Welcome to EagleWatch

A chieftain of the All ProgressiveCongress, APC, Prince Tajudeen Olusi has said that party discipline which was the hallmark of politics in the First and Second Republic has broken down irretrievably . Speaking exclusively with National Mirror, Olusi who was the South West Vice Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria , ACN before the formation of APC said there was more sanity in the politics of the First and the Second Republic than now. “Well to me it appears we have more sanity at that time than now. I want to state that even at that time the constitution of Nigeria prescribes that those who would be in the House of Representatives and the Senate, even in the state House of Assemblies, the various legislative bodies, they were to be sponsored by a political party. So it means that the political parties would produce the executive , the political parties would also produced the legislature and eventually the political parties also have responsibility for the production of the jud...

A don, Prof. Adigun Agbaje, has raised an alarm that for the country’s democracy to continue to thrive, there is a need for consensus building among the various ethnic groups as well as the elite in the country. The professor of Political Science, University of Ibadan, said this while delivering the Petals FM radio one year anniversary lecture titled, “The Nigerian Media and the Search for Consensus in Diversity: Retrospect, Precepts and Prospects”. Agbaje who was represented by Dr. Remi Ayede, said one lesson human history has taught is that consensus is a necessary condition for engineering progress on all major fronts, be it political, economic or socio-cultural. Present at the event chaired by the Co-Chairman of African Newspapers of Nigeria (ANN) Plc, Dr. Tokunbo Awolowo Dosumu, include former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the 2015 elections in Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, Otun Olubadan of Ibadanland, High Chief Lekan Balogun and Baale Ekotedo, Elder T...

Democratic Peoples Party, DPP, gubernatorial candidate in Ondo state, Mrs. Olamide Falana, has urged voters in the state not to sell their votes in the November 26 governorship election. Falana, who is one of the four female governorship candidates, said in a statement yesterday in Akure that financial inducement was a negative political habit which was fast becoming a culture. The governorship flag bearer noted that people exchanged their votes for money and foodstuffs because of the prevalent poverty in the society. She said: “This negative culture finds its root in the prevailing poverty of the people who have been impoverished by poor government economic policies and leadership at the various tiers of government. “Indeed, this practice is negative, totally unsustainable and evil. It is such that will ensure the people are forever at the mercy of the money-bags whose only interest is to attain power and not the overall development of the people. “The show of wealth equally encourag...

The trial of Mr. Rickey Tarfa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, was Monday stalled due to the inability of the prosecutor, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to provide the defense team necessary documents required for the trial. The anti-graft agency had dragged Tarfa before the court for allegedly preventing its officers from arresting some suspects, Nadir Odeste and Gnanhoue of Rane Prestige Nig. Ltd and Hair Prestige Nig. Ltd at the premises of the state High Court, Igbosere. At the hearing of the matter yesterday before Justice Aishat Opesanwo, counsel to EFCC, Abba Mohammed, tendered before the court, petition written by prosecution witness, Awolusi Moses, intimating the Deputy Director of Operation, how the defendant allegedly prevented the arrest of the suspects. However, in his reaction, the defense counsel, Abiodun Owonikoko, SAN, objected to the tendering of the document, on the ground that it was not included in the proof of evidence filed before the court b...

The Cross River State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Prof. Anthony Eneji, yesterday charged beneficiaries of the N1bn agricultural loan facility given to farmers not to renege on terms of agreement saying that agriculture was at the centre of Nigeria`s economy. The commissioner gave the charge during a sensitisation workshop with the theme, “Agric Loan Re-structuring and Rescheduling” organised by the Commercial Agric Credit Scheme (CACS) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources in Calabar. While lamenting on how 598 farmers had benefited from the N1bn Agric loan facility disbursed to beneficiaries in 2012 through the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme of the Ministry of Agriculture could not be repaid as at the stipulated period, he blamed the loan beneficiaries for failing to support themselves from moving ahead from subsistence to commercial farming. He, however, frowned at the unwillingness of some loan beneficiaries to pay the loan until the ...

