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Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State says the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is accustomed to rigging and can’t boast of a transparent election in other states in the South-South geopolitical zone.
He said Edo is the only state that has been able to dismantle the PDP rigging machine and will do so again on the rescheduled date for the state's gubernatorial election.
Speaking while receiving a team of European observers led by Ben Llewellyn-Jones, of the British High Commission, Abuja, at the Government House, Benin City, Friday, Oshiomhole said, "We do appreciate the interest of what I might call friends of Nigeria, those who help us to continually and continuously remember that although there are different nation states, but the world has increasingly become one small village such that events in any part can affect the whole. So, we do not underestimate the import of this election even as it is limited to Edo State.
"Edo State as we speak is the only State that can boast of a record of transparent elections since I came on board in 2007. Since I came, my campaign slogan was, we must dismantle the rigging machine.
“Having been a union member all my life, I couldn't condone the situation where people are imposed at various levels, and our people gave up on democracy in this state, just like the rest of the South-South." Ize-Iyamu and Oshiomhole He continued, "I am sure you have witnessed elections there and you can write volumes. They vote with bullets, not with ballots. Terror, not persuasion is the name of the game in the rest of the South-South. But since I came in, we have fought the forces behind rigging. We emboldened the people to challenge authorities, which is what I have done when I was in labour. And even as they still rigged me out and I fought them through the legal process, painstakingly established how I was rigged out I got my mandate restored. It never happened before, and nobody appreciates the essence of free and fair election more than myself."
"The confusion yesterday, nobody is as troubled as me, first because we are fighting a people who have a lot of money and we simply don't have such money and we made our preparations. Even as a sitting Governor, I have combed every village; we have 192 political wards across 18 Local Governments in three Senatorial districts. I have gone round all 192 wards.
"For us it has been a celebration of democracy, across the 192 wards in the course of our campaigns we were able to show what we have done in each of those 192 wards including standard roads, very beautiful schools, such that in a typical rural village the most beautiful building will be the school, such that the rate of out-of-school population in this state is the lowest in the South-South geopolitical zone. We are able to show where we have provided water and all of those basic things that of concern to our people. So for us, the election was easy. The campaign message was easy and our messenger is credible. He doesn't have any baggage.
"Happily for us, our opponent was also in government before I came in for ten years. In this city, they can't even tell you one thing that they did. If you find any dual-carriageway in this city, it was done by me, if you find any 6-lane road, and they are all over the place now, they were done by this government; if you any road with sidewalks they were done by this government.
So we introduced a standard for our people, roads with walkways, six lanes, dual-carriageways with street lights. Even one traffic light, there was none before this government. "So our people are able to look at the records and see what didn't do for ten years and look at my own records for seven years and about nine months now and form an opinion. Even our hospital is enough.
"So we had a peaceful campaign and crowned it up with a grand finale on Tuesday. All of a sudden, this development leading to cancellation came.
"I am much more determined than anybody that having been here for eight years, I have a duty to sustain the tradition.
According to Oshiomhole, "For us, it has been a celebration of democracy. I do hope the security agencies will do everything possible and that INEC in making the decision carries stakeholders along. Again now, they have fixed a date. I heard two versions on television.
"You would expect that if INEC is in this territory holding a meeting that will involve the people of this state, and that courtesy demands that they should consult. Yes, they have prerogative but whoever has prerogative should exercise it with wisdom, and in democracy, no one is too good to have such power to impose without consulting with those you are fixing the date for.
"So, if you meet INEC, encourage them to consult more before decisions are taken, rather than they making the decision and trying to transplant it through the throat of people, and then you run into controversies that are completely avoidable and regrettable. I do welcome you and appreciate you for the election."
Earlier, the leader of the team, Mr Ben Llewellyn-Jones said, "We have come to observe the election, but we are disappointed at the end of the day that it did not hold. Like you, we are disappointed. We have come to discuss with you the reports of the election holding on the 28th September, and the reports of the police and the security service, the reports of political party supporters, the reports of INEC. The political parties are doing their shift to ensure we have a conclusive and credible election, and the election observers are interested in the process."
He said, "A new date has been set for Wednesday the 28th, and it is very important that you and your colleagues work carefully, the security services work carefully, the police work carefully, and INEC work carefully to ensure the election takes place on the 28th. We have very much enjoyed our visit to Benin City and look forward to coming back during the election."
Pep Guardiola played down his bitter feud with Jose Mourinho on Friday and insisted he will accept a post-match drink from his opposite number — if he is offered one.
Guardiola’s City visit Mourinho’s United on Saturday in the first Manchester derby since the high-profile pair took charge of their respective clubs in the close season.
The pre-match focus, with both Manchester teams having won their first three Premier League games of the season, has firmly been on the duo and the rivalry that has developed between them since they became two of the most successful managers in the modern game.
Guardiola, however, said he had no problem with Mourinho, with whom he has already spoken since they moved to England, and he will be happy to join him for a traditional post-match drink.
“I will accept if he invites me,” said Guardiola at a news conference. “I have said many times, I have a lot of respect for him.Mourinho and Guardiola
“I always try to learn from all my colleagues and I learn from him as well. The rivalry is more in the media.
“He was my coach, my assistant coach with Sir Bobby Robson (when Guardiola was a Barcelona player).
“The last meeting in Madrid-Barcelona was not easy but we met each other two or three weeks ago in the Premier League managers’ (meeting) and we spoke fluently with Ronald Koeman (Everton), with Tony Pulis (West Bromwich Albion) so it was okay.”
– Ibrahimovic impact –
Guardiola also has had a chequered relationship with the Manchester United forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was highly critical of his former Barcelona manager this week.
“I have a lot of respect for Zlatan and what he has done in the football world and his career,” said Guardiola.
“He has had a big impact in what he did everywhere and he is amazing, especially on the pitch. I have a lot of respect for him, what he has done for football.
“He is one of the best players and the best players they have an impact. The big players don't have to understand the league or need time.”
Guardiola refuted suggestions the timing of the first Manchester derby, so early in the new campaign and immediately after an international break, was a problem.
“With Jose it is the same,” said the City manager. “He needs time in his new club and we need time and the world is not allowed to give you time.
“We are going to try to continue with the things we did good and improve what you have still to improve.
“For the short time, we play good in some moments. We are going to try to figure out what we are going to find tomorrow (Saturday) in Old Trafford with Mourinho's team.”
Meanwhile, Guardiola has a number of key selection decisions — with Vincent Kompany, Ilkay Gundogan and Leroy Sane returning to fitness and new goalkeeper Claudio Bravo available, despite training just twice with the club since his move from Barcelona.
“Claudio is okay. He had a little bit of a problem in his leg but he trained today (Friday),” Guardiola said.
“He is fit, he is ready. This kind of player, 32, 33-years-old, has experience. It is no problem.
“Sane, in terms of his condition, is the best player in this moment. Gundogan is much better.”
