The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Europe

  • Mikel’s value in Europe

    I’m very happy for John Mikel Obi. From the dusty playgrounds in Jos, Mikel rose from being a goalkeeper as a kid to a midfield gem, who soccer pundits compared with the immensely talented Lionel Messi of Argentina. Mikel told the world that the short sleeve jersey which Super Eagles Assistant Coach Imama Amapakabo wore attracted him to the goalpost. The legendary Mexico goalkeeper Jorge Campos made short sleeves adorable, with some of his shirts looking like the Nigerian Buba. Traditionally, goalkeepers wear long sleeves jerseys, with colours distinct from the two teams’ shirts.

    One of Mikel’s football playing brothers is a goalkeeper, perhaps taking over from his brother. Simply put, football runs in the Obi family. Mikel’s entrance into the European soccer market was fraught with transfer tussles between Manchester United and Chelsea. The two teams were pressing to sign the Nigerian at the same time.

    Mikel was introduced to the world at a press conference wearing the Red Devils’ shirt. But that conference didn’t count when it was decided that Mikel’s place was in Chelsea, not Manchester United. For an unknown African kid to attract such media attention meant that he must be extraordinary.  Mikel didn’t disappoint when he retired the veteran Claude Makelele, a French lad who was awesome in the defensive midfield role.

    Mikel’s first chance at getting recognition from the FIFA U-17 World Cup was truncated by the toss of the coin decision which robbed the Golden Eaglets of another opportunity to win the trophy. Despite having the likes of Isaac Promise, Chinedu Ogbuke and Mikel Obi, Nigeria’s dream of winning a third U-17 World Championship ended at Finland 2003 when mother luck deserted the Golden Eaglets during the coin toss conducted by FIFA to separate the two-time champions from Costa Rica. In one of the rare tabulations of football at this level, both the Eaglets and their Central American rivals finished with identical results at the end of the group phase, and the Nigerian team missed qualification into the next round after they lost the coin toss.

    Mikel’s personal feats include FIFA World Youth Championship Silver Ball (2005), African Young Player of the Year (2005, 2006) and Chelsea’s Young Player of the Year ( 2007, 2008). As a Chelsea player, Mikel won the English Premier League (2009/10, 2014/15); English FA Cup (2006/07, 2008/09, 2011/12), Football League Cup (2006/07), FA Community Shield (2009), UEFA Champions League (2011/12) and UEFA Europa League (2012/13). For Nigeria, Mikel can boast of the following in his locker room – Flying Eagles: Silver U-20 World Cup, Gold Africa Cup of Nations (2013) and 2016 Summer Olympics: Bronze Medal.

    With such a rich resume, many pundits were shocked how Mikel was treated shabbily by Chelsea to such an extent that cynics mocked him that he wasted time at the Blues. Mikel wanted to leave Chelsea for free; he achieved that, knowing what it would have cost any club to sign him if had not waited to leave at his terms.

    On 6 January 2017, Chinese club Tianjin TEDA signed John Obi Mikel by free transfer from Chelsea. On 14 April 2018, he scored his second league goal for Tianjin, and first goal of the season against Guangzhou R&F F.C. In his two seasons with the Chinese club, Mikel featured in 31 matches with three goals to his credit. After two years in China, Mikel joined English Championship team Middlesbrough on a short-term deal in the January 2019 winter transfer window. The 31-year-old was a free agent after leaving Chinese side Tianjin TEDA.

    Ordinarily, Mikel should have left China to do something else if he didn’t want to join the legion of legends who transited into coaching. He was still undecided when a deluge of offers fell on his laps. But Middlesbrough’s manager Tony Pulis pulled a deal through  after digging deep in thoughts to convince the Nigerian to play for the English Championship side.

    Pulis revealed: “Me and John went down there, went to one of his houses and sat there with him, convinced him this was the ideal place and what he would need to get back to playing his best football.

    “We told him all the positive about the club, about our plans and how he could be part of something. It is a lovely place for him to get his wife out of London, that helped. To come up here and see the area helped.’’

