PEN TO THE WORLD

Arsenal boss, Mikel Arteta, has given reason for his side’s Premier League 1-0 defeat to Southampton on Saturday. Southampton defeated Arsenal at St. Mary’s Stadium, thanks to Jan Bednarek’s first-half goal. The result against Southampton means Arsenal are now in the sixth position on the Premier League table with 54 points from 31 games. Speaking during his post-match press conference, Arteta said the Gunners lost against Southampton because his players failed to score against the host, adding that the opponent’s goalkeeper was also exceptional. "[It is] Difficult to explain [Why we lost against Southampton] because this is football, not basketball." "It’s decided in the boxes and for the amount of time we spent around their box we didn’t put them on the goal.” “They had an exceptional goalkeeper,” he added. Arsenal’s next game is against Chelsea on Wednesday. Source: DAILY POST

A Nigerian athlete, Favour Ofili, has broken Blessing Okagbare’s 200 metres National Record at the Tom Jones Memorial Classic 2022. Okagbare previously held the National Record since 2018 with a time of 22.04 seconds. Ofili ran a blistering 21.96 secs to also become the first collegian athlete to ever go sub 22 secs. With the time, she also emerged as the first Nigerian female to break 22secs in the women’s 200m. She has set a new National Record, NCAA Record. Her time is also the fastest in the world this year, the fastest ever in the NCAA and a new School Record. On Friday, Favour Ofili powered to World Lead of 21.96s (1.3) to take the women’s 200m at the Tom Jones Invitational in Florida, ahead of Kamaya Debose-Epps who ran 22.81secs and Jonah Ross in 22.91secs. Ofili is a Nigerian track and field athlete specialising in the 200 metres and 400 metres sprints. She is the 2019 African Games silver medalist in the 400 metres. She is also the 2019 African Youth Champion in t

Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, has supervised the distribution of N275 million to 90,000 households of internally displaced persons, who were also given bags of food, and textiles. This is in line with the tradition, which Zulum has sustained in the last three years, as part of multi-faced efforts to increase the resilience of communities affected by Boko Haram attacks. Through the intervention, the government also supports the people with livelihoods as they gradually transit into farming, micro, small, and medium scale businesses in order to eventually cater to themselves. According to a statement on Saturday by Zulum’s spokesman, Mallam Isa Gusau, the cash support has also been an effective tool in fighting Boko Haram’s ability to recruit spies from extremely poor and vulnerable communities. The statement said Monguno has been host to internally displaced persons from about five Local Government Areas in the fringes of the Lake Chad, as well as refugees who

Former Chelsea boss, Jose Mourinho, has reacted after Manchester United star, Nemanja Matic revealed he was leaving Old Trafford at the end of the season. The 33-year-old confirmed on Friday that this season will be his last at Manchester United. And Mourinho, who coached Matic at Chelsea and Manchester United sent an emotional message to the Serbian. Matic came to Old Trafford from Chelsea in 2017 in a £32 million deal and has made 182 appearances for the Red Devils under Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Michael Carrick and now Ralf Rangnick. Mourinho brought Matic back to Chelsea after the midfielder left for Benfica and also took him along to Manchester United. Responding to the Sebia international’s post on social media, Mourinho simply wrote: “Proud to be part of your history.” Source: DAILY POST

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has conferred with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members in the South-West ahead of the 2023 elections. The Friday night meeting had in attendance many party stalwarts and stakeholders, including former ministers. Atiku disclosed that he made a passionate appeal for everyone to work together and return PDP to power next year. “My friends from the Southwest particularly agreed that our party has remained in the opposition for too long in the West. “I’m humbled by their shared belief in my capacity to reunite Nigeria and once again bring the PDP back as a major party in the Southwest”, he said. Present were ex-Jigawa and Adamawa Governors, Sule Lamido and Boni Haruna, ex-Minister Kabiru Turaki, and Business mogul Raymond Dokpesi among others. Atiku, who has contested in three presidential elections, is a major contender for the PDP 2023 ticket. Also in the race are former Senate Presidents Bukola Saraki and Anyim Pius Anyim. The rest incl

