The Nation Newspaper

Tag: South Africa

  • Rangers Int’l FC says goalkeeping worries over

    Rangers Int’l FC says goalkeeping worries over

    Rangers Int’l FC of Enugu Goalkeeper trainer, Suleiman Shuibu, says the club has overcome its goalkeeping injury crisis that affected it in the first stanza of the league.

    Speaking to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Wednesday, Shuibu said that goalkeeping injury crisis of the club was over.

    According to him, at the moment the club need not worry because a new goalkeeper, Saidu Matawakilu, is doing well.

    “At the moment we have a goalkeeper, Saidu Matawakilu, who is at the leadership of the goalkeeping for now.

    “So you do not need to change a winning team overnight.
    “We know that Nana Bonsu is the first choice goalkeeper no doubt, but Matawakilu is doing well at the moment.
    “Mutawakilu can be changed along the line when the need arise but for now, we cannot touch that area because it is a sensitive area in football,” he said.
    NAN reports that the club first choice goalkeeper, Nana Bonsu was injured in their match with Lobi Stars at the beginning of the season and was replaced by Itodo Akor, who was also injured before their exit from CAF competition.

    Rangers suffered injury in their goalkeeping department to an extent that Nana Bonsu had to be rushed back unfit against Zesco United FC of Zambia in their confederation second leg match in Zambia.

    “At the early stage of the season, it was unfortunate that we could not clear all the goalkeepers in our rank.
    “We only succeeded in registering three goalkeepers and out of the three, Emmanuel Daniel left to South Africa and we were left with two.
    “Along the line, the two keepers were injured but we have to manage what we have but all that is over now,’’ he said.

    He said that the other goalkeepers were cleared in the mid-season transfer window and that the club was happy that the injured ones were back to fitness.

  • Zuma appoints first woman to head Supreme Court

    Zuma appoints first woman to head Supreme Court

    South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma has appointed Justice Mandisa Maya as the President of the Supreme Court of Appeal, the president’s office said on Friday, making her the first woman to occupy the position.

    “Her appointment to the position elevates her to the third highest position in the Judicial Branch, after the Chief Justice and Deputy Chief Justice of the Republic,” Zuma said.

    NAN reports that on April 4, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) recommended Maya to Zuma for appointment.

    Maya filled the vacancy that occurred following the discharge from active service of Mr Justice Khayelihle Mthiyane.

    Justice Maya has close to thirty years’ experience in the legal profession, having started as an attorney’s clerk at a law firm in Mthatha in 1987.

    She then went on to work as a court interpreter, prosecutor and assistant state law adviser in Mthatha.

    She served her pupillage at the Johannesburg Bar and practised as an advocate between 1993 to 1995.

    She was appointed an acting judge of the High Court in 1999 and a fulltime judge the following year. She has acted as a judge at the Labour Court, an acting judge in the Supreme Court of Appeal, and as an acting judge at the Constitutional Court.

    In 2006 she was appointed a judge at the Supreme Court of Appeal.

    Justice Maya holds three university degrees: B.Proc from the University of Transkei, LLB from the University of Natal, and LLM from Duke University in the United States where she was a Fulbright scholar.

     

  • Areximbank named African Banker of the Year

    Areximbank named African Banker of the Year

     Dr Benedict Oramah, the President of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), has been named African Banker of the Year at the African Banker Awards 2017 ceremony in India.

    A statement by Afreximbank in Lagos on Wednesday said that the award was presented on Tuesday at a ceremony on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of African Development Bank.

    The bank said that the award was given to a banker who, through leadership and vision, had overseen strong financial performance within his or her organisation.

    “Such a banker would also have successfully guided that institution to new heights in the industry”.

    In his acceptance speech, Oramah, a Nigerian, said that he was able to win the award as a result of the dedicated work of the staff of Afreximbank.

    He said the staff had put in sustained efforts and made sacrifices to enable the bank continue performing in order to meet the challenges confronting Africa in the area of trade.