    “I think they have moved up to Durham now and are all settled. She can get out now with the children and see something different. We needed someone of his ilk, someone of his stature. We sold that to him. We told him he would be really important,” he said.

    Did Mikel put smiles on Pulis’ face for believing in him? Certainly, given Pulis’ remarks thus: “I’m not surprised about the impact he has had. I spoke to a lot of people before I spoke to John.”

    “When you have been out of the country for two years and haven’t played competitive football – no disrespect to the Chinese League – then there is always some doubts but everyone I spoke to said he was a wonderful person, very grounded, very down to earth.

    “I don’t think the key to keeping John is going up. I think the key is to show him the potential the club has. I think the secret to keeping John at the end of the season is to convince him this is a club going in the right direction. It was a full day, non-stop, making sure he didn’t go anywhere else or talk to anyone or do anything except stay with me and Gouldy,” Pulis told Teesside Live.

    “That’s the big issue with players: it is character, character, character. And John has that in his locker. People here will be able to say better than me whether there have been players over the years who have turned up just to take the coin. John is not going to do that. He isn’t about the money. He just seems to be enjoying it. I was 100 per cent it was the right move.

    “It was difficult to convince everyone it was right because we have so many midfield players and I am not sure what the supporters thought of us bringing another one in, but he was never going to be a gamble for me. He was always going to help us.”

    Good to know that Mikel can be so appreciated even in the twilight of his very successful career.

    But he has a bigger decision to make if he refuses to remain at Middlesbrough in the event that it gets promoted into the elite class next season. Will Mikel choose to be a veteran of the lower division, knowing the demands of the elite class?

    Will Mikel want to file out against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge? What will be going on inside him when the boo boys mock him during the game? Will he celebrate if he scores a goal against a club that brought him fame and wealth? Having played for Chelsea alone in the elite class, will Mikel look Middlesbrough in the eye and tell them he won’t want to accompany them to the elite class because he doesn’t want to play against the Blues? Will Mikel join his favourite captain John Terry in the legion of former Chelsea who have refused to play against them? Too many posers for Mikel, with Middlesbrough soldiering on in their quest to return to the elite class?

    Dead NPFL, rotten products

    I always enjoy myself reading pre-match talks from Nigerian players and coaches, especially when they drag Our heavenly Father into their predictions. They give the impression that the other teams don’t know the awesome powers of Our Creator. They only realise their shortcomings when they are stunned by their better prepared opponents.

    The Nigeria Professional Football League is a huge joke. It is the platform for jesters, if one considers how others have overtaken us in developing the game. A league where, at the slightest opportunity, matches are postponed cannot compete with leagues where things work. Teams oil their performances through matches, and our players are not subjected to match settings before big games; what we get is what we saw inside the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu last week.

    Enugu Rangers fell at home 2-0 to Tunisia’s Etoile du Sahel, with the visitors being managed by former French senior side coach Roger Lemerre. Lemerre’s presence in Etoile underscores the importance the Tunisians attach to developing their football. During his managerial career, he was in charge of three national teams: the French, Tunisian and Moroccan national football teams.

    The NPFL is rudderless. It doesn’t have any mechanism to rejuvenate clubs to overwhelm better prepared sides. It is a vicious cycle of recycling those who failed in the past to the new order. Nobody expects anything different. Perhaps, what happened this year to our inter-club representatives will compel the LMC do a rethink. May be our flag bearers to the continent should be allowed to recruit the best players in the league to prosecute their matches.

    The Guineans in the past employed this method of strengthening their representatives with their best stars. It yielded them the title and improved their players’ game. With our population at over 200 million, we should win continental titles as a right and not a privilege. The organisers need to train and retrain our coaches. They can also encourage clubs with the financial muscle to recruit competent coaches to teach our players how to play the game properly. After all, England, with her conservative posturing to changes, have mostly foreign coaches handling their clubs.

    Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea are managed by foreign coaches, not English tacticians. This tells us the new thinking in recruiting quality coaches.

    Let’s emulate the best and not stew in our mess.

