Transfer Update: Ten Hag Extends Maguire’s Captaincy, Reveals Plan For Ronaldo

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July 11, 2022

New Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has confirmed that Harry Maguire remains as the club’s captain.

The experienced centre-back was given the armband shortly after his 2019 transfer from Leicester City.

Ten Hag also clarified that Cristiano Ronaldo is in his plans for the new season while fielding a number of questions on the striker’s future

Ten Hag spoke at his first press conference of Tour 2022 to preview Tuesday’s match against Liverpool at Bangkok’s Rajamangala Stadium.

After confirming in the press conference that “Harry Maguire is the captain”, Erik was then asked to explain why he is right for the role.

“Of course, I have to get to know all the players and it takes time,” the manager was quoted as saying on Manchester United’s website.

“But he is an established captain for a few years and he has achieved a lot of success, so I don’t doubt about this issue.”

The Reds’ new boss was asked about the absence of the Portugal international from his Tour 2022 squad during his pre-match press conference for Tuesday’s match against Liverpool in Bangkok.

“He is not with us, and it is due to personal reasons,” said the Dutchman.

“We are planning with Cristiano Ronaldo for this season.

“That’s it and I’m looking forward to working with him.”

He added, “Cristiano is in our plans and we want to get success together.”

Ten Hag was keen to stress he has previously had a very positive conversation with the 37-year-old.

“I had a good conversation with him and I had a really good talk,” he added..

“(The conversation) is between Cristiano and me,” he said. “But what I can confirm is we had a really good conversation together.”

Transfer Update: Juventus Celebrate Pogba’s Return

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Emenike Agu

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July 11, 2022

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French World Cup winning midfielder, Paul Pogba, has returned to Serie A side Juventus on a free transfer, the Italian giants announced on their website on Monday.

The 29-year-old enjoyed a highly successful first spell at Juventus (2012-16) before Manchester United swooped to sign him for a then record 105 million euros ($106 million).

“Paul is back in Turin,” Juventus said on their website below a photo of a grinning Pogba in a Juventus shirt.

“He left as a boy and returns as a man and a champion.

But there is one thing that has not changed — the desire to write unforgettable pages of club history together once more.”Pogba is back and we couldn’t be happier.”

Pogba underwent his medical over the weekend and it is believed he has been offered a four-year deal which will earn him a reported eight million euros ($8.12 million) a season plus a potential two million euros in bonuses.

He rejoins Juve after his contract with Manchester United expired at the end of last month, marking the end of a largely disappointing six years back in England.

Dysfunctional United are further away from the top of English football than when he joined. They have not won a Premier League title in nine years.

The 2017 Europa League and the same season’s League Cup are a poor haul for Pogba at one of the world’s biggest clubs, especially as they both came under Jose Mourinho, a period when Pogba has said he first suffered from depression.

Pogba is expected to inherit the number 10 jersey from Paulo Dybala, who could join Juve’s fiercest rivals Inter Milan after the Argentina forward was let go by the Turin giants.

Pogba wore that jersey in his final season at Juve, joining such iconic playmakers as Roberto Baggio, Alessandro del Piero, Michele Platini and Liam Brady.

He had moved to Juve from United four years previously while still a teenager and made a huge impression in a slick midfield featuring the likes of Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal.

Pogba blossomed when coach Massimiliano Allegri replaced Antonio Conte in 2014. The Frenchman drove a powerful team to the following year’s Champions league final, losing to Barcelona.

He won the Serie A title in each of his four seasons at the Old Lady of Italian football and retained his affection for Juve. He was linked with a return on several occasions during his time at United.

Allegri will be hoping that Pogba can help Juve return to their former glories after they finished fourth last season, 16 points behind champions AC Milan.

Pogba is Juve’s second notable signing in recent days. The club secured the signature of veteran Argentina winger Angel Di Maria after he was released by French champions Paris Saint-Germain.

NDLEA Arrests Trafficker Exporting Drugs To Dubai, Others

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Olasunbo Okoromi

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July 11, 2022

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Nigeria’s Anti-narcotic Agency, the National drug Law Enforcement Agency NDLEA has arrested a human trafficker, Mathew Bassey who planted hard drugs in the luggage of an orphan, Ms. Peter Gift Eno with the intention to export them to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The Agency’s spokesperson Mr. Femi Babafemi in a press statement said, the arrests was made at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos, South West Nigeria.

The trafficker, Bassey, 29, from Oron LGA, Akwa Ibom state was arrested on Wednesday 6th July following the interception of Eno at the departure hall of the Lagos airport.

The statement said, when Eno’s luggage was searched, 50 parcels of cannabis (2.80kg) concealed in food items were discovered while there were discrepancies between the age she declared and the date of birth on her international passport.

