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Nigerian Born Dutch Player, Danjuma Teams Up With Chukwueze At Villarreal

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Nigerian born Arnaut Danjuma has left Bournemouth to join Villarreal, where Super Eagles forward, Samuel Chukwueze also plays. Danjuma signed for the Spanish club for an undisclosed fee.

The 24-year-old winger joined Bournemouth in 2019  and made 52 appearances for the Cherries, scoring 17 times.

The Dutchman had signed a “long-term” contract with the club but leaves after only two years on the south coast.

Villarreal finished seventh in La Liga last season, and beat Manchester United on penalties to win the Europa League.

Danjuma was born in Nigeria to a Dutch father and Nigerian mother, and was eligible for either national team.

He earned his first full international call up when the current Barcelona coach, Ronald Koeman named him in the Holland’s squad in October 2018.

Danjuma played his first international match against Germany on 13 October when he came on as a 68th-minute substitute. He scored his first international goal on 16 October 2018 against Belgium.

Mauling of children by lion in Tanzania being probed

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A conservation organisation in Tanzania is still looking into the mauling of children by a lion near the Ngorongoro wildlife park nearly three weeks ago, Anadolu agency reports.

Three children were killed and one was injured as they ventured into the forest to trace their cattle.

William Ole Seki of the Kope Lion NGO said the lion was not collared but was believed to be part of the resident pride at the park.

He said the organisation that helps prevent lion-human conflict was working with the authorities to ensure the incident does not happen again.

Local authorities had said the family of the three boys who were killed would be compensated.

There’s growing concerns of the revenge killing of lions following the attack, the Chronicle newspaper reports.

AFCON 2021: Super Eagles Will Not Underrate Sudan, Guinea Bissau – Alloy Agu

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Super Eagles goalkeeper trainer, Alloy Agu has said Nigeria won’t underrate any of her opponents at the forthcoming 2021 African Cup of Nations billed for Cameroon next January.

Miffed by assertions that playing the duo of Guinea Bissau and Sudan would be a stroll in the park for both Nigeria and Egypt, Agu fumed against what he described as a “smaller team” tag given the growth of the game in Africa.

Nigeria is in Group D alongside seven-time champions, Egypt; Sudan, and Guinea Bissau in the draws held in Yaounde on Tuesday, with Nigeria tipped to advance from Group D alongside Egypt.

In an exclusive interview with Sports Writers on Wednesday, Agu assured that no team will be treated lightly adding that the era when teams are regarded as minnows was over.

“Nobody should see any team as a smaller side because the game has developed tremendously in Africa, and every team is seen as a potential champion provided their preparation is good

“We won’t be looking down on any of these teams, rather, we will study them and prepare well against them.

“Don’t forget, those teams that people regard as smaller teams tend to play better when they come against a bigger side like Nigeria. There won’t be room for complacency on our side,” he added.

Many pundits have tipped Egypt to emerge as Group D winners, followed by Nigeria.

Already, the Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has hinted at his preparations plan as he targets a better outing in Cameroon compared to the third-place finish in Egypt two years ago.

Rohr said: “We will have at least one or two friendlies before the competition, we will start our campaign on the 11th (January). It’s the third day of the tournament so we have a bit more time but we have to be in Cameroon on the 6th – five days before the competition.”

After facing the Pharaohs on January 11, the Super Eagles will face Sudan four days later before rounding off their campaign in the group stage with their third game against Guinea Bissau on Wednesday, January 19.\

First Kenyans evacuated from Afghanistan

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Three Kenyans have been evacuated from Afghanistan, while nine remain stranded in the country following the Taliban’s seizure of power on Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said, in a statement.

The 12 worked for international organisations – including the World Bank and the International Rescue Committee.

Kenya had no diplomatic presence in Afghanistan, and had urged the organisations which employed the 12 to evacuate them as a matter of urgency, the statement said.

“One, working for the International Development Law Organization, arrived back to Kenya on Wednesday, while two, working for Action Contre la Faim, have been evacuated. They are expected back home tonight,” it added.

DR Congo to make sign language official

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The government in the Democratic Republic of Congo plans to make sign language as the fifth official language, adding to Swahili, Lingala, Kituba and Tshiluba.

It will be formally taught in schools to help people who rely on sign language to access government services more easily.

“It’s a community that for long has been marginalised because of the communication challenges,” DR Congo’s minister for people with disabilities, Irene Esambo, told the BBC.

There have been cases of people dying while seeking treatment because they could not express themselves and others lost court cases because of the difficulty in communicating, according to sign language teacher Nicola Tshilomba.

Sign language experts from different provinces in the country are meeting for the next 30 days to agree on signs to be used so that there is a uniform approach in schools.

The government also plans to launch a sign language dictionary.

DR Congo has an estimated two million people with sight and hearig disabilities, according to the World Health Organization’s 2012 report

European Club Association Readmits Man United And Co; Barca, Juve And Madrid Remain Isolated

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The European Club Association (ECA) has agreed that nine of the 12 European Super League (ESL) breakaway clubs can remain as members.