Moscow on Saturday announced it was banning entry to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and several other top UK officials, after London imposed sanctions on Russia over its military operation in Ukraine. “This step was taken as a response to London’s unbridled information and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally, creating conditions for restricting our country and strangling the domestic economy,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. The ministry accused London of “unprecedented hostile actions”, in particular referring to sanctions on Russia’s senior officials.   “The British leadership is deliberately aggravating the situation surrounding Ukraine, pumping the Kyiv regime with lethal weapons and coordinating similar efforts on the behalf of NATO,” the ministry said.  Russia’s entry blacklist includes UK Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, former Prime Minister Theresa May and the First Mini

The vibrant entertainment industry in the country has witnessed a harvest of deaths in recent times. While some of the deceased were advanced in age, some could be said to be in their prime when they were snatched by the cold hands of death.  Saturday Beats  takes a look at some of the deaths that have depleted the entertainment industry in recent times Osinachi Nwachukwu Popular gospel singer, Osinachi Nwachukwu, died on April 8, 2022, at the age of 42 and many are still mourning her loss. Nwachukwu shot into the limelight with the hit gospel song, ‘Ekwueme’, which she was featured on by Prospa Ochimana. The ‘Ekwueme’ singer was confirmed dead at an Abuja hospital after reportedly being on life support for some time. It was alleged that she was a victim of domestic violence, and her husband, Peter Nwachukwu, is said to be in police custody. Before her death, Osinachi featured in several gospel songs such as ‘Nara Ekele’, and ‘You no dey use me Play’. Her last song, ‘Ikem (

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has told presidential aspirants in the ruling All Progressives Congress to go to the field and sell their candidatures to the electorate,  Saturday PUNCH  has learnt. A Presidency source told one of our correspondents that Buhari did not ask any of those who consulted him to either run or drop their ambitions. Rather, the President was quoted to have advised them not to compromise the integrity of the APC and the Federal Government in their campaigns. So far, no fewer than eight aspirants in the ruling party have declared their interests in taking over from the President when his tenure expires on May 29, 2023. The aspirants are Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; a former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi; Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello; a businessman, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim; a former governor of Imo State, Senator Rochas Okoro

Manchester United midfielder, Nemanja Matic, has confirmed he will leave at the end of the season. The 33-year-old has been at Old Trafford for five seasons. However, Matic has struggled for playing time under Ralf Rangnick this campaign. The former Chelsea player has one year left on his deal but has informed the club of his intention to move on this summer. After a great deal of thought, I have decided that this season will be my last with Manchester United. I have informed the board, the manager and the players of my decision. “It has been a huge honour and a privilege to play for this great club. A big thank you to the fans for their unwavering support. “I will now give everything until the end of the season to help my teammates finish as strongly as possible,” Matic wrote on Instagram. Matic has made 183 appearances for United since joining from Chelsea in the summer of 2017, scoring four goals. Source: DAILY POST

Twitter moved Friday to defend itself against Elon Musk’s $43 billion hostile takeover bid, announcing a plan that would allow shareholders to purchase additional stock. “The Rights Plan will reduce the likelihood that any entity, person or group gains control of Twitter through open market accumulation without paying all shareholders an appropriate control premium,” Twitter said in a statement. Details later…

Former Real Madrid and Manchester United striker, Michael Owen, has predicted outcomes of the Premier League fixtures and FA Cup semi-final ties taking place this weekend. Manchester City will host Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-final tie on Saturday at Wembley Stadium, while Chelsea will clash with Crystal Palace on Sunday. Southampton will host Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday, and Manchester United will face Norwich City. Providing his predictions, Owen was quoted by BetVictor as saying: FA Cup: Man City 1-2 Liverpool Chelsea 2-1 Crystal Palace EPL: Tottenham 3-1 Brighton Manchester United 1-0 Norwich Southampton 0-2 Arsenal Watford 1-2 Brentford Newcastle 1-0 Leicester West Ham 2-0 Burnley Source: DAILY POST

The Ricketts Family has pulled out of its bid to buy Chelsea Football Club from Russian-Israeli billionaire, Roman Abramovich. Ricketts Family was one of the final four left in the process after a deadline from sellers Raine Group passed on Thursday. However, the bidders, officially known as the Ricketts-Griffin-Gilbert Group, have now released a statement on Friday announcing their reason for withdrawal. The statement read: “The Ricketts-Griffin-Gilbert group has decided, after careful consideration, not to submit a final bid for Chelsea FC. In the process of finalising the proposal, it became increasingly clear that certain issues could not be addressed given the unusual dynamics around the sales process. "We have great admiration for Chelsea and its fans and we wish the new owners well.” Recall that Abramovich had announced that he had put Chelsea up for sale, claiming that the decision was in Chelsea’s ‘best interest’. Abramovich was sanctioned by the British gover