Former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has charged non governmental organisations and foundations involved in charity works to be more transparent and accountable in the utilisation of funds entrusted in their care for charity works. Speaking at the launch of the Cancer Awareness and Diagonistic Centres in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, the former president opined that these would further encourage public spirited individuals and organisations to get more involved in philanthropic gestures as obtained in advanced countries. The event was organised by Primus Torchbearers, a philanthropy and advocacy organisation, which was marking its 40th anniversary and plans to raise funds both locally and internationally to establish cancer awareness and diagonistic centres in Abeokuta and the other two senatorial districts of Ogun State. The event tagged ‘No to Cancer, Fund Me’ While acknowledging the efforts of such foundations, including the Tony Elumelu Foundation and Jim Ovia Foundation...

The Akwa Ibom Local Content Compliance Monitoring Committee (LCCMC) has alleged that more than 1000 companies operating in the state violate Local Content Act 2010. Speaking in an interview yesterday in Uyo, the LCCMC chairman, Mr. Samuel Afobi, said many companies in the state had violated the local content law. “The state government has frowned at the lukewarm attitude of these operators, who are hiding and operating under a guise and failed to comply with the Content Act 2010. “The Akwa Ibom State Local Content Compliance Monitoring Committee is poised to ensure that international oil companies, Nigerian companies and their contractors fully comply with the law,” he said. He lamented that many companies operating in the state did not employ the indigenes in their operations and was yet to engage local contractors. “These companies do not carry out community development and have not shown evidence of corporate social responsibility (CSR),” Afobi alleged. The chairman said that the c...

The Nigerian Navy has said it will intensify efforts to rid Akwa Ibom water ways of criminals and boost economic activities within and outside the fishing settlements. The Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas, said this during his visit to NNS Jubilee, Ikot Abasi, Ikot Abasi Local Government Area of the state yesterday. He explained that the Nigerian Navy is constitutionally empowered to protect the country’s territorial waters. “We will try our best possible to ensure that insecurity in the state is reduced to the barest minimum,’’ Ibas said. He noted that his visit was to relate the various units of the command in the state and appraise the level of readiness to find out what their challenges are. He stated that the efforts of the command are in top gear to sustain various operations of the Nigerian Navy in Akwa Ibom. He said, “I am impressed with the level of commitment exhibited by the officers towards eradicating crimes in Niger Delta. “I urge them to keep up ...

Bishop of Anglican Diocese of Ekiti, Most Reverend Christopher Omotunde, has blamed what he called ‘decadence and nose-dived’ standard in quality of education being witnessed in the country on takeover of mission schools by state governments. Consequently, the Bishop called on the Ekiti State Government to without delay, return schools established by the church to it for effective management and to boost education standard in the state. Omotunde, who spoke in Ado Ekiti Monday at a press conference heralding weeklong activities marking the 50th anniversary of the diocese, described the takeover of schools by government as ‘a robbery action’, saying the rot in educational standard could have been averted if the schools were still under the management of churches. He said: “Government acted like armed robbers by taking over schools they didn’t know the vision behind their establishment. It is sad that governments in Nigeria are bad managers and you can see the damage they have done to s...

Democratic Peoples Party, DPP, gubernatorial candidate in Ondo state, Mrs. Olamide Falana, has urged voters in the state not to sell their votes in the November 26 governorship election. Falana, who is one of the four female governorship candidates, said in a statement yesterday in Akure that financial inducement was a negative political habit which was fast becoming a culture. The governorship flag bearer noted that people exchanged their votes for money and foodstuffs because of the prevalent poverty in the society. She said: “This negative culture finds its root in the prevailing poverty of the people who have been impoverished by poor government economic policies and leadership at the various tiers of government. “Indeed, this practice is negative, totally unsustainable and evil. It is such that will ensure the people are forever at the mercy of the money-bags whose only interest is to attain power and not the overall development of the people. “The show of wealth equally encourag...