The Spaniard added: “Kompany is training but we are waiting for the doctor to say what his blood test is. We don't want to take too much risk after what happened in the past.
“We want to make sure that when he comes back he is 100 percent fit.”
World powers expressed outrage Friday after North Korea claimed it had successfully tested a nuclear warhead that could be mounted on a missile, prompting urgent UN talks and calls for new sanctions.
South Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia and China all condemned the blast at the Punggye-ri nuclear site, which was the North’s fifth and most powerful yet at 10 kilotons.
“The patience on our side and that of the international community has already reached its limit,” South Korean President Park Geun-Hye said, slamming the North’s young leader, Kim Jong-Un, for his “maniacal recklessness”.
The news drew swift condemnation from US President Barack Obama who called the test “a grave threat to regional security and to international peace and stability” and vowed to push for new international sanctions.
Japan condemned the test as “absolutely unacceptable”, Russia expressed “extreme concern”, and the head of the UN atomic watchdog said it was a “clear violation” of numerous Security Council resolutions.
At the request of the United States and Japan the Security Council announced it would meet at 1900 GMT Friday for urgent talks on North Korea.
Obama said he had called the leaders of South Korea and Japan to confer over the crisis, with Park and Japanese leader Shinzo Abe also agreeing to cooperate closely with each other.
– Search for clues –
Pyongyang’s state media said the test, which comes after a series of ballistic missile launches, had realised the country’s goal of being able to fit a miniaturised warhead on a rocket.
“Our nuclear scientists staged a nuclear explosion test on a newly developed nuclear warhead at the country’s northern nuclear test site,” a North Korean TV presenter said.
First indications of an underground explosion came when seismic monitors detected a 5.3-magnitude “artificial earthquake” near the Punggye-ri nuclear site.
“The 10-kiloton blast was nearly twice the (power of the) fourth nuclear test and slightly less than the Hiroshima bombing, which was measured about 15 kilotons,” said Kim Nam-Wook from the South’s meteorological agency.
But attention soon shifted from the power of the blast to Pyongyang’s claim that it was a miniaturised warhead.
If Pyongyang can make a nuclear device small enough to fit on a rocket — and bolster the range and accuracy of its missiles — it might achieve its oft-stated aim of hitting US targets. But its past claims to have achieved this have been discounted.
However, North Koreans who gathered around public screens to watch the official announcement of the test — which came on the 68th anniversary of the country’s founding — were approving.
“US bastards may be saying this and that, but we fear nothing as our military power has strengthened further,” said one woman, who did not give her name.
Ordinary North Koreans usually express only officially-sanctioned views when questioned by foreign news organisations.
Pyongyang routinely insists Washington is on the verge of launching all-out war against it.
The test came as American and South Korean forces staged a re-enactment of the Incheon landing, 66 years after the start of Operation Chromite, the battle that turned the tide in the Korean War.
Outside experts said authenticating North Korea’s claim to have mastered miniaturisation would be difficult using seismic data alone.
“We would need to see it tested on a missile, like China did in the 1960s,” said Melissa Hanham, a North Korea expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.
“Nobody wants to see that. There is no way they could do that test in a safe way, and it could easily start a war.”
– China under pressure –
North Korea has been hit by five sets of United Nations sanctions since it first tested a nuclear device in 2006, but has insisted it will continue, come what may.
The nuclear programme has gone alongside a series of ballistic missile launches, the latest of which took place on Monday even as world powers gathered for a G20 meeting in China.
This week’s events pose yet another challenge for Pyongyang’s chief ally, China, which has been under pressure to rein in its increasingly aggressive neighbour.
China said Friday it “firmly opposes” the test, but it has limited room to manoeuvre. Its priority is to avoid a collapse of the regime, which would create a crisis on its border and shift the balance of power on the Korean peninsula towards the US.
The US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University said the latest development made plain that the US and South Korean strategy on restraining North Korea “has clearly failed”.
“No one should be surprised that North Korea continues to conduct nuclear tests to enhance the capabilities of its growing arsenal. Nor should they expect China to solve this problem for the United States,” said the institute’s Joel Wit.
Jos – Mr Obadiah Samuel of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Management, University of Jos, says corruption and mismanagement of public funds has posed a serious threat to the corporate existence of Nigeria.
Samuel said this on Friday in Jos while delivering a lecture entitled "The Right to Peace and Security" at a seminar on security.
The seminar was organised by the Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) of the Catholic Archdiocese of Jos.
Samuel said that the diversion of public funds into private pockets had led to the high level of insecurity in the country.
"Corruption, mismanagement and absence of political will has really stagnated a lot of things in this country; it has contributed immensely to our present insecurity situation.
"Funds that are meant for development; funds that should ordinarily be used to provide social amenities have been cornered into private purse.
"Our roads, hospitals, schools are comatose and the worst of it, money meant for the purchase of equipment for the military have been diverted by few individuals.
"So, under this situation, hunger, poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, lack of infrastructure and a host of other problems are evident, and these have over time, posed a threat to our peaceful existence."
He noted that smaller African countries that do not have one-third of the human and material resources Nigeria has were doing better.
"Theyare living peacefully because they keep corruption aloof, and their leaders are ready to move their countries forward."
He lauded the ongoing anti-corruption war of the Federal Government, and also charged governments at all levels to muster the will and ensure good governance.
Earlier in his address of welcome, Assistant Coordinator of JDPC, Rev. Fr Stephen Akpe, said that the seminar was timely, considering the series of conflicts Plateau in particular and Nigeria in general had passed through.
He said that the seminar was aimed at educating religious, community leaders and relevant stakeholders on the new approach of tackling insecurity in the community.
Akpe added once people have better living condition, the issue of insecurity would be a thing of the past.
Women and youth groups, security agencies, community leaders and religious organisations among others working for the sustenance of peace in the state attended the seminar.
Osogbo – A member of Osun House of Assembly, Mr Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has advised Nigerians to support President Muhammadu Buhari's administration in tackling the challenges facing the country.
Oyintiloye, who is the Chairman, Committee on Information and Strategy in the assembly, gave the advice in an interview in Osogbo on Friday.
He said that the economic challenges facing the country required proper evaluation before effective changes could be made, adding that everyone's positive input was needed to sort out the problems.
He said that it was unfair for Nigerians to judge Buhari so soon, adding that the president needed the support of all Nigerians to achieve his planned economic policies and ideas.
Oyintiloye, who represents Obokun Constituency on All Progressives Congress (APC) platform, expressed delight that efforts of the Federal Government on security and anti-corruption programme were yielding positive results.
He said that the environment Nigeria found itself at the time Buhari assumed office was "most unfriendly, internally and externally''.
He therefore appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the president, assuring that the challenges facing the country would be things of the past soon.
"President Buhari we all know is a man of integrity; he will fulfil all his campaign promises.
"All we need to do is to give our support, be patient with him and continue to pray for him to succeed.President Buhari addressing the guests during the launch of the National Re-Orientation Campaign “Change Begins with Me” at the State House Conference Centre (SHCC) in Abuja.
