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Tag: fails

  • Bid to stop tricycle owners’ registration as trade union fails

    The National Industrial Court of Nigeria has dismissed a suit  by the Incorporated Trustees of Tricycle Owners and Operators Association of Nigeria (ITTOOAN) challening the registration of Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria (TOAN) as a trade union.

    Justice Elizabeth Oji dismissed the case for “ lacking in merit”.

    The ITTOOAN, which is the first claimant in the suit numbered NICN/LA/504/2016, had through its counsel, Gbade Olajide, sued TOAN and others.

    Among other reliefs, it prayed for an order to cancel TOAN’s registration as a trade union.

    Comrade Joseph Odusanya, Alhaji Ganiyu Dauda and Alhaji Shakirudeen Arowoye are the other claimants.

    The Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Minister for Labour and Employment, Registrar of Trade Unions, Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria, Comrade Agustine Apeh, Mr. Babatunde Ayenogun, Attorney-General of Lagos State and the Commissioner for Transport are the defendants.

    The claimants prayed the court to declare that the registration of TOAN by the Registrar of Trade Union despite being aware of the existence of ITTOOAN constitutes an usurpation of ITTOOAN’s authority and power and was likely to cause disharmony and delusion amongst its members.

    The claimants prayed the court to declare that registration of the 4th defendant is improper and fraudulent and contravened the provisions of Section 7(1)(a) of the Trade Union Act.

    Furthermore, the claimants prayed the court to declare that the TOAN is the proper and only authorised association to collect levies, rates, and dues from all tricycle operators and owners in Nigeria.

    They also sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining the fifth and 6th defendants from parading themselves as Executives of the 1st defendant and from collecting levies, rates, dues from tricycle operators or owners.

    The fourth to sixth defendants through their counsel, Femi Aborisade and Mark Nosa Imonitie, contended that TOAN defendant was not registered with the intention clandestinely to operate as the first claimant’s association, adding that the prescribed procedure for registration of Trade Unions was observed before the fourth defendant was registered and issued a Certificate of Registration duly signed by the Registrar of Trade Union on January 26, 2016.

    They contended that ITTOOAN, not being a registered trade union, is not entitled to collect any dues or levies from members of TOAN.

    They added that TOAN had only been collecting dues, levies or proceeds from sale of tickets from tricycle owners and operators who willingly joined it, without coercion.

    According to the defendants, the application to register the TOAN as a trade union was undertaken when they learnt that a body registered under Part C of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) could not engage in profit making and profit sharing activities or operate as a trade union.

    They submitted that TOAN’s registration was not obtained by fraud and that it was not a faction of ITTOOAN.

    The defendants, however, claimed that ITTOOAN, being an association registered under Part C of CAMA, and the second to fourth claimants who are officers ITTOOAN lack the requisite locus standi to institute the suit.

    It is on the ground that claimants were not ‘person’ as contemplated by Section 6(6)(b) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

    In his her verdict, Justice Oji held that by the provision of Section 254C of the 1999 Constitution, parties before the court must be persons deriving rights as listed and as constituting the jurisdiction of the court.

    “Claimants derive their status under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, which this court has not been vested with jurisdiction to implement; unless as persons created by the Act but deriving rights and obligations as may have been determined by the Constitution (particularly Section 245C or any Act of the National Assembly,” she held.

    Justice Oji held that the claimants ought to have challenged the registration of the TOAN before the Registrar of Trade Unions, before coming to court, but failed to do so as there was no evidence before the court that such step was taken by the claimants.

    “This suit is, therefore, premature and this court lacks jurisdiction to entertain this suit. I therefore hold that this Court does not have jurisdiction to hear this suit.

    “In the circumstances of findings made in this suit, this suit is liable to be dismissed, and is hereby dismissed. I make no order as to cost,” Justice Oji held.

  • Bid to stop tricycle owners registration as trade union fails

    The National Industrial Court of Nigeria has dismissed a suit  by the Incorporated Trustees of Tricycle Owners and Operators Association of Nigeria (ITTOOAN) challening the registration of Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria (TOAN) as a trade union.

    Justice Elizabeth Oji dismissed the case for “ lacking in merit”.

    The ITTOOAN, which is the first claimant in the suit numbered NICN/LA/504/2016, had through its counsel, Gbade Olajide, sued TOAN and others.

    Among other reliefs, it prayed for an order to cancel TOAN’s registration as a trade union.