Popular blogger, Linda Ikeji, has boasted of hiring 100 lawyers to fight against the N25 million awarded against her over an alleged libel content her blog published. She said this on  Twitter  while reacting to the judgement of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja asking her to pay general and exemplary damages of N25 million to a claimant, Mrs Ajibola Ajayi, daughter of former Governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi. She also criticised a law firm that represented Ajayi, Olaniwun Ajayi LP, for bringing the case to public knowledge on  Twitter . Her blog was also asked to publish a written apology, according to the law firm. Linda Ikeji had reported that Ajayi described some protesting students of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology as a “generation of mannerless children”. But the former Oyo governor’s daughter after the publication issued a press statement noting that the  Instagram page  quoted by Linda Ikeji, ‘conceited_csj’, was not he

Senator Bola Tinubu on Friday urged Nigerians to remember the millions of people who have been displaced by violent battles and attacks in Nigeria. Tinubu said this while urging Christians across Nigeria and the world at large to imbibe Christ’s life of service, compassion and sacrifice as they mark Good Friday ahead of the Easter celebrations. The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential hopeful made the call in a statement in Lagos. The former Governor of Lagos State said, “This year has brought together the sacred days of two of the great Abrahamic religions and as Christians commemorate the sacrificial death of Christ, Muslims observe the Holy Month of Ramadan. "In this, we are reminded that we Nigerians may be of different religions, yet we are of one family. We serve but one God. “As we celebrate Jesus’ sacrifice this day, let us remember the millions of people who have been displaced by violent conflict and attack in our own nation.” On Good Friday, Tinubu a

Veteran highlife musician, Orlando Julius, has died at the age of 79. His death was announced in the early hours of Friday. The  ‘A dara, a dara’  singer’s widow, Latoya, relayed the death announcement through music promoter, Bimbo Esho. “Bimbo, Daddy Has Passed On….This was the message I stumbled on waking up at exactly 3 am to peruse my  WhatsApp  page. It was a message sent to me by Orlando Julius’ beautiful and supportive wife Lady Latoya. “Orlando Julius, a native of Ijebu Ijesha, succumbed to the cold hands of death and breathed his last few hours ago at the age of 79. “We shall miss one of Nigeria’s fathers of Afro/Highlife Music, a gentleman and a fine Saxophonist. “May daddy Orlando Julius’ soul journey well. To the entire Ekemode family may God give you the fortitude to bear this irreplaceable loss,” Bimbo Esho posted. The  ‘Jagua Nana’  singer celebrated his 60 years on stage last year. According to his  Wiki  profile, Julius was born in 1943 in Ikole, Nigeria to

The Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development in Kwara State, Hajiya Sa’adatu Modibbo-Kawu, has resigned her appointment with the state government with effect from Thursday. Modibbo-Kawu said that she tendered her letter of resignation in line with the state government circular, passed on Tuesday by the Secretary to the government, that political appointees seeking to contest for elective offices should resign, adding that she resigned to contest for an elective office in the 2023 general election. She told journalists at a media parley organised by the Correspondents Chapel of the State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in Ilorin on Thursday, that she was seeking the All Progressives Congress nomination as its candidate for the Ilorin East/ Ilorin South Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. She told newsmen that she took the bold decision in furtherance of her determination to serve her people at the National Assembly. She said that

The families of passengers kidnapped from the bombed Abuja-Kaduna train are pleading with their abductors to allow them negotiate the release of their relations. Terrorists had attacked the train on March 28, leading to the death of no fewer than eight persons; 26 persons were injured while over 160 passengers, according to the Nigerian Railway Corporation, could not be accounted for. However, in a video last week, the terrorists said the government knew what they wanted, threatening to kill those in custody if their demands were not met. But addressing journalists on Thursday in Abuja, one of the abducted family members, Aliyu Mohammed, begged the terrorists to give room for families to negotiate the release of their loved ones. Mohammed, who lamented that no government agency had reached out to them since the incident, stated that the families, and not the government, would bear the brunt should anything untoward happen to the victims. He stated, “We are begging and plead

