A Nigerian newspaper and Online version of the Vanguard, a daily publication in Nigeria covering Niger delta, general national news, politics, business, energy, sports, entertainment, fashion,lifestyle human interest stories, etc
The General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries International, Apostle Johnson Suleman has reacted to the recent killings in the north. In the video clip, the cleric, in strong terms, condemns the killings while charging his congregants to defend themselves too. Type your comment bellow after watching the video lets see how you feel about it.
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted sunny and hazy conditions over the North-Central states of the country on Monday.
NiMet made the prediction in the Weather Outlook released by its Central Forecast Office in Abuja on Sunday.
It said that the region would have day and night temperature of 36 to 38 degrees Celsius and 20 to 25 degrees Celsius respectively.
The agency also predicted that Southern part of the country would experience partly cloudy conditions in the morning with day and night temperatures of 34 to 37 degrees Celsius and 23 to 26 degrees Celsius respectively.
It also predicted prospect of thunderstorms over the coastal cities of Obudu, Warri, Ogoja, Ikom, Eket, Port Harcourt and Yenagoa with showers over Enugu and the high ground of the South-West.
According to NiMet, northern states will experience sunny and hazy conditions with day and night temperature of 36 to 38 degrees Celsius and 16 to 19 degrees Celsius respectively.
"The Northern and Central cities are expected to experience sunny and hazy with chances of thunderstorms over some Southern cities," the agency predicted.
THERE is need to urgently call out the false premises advanced in a back page article of a national newspaper of Monday January 9, 2016 for the obvious reason that it risks misleading Nigerians to docilely accept a country where big corporations call the shots. The article titled Why NCC's Failed Data Price Hike was Flawed by Sina Kawonise, a former Information and Strategy Commissioner in Ogun State, is a study in the tyranny of a vocal minority, who in this information age relishes in distorting information to protect the interest of a few.
It is important as a conscientious citizen to immediately challenge the kind of flawed reasoning put forward in the piece and not to resort to the usual refrain that it is the business of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, to set the record straight. If that commission is bullied into allowing anything go in the telecommunications industry it is Nigerians who suffer the consequences and one must for this very reason challenge positions that appear on the surface to be pro-people while in actual fact are nothing but sucking up to big corporate players and, whether wittingly or unwittingly, acting as their mouthpiece.
Even with the benefit of some enlightened critics having clarified that what the NCC did was to re-introduce a data tariff price floor as opposed to "hiking" the price of data, the writer persisted right from the title of his piece to mislead the unwary reader by suggesting that the regulator increased data tariff when it is only the mobile network operators that can hike or slash the prices of their products within the band of industry benchmarks – an upper limit called price ceiling and a lower limit, price floor.
This misleading information in the title of the article is a red flag that was only mitigated by the writer correctly listing the amounts currently charged by operators per megabyte of data and this clearly showed that one of the operators, Etisalat, already charges 94kobo/mb which is higher than the 90kobo/mb price floor. Whatever joy one should derive from this positive note was soon undone by the writer conveniently omitting the fact that to "protect" small operators is to protect the entire industry, which includes Kawonise's favoured big players.
One is left confused that the writer worried about the effect of a biting recession on the poor population but was piqued in the earlier part of his write up about how the concept of implementing a price floor runs contrary to "the logic and principles of capitalism". The logic that requires that one worries about how the poor cope with a recession must necessarily show concern for how new entrants into an industry survive to a point where they can grow to provide employment that will lift some of those poor citizens out of poverty.
Turning to the points marshalled by the writer to arrive at his concept of "flawed", first, anti-trust legislations and policies are in place specifically to prevent unhealthy competition and predatory practices whose end game is the demise of the competition. The demise of the competition is called monopoly. It is called oligopoly. It is ugly. If the big operators are allowed to continue selling data below cost price the new entrants will have no option but to close shop; even two of the big four will likely fold up if the price war continues and that would leave Nigerians with an oligopoly of two or three providers that can then fix prices.
The United Kingdom, which was a ready example for the writer, is just but one out of the countries in Europe. To have and give a fair sense of how the phenomenon of predatory pricing is dealt with on that continent it would be fair to also give instances from a few of the 28 countries in the European Union on how they have dealt with anti-trust issues in the past. The union has basically pulled the brake on how large Microsoft and Google (now part of Alphabet) can grow in their market by instituting actions against them for abuse of their dominant positions.
One must similarly ask questions such as at what point would new entrants into an industry be described as "inefficient" or as entities owned by fewer than 100 Nigerians and foreigners. These kind of expressions send the wrong signals to the outside world for a country that is keen on attracting foreign investment. By the way, are the big four owned by more than the same numerical strength or nationalities?