"The president is trying his best to create conducive environment to reassure Nigerians that the country will be great again,'' he said.
Oyintiloye, however, urged the three tiers of government to initiate policies that would promote locally produced goods.
He said that promoting locally-produced goods would help government and private sector in creating jobs for jobless youths as well as improve the economy.
The Lagos State Government has said adequate preparations have been put in place toward ensuring hitch-free celebration of this year’s Eid-el-Kabir, disclosing that security personnel have been mobilized to be at strategic places such as praying grounds, amusement parks, malls, among others.
Rising from the monthly Security Council Meeting chaired by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and attended by heads of all security agencies in the State, the government said security agencies have been alerted to be in strategic places before, during and after the celebration to nip any potential security situation in the bud.
While briefing Government House Correspondents at the end of the meeting, the State’s Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni said the Council appraised the security strategies already put in place for the celebration and members were satisfied with the solid arrangement towards a successful celebration.
The CP said: “We looked at all the strategies that have been put in place by all the security agencies and the support that the State Government is giving us and we are satisfied that we are well prepared to ensure that residents of Lagos have hitch-free holiday period and that the Muslim brothers and sisters also have a successful and hitch-free Eid-el-Kabir holiday.
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and Acting Inspector General of Police, Mr. Idris Kpotun Ibrahim during the I.G's visit to the Governor at the Lagos House, Ikeja, on Wednesday, August 3, 2016 (File)
“Security agencies will be at all the strategic places including the Eid-el-Kabir praying ground, amusement parks and the malls so that by the time we are ending the holiday and the Sallah is finished, everybody will be happy to say that it is another successful holiday and it is another successful Eid-el-Kabir celebration.”
Besides, Owoseni debunked conflicting media reports on the casualties at the mayhem between House and Fulani communities in Agege Abattoir area of the State, saying that only one person was unfortunately killed during the crisis.
He said security agencies responded swiftly to douse the tension, adding that the mayhem was purely an issue of miscreants and criminal elements wanting to make life more difficult for the people.
He said the police also adopted Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism by talking to the leaders of the communities on the need to embrace peace and curb the excesses of those miscreants, while more security personnel have been deployed to the area to forestall a repeat.
Earlier, the State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem said the Council also deliberated on the all-men-walk led by Governor Ambode against domestic and sexual violence, adding that government was determined to decisively deal with any perpetrator of such heinous crimes no matter how highly or lowly placed in the society.
He said there was serious commitment of the police and other security agencies towards tackling the menace once and for all.
Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz is committing $20 million to help Hillary Clinton and her Democratic Party in the upcoming US election.
Moskovitz, a Harvard roommate of Mark Zuckerberg who was part of the founding group of the social networking giant, said he and his wife Cari made the decision to pour in millions because “polarization in America today has yielded a race that is about much more than policies and ideas.”
The election “has become a referendum on who we want to be? — ?as individuals, as a nation and as a society,” he wrote in a blog post on Medium.
Moskovitz said this was the first time he and his wife are endorsing a candidate and donating.
“The Republican Party, and Donald Trump in particular, is running on a zero-sum vision, stressing a false contest between their constituency and the rest of the world,” he wrote.
“We believe their positions, especially on immigration, which purport to improve the lives of Americans, would in practice hurt citizens and noncitizens alike.”Hillary
He added that he hopes his efforts “make it a little more likely that Secretary Clinton is able to pursue the agenda she’s outlined, and serve as a signal to the Republican Party that by running this kind of campaign? — one built on fear and hostility? –? and supporting this kind of candidate, they compel people to act in response.”
The donations will go to various political action committees including the Hillary Victory Fund, Democratic congressional groups, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Victory Fund, For Our Future PAC, MoveOn.org, Color Of Change and several nonpartisan voter registration efforts.
On September 22, 2016, King Sunny Ade will be joining the league of the septuagenarians, 70, and it is not by an accident of fate that he will not be having a quiet party with his family alone. By virtue of his status and his monumental achievements, it is inevitable that such landmarks in life be hijacked by many who have had their lives touched by the joy and talent this Ondo Prince is blessed with.
As Henry Longfellow once said "Lives of great men all remind us, we can make our lives sublime, and, departing, leave behind us, footprints on the sands of time". These words aptly encapsulate what King Sunny Ade means to the music world, not only in Nigeria but all over the world. According to the Wikipedia, he is described as "a Nigerian musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and a pioneer of modern world music. He has been classed as one of the most influential musicians of all time."
On Wednesday the Lagos media community had a parley with the King at the Lagos Airport Hotel, where the Juju music crusader highlighted series of activities lined up to mark his70th birthday. Looking as radiant as ever, and exuding that latent energy that has captivated both young and old over five decades, he told us his 70th birthday would be different from any he had ever had. Usually, the King celebrates his birthdays over a course of one week but his coming 70th birthday, according to him, which began on September 1, 2016, will run till the end of the year, December 31, 2016, climaxing with a grand finale concert that will have African greats like Youssuf N’dour and many others on stage.
Programme for the birthdayKing Sunny Ade and his band. Credit: George Elijah Otumu
Having the celebration last for four whole months is not the King’s design but demands arising from his many associations over the years. "I am a member of 79 social clubs and you can imagine that each and every one of them wants to be part of the celebration by organising something for me", he said with a wry smile and reeled out list of activities lined up for the landmark occasion.
" I started my birthday celebration with a prayer from Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye on the 1st of September. On the 21st of September, we will be having in Ondo, the Gospel Night. Then on the 23rd of September, we will be visiting the Motherless Baby Homes and the next day will be a day where my family members will celebrate me. We will also have a special lecture in Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, with the Oni of Ife in attendance. After the lecture, we will go back to Ooni’s palace with many distinguished royalties in attendance. The celebration will also be taken to South Africa with a book launch .
There will be a concert in Ibadan. We will also have 70 children performing for KSA. PMAN, Ondo chapter, Western states and National are also coming together to organise something very fascinating but I don’t know the details now. Here, PMAN, Ondo chapter will be playing the chief host. The grand finale will also attract foreign musicians into Nigeria for this celebration. Many organisations, clubs and associations have also set aside a day to celebrate me. All together, we plan to have a five-month celebration.", he enthused.
After the preambles of rolling out the programme for the birthday celebration, the King then fielded questions from newsmen who were itching to have a go at him. As anxious as they were, the music maestro, with his air of cordiality satisfied almost all of their curiosities.
His story and Baba Sala
It is impossible to tell the story of King Sunny Ade without having the name of Moses Olaiya, aka Baba Sala popping up."Let me say that Baba Sala is my boss and he will continue to be my boss for life," he began. " I never planned to be a band leader but he gave me the opportunity for the talent to develop. I was a little boy, playing percussion in his band. He was a musician, playing guitar, Iya Ilu (talking drum) and accordion. At that time, we were playing I.K. Dairo kind of music and I was the youngest . When he formed the drama side he asked me to go to the drama group in order to see to the music side of it.
