Slow start to Lagos road repairs (Nation)
The rehabilitation of roads across Lagos State has kicked off as Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu directed on Sunday. The governor declared a state of emergency on the roads following public outcry on their deplorable state.
The governor mandated eight engineering firms to immediately mobilise their equipment to sites and commence major work on identified roads including the Ojota stretch of Ikorodu Road, Kudirat Abiola Way, Apogbon Highway, Idi-Oro in Mushin, Babs Animashaun Road, Agric/Ishawo and Ijede roads in Ikorodu as well as Lekki-Epe Expressway from Abraham Adesanya to Eleko Junction.
A statement by the Governor’s Special Adviser on Works and Infrastructure Aramide Adeyoye also indicated there would be massive re-construction work on a network of roads in Ikoyi, Ikeja GRA and Victoria Island. Read more
NAF aircraft decimates insurgents’ meeting venue in Borno (Sun)
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has decimated a location at Boboshe in the fringes of the Sambisa Forest in Borno State being used as meeting venue by Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs).
NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, disclosed this in a statement yesterday in Abuja.
Daramola said the operation was executed on Sunday by the Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation Lafiya Dole.
He said that the attack was conducted following successive days of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions, coupled with human intelligence reports. Read more
Why borders won’t re-open for now, by FG (Nation)
Nigeria won’t open its borders with neigbouring countries yet, the Federal Government said on Monday.
This is an affirmation of the rejection of the calls for reopening by neigbouring countries – especially Benin Republic on the Western border – whose economy is largely dependent on the trade with Nigeria.
Comptroller-General of Customs Col. Hammed Ali (rtd), said on Monday that security of the nation is paramount. Read more
Moghalu resigns from YPP, canvasses for electoral reform (Vanguard)
Professor Kingsley Moghalu, on Monday resigned from Young Progressives Party, YPP. The presidential candidate of YPP in the February 23, presidential election, equally proposed for an electoral reform, noting that without electronic voting, Nigeria’s democracy would remain weak.
Disclosing this via his twitter handle @MoghaluKingsley, the renowned scholar opined that the country was close to its moment of reckoning, advising that “Electoral reform, voter education for an informed electorate, and constitutional restructuring are the real issues”, the country should deal with. Read his full statement below: “Without electoral reform which includes electronic voting, our democracy will remain weak. Let’s fix this before 2023. Please join our non-partisan movement http://tobuildanation.org Partisan politics won’t fix this problem. To this end, I’ve resigned my membership of @YPPNational. Read more
Bizman docked for allegedly defrauding Flour Mills (Sun)
A businessman, Ola Lawal, aka Lawal Roland, was yesterday arraigned before the Federal High Court, Lagos, for allegedly defrauding Flour Mill Plc to the tune of N46 million.
Lawal was docked alongside his company, DCAN Oil and Gas Limited before the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Lawal and his company were arraigned before Justice Chuka Obiozor on two counts charge of fraudulent transfer of the same sum from the Flour Mills’ account to his firm’s account. Read more
Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo share Booker Prize (BBC)
Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo have become the first authors to jointly win the Booker Prize for Fiction.
Atwood’s The Testaments and Evaristo’s novel Girl, Woman, Other earned each author an equal share of the £50,000 prize.
Atwood, 79, is the oldest ever Booker winner, while Evaristo is the first black woman to win. Read more
Turkey-Syria offensive: US sanctions Turkish ministries (BBC)
The US has sanctioned two Turkish ministries and three senior government officials in response to the country’s military offensive in northern Syria.
President Donald Trump also phoned his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to demand an immediate truce, Vice-President Mike Pence said.
Mr Pence said he would travel to the region “as quickly as possible”.
Syria’s army earlier entered areas in the north-east. This could result in a confrontation with Turkish-led forces. Read more
What we learned from the Queen’s Speech (Metro)
The Queen has just laid out what the Government intends to do for the next 12 months.
The only problem is Boris Johnson does not have a Commons majority, making the likelihood of most of the announced legislation passing before an election is called relatively slim.
That did not stop the Prime Minister from laying down some ambitious plans as part of the Queen’s speech. Read more
Fort Worth shooting: Police officer charged with murder (BBC)
The US police officer who shot dead a black woman in her bedroom on Saturday has been held and charged with murder.
Police in Forth Worth, Texas, wrote on Twitter that Aaron Dean was being held in the Tarrant County jail. On Monday police chief Ed Kraus told reporters Mr Dean had resigned from the force.
Atatiana Jefferson was killed after police responded to a non-emergency call from a neighbour. Read more
Ronaldo scores his 700th career goal (BBC)
Cristiano Ronaldo reached a career landmark on Monday by scoring his 700th career goal in Portugal’s Euro 2020 qualifier at Ukraine.
The 34-year-old scored a penalty as Portugal lost 2-1.
His 700 goals so far have come from 973 matches – and he has scored at least once in 458 of those.
