conscience to relinquish the mantle of leadership of this great nation,” said Jammeh, dressed in his usual white robe and looking tired. “It was not dictated by anything else but by the supreme interest of you the gambian people and out dear country taking into consideration my prayer that peace and security continue to reign in the Gambia. “All those who have supported me or were against me in this period, I implore them to put the supreme interest of our nation the Gambia above all partisan interest and endeavour to work together as one nation,” he added. Jammeh made no mention of whether he