RUSSIA-BASED striker Ahmed Musa has told MTNFootball.com he would jet out of Nigeria on Saturday for Portugal after he enjoyed much-needed rest during the break.
“I have rested well after the tough first round in Russia. I am refreshed and renewed now to join Eagles,” disclosed the CSKA Moscow star, who scored two goals in the qualifying tournament for the 2013 AFCON.
He said he will be available for selection in Wednesday’s friendly against star-studded Catalonia in Spain.
Kwara State Governor AbdulFatah Ahmed yesterday said governors are under financial pressure.
He urged the Federal Government to review allocations to states to meet their financial problems.
The governor spoke yesterday during his monthly media chat on state-owned radio and television stations.
The governor said the Sovereign Wealth Fund should be made available to states to solve some of their challenges.
His words: “Modalities in supporting states require reviews. The pressure we are facing today is not what past governments faced.
“Unfortunately, the resources made available to us are almost less than what we had before. It is putting a lot more pressure on us here.
“That’s why the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) has been putting pressure on the Federal Government.”
Kwara State Governor Abdulfattah Ahmed yesterday urged the Federal Government to hands off its projects in the state for sustainability and maintenance.
The governor spoke in Ilorin, the state capital, at the beginning of a tour of federal projects in the state, under the National Good Governance Monitoring Team, led by the Information Minister Labaran Maku.
He noted that there is usually no budgetary provision for the maintenance of such projects after inauguration.
Ahmed hailed the minister for leading the monitoring team.
The governor urged the residents not to see the programme as a one-off event but an opportunity for states and the Federal Government to work together.
He said: “The tours should be an opportunity for the Federal Government to see the impact of its programmes on the people and help in determining resource allocation.
“The tour is a platform that will enable the Federal Government to see where there are completed, ongoing, abandoned and untouched projects in the states. It will also enable the government to see how resources are allocated. Therefore, we need a strong collective effort in driving democracy.”
Maku said the tour was packaged to ensure that Nigerians know more about government efforts at providing the dividends of democracy.
He said: “It is important in democracy that you carry people along in whatever you are doing. Democracy is about contest and competition and we must not fail to let people know what we are doing.
“The idea is to let the states explain not only progress being made but also their challenges. There is no way the states and the Federal Government can work separately, because we share the same objectives of meeting the needs of our people.”