Investigations showed that the victim who hails from the same Oron LGA of Akwa Ibom State like Bassey, recently lost her mother and as a result made it easy for Bassey to recruit her with the promise of securing her a job in Dubai, UAE.

In a related development, the desperate bid by a drug trafficker, Aloysius Ajuruchukwu Onyekwe (a.k.a) Kelvin to travel by road to Algeria through Sokoto state Northern Nigeria with ingested 47 wraps of cocaine in his stomach has been frustrated by NDLEA operatives who intercepted him in Ibadan, Oyo state following intelligence shared by the Department of State Security, DSS.

Also in Oyo state South West Nigeria, “about 1,900 tablets of Tramadol 225mg were seized from a drug dealer, Mustapha Ijabula, 22, who was arrested in a Yola, Adamawa-bound commercial vehicle stopped for routine search along Lagos-Ibadan expressway.”

In Akwa Ibom state, Southern Nigeria, “a trans-border trafficker, Fonkou Dassi, 31, was on Friday 8th July arrested with 6,000 tablets of Tramadol 225mg weighing 3kg by officers of Marine Unit of the Agency when a commercial boat he boarded was intercepted and searched on his way to Cameroon. The suspect concealed the recovered drugs inside indomie noodles carton.”

In Edo state, “a notorious drug dealer Beauty Dauda, 27, has been arrested with various quantities of Meth, heroin, cannabis and crack cocaine in a densely populated slum along Lagos bypass, Benin City.”

Reacting on the seizures, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) commended the officers and men of the MMIA, Oyo, Akwa Ibom and Edo commands of the Agency for staying vigilant and proactive in their areas of responsibility. He charged them and their colleagues across the country not to rest on their oars.

UCH rescinds proposed N1000 electricity tarrif on patients

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Cleopatra Okohai

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July 11, 2022

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The management of the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, says it has rescinded its earlier decision to add N1,000 electricity fee to the service charge of every admitted patient in the hospital.

This was contained in a statement made available to the Newsmen in Ibadan by the hospital’s spokesperson, Mr Toye Akinrinlola.

The statement reported the Director of Administration of the hospital, Mr Stephen Oladejo, as saying that there was never a time the hospital charged such fee.

It said that there was no time the hospital charged such fee, and that it was more concerned with adequate healthcare delivery to Nigerians.

It said the memo being referred to was an internal document which was not implemented after a thorough review from internal mechanisms for such issues and had since been withdrawn.

The statement said at no point did the hospital charge electricity fee.

“We are assuring the public that we shall continue to deliver effective and efficient healthcare to Nigerians, irrespective of status,” he said.

Oladejo reiterated the commitment of the hospital to delivery optimal healthcare services to the many patients who thronged the hospital daily.

According to him, the the hospital has been magnanimous on several occasions by writing off unpaid medical bills.

“It is also important to state that the University College Hospital does not turn back patients and that on several occasions, had written off bills incurred by indigent patients.

“Our doors are always open for people to cross check our activities,” he said.

NAN reports that the tertiary hospital had in an internal memo dated June 21, 2022, leaked to the media, proposed N1000 utility bill to be added to the service charge of patients seeking to access care in the hospital. (NAN)

Shocking! No Nigerian In CAF Awards Men’s Category

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Emenike Agu

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July 11, 2022

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Nigerian men footballers have been relegated to the spectators’ stands as none of them make the latest cut as the initial shortlist is pruned.

Moses Simon who made the initial 30-man list has fallen out in the latest 10-man list that features heavyweight players that include past winners such as Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Riyad Mahrez.

Also, Akinkunmi Amoo of FC Copenhagen who made the initial 10 -man list has been screened out in the latest five-man list in the Young Player of the Year Award.

The Awards will hold on 21 July in Rabat as a sideline to the ongoing WAFCON.

One of the highly contested categories is that of the CAF Coach of the Year, where Aliou Cisse, Pitso Mosimane, Carlos Queiroz, Tom Saintfiet and Walid Regragui have made the final cut.

The Player of the Year and Interclub Player of the Year has 10 nominees each, whist the Young Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, National Team of the Year and Club of the Year has five (5) nominees each.

The winners of each category will be decided by a voting panel made up of CAF Technical Committee, media professionals, Head Coaches & Captains of Member Associations and clubs involved at the group stage of the Interclub competitions for the 2021/22 season.