The Pharmaceutical Technologists/ Technicians Association of Nigeria Cross River State branch has called on the government of Ben Ayade to integrate its members into a task force which it (the government) plans to constitute. The association stated that any attempt to exclude its members from the task force would amount to relegating its members to the background. Patron/ National Trustee Chairman in Council for Pharmaceutical Technologists and Technicians Association of Nigeria, Dr. Lawrence Henshaw, made the call in a post award of excellence interview with journalists in Calabar at the weekend. Henshaw who was presented with an award of excellence for rendering selfless service to the society warned that any attempt to exclude his members from to the task force shall be resisted by the pharmaceutical technicians. “Excluding my members from the task force would amount to sabotaging the effort of our members from excelling in their enterprise,” he said. The association`s patron averr...

Federal Government, Monday, bemoaned reclassification ofNigeria as polio-endemic nation following recent outbreaks of wild polio virus in the country. Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole at a media conference to mark this year’s World Polio Day, said though hope of the country to get certification as a polio-free nation from the World Health Organisation next year had been dashed by the fresh outbreaks, the country had put needed measures in place to defeat the disease. He blamed activities of insurgents, who had held some communities in Borno State and made them inaccessible to vaccinators as reason for the fresh cases. He, however, noted that the military had been helping health workers in liberated communities in the state to immunise children that could not earlier be reached. “As at 14th October 2016, the country has detected four cases of the Wild Polio Virus from the security-compromised areas of North-East state of Borno. While this new outbreak is a setback for us,...

Wife of the Nigerian President, Mrs Aisha Buhari and South West Governors Monday emphasised the role of women in nation building, saying women are the bedrock of any family which in turn makes a nation. The president’s wife and the governors converged in Lagos on Monday for the 16th edition of the National Women Conference organised by Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO), themed ‘Strong family, Strong Nation, held in Lagos emphasised the need to accord women more recognition in the country to fast its development and transformation. According to Aisha Buhari who was represented by the wife of Imo State Governor, Nneoma Okorocha, the importance of women to nation building cannot be over emphasised, adding that family values must be cherished and nurtured. She said: “We must continue to emphasise the importance of strong family values, poverty, crime, declining school performance as some of the challenges a country could face when families are not cohesive,” she adde...

Operatives attached to the Special Fraud Unit, SFU, Milverton Road, Ikoyi, have arrested a 23-year-old suspected fraudster, Babatunde Oyebode, for allegedly attempting to swindle oil moguls, Femi Otedola and Wale Tinubu. In a statement, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of SFU, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Lawal Audu, said the suspect has three different cases pending before the unit. He said the first and second cases involve threat to life and fraud. According to him, on October 19, 2016, one Dapo Balogun reported a case of extortion, blackmail and threat to life against the suspect. “The complainant claimed that the suspect had posted on naijagistlife.com a story alleging that he had worked with former Petroleum Minister, Deziani Allison-Maduekwe, and that throughout the period, he had fraudulently acquired huge sum of money. “The complainant also claimed to have received a mail from the suspect, informing him that he should pay an undisclosed amount running into mill...

Lagos State University (LASU) has dismissed 13 members of staff in the junior cadre, following reports from the Junior Staff Disciplinary Committee. The institution, in an official bulletin obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos, said the decision was taken by the Governing Council at its 112th Statutory Meeting held on Oct. 29. It said the council, after deliberation, approved the recommendation of the disciplinary committee to dismiss 13 out of the 14 staff members presented by the disciplinary committee for necessary action. “Council at its 112th statutory meeting received and considered Paper Number 10/ GC/16/068 on the Report of Junior Staff Disciplinary Committee on allegations leveled against some members of staff. ”It, after deliberations, approved the recommendation of the Junior Staff Disciplinary Committee on the affected members of staff,’’ it said.

