I’m Jealous Of The Current Set Of Players, Says Jay Jay Okocha

Austin Okocha, former Super Eagles skipper, says he is jealous of the current set of players. Okocha, who was once African football’s most expensive player, said this in an interview with CNN Sports. Fondly referred to as JJ, the skilful player said he felt glad being among the best during his active soccer days. Okocha, who retired from football in 2008. “I am jealous of the players now. But it’s always good to know you were amongst the best during your time and that’s all you can hope for,” he said. “I don’t look at what the market is today because that was our mission — to get football to another level — to open doors for the next generation. It gives me a lot of joy to see where football is now.” The 44-year old also revealed that he would love to play with the world’s most expensive player Neymar at Paris Saint-Germain. Okocha had a stint with PSG during his soccer career. “It would be an honour to be in the same dressing room as a player like Neymar. “It would be in my interest to have great players around me because, if you’re playing with good players, it makes your job a lot easier. “He had a good life in Barcelona, playing with a good team. But then he realised he wants to achieve more, he wants to be his own person and for him to achieve that, he has to move. “Luckily for him, he moved to a very formidable team — a team that is so ambitious — and also trying to get to the next level. It’s a perfect move for him.”

‘I’m Tired Of Fans Criticising Me’- Real Madrid Star Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid forward, Cristiano Ronaldo, has hit back at his critics and expressed surprise that he continually has to prove himself to the fans. Ronaldo silenced his critics after stepping up again with a double for the Blancos. The Portuguese scored twice to help Madrid secure a 3-1 win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday. The 32-year-old’s domestic return has not gone as planned as he is unable to net in two La Liga games since retun from suspension. But the Portugal captain said he is getting tired of the constant criticism as he had already proven himself. He told Atresmedia after netting his 400th goal for Madrid, “It seems that I have to keep showing exactly who I am in every match. “I am surprised by what the public thinks of me, my numbers speak for themselves, I am an exemplary professional and I always have a clear mind. “The criticism is getting worse.” Ronaldo said the team stepped up which led to the winning at Dortmund for the first time. He added, “Before the game we spoke about how much we wanted to win in Dortmund. “We did what the coach told us, the team has been phenomenal, creating opportunities and it isn’t easy to score three goals here. “We played well.”

Atletico Madrid Players Train Ahead Of Champions League Clash Against Chelsea (Photos)

Antoine Griezmann has trained with his Atletico Madrid team-mates ahead of their Champions League clash with Chelsea as their new Wanda Metropolitano home prepares to make its European bow on Wednesday. The Atletico Madrid players seemed keen not to exert too much energy ahead of the tie as they took part in a light training session on Tuesday afternoon. Diego Simeone’s squad were pictured gathering round in a circle to work on some stretching exercises before moving on to some balancing and passing techniques as Griezmann and Angel Correa stood on top of a stepper and volleyed the ball back to their partners. Atletico have already won both the games they’ve played at their new stunning 67,000 capacity stadium and Simeone will be eager to improve on that record against the Blues as he looks to make it a fortress, just as they had done at the Vicente Calderon. See more photos below:-

Agitators Must Abide By Nigeria’s Constitution – Saraki

Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has advised all agitators in the country to pursue their interest through constitutional means. The Federal lawmakers which have been away for their annual recess for seven-week resumed plenary session on Tuesday. After a three-hour closed-door meeting during which they discussed some national issues, Saraki said part of the resolutions reached by the Senate is that the Unity of Nigeria not negotiable and all forms of agitation should be channeled through constitutional means. “The unity of Nigeria is non-negotiable. We are all fully committed to the territorial integrity of our country. The Senate will seek all possible avenues to make sure that peace is restored in all parts of Nigeria. “Finally the Senate hereby advise that all groups seeking to pursue any agitation should do so through constitutional means.” Saraki said the unity of Nigeria is the responsibility of all Nigerians and members of the country must jointly condemn in strongest possible terms all forms of violence. “Distinguished colleagues, a house divided against itself will not stand. More than ever before, we must stand for the unity in the visibility of our country. We must condemn in strongest possible terms all forms of violence as a form of engagement. “The constitution and the law has laid down tools and procedures for us to pursue our interest as all democratic nations do.” During the plenary that followed, the Senate also considered a motion on the inadequate releases of funds for the capital component of the 2017 appropriation act.

INEC Serves Melaye With Recall Notice, As Senator Locks Out Bailiff

Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) this morning at the National Assembly in Abuja formally served Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West constituency) the notice of his recall instituted by his constituents. The INEC legal team and court bailiff arrived at Melaye’s Room 213 office at about 11:00 a.m. with four bags containing petitions from the various local governments involved. But the office was under lock and key, as the staff, having got wind of the visit, had quickly scurried away. As of the time of filing this story, the documents had been left in front of the office, as the INEC officials could not get in. But while they were waiting, a group of Melaye loyalists arrived and started to query and challenge those who had dropped the bags, a situation that nearly resulted in fisticuffs. Meanwhile, the Senate was in a plenary session while the bailiff and other officials from INEC laid siege at the lobby of the National Assembly waiting for the Senator to come out of the chamber to enable them to serve him in person. Speaking to journalists at the weekend, the controversial senator claimed that the window provided by the constitution for the service of the recall petition on him had elapsed. “I would not be seen to be breaching the law,” he said. The senator’s stance comes despite the fact that it was the suit he filed at the court that eventually led to INEC suspending the recall process before the Federal High Court asked that it be continued.