Full List of Nominees (in alphabetical order by Member Association):

Player of the Year (Men)

Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Manchester City)

Karl Toko Ekambi (Cameroon & Olympique Lyonnais)

Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon & Al Nassr)

Sebastien Haller (Cote d’Ivoire & Ajax)

Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)

Naby Keita (Guinea & Liverpool)

Achraf Hakimi (Morocco & Paris Saint-Germain)

Edouard Mendy (Senegal & Chelsea)

Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal & Napoli)

Sadio Mane (Senegal & Bayern Munich)

Interclub Player of the Year (Men)

Tiago Azulao (Petro Atletico)

Karim Konate (ASEC Mimosas)

Aliou Dieng (Al Ahly)

Ali Maaloul (Al Ahly)

Percy Tau (Al Ahly)

Mohamed Sherif (Al Ahly)

Mohamed El Shenawy (Al Ahly)

Achraf Dari (Wydad Athletic Club)

Yahya Jabrane (Wydad Athletic Club)

Zouheir El Moutaraji (Wydad Athletic Club)

Young Player of the Year (Men)

Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso & Lorient)

Karim Konate (Cote d’Ivoire & ASEC/RB Salzburg)

Kamaldeen Sulemana (Ghana & Rennes)

Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal & Metz)

Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia & Manchester United)

Coach of the Year (Men)

Carlos Queiroz (Egypt)

Pitso Mosimane (Al Ahly)

Tom Saintfiet (The Gambia)

Walid Regragui (Wydad Athletic Club)

Aliou Cisse (Senegal)

National Team of the Year

Burkina Faso

Cameroon

Egypt

Morocco

Senegal

Club of the Year

Petro Atletico (Angola)

Al Ahly (Egypt)

RS Berkane (Morocco)

Wydad Athletic Club (Morocco)

Orlando Pirates (South Africa)

Sokoto: Water Scarcity Bites Harder As Supply Dries Up

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Olasunbo Okoromi

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July 11, 2022

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The Sokoto Water Board has not been able to pump water through the pipeline network since contractors stopped supplying expensive diesel to pump water.

LN247 gathered that because of the unavailability of diesel, the water board resorted to distributing water using tankers that go to households.

Residents have been seen chasing after water tankers at Masallacin Shehu, Atiku UbanDoma, Sabon Birni, Aliyu Jodi and Kofar Kade among other residential areas.

Other residents troop to the Water Board headquarters and to water treatment plants on Illela Road to fetch water.

A source at the Water Board told reporters that aside unavailability of diesel, other logistics like debt owed to contractors supplying water treatment chemicals were challenges being faced.

The source hinted that contractors stopped supply because of unpaid accumulated expenses by the government.

Some residents alleged that the water board was supplying adulterated water through the pipeline network until Thursday when supply stopped totally.

They alleged that the poor quality water was untreated, brownish in colour and had bad taste.

When contacted on phone, General Manager, Sokoto State Water Board, Alhaji Isma’ila Umar-Sanda, initially expressed misgivings that newsmen were only out to look for negative issues.

He said newshounds were not approaching the board on its routine activities till things went bad, stressing that all hitches were temporary and efforts were being made to address them.

He added also that there was no Commissioner for Water Resources in the state.

In a statement issued by Malam Muhammad Bello, Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs to Gov. Aminu Tambuwal, however, the governor expressed displeasure at the situation.

“As Muslims in Sokoto State celebrate sallah, some residents of the metropolis had to cope with shortage of water supply, a situation which prompted the state government to respond swiftly.

“Only last week government gave N114 million to the water board to tackle the issue.

“It is surprising that the problem still persists; hence the governor’s decision that the state government will investigate what went wrong,’’ Bello stated.

Nasarawa Escapes The Drop, Compound Kano Pillars’ Woes

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Emenike Agu

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July 11, 2022

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It was a battle of survival between Nasarawa United and Kano Pillars in one of the MatchDay 37 encounter of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) games as the season nears end.

Nasarawa desperation for survival was evident in the encounter at the adopted home in Jos with crisp display from the kickoff, dictating the pace from all fronts forcing Pillars defence to committing fouls and conceding no fewer than five corner kicks in the first thirty minutes of the game.

Though the first half was scoreless; it was the hosts that exhibited the hunger for victory with Pillars chasing the ball and waiting for the counter that rarely happened with occasional breakaway that left Nasarawa defence unperturbed.

Joshua Ogbole eventually decided the tide of the game in the 68th as he latched on a pull out from Chinedu Ohanachom who went deep into the flank to supply the cross for Ogbole to tap into the net for the lone goal.

It raised some mild controversy as Pillars players complained that the ball had gone out of play before it was lobbed for Ogbole to score; a complaint that earned keeper Joshua Enahobo a yellow card for confronting the Assistant Referee.

The decision of the referee to allow the goal was criticised by Salisu Yusuf, the Pillars handler who expressed dissatisfaction on the officials that handled the game.

“The officiating is a disappointment and the referees need to improve in handling of matches.”

“There can be improvements from match officials as against what we witnessed this evening and for us to improve in the standard of play; officiating has to improve” the Pillars handler protested.