  • Our mission impartial, says Chair Commonwealth Observer Group

    The chair of the Commonwealth Observer Group, Dr. Jakaya Kiwete on Monday said the mission will be impartial in its assessment of the general elections beginning from Saturday.

    He said the group will issue an interim statement on its preliminary findings on the first set of elections on the 18th of February.

    He said the 18-man observers were drawn from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

    They were deployed to observe the opening, voting, closing, counting and the results management processes.

    According to the statement, this year’s election will be the sixth time a Commonwealth Observer Group will be observing elections in Nigeria since 1999.

    Kikwete, a former President of Tanzania, made the clarifications in a statement in Abuja against the backdrop of anxiety over the roles of the group.

    He said: “Our Group was constituted following an invitation from the Independent National Election Commission, drawing together 18 eminent persons from across the different regions of the Commonwealth, including Africa, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

    “We come in our own individual capacities, bringing a wide range of expertise in the areas of election administration, political development, law, human rights, civil society, gender, youth, as well as media.

    “As a group, we are here to observe the organization and conduct of the election process as a whole, and will form an impartial and independent assessment of its credibility.

    “The Commonwealth Observer Group will consider the pre-election period, polling day itself, as well as the post-election period. Our main task is to assess whether the elections have been conducted according to the national, regional and international standards to which Nigeria has committed itself, including its own laws.

    “On election day, we will observe the opening, voting, closing, counting and the results management processes.”

    The group said it will issue an interim statement on its preliminary findings on the 18th of February.

    It also said it will submit a final report to the Commonwealth Secretary-General and thereafter share with the Government of Nigeria, INEC, political parties, Commonwealth governments before making it public.

    The group expressed hope its presence will confirm the unwavering solidarity of the Commonwealth with Nigeria as the country conducts the elections.

    The group however encouraged all citizens to “play their part in ensuring peaceful and credible elections this weekend.”

     

  • Queen Moremi the Musical goes to US, Europe

    For the freedom of her people, she went undercover and paid the supreme price. Welcome the iconic Queen-warrior Moremi Ajasoro of Ile-Ife. Celebrating the life and times of the legendary queen, Queen Moremi the Musical hit the theatre last December amid positive reviews. EVELYN OSAGIE writes that the show is set to tour the United States and Europe.

    She was the daughter of one of Ife’s bravest hunter-warriors, Lukugba, and Princess Olunbe of Offa. Moremi stood for the oppressed and questioned injustice. And when her race was faced with the greatest threat of annihilation, she braved the challenge, risked her life, demystified and overcome the threat of the people of Ugbo.

    Behold one of most courageous and iconic queen-warriors in the history of Yorubaland, Moremi Ajasoro!

    Once again, her heroic-cum-sacrificial deeds were revisited when the show, Queen Moremi The Musical, an initiative of House of Oduduwa Foundation, in collaboration in Rejuvenee, premiered at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos, last December.

    The musical, which was produced by Bolanle Austen-Peters (BAP) Production and supported by Rejuvenee, parades a cast of notable Nollywood and theatre stars, such as Bimbo Manuel, Kunle Afolayan, Femi Branch, Rotimi Adelegan, Deyemi Okalawon, Omotola Jolade-Ekeinde as leader of Esinmirin, Tosin Adeyemi, Kemi Lala Akindoju, and Bamike Olawunni.

    From the energetic deliveries of the cast to the beautifully-crafted attires, plus the phenomenal stage set, the show not only puts a spotlight on the 12th century tale of brave Queen Moremi braving the lead to save her people but forces women to rethink their roles in leadership and today’s world. It also recaps the need for sacrificial leadership as elections are around the corner.

    While leaving its audience spell-bound, the premiere, which ran from December 21, last year till January 2, this year, also received the blessing of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, who was at its command performance along with Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed; Ogun State Governor’s wife, Mrs Olufunso Amosun, and the Peopls Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr Jimi Agbaje.

    The energetic performances of Tosin Adeyemi, who played the role of Moremi, were highly applauded along with those of  other members of the cast.