    Comrade Joseph Odusanya, Alhaji Ganiyu Dauda and Alhaji Shakirudeen Arowoye are the other claimants.

    The Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Minister for Labour and Employment, Registrar of Trade Unions, Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria, Comrade Agustine Apeh, Mr. Babatunde Ayenogun, Attorney-General of Lagos State and the Commissioner for Transport are the defendants.

    The claimants prayed the court to declare that the registration of TOAN by the Registrar of Trade Union despite being aware of the existence of ITTOOAN constitutes an usurpation of ITTOOAN’s authority and power and was likely to cause disharmony and delusion amongst its members.

    The claimants prayed the court to declare that registration of the 4th defendant is improper and fraudulent and contravened the provisions of Section 7(1)(a) of the Trade Union Act.

    Furthermore, the claimants prayed the court to declare that the TOAN is the proper and only authorised association to collect levies, rates, and dues from all tricycle operators and owners in Nigeria.

    They also sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining the fifth and 6th defendants from parading themselves as Executives of the 1st defendant and from collecting levies, rates, dues from tricycle operators or owners.

    The fourth to sixth defendants through their counsel, Femi Aborisade and Mark Nosa Imonitie, contended that TOAN defendant was not registered with the intention clandestinely to operate as the first claimant’s association, adding that the prescribed procedure for registration of Trade Unions was observed before the fourth defendant was registered and issued a Certificate of Registration duly signed by the Registrar of Trade Union on January 26, 2016.

    They contended that ITTOOAN, not being a registered trade union, is not entitled to collect any dues or levies from members of TOAN.

    They added that TOAN had only been collecting dues, levies or proceeds from sale of tickets from tricycle owners and operators who willingly joined it, without coercion.

    According to the defendants, the application to register the TOAN as a trade union was undertaken when they learnt that a body registered under Part C of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) could not engage in profit making and profit sharing activities or operate as a trade union.

    They submitted that TOAN’s registration was not obtained by fraud and that it was not a faction of ITTOOAN.

    The defendants, however, claimed that ITTOOAN, being an association registered under Part C of CAMA, and the second to fourth claimants who are officers ITTOOAN lack the requisite locus standi to institute the suit.

    It is on the ground that claimants were not ‘person’ as contemplated by Section 6(6)(b) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

    In his her verdict, Justice Oji held that by the provision of Section 254C of the 1999 Constitution, parties before the court must be persons deriving rights as listed and as constituting the jurisdiction of the court.

    “Claimants derive their status under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, which this court has not been vested with jurisdiction to implement; unless as persons created by the Act but deriving rights and obligations as may have been determined by the Constitution (particularly Section 245C or any Act of the National Assembly,” she held.

    Justice Oji held that the claimants ought to have challenged the registration of the TOAN before the Registrar of Trade Unions, before coming to court, but failed to do so as there was no evidence before the court that such step was taken by the claimants.

    “This suit is, therefore, premature and this court lacks jurisdiction to entertain this suit. I therefore hold that this Court does not have jurisdiction to hear this suit.

    “In the circumstances of findings made in this suit, this suit is liable to be dismissed, and is hereby dismissed. I make no order as to cost,” Justice Oji held.

  • Melaye’s recall fails as INEC releases result

    •Senator, PDP hail constituents •APC chair: ghosts behind attempt

    THE move to recall Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) from the Senate has finally failed as only 5.34 per cent of the total 188,500 signatories to his recall petition were verified in an exercise held on Saturday.

    According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the result of the verification showed that 39,285 of the signatories were verified, out of which only 18,762 signatures were genuine.

    The genuine signatories represent a dismal 5.34 per cent of the total signatories to the petition, which fell short of 51 per cent or 98,364 signatures required for the petition to sail through.

    It was observed that the verification failed largely due to fictitious and forged signatures and names of dead persons affixed to the recall petition by its promoters.

    Some electorate in the Kogi West, on June 24, 2017, submitted a petition to recall Melaye to the headquarters of the INEC in Abuja.

    One Mr. Cornelius Olowo led the petitioners to submit the recall petition which alleged poor representation as one of the reasons for the move to recall Melaye.

    However, the INEC’s presiding officer for the verification exercise, Prof. Okente Morthy of the University of Abuja, said the number of signatures verified fell short of the number required.

