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Mabel Madojiemu rues schools athletics cancellation
Former Nigerian women 400m great, Mabel Madojiemu, has lamented the cancellation of the 2020 Schools athletics championships originally billed for May 15 in Benin City, Edo State. The championships, which is solely sponsored by the Princess Mabel Madojiemu Athletics Foundation, was well on its way to make it’s second edition with the young athletes looking forward to participating, but the event became another victim of the worldwide sports postponements due to the Coronavirus pandemic. “Just like the young athletes, I’m sad that we are not going to have the Schools Athletics Competition as scheduled,” said Madojiemu. “We were good to go, and were looking to give the kids a treat, most especially with the National Sports Festival which would have been hosted in Benin by Edo State. It was o...
Hear me roar: Coronavirus keeps zoos behind bars
“As we continue with the crisis, it is for the majority of them the longest time they have been closed in their history,” said Myfanwy Griffith, executive director of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA). “The difficulty that many of our members are facing is that every day they remain closed, they are still incurring the costs to care for their animals and make sure they’re looked after properly.” That’s putting them into a cash squeeze. “We have reserves that will keep us running until the end of June, maybe a month later,” said Radosław Ratajszczak, the head of Poland’s Wrocław Zoo, “but we cannot go on like this until the end of the year for sure.” On Monday, the U.K. government launched a dedicated £14 million fund to help the most vulnerable zoos and aquari...
EFCC: Lockdown won’t abort cases against ex-first lady, former governors, others
The lockdown arising from coronavirus appears to have slowed down the fight against corrupt practices in the country for close to six weeks. Meanwhile, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, says there is no cause for alarm as it will ensure that none of its ongoing investigations and cases in court will be aborted. The Commission is certain that as the federal and state governments begin to reopen the economy, it will ramp up legal actions to bring the suspects of financial crimes to account for their actions. “These suspects will unfailingly have their days in court,” EFCC Acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, declared. Documents reviewed by newsmen indicate that the Commission has its hands full of cases awaiting resolution in court, while some cases being investigated are ripe en...
Kylian Mbappe wants to share Ligue 1 golden boot with Wissam Yedder
Ligue 1 Golden Boot winner Kylian Mbappe has said the award should be shared between him and Monaco’s Wissam Ben Yedder as both finished on 18 goals this season. The Paris Saint Germain striker was deemed the sole top scorer on Thursday after the league was ended prematurely as he had more goals from open play. Three of Ben Yedder’s goals came from penalties. Taking to Twitter, Mbappe thanked fans for their messages of support but said that his international teammate should also have received an award. “Thank you for all your messages. I think that Wissam also deserves a trophy, like the Premier League did last season, to reward his year,” he tweeted. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane were all awarded the 2018-19 Golden Boot in the Premier League for finishing the sea...
Arsenal’s Bernd Leno names Alisson Becker as Premier League’s best goalkeeper
Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno says his Liverpool counterpart Alisson Becker is the best in the Premier League. The Brazilian has made a huge impression at Anfield since his record-breaking £65 million ($85m) move from Roma two years ago. Taking over from Loris Karius following his disastrous performance in the 2018 Champions League final, Alisson has helped transform Liverpool’s back line. Jurgen Klopp’s side have only conceded 21 goals in 29 league games this season, with Leicester and Sheffield United the only other sides to manage fewer than 30. Asked by Soccer AM who was the best keeper in the Premier League, Leno had no doubt. “For me it’s clear, it’s Alisson,” the German said. “He’s good at everything and his stats are also very good. “He’s played a number of big games for Liverpool ...
Jesper Gronkjaer: Hakim Ziyech will succeed in Premier League with Chelsea
Jesper Gronkjaer is backing Hakim Ziyech to succeed after his £37 million ($43m) move from Ajax to Chelsea. The Blues completed a deal in late February and the 27-year-old is set to link up with his new team-mates on July 1, with the Eredivisie season cancelled amid the coronavirus outbreak. Ziyech will join a group including Filipe Luis, Bertrand Traore, Mario Melchiot, Winston Bogarde and Gronkjaer himself in making the switch to Stamford Bridge having played at the Amsterdam ArenA. Moving to the Premier League will prove a step up for Ziyech and Gronkjaer believes he is the star player from the Dutch side’s run to the Champions League semi-finals in 2018. “Ziyech was the one who has caught my eye over the past two seasons even though he wasn’t produced by Ajax’s academy,” Gronkjaer told...