The third point canvassed by the writer underscores why the study of history, like the price floor, should be re-introduced in the country and an entirely new section on "telecommunications history of Nigeria" included so that recent past is not distorted in the telling. Contrary to his claims, we have had oligopolistic situations in this country. There was that time when ECONET (now Airtel) and MTN swore that SIM cards cannot be sold for less than N36,000 apiece. It took the licensing of Glo to crash the cost of SIM card acquisition. Validity of airtime recharge used to be in the region of seven days and it took regulation to correct that. We must also not forget the oligopolistic stance that once argued that per second billing was not possible.
Claiming that one of the new entrants, Smile, has introduced a disruptive technology as justification not to regulate unfair practices is refusing to acknowledge the real dynamics of the situation. How will Smile's disruptive technology take hold if unhealthy competition kills the provider off before it has had a chance to properly stabilise in the market? The issue has been and remains that MNOs are selling data for less than the cost of providing the service; this implies that there is a shortfall somewhere that subscribers will one day be forced to pay for if nothing is done now. It is about buying cheap data and not been able to use up one third of it before expiration and be subsequently forced to lose the unused data or forced to pay for a rollover. To the extent that NCC as regulator has worked to prevent this unpleasant scenario one can safely expect that the big players would be protected if Smile's disruptive technology becomes a threat to healthy competition.
As to raising the specter of the commission possibly being compromised, I will pass on that . NCC should defend itself even as one is tempted to interpret its silence as consigning the allegation to the realm of unmeriting of a response. One must nonetheless warn of the dangers of assumption; by the same token of being tempted to suspect NCC has been compromised shouldn't we also be worried that the writer's inspiration was the product of the same motivation. The same suspicion can be extended to this piece and that would be most uncharitable.
Finally, with the robust regulatory framework that NCC has put in place, there is no risk of telecommunications returning to a David Mark era of not being for the poor. What we should be scared of is a movement of data tariff to the oligopolistic era where dominant operators can charge any amount, muscle out small players or simply continue to offer crappy data service.
That is what will happen if we allow ourselves to be deluded into thinking we are enjoying cheap data at the expense of the competition being priced out of existence or the operators escaping the responsibility of improving their quality of service.
Diego Costa marked his comeback with a goal as Chelsea overcame an obdurate Hull City side 2-0 on Sunday to surge eight points clear at the Premier League summit.
Costa missed Chelsea’s 3-0 win at Leicester City last weekend due to a back problem, amid reports he had rowed with a fitness coach after being unsettled by a big-money offer from China.
But after returning to the starting XI, his 15th goal of the campaign set Antonio Conte’s side en route to an eighth straight home league win, which was rubber-stamped by Gary Cahill’s late header.
With Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United all dropping points and Costa back in the fold, Conte was left to reflect on something approaching a perfect weekend.
The Costa furore, and a recent 2-0 defeat at Tottenham, had threatened to rob Chelsea of their momentum, but they will go into back-to-back games against Liverpool and Arsenal with belief restored.
Marco Silva’s Hull remain in the relegation zone, their disappointment compounded by injuries to Ryan Mason and Curtis Davies, the former being taken to hospital after an aerial collision with Cahill.
Costa replaced Willian in the only change to the Chelsea team that won at Leicester and he almost found the net inside 11 seconds, chesting down a headed clearance and volleying just wide.
Chelsea’s Brazilian-born Spanish striker Diego Costa (L) controls the ball during the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and Hull City at Stamford Bridge in London on January 22, 2017. / AFP PHOTO
The game’s early rhythm evaporated following a nasty clash of heads between Cahill and Mason, who had to be stretchered off after receiving treatment on the pitch for around eight minutes.
Tom Huddlestone had dragged a shot across goal and wide prior to the stoppage and Hull continued to probe after it.
Harry Maguire ambled forward from centre-back and saw a shot deflected into the side-netting and from Evandro’s corner, the Hull number five’s header had to be fielded by goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
– Penalty appeal apiece –
But while Hull continued to threaten sporadically, Maguire working Courtois again with a thumping drive from 25 yards, as the first half wore on the home side began to tighten the screw.
Marcos Alonso had a deflected effort palmed over by Eldin Jakupovic, while Pedro Rodriguez might have had a penalty after Hull debutant Omar Elabdellaoui blundered into him from behind.
The nine minutes of added time yielded by Mason’s injury produced the breakthrough.
Chelsea were aggrieved that Davies avoided a second yellow card for lunging in on Pedro, but they were celebrating shortly after.
Alonso’s crossfield pass found Victor Moses on the right and he shifted the ball outside Andy Robertson before cutting the ball back for Costa to sweep home.