    And after a successful outing in Lagos, Queen Moremi the Musical is set to tour the United States and Europe, according to the Global Ambassador of Queen Moremi Ajasoro Initiative, Princess Ronke Ademiluyi.

    It would be recalled that the monarch, who has initiated several projects to immortalise the Yorùbá heroine, in his bid to take the initiative beyond Nigeria, appointed Princess Ademiluyi as the heritage ambassador of the Moremi Ajasoro legacy.

    The monarch said: “With this appointment, Princess Ademiluyi is now the living embodiment of Moremi with the responsibility to promote and safeguard the legacies of the great African heroine.”

    Creating a musical out of the story of the historic heroic Yoruba figure,Móremí, Princess Ademiluyi stated, was inspired by the need to revitalise the cultural heritage of the Yorùbá race.

    She said: “In the beginning, the idea was conceived to join the Moremi project, we approached Bolanle Austen-Peters to direct the production, but she refused because of the traditional and cultural aspects of it.

    “At the said time, she was also engaged in contemporary projects like Saro, Fela and the Kalakuta Queens, among others. Doing a traditional project then was a ‘no, no thing’ for her. And that took us a lot of going back and forth to convince her until Her Excellency, Mrs. Amosun, came into the picture to convince her to accept. And the outcome is what we have just seen as Queen Moremi the Musical. And we have been approached by some people on the film project of Móremí, which is the next project that will be a Hollywood blockbuster movie.”

    The outing, according to the organisers, has also paved the way for the next staging at Easter and abroad.

    Recounting the success of the Lagos outing, Princess Ademiluyi said: “When we first set out to produce it two years ago, we did not imagine the impact the musical would have. When it premiered last December and ran till January 2, 2019, the show went beyond our imagination.  We had 21 shows  and all the tickets were sold out. Right now, people have started to book for Easter shows. Some booked from abroad, came home to watch the show several times, and at some point, people were asking why it shouldn’t be more than two shows per day, but the cast needed a break because they are human.

    “After that, we will be having a global tour that will take us to the United Kingdom, the US, some African countries and some states in Nigeria. Some people booked ahead of time. Overall, it was a success. It is phenomenal and as an Ambassador of Queen Moremi Ajasoro Initiative, it is my role to look for strategic partners to portray the name of Queen Moremi out there which is what it is all about.”

  • Technology firm launches app that locates advertising targets on internet

    Technology Company, Dochase, has developed computer application software that is capable of locating consumers of certain kind advertisement on the internet and delivers it to them.

    Dochase is co-founded by two young Nigerian programmers, Chibuike Goodnews and Saint Germaine Onwukeme.

    “Over the years, we have discovered that 75 percent of media spending, especially on adverts is wasted, and this is because the advertisers are probably advertising to people that have no connection with what they want to project. You are probably advertising diaper to everybody in the society, whereas diaper is supposed to be advertised to nursing mothers,” Goodnews said.

    He said nursing mothers visit sites and consume media that talk about taking care of babies and how to handle infant issues. He said through the key words they use in their search; the technology can get insight of all the people who fall within the group of nursing mothers and push the diaper advert to them on those places they spend their time on the internet.

    He said when adverts are pushed out on the internet without identifying or having insights of the people the advert is intended for, it gets wasted.

    “We now looked at how we can solve all these things. We saw that a major way to solve it is let’s apply data to it. That is, we harness data of people who fall within that expected potential customer of each product and target them,” he said.

    Read Also: How innovative technology is driving retail industry

    He explained that while Nigeria probably has about 45 million people on the internet, “you cannot be advertising to 45 million people. You need a fraction of those people who are your direct and potential customers. And how do you know them, you need to get their insights. And that’s why we developed this technology that use data to bring out those kinds of insights,” he said.

    He explained that with the huge number of people on the internet, the technology is able to take it down to those people who have the potential to buy the products.

    He said an aspirant for instance who wants to reach people in his constituency in Lagos State, won’t need to advertise in Delta or the entire country because such advert will be misplaced.