    Morthy who spoke yesterday in Lokoja gave the breakdown of the results of the verification exercise which took place in 552 polling units in seven local government areas in Kogi West.

    According to him, in Kogi Local Government with 46,727 registered voters and a total number of 24,459 signatures to the petition, only 2,335 were verified out of 2,566 signatures recorded during verification.

    He added that at Kabba/Bunu Local Government with 59,319 registered voters and 27,910 petitioners , only 2,085 signatures were verified to be genuine out of 2,151 that came out for the exercise.

    Also at Ijumu Local Government, with 46, 810 registered voters and 24, 389 petitioners , 2,664 were verified out of 2, 811, the returning officer announced.

    According to Morthy, others are Yagba East, 35, 329 registered voters, 18, 229 petitioners and 3,506 were verified out of 3, 580 recorded at verification.

    At Mopa-Amuro Local Government with 18, 350 and 9, 173, signatures, 710 were verified out of the 729 recorded

    However, the Returning Officer said there was violence in six polling units at the Mopa town towards the end of the exercise, forcing the INEC to nullify the exercise in the affected wards.

    At Yagba West, which has 35, 506 registered voters and 19, 444 signatories, only 3,729 petitioners were verified out of the 4, 221 that turned up, the returning officer stated.

    In Lokoja Local Government with 109,105 registered voters and 66,266 petitioners, INEC said 3,763 were verified out of the 4, 810 recorded during the botched verification exercise.

    Kogi State Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) Alhaji Haddy Ametuo said “some ghosts” initiated the recall process against Senator Dino Melaye.

    Ametuo, who stated this in a statement issued in Lokoja yesterday on the botched recall process, expressed delight that the efforts had come to a premature end through the collective will of the people of Kogi West Senatorial District.

    “Melaye , the only senator our party has in Kogi State,  won with 94.66 per cent  leaving the remaining 5.34 per cent to the petitioners.

    “The messages are very clear; that Senator Melaye is the most popular senator ever produced by Kogi West,” the statement said.

    Melaye, however, thanked the people of his constituency for “rising to his defence” by shunning the verification exercise.

    The senator, in a statement issued in Lokoja yesterday, also thanked the political leaders, elders and traditional rulers in Kogi West for “rescuing him from his political enemies.”

    He also expressed gratitude to the media, observers, civil society groups, security agents and other stakeholders “for resisting to be used against the wishes of the people of his constituency”.

    The statement was signed by Mr. Gideon Ayodele, Special Assistant on Media to Melaye.

     

    The Kogi State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) called for the acceleration of the proposed bill for the establishment of the Election Offences Petition Tribunal.

    The call is coming on the heels of the wide disparity between the purported signatories to the recall petition against Melaye.

    PDP Publicity Secretary in Kogi State Bode Ogunmola,  in a reaction to the development yesterday in Lokoja, called for the arrest and prosecution of the principal actors of the recall petition.

    He warned that the issue must not be glossed over nor swept under the carpet.

    His words: “These jokes have been taken too far… Call in the accountants or auditors; let them determine how much of Kogi resources have been expanded on this so-called recall exercise.

    “Yes, it is an APC and APC thing, but as major stakeholders, we will not stand by and watch while Kogi continue to regress into ignominy.

    “At a time workers’ salaries go unpaid, and suffering mounting across the state, these are the sort of things that the Yahaya Bello administration can boast of contriving.”

     

     

     

     

    Condemning the exercise, a PDP chieftain in Kabba, Chief Ayodele Okono, vowed that no one can recall Melaye, adding that he has more than anyone else, brought development to Kogi West.

     

     

  • Where the North fails

    Those of us who read Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson’s Why Nations Fail, have seen, in the best-selling book, some convincing arguments on how countries of the world can seize the momentums of critical junctures of their histories to achieve economic greatness.

    Likewise, we have seen, in the same book, how elite’s phobia of Joseph Schumpeter’s “creative destruction” can either stunt growth or completely truncate it.

    Yet, while Why Nations Fail is a book rooted in political economy – from capitalistic perspective – its numerous analogies clearly abound everywhere, in terms of the realities of our dear country, Nigeria.

    Although, the parallels one seeks to draw in this piece are much nuanced from what the book presents, it suffices to say that nowhere are its numerous examples more vividly expressed than in the northern part of the country. Since the moment the Union Jack gave way to the green-white-green flag to herald the nation’s independence in 1960, the two major geographical divides in the country have tried to rival each other. Paradoxically, however, it is the North that appears to have been muddling along in this competition— in spite of its comparative numerical strength.