Ukraine said Thursday that Russian strikes had killed five people in the east of the country after President Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscow’s forces were aiming to “destroy” the region. In a report issued by the presidency, Kyiv said two people had been killed and two more wounded in the eastern Lugansk region while another three had been killed and seven wounded in the neighbouring Donetsk region. The presidency said “fighting was continuing along the entire front line” in Donetsk. In a late-night address Thursday, Zelensky said that “Donbas is the main target for Russia”. "It’s Donbas that Russia wants to destroy. It is the Lugansk and Donetsk regions that Russian troops are destroying so that only stones remain and so there are no people left at all.” The statement added that explosions were heard in the Vasylkiv area outside the capital and that according to initially available information, air defences had been activated. Since Russian troops began withdrawing fro

Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari has agreed in principle to transfer the Ahmadu Bello Stadium to Kaduna State Government. He also said the 16,000 capacity stadium which was designed by English architects Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry in 1965 will be expanded into a multi-sports facility similar to Murtala Square in the state. El-Rufai who stated this on Wednesday explained that his administration was working out the details of the transfer with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Youths and Sports stressing that the Minister of Sports, Mr Sunday Dare had initiated the process of handing over. While hosting individual athletes and teams that won medals for the state at local and international competitions, El-Rufai said his government was also undertaking a major upgrade of the Ranchers Bees Stadium into a modern stadium. He commended the athletes for putting the state on the national and global map saying Kaduna

Russia’s guided missile cruiser Moskva has sunk in the Black Sea after being damaged during the military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s defence ministry said late Thursday. “While being towed … towards the destined port, the vessel lost its balance due to damage sustained in the hull as fire broke out after ammunition exploded. Given the choppy seas, the vessel sank,” the state news agency TASS quoted the ministry as saying. Details later… AFP

Colombian former international midfield star Freddy Rincon died on Wednesday aged 55 of injuries he sustained in a traffic accident, doctors said. Rincon suffered a severe head injury following a collision on Monday between the vehicle he was travelling in and a bus in the southwest city of Cali. The former Real Madrid and Napoli ace underwent almost three hours of surgery before being transferred to intensive care, but died on Wednesday. “Despite all the efforts made by our medical and care team, the patient Freddy Eusebio Rincon Valencia has died today,” said the Imbanaco Clinic in Cali, which was treating him. “We ask everyone to honor and praise the life of Freddy Eusebio for all the joys he gave us,” clinic director Laureano Quintero said, his voice breaking, after reading the official statement. Colombia’s football federation, the FCF, said his death was “a great loss” and “we will miss him and remember him with great affection, appreciation, respect and admiration.”

Incoming Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has informed the club that veteran forward, Cristiano Ronaldo will not be part of his team at Old Trafford next season, according to The Star. The Dutchman has agreed a deal in principle to take over as permanent manager at Old Trafford this summer with major changes expected at the club. Over ten players have been lined up to leave Old Trafford as the 52-year-old Dutchman is asking the club to allow him to control United’s transfer dealings. Paul Pogba, Edinson Cavani and Jesse Lingard are among the high-profile names expected to move on. However, The Star now report that the Ajax boss has given the green light for Ronaldo to leave. The Portuguese star sealed an emotional return to Manchester last summer, signing a two-year deal with the option of a third. The 37-year-old has produced some more memorable moments during his second stint at the club. But with Manchester United heading towards a fifth consecutive season without

Grammy award-winning singer, Burna Boy, has revealed why he believes no woman loves him. Burna Boy, who is presently in Amsterdam for his Space Drift concert, took to Twitter to pen a heartwarming note showering love on his grandma. While sharing her pictures on Thursday, Burna Boy reflected on his love life with other women. According to him, his grandmother is the reason he believes no girl loves him. Burna Boy wrote: “She’s the reason I don’t believe any girl loves me. “My Everything!! She is probably the reason I don’t believe any girl loves me. I know what true love feels like.. Grandma’s Love,” he wrote in a tweet. “In Amsterdam doing sound check and all I can think of is I just need my grandmother everywhere I go but she cannot understand/handle fans screaming and touching me, or seeing me stressed without crying so hard out of genuine fear and love.” Recall that Burna Boy in December 2021 announced he was single, confirming his break up with girlfriend, Stefflon Don