His goal in the 2-1 loss to Ukraine was also his 95th for Portugal, leaving only Iranian Ali Daei in front in the international charts on 109 goals. Read more
Rohr explains why he chose Okoye ahead of Ezenwa (Guardian)
Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr has explained that he decided to replace injured first choice goalkeeper, Francis Uzoho with Fortuna Düsseldorf’s Maduka Okoye during the Brazil versus Nigeria friendly match in Singapore because he felt the home-based Ikechukwu Ezenwa was match rusty.
Brazil forced Nigeria to a 1-1 draw in the friendly game played on Sunday.
Speaking after the match, Rohr noted that Ezenwa, who is number two in the pecking order of goalkeepers, has not tasted action since the conclusion of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, while Okoye was active for Fortuna Düsseldorf’s reserve team in the Regionalliga West. Read more
Marathon maverick Kipchoge, 10 others nominated for male athlete of year (Vanguard)
Kenyan Eluid Kipchoge, who on Saturday became the first man to run a marathon in less than two hours, is one of 11 nominees for the IAAF male athlete of the year, athletics’ governing body said on Monday.
Kenyan marathon runner, Eliud Kipchoge Kipchoge, who finished a special marathon in Vienna in one hour, 59 minutes and 40 seconds that will not be recognized for world record purposes, also was nominated for his London Marathon course record. Read more
Nasarawa Utd plans identification cards for supporters (Tribune)
The Chairman of Nasarawa United Football Club of Lafia, Abdullahi Osanga, on Monday said the club would issue identification cards to its team’s supporters for the upcoming season.
Osanga told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lafia that the move was aimed at easily identifying supporters when the need arises.
“Discussions have been concluded with the representatives of the supporters on this, while a representative of the club has been given the task of ensuring all supporters were properly identified on match days.’’ Read more
Ikoyi Club thanks sponsors after tennis meet (NewTelegraph)
Team Lekki have emerged the winners of the EKODC Team Tennis Championship which was rounded off at the weekend at the Ikoyi Club 1938 following a 10-7 win over Team Anifowoshe.
Both teams who are from the Blue Group set up a final meeting having triumphed over Team Ikate and Team Ademola in the semifinals and it was Team Anifowoshe that seemed to be coasting home to victory following the 6-2, 6-2 doubles win by Ishmael Nwokocha and Sesan Dada over Labisi Abayomi and Chizoba Onuoha. Read more
Team Nigeria begins Tokyo 2020 Olympics preparations today (Guardian)
The minister, who disclosed that Nigeria would focus only on sports in which the country had competitive advantage, said next year’s Olympics would not be the usual jamboree witnessed in the recent past, adding that efforts were on to ensure the country returned from Tokyo with medals.
Speaking in Lagos yesterday, Dare said he was optimistic that the team’s progression, which started at the 2019 African Games and IAAF World Championships, would be climaxed in Tokyo with the country recording its best performance at the Olympics since Beijing 2008. Read more
Bulgaria v England: Euro 2020 qualifier halted twice due to racist behaviour from fans (BBC)
England’s Euro 2020 qualifier in Bulgaria was halted twice as fans were warned about racist behaviour including Nazi salutes and monkey chanting.
The first pause came in the 28th minute with England leading 2-0.
A stadium announcement then condemned the abuse before stating the match would be abandoned if it continued. Read more
Aribo has great Eagles’ future, says Aghahowa (NewTelegraph)
Former Nigeria international, Julius Aghahowa, has made glowing remarks about Glasgow Rangers midfielder, Joe Aribo, saying he is a promising player that needs all the support and backing to excel for the Super Eagles.
Aribo scored a fantastic goal in the first half of the friendly against Brazil on Sunday and Aghahowa believes the former Charlton Athletic central midfielder has a bright future with the Super Eagles only if he gets the required support to excel and shine. Read more
N’Golo Kante returns to training after Andreas Christensen & Mateo Kovacic suffer injury scares (Metro)
Chelsea are facing a nervous wait over the fitness of Andreas Christensen, Mateo Kovacic and N’Golo Kante. The Blues trio have both picked up injuries on international duty and are doubts for Chelsea’s clash with Newcastle. Kante, who has been struggling with injury for much of the season, was forced to withdraw from France’s game against Iceland last week due a muscle problem. Read more
Barca target Osimhen as Suarez’s replacement (NewTelegraph)
Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen’s rising profile has caught the attention of European giants Barcelona who have viewed him as a long term replacement for their talismanic forward Luis Suarez.
According to a report by Spanish sports newspaper AS which was monitored by our correspondent, Osimhem top the list of youngsters that have been scouted as ideal replacements for the Uruguayan striker.
Osimhen has set Europe on fire after netting seven league goals for Lille in his debut season in the French Championat. The former Wolfsburg forward also scored his first UEFA Champions League goal against Chelsea last month. Read more