    In pre-independence times, there had been a glaring struggle to convince the large portion of the society to embrace western education. The North was, and still is, left to do a catching-up job as a result. The disparity between the two regions in terms of the population of private universities simply speaks volumes. Ditto commercial banks.

    The North, therefore, might have succeeded in producing more political leaders of the country at the centre compared to the South; and even now boasts of giving to the nation the richest black man in the world. But this cannot mask the fact the region is also top in churning out abject poverty, in addition to the infamy of giving us the deadliest terror group in the world, Boko Haram.

    One could, therefore, be forgiven if, by juxtaposing the present North and the South, the picture of Nogales Sonora and Nogales Arizona in Why Nations Fail naturally spring to mind.

    Apart from millions of male children who are roaming our streets under the guise of seeking Qur’anic education, which they rarely do now, there are also multitude of girls of school age who are either roaming the same streets hawking their life for their survival or enslaved in the homes of self-centered elites who employ them for all sorts of domestic drudgery, while their own children are chauffeur-driven to expensive private schools.

    Over the years, majority of the northern elite has not proven to be proactive in confronting the numerous challenges bedeviling the region. For instance, while Boko Haram insurgency is a product of doctrinal mutation of a particular Islamic creed, the group made the most of the opportunity pervasive poverty in the north-east presented to it to tap its human resources.

    If the elite in the North had been thinking strategically, they could have seen the danger ahead and devised the means of nipping it in the bud before it got out of control. Nevertheless, even the horrible experience of Boko Haram does not seem to have served as rude awakening for the region. The dangers posed by continuing to produce children that are sent to urban areas to beg their way to adulthood need no over-emphasis. With its alarming divorce rate, the North is also a place for many broken homes.

    But there’s a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel. And, it’s coming from Kano where the Emir, Muhammad Sanusi II, is championing efforts to codify family law in accordance with true teachings of the religion and culture of the people.

    According to Emir Sanusi II, “Our people are facing serious challenges in their family affairs. We have heard series of complaints where a father forced his daughter to marry someone against her wish. We have heard so many cases where people marry additional wives while they could not feed them well, clothe them well or give them good shelter even though they have the means to do so.”

    Then, he warned, “In this case, the proposed law provides that, a court of law would take something out of the man’s wealth to feed his family, give them shelter and clothes. In the event the man makes any attempt to resist the court’s directives, then the law takes necessary action against him. If you know your salary cannot take care of more than one wife, you should not get additional wife.”

    The Emir built his position on the strength of Quran 24:23: “Let those who find not the wherewithal for marriage keep themselves chaste, until Allah gives them means out of His grace.”

    Even one of the region’s most popular clerics in recent times, the late Sheikh Ja’afar Adam, held similar views. In a video clip that emerged following the raging debate on the proposed law, the late teacher is seen saying that the three conditions that must fulfilled for a Muslim seeking to have an additional wife are: Fairness, sufficient income and sexual capability.

    Indeed, some of those dissenting voice against the proposed law erroneously thought that its primary target was the common man. Nothing could be far from the truth! The explanations of both the Emir and the cleric are very unmistakable. Both the haves and the have nots are not exempted.

    However, no matter how the proposal divides opinion, no one can discount the fact that the vigorous debate it has, so far, generated is timely. Many are now flipping through their Islamic books with a view to understanding the true teaching of the religion, which has been corrupted by misogynic culture of the people.

    The North is now at another critical juncture. It therefore behooves the region to make a strategic choice. Emir Sanusi II is spearheading the defining revolution we await. Like Serethe Khama of Botswana who right from the independence put his country on the path of inclusive growth, which resulted in sustained economic gains, all hands should be on deck to see that the trail blazed from the commercial nerve-center of the North reverberates across the whole region.

    The choice before us is to either stick to the status quo, which has produced one million divorcees in Kano alone, or regulate the institution for our common good and a stable society.

    In this era of globalization, where the world is moving toward Artificial Intelligence, the North should aim at producing a digital generation that can stand on their feet anywhere in the world. Our Quranic memorizers should be using ICTs applications on their tablets to commit the book to memory.