As Nigerian Christians join their counterparts world wide to celebrate this year’s Easter, marking the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Bauchi State Sector Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has deployed a total of 858 personnel made of regular and special marshals to ensure an accident-free celebration. This was revealed by the Sector Commander, Yusuf Abdullahi, saying that the personnel would be deployed to cover all routes across the state in an operation tagged, 2022 Easter Special Patrol Operations, which would hold between 13th and 20th April, 2022. He assured that the seven-day operation would be on a 24-hour basis. Abdullahi further informed that six ambulances and one heavy duty tow truck would be available to patrol the routes in order to attend to emergency situations. According to the sector commander, the station offices in the 20 local government areas of the state had been fully activated to ensure prompt response to road

Parents of students of the Government College, Ibadan, have kicked against plans by the Oyo State Government to hand over the institution to Government College Ibadan Old Boys’ Association (GCIOBA). The parents made this disclosure via a petition addressed to Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State. Our correspondent gathered that the state government has said that it has concluded arrangements to hand over the secondary school to GCIOBA led by Mr. Wale Babalakin. But, the parents have kicked against the move. The parents, in the letter signed by Prince Adeniji Adeniyi (P.T.A. Chairman, Senior School), Mr. Owosibo Olusegun, (P.T.A. Chairman (Junior School) and Mr. Adebamiji Olatunde (P.T.A.Chairman, Junior School 2) advised relevant agencies to beam their searchlight on the activities of GCIOBA. The trio in the letter, which had also been sent to Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Urban Development and other relevant stakehold

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Google Global Services Nigeria have expressed determination to work together towards advancing the actualisation of auspicious national targets for ubiquitous broadband access in furtherance of Nigeria’s digital transformation policy. This aligns with NCC’s strategic vision plan, centering on strategic partnership and collaboration with necessary stakeholders in order to achieve regulatory objectives. The two organisations made the commitment when a delegation from Google Global Services Nigeria paid a courtesy visit to the Commission’s Head Office in Abuja recently to deliberate on viable collaborative interventions to propel digital transformation across the country and Africa. Receiving the Google delegation, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, said the Commission’s expectations, initiatives, and vision towards increasing broadband penetration, qu

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the registration of 88,630 new voters in Osun State as invalid. The development comes weeks to the gubernatorial election in Osun. The polls will be held on Saturday, July 16, 2022. According to data presented by the commission at a media briefing on Wednesday, 218,142 new voters have been registered in Osun, out of which 129,512 were valid, 88,630 were invalid. This number, the electoral umpire stated, represents 40.6% of the new voters who completed their registrations. Speaking at the briefing, Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman, said invalid registration was recorded in all the States across the country. According to him, out of the 2,523,458 new registrations across the country, 1,126,359, representing approximately 45%, were invalid. Yakubu said only 1,390,519 of new voter registrations are valid. “The troubling issue of invalid registration still persists, which we detected while cleaning up the latest regi

Bauchi State Governor and presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, Bala Mohammed, on Wednesday, in Abuja, dared the anti-graft agencies to probe him, assuring that they would find nothing indicting. He also noted that he would not be a northern president, but one who captures the nuanced aspirations of every part of the country. Mohammed said this when he consulted with the PDP National Working Committee at Wadata Plaza, Abuja. The former FCT minister, who is seeking the support of the committee to emerge as the party’s presidential flagbearer, expressed the belief that the party would pick the most suitable of the 17 presidential aspirants who have so far obtained their nomination and expression of interest forms. He stated,  “I don’t bear any malice against anybody who investigated me. But I dare anybody to find me guilty because I know my conscience and that’s why I’m still standing here. I dare every investigative agency; I did my best.” Ci

Belgium, Netherlands, Poland and Wales have declared interest in hosting the 2022/23 UEFA Nations League finals, European football’s governing body announced on Wednesday. The deadline to submit final bid dossiers is October 5, and the hosts will be appointed in January 2023. The finals will be held from June 14-18, 2023.  Portugal won the first edition at home in 2019. France defeated Spain 2-1 last October in the final of the 2020/21 edition in Italy. AFP