So, I was in charge of music for his drama sector. Along the line I started playing Konga, Shekere and other instruments. After a while he transferred me back to the band. It was through Baba Sala and his friend, Chief Tunde Amuwo that I became a band leader. Chief Tunde Amuwo had some instruments in his house and invited me to come and take charge. I told him I could not come because I didn’t have any intention of becoming a band leader. To me, I saw it as biting the finger that fed me. But it was Baba Sala himself who told me ‘Sunday, this is an opportunity for you,go and try. If after nine months to a year you cannot do it, come back here, I am your father, I will take you back’. Up till now, I am yet to go back",he joked. "Sincerely, I never knew my music would make it to this level.
" I bought the guitar on my own and nobody thought me. I do my dancing as I know and then whatever thing I'm doing now I do it on my own. I believe it’s only God that thought me everything and that's why up till now I still give Baba Sala that respect because for anybody to say go and try, I've never heard it before. I say to my members too, that if you feel like forming a band, go and try, if it doesn't work let me know. Maybe I'm lucky on my own’,he added.
On his affair with Onyeka Onwenu
KSA debunked ever having any private affair with the songstress, categorically, stating he never had a crush on her.
"Onyeka and myself came together to do a song like a campaign. The "’If You Love Me” was a track to curb unwanted pregnancies among the youths back then. It was a campaign organised by Houston University in America where we needed a boy and a girl to sing against it. And that brought Onyeka Onwenu and KSA coming together. People became confused. However, myself and Onyeka had done some songs together before then. But many were anxious to know if we were dating each other. Onyeka Owenu is my good sister and I don’t have a crush on her. We are both musicians and thereby colleagues", he stated.
On the new generation of singersKing Sunny Ade. Credit: George Elijah Otumu
"I have done collaboration with Wizkid and some other young musicians. You people call it ”collabo” but I don’t like using such slangs. There are many things I really need to work on. I intend working more with the young musicians. My door is open to as many who want me to work with me provided the musician knows what he wants to do with me and I also know what I want to do with him or her. Many families at a time were not comfortable with their children listening to some music or even going into music. But that has changed over time. Today, we have parents calling on me to mentor and train their children who want to go into music. Music flows everywhere. I still perform with my bands and that doesn’t mean I can’t play with the computer (DJs). I am not against this, if it suits Nigerians. My stand is that, there is a huge difference between performing life and doing computer things. There are things the computer can’t do.
On his last tour of the US
The King said his last tour of the US lasted for two and half months, saying he embarked on the tour to prove a point.
"I didn’t go on tour two years ago because we were told at the American Embassy that they had technical problems. Other bands all over the world were also affected. It was even on the Embassy’s website back then. However, we were given Visa this year and we had one big mission: to redeem our name. This was necessary because there were speculations that I was dead . But my fans were very happy seeing me alive, hale and hearty. I know I am not supposed to blow my own trumpet but at times, one needs to adjust it. I can say it categorically that every show we did was a huge success."
On winning the lawsuit for his master tape
Recently, a Federal High Court in Lagos awarded N500 million to the world beat maestro, ? for copyright infringement. Recall that KSA had dragged a record manufacturing company, African Songs and its subsidiary Take Your Choice Stores, to court some years back over issues bothering on intellectual theft. The court awarded the sum against the defendants for infringing on his works, with additional N5 million for prosecuting the suit.?
According to the music legend, the court ordered the companies to return the master tape of the original musical works to him. He said before the master tape could be returned, the companies' Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Chief Bolarinwa Abioro, died.
His words: "I won that case and they said I should be compensated with 505 million Naira but they are yet to do that. I won’t want to say much on that. It is either I am given more than 505million Naira or they return the master tape. My master tape is even more important to me than the money", he said.
On his energy on stage
The name ‘KSA’ is synonymous with electrifying dance steps, strong throaty vocals and high octane performances. Even when nudging 70, the maestro recently toured 36 states in the US in a space of ten weeks. One wonders where he draws the energy from, and surprisingly, the King himself seems to be dumbfounded.
"I'm always so happy when I see people around. If I have to do what I want, a lot of thoughts will be running through my mind to do what I know best. I don't smoke and I don't drink but when I hear music, not only my music, I dance and then the energy just comes naturally. So, I will say that the energy comes from God and I love what I do most.
On his favourites among the new generationking Sunny Ade
"Let me say all of them are my favourites because they have different styles. You cannot compare them to one and another. The music of Wizkid is quite different from Korede Bello’s, and same goes for others."
On new album
"Yes, we are going to have another album this year to celebrate the birthday. We are working on so many, maybe not only one, maybe two or three, we just have to do something by God's grace".
Special Assistant to the Ekiti State Governor on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka has advised self-professed human rights activist and lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) to desist from his unwarranted utterances against Governor Ayodele Fayose, saying; "it is obvious that Falana is driving himself sick because of his personal hatred for Governor Fayose and if care is not taking, his state of mind concerning the governor may graduate from psychology to psychosis one day."
Olayinka, who was reacting to comment made by Falana at the maiden edition of Ekitipanupo colloquium in Lagos on Thursday that Governor Fayose was looting funds meant for the development of Ekiti State, said; "Falana should purge himself of his hatred for anything Fayose because he (Fayose) was not the one who scuttled his (Falana) ambition to be governor of Ekiti State."
Falana and Fayose
He said the self-professed human rights lawyer needed to get the anti-Fayose cataract that has blocked his eyes removed so that he can see all the developmental strides of Governor Fayose both during his first term and his second tenure, adding that; "particularly, all the dualised roads in Ado-Ekiti (except) two were done by Fayose. Today, which of the past governors in Ekiti can match Fayose's achievements?"
The governor's spokesperson, who challenged Falana to make public any evidence of Governor Fayose's stealing of Ekiti State funds, said; "It is strange that Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) could go public with accusation of fraud against someone who has not been pronounced guilty by any court of law and the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC) must take particular notice of this," Olayinka said.
Olayinka, who maintained that Falana was only going about castigating Governor Fayose like he did between 2004 and 2006 because of his ambition to contest the Ekiti State Governorship election in 2018, said he (Falana) was still living under the illusion that he can achieve what he used the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to achieve against Governor Fayose in 2006 ten years after.
He challenged Falana to put pressure on his allies in the EFCC to look into the looting of Ekiti State treasury by the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of Dr Kayode Fayemi.
Olayinka asked; "Is Falana unaware of the diversion of N852, 936,713.92 counterpart fund paid by the Ekiti State Government to access the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) 2012 Marching grant by the Fayemi-led government, which has made it impossible for Ekiti State to access UBEC matching grant for 2013, 2014 and 2015?
"Is Falana not aware of the N25 billion bond and other commercial bank loans that the Fayemi's government took and misappropriated, on which over N1 billion is being deducted from the State federal allocation now?