    Other nominees for the award included Segun Agbaje of GTB in Nigeria, Jeremy Awori of Barclays Bank in Kenya, Dr Charles Kimei of CRDB Bank in Tanzania, James Mwangi of Equity Bank in Kenya and Joshua Nyamweya Olgara of KCB in Kenya.

    Also at the ceremony, Guaranty Trust Bank of Nigeria was named African Bank of the Year, Rameswurlall Basant Roi, Governor of Central Bank of Mauritius, was named Central Bank Governor of the Year, while Rand Merchant Bank in South Africa was named Investment Bank of the Year.

    Other winners included Equity Bank of Kenya as the Best Retail Bank, MasterCard and Ecobank were named for Innovation in Banking.

    Waheed Olagunju of Bank of Industry in Nigeria was named African Banker Icon, while Amadou Ba, Minister of Finance of Senegal was named the Finance Minister of the Year.

    According to Afreximbank, the African Banker Awards were introduced to recognise reforms, rapid modernisation and expansion of banking and finance in Africa.

    “The awards reward the outstanding achievements of companies and individuals that have changed the perception of Africa’s potentials in domestic and international markets”.

     

  • NCAA orders Ethiopian Airlines to stop collection of unauthorised charges

    NCAA orders Ethiopian Airlines to stop collection of unauthorised charges

    The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has ordered Ethiopian Airlines to stop the collection of  unauthorised charges forthwith.

    The order was contained in a statement signed by Mr Sam Adurogboye, NCAA General Manager, Public Relations, on Sunday in Lagos.

    Adurogboye said these unauthorised charges referred to as” refundable deportation fee” is put at between 75 dollars  and 150 dollars.

    According to him, all South Africa bound passengers on Ethiopian Airlines are compelled to pay this amount before boarding.

    He noted that the authority had been inundated with several complaints from many passengers that have suffered this fate.

    “According to investigation by NCAA, all outbound passengers to South Africa from Murtala Mohammed International Airport, (MMIA), Lagos and Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, transiting through Addis Ababa, are liable to pay 75 dollars.

    “However, if your transiting time is 24 hours or beyond, the passenger will pay 150 dollars.

    “While passengers are not given prior notice concerning these charges before arriving at the airports, some were made to sign undertaken to be responsible for all expenses incurred if deported,” Adurogboye said.

    He said consequent upon this, the Ethiopian Airlines’ Country management were summoned by NCAA, where they claimed the fees were always refunded when a passenger was not deported.

    Adurogboye said the regulatory authority however found this unacceptable and viewed it as a violation of the its extant regulations.

    “The Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (NCARs) Part 18.4.1(iii) stipulates that “all air carriers should obtain approval from the authority to introduce or increase add-on charges or surcharges prior to implementation.

    “Till date, the authority has not received any request for fare increase, tariff or add-ons from the airline.

    “On this strength, Ethiopian Airlines has been ordered to stop with immediate effect these illegal charges,” he said.

    Adurogboye noted that the Airline could take advantage of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CAR) and obtain necessary approvals from the Authority if it has genuine grounds to increase fares or obtain tariffs.

    The spokesman said :”the NCAA hereby warns all operating airlines to endeavour to adhere to the regulations in all facets of their operations.

    “It is part of our statutory responsibilities to protect the rights of passengers and this we shall continue to do in accordance to the law.”

  • South Africa deports 90 Nigerians

    The South African government has deported 90 Nigerians for committing immigration-related offences.

    The spokesman of the Lagos Airport Police Command, DSP Joseph Alabi, disclosed this on Friday.

    He said the deportees landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, at about 3.30 p.m.

    He said the people were brought back to Nigeria aboard a South African Airways aircraft with registration number BBB712 from Johannesburg.

    “This afternoon, about 3.30 p.m., 90 Nigerians were deported from South Africa for committing immigration-related offences.

    “Some of them were alleged to be living in the country without valid documents.

    “They were received by the appropriate agencies including the police and profiled before being allowed to depart to their respective destinations,” Alabi said.

    NAN

  • Churches warn S/Africa against becoming a ‘mafia state’

    Churches warn S/Africa against becoming a ‘mafia state’

    The South African Council of Churches (SACC)on Friday warned that corruption was turning South Africa into a “mafia state” under a government that intimidates whistleblowers, local media reported.