Post-coronavirus economy will be tech driven – Kwara governor
Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Saturday said that the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the country to come to terms with the reality of migrating to a full IT driven economy. The governor made the call when he joined the government-backed virtual digital training for youths in the state amid a call on participants to compete to evolve with homegrown technological solutions to local problems. At least 3,195 young people are involved in the digital training which is supported by the Grow with Google and Wootlab Foundation. Called K-Power, the initiative is a component of the four-layer state social investment programme. AbdulRazaq said the lockdown arising from the COVID-19 pandemic again confirmed that the country must come to term with deploying technology in all facets of life...
Ex-QPR Star Taraabt Backs Eze To Lead Club To Premier League
Former Queens Park Rangers star Adel Taraabt says he hopes England-born Nigerian midfielder Eberechi Eze will lead the London club back to the Premier League. Eze has been impressive for Queens Park Rangers this season which has seen him been linked with a host of Premier League sides. The 21-year-old has scored 12 goals made eight assists in 39 games in all competitions so far this season for Mark Warburton side. And the 30-year-old Moroccan international, who now plays for Benfica in the Portuguese top flight urged Eze not to lose focus. “I watch him and think he has big potential,” Taarabt told the club website. “I enjoy watching him – he’s physically strong, has a good touch, can score goals. I see him and hope he will one day take QPR to the Premier League – I think he has that abilit...
Lyon president reveals when the Champions League will be back
Olympique Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas claims a date has already been set for the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie with Juventus. Lyon won the first leg 1-0 and the two sides were originally scheduled to play the second leg in Turin on 17 March. But after the coronavirus put a stop to that, Aulas has now revealed that the second leg will take place behind closed doors at the Allianz Stadium on 7 August. “The match against Juventus is confirmed on August 7, in Turin and behind closed doors,” Aulas told RTLFoot on Saturday. Last month, the LFP announced that the Ligue 1 season would be finished with 10 matches remaining after the French government ruled that no football should take place in the country before September. The final table was decided based on points per game...
Nigeria: 10 die of coronavirus in Kano, Ogun, three other states
No fewer than seven patients died of coronavirus-related complications in Kano and Ogun states on Friday. Three other patients also died of COVID-19 in Bauchi, Kaduna and Sokoto. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control made this known in its 70th Situation Report on COVID-19 published on Saturday. According to the report, 10 COVID-19 fatalities were recorded in the country as of 11.30 pm on Friday. The 10 new COVID-19 fatalities bring the total deaths recorded in the country to 117. Of the 117 fatalities, 33 died in Lagos, Kano, 18; FCT, four; Borno, 14; Katsina, eight; Bauchi, one; Ogun, four; Kaduna, two; Sokoto, nine; Jigawa, one; Edo, four; Zamfara, three; Oyo, two; Osun, four; Nasarawa, one; Rivers, two; Delta, three; Akwa Ibom, two; Yobe, one and Ekiti one. Part of the report read, “3...
Ghetto Fabulous: Andre Harrell Created a Culture of Black Excellence
“My goal is to bring real black America — just as it is, not watered down — to people everywhere through music, through films, through everything we do.” This was the manifesto of 32 year-old, newly-minted entertainment mogul Andre O’Neal Harrell, in conversation with the L.A. Times in 1992 about his $50M multi-media deal with MCA Records. Harrell, who founded Uptown Records, died on Friday, May 8th of an apparent cardiac episode at the age of 59. As the music industry mourns this unexpected loss, a refrain keeps echoing through posts and tributes: Andre’s impact on music and culture was never properly celebrated. In conversations about culture shifters and modern music moguls, Andre Harrell is often relegated to a supporting character role in the Sean Combs story. He’s t...
Edo marketers defy petrol price reduction
AHA Taxis Independent petroleum Marketers within Benin metropolis in Edo, have continued to dispense petrol at N125 per litre in deference to the recently announced pump price of N108 per litre. It would be recalled that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Wednesday announced a reduction in the ex-depot price of petrol to N108 per litre This was the second time the NNPC has dropped the price of petrol after its first reduction on March 19, 2020, to N125. However, investigation shows that filling stations across Benin, the capital city of Edo, still maintained their old pump price of N125 per litre. Speaking in separate interviews on Saturday, motorists lamented that five days after the directive, all the filling stations, including the NNPC Mega station, had refused to ad...
