The Nation Newspaper

Tag: cancelled

  • 2016 Aba marathon edition cancelled, LOC announces

    2016 Aba marathon edition cancelled, LOC announces

    The 2016 edition of the Aba Township half marathon being organised by the management of Saturn Communications Limited (owners of Magic Fm, Aba) in collaboration with the Abia State government which was scheduled to hold on December 17 will no longer hold.

    The Aba Township half marathon which holds every December, since it started in 2013 with the endorsement of the Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has not only continued to attract the presence of more international athletes, but has provided the platform for the discovery and nurturing of talented sportsmen and women who have represented Abia State and the country respectively at national and international stages of the competition.

    Chairman, Sub-Committee, Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the competition and News Manager, Magic Fm, Aba,  Boni Onogwu in a press briefing at the weekend said that the cancellation of the sporting event that has grown in leaps and bounds over the last three years was because of the “massive reconstruction of roads” part of which also serves as the major routes for the marathon including the final destination point; Enyimba International stadium which is still under construction by the state government.

    “For three years, this event attracted budding local and established athletes from within and outside Nigeria who have gone to participate in major meets elsewhere and climbing the atlethics ladder progressively.

    “…it has been the desire of the organisers to consistently hold the event every last Sunday of December yearly. This has been achieved back to back since December 2013 amid constraints bothering on road infrastructure, the major plank for executing a marathon race, but the race held all the same. However, due to the on-going massive reconstruction of roads and the Enyimba International Stadium, Aba, which incidentally affect the major routes for the race and the landing venue respectively, we regrettably have to postpone the 2016 edition.

    “We have also conveyed our reason/s for our action to all relevant athletics regulatory bodies (Athletic Federation of Nigeria and by extension, the International Association of Athletics Federation) for their necessary action.”

    While reassuring Aba and Abia residents including other sport loving Nigerians of the LOC’s commitment to make the next edition of the event bigger and better as soon as the reasons for the postponement was remedied, Onogwu added that the LOC members were thankful for the partnership and media coverage of the event that they have enjoyed in the last three years even as he solicited for more support from the media partners.

  • Why I cancelled Ramadan gift, by El-Rufai

    Why I cancelled Ramadan gift, by El-Rufai

    •Sheik Gumi backs governor’s decision

    Kaduna State Governor Malam Nasir El-Rufai has defended the cancellation of Ramadan gift by his administration, saying the process was fraudulent.

    El-Rufai last week announced the discontinuation of the practice of distributing food items and gifts during Ramadan. But the decision has  been  criticised in many quarters.

    The governor, while hosting religious leaders explained that the state is broke, and needs to tighten its finances to serve the people better.

    The governor, who spoke yesterday through his aide on Media and Publicity, Samuel Aruwan said: “The government stopped issuing contracts to so called ‘super’ politicians to supply foods, beverages and other essentials as Ramadan gifts across the state because the process is entirely fraudulent with nothing tangible to show for it, except playing to the gallery to score cheap political goals and fraudulently enrich a few individuals.”

    Aruwan added: “It is a known fact that the so-called feeding of the poor during Ramadan is a window created to loot the public treasury with impunity using religion as a cover.

    “Findings have revealed how it is mainly prominent politicians and influential personalities that benefit from the Ramadan and Christmas gifts instead of the so called ‘poor’.

    “Food stuffs, bought with public resources, are distributed to prominent government officials and other personalities, while the poor in whose name those foods are procured queue in droves for crumbs and are constantly subjected to several forms of hardships and degrading circumstances after such sham gestures. The hundreds of millions of naira involved have not translated into visible feeding points in Kaduna.”

    Aruwan explained further that, “the state government will no longer tolerate the siphoning of government resources in the guise of gifts to prominent politicians, public servants and famous figures, or the feeding of indigent persons during religious occasions; neither will it be involved in sponsoring people.

    “The governor is committed to always helping the needy in a transparent and sustainable manner. He is focused on providing sincere leadership, and that includes taking steps against the looting of the public treasury in the guise of feeding ordinary citizens who are deprived of social justice and basic amenities.

    “The governor’s position is simple. He will not dip his hands into the public treasury or aid the swindling of public funds using religion as a cover. Instead his generosity to the poor will continue in his private status as a Muslim. His commitment to Zakat is constant and has been done for decades without any form of publicity.

    “The governor encourages people of means to do the same in their private capacities, and not abdicate their religious duty to care for the less well-off to the government.

    “This year, Malam Nasir El Rufai and his friends are pooling resources to provide Ramadan feeding as private individuals to the vulnerable in our society.

    “This is a healthy way of building a caring society, and if more widely adopted by people of means, will certainly provide for more persons than a fraudulent system of government provision that at best reaches only a few.”

    Meanwhile, prominent Islamic scholar in the state, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, backed El-Rufai’s decision to cancel Ramadan welfare packages to religious bodies.

    Gumi hailed the governor’s decision, saying  the Ramadan package was not mandatory or compulsory.

    According to him, “the government should focus more on the welfare of its civil servants rather than distributing package to other people during fasting period.”

    Sheikh Gumi said it was wrong for any state government to owe its civil servants their monthly salaries.

    He said if the economic situation in the state stabilises, the government can revisit the feeding programme.

