The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NAN

  • Football enthusiasts attribute Pillars’ ouster to Glo league postponement

    Football enthusiasts in Enugu have attributed the ouster of Kano Pillars from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League to the unending postponement of the Globacom Premier League.

    They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the Kano Pillars players were match-rusty due to the postponement of the league.

    In his reaction, John Okoye said Kano Pillars could not have fallen to lowly rated A.S.V. Club of Congo if the league was on.

    “Had it been that the league was on, the players would have been engaging in competitive matches before taking on the Congolese side. Enyimba of Aba nearly suffered the same fate if not that they hosted Anges de Notse of Togo in Aba before the return leg in Togo,” Okoye said.

    Otunwa Abam, on his part, said he was disappointed with the unnecessary postponement of the league.

    Abam said the league had been postponed many times since 2013.

    “The home-based Super Eagles were also match-rusty at the just concluded CHAN in South Africa but we were lucky they picked up,” Abam said.

    He urged the League Management Company (LMC) to ensure that action resumed on March 7 as rescheduled.

    Another enthusiast, Chijioke Njoku, appealed to the LMC to save Nigeria from further embarrassment in the remaining matches at the continental stage.

    In his contribution, Austin Ezenwata said Nigerian players were not 100 per cent fit for continental matches.

    Ezenwata said Nigerian clubs were known to compete deep in any continental championship, but that inactivity in the league was responsible.

    Kano Pillars lost 1-3 to A.S.V. Club of Congo but won 2-1 in the return leg in Kano.

  • ‘Glo League needs more sponsors’

    ‘Glo League needs more sponsors’

    John Fashanu, a former member of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), on Monday said the Globacom Premier League required more than one sponsor to thrive as a world-class league.

    Fashanu said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos. The former Wimbledon FC of London striker called on the League Management Company (LMC) to take the necessary steps to encourage multiple sponsors for the league.

    “We want to make sure we have multi-sponsors, that’s the most important thing, bring money into the game of football in this country. Then we will be able to compare international football and the local football, the only difference now is the technical side of things in the premiership and the money.

    “We need to increase the money coming into football that’s the important thing; as we said, our players in the local league have shown that they can be some of the best players. That is why all the international clubs now want Nigerian players and it’s great news for us.”

    NAN reports that the kick-off date for the league has been postponed by the LMC to enable clubs that had yet to comply with its registration requirements to do so.

    According to the LMC, the 2013/2014 season would now kick-off on March 7 in all the centres across the nation.

  • Eagles have improved temendously, says Udoh

    Eagles have improved temendously, says Udoh

    A former Media Officer of the Super Eagles, Colin Udoh, on Tuesday in Lagos said the team had improved tremendously under the tutelage of Coach Stephen Keshi.

    Udoh, who made the assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the team was in a much better shape in terms of performance and achievement.

    “I think they have improved to be honest, considering where they were in the last three years; we have come a long way. `We have a more settled team, we can boast of, a strong team.

    “The team has done well so far, winning the Africa Cup of Nations and also qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, it’s a laudable feat.

    “I hope they sustain this form and also improve on it, we can do better,’’ Udoh said. He also called on football authorities to continue to expose the team and make them play friendly matches against non-African teams in their build ups to the 2014 World Cup.

    “I’m concerned about the fact that we have yet to put our players to test outside the African continent.

    “Fine, we have done well in the continent; World Cup is a different ball game totally.

    “We’ve had just one friendly match with a non-African opponent which I don’t think is good enough; we need to go out of the continent so that we won’t be shocked in Brazil.

    “This needs to be addressed before June,’’ the sports analyst added.

    NAN reports that the Super Eagles are in Group F of the World Cup alongside Argentina, Bosnia Herzegovina and Iran. The team will play their preliminary matches of the World Cup in Porto Alegre and Curitiba.

  • Massive turnout in Kaduna as registration begins

    Massive turnout in Kaduna as registration begins

    There was a massive turnout of party members and supporters yesterday in Kaduna as the All Progressives Congress (APC) began its membership registration in the state.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the registration was delayed due to internal leadership squabbles among party members.

    Several prospective members turned out in Tudun Nupawa, Nupe Road, Television, Maiduguri Road and Alkalewa roads in the metropolis, to be registered as members of the party.

    NAN reports that the exercise was peaceful in the places visited, as the prospective members queued to be registered.

    The State Registration Officer, Malam Bello Dankano, told NAN that the high turnout showed the confidence the people have in the party.

    Bello said the registration was going on without hitches and hoped that the party would emerge victorious in the 2015 elections.

    According to him, 10,160 registration officials would conduct the exercise at various wards in the 23 local government areas.

    He said the party was targeting 500,000 members in the first phase of the exercise.

