The Nation Newspaper

Tag: wasteful

  • Biffo says Warriors are wasteful

    Biffo says Warriors are wasteful

    Abia Warriors coach Abdul Usman Biffo said his side were outright wasteful against Sunshine Stars. The Umuahia Warriors were held to 1-1 draw by the Owena Waves in Wednesday’s top-flight matchday 7 clash at the Umuahia Township Stadium.

    The Akure outfit got the match opener off the foot of Abiodun Joseph while the Warriors levelled scores though attacking midfielder Ndifreke Effiong.

    Biffo said his side could have comfortably won the encounter with as many as five unreplied goals if they had used their chances profitably.

    “We played quite well, created chances but could not convert several chances, especially in the first half of the encounter. The attackers did not take their chances at goal which is a huge lesson for us to use our opportunities well to avoid playing under pressure.

    “The result is a poor measurement of the performance of both sides as we could have beaten Sunshine Stars with as many as five goals. Sunshine Stars had one chance in the encounter and they made it count positively.

    “We were truly wasteful, that’s the painful truth but we will continue to improve. I think there is no cause for alarm we will go back to work on our mistakes to ensure it does not repeat itself in other matches,” said the former Giwa FC and Niger Tornadoes coach to supersport.com.

    The draw against Sunshine Stars takes Abia Warriors’ total points to 11 from s possible 21 in the seven-week old Nigerian top-flight.

  • N47.5b for lawmakers’ cars wasteful, says TUC

    N47.5b for lawmakers’ cars wasteful, says TUC

    The Trade Union Congress (TUC) said yesterday that the National Assembly’s plan to spend N47.5 billion on cars for 469 lawmakers was wasteful.

    In a statement by its President, Bobboi Bala Kaigama and Secretary General Musa Lawal, the congress said spending N47.5 billion on cars was “senseless and peak of insensitivity”.

    Expressing support for President Muhammadu Buhari’s stance on the issue, the TUC said it backed the President’s  closed meeting with the lawmakers.

    The statement reads: “We are pained by the fact that it appears the lawmakers do not know the task before them and the country.

    “For over two months, the country has been experiencing chronic fuel scarcity such that has never been heard of, free-fall of the naira, poor health facilities,  glorified primary schools as universities, closure of manufacturing companies, insecurity, which essentially is caused by unemployment etc. Our case has become so deplorable that we are a laughing stock among nations.

    “Where is the conscience of the lawmakers? Where are the good roads to drive cars? Why is it that the privileged in this country do not consider the less-privileged? Lawmakers ride in public transportation in developed countries to attend to state matters. The reason our leaders do ridiculous things beats our imagination.”

    The statement added: “It will be recalled that the National Assembly members in August collected between N7 million and N8 million as car loans. But they said the 469 cars they planned to buy would be used for oversight functions.

    “This amount (47.5 billion) for cars is senseless and insensitive and we support President Buhari’s stance on the issue. We are definitely not against the President holding a closed meeting with the lawmakers, but we say no to such frivolous expenses.

    “Some have argued that members go away with their official vehicles after four years, having paid the value to government coffers. But we wanted something different, hence Nigerians voted for change.

    “It just does not make sense contemplating buying cars with almost 40 per cent of government’s annual budget. We just hope the lawmakers mean well for the country.”

  • SIASIA LAMENTS: My players were wasteful

    SIASIA LAMENTS: My players were wasteful

    Nigeria’s Under-23 team head coach, Samson Siasia has blamed carelessness and wastefulness for the semifinals 1-3 loss to Burkina Faso at the ongoing All Africa Games in Brazzaville, Congo.

    A highly disappointed Siasia said he never imagined that his team could lose to the West African opponents let alone by the wide goal margin.

    “I never imagined losing to Burkina Faso but then my midfielders played so well, my defenders and attackers let me down. Can you imagine my attackers not being able to convert about eight chances that came their way?

    “To make matters worse the defenders were asleep on a day they should have been up and doing. Who told the central defenders to keep offside trap the way they did? I am totally disappointed.

    “We can’t play like this in Senegal and expect to qualify for the 2016 Olympics. No way! We were so bad that anytime the ball beat the defenders even my goalkeeper could not stop any of the shots fired at him.

    “Football is a team work where errors are bound to occur but it’s the ability of fellow teammates to cover for one another that makes a team great, that I didn’t see today,” said the former Super Eagles manager to www.thenff.com.

    Siasia said he has learnt his mistakes from the semifinals defeat to Burkina Faso at the AAG in Brazzaville, Congo.

    “We will make corrections after the AAG. I plan to travel to talk to some players I have already penciled down then hopefully the team should be assembling in the first week of October to prepare for the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations. Certainly, some of the players I brought to Congo Brazzaville will have to give way,” said Siasia.