The penalty grievances were levelled up four minutes into the second half when Alonso escaped sanction despite clattering Abel Hernandez on the back of the foot as they competed for possession.
Costa twice threatened to double Chelsea’s lead, but even with Davies forced off by an apparent hamstring problem, Hull continued to poke and probe, drawing groans from the home fans.
After seeing Courtois make another save, albeit to repel an off-target Michael Dawson effort, Conte made a double change, sending on Willian and Cesc Fabregas for Hazard and Pedro.
Fabregas made an instant impact, with his left-wing free-kick headed in by Cahill in the 81st minute for Chelsea’s second goal.
Costa was denied a second by Jakupovic’s legs, but when he departed two minutes later, to be replaced by Michy Batshuayi, cries of “Diego!” echoed around the ground.
ABUJA – Presidency has described a second republic member of the House of Representatives from Kano State, Dr. Mohammed Junaidu as a biased critic whose stock in trade over the years has been to haul insults at leaders of Nigeria.
It also stated that Junaidu is seeking cheap publicity to keep himself relevant after retiring from active politics.
Reacting to an interview where the former federal lawmaker stated that President Muhammadu Buhari does not accept his mistakes, the Presidency which spoke though a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu on Sunday said dismissed the notion as a lie.Junaidu
Shehu in the statement reminded Junaidu that President Buhari publicly took responsibility and apologized over the dissolution of the Governing Councils of Federal Universities when it was discovered that due process was not followed.
Contrary to Junaidu’s position that President Buhari has not recorded any meaningful feat since his assumption of office in May 2015, Shehu stated that Nigeria under Buhari had been rif of corruption, also highlighting that the administration had greatly decimated Boko Haram in that the insurgents were no more occupying any place within the Nigerian territory.
The statement read thus: “The Presidency will like to break with tradition by reacting to the latest attack on President Muhammadu Buhari’s integrity in an interview by a former House of Representatives member from Kano State, Dr. Junaidu Mohammed.
“While Dr. Junaidu Mohammed is entitled to his opinion, he is not entitled to misrepresent facts about the concrete achievements of the Buhari administration in the past two or so years, including the undeniable fact that the Boko Haram terrorists have been significantly crippled militarily, because they no longer have the capability to invade and occupy towns and villages unchallenged by the country’s reinvigorated and motivated military personnel.
“The fact that civil servants and political office holders are now afraid to steal with impunity is itself a major psychological boost for the anti-corruption crusade of the Buhari administration, which no sincere Nigerian can pretend not to notice.
“Contrary to Junaidu’s claims that President Buhari doesn’t acknowledge mistakes, we wish to remind the medical doctor that the President publicly took responsibility and apologized over the dissolution of the Governing Councils of Federal Universities when it was discovered that due process was not followed.
“We must stress that taking responsibility for mistakes is one of the finest components of integrity, and that President Buhari has never failed in demonstrating this virtue in words and deeds.
“Since the coming of the Buhari administration, the country has saved billions and trillions of Naira which could be diverted to private pockets if the government wasn’t committed to transparency and accountability.
“We advise Nigerians to be wary of prejudiced and biased critics like Dr. Junaidu Mohammed who are more interested in personal publicity than respecting facts and figures about their claims.
“If Junaidu Mohammed wants to be taken seriously, he should demonstrate the duty of speaking truthfully about those he frequently attacks in his interviews.
“It must be noted that President Buhari was not the only target of Junaidu’s personal vituperations, as former Presidents Shehu Shagari, Ibrahim Babangida, Olusegun Obasanjo,Umaru Yar’adua and Goodluck Jonathan, had all been victims of his jaundiced and malicious attacks. When it came to the late Sani Abacha, he tried it, but once he saw the prospect of elimination, he retreated.
“A cursory library search will reveal that this man has nurtured the habit of insulting every leader this country has produced in his time. Like a narcissist, he is just interested in grabbing headlines. Without publicity, Dr. Junaidu would probably give up on life.
“It is unfortunate that Junaidu Mohammed has been using his political retirement life to engage in insulting every President to grab the newspaper headlines, in addition to taking advantage of the gullibility of uncritical readers that don’t bother to subject him to facts-check.
“It is obvious that Dr. Junaidu appears be infected by pathological cynicism and these kinds of critics are toxic to national progress because they are only primarily interested in destroying every positive effort and achievements of the government.”
Abuja – The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said its collaboration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was a game changer to enhance the operations of the capital market.
Mr Mounir Gwarzo, the Director-General, SEC, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
"This is a major game changer; in the past, SEC has had collaboration with EFCC in terms of sending some of our staff to work with them.