    NAN reports that the President, Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria, Comrade Shehu Sani, was among those who registered at the Tudun Nupawa polling unit of Kaduna South Local Government Area.

  • Oil leak: Workers desert site

    A leakage from Agip’s Idu Well 3 in Egbebiri, Biseni in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State is discharging crude into the environment.

    A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent, who visited the site yesterday, reports that the well was spewing crude oil in gaseous form.

    The pungent smell of the gaseous discharge has forced road construction workers to pull out of site.

    The construction workers were said to have removed their personal effects from the earth-moving machinery.

    “This leakage has made this area unsafe; the smell of the gas is poisonous and I cannot continue to expose my workers to it.

    “We have to suspend work until something is done about the oil and gas discharge,” the site supervisor said.

    A surveillance worker from the oil firm, who was found at the site, said the leak was reported on February 7 but regretted that nothing had been done since.

    It was observed that the oil sediments collect into a pool and flow into a nearby pit where remnants of an earlier spill awaited recovery and clean up.

    Agip’s spokesman Tajudeen Adigun could not be reached for comment.

  • Nasarawa CJ pardons 28 inmates

    The Chief Judge of Nasarawa State, Justice Suleiman Dikko has granted pardon to 28 inmates awaiting trial in four prisons in the state.

    The chief judge announced the pardon at the weekend during a visit to the Nasarawa Prison as part of his tour to decongest prisons in the state.

    The four federal prisons in the state are located in Lafia, Keffi, Nasarawa and Wamba.

    Dikko, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) named the pardoned inmates as Samaila Agidi, Jineidu Fahomu and Kenneth Yohana from Lafia Prison and Jummai Mohammed and Felix Amadu from Wamba Prison.

    Also released were Joshua Daruwana from Nasarawa Prison and Abdullahi Usman, Hassan Adamu, Bashiru Yakubu, Hassan Hassan, Anayo Chuku, Ali Abdulkarim and Vincent Amos from Keffi Prisons.

    Others are: Hakilu Musa, Abdullahi Musa, Samuel Makama, Mohammed Musa, Luckman Usman, Masuwudu Abdullahi, Danjuma Audu, Ishaya Asentu, Vitalis Enji, Abdullahi Hassan, Abdullahi Maikarfi from Keffi Prisons, as well as Chika Aleke, Ismaila Musa, Shemsudeen Mohammed and Adamu Abdullahi.

    “My decision to discharge the inmates is in line with my determination to ensure justice to those who were wrongly imprisoned and to decongest prisons in the state”, he said.

    Dikko, therefore, advised beneficiaries of the gesture not to return to crime and urged them to exhibit character that acceptable in the society.

  • Foreign assistant for Keshi unnecessary-Dosu

    Foreign assistant for Keshi unnecessary-Dosu

    Ex-international, Joseph Dosu, on Friday said that Nigeria Football Association (NFA’s) proposal for a foreign assistant to Coach Stephen Keshi was unnecessary.

    Dosu, a former Super Eagles goalkeeper, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the proposal could distract Keshi.

    He urged the NFA to allow Keshi to concentrate on the 2014 World Cup coming up in June in Brazil.

    “I think the NFA should allow him to do his job because he has always delivered.

    “Keshi is a seasoned coach; he has shown us what he can do so far.

    “I believe we should allow him to continue with his backroom staffs.

    “I know NFA wants the best but it just have to trust Keshi’s judgment,” Dosu said.

    NAN reports that NFA recently met with Keshi, the current African Coach of the Year, and proposed employment of a foreign assistant to him.

    Keshi, however, turned the offer down, saying that he wanted one of his assistants, Sylvanus Okpala, who was sacked in 2013, to be recalled to the team. Keshi is currently working with Daniel Amokachi, Ike Shorunmu and Valere Houandinou as his assistants.

     

  • Jonathan appoints new heads for SURE-P,NTA, NAN, FRCN, others

    President Goodluck Jonathan last night named new Chairman and deputy chairman for SURE-P and new chief executives for the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) and the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    In the statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, the President also named new special advisers for NEPAD and National Assembly.

    It reads: “In furtherance of efforts to continually strengthen his administration on all fronts, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has approved the following appointments to fill existing vacancies: Gen. Martin Luther Agwai – Chairman of SURE-P, Mrs. Tanwa Olusi – Deputy Chairman of SURE-P.

    “Mrs. Fidelia Njeze – Special Adviser (NEPAD), Senator Suleiman M. Ajadi – Special Adviser (NASS), Mr. Sola Omole – DG, NTA, Alhaji Ladan Salihu – DG, FRCN and Mr. Ima Niboro – MD, News Agency of Nigeria”

    “Gen. Martin Agwai (rtd.) was until now the Deputy Chairman and Acting Chairman of SURE-P while Mrs. Njeze is the current Nigerian Ambassador to Switzerland.”