    And no one should be allowed to subject them to the burden of roaming the streets barefooted, bowl in hands in search of morsel to assuage their hunger. The North should make it part of its strategic agenda to churn out more Sarki Abbas, Abba Gumels, and Jilani Aliyus of the future. This is how to harness a burgeoning population and not placing it at the doorstep of Boko Haram for harvest.

     

    • Musa wrote in from Abuja
  • When a village fails

    When a village fails

    Lupita Nyong’o, perhaps Africa’s front-line actress in Hollywood, confessed to fear. She played the role of a nubile girl in a play set in the Liberian civil war. In the drama, three girls wallow as sex slaves to the vile virility of a rebel soldier.

    The play, titled Eclipsed, and written by a Zimbabwean writer, Danai Gurira, shows how a human can translate from innocence to beast, and even sometimes enjoy that bestial metamorphosis. That explains why Lupita was terrified to act that part.

    If an actor quakes over that role, imagine the innocents who have lived it, and those now living the nightmare as though routine. If to pretend offends, imagine the life Ese Oruru just walked out of. Imagine the others now highlighted profusely in the media, like Progress Jacob, Blessing Gopep and Lucy Ejeh. They are all underage, human and enslaved.

    We can lament this about religion, and it is true. We can grieve over the impunity of some bigots who have claimed that being Muslims make them lords over a young girl’s flesh. We can also wonder at the perverse stamina that propels a young man to take a 13-year-old on a 15-hour road trip into servitude. Then we imagine her. A girl who grew up in trousers and tee-shirt, in skirts, her waist that wiggled to the beats and subversion of rap music, who walked free on the street, who loved the vanity of braids and other hairstyles, who knew only play and school work and mother’s errands. This same girl, only 13, is now presented as suddenly wise or wild. We are told that she left all that to a devout devotion. She became Muslim, and followed a man up North without her parents’ consent. And they expect us to accept it.

    We also imagine the sort of conversation she now gets accustomed to. She speaks a different language, and when she speaks to her mother in Urhobo she is bullied into speaking an accepted one. Imagine the cuisine. She did not have the right to be hungry for the right food. She, an Urhobo girl, was not permitted to crave usi and banga.

    If the matter lasted a week or two, we might have excused all the big names and institutions involved. But it lasted an eternity from August 2015 to February 2016. It might have lasted longer but for the audacious front page of The Punch, in language and aesthetics. It said Ese Oruru was abducted and “forcefully” wedded. The right, word, “forcibly,” tells the right story. Not to worry.

    So all that time, no big man could give an order to release the girl? The Governor, Seriake Dickson, was busy swaggering around over election, and he did nothing about it. Was that not irresponsible of a governor who is the chief security officer? He woke after the media hoopla and issued a rhetoric of concern. Neither the Emir of Kano nor Emirate Council have acted with wisdom.

    The police, the DSS and others kept silence. Why? They did not want to offend the big power vortex. They did not want to lose their jobs for doing their jobs. It is because we have not decided what law is important. That is the bigger issue. Where is our loyalty? Is to tribe, faith or royalty? So, when we brandish our fidelity to the rule of law, we must ask ourselves, what law? Is it the rule of Islamic or royal or Christian law? Or is it the federal constitution? That was the innuendo buried in the IG’s words that Ese’s matter lay in the hands of the Emir of Kano.

    We are in a democracy but we do not have a democratic sensibility. We are in a modern world but we still exude ancient values. Laws will make no sense until we have sorted out what kind of society makes sense. We still live in a universe where a senior lawyer can cloak impunity and ask a flock of senior lawyers to defend him. These are SANs sans shame. It is no different when an adult debauches a minor. King Solomon calls it “folly set in great dignity.” So, for a rule of law to make sense, we have to decide whether sharia law has a place in Nigeria, and if it does, when and how. We have to decide what law takes precedence, the constitution or the sharia, or the renegade fury of a monarch. The Nigerian conscience is a war zone between the “king is law” and the “law is king.”

    When Vladimir Nabokov wrote the novel Lolita, the western world fell into a scandalised rapture. The novel, rated one of the best ever written in the English language, was about an adult romping with a girl of Ese’s age all over America. The lascivious man did not end well, the girl ruined for life. The movie is hardly acted because the girl who acted Lolita the first time was unable to soar in her career. A stigma sullied her brilliance.