"But what has happened at that time largely is that EFCC has leveraged on our experience and the competence of our people to also assist them in their work.
"So we also felt there is a need to push that collaboration to a higher level.
"So some of the salient issues in the MoU is, one, we should be able to have an exchange of staff; EFCC should be able to send some of their staff that they have trained them into Investigation.
"So we will share ideas to help in investigation and we should be able to send some of our staff to EFCC so that we will be able to share with them some of the intricacies of the capital market.
"Investigation in the financial industry is quite unique.
"We also agreed that we should be able to create dedicated desks both at EFCC and SEC such that we know that the desk is dedicated to the capital market issues,'' he said.
Gwarzo said that most importantly, the SEC going by its law, SEC did not have the power to prosecute criminal matters.
He said the law limited SEC to only civil cases whereas about 99 per cent of cases in the capital market had some criminal elements.
He said, "the best we normally do is after our investigation, we ban or suspend the operator as an individual, we also either suspend or revoke the licence of the operator as a company.
"We then pass the matter to the EFCC, because the issue is related to the criminal aspect, we do not have jurisdiction to do that.
"So with this collaboration, we will be able to work closely with EFCC to ensure that the criminal elements which concerns the investor is also pursued and prosecuted to its logical conclusion.
"With this MoU we have had, I'm sure our investigation and particularly our enforcement mechanism, would be enhanced.
He explained that SEC had been handling civil cases and "we had achieved a lot of progress but with the EFCC coming in, they would be able to also handle criminal matters.
He reiterated that the EFCC boss had pledged commitment to ensure that the hallmark of the collaboration was achieved.
He further said," for me, it is a major game changer in our enforcement drive and this will also send a very strong signal to any capital market operator that will commit an offence.
Gwarzo said the collaboration would deter further offenders in the capital market.
Nigerians living in the United Kindom (UK) under the banner of the UK chapter of Nigerians in Diaspora Monitoring Group (NDMG) have condemned the death rumour of President Muhammadu Buhari, describing it as the handiwork of corrupt and unpatriotic individuals.
The group in a message to journalists by its co-ordinator, Engr. Adekaa Onyilo said those behind the rumour do not mean well for Nigeria as a country that is trying to overcome long years of strangulation imposed by their benefactors.
He said such rumour reveals the depth to which morals have sunken and the desperation of the beneficiaries of corruption want an end to the current war on corruption so that they can again return the country to the path of perfidy.
He said the Group is pleased at the promptness with which the Presidency dispelled the evil rumors around the health of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is currently on a medical leave with us here in the United Kingdom.
According to Onyilo, even as Mr President continues with his rest for the duration of his leave, the prayers of the millions of Nigerians who are yearning for the disruption of the status quo imposed by corruption would not go unanswered.
He said,”The irresponsible news could only have been floated by those that want to see Nigeria go up in flames. Unfortunately, they failed to realize that the change and reforms initiated by Mr President would outlive everyone since they are targeted at strengthening institutions and building systems.
“We therefore want to warn the purveyors of such rumors to desist as their act affect more than President Buhari. At a time when our dear country is working to contain the pressure on the naira, their action has served to further spook the currency and shake investors’ confidence. When this happens, citizens that played no role in starting the lies would suffer for it.”
CHAIRMAN of Delta State Waterways and Land Security Committee, Chief Boro Opudu has appealed to people from the Niger Delta to maintain the peace and avoid any form of pipeline vandalism saying government can only address the development needs of the people in an atmosphere of peace.
While he commended the recent visit of Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to the Niger Delta, Opudu called for quick take-off of the Maritime University at Okerenkoko.
In a statement, Chief Opudu said: "The recent visit of the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to the Niger Delta, which was a fact-finding missipn, is a commendable development because the visit has clearly shown that the existing structures and facilities at Kurutie (the temporary site for the Maritime University) are enough for the University to take off.
“This confidence-building and fact-finding mission heralds readiness of the Federal Government to engage the Niger Delta positively on development matters particularly when this is translated to reality in no distant time,as the Niger Delta needs less talk and more visible action of real development."
Calling on Niger Deltans to eschew violence he said the Federal Government can no longer give insecurity excuses to dodge its task of developing the region.
He said: "With the positive feelers of pragmatic development of the Niger Delta heralded by the Vice-President, I hereby appeal and call on all Niger Deltans to maintain the peace and avoid any form of pipeline vandalism as government can only address the development needs of the people in an atmosphere of peace. Peace maintained in the Niger, the Federal government can no longer give insecurity excuses to dodge its task of developing us."