    SACC Secretary-General Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana was quoted as saying President Jacob Zuma’s government had “lost the moral radar”.

    The criticism puts more pressure on Zuma, who in past weeks has faced calls to resign from within his own ruling African National Congress (ANC) party and the opposition amid a slew of scandals that prompted street protests and credit-rating downgrades.

    “We have come to recognize that South Africa may just be a few inches from the throes of a mafia state from which there may be no return, a recipe for a failed state,” Mpumlwana was quoted as saying.

    Zuma has consistently denied allegations of corruption leveled against him and his government, and branded protesters calling for his resignation “racist”.

    South Africa is a religious nation and the churches, which played key roles in the struggle against apartheid, have considerable influence.

    Among the scandals that have rocked Zuma’s presidency are allegations of influence-peddling by wealthy friends of the president and the misuse of public funds to renovate his private home.

    A court has also ordered him to give reasons for firing his widely-respected finance minister in April.

    Releasing the findings of its investigation into graft, the SACC, an inter-denomination grouping that includes the Anglican Church and Dutch Reformed Church, said the ANC had ignored corruption complaints.

    Mpumlwana said whistleblowers were terrified of their own government.

    Zuma’s presidency has been beset by allegations of high-level corruption.

    The nation’s anti-graft watchdog, in a report released in November, called for a judge to investigate allegations of influence peddling in Zuma’s government.

    Zuma and the wealthy Gupta family, which is alleged to wield undue influence over the president, have denied wrongdoing.

    “We have come to learn that what appears to be chaos and instability in government may well be a systematic design of the madness that ills our governmental environment, a chaotic design,” Mpumlwana added.

    Even so, Mpumlwana said the SACC would share its findings with the ANC rather than the police or judiciary.

  • Bodies of 25 illegal miners retrieved from S/African shaft

    Bodies of 25 illegal miners retrieved from S/African shaft

    South African police have recovered 25 bodies, believed to be those of illegal miners, from an abandoned gold mine in central Free State province.

    Police spokesperson Thandi Mbambo told dpa on Thursday that the miners were thought to have been killed by an explosion in the Eland mine in the town of Welkom one week ago.

    Nine miners who survived the explosion brought the bodies to an area closer to the surface, where security guards spotted them and called police.

    The death toll had earlier been given as 24.

    Mbambo said the cause of the explosion was not known, but that it may have been sparked by gas that was inside the mine.

    The mine had earlier been operated by the company Harmony Gold.

    Thousands of miners illegally haunt underground tunnels in South Africa’s abandoned mines, looking for gold and other minerals using hardly any safety measures.

  • We will give Super Eagles a tough time – New S/Africa coach

    We will give Super Eagles a tough time – New S/Africa coach

    The new coach of South Africa’s Bafana Bafana, Stuart Baxter, says his team will give Nigeria’s Super Eagles a tough time when the two teams clash on June 10.

    “I hope we will be very competitive with Nigeria. We will give them a game,” Baxter said after his unveiling in Johannesburg on Monday.

    He was appointed earlier this month as a replacement for Ephraim ‘Shakes’ Mashaba who was sacked in December last year.

    The Englishman will start his second spell at Bafana Bafana with a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against the Eagles in Uyo in June.

    Baxter, who signed a five-year contract, said he would name his technical team and squad for the Nigeria game on May 25.

    “We need to be competitive and players will do it the South African way. That should reflect the play in the country,” he said .

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Baxter, had previously coached the 1996 African champions from May 2004 to November 2005.

    He will however continue to coach Premier Soccer League side SuperSport United until the end of the season.

    Speaking on his team, the 63-year-old said there was no shortage of talent in South Africa.

    “I believe the nation has enough players to succeed and I also believe in my abilities. I’m very optimistic,” he said.

    “I’m really looking forward to this latest challenge. If I wasn’t ready, I would not have accepted the challenge.

    “I’m very optimistic if we can pull together, but don’t be too negative because it will affect everyone. I’m asking for buy-in from every South African.