    “We break it down, using our parameters to target only Lagos State.  For brands, it can be used to do media buying by getting insight of who should be your customers and creating campaign that will appeal to those people and using the right media that those people consume,” he explained.

    He said the technology can also categorize people into those who have the potential to do shopping, those who are likely to travel and other such groupings.

    “For somebody who has the potential to travel, you will be able to target your advert to them. For somebody who is doing real estate, you should be able to target people who have the potential to buy homes,” he explained.

    He said the technology is a win-win for all those involved in the chain.

    “Some media houses’ sources of revenue are dwindling. Some are moving online. This technology locates the niche people that are consuming your product. If the site is dedicated to probably real estate, the person that is targeting real estate will pay you more because he is targeting niche customers, that is real estate customers. Then the real estate publisher is earning more because he is getting more adverts that is targeted at specific people that his content appeal to,” he said.

    Onwukeme, on his part, said it is regrettable that a good number of publishers in Nigeria and Africa are still operating on the old form of media buying and media sales, while Europe and America are moving into programmatic.

    “Publishers need to understand that when you open up your website, which is like a piece of land you sell every day, you have 10,000 people that visit your website, so you have 10,000 people you can optimize.  Using Dochase, it helps you to open your inventory to multiple sources, whereby as we know the benefit of a free market, people tend to compete and get the best benefit,” he said.

    Dochase started its programmatic business two years ago as a Nigerian business, now becoming a programmatic influencer in Africa. It recently represented Africa in the global gathering of advertising technologies including Google, Facebook, LinkedIn which held in Germany.

  •  African churches must grow without donors from Europe — Fr. Tinka

    A Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Benedict Tinka, yesterday said it was high time African Church grew beyond depending on donors from Europe and other funding countries.

    Tinka told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos during the launch of his book titled “Food for Thought’’.

    The book was to raise funds for the formation of SMA students.

    The book is a collection of 98 poems and was being launched to mark his 10th priestly ordination anniversary.

    “Since the older missionaries contributed to my own formation by raising funds from their different countries in Europe and America, it is therefore time for us in Nigeria to generate and contribute to train future priests.

    “African churches must grow in every ramification without necessarily waiting for donors from Europe and America as in the days of old,’’ the priest, a member of the order of Society for African Mission (SMA) in the Catholic Church.

    “Nigeria in particular must be intrinsically Catholic and culturally African; then we must heed the clarion call of Pope Paul VI who said an immense task awaits your pastoral efforts, in particular the work of training those Christians called the apostolate.

    “The book launch is also responding to the Pope who said again that Africans, be your own missionaries; and the African Church must be Catholic because it is built on the foundation of Christ.’’

    On why he compiled the poems, the priest said: “Man is an embodiment of experiences transformed into stories, songs and poems.

    “I have decided to turn my life experiences into poems. A young man who cherishes his missionary vocation, holds in high esteem the African culture and proud to be a Nigerian,’’ the priest said.

    The book reviewer, Dr Christine Omokhaire, described the compilation as mind blowing and that the author poured out himself to readers.

  • SMEDAN: Taking entrepreneurship funding to new heights

    Great economies thrive on
    the strength and capabilities
    of their Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Likewise, development patterns across the globe show the roles played by SMEs in resource mobilisation and the emergence of an industrial economy.

    In Asia, Europe and North America, SMEs play significant functions in the growth, development and industrialisation of their economies as they have been nurtured to achieve that objective.

    However, Nigeria remains an exception as SMEs have largely performed below expectation as a result of poor access to finance, inadequate managerial skills, poor accounting practice, poor infrastructure, policy somersault, multiple taxes, environmental factors, and marketing problems, among others.

    The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) under its current Director-General DikkoRadda has recognised the need to boost SMEs operations by putting in place strong measures that confront these challenges facing the sector. From the implementation of the One Local Government, One Product (OLOP) Program, National Enterprise Development Program (NEDEP), establishment of the SME Rating Agency of Nigeria, credit information portal, ICT development to implementation of the Nationwide MSMEs Clinic to mention but a few, SMEDAN is helping the Federal Government to realize its vision of improving the economy and lives of the citizenry through skilled entrepreneurship and access to finance.