In addition, Chairman of Delta State Waterways and Land Security Committee said "As further indicator of its intention to develop the Niger Delta signalled by the Vice-President’s recent visit, the Federal Government should quicken the take-off of the Maritime University at Okerenkoko. The moment the Maritime University takes off in no distant time, it will boost the confidence of the Niger Delta people in the Buhari-led government and put an end to feelings and thoughts of alienation, antagonism, persecution, deliberate underdevelopment and sidelining of Niger Deltans. Development of the Niger Delta in project-execution and quick take-off of the Maritime University will give a sense of belonging to Niger Delta region.
"The visit of the Vice-President to the Niger Delta is an eloquent testimony of President Buhari’s readiness to engage the Niger Delta in a positive way and this demands that Niger Deltans key into this new development by avoding any divisive issue bound to distract attention away from the ideals of this confidence-building and fact-finding visit. The word is peace and collective puruit of development in the Niger Delta in line with best global practices."
The operatives of the Lagos State Task Force had arrested a man Soji Gboye who impersonated to be a journalist with a media outfit (TVC Continental).
Disclosing this to newsmen on weekend, Chairman of the Agency SP Olayinka Egbeyemi said the suspect who lives on No 5, Adesoye Street, Mende, Maryland, Lagos, was arrested while obstructing the personnel of the Agency from performing their legitimate duty around the area.
Soji was arrested alongside 67 miscreants and hoodlums during an enforcement exercise carried out in Maryland area of the state.
Soji Gboye
The Chairman also said traders selling or displaying wares/goods at unauthorised places were dislodged during the exercise.
According to him, the 36 years old from Ilaje, Ondo State who claimed he was a correspondent with the media outfit could not properly identify himself when interrogated by the Chairman of the Agency.
SP Egbeyemi who was one time Deputy Police Public Relations Officer (DPPRO) immediately Investigated further with the management of the media outfit but it was discovered that he was not a staff but an impersonator.
It was gathered that upon interrogation, it was discovered that he was not a journalist and he had never worked with a media outfit.
He said he only impersonated himself to be a journalist just to regain his freedom and that any time he had issues with any uniformed men he always impersonated to be a journalist and he had never been doubted for once.
Mr Gboye who said the Agency should have mercy on him however acknowledged the braveness of the Chairman of the Lagos State Task Force SP Olayinka Egbeyemi as an intelligent Nigeria Police Officer.
Meanwhile the Lagos State Commissioner of Police Mr. Garuba Umar has directed that all the 67 suspects be charged to court while the fake journalist be transferred immediately to State CID, Panti Street, Yaba, Lagos.
SP Egbeyemi who said the Agency and other security outfits would not relent at getting rid of criminals and hoodlums however enjoined members of the public to always furnish security outfits with useful information on criminal activities across the State.
The former Senate President, Ken Nnamani has defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to the All Progressives Congress Party, APC.
Ken Nnnamani was the President of the Senate from 2005 to 2007. A member of the People’s Democratic Party, he was elected to the Senate from Enugu State in 2003 and served in the Senate until 2007.
Ken Nnamani joins APC
Nnamani however joined APC on Sunday at his Amaechi ward in Enugu South Council Area of Enugu State.
Recall that Nnamani had nearly a year ago denounced his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Nnamani reportedly said he is defecting because impunity and undemocratic practices has killed PDP.He also said that PDP was now dead, unproductive and unprofitable.
He said this after receiving his membership card from the APC's national registration committee.
UYO-The people of Akwa Ibom South Senatorial District have said, they would continue to drum support for Governor Udom Emmanuel to actualize his agenda for the state.
This is even as they condemned the defection of Senator Nelson Effiong from PDP to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) saying that, the defection was without consultation with the people of the Senatorial District.
"His action is uncharitable and unaccepted to the senatorial district. This defection does not affect in anyway, the position and strength of the party in the senatorial district and, the desire of the Governor and support of the people to run for the second term", they stated
They stated this at the weekend at Eket, when the stakeholders met to endorse the governor for another term in 2019.
The leaders of thought in a statement issued and read by the member representing Ikot Abasi Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Charles Uduyork, called for more support from the people of the state, for the Governor to realize his programmes for the people.
Gov Emmanuel Udom
The meeting commended him for some of his achievements and sustaining what they described as, ''a high momentum in governance'' even at the face of the current economic recession.
According to the statement, "His Excellency has not only maintained the State's free education policy but, has also addressed aggressively the challenges of infrastructure in the educational sector. Many schools are undergoing renovation while the Akwa Ibom State University has recorded increase in the number of accredited courses.
"A number of hospitals have been fully renovated or are undergoing renovation to boost the healthcare system. Worthy of note are the numerous road projects His Excellency has initiated, completed or ongoing.