    “I will be going abroad to watch players who ply their trade there. I will watch every South African. They will get a fair chance.

    “I want Bafana Bafana to unite South Africa in the long term. If we do that we will become a powerhouse of football,” said Baxter.

  • China/Africa trade investment ‘off to a flying start’ in 2017

    China’s trade with African countries rose nearly one-fifth in the first quarter from a year earlier, while its direct investment in the continent soared 64 percent, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Thursday.

    Sun Jiwen, spokesperson at the ministry said trade cooperation between China and Africa is “off to a flying start” in 2017, thanks to policy benefits from a cooperative framework laid down by the Chinese and African leaders in South Africa in 2015.

    China has a relationship with Africa which pre-dates its current resource-hungry economic boom.

    In previous decades, China’s Communist leaders supported national liberation movements and newly independent states across the continent.

    Chinese President Xi Jinping announced plans to plough 60 billion dollars into African development projects at a summit in Johannesburg in 2015, saying it would boost agriculture, build roads, ports and railways and cancel some debt.

    Sun said China’s total trade with Africa rose 16.8 per cent to 38.8 billion dollars in the first quarter, its first quarterly increase on a yearly basis since 2015.

    “That’s mainly thanks to a 46 per cent year-on-year jump in imports from Africa in the first quarter with agricultural imports rising 18 per cent, while Chinese exports recorded a smaller fall of one per cent from a year earlier,” Sun said.

    China’s non-financial direct investment to the continent also jumped 64 per cent in the quarter, as countries such as Djibouti, Senegal and South Africa all saw a more than 100 per cent rise in the quarter.

    China’s growing investment in the region is also likely to have been buoyed by its ambitious global trading strategy known as the Belt and Road Initiative, which appeared to be gaining traction recently, particularly in parts of East Africa where major infrastructure and defence projects are being built.

    China’s trade relations with African countries are often dominated by big natural resource deals, triggering criticism from some quarters that China is only interested in the continent’s mineral and energy wealth

    Africans broadly see China as a healthy counterbalance to Western influence but, as ties mature, there are growing calls from policymakers and economists for more balanced trade relations.

  • Obasanjo: It’s shameful we still import vegetables from S/Africa

    Obasanjo: It’s shameful we still import vegetables from S/Africa

    Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has described as shameful the importation of vegetables from South Africa.

    Obasanjo said in Abuja that despite the massive land and good vegetation in the country, larger per cent of vegetables used by hotels in Lagos are being imported.

    The former People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain said it was inappropriate and as such, every Nigerian should become a major stakeholder to reposition the agriculture sector.

    According to him, with over 180 million people, the country could turn around food insecurity in the country and do exports.

    His words: “let’s do something, we must all pledge to do something positive, let us be producers, we are all consumers, but we can do more than that. You are either a producer, a financier, a researcher, an enabler, an advocate, a processor, a marketer, an exporter.

    “Let us do something positive and productive. God is at this time, giving us another chance, hence the present situation of our economy, are we going to accept the challenge and move forward, if we don’t we will have ourselves to blame as a nation.

    “We have the land, we have the population, we are about 180 million, now let me digress a little bit, almost all the vegetables that the hotels in Lagos are using are being imported from South Africa, carrots, lettuce, cucumber, now population of South Africa is only 50 million, we are 180 million and we cannot produce vegetables, I think it is shameful.”

    Speaking on the popular term, food security, Obasanjo defined it as a situation where people have access at all time to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.

    “In short there must be availability of food which means there must be enough production or if you are not producing enough you are importing enough to make up for your shortfall in your production.

    “There must be affordability, which means every family must be able to afford the food to make them live a healthy and an active life,” he added.

    Though, the current administration under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development initiated the Green Alternative Policy, a four-year agricultural development plan to reposition the sector

    It targeted vegetables as part of the priority commodities listed for exports. Vegetables were listed as pineapples, pawpaw, bananas, vegetables among others.

    As contained in the policy document of the Buhari-led administration, the identified commodities are cocoa, cashew, cassava products such as ethanol, cassava starch and cassava chips. Other crops include ginger, sesame, oil palm, gum Arabic, fruits and yam.