"Why did Falana keep silent when Ekiti State treasury was being looted right, left and center by the APC government of Fayemi? Where was Falana when uncompleted projects like the Oba Adejugbe General Hospital and State Pavilion in Ado Ekiti were being commissioned by Fayemi?
"Is Falana's activism concerning Ekiti State only about Fayose and everything about his government?
"As someone who used to be close to him, my counsel for Daddy Femi Falana is that he should stop thinking that he can realise his governorship ambition in Ekiti State by maligning Governor Peter (the Rock) Ayodele Fayose everywhere he goes. He should rather come to Ekiti and sell himself to the people."
Maiduguri – The Federal Government announced on Friday that the Murtala Muhammed Foundation has taken over full sponsorship of five out of the 10 students of Government Secondary School (GSS) Chibok, Borno, currently studying in the U.S.
The Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Aisha Alhassan, made this known shortly after meeting with parents of the girls in Maiduguri.
Alhassan said that the Foundation took over the sponsorship after it was approached by government, explaining that the girls were part of the 10 taken to the U.S. by some Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) on the guise of taking them to school.
She said "what happened was that the girls escaped from Boko Haram captivity and returned home to Chibok.
"But some NGOs and religious organisations approached the parents with offers to take them away from the area due to the trauma." Alhassan added that the parents accepted to release the girls without notifying government and that the NGOs took the girls to U.S. on the guise of sending them to school.
"Government was not part of the arrangement because nobody was contacted," the minister said.
She, however, said that the parents petitioned the Federal Government that they had received negative reports on the girls.
"The parents sent information to government that they heard that the girls were not in school in the U.S. and that government should intervene in the matter.
"We investigated the matter through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Nigerian Embassy in the U.S. and found it to be true.
"Our investigations corroborated the parents claim that the girls were not taken to school, rather, they were being used by the NGOs to make money.
"But government does not take responsibility over someone else mistake."
Alhassan said President Muhammadu Buhari ordered her to meet with the parents over the issue, "so, I have come here to meet with the parents and we have discussed, I have told them the options available.
"What we can do is to talk to some donor agencies that we are working with so that they can take up the sponsorship of the girls.
"Consequently, I am happy to say that the Murtala Muhammad Foundation has taken over the sponsorship of five out of the 10 girls.
"They have found schools for them and they are doing well."
She noted that the remaining five girls were still in the custody of two individuals in the U.S., saying "we understood that a white man has two of the girls, while one Emmanuel, a Nigerian, is keeping three, also in the U.S."
Alhassan said that the Murtala Muhammad Foundation had also signified interest in taking the two girls from the white man.
"We spoke with Aisha Muhammad, the Chairperson of the Foundation and she agreed to take over the sponsorship of the two girls with the white man.
"But she declined to extend the scholarship to three of the girls with Emmanuel."
She said it was discovered that there were other five Chibok girls in the U.S. also studying apart from the 10.
"Today during our discussions, we realised that there was a first group of five girls taken to the U.S.
"But the parents said that they were in touch with them and the girls are in good hands," Alhassan said.
Abuja – Prof. Abdulhameed Ujo of the Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Abuja, has urged Nigerians to embrace the "Change Begins With Me Campaign'' of the Federal Government.
Ujo, who made the call in an interview in Abuja on Friday, said that the campaign was designed to mobilise Nigerians to address the challenges facing the country.
"I am of the feeling that what they are trying to do is to experiment the various approaches to address the problems.
"It is a philosophy of the government aimed at mobilising Nigerians and that must start with the individual.
"I have the feeling that it is a good approach because since we are in crisis, it is good we open all doors so that when one door does not open, we can try another.
"Addressing this problem from the individual level will help to rebuild the family, the community and the larger society."
The don urged the Federal Government to ensure that Nigerians with the necessary intellectual discipline were engaged in the implementation of the campaign.
Ujo, therefore, appealed to Nigerians to support the present administration in its efforts to address the challenges confronting the country, adding that complaints and criticism would only compound the problems.
"To me, everybody has to support this administration to succeed and stop complaining because we are in a critical situation.
"The problem of the country is so big that they cannot be solved overnight; so, we must wake up to offer whatever we can to support the programme of government.
"It is not enough for us to sit down in our houses and continue to complain that we are dying," he added.
Mararaba (Nasarawa State) – Four barbers were on Friday arraigned in a Mararaba Upper Area Court, Nasarawa State, for stealing two bags of rice.
The accused were; Akuranya Matthew, 34; Emmanuel Kalu, 23; Sango Eze, 25; and Orji Ochekawo, 29; all residents of Nyanya, Abuja.
They were standing trial on a three-count charge of criminal conspiracy, shop breaking and theft.
Prosecutor, Herman Donald, told the court that Emmanuel Okpala of Mammy Road, Mararaba, reported the matter at the 'A' Divisional Police Headquarters, Mararaba, on Sept. 6.
Donald said the accused persons, who also have a barbing shop in the same plaza with the complainant at Mararaba, conspired among themselves and broke into the complainant's shop.
He said they entered into the shop through the ceiling of their shop, stole two bags of rice valued N40,000 and cash of N100,000 which the complainant kept in his shop.
"In the course of investigation the two bags of rice were found and recovered in the accused persons ceiling.
The prosecutor said the offences contravened sections 97, 347 and 287 of the Penal Code, which the accused persons pleaded not guilty.
The Defence counsel, Saidu Idris, had made an oral application for the bail of his clients.
Idris said the accused persons would not jump bail or interfere with the investigation.
But the prosecution opposed the application, contending that investigation in the case was ongoing.
He also said that one of accused was still at large and only the rice was recovered, while the money was yet to be recovered.
The presiding officer, Ibrahim Shekaru, granted bail to the accused persons in the sum of N50,000 each with one surety each in like sum.
Shekaru said the sureties must reside within the jurisdiction of the court, submit two recent passport photographs, a driver's licence or National Identity Card.
He admonished the accused persons not to jump bail, not commit similar offence, not to temper with the police investigation and must present themselves to the court for their trial.
The judge added that failure to abide by this the accused persons would be remanded in keffi Prison and adjourned the case till Sept. 28 for further hearing.
Lagos – An Ikeja Chief Magistrates' Court has admitted a 50-year-old prophet, Emmanuel Adeyemi, to bail in the sum of N500, 000 for allegedly chaining his step-son and burying four corpses in his residence.
The Chief Magistrate, Mrs Taiwo Akanni, who slammed the bail on Friday, ordered the accused to produce two sureties in like sum.
She adjourned the case till Oct. 10 for mention.
Adeyemi who lives at No 16,Aderinola Olamiju Close, Unity Estate, Ojodu, a suburb of Lagos, was arraigned for deprivation of liberty and unlawful burial in his residence.The 13 children and 15 adults
The Prosecutor, Sgt. Rafael Donny, told the court that the offences were committed at the accused residence between July and August, 2016 and unspecified dates.