"His drive towards industrializing the State is evident in the revamping of Peacock Paints Limited in Etinan, while the Coconut Refinery, the Metering Company, Ibom Deep Seaport and others are in various stages of completion.
"His Excellency has held passionately to his five-point agenda of job creation, poverty alleviation, wealth creation, economic/political inclusion amongst others.
The meeting also consoled the governor for the Reigners' Bible Church tragedy and thanked God for his safety.
Ten-man Arsenal went second in the Premier League with a stunning 2-1 win over Burnley at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday that saw both sides score penalties in stoppage-time.
Arsenal were 1-0 up courtesy of Shkodran Mustafi’s first goal for the club when, in the third of seven minutes of time added on by referee Jon Moss, Burnley’s Ashley Barnes was fouled inside the area by Francis Coquelin.
Andre Gray, a childhood Arsenal fan, slammed the spot-kick down the middle, with Petr Cech unable to prevent the equaliser despite getting a hand to the ball.
But that was not the end of the drama.
When Arsenal pumped the ball into the box with virtually the last attack of the game, Laurent Koscielny was caught by a high foot from Ben Mee as he attempted to head in.
Moss, amid suggestions Koscielny was marginally offside, again pointed to the spot and Alexis Sanchez, showing remarkable cool in the circumstances, chipped rather than fired a penalty down the middle.
It had looked like being another frustrating afternoon for Arsene Wenger’s men as they squandered several chances against a determined Burnley.
Mustafi eventually broke the deadlock in the 59th minute when he headed in a corner from fellow Germany international Mesut Ozil.
Arsenal had to play the final 25 minutes down to 10 men after midfielder Granit Xhaka was shown a straight red card for a reckless challenge on Steven Defour.
Victory saw Arsenal leapfrog both Liverpool, beaten 3-2 by Swansea on Saturday, and Tottenham Hotspur, held to a 2-2 draw by Manchester City, in the table.
But Chelsea will end the weekend eight points clear of their London rivals if they beat relegation-threatened Hull in Sunday’s late match.
– Costa return –
There was a boost for the Blues at Stamford Bridge with the return to their starting XI of striker Diego Costa.
The Brazil-born Spain striker, Chelsea’s top scorer this season with 14 goals, missed last weekend’s 3-0 win at Leicester City due to a back complaint.
But he was reported to have had a training-ground row with fitness coach Julio Tous, amid speculation he had been the subject of a mega-money offer from Chinese club Tianjin Quanjian.
Costa replaced Willian in the only change made by Chelsea manager Antonio Conte.
Earlier, Southampton marked their first match since former captain Jose Fonte’s £8 million ($9.9 , 9.2 million euros) move to West Ham on Friday by ending a run of four straight league defeats with a 3-0 win at home to struggling champions Leicester.
The Saints were 2-0 up before the break at St Mary’s thanks to goals from James Ward-Prowse and Jay Rodriguez before Dusan Tadic’s penalty four minutes from time completed a comfortable win.
Victory was just the boost south coast side Southampton, now 11th in the table, needed ahead of their League Cup semi-final second leg clash against Liverpool on Wednesday, with the Saints taking a 1-0 lead to Anfield.
“It (Anfield) is a tough place to go but we can take confidence from today and how we played against them in the first leg and hopefully we can get to Wembley,” Ward-Prowse told Sky Sports.
Meanwhile Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri blamed himself for the Foxes’ latest loss and promised to revert to the formation that proved so successful for the Foxes during their shock title triumph last season.
“The players are used to 4-4-1-1 and know the positions but I made a mistake,” he said.
“I think it is much better to give them what they know well,” added the Italian after Leicester’s 11th defeat in 22 league matches so far this season left them just five points above the relegation zone.
President Adama Barrow, on Saturday promised the citizens of his readiness to operate transparent and all-inclusive administration.
Barrow said this while addressing newsmen in Dakar, Senegal.
He said it was about time the country was repositioned to achieve greatness and development.
"The time is now. There cannot be a better time because Gambians had waited for too long for this opportunity to come.
"This government would involve all well meaning citizens irrespective of political leanings and religion to build the country.
"We shall together do this in order to redeem the good image of the country and move it to greater height,'' the President said.
Adama Barrow
Barrow said the people of Gambian were very happy that the change they yearned for had finally come, adding that all hands must be on deck to develop the country.
He promised to unite all the warring factions for the good and development of the country.
"With unity of purpose a lot can be achieved within the space of little time that everybody can be proud of anytime anywhere.
"With everybody on board, Gambia can become one of the great countries of the world going by its potential and human resources,'' he said.
He, therefore, called on the Gambians to give maximum support to the government, adding that he was ready and willing to deliver dividends of democracy to the good people.