A former acting Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Haruna Jauro, and two others, Monday told a Federal High Court in Lagos that they have opted to enter into a plea bargain with the Federal Government. Jauro, Dr. Dauda Bawa and Thlumbau Enterprises Limited are being prosecuted for an alleged fraud of N304.1 million. They are facing a 19-count charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). At the resumed proceedings of the case Monday, Jauro’s lawyer, Chief Babajide Koku (SAN), told Justice Olatoregun that his client had decided to enter into plea bargain with the EFCC. He said his client took the decision on Monday and had already commenced talks with the EFCC. He said: “It (plea bargain decision) came up this morning. I discussed directly with my learned friend, prosecuting counsel.” EFCC prosecutor, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, confirmed to the court that the defendants had approached the EFCC to explore the option of plea bar...

Medical Social Workers under the aegis of Association of Medical Social Workers of Nigeria (AMSWON), have called on the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency ensure the involvement of trained professionals in the day- to -day management of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps across the country. The National President of the association, Alhaji Abubakar Alhasan Bichi, who made the call at the 2016 Socio-Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting of the association, lamented that the IDPs’ camps have been turned to death camps for the inhabitants. He said the rate at which people are suffering in the camps is highly regrettable, stating that those who are in charge of the camps are only enriching their own pockets at the expense of the people. Present at the AGM tagged, “Service delivery and Professionalisation: Implications for the Socially Insecure Persons in Nigeria”, include the Minister of State for Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, who was represented by the Chief Medi...

National Judicial Council, NJC yesterday launched the National Judicial Policy, NJP, with a mandate to place a judge under investigation on interim suspension. Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmoud Mohammed, at the launch said NJP covers issues such as judicial appointment, judicial discipline, judicial code of conduct and judicial education and training. The CJN also said that Section 2(3)(2) of the new policy particularly bars judges and other court staff from accepting gifts from other arms of government, and made compliance mandatory. “The Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers and Code of Conduct for Court Employees, with the amendment discouraging acceptance of gifts from other arms of government, should be such as would be adequate,” he said. The new NJP provision is contrary to the position of NJC when the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, made the call for the suspension of some judges recently arrested by the Department of State Services, DSS, on allegations of corrupti...

The Federal Government says it will upgrade seven cancer treatment centres and provide additional machines to reduce the burden of the disease in Nigeria. Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, made this known in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday. “As we are talking today, there is no public hospital that has cancer treatment machine that is working. “Ideally, we need one machine per one million people; going by our population, Nigeria should have about 200 cancer treatment machines. “We have seven machines, but none of the seven machines is working today,” Adewole said. According to him, the Federal Government will ensure that each of the seven centres has two machines; “which means one will be a backup in the 2017 budget’’. He said government would upgrade the cancer treatment centres in Maiduguri, Zaria, Ilorin, National Hospital, Ibadan, Benin and Enugu in the first phase of the programme. The minister said government would get a private se...

French authorities yesterday began clearing the “Jungle” refugee camp, bussing out more than 1, 000 people by the afternoon as it readies to raze the patch of wasteland where thousands have made temporary homes. An old hangar in the port city of Calais was converted into a processing center for between 6, 000 and 10, 000 migrants. Authorities offered them two choices-stay in France or go back to their country of origin. The camp is a grim mosaic of squalid tents, makeshift shelters and tumbledown caravans at the side of a motorway that has become the wretched symbol of Europe’s refugee crisis. Migrants have flocked to Europe by the millions, many from war-torn Syria and African nations. The majority at the Jungle comes from Afghanistan, Eritrea and Sudan. Some migrants have refused to leave the camp, which sits KAGAMEat one end of the Eurotunnel -- a direct route to Britain that many have risked their lives trying to traverse, hiding in lorries. Some have even walked the 30 miles. In...