    The prosecution of pedophile Yunusa and the battle release of others, including Lucy Ejeh, will help begin that sojourn to our concept of the rule of law. The legal positivists tend to give credence to the sources of law over the concept of natural law. I think when natural law supervenes, we have justice. We must have all those involved fall under the hammer of the Nigerian law. We either have Nigeria or not.

    The most disappointing for me is the silence of President Muhammadu Buhari. He cannot wage a corruption war and act as though the Ese saga is not corruption. Corruption of childhood, of law, of religion, of natural rights. A girl was abducted, coerced into the family way, and made to swear to a God against her will. You cannot be the president of all and cocoon yourself in silence. It is not right, nor presidential. It is even more potent since he is a devout Muslim.

    The failure to tackle the Oruru matter is a failure of Nigeria as a village. Hillary Clinton wrote a best-selling book, It takes a Village, and showed that nurturing a child is a communal effort. She took her inspiration from African ethos. Of course not the Africa that failed Ese. Ese means gift in Urhobo, and Oruru means it’s well done. Nigeria gifted Ese an abduction, and early pregnancy and eviscerated future. Girls of that age know little about motherhood. As a reporter in the U.S., I reported a story where teenage girls simulated the lives of mothers. They had toy babies that woke up at night, cried at odd moments, etc. The girls told me they would only become mothers when they were temperamentally ready. In the movie Spotlight, a character says, if it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse it. That was Ese’s story.

  • Ujah’s screamer fails to save Bremen

    Ujah’s screamer fails to save Bremen

    Super Eagles forward Anthony Ujah produced a star performance for Werder Bremen yesterday against visiting Bayern Munich but the feat did not stop the defending champions from running away with a lone goal victory.

    The visitors had shocked their hosts in the 23rd minute when Thomas Muller converted an assist from Thiago Alcântara.

    Midway through the second half, Bremen went close to leveling when the Nigerian international stole in behind Juan Bernat at the far post, but Neuer blocked his shot behind for a corner. Although Ujah’s move  could not remedy the situation, it tickled the fancy of the 42,100 vociferous home fans that remained optimistic that the homers will level up before the end of proceedings.

    Ujah dragged another shot wide as Bremen continued to seek a leveler but effort came to nothing. Bayern’s desire to increase the tally was equally rebuffed but with the lone goal already in the kitty the visitors went away with three points while making a record as the first bundesliga side to have won nine matches at the start of the season.

    Ujah, who joined Bremen in May this year on a four year contract, has so far made eight appearances with two goals for his effort

  • Uche fails to save Levante from defeat

    Uche fails to save Levante from defeat

    Kalu Uche scored his fourth goal from ten games but it was not enough to stop his relegation threatened side Levante from losing 1-2 at home to Sevilla.

    Sevilla took a commanding two-goal lead into the half time break courtesy of goals from Kevin Gameiro and Jose Antonio Reyes but with 17 minutes left to play Uche reduced he deficit for Levante, nodding home a cross from Rueben Garcia but his goal failed to inspire a late comeback.

    Signed in January to help Levante in their bid to beat the drop, 32-year old Uche has so far proved to be a shrewd bargain failing to score in only three games from seven starts but his healthy goal statistics have played a little role in lifting his club from the basement of the La-Liga table.

    The former Nigerian international will reportedly be given an extension to his current six month deal if the team stays in the La-Liga although their are reports his parent-club owners Al-Rayyan of Qatar will want him back after his loan spell is over.

    Levante are presently 15th on the log but they have played one more game than teams below them making their bid to stay above the drop zone heavily reliant on results elsewhere going their way.

  • All Africa Games qualifier: Standard Liege fails to release Ezekiel

    All Africa Games qualifier: Standard Liege fails to release Ezekiel

    Standard Liege have invoked FIFA’s rules on release of players for national association representative matches, and have decided not to sanction Imoh Ezekiel’s trip to Africa for the All Africa Games qualifier against Gabon.

    Standard Liege have a league match against Waasland-Beveren next Friday, and the higher – ups at the Stade Maurice Dufrasne have ruled that the game should take priority over Nigeria’s tie in Libreville.

    ”Imoh Ezekiel is not going to come for the game. I have spoken to Standard Liege’s sporting director and the team manager, who is my good friend, they said they won’t release him,” Liameed Olawale Gafar, chairman of 36 Lion, told SL10.ng.

    ”He was loaned to Standard Liege for the rest of the season, every game is important to them.