"We shall embark on robust policies and programmes where everybody will have equal chance as that is key in democracy.
"We are going to redeem all items in our manifesto for the benefit of the people. Gambia is back and we are ready to move it forward.
"We are also going to encourage people, especially Nigerians to invest in the country and create more employment.
"We will encourage them and other foreign investors to go into production.
"We do not want the idea of buying and selling because, your life will depend on others. So, we will encourage people to go into production,'' the President said.
He also assured the people of adequate security, promising to leave a good legacy behind for the people and country.
He expressed delight for the support extended to him during the trying time, adding that the people must remain dogged and resilient for the government to deliver dividends of democracy.
He specially appreciated the role played by Nigeria's President, Muhammadu Buhari and ECOWAS and other International bodies that ensured that his mandate became a reality.
By Henry Umoru ABUJA- FORMER Chairman, Board of Trustees of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih, Sunday condemned in very strong terms, the masterminds of the media report that the health condition of President Muhammadu Buhari could have worsened, leading to possible death in Germany.
He advised the media, especially operators of online media platforms to always verify sensitive reports before they publish, saying that by doing so, they will save their news subjects and themselves unnecessary embarrassment. File: Chief Anthony Akhakon Anenih
Reacting to the development, Anenih in a statement in Abuja, dismissed the report as the handiwork of those who only did not wish Buhari well and those who did not mean well for Nigeria, just as he urged those persons to fear God and pray for leaders of the country.
According to Anenih, those behind the report, in what he described as their hurried bid to propagate their mischievous and false report, forgot that the president left Nigeria for London and not Germany on vacation during which period he would undergo routine medical check-up.
The Elder Statesman said, “This attitude of doing false reports about the death of our leaders has become characteristic in the media and it is not good. I was a victim of this in May last year when I was reported to have died in a London hospital. Former President Ibrahim Babangida was also a victim of such sinister rumoured death last year. I wonder what those behind the false and mischievous reports intended to gain from them.
“Fabricating such negative and false reports of death about fellow human beings is wicked and ungodly. It is clearly against Biblical admonition that we should pray for leaders and people in authority.
“At this time of economic recession, rather than wish President Buhari dead, Nigerians should fervently pray for him to enjoy good health to be able to take the country out of the woods.
“The masterminds of these false reports should desist from such despicable act that only portrays them as inhuman. They should fear God, ask for His mercy and forgiveness so that they do not invite the wrath of God upon their heads.”
Also yesterday, a group under the aegis, Osun Buharist Society described the rumour as callous, barbaric and ungodly that President Muhammadu Buhari has passed away in Germany.
In a statement signed by its publicity secretary , Mallam Abiodun Kamar, the group categorised those spreading the rumour as “agents of darkness who are working round the clock to set the country ablaze”, warning that ” it is time to out the loss of 2015 at our back.
“What we are witnessing is the desperation of a power elite angry and bitter for its loss at poll and is fatally plotting to plunge the country into chaos. We the ordinary citizens must resist them. We must say no to evil plot.
” President Buhari is entitled to medical leave and he duly ceded power to his Vice President, a man of God in politics. Is a 70 year old man not entitled to medical check up?
“Now is the time to pray for our leaders .The holy books indeed command us to respect and support constituted authority.
” We can not as patriots wish ourselves dead talkless of our president .We appeal to all Nigerians to unite behind President Buhari as he battles the economic parasites who destroyed our economy.”
A pro-democracy coalition has told President Muhammadu Buhari that the delay in submitting the name of Justice Nkanu Onnoghen to the Senate for confirmation as the substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) "is a big test on the unity of Nigeria."
The group, Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy and Constitution (CDNDC), expressed concern that "this suspicious and deliberate action of the President in delaying the confirmation process has effectively put the unity of Nigeria on trial."
President Buhari elected to appoint Justice Onnoghen as acting CJN on November 10, 2016 for a period of three months; the first to be so appointed in acting capacity and he currently has less than 20 days to the expiration of the duration.
The coalition had previously accused the Presidency of trying to ethnicise and politicise the judiciary, by denying Onnoghen, the first Southerner in 30 years, an opportunity to enjoy confirmation like all his predecessors to serve as the CJN.
Justice Onnoghen
The coalition in a latest statement by its Co-Convener, Ariyo-Dare Atoye, warned that "the established precedence and processes for appointing a substantive CJN must not be compromised to suit ethnic and political interest.
"We are not unaware that they have been combing the whole universe to look for something incriminating which they could use as a cover to stop this courageous judge from becoming our substantive CJN.
"This same Justice Onnoghen was among the three Justices that gave a fearless judgement in favour of General Muhammadu Buhari as the then Presidential candidate of the All Nigerians Peoples Party (ANPP) in 2007. This is a pedigree that should automatically endear him to Mr. President.