Governors elected on the platform of All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari behind closed-door at the Presidential Villa, said it was time for the party to take full responsibility for the challenges facing the country. Speaking with State House correspondents after the meeting, Chairman of the All Progressives Governors Forum and Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, stated that the party cannot continue to shift blame for the nation’s woes, saying it was time to take responsibility. According to him, the challenges presently facing the country predate the APC coming to power. “This was not a problem brought by APC government, it is a problem that existed long before APC came to government and we are only trying to clear the mess of the past. “But we must take responsibility and we must never shift the responsibility to anybody, APC you are responsible for everything happening in Nigeria, we are responsible, the good, the bad, the...

As new prospects and emerging trends in cyber security is onthe increase globally, the Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, has expressed the readiness of the ministry to partner with agencies to catalyse and develop worldclass human and institutional capacity in cyber security for the country. In a statement by the ministry, he said the ministry is living up to expectation of sensitising and impacting skills on cyber protection by creating the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) to handle computer security incidents and examining the implementation framework of the Cybersecurity Act with amendments where necessary in collaboration with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA). The minister in a keynote address delivered atthe National Computer Science Conference on Cyber Security and The Emerging African Economies at the Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State on Monday, Shittu said there is the need for other frameworks across all strata of public and...

Following public condemnation that has trailed cattle rearing in Abuja Municipal Area Council, Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Malam Muhammad Bello, Monday, told herdsmen in the territory to move their cattle out of the municipality, saying animals and humans should not be allowed to live together in the city’s centre. In a release made available to National Mirror by Deputy Director/Chief Press Secretary in FCT Administration, Muhammad Sule, the minister said the decision was taken for safety reasons and that it was not because government wanted to prevent cattle breeders from rearing cattle in the territory. He gave the directive when he met with members of the Miyatti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria in his office, the release said. Bello was quoted as saying: “You have to understand that when Abuja Environmental Protection Board says cattle should not roam the city, it is not because they want to prevent cattle breeders from raring cattle in the FCT. “Basically,...

Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir Usman, has called for the execution of suspects found guilty of drug trafficking in the country. Kabir stated this Monday, when he received the Minister of Defence and his Sports counterpart, Mansir Dan-Ali and Solomon Dalung respectively, at his palace. He said those engaged in the business of drugs trafficking were enemies of the state that were posing no small degree of danger to the populace. He said with the level of havoc they were causing, it was justified they be executed when found guilty to save society and serve as deterrence to others. He said: “I fully support the execution of drugs traffickers. It was the measure taken by the former NDLEA Chairman, Musa Bamaiyi, and it reduced the menace to a great extent.” The traditional ruler lamented that hard drugs was becoming a serious threat to the survival of many, as same was being used to commit crimes in many parts of the country. He, therefore, appealed to the Federal Government to l...

Hundreds of ISIS fighters are fleeing Mosul in Iraq and crossing into neighboring Syria as coalition forces close in on the city, a powerful tribal leader in the region, Sheikh Abdullah Alyawer, said yesterday. Alyawer, a tribal leader in the town of Rabia, on Iraq’s border with Syria, said dozens of ISIS militants and their families fled the city each day, and crossing into Syria at Ba’aaj, an ISIS-controlled crossing point south of Sinjar. “The route was entirely along corridors under ISIS control, he said. Fleeing civilians with no affiliation to ISIS usually ended up in the Syrian town of al Houl, which is under Kurdish control,” Alyawer said. Coalition forces celebrated better-than-expected territorial gains over the weekend and as artillery fire pummeled ISIS positions in the encircled town of 33Bashiqa early yesterday as the push for Mosul continued relentlessly. According to Iraqi Joint Operations command center, 78 towns and villages have been liberated so far as the push...

The United States said yesterday that it will seek clarity on the recent announcement by Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte, that his country is separating from the US. Rodrigo Duterte made the comments in China on Thursday at an economic forum, saying the separation applied to military and economic cooperation. US officials said the remarks were at odds with what they called close relationship shared by both countries. Duterte has grown increasingly hostile towards the US, a traditional ally, since taking office in June. His presidential spokesman, Ernesto Abella, said the latest comments were a restatement of independent foreign policy. “This is not intended to renege on our treaties, but an assertion that we are a sovereign nation,” Abella said. He explained Duturte wanted to separate the nation from dependence on the US and the West and rebalance economic and military relations with Asian neighbours. Several members of Duterte’s cabinet members have also said their country woul...