Donny said that the accused was arrested following information that the accused chained a 16-year-old step -son in his residence.
The victim had been chained down for a month.
"On investigation, it was also discovered that the accused buried four different corpses in his residence without the permission of the Local Government,'' he said.
The offences contravened sections 162(1) and 270 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
Minister of Sports, Mr Solomon Dalung, Thursday, said the Federal Government has not forgotten about the late Eagles coast, Mr Steve Keshi, insisting that government would invest in his children.
Dalung who disclosed this in Asaba, said the late Stephen Keshi who won the African Cup of Nations in 1994 as captain and 2013 as coach, said the federal government delegated its role to the Delta State Government during the burial ceremony due to paucity of funds.A wreath and a portrait of former Nigerian football coach Stephen Keshi are seen during a farewell ceremony at the Ogbe Stadium, in Benin City, on July 28, 2016. Nigerian football legend Stephen Keshi, who died aged 54, was a Cup of Nations winner as a player and coach. Supporters and international football players gathered to bid farewell, at the Ogbe Stadium, in Benin, on the eve of his funeral in his hometown Illah. / AFP PHOTO / PIUS UTOMI EKPEI
The Sports who spoke to newsmen after paying courtesy call on Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, Said; “when we had the challenge of the paucity of funds which even characterize our preparation for Olympics, we engage the Delta state government to say look we are incapacitated by funds but you can play the role of a big brother for us.
“When we are able to get funds approved for us we could be investing on the children and the family because the man has gone and left a very great family.
“Whatever the federal government approves would be elaborately invested on the children so that it can sustain them instead of going to organize a burial for people to come and eat and drink. That was the wisdom in which we engaged the state government.”
Disclosing that he was in Asaba to solicit the support of the state government for the National Youth Games which comes up on September 22, Dalung said Governor Okowa responded positively to their advocacy “to support, encourage and sustain grassroots sports development through the instrumentality of the National Youth Games.”
“We intend to re-focus our energy towards grassroots sports development when we will preview the committee report which we have received and start to implement which by content focused more on the policy of developing grassroots sports and sustaining it,” he said.
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa in his address, advocated long term planning and private sector funding as panacea to the dwindling fortunes of sports in the country.
Okowa insisted that Nigeria failed to perform well in the last Rio Olympics because there was no consistency in the country's preparation for the competition, observing that for a very long time the country has depended on the public purse which has contracted in recent times thereby impacting negatively on sports development in the country.
He opined that the country needed to partner with the private sector in sports funding and development.
“Just as we are finding ways to diversify our economy, it is time for us to begin to look beyond the public sector in trying to rejuvenate and create a better impact in sports development, the governor said, adding ” we must critically involve the private sector in funding sports development in Nigeria".
Candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Godwin Obaseki and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, contesting for the now rescheduled Edo state governorship elections were hosted to an interactive platform (Thinkers nest politico) by International Leadership Idea Exchange (ILIX), of the Benson Idahosa University, Edo State.
Participants at the interactive platform (Thinkers nest politico) organised by International Leadership Idea Exchange (ILIX) of Benson Idahosa University
The Thinkers next politico provided the candidates for the election now billed for Wednesday, September 28, to reel out their manifestoes and tell the students why they should vote them as their Governor.
Both Obaseki and Ize-Iyamu were hosted at different sessions to unveil their roadmaps for the state.
The program themed "why me" which took place at the school’s peniel chapel saw the candidates answer questions on their programs and policies on health, security, human resource development, job creation and industrialization, education, housing, agricultural/rural development, as well as transportation and infrastructure.
Giving his welcome speech, the President of Benson Idahosa University, Bishop Feb Idahosa who functioned as the moderator of the program said the program was organized is to make the students politically knowledgeable to think and address issues and also develop the spirit of democracy.
The two-day political event had the APC, Godwin Obaseki present to answer the question "Why You" at the first day of the program.
According to him all he wanted was to pay to serve and never wanted to be paid to serve, adding that he was in the race for the purpose of continuinty
Speaking further he said, as a member of the Economic team of the outgoing administration, there is no better time to serve than now.
Obaseki, a wealth management expert of over 30 years experience, promised to create over 200,000 jobs through agriculture and its value chain, saying the state would become the driver of the country's food production if he emerged governor.
This is even as he added that jobs aren't created by government but by their good policies been laid.
“Many Edo people will generate wealth by keying into our value chain development of Oil Palm, Cassava, Cocoa, Grains, Rubber, Fruits and Vegetables. We will create jobs within the next 4 years,” he said.
The investment banker said he should be voted into power because having served in the current administration of Governor Adams Oshiomhole, his team already has a blue print of what Edo state should look like, saying “and we need to continue to make sure that we are an education hub and produce the best man power in the country.”
He added that his government will make Edo State an investment destination by creating an enabling environment for public private partnership (PPP).
"There is so much we have done and we need someone who understands to continue in that trajectory,” said he.
On his part, Pastor Osagie Ize- Iyamu of the People’s Democratic Party said that he is in the governorship race because he is deeply concerned about the happenings in the state.
Ize-Iyamu who appreciated the school for fostering democracy said that he is more than qualified to rule the state with the amount of experience he gathered while in power.
“I am not contesting because I am concerned or passionate but because I also have the experience to change things for better in the state,” he said.
On job creation, he said investments in industries would however transfer to jobs.
He alleged that the government has not really been creative in their dealings as they have only depended on payments of taxes and allocations from Abuja.
He however assured that the repairs of the University road would be a priority and would be done immediately if elected
“The more attractive we make Benson Idahosa University, the better it is for the state, and we will make BIU Road a priority,” he said
Ize-Iyamu promised an Edo state different from the present one, making right the wrongs of a present bad government.
He noted that the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) will grow through strategic investment, rather than multiple or increased taxation.
He further stated that if voted into office, his administration has plans to invest in a film village, railway station, expand the Benin Airport in order to make it of international standard, and embark on massive road construction in order to drive the state economy.
The candidates also took time to respond to questions from the University's management, as well as the students.
The Vice Chancellor, Professor Ernest Izevbigie, however, thanked the aspirants for having honored the university's invitation and promised to work with them in the future.
The International Leadership Idea Exchange (ILIX), 'Thinkers' Nest, is a platform created by the President, Bishop F.E.B Idahosa, to bring together thought leaders, industry experts, practitioners, researchers, and young innovators to dialogue and proffer solutions to global issues.
Present at the first edition of 'Thinkers' Next were Prof. Pat Utomi, Leke Alder, Uriel Palti, Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria among others.
The eyes of the world will be on Manchester this weekend as Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola bring their bitter feud to the Premier League for the first time.
Any derby between Manchester United and Manchester City is guaranteed to be an explosive affair, but the presence of sworn enemies Mourinho and Guardiola should ensure the animosity levels are higher than usual on Saturday.