"If he did that, so what could then be the reason for undermining his confirmation process as the CJN like his predecessors?
"We make bold to say that we have gotten to a point where we must tell ourselves the bitter truth and speak wisdom to leadership no matter how fragile or sensitive the situation is.
"If Mr. President thinks a Justice from the South of Nigeria does not deserve to be the CJN, he should quickly let us go for a referendum and decide the membership of this nation. We must stop living in denial and under false pretense of national unity," the statement said.
CDNDC urged eminent Nigerians to prevail on the President not to jeopardise the unity of the country. "Justice Onnoghen is a Nigerian and he should be allowed to serve like his predecessors," the group said.
*** Calls on the FG to carry out a holistic Investigation into the matter
By Henry Umoru
ABUJA- THE South East Senate Caucus yesterday condemned in very strong terms, the alleged killings of unarmed members of the so-called Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) said to be holding a pro-Trump rally in Port Harcourt, Rivers state by members of Nigerian Security agencies.
The South East Senators have also called on the Federal Government to carry out a holistic investigation into the allegations of deliberate application of excessive force by security agencies in the containment of peaceful assembly particularly when groups from the South East are involved, with particular reference to the latest action.
In a statement in Abuja weekend, Chairman of the South East Caucus, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe who noted that the mere fact that the security agencies applied excess force in an otherwise peaceful rally, was however reprehensible and questions what the Senators called, an emerging pattern in the containment of peaceful assembly in Nigeria.
IPOB members on solidarity march for Trump
Abaribe who noted that the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended provides for the freedom of association and the right of the people to freely assemble to express their common interest, said, “The last time I checked, that section of the constitution is still intact and has not been amended. It is therefore worrisome and that the rights of a section of Nigerians would be so wilfully denied with such extra force.
“If the report of killings by the security agencies were to be confirmed, it would no doubt leave a gaping hole in the unity of this country.
“This is one regrettable action too many, coming against the backdrop of the recent report of the Amnesty International (AI) of mass killings of people from the same section of the populace in Nigeria.”
Abaribe who said that the South East Senate Caucus was not only demanding a stop to this heinous act, which have caused so much embarrassment to the country, but was also calling on the Federal Government to investigate the high handedness of its security services in the handling of civil protest with particular emphasis to the latest action by her security agencies in Port Harcourt.
Gambian embattled out-gone President, Yahaya Jammeh flew out of The Gambia after finally accepting to step down for Adama Barrow on Saturday. While leaving the country, jubilant Gambians are seen in the video clips shouting freedom. Jammeh who, in the second video clip, boarded a plane waved at the Gambians before flying out of the country. The third video shows Gambians returning from exile after the exit of Jammeh.
By Ola Ajayi, Ibadan FOLLOWING what it described as persistent violation of human and trade union rights, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has instructed its members nationwide to boycott all academic and allied activities at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State.
Also the academic union barred all the university academic staff from carrying out any academic activity in any public universities in the country.
This was contained in part of the resolutions reached at the end of its Awka National Executive Council meeting.
In the statement which was given to newsmen in Ibadan by the Chairman University of Ibadan Chapter of the union, Dr Deji Omole, ASUU alleged that the university management and its sponsored groups were fuelling crisis by forcefully deducting check-off dues without remitting it to the national body.
ASUU vowed that for the duration of the sanctions, academic Staff of the University of Ilorin would no longer enjoy the cooperation, collaboration or participation of academics of other Nigerian public universities.
According to to the union, areas that the sanctions covered include teaching, research and supervision of students; setting, moderation or assessment of examinations; external assessment for professorial cadre appointments or promotions; sabbatical, visiting, part-time and adjunct appointments, accreditation of institutions, colleges and programmes and courses, collaborative research, peer review of journal articles and patronage of journals; attendance of conferences, workshops, seminars and other related activities.
Omole further stated that "despite all intervention efforts by the Academic Staff Union of Universities since 2001, the University of Ilorin administration has persisted in acts of lawlessness, arbitrariness, violation of human and trade union rights, and persecution of loyal members.
Contrary to the law and despite the ruling of the National Industrial Court, the University has continued to prevent the Union from functioning on its campus. The University has also continued to forcefully collect check-off money from academics of the university in the name of the Union without remitting it to the Union.
The union, he added, was bound to protect the principles of democracy and the exercise of freedom in the academia. It also insisted that on the right to function through its own accredited representatives on Nigerian University campuses. “NEC at its meeting at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, recognized distinct groups that have emerged in creating and prolonging the crisis at the University of Ilorin.”