    The One Local Government, One Product (OLOP) program remains an important input into the development agenda of the present administration. The program was meant to identify and facilitate specialization of unique product or service peculiar to each of the 774 local government areas in the country.

    According to Radda, the pilot scheme and its subsequent stages have been a huge success.

    He explained that under this programme, the agency commenced five pilot schemes in Katsina State for kilishi producers; Anambra State for palm kernel oil producers; Kaduna State for honey producers, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for cassava producers and Osun State for sweet potato producers. Each of these artisans were provided with locally fabricated equipment to mechanize processing.

    Also, workplaces were provided in collaboration with stakeholders to promote hygiene. The overall idea is to make their products more competitive in the market through improved hygiene and better packaging.

    Continuing, he explained that in all the locations, organic clusters involved in producing the identified products are being empowered to increase their level of operations in the areas of capacity building, access to equipment, access to working capital and access to workplace.

    In 2017, SMEDAN began the second phase of the project which covered the 109 senatorial districts in the country and expected to generate over 4,900 new jobs at the end of it.

    Continuing, he said the OLOP program dovetailed into the National Enterprise Development Program (NEDEP), a brainchild of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment anchored by the trio of SMEDAN, Bank of Industry and Industrial Training Fund to address challenges in access to finance & market and enterprenuership skill deficit.

    “ It was designed to generate one million jobs annually. Under the NEDEP, the agency delivered entrepreneurship training to more than 39,000 youths across the country in partnership with the industrial Training Fund (ITF) in what is called “The National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP),” Radda said.

    Another challenge, he listed, is poor access to finance. One of the issues confronting access to finance by MSMEs is the absence of acceptable credit rating platform, especially given the fact that most of the businesses remain informal. In response to this challenge, a Rating Agency was formed known as The Small and Medium Enterprises Rating Agency of Nigeria (SMERAN).

    Managing Director, Rockview Enterprises Limited,Abiodun Lawrence, said the scheme is a launching-pad for MSMEs into the world of financing.  He said the Rating Agency is expected to de-risk the MSMEs and ensure that they have a seamless access to affordable finance with respect to credit and credibility. “This will ensure that they are effectively positioned to contribute to job creation, wealth creation and poverty alleviation in the country,” Lawrencesaid.

    He explained that SMERAN is a product of collaboration between SMEDAN, Bank of Industry (BOI) and the Nigeria Export – Import Bank (NEXIM). The institutions are working with Dun & Bradstreet, the world’s leading source of commercial information, ratings and insight on businesses for over 150 years, to actualize this project.

     

  • Brass Kingdom queen Josephine relives narrow escape from ‘sex slavery’ in Europe, advises women

    THE Queen of Brass Kingdom, Josephine Diete-Spiff, yesterday, narrated her experience of how she escaped being trafficked to Europe for sex slavery. The wife of the Chairman of the Bayelsa State Traditional Rulers Council, King Alfred Diette-Spiff, said she rejected all the antics of human traffickers including their pressure, threats and deceits. She said instead of accepting their offer, she resorted to doing menial jobs at dump sites in Benin City, Edo State, to survive.

    The monarch’s wife, who is also the Chairperson of the State Traditional Rulers Wives Association and the Niger Delta Royal Queen Forum, spoke during a call on her by members of the Young Mothers Support Foundation (YMSF). YMSF is an international non-governmental organisation campaigning against teenage pregnancy and child molestation. Josephine said she turned down an offer from even her close friends to travel to Italy for sex slavery.

    The wife of the first Military Governor of the old Rivers State, said: “I had to carry blocks, cement and sand at a dumpsite to train myself in school. “There is no justification for any girl child to go into drugs or travel to Europe for prostitution when they have the opportunity to be educated and achieve greatness through self-determination. “I am very interested in this programme because it is a reflection of me. I grew up in Benin City where prostitution was very rampant in my days and I was almost drafted to be one of them but I said no. “As a woman, you can do anything that will get you where you want to be outside prostitution, outside drugs or traveling to abroad to go and get molested and treated as less human. I have a lot of friends then who went abroad (Italy).

