THE Vice-chancellor, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Professor Olufemi Peters, is in Marrakech, Morocco, for the 9th Africa Centres of Excellence for Development Impact (ACE Impact) Regional Workshop. According to a statement by the Director, Media and Publicity, NOUN, Ibrahim Sheme, on Tuesday, the workshop, organised by the Association of African Universities (AAU), aims at enhancing the capacity of universities to deliver high-quality training and applied research to address regional development challenges. It brings together leaders of the 53 Centres of Excellence, government representatives, key higher education stakeholders, policy think tanks, and partners such as the World Bank, the…
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CHELSEA have appointed former Tottenham and Paris St-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino as their new manager. The Argentine, 51, begins his new role on 1 July 2023 on a two-year contract, with an option of a further year. Interim boss Frank Lampard took Chelsea to 12th in the Premier League – their lowest finish for more than 25 years. “Mauricio is a world-class coach with an outstanding track record. We are all looking forward to having him on board,” the club said. Chelsea say Pochettino was first choice and the only manager who was brought into the club for talks. He…
NIGERIA will face rivals Argentina in the Round of 16 at the 2023 U-20 World Cup. The Flying Eagles will take on the hosts in an encounter on Wednesday, May 31, 2023. Ladan Bosso’s team finished as one of the third-best-placed teams after earning six points from three Group D games. They beat the Dominican Republic 2-1, and humbled Italy in their second match before bowing to heavyweights Brazil 2-0. Argentina, on the other hand, won all three games, bulldozing Uzbekistan, Guatemala, and New Zealand in front of an enthusiastic home crowd. Argentina are tournament favourites and the most successful…
SAUDI Arabia has put to death two Bahrainis accused of plotting terrorist operations, state media said on Monday, raising the number of similar executions to nine this month. The Bahraini nationals, identified as Jaafar Sultan and Sadiq Thamer, had been charged with “joining a terrorist cell led by a man wanted in Bahrain”, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said. There was no immediate reaction from Bahraini authorities. Since May 2 Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s most prolific users of the death penalty, has executed nine terrorism convicts, all but one in the eastern region where the Shiite minority…
APPLE supplier Foxconn is ramping up efforts to recruit more workers for the world’s largest iPhone factory, ahead of the launch of a new model. Foxconn says new workers at its plant in Zhengzhou, China will get bonuses of up to 3,000 yuan ($424; £343) if they stay in the job for at least 90 days. Current employees who successfully refer a friend or family member will also qualify for an award, it says. The iPhone 15 is expected to be launched in September. Foxconn employees who refer a new recruit will now receive 500 yuan if the person stays…
THE United States and Saudi Arabia have welcomed the extension of a ceasefire deal between Sudan’s warring military factions for another five days. Washington and Riyadh announced the latest deal, as well as brokering the previous week-long truce. In a joint statement, they acknowledged that the ceasefire had not been fully observed, but said it had allowed the delivery of aid to two million people in Sudan. The UN World Food Programme said the relative lull in fighting had allowed it to send supplies to residents trapped in the capital, Khartoum, for the first time since fighting erupted six weeks…
A LIBYAN court is reported to have issued death sentences to 35 people accused of being members of the militant Islamic State (IS) group. A further 23 were jailed at the hearing in Misrata. Five people were acquitted. The defendants – all held since December 2016 – are the first group of more than 300 alleged jihadists due to be tried and sentenced. The case comes six years after more than 700 pro-Tripoli government fighters were killed in a battle to retake the Libyan city of Sirte from IS fighters.