With City top of the table and United just behind them in third after both won their first three league games, there was already more than local bragging rights at stake in a showdown between two sure-fire title contenders.
Even City midfielder Fernandinho’s boast that “this game is big, man. It’s a game that stops the city” doesn’t do justice to a fixture reported to be the richest match in football history with over £600 million ($790 million, 708 million euros) of world-class talent on parade.
Yet, despite the presence of Paul Pogba, David Silva, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a host of other stars, it’s the action on the Old Trafford touchline that will be must-see TV for millions around the world as United manager Mourinho and City boss Guardiola lock horns for the first time in three years in the 17th instalment of their acrimonious rivalry.Mourinho and Guardiola
The sight of Mourinho and Guardiola gesticulating and exhorting their players signals the resumption of a complicated relationship that has turned increasingly ugly since they first met at Barcelona two decades ago.
Mourinho’s constant jibes at Barcelona boss Guardiola during his time at Real Madrid undoubtedly got under the Spaniard’s skin, but the Portuguese coach’s record of just three wins in their 16 meetings is a significant blemish on his otherwise glittering CV.
Although Guardiola has come out on top seven times against Mourinho, he goes into the derby at a significant disadvantage following City striker Sergio Aguero’s three-match ban for elbowing West Ham United’s Winston Reid.
Leroy Sane could deputise for Aguero, who had already scored six times this season, after the Germany winger returned from the hamstring injury that delayed his debut after his £37 million ($48 million, 43 million euros) move from Schalke.
– Super-fast –
Guardiola must also decide whether to give a debut to Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, who arrived from Barcelona to replace the exiled Joe Hart, or stick with stand-in Willy Caballero.
“I’ve played in derby games in Germany but this should be a great match and one I’m really looking forward to, especially because Pep Guardiola is taking on Jose Mourinho,” Sane said.
Aguero’s absence will make it even harder for City to break a defence marshalled by Ivory Coast centre-back Eric Bailly, who has caught the eye of United goalkeeper David de Gea since his pre-season move from Villarreal.
“Bailly was a great signing, he’s come in and surprised us all very quickly.” De Gea said.
“I remember when I first came to England and, trust me, it can be hard early on but he’s flying.
“He is physical, strong, technically confident and super-fast.”
At the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger could give debuts to deadline day signings Shkodran Mustafi, a £35 million Germany defender from Valencia, and Lucas Perez, a £17 million Spanish forward from Deportivo La Coruna, as the Gunners face Southampton.
“He is uncomfortable to play against. He has everything a striker needs,” Mustafi said in defence of the unheralded Perez, whose arrival was greeted with indifference by Arsenal fans hoping for a higher-profile recruit.
Chelsea, in second place with a 100 percent record, travel to Swansea City with David Luiz set to feature after rejoining the club in an unexpected deadline day switch from Paris Saint-Germain.
Luiz was sold by Chelsea to PSG in 2014, but new Blues boss Antonio Conte sanctioned the error-prone Brazilian’s return as he grew increasingly desperate for defensive reinforcements.
“He’s played with Chelsea previously and he will bring a good personality,” Conte said.
Champions Leicester City could hand a debut to Algeria striker Islam Slimani, their club record £28 million signing, against Liverpool at Anfield.
England midfielder Jack Wilshere is set to make his Bournemouth debut against West Bromwich Albion after his shock loan move from Arsenal.
Fixtures (1400 GMT unless stated)
Saturday
Arsenal v Southampton, Bournemouth v West Brom, Burnley v Hull, Liverpool v Leicester (1630 GMT), Manchester United v Manchester City (1130 GMT), Middlesbrough v Crystal Palace, Stoke v Tottenham, West Ham v Watford
Coach Zinedine Zidane has slammed as “absurd” a one-year transfer ban imposed on Real Madrid by FIFA for irregularities in the signing of foreign players under 18.
The Frenchman’s own children are among those part of the case against the European champions.
FIFA dismissed Real and local rivals Atletico Madrid’s appeals against a two transfer window ban on Thursday, meaning they won’t be able to register any new players until January 2018 unless further appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport are successful.Zidane
Two of Zidane’s four sons who play in the Madrid academy were among 39 players investigated by FIFA with the club eventually sanctioned for breaking the rules regarding the signing of foreign nationals under 18 in eight cases.
“I don’t understand it at all and it bothers me,” Zidane said on Friday ahead of Madrid’s clash with Osasuna.
“I can talk about my (sons) that have been born and lived their whole lives here. It is absurd that they can’t play football.
“What we are going to do now is wait and hope that this subject is fixed as quickly as possible.”
Under international football rules, players under 18 cannot be transferred to another country, except in limited circumstances, and all transfers need the approval of a special FIFA committee.
However, Zidane’s sons appear to meet that criteria as the former World Player of the Year’s family has largely been based in the Spanish capital since he signed for Real as a player in 2001.
On the field, Zidane can continue his incredible first year as a senior coach as having lifted the Champions League in May, Real can match a club record of 15 consecutive La Liga wins at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.
Madrid will be massively boosted by the return of Cristiano Ronaldo for the first time since the Portuguese suffered knee ligament damage in the final of Euro 2016.
However, Zidane denied reports he had agreed to bed Ronaldo back into action gently in an attempt to prevent the 31-year-old suffering from knee problems towards the end of the season as he has in recent years.
“He is happy, he is with us and there is no pact. It is his first game after 60 days so we need to give him time, but I am happy he is here and he will play tomorrow,” added Zidane.
“Cristiano is an important player for the team and I always want him with me.”
Zidane confirmed he will leave out Marcelo, Casemiro and James Rodriguez after their exertions in South American World Cup qualifying this week, but Karim Benzema is also set to make his return from injury up front.
Manchester marches to a derby drumbeat this weekend, as Manchester United and Manchester City do battle at Old Trafford, but it has long been a city of distinctive rhythms.
Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola will represent Manchester’s rival football clans on Saturday, but the northwest England city is also the home of The Smiths, Joy Division, the Stone Roses and Oasis.
Once a seat of industry renowned for its cotton mills, canals and red-brick streets, the modern Manchester is a vibrant cultural hub where football and music go hand in hand.Manchester United’s Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic (up) beats Leicester City’s English defender Wes Morgan (down) to head in their second goal during the FA Community Shield football match between Manchester United and Leicester City at Wembley Stadium in London on August 7, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / GLYN KIRK /
“Music and football have been seized upon because they are clear symbols of the success of the city,” Professor Nick Crossley, a sociologist from the University of Manchester, told AFP.
“Regional identity is important. Mancunians have a very strong identity and like to celebrate their successes, particularly at the expense of southerners and Liverpool.”
For roughly 30 years after rock music arrived in Britain in the mid-1950s, the country’s biggest bands predominantly came from cities other than Manchester.
Liverpool, most significantly, had The Beatles, and the major rock groups of the 1960s and 1970s — the Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin — all hailed from London.