APC Showing Signs Of Sickness, Says Former Osun Assembly Majority Leader

A former Majority Leader of the Osun State House of Assembly, Wahab Olatoye, has described the recent verbal war between Professor Itse Sagay, Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), and the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as sign that the party is seriously ill. Mr. Olatoye, in a press statement, said the APC needs to be quickly rescued if an electoral disaster in the 2019 general elections is to be averted. “The scathing statements against the leadership of the party by Professor Itse Sagay, to a large extent reflects the view of many Nigerians. The assertion by Professor Sagay that the APC leadership is made up of unprincipled characters and ‘rogue elephants that go about destroying what they should otherwise protect’ is on point,” said Mr. Olatoye. Given that the party campaigned on an agenda of change, the former legislator said it was surprising that the APC opened its doors to discredited politicians for financial gains. That action, he explained, is the reason for the party’s derailment, a situation symptomized by a lack of synergy between the APC and the government it is running. “The APC has become a shadow of itself and has alienated most of its founding members and early joiners who, in 2014, were of the view that a responsible platform for national rebirth had arrived. The party has become a herd of sheep, whose shepherd is asleep or has gone astray going by the fact that no organ of the party ever meets to deliberate on party or national issues,” he said. This, he added, has resulted in gross indiscipline among members. The politician said the situation in the APC is more pathetic because its members are still in the grip of delirium since the electoral victory of 2015, while the ousted Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has started rebuilding. He warned that the APC might discover in 2019 that it is ill-prepared for contest against a resurgent PDP. “The task before all those who love the party, is to move without delay, if possible, to arrest the prevailing leadership incompetence, confusion and intimacy with unbridled corruption which has estranged the original stakeholders of the party, and rendered the latter impotent,” he stated.

Unpaid salaries: Kogi workers beg President Buhari for alms

Workers in Kogi have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to rescue them from their current hardship resulting from non-payment of their salaries, by sending them food, drugs and other materials. The workers made the appeal on Wednesday in Lokoja in a statement jointly issued by the state chapters of the NLC, TUC and the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council (JPSNC). Messrs Olakunle Faniyi, Kolawole James and Isah Abubakar, Secretaries of NLC, TUC and JPSNC respectively, signed the statement which was circulated to media houses. According to them, Buhari should direct the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other humanitarian agencies to supply them food and the relief materials. The civil servants said they were being owed between 11 and 21 months salaries and that the situation had adversely affected them and their families. They urged the presidency to consider the condition of their children who had been sent out of schools because they could no longer pay their school fees. “The situation of workers in the state is worse than the condition of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in various camps. “The agony of the workers is not in any way less than the experiences of victims of natural disasters. ”A situation where workers cannot afford even one meal a day and pay the school fees of their children is already a humanitarian issue. “As it stands today, over 30 per cent of the workforce is owed 21 months salaries. ”Twenty (20) per cent have unpaid salaries of between 11 and 18 months while about 45 per cent took their salaries up till June this year. ”These are the category of workers the Kogi State Government is forcing to embrace the ‘clock-in, clock-out’ work policy,” they said. The civil servants also implored the indigenes of the state at home and abroad to show concern and assist in whatever form they could. Workers in the state had on Sept. 22 embarked upon an indefinite strike to press home their demand for payment of their salary arrears. Contacted, Mr Kingsley Fanwo, a media aide to Gov. Yahaya Bello, said that government had yet to enter into negotiation with labour over the demand. The Director General, Media and Publicity, said this was because the signatories to the strike notice were unknown to government. Fanwo faulted labour’s claim on salary arrears, saying that they were out to misinform the public for selfish reasons. He urged workers to disregard the labour’s directive to go on strike but continue to go to work.

Cameroon sends Nigerians packing

Cameroon has deported 100,000 Nigerian refugees in the hope of stemming the spread of terrorist group Boko Haram, Human Rights Watch (HWR) said on Wednesday. The group said in its new report that the deportation defied a plea by UN refugee agency to not return anyone to north-eastern Nigeria, where Boko Haram killed thousands of people, until security and human rights situation improved considerably.” The HRW report noted that the deported people were likely to face new violence, displacement and destitution. The group, which investigates allegations of human rights abuses worldwide, says the report is based on interviews with more than 60 refugees. It added that soldiers tortured, assaulted and sexually exploited Nigerian asylum seekers and denied them access to the UN refugee agency. The rights group claimed Cameroon deported, often violently, tens of thousands of the refugees since early 2015. “The Cameroonian military torture and abuse of Nigerian refugees seems to be driven by an arbitrary decision to punish them for Boko Haram attacks in Cameroon and to discourage Nigerians from seeking asylum,” said HRW Associate Refugee Director, Gerry Simpson. Boko Haram had posed steady threat to communities in north-east Nigeria and launched offensives in neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger. The group’s goal is to enforce strict interpretation of Islamic law, known as sharia. Since 2009, tens of thousands of people have died in the hands of Sunni fundamentalists in the region. According to the UN, an estimated 2.7 million people fled their homes due to Boko Haram.

I’m Now A Born Again Politician – Former Senate President, Mantu

Top chieftain of the main opposition party in Nigeria, Mantu has