    Siasia apologised to Nigerians for letting them down by not qualifying for the All Africa Games men’s football final and bringing home the gold medal.

    “I am not a man of excuses. I take all the blame for this collapse and will certainly make amends before the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations,” said the former Nigerian star.

    The Dream Team VI will battle hosts, Congo for the bronze in the third place match while Burkina Faso will engage Senegal for the ultimate prize, gold.

  • Wike is wasteful, says Amaechi

    Wike is wasteful, says Amaechi

    Rivers State Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Nyesom Wike, is an extravagant and immature person who cannot match the excellent academic and public service record of All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate Dr. Dakuku Peterside.

    The governor said Wike was incapable of providing the quality leadership expected of the governor of a sophisticated state like Rivers.

    Amaechi spoke at State School ground at Okehi in Etche Local Government Area.

    The governor recalled the incalculable profligacy that marked Wike’s tenure as Chief of Staff of his (Amaechi’s) government during his first term.

    Amaechi told the crowd how Wike’s office, when he was Chief of Staff, repeatedly discouraged him from building government guest houses because he benefited directly from the massive fraud that characterised lodging and accommodating government visitors.

    Governance, the governor said, is for responsible people with a high degree of moral bearing and stability, not for people who cannot survive outside government.

    He said Peterside was assigned the sensitive Ministry of Works during his (Amaechi’s) first tenure because of his sterling qualities as a patriot and gentleman who did not see public service as an avenue for primitive accumulation.

  • My wife is evil, wasteful, says man

    •‘I don’t know why he hates me’

    A 62-year-old property agent, Deji Odutola, aka Hadji White, has prayed the Customary Court in Alagbado, Lagos to dissolve his eight-year-old marriage to Sherifat. Oduntayo is accusing his wife of cruelty, covetousness and dishonesty.

    The marriage, which was sealed under Native and Customary Law in 2006, is blessed with a male child.

    “My wife is evil. Even before I married her, I had allocated all my property to my children here in Nigeria and abroad. I, however, added a caveat: that I could take everything back, if not properly managed.

    So, I gave my wife the house that my first daughter couldn’t maintain and we agreed she would be giving me some amounts of money annually. When she was due to make the first payment, she defaulted. Instead, she spent the money on her six children from her previous marriages.

    “This is the third year and my wife hasn’t given me a kobo from the house I built with my sweat. When I celebrated my birthday, my wife couldn’t make any financial contribution. She only bought a standing fan for me, which I returned because it was the least I expected from her.

    “I have been wearing white dresses for 37 years, so I don’t want my reputation tarnished in anyway; otherwise, I would have engaged some hoodlums to throw her out of my house. She keeps giving flimsy excuses, saying she doesn’t know how to pack her things. She even claims that the house is her son’s share of the property I allocated. But it is a blatant lie.

    “I think our marriage had crumbled before we got here because it’s over three years since I slept with her or even saw her. All I want is the money she collected for four years. I want her out of the house and out of my life, he said.”

    In her defence, 45-year-old Sherifat said:” I really can’t figure out when the problem started. This is because among his 10 wives, I have always been treated as a slave. I have always endured the insults and abuses because I am tired of sleeping under different roofs.

    “When I was expecting our child, he complained of sleeping beside an expectant mother, adding that it made him broke.  Surprisingly, 41 days after I was delivered of the child, my husband asked me if the child was his or someone else’s.

    “My husband has moved me to three different houses for no genuine reasons. I change houses like clothes. Contrary to his claim, he didn’t allocate any house to my son.

    “I used the money I got from the tenants to renovate the house because it was untidy. I wonder why he is asking for money now.  Since we moved into the house, he has not sent money for our son’s upkeep. When I tried to see him, he ordered his workers to throw me out. He doesn’t respect me at all let alone his child. Our son was barely two years old when my husband complained that he didn’t greet him. So, he said he won’t sign any document in my son’s name.

    “I don’t know why he said he is just seeing me after three years. I remember we saw each other at a hotel recently and we even made love that day.

    “Recently, my husband’s friends rough-handled me, seized my items and took me to another house, as ordered by my ‘rich’ husband. I refused to stay there because it was deserted and it had ‘For sale’ boldly written on it. If he can allocate the house to my son, I will gladly live there; otherwise, I will go back to the house I renovated.

    “I don’t know why my husband hates me because he has allotted some property to some women he married after me and the children he had after my son. I don’t want a divorce.”

    The court President, Mr. Olubode Sekoni, invited the parties to a chamber discussion and ordered them to bring four relations each.

    The case was adjourned till September 29.