Punk, which burst violently into life in the late 1970s, also owed its existence to bands from the capital like The Clash, The Jam and the Sex Pistols.
But Professor Crossley says a desire to establish a punk scene in Manchester led to the creation of “dense music networks” in the city.
Come the 1980s, local bands like The Smiths and New Order rose to national prominence.
– ‘Madchester’ –
As the decade wore on, a new sound emerged, blending alternative rock, jangling psychedelia and electronic music.
It was heavily drug-influenced, spawned its own distinctive look — floppy hats, flared jeans and brightly coloured, oversized T-shirts — and became known as ‘Madchester’.
At around the same time, a young group of footballers at Manchester United were beginning to make waves in the club’s youth team.
Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Gary and Phil Neville, all locally born, were joined by Welshman Ryan Giggs and Londoner David Beckham in an all-conquering side that became known as the Class of ’92.
They would form the core of United’s first team under Alex Ferguson and when they hit the town, they visited places synonymous with the Madchester scene such as the fabled Hacienda nightclub.
“Growing up in Manchester in the 90s was just massive,” Butt, now a United academy coach, explains in ‘The Class of ’92’, the film that charts the players’ exploits.
“We would be going to the Hacienda, the Boardwalk, to concerts like Spike Island. It was a special time.
“I remember one time the whole Man United team went to the Hacienda. It wouldn’t happen nowadays.”
– ‘Football mentality’ –
Madchester, in turn, influenced Oasis, perhaps the most famous Manchester band, whose perennially warring brothers, Noel and Liam Gallagher, would become perhaps City’s most famous fans.
Noel, in particular, has almost become part of the furniture at the Etihad Stadium and recently interviewed City manager Guardiola for the club website.
“The link (between football and music) began to build probably at the end of the 80s,” says Dave Haslam, a former Hacienda DJ who has written several books on Manchester’s music scene.
“It became much stronger when we had the young Manchester United team of the first half of the 90s and Oasis at the same time.
“The Smiths were not interested in channelling local pride. But Oasis thought being from Manchester was something to be proud of.
“That was more a football mentality. That’s an important ingredient in the story of local pride and football.”
Other City supporters from Manchester’s rock music scene include Johnny Marr, guitarist in The Smiths, and Ian Curtis, the late Joy Division frontman.
But Richard Ashcroft, lead singer of The Verve, is a United fan, along with Shaun Ryder from the Happy Mondays and Mick Hucknall of Simply Red fame.
Affinities within the Stone Roses are split. Reni, the drummer, is a City fan, but frontman Ian Brown, guitarist John Squire and bassist Mani are all Reds.
A Roses song, ‘This is the One’, is played immediately before the teams emerge at the start of every United home game.
In a fitting fusion of Manchester music and Manchester football, it will be the last song to hold the attention of the crowd before hostilities commence on Saturday.
More than 30 tourists who spent a dramatic night stranded in cable cars above the French Alps were brought to the ground Friday after an 18-hour ordeal, operators said.
They were the last of 110 sightseers trapped when the cable cars ground to a halt Thursday afternoon in the shadow of Mont Blanc, western Europe’s loftiest peak.
After a night in the frozen dark, dangling at an altitude of 3,800 metres (12,500 feet), the string of cars lurched into movement at around 8 am (0600 GMT).
The incident was caused by cables that got crossed for “unknown reasons”, but a gust of wind is thought to have played a part, said Mathieu Dechavanne, boss of the Mont-Blanc Company which manages the system.
The cars were restarted after the last cable was untangled, he told AFP.
The 33 remaining passengers were able to reach the ground by exiting the cars at three points on the way down, an official said.
Teams on Thursday had been able to rescue 77 passengers, most of them by helicopters and others who were able to climb down with help.
But as darkness fell and the weather deteriorated, the operation was suspended, leaving the remaining tourists, one of them a 12-year-old boy, to spend the night suspended in mid-air.
The boy’s sister, Italian tourist Maria Elena Perrone, 18, was rescued on Thursday but then had an agonising wait for news of her brother and parents who were in a different cable car.
“It was terrible. My brother had to stay up there with my parents and they were only wearing sweatshirts. When the Sun set, it was cold,” she told AFP, sobbing.
“For two and a half hours we didn’t know what had happened and the cable car was moving a lot when they were trying to untangle the cables.”
– ‘Last hour was very long’ –
An elderly man was treated for hypothermia but all the passengers trapped overnight in the small, four-person pods were in good condition despite their ordeal, police said.
“We were in contact with them throughout the night, the people were cold” but there did not appear to be any health emergencies, the local police chief, Stephane Bozon, told AFP.
“The last hour seemed very, very long. We called the operators who explained that three cables got snarled up and they had to be untangled but they didn’t manage to do it,” a man who was one of the first tourists to be rescued told French radio, without giving his name.
The top official in the Haute-Savoie region, Georges-François Leclerc, said rescuers had been forced to halt their operation at 8:45 pm Thursday as they could not “guarantee the safety of the pilots, rescuers and the people stuck in the cars”.
During the night, a team of rescuers, three French and two Italian police officers also attempted to reach the trapped tourists.
One of the officers managed to get into the car where the 12-year-old boy was.
The trapped passengers had access to emergency blankets, energy bars and bottles of water, which are stocked aboard the cars.
The five-kilometre (three-mile) -long system, which went into operation in 1950, connects Aiguille du Midi on the French side of the mountains with Pointe Helbronner on the Italian border, offering panoramic views of Mont Blanc.
On the most eye-catching part of the trip, the cars are a dizzying 400 metres above ground.
In 2011, around 40 people were stuck for nearly seven hours on the Grande-Motte cable car in the southeastern French Alps after it broke down.
They were evacuated through trap doors in the cars, using ropes to reach the ground 40 metres below
By Abel Daniel The Nasarawa State Police command has rescued two Chinese kidnapped and also recovered five stolen cars amidst several other arrest of criminal gangs.
The Commissioner of Police, Nasarawa command Mr. Sadiq Bello while parading the alleged criminals said 38 persons were arrested for various crimes in the state since the past two weeks.
The two Chinese Mr. Jeng Ai-Jung and Mr. Wen So Ping were rescued following pressure mounted on the kidnappers by the combined effort of police and other security operatives at about 6pm on 5th August.
The police also paraded two notorious car thief Mr. Babayo Abdulkadir and Sani Yakubu who confessed that they specialise in stealing cars in Lafia. Five cars was recovered from them in their residence in Jos.
Other persons arrested include 419 syndicate who swindled about N8.2 million from high profile politicians and traditional rulers in the state.
All the suspected criminals confessed that they actually committed the crime.
Items recovered include seven assorted vehicles, one motorcycle, two AK riffles, one locally made pistol.
The CP warned criminals to stay away from the state even as he vowed to fish out criminals who may dare the command.
He urged members of the public to cooperate with the police by informing and reporting any suspected criminal in the state.
gangs who were arrested at deferent at the Command headquarters in Lafia
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