AC Milan, Arsenal, Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur had originally resigned from the ECA on April 21 when the short-lived ESL was announced.

While the nine will retain their ECA memberships for the current 2019-2023 membership cycle, the three remaining ESL clubs – Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus – have become increasingly isolated as they pursue a legal judgement they hope will legitimise their breakaway.

In a statement, the ECA said that there had been “an exhaustive process of re-engagement by the clubs and re-assessment by the ECA over recent months.”

The ECA Executive Board said it had taken into consideration the clubs’ recognition that the ESL “was not in the interests of the wider football community and their publicly communicated decisions to abandon said ESL Project completely.”

“This decision of the ECA Board marks the end of a regrettable and turbulent episode for European football and aligns with ECA’s relentless focus to strengthen unity in European football,” the statement continued.

“Through this period of unprecedented challenge, the ECA has firmly established itself as the only organisation through which the leading clubs in Europe can promote and protect their interests in football, whilst also developing the competition landscape and reinforcing the centrality of clubs in the governance of European football.

“The ECA can now proceed with renewed unity and solidarity to continue the important work needed to stabilise and develop European club football – at a time when this is needed the most.”

The re-admittance of the clubs reduces the likelihood of a significant ESL breakaway in the future, though does not rule out the possibility of a Super League.

As long as the nine clubs remain in the ECA, any potential Super League would have to take place within European football’s existing governance structures.

Outrage as Rwanda restricts basketball championship to jabbed fans

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Rwanda’s basketball fans will be allowed into the Kigali Arena to see the Africa championship that kicks off on Tuesday but must be vaccinated first.

This 30th edition of the 16 national male teams championship known as AfroBasket, was moved back a week due to the Covid pandemic.

Rwanda Basketball Federation says it is mandatory for Rwandans to have taken at least the first dose of a Covid vaccine to be allowed into the arena.

“For those who are not vaccinated yet, a vaccination desk will be established” at the arena, the federation says in a statement.

Spectators will also be required to present a negative test result, and buy an entrance ticket of at least $7.

The advent of covid-19 has seen Scientists and medical experts more devided than ever on the veracity of the virus with many protests all over the world against forceful vaccination.

Legal experts hold that it is illegal to make vaccination mandatory especially when there are reports that many have died as a result of the jab they recieved against the virus.

Many athletes in other sports have been forced to take the Jab for fear of being oostracised.

Plateau state relaxes curfew imposed after killings

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The authorities in Nigeria’s central Plateau state have relaxed a 24-hour curfew imposed in the state capital Jos and surrounding areas after the killing of at least 23 people.

The Muslim travellers were killed and dozens others wounded in a predominantly Christian neighbourhood on Saturday.

They had been returning from a religious ceremony marking the Islamic New Year when they were attacked by a mob in Jos.

In a statement, state governor Simon Lalong said the curfew would now be observed from 6pm to 6am.

The decision was reached after a meeting of the state security council on Wednesday.

The governor expressed concern that there had been led to loss of lives in parts of Jos and Bassa areas during the curfew period and ‘’warned trouble makers to desist from threatening lives and properties”.

He said security agencies would mount permanent checkpoints in ‘’high vulnerable areas’’ and carry out patrols.

The ban on processions remained in force.

The latest violence is seen as a blow to the relative peace witnessed in recent years – in a state where more than a decade of inter-communal clashes led to the deaths of thousands of people.

Mauritius lawyer appointed to top UN post

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Mauritius lawyer Pramila Patten has been appointed the officer-in-charge of UN Women, an agency which campaigns for gender equality.

She will oversee the transition at the agency as it finds a successor to South Africa’s Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, whose eight-year tenure as executive director is ending.

Ms Patten has been serving as the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict since April 2017.

“Ms Patten has deep experience in the field of gender equality and women’s empowerment,” UN secretary-general António Guterres said in a statement.

She was an adviser in Mauritius’ Ministry of Women’s Rights from 2000 to 2004, and had also been a barrister in the UK.

Nigerian city bans beggars and hawkers

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The Lagos state government in Nigeria has banned street begging and has formed a special team to stop the “menace”, local media report.

The team is expected to begin operations in the next few days. A state official in charge of youth and social development told journalists that beggars on the streets were a nuisance to law-abiding citizens.

Olusegun Dawodu said beggars and hawkers, who included children, were being transported from other parts of the country to the city.

He said the “business” was demeaning and an abuse to humanity, especially the children who were being forced into it.

He added that some of the beggars and hawkers were linked to crime in the city – by assaulting and robbing city residents.”The activities of these people in our streets impede human movement and vehicular traffic, constitute environmental nuisance and security threats,” Mr Dawodu is quoted by local media as saying.

The move came days after the police raised the alarm over criminals disguising themselves as beggars and attacking Lagos residents.