    ”They want to qualify for the Champions League and win the league,and that’s why they want Imoh excused.They said Nigeria should please forgive them. ”

    Though Imoh Ezekiel is eager to make his competitive debut for the Nigeria Under 23s, he is aware that his hands are tied and he cannot influence the decision of Standard Liege.

    ”They boy is not happy because he is eager to play for his country, but it is not a FIFA free window.

    ”He hopes to continue doing well to get another chance with the national team in future,” Liameed Olawale Gafar added. Ezekiel made his international debut for the Super Eagles in a pre-World Cup friendly against Mexico last February.

  • Wolves 1 – 2 Reading FC: Yakubu fails to make debut

    Wolves 1 – 2 Reading FC: Yakubu fails to make debut

    •Akpan plays for 8 mins

    Fit-again Hope Akpan returned to first team action to help Reading secure a 2-1 win over Wolves in the Sky Bet Championship game at Molineux on Saturday.

    The Super Eagles midfielder saw 8 minutes of action after replacing Simon Cox while his international team mate and Reading’s deadline-day signing, Yakubu Aiyegbeni was an unused sub.

    Akpan who just recovered from a shoulder injury suffered on international duty with Nigeria back in November, was involved in an under-21s win earlier in the week.

    Reading had made the perfect start to the match when Pavel Pogrebnyak gave them the lead after just 20 seconds.

    Benik Afobe pegged them back with a 26th minute equaliser as he scored his second goal for the club following last month’s £2million move from Arsenal before Williams earned Steve Clarke’s side a deserved win following an impressive second-half display.

    Reading caught Wolves cold when they took the lead through Pogrebnyak’s second goal in two games to make it a miserable start for the home side’s debutant goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak.

    Akpan had before the game backed Yak to score goals for the team. The 23 year old revealed on his official twitter handle saying, “Feed the Yak and he will score”.

    But despite Yakubu’s failure to make his debut this weekend, Reading posted a picture of both Akpan and Yakubu during the game against Wolves with the message, “Our two Nigerian international  @hopeakpan and Yakubu all smiles out on the pitch”.

    Both players are expected to be in action for reading Reading at the Madejski Stadium on Tuesday night for the visit of Leeds United when the team will be searching for a third successive league win.

  • TCN fails to send out 72.01MW

    TCN fails to send out 72.01MW

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has again failed to wheel 72.01megawatts (MW) out of the 3,556.70MW, generated by the generation companies (Gencos).

    The data obtained from the Federal Ministry of Power, posted on its website yesterday, indicated that TCN could only evacuate 3,484.69MW of the total generated power on October 2. The statistic also showed that the sector recorded peak generation of 3,888.40MW the same day.

    TCN on September 28 recorded a wheeling gap of 71.6MW from the 3,449.85MW that the Gencos produced.

    Although the company claimed that it has a guaranteed 6,000MW capacity, it has maintained an evacuation gap, which the generation and distribution companies (Discos) finger as one of the reasons the sector still lags behind in terms of power supply.

    The position of the Discos was evident between September 15 and 19 when the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) were on strike and the TCN could not wheel the generated energy.

    When asked to account for the gap, the TCN General Manager (Public Affairs), Mrs. Seun Olagunju, told The Nation on the phone that it was due to the fire outbreak at the transmission station in Apo, Abuja.

    This is in tandem with what the Chairman, Heirs Holdings Ltd and Transcorp, Mr. Tony Elumelu, said on September 10 that in the country, one of the biggest challenges to power generation was transmission.

    He was quoted in a statement by the Communications Manager (Marketing & Corporate Communications), Bolanle Omisore, as saying that “while Ughelli Power Plant generated at full capacity for the first time in July, we’ve been asked to scale down generation because of the outdated transmission systems. For every 100MW generated and sent to transmission companies, 40 per cent is lost, in part because of this infrastructure issue.”

    But Mrs. Olagunju  explained that it is easier to blame government-owned TCN, being the only publicly- owned entity in the power value chain, insisting that in the history of the Nigerian power sector, it has never generated power beyond the company’s wheeling capacity of 6,000MW.

    She debunked Elumelu’s statement, saying it is not true.

    “It is easier to blame TCN because it is the only government-owned company in the sector. Nigeria has never generated up to 5,000MW and TCN has a guaranteed capacity of 6,000MW. We can evacuate 6,000MW if they can generate it,” she said.