Former FC Dragon coach, Edema Fuludu has said Flying Eagles are favourites to qualify from Group B of the 2013 Fifa Under-20 World Cup in Turkey. Nigeria has been pitched against Cuba, Korea Republic and Portugal. Fuludu said though the Flying Eagles f...
Players of three-time Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) champions, Dolphins have embarked on an indefinite strike to press home demands over the non-payment of their signing-on fees for the 2011/12 football season. This will be the second tim...
Kano Pillars have said they will unleash Flying Eagles defensive midfielder, Shehu Abdullahi on their Caf Champions League opponents, the Athletic Club Leopards de Dolisie of Congo this weekend. The Kano club won the first fixture, first round encounte...
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called on former Minister for the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasiru el-Rufai to come clean on his role in the setting up of Pentascope instead of castigating him (Atiku). Atiku, in his first official reac...
A jilted lover-girl identified as Chinonye (surname withheld) a native of Umunede, Delta State, has allegedly killed two brothers by poisoning their drink on Easter Sunday. Reports said that though the people of Umunede have arrested the suspect who de...
Prosecutors said Dr. Virginia Soares de Souza and her medical team administered muscle relaxing drugs to patients, then reduced their oxygen supply, causing them to die of asphyxia at the Evangelical Hospital in the southern city of Curitiba. De Souza,...
Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher believes Reds captain Steven Gerrard will end his career at Anfield. Gerrard, 32, underlined his enduring value to Liverpool with a dominant display capped by the winning penalty in his side’s 2-1 victory at Ast...
Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan has stated his desire to retain the Arabian Leagues Golden Shoe award at the end of the season. The Al Ain hitman won the prestigious award which is similar to the European Golden Shoe gong for the most goals scored in all th...
The National Sports Commission (NSC) has assured that beach volleyball would be included on the list of sports for the 19th National Sports Festival (NSF) in Calabar, Cross River State. NSC’s Assistant Director of Elite Athletes Development (EAD)...
Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain will today clash in the Uefa Champions League quarter finals in an encounter that will see PSG striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic play against his former club Barcelona. Already, Barcelona’s sporting director Andoni Zubi...
Gov. Umaru Tanko Al-makura of Nasarawa State has congratulated the Christian community on the successful completion of the Lenten period that culminated in the Easter celebration.
``The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is the reason for the celebration, is one of the greatest events in the history of Christendom and humanity,’’ Al-makura said in a statement.
The statement was signed by the Press Secretary to the Deputy Governor, Danjuma Joseph and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday.
The governor, in the statement, therefore, urged Christian faithful to use the opportunity of the ``wonderful'' season to reflect on the lessons of the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
He also admonished Christians to use this memorable event, which he described as the basis of the Christian faith, to preach and promote peace, as a prerequisite for the development of Nasarawa State and the country at large.
he described the significance of the celebration to mankind was multi-dimensional and urged Christians to reflect on it in their relationship with one another and people of other faiths, to ensure peace and stability in the state.
He also used the occasion to call on thepeople of Nasarawa State to be their brothers’ keeper, noting that that was the only sure way of promoting peace and development in the state.
Members of the various PDP factions in Ogun on Monday, held a closed-door reconciliatory meeting at the hilltop residence of former Olusegun Obasanjo, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
Obasanjo was also the immediate past Chairman of the party's Board of Trustees (BOT).
NAN reports that those who attended the four-hour meeting were Chief Segun Oni, a former PDP National Vice-Chairman, South-West, Sen Jubril Martins Kuye, a former Minister of State for Finance and Chief Sarafa Ishola, a former Minister for Mines and Steel Development.
Some of the party chieftains who addressed newsmen described the meeting as fruitful.
Kuye told newsmen that the development was part of the moves to reposition the party ahead of the 2015 General Elections.
He said that the intra-party crises had caused a lot of setbacks to the party in the state, adding that it was necessary for elders of the party to come together and "mend broken fences", to move the party forward.
He hinged the choice of Obasanjo's residence on the fact that ``the former president is an embodiment of peace and a rallying point of the party both in the South-West and at the national level.''