    All the appointments, according to the statement, are with immediate effect.

  • Beat Black Stars

    Beat Black Stars

    • Glo league club captains urge Eagles

    The Globacom Premier League Club Captains have urged the Super Eagles to ensure that they secure the final ticket of the ongoing Championship of African Nations (CHAN) in South Africa.

    The captains made the call on Tuesday in Abuja, in interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), ahead of the Eagles’ semi-final clash against Ghana’s Black Stars, scheduled for Wednesday.

    They expressed confidence that the Eagles would win the encounter. Theophilus Afelokhai, the Captain of Kano Pillars, told NAN that the home-based Eagles had become unstoppable.

    “I don’t think the Black Stars can withstand the Eagles. Though they are good, you can’t compare Ghana’s football development to that of Nigeria. I believe the Eagles know what they are supposed to do and they will do it.

    “You can see that the team is improving with every game. We thought that we would crash out in the match against Morocco but we were witnesses to what happened at the end. Any team that underrates the Eagles, does that at its own peril,’’ Afelokhai said.

    Goalkeeper Ambrose Vanzekin, the Captain of Warri Wolves FC, said the Eagles would emerge victorious as they had overcome the initial anxiety that troubled the team at the beginning of the tournament.

    “Ghana will not be a problem for Nigeria, the Black Stars will fall the same way Mozambique, South Africa and Morocco fell. A team should be confident of winning when it is not afraid of anything and I believe the Eagles now have that confidence,’’ Vanzekin said.

    The former Nigerian Olympic and Under-17 team goalkeeper, said he doesn’t regret not being invited to the CHAN camp, in spite of his experience.

    “I am not regretting anything, I thank God for what he has done for me, having played in the Olympics, the U-17 World Cup and the U-20. There are a lot of goalkeepers in the country and everybody wants to play in the national team; it is Agbim’s time as a great goalkeeper and he is doing well. I am happy with him; my prayer for him is to win the CHAN,’’ Vanzekin added.

    Chinedu Udoji, the Captain of Enyimba FC of Aba, told NAN that he had always believed in the players and their coaching crew, led by Stephen Keshi.

    Udoji pointed out that the criticisms of the team after its loss to Mali was unhealthy, noting that Nigerian teams’ performed better at international tournaments whenever the fans gave up on them.

    “I never wrote the team off, even after it lost its first group match to Mali; I am a player too and I know that I will have the opportunity to be there. People are entitled to their opinions on the team, based on what they feel, but I believe in the players because most of them are my friends and two of them are my colleagues at Enyimba.

    “Challenges become tougher when competition progresses; I know that Ghana will want to prove tougher than the Moroccans,’’ he said.

    Udoji said, “I hope that the Eagles will not repeat the same mistakes they made against the Moroccans because one might not be lucky everyday to come from three goals down to win a match. The mistakes shouldn’t happen again because we might not be that lucky again; however, I have a strong belief that Keshi must have corrected the mistakes of that encounter.’’

    The Captain of Bayelsa United, Salmon Junior, described the home-based Eagles’ performance at the CHAN as exceptional.

    Junior, a national of the Republic of Benin, told NAN that he would rather support and pray for the Eagles to progress to the final, rather than the Ghanaians.

    “The Super Eagles’ performance in South Africa has been up to standard because so many people initially wrote them off, that they are not the best in the league. But they have put on a very good performance and getting to the semi-finals is something exceptional; my prayer is that they go into the final and win the trophy,’’ Junior said.

    The CHAN tournament which began on Jan. 11 would end on Feb. 1.

     

  • Osun employs 4,330 teachers

    Osun employs 4,330 teachers

    •To spend N400m on WAEC fees

    The Osun State government has employed 4,330 teachers to fill vacancies in public schools.

    Chairman of the State Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Felix Awofisayo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday that 2,330 teachers were recruited by SUBEB for elementary and middle schools and 2,000 for secondary schools by the Teachers Establishment and Pensions Office.

    Awofisayo said letters had been issued to the teachers and warned them against rejecting postings to rural areas.

    He said Governor Rauf Aregbesola had increased the grants to elementary and middle schools, adding: “Salaries and allowances, including Teachers Special Allowance, are promptly paid as directed by the governor. The state is partnering agencies of the Federal Government to improve education.

    “The state has paid its counterpart fund to the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) till 2012 and received its matching grant from UBEC till 2012.”

    Also yesterday, the Permanent Secretary, Lawrence Oyeniran, said the government budgeted N400 million for the West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC) fees of 32,075 pupils.

    He spoke in Osogbo while defending the ministry’s 2014 budget before the Committee on Finance and Appropriation.

    Oyeniran said N350 million was budgeted for bursary to final year students of higher institutions and N100 million for scholarships to Master’s students.