Chairman Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, in Kaduna declared on Monday, said that anybody arrested on corruption charges has to defend the allegations leveled against them. Speaking at the National Open Government Partnership retreat held in Kaduna, Magu said the fight against corruption is not selective, adding that the anti-graft agency has no business with those who has no case to answer. Magu said: “I’m here today because this event has to do with transparency, accountability in governance and you should know that anything that has to do with fighting corruption is area of interest to me. It’s not true that we Newsare selective in the fight against corruption. Whoever we arrested for corruption must have a case to answer. We don’t just arrest somebody who has no case to answer. We are also making progress in this fight, even though it’s not our fight alone, it’s a fight for all of us as a people in this country” the EFCC boss said. Attorney General of t...

Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, said Monday that the present administration would continue to actively pursue a plan for the massive manufacturing and production of goods in the country. He gave the assurance while receiving a delegation of Chinese investors partnering with Innoson group to invest $1bn in the country at the Presidential Villa. Osinbajo said the Federal Government would collaborate with business interests who could facilitate the plan. “Manufacturing in Nigeria is a primary objective of this government; it is a work we intend to do in the next few years to manufacture and produce in Nigeria as much as we can,” he said. He explained it was because of the administration’s commitment to spur manufacturing and local production in the country that the initiative of Innoson Group to work with Chinese partners was being addressed as a “strategic collaboration.” Osinbajo hailed the partnership between Innoson and the three Chinese companies: Shangdong Broadcasting Gro...

Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has reiterated the commitment of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to develop an efficient transport system that would encourage investment into the country. Amaechi spoke in Abuja Monday at the 1st International Transportation Conference organised by the Transportation Growth Initiative, TGI, with the theme, “Improving Infrastructure for Sustainable and Efficient Transportation.” He said the current investment climate of the country was not good enough to encourage foreign investments, adding that an efficient transportation system was imperative to favourable investment climate. The minister said government was determined to open up every state of the federation to rail lines by linking the existing line with the new ones to be constructed. He explained that the Lagos- Kano standard rail gauge, the Lagos-Calabar coastal line and Port Harcourt narrow gauge were expected to link all the state capitals. He said: “The fulcru...

EFCC yesterday quizzed a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr. Bala Mohammed in connection with the N1trn Abuja land swap deal. A reliable source at the Abuja office of the anti-graft body, told our correspondent that the ex-minister arrived the commission at about 11 a.m. The source further revealed that Mohammed was immediately whisked to Idiagon House, the interrogation unit of the commission, where he was said to have been grilled by operatives assigned to the case. As at the time of filing this report, he was still being questioned, fueling the speculation that he might be detained. Bala Mohammed was FCT Minister between 2011 and 2015 and it was alleged that several questionable land deals were perpetrated under his watch. His arrest, National Mirror reliably gathered, was not unconnected with series of petitions against him.

Former president and Secretary General of the Nigeria Football Federation, Aminu Maigari and Musa Amadu were last week detained by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) at their Lagos office for two days before they were granted administrative bail over forgery and other financial crimes while in office. The duo were quizzed by operatives of the commission for two days over the roles they played while in office in connection with collecting money from the federal government as Nigeria Football Association and spending same as Nigeria Football Federation . The commission also sought explanation over forging documents and affidavits as Nigeria Football Association that enabled them fraudulently register the League Management Company (LMC) to run the Nigeria Premier League. The duo admitted in their statements of using the name NFA to collect money from government because the name NFF was unknown to the laws of Nigeria. They also told the commission that they indeed used the...

The first woman to ascend Everest, Japanese climber Junko Tabei, has died aged 77, her family say. Junko Tabei Tabei conquered Everest in May 1975, aged 35, before climbing all of the world’s seven highest peaks by 1992. She was diagnosed with cancer of the abdomen four years ago, and died in hospital in the city of Saitama. Her last ascent was of Mount Fuji in July, alongside high school students affected by the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Tabei was originally from Fukushima prefecture that was badly affected by the disaster. In 2012, Tabei told the Japan Times she was proud of how her ascent was viewed. “Back in 1970s Japan, it was still widely considered that men were the ones to work outside and women would stay at home. “Even women who had jobs were asked just to serve tea. So it was unthinkable for them to be promoted in their workplaces.” Her ascent of Everest came 12 days after she was swept away in an avalanche on the mountain. She was dug out by a guide and co...

Another woman, Jessica Drake, is publicly accusing Donald Trump of inappropriate sexual contact, alleging the GOP nominee touched and kissed her a decade ago during a charity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Drake is at least the 11th woman to accuse Trump of unwanted sexual advances since the surfacing of a 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump brags about being able to grope and kiss women. Drake, an adult film performer and director, claimed that Trump asked her for her phone number and invited her to his suite the night they met in 2006. She went and brought along two other women to accompany her because she said she did not feel comfortable attending alone. “He grabbed each of us tightly, in a hug and kissed each one of us without asking permission,” Drake, who is being represented by Gloria Allred, the women’s rights attorney who has represented other women, including two other Trump accusers, in high-profile sexual assault cases.

Agege Stadium, Lagos will come alive today when the Nation Wide Super 8 tournament begins at the stadium. Announcing this yesterday at a press briefing to herald the championship, chairman of the League board, Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau, noted that the eight teams namely; Enyimba Feeders FC, Papilo FC, Yobe Desert Stars, Bida Lions FC, FC Abuja, FRSC FC, AS Racine and My People FC emerged as the best teams from the various zones in the country and will be playing in the Super 8 to determine the overall best team of the amateur league, even as he announced that the outcome of the tournament will in no way change their status of having gained promotion to the professional league from the 2017 season. According to him, the tournament is primarily not organised for monetary gains but to give the players exposure and opportunity to be spotted by some of the professional league sides in the country. He stated that apart from the teams, there will also be exhibition matches by four Lagos State tea...

State governors have been called upon to invest in sporting activities as a way to minimising crime among the youths. Minister of Youths and Sports, Solomon Dalung, stated this during the opening ceremony of the Nigerian Air Force Games in Katsina State. Dalung said most crimes committed today in Nigeria were perpetrated by the youths, and that investing in sports would go a long way to reducing the problem. He said if governors could invest 50 percent of their security votes to sporting activities, the problem of crime in society would not only be reduced, but “states would be close to heaven.” He called on youths to embrace sporting activities rather than engage in crimes like insurgency, robbery and kidnapping. The minister said at the end of the Air Force games, government hopes to harvest good athletes that would represent the country at the 2020 Olympic Games. He commended security agencies for their role in ensuring peace, and for contributing immensely to the development of s...

Austria-based striker, Kayode Olanrewaju, has said he believes he will soon be called up to the Super Eagles as long as he keeps scoring goals for his club. The Austria Wien FC striker is even praying that his name be included in the list Coach Gernot Rohr is expected to release later this week for the World Cup qualifier against the Desert Foxes of Algeria in Uyo on November 12. Kayode, who has already represented Nigeria at U-17, U-20 and Olympic levels, has hogged the headlines after his goals for Austria Wien in both the UEFA Europa League as well as the Austrian Bundesliga. He has now scored three goals in the league, two in the Austria Cup and four in the Europa League including last Thursday’s game-saving equaliser at AS Roma. “My goals always speak for me and I believe very soon I will get the nod of the Super Eagles coaches,” he said. “And once I got it, I will grab it with both hands. “If it came for the Algeria match (World Cup qualifier in Uyo on November 12), I know it...