    Today, they beg me for stipends. “If people will learn how to read, you will be more advanced and you will be able to survive because life itself is full of troubles. So, there is no way you are going to escape it. “That is why I am interested in the girl-child to let them know I wasn’t waiting for government to give me money, I worked it out by myself. “Today, I am proud to know that I am a woman who God used to be who I am today because I gave God the opportunity. “As a young woman even if you have made a mistake, don’t let your mistake stop you. Don’t let the circumstances you find yourself determine your future. Create one for yourself.”

  • Greek police end migrant protest, skirmishes on Lesbos

    Police on the Greek Island of Lesbos on Monday ended a protest involving dozens of migrants and clashes with the local population.

    Police intervened using tear gas, stun grenades and clubs to separate the migrants from presumed far-right extremists, who hurled rocks and bottles at them.

    “Several people were slightly injured in scuffles,’’ Greek state radio ERT reported.

    The migrants, mostly Afghans, occupied the central town square on Wednesday, demanding to be transferred to the Greek mainland.

    Thousands of people who arrived across the Aegean from Turkey in hope of reaching western Europe remain stranded on the island, living in miserable conditions.

    According to official figures from Athens, some 6,500 people are crammed in the largest camp on Lesbos, Moria, which was built for 3,500.

    More than 1 million people arrived in Europe through Greek Aegean islands at the peak of the refugee and migrant wave of 2015 to 2016.

    Countries on the so-called Balkan route closed their border to those people two years ago, but some still attempt to use that way in spite of the danger of sailing across the sea and the prospect of becoming stranded for months anywhere on their path.

    NAN

     

  • Zlatan departure a big loss for European soccer – Mourinho

    European soccer has lost a “huge player” in Zlatan Ibrahimovic but the striker will raise the level of the game in the U.S following his move to LA Galaxy, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho said on Friday.

    Ibrahimovic last week ended a short but successful stint at United where he won the League Cup and the Europa League.

    The striker has become the latest high-profile player to move to the MLS, following the likes of David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Thierry Henry and Frank Lampard.

    Mourinho used his news conference ahead of Saturday’s English Premier League game against Swansea City to pay tribute to the talismanic Swedish forward who he previously coached at Inter Milan.

    “For me it’s always sad when the big players move towards the end.

    “I remember Luis Figo’s last match with me and Inter, it was one of my saddest moments.

    The Zlatan goodbye was more in that direction, he’s a huge player that European Football has lost.

    “But this period with LA Galaxy will be very good for him, he will be good for American football, because of what he can do; his personality, his passion and his professionalism,” Mourinho told reporters.

    Ibrahimovic sustained a bad knee injury in United’s Europa League quarter-final against Belgian side Anderlecht last April but returned to make seven appearances for the Old Trafford side this season.

    “His recovery was an example of what a professional should be,” Mourinho added.

    “For him (the move to U.S.) will just be a way to enjoy the last couple of years of football.”

    United will be without back-up goalkeeper Sergio Romero for the weekend’s game, after the Argentine international picked up a knock in his country’s 6-1 friendly defeat by Spain.

    Ashley Young was also injured on international duty with England but could play against Carlos Carvalhal’s 14th-placed side.

    United are second in the table on 65 points from 30 games as they bid to finish as runners-up to champions-elect Manchester City.

    Reuters/NAN

  • Efe Nathan to tour Europe

    Nigerian gospel sensation, Efe Nathan is set to release a new song titled ‘Halleluyah’. This is coming amidst talk of a tour of major European cities.

    According to the artiste, ‘Halleluyah’, which is produced by Ayodeji Ojekunle, promises to be sparkles of bliss.

    Efe has been described as a prolific gospel singer with a resounding touch in good worship music blessing the ears, filling the hearts and body-vibing to the glorious atmosphere.

    Aside singing, Efe is also a songwriter and her music which could be described as Contemporary African Music has influenced the African and international music scene and she has given back to the society greatly through her music.