However, it was jubilation for Bala Nikyu as his team escaped the drop with the victory over Pillars.
“Pillars came to play a spoiler role. We have to dig deep and remain focused in our determination to secure victory which eventually came our way”.

“Though it is a disappointing season, we still have our stars to thank for escaping relegation”, an elated Nasarawa coach stated after the game.

The victory ensured Nasarawa United with 50 points has maintained its position in the elite division.

Akwa Ibom Governor Issues Directive To Repair Collapsed Roads In The State

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Olasunbo Okoromi

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July 11, 2022

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Gov. Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom has directed remedial work on the collapsed Road in Mkpok, Idua, Ediam and Umana Ndon streets in Eket Local Government Area of the state.

The state Commissioner for Environment and Mineral Resources, Mr Charles Udoh, disclosed this to the Newsmen in Eket, Akwa Ibom on Saturday.

He said the governor had commenced the process of the remedial work at Mkpok, Ediam, Idua, and Umana Ndon streets in Eket.

Udoh stated that the process was ongoing and the contractors would soon move to site of the collapsed roads in the area.

He advised commuters to avoid the failed areas of the roads as soon as possible, saying that avoiding the bad portions would be safe.

The commissioner said that himself, Permanent Secretary and other staff of the ministry would be at the site on Saturday, adding that the attention of the ministry was drawn to the collapsed portion of the roads last week.

He warned motorists plying the routes to look for alternative roads, saying that the road was impassable.

The road collapsed in early hours of Saturday during the heavy down pour that started by 10 p.m. on Friday.

WAFCON 2022: Waldrum Happy With Super Falcons So Far In Morocco

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Emenike Agu

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July 11, 2022

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Super Falcons coach, Randy Waldrum, is elated with his team’s progress at the ongoing 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) despite seeing an early shock.

When Nigeria lost their opening game against South Africa 2-1 on July 4 in Morocco, there was a lot of unrest within their camp and back home from the fans.

They also lost star striker Asisat Oshoala, to injury which led to her being ruled out of the rest of the tournament.

However, having a deeply talented side like Nigeria, Waldrum made some changes to the team and has since been reaping the benefits.

“We played very well in the first half and were in control of the game, but then we became a bit sloppy in the second half.

“There is definitely room for improvement, but I like the trajectory of the team so far,” he explained after their 4-0 win over Burundi on Sunday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Super Falcons have now kept two clean sheets at the WAFCON 2022.

Waldrum says this is a sign that things are looking good for them, just like they planned.

“We are improving in every game that we play. I’m happy with the way the players have reacted to our last two games because we execute our plans well. We have urgency in the way that we play.”

“We have also given an opportunity to younger players to get a feel of the tournament so that we can also rest some of the players that have played heavy minutes.”

He said he was very impressed with the situation.

“Against Burundi on Sunday, we started Uchenna [Kanu] and she came through. Rasheedat [Ajibade] was great also. Peace [Ewomazino Efih] and Uchenna were great in the midfield.

“We have talent that is very beneficial. We have more good players to select from. I have confidence in what we are doing and we are in a really good place.”

NAN reports that the Super Falcons have scored the most goals in the tournament, finding the back of the net seven times while only conceding twice.

Roadside Fuel Seller Sets Ablaze Akwa Ibom varsity Student

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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July 11, 2022

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There was tension in Udo Idiong Junction in Obio Okpa campus of the Akwa Ibom State University, OrukAnam local government area of the state, as a roadside petrol dealer on Sunday set ablaze one Enwongo Akpan, a 200-level philosophy student of the institution, over a minor disagreement.

It was gathered that trouble started when the student unknowingly bought adulterated fuel of N500 only from the dealer who is now on the run.

The victim returned the adulterated fuel to the dealer after he emptied the content into his generating set tank but the engine did not ignite.

An eyewitness, Idongesit Akpan, told newsmen on Monday that in the ensuing argument, the dealer made for the petrol gallon and poured it content on his victim and struck a match on him before he caught fire while others scampered for safety .

Akpan further stated that the victim was rescued by the villagers and students who alerted the Vice Chancellor of the University Prof Nse Essien who ordered that the victim be rushed to Mercy Hospital in Abak, where he received treatment before being transferred to another hospital in Uyo, the state capital for better treatment.

Akpan said, “The incident attracted attention of community leaders such as former Chairman of OrukAnam, Prince Ubong Idiong, who prevailed on students to forestall reprisal action by students of the University .

The Police Public Relations Officer of the Akwa Ibom State Police command, Odiko Macdon, who confirmed the incident said the Commissioner of Police, Olatoye Dorusinmi, has ordered investigation into the matter, adding that the suspect would soon be arrested.

He said, “Yes, we are aware of the incident. But the suspect escaped from the scene. Police are trailing the suspect now and he will soon be brought to book.”