     

  • Furious 7’s Abu Dhabi premiere cancelled for Vin Diesel

    Furious 7’s Abu Dhabi premiere cancelled for Vin Diesel

    Furious 7 star, Vin Diesel’s daddy duties have put the brakes on a planned Abu Dhabi premiere for the next instalment in the popular street-racing action franchise.

    Diesel and his partner, Paloma Jimenez, are expecting their third child, and so could not leave that to chance.

    The notoriously private actor, 47, already has daughter Hania and son Vincent, but has never publicly announced that he and Jimenez are expecting another child.

    The new baby likely will arrive around the same time that Diesel’s next film, Furious 7, hits theatres April 3. But the news has forced Universal to cancel a splashy world premiere March 10 at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, one of the film’s locations, because Diesel (also a producer on the pic) is opting not to go.

    “He wants to be with his family at the birth; it’s a beautiful thing,” says a source. “What human being wouldn’t?”

    A rep for Diesel couldn’t be reached, but a source adds that the premiere now will be April 1 in Los Angeles. According to a studio source, Universal is “happy to premiere the film in L.A., birthplace of the franchise, where a core fan base exists.”

    Diesel is known to keep details of his personal life closely guarded. He never made a formal birth announcement for either of his children. On Aug. 26, 2013, he made the only public appearance with his partner and their kids, stepping out to receive his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

    Diesel is very much the face of the Fast & Furious franchise, which centre son his character, Dominic Toretto, and Paul Walker’s cop-turned-street racer Brian O’Conner. Walker’s tragic death in a car crash in November 2013 delayed production on Furious 7 and pushed the release date from July 2014 to April 2015. Furious 7 also stars Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibsonand Ludacris.

    The Fast & Furious franchise has earned a stellar $2.38 billion worldwide since launching with the first film in 2001. The most recent instalment, Fast & Furious 6, earned $788.7 million worldwide.

  • Governors fault Presidency over cancelled NEC meetings

    Governors fault Presidency over cancelled NEC meetings

    The Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) yesterday faulted the Presidency’s frequent cancellation of the National Economic Council (NEC) meetings.

    Rising from a meeting, which started on Wednesday and ended yesterday at the Rivers State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja, the NGF noted that such cancellation could jeopardise discussions on issues of national importance.

    A NEC meeting was earlier scheduled to hold yesterday in Abuja, but it did not hold.

    The governors were already in Abuja.

    NGF said it was unable to make input into the 2014 budget because of frequent cancellations of the meeting.

    Reading a communiqué, Amaechi said: “It has become embarrassing that governors are invited to Abuja for NEC meetings only to be told of their cancellation; yet there are issues of national importance that ought to have been addressed at such meetings.

    “Consequently, we have a 2014 national budget without input from the states, resulting in a lack of sense of ownership of the budget process.”

    The forum called for the probe of the alleged missing $48.9 billion from the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, also raised the issue, later agreed that about $106 was missing after a reconciliatory meetings.

    “In furtherance of the issues raised above, the forum reiterates that the NNPC and the Ministry of Finance are obliged to brief the governors on the non-remittance of $49.8 billion into the Federation Account.

    “In the absence of NEC meetings, the platform for resolving these issues becomes non-existent,” the governors said.

    The forum decried the crisis in Rivers State and urged President Goodluck Jonathan to summon a meeting of the Police Council.

    Amaechi said the forum had scheduled a retreat in Lagos in March.

    Governors at the meeting are: Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Tanko Almakura (Nasarawa) Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun).

    Others are: Kashim Shetima (Borno), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Babatunde Fashola (Lagos), Adams Oshiomhole (Edo) and deputy governors of Zamfara, Kano and Imo states.

  • Ethiopia v Togo warm-up cancelled

    Ethiopia v Togo warm-up cancelled

    Ethiopia are now most likely to take on Guinea in an AFCON warm-up after a match against Togo was cancelled.

    Media reports from Addis Ababa said that the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) have cancelled the friendly due to operational reasons.

    The speculation is that Togo have decided not to travel to avoid another potential stand-off with their players over bonus payments from their previous away friendly against Morocco on November 14 that the Atlas Lions lost 1-0 in Casablanca.

    However, Ethiopia too are in a date poser over the Guinea friendly.

    Guniea want the friendly played on January 7, the same date Ethiopia are due to face Tunisia away in another friendly in Qatar.

    Ethiopia are considering hosting Guinea on January 6 or shifting their away date in Doha against Tunisia to January 11.

    Ethiopia staged their first test ahead the AFCON on Sunday when they hosted Niger in Addis Ababa.

    The game against fellow 2013 Africa Cup finalists Niger will be Ethiopia’s first pre-tournament friendly since the main team went into camp in Addis Ababa three weeks ago.

    Coach Sewnet will be looking for a convincing result at home to get his sides’ three-match friendly match series on the road before facing Togo at home and Tunisia away on January 3 and 7 respectively.

    Moreover, a good result at the National Stadium will be key in keeping a strong public interest especially after a disappointing 2012 CECAFA Cup outing where Ethiopia reached the quarterfinals despite winning just one of their four games in Uganda.

    Sunday’s friendly was also be a big test for Ethiopia’s four foreign-based players.

    Striker Faud Ibrahim of North American League side Minnesota FC was expected to make his Ethiopia debut after earlier playing for the USA U20 and U17 teams.

    Winger Yusuf Saleh from Swedish club Syrianska, who was part of the CECAFA team, was also in the team hoping to impress Sewnet.