Kuye said that series of such meetings would be held at regular intervals to ensure that the party was united and focused ahead of the 2015 General Elections.
Also speaking, Ishola expressed optimism that the initiative would bring to an end the crisis which had polarised the party and denied it of victory at the 2011 gubernatorial elections in the state.
He called on other aggrieved members of the party to return saying: "There is no end to reconciliation. All channels of communications would be kept open."
The former minister gave the assurance that the party remained a formidable family and members were ready to sacrifice personal interests for the overall good of the party.
The presidency has debunked report in the media that the first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan was undergoing another round of medical treatment abroad, saying she was in Germany only to attend to her ailing mother, Mama Sisi, apart from holidaying with her children who are currently on Easter vacation abroad.
An online newspaper had reported on Saturday that Dame Patience who had fell ill again and had travelled to Germany and Spain and Germany was also contemplating receiving medical treatment from a United States Hospital.
But Special Assistant on Media to the first lady, Mr. Ayo Osinlu in a statement noted that apart form attending to her sick mother, Dame Patience "has a history of visiting the hospital in Germany even before she became the First Lady, thus making her medical trips routine", adding that "It is also instructive to state that medical experts have recommended that every human being should undergo medical check up every six months, even if not suffering ill health".
The statement made available to LEADERSHIP reads in parts: "Our attention has been attracted by some curiosity in a cross section of the public and particularly the media, about the movement of Her Excellency, the First Lady, Dame (Dr) Patience Goodluck Jonathan.
"For the avoidance of doubts and ambiguities, we wish to state that the First Lady travelled to Dubai, after which she proceeded to Paris, France, to participate in the 1st Green Women Conference, which took place in Paris on March 17, 2013 where she received the 2013 Global Women Leaders’ Award for Peace.
"She thereafter proceeded to Italy from where she went to Germany to see her mother, Mama Sisi, who is currently receiving medical attention. The First Lady is spending sometime overseeing the management of her mother’s condition. She is also using the opportunity to spend quality time with her holidaying children before they return to school, as they are with her to see their grandmother.
"It is unfortunate that again, some media houses have allowed themselves to be used by dedicated mischief makers against the basic tenet of professional journalism, which regards truth as sacred. Therefore, hospital visitations of our leaders should not become leading media issues or attract disrespectful comments, just as the current circumstances of former President Mandela and other African leaders in similar situations, and even those who died, have not attracted negative comments from their people.
"While urging a more charitable disposition towards one another as our brothers’ keepers, we wish to express our appreciation for the sincere interests of those who have shown genuine concern through their enquiries.
The First Lady is expected back within the next week".
The Catholic Bishop of Ilorin Diocese, the Most Rev. Ayo-Maria Atoyebi, has urged the three tiers of government to do more for the citizenry to ensure their well-being. Atoyebi made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Mo...
An Italian oil firm, Eni, on Monday shut down its activities in the swampy oil fields located in Bayelsa over theft.
The firm, in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenagoa on Monday, attributed the frequent spills to oil theft by vandals and said that it had decided to shut down operations to prevent further damages to the environment.
Eni, which operates in Nigeria as Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC), said it authorised the suspension of operations on March 22 and subsequently declared ‘Force Majeure’ on its oil output from the facility on March 23.
`Force Majeure' is a legal notice that absolves an oil firm of liabilities for failure to meet supply obligations to crude buyers due to circumstances beyond the firm’s control
“Eni confirms that during the night between 21 and 22 March, the company has declared force majeure and ordered the closure of its onshore activities in the Swamp Area, located in Bayelsa State in Nigeria.
“The decision was made due to the intensified bunkering, consisting in the sabotage of pipelines and the theft of crude oil, which has recently reached unsustainable levels regarding both personal safety and damage to the environment.
“Sustainability is for Eni a priority in Nigeria, as in all the countries in which it operates, the statement said.
According to the statement, the firm produced about 40,000 barrels of crude oil equivalent daily from the shut facilities.
It espressed regret about 7,000 barrels of its daily crude production was lost to oil thieves in Bayelsa, a development the firm described as unsustainable and compelled it to shut down.