SEVERAL countries on Monday formally presented their goodwill messages and letters of support and solidarity to President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The letters were presented to the president by the special envoys and heads of missions of the countries after his inauguration as the 16th President of Nigeria. Among the countries are United Kingdom, United States, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Brazil, South Korea, Israel, Cape Verde, Somalia and Nicaragua. While congratulating President Tinubu, the new UK High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, presented letters from British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, King Charles and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.…
PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu has expressed sadness over the death of the founder of Daar Communications, owners of African Independence Television (AIT) and Raypower, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi. Dokpesi died on Monday at an Abuja hospital. In a statement issued from his office Monday evening, the President described the death of the media mogul as a huge loss to the Nigerian media industry and the country. “The death of High Chief Raymond Dokpesi is a blow to the media industry where he has played pioneering roles in private broadcasting. His pacesetting investment in the industry is an inspiration to many…
FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU 29 MAY 2023 My Fellow Citizens, I stand before you honoured to assume the sacred mandate you have given me. My love for this nation is abiding. My confidence in its people, unwavering. And my faith in God Almighty, absolute. I know that His hand shall provide the needed moral strength and clarity of purpose in those instances when we seem to have reached the limits of our human capacity. This day is bold and majestic yet bright and full of spirit, as is our precious nation. As a nation, we have…
OLIVIER Giroud scored the winner as AC Milan qualified for the Champions League with a narrow win at Juventus. Davide Calabria crossed from the right for the France striker to head in the winner for the Rossoneri. The defeat ended Juve’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League after they were docked 10 points earlier in the week. Alexis Saelemaekers had a low shot saved by Juve’s Wojciech Szczesny as Milan probed for a second goal. Milan have won home and away against Juventus for just the third time in the last 50 years. They are now secure in fourth…
ASTON VILLA beat Brighton at a raucous Villa Park to secure a return to European football after a 13-year absence. Villa needed to win to finish seventh in the Premier League and earn a spot in the play-offs for the third-tier Europa Conference League. They made a dream start as, after Leon Bailey had hit the crossbar, they took the lead in the eighth minute when the club’s Player of the Year Douglas Luiz slid the ball home from Jacob Ramsey’s pullback. Ramsey got another assist 18 minutes later when he collected a through ball and, just as away goalkeeper…
RECEP Tayyip Erdogan’s supporters celebrated well into the night after Turkey’s long-time president secured another five years in power. “The entire nation of 85 million won,” he told cheering crowds outside his enormous palace on the edge of Ankara. But his call for unity sounded hollow as he ridiculed his opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu – and took aim at a jailed Kurdish leader and pro-LGBT policies. The opposition leader did not explicitly concede victory. Complaining of “the most unfair election in recent years”, Mr Kilicdaroglu said the president’s political party had mobilised all the means of the state against him. President…
CONTRARY to UK’s spousal ban and family ban, Canada has announced faster temporary resident visa (TRV) processing and more considerate application measures. Making this known in a statement, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Sean Fraser, said the new process is for families to be together sooner while they wait for their permanent residence to be finalized. He said that going forward, most of these applications will be processed within 30 days, and applicants will benefit from processing measures specific to their circumstances as spouses and dependents. The Minister noted that many applications have already been processed using these new…
ENTIRE villages in Sudan’s West Darfur region have been burned to the ground by marauding militias, with aid agencies now warning the region is on the brink of a “humanitarian catastrophe”. Widespread looting and the destruction of vital infrastructure has left many with little to no access to food, clean water, and medicine. A ceasefire between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has led to a lull in the violence around the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. But fighting has continued in Darfur, and as the conflict there enters its seventh week, the region appears to have plunged into…
UGANDA’s President Yoweri Museveni has confirmed that a Ugandan army base in Somalia was stormed by hundreds of al-Shabab militants just before dawn on Friday. In a statement published on Twitter, he criticised the Ugandan troops stationed there, accusing them of failure. These are sharp words from the President Museveni about the conduct of his own soldiers after Islamist fighters managed to overrun one of their African Union mission bases in Somalia. He said the soldiers panicked and withdrew. This was unnecessary, he said, because their defence would have been strong enough if they had stayed in place. On Friday,…
LEICESTER City’s nine-year stay in the Premier League came to an end as they were relegated in agonising fashion despite beating West Ham on the final day of the season. The Foxes’ fate was out of their hands heading into the last round of fixtures, and Everton’s 1-0 victory over Bournemouth meant the 2015-16 winners slipped into the Championship by two points. While Toffees fans were in ecstasy at Goodison Park, Leicester supporters at the King Power were left to rue a miserable campaign in which they won only nine league matches. Knowing they needed a win to have any…
THE Flying Eagles were beaten 2-0 by Brazil in their last group game of the ongoing FIFA U-20 World Cup on Saturday, but still reached the round of 16 of the tournament as the best third-placed team in the Group stages with six points. Nigeria will face either hosts Argentina or USA for a place in the quarter-finals. Nigeria needed at least a draw against the Brazilians to seal top spot in Group D but they found themselves behind in the first half no thanks to Henrique Pedroso and Marquinhos goals. Italy also beat Dominican Republic 3-0 in the other…
LIONEL Messi scored another record-breaking goal as Paris St-Germain won an unprecedented 11th Ligue 1 title with a draw at Strasbourg. Messi’s strike, a fine finish from Kylian Mbappe’s pass, is his 496th in Europe’s top five leagues – taking him past Cristiano Ronaldo’s mark of 495. It is his 32nd for PSG, and could be his last as he is expected to leave this summer. Kevin Gameiro bundled in an equaliser but PSG only needed a point. The full-time celebrations were muted with PSG’s superior goal difference over second-placed Lens meaning they had the title practically secure last week.…
BAYERN Munich won an 11th consecutive Bundesliga title as they beat Cologne to overtake Borussia Dortmund on a thrilling final day. Dortmund would have won their first title since 2011-12 had they beaten Mainz, but a 2-2 draw opened the door for Bayern. They took advantage thanks to Jamal Musiala’s 89th-minute winner. A Cologne penalty had cancelled out Kingsley Coman’s earlier strike, but Musiala sent the away fans wild. Dortmund’s players and fans were left dejected despite coming back from 2-0 down at the break, with Sebastian Haller having a first-half penalty saved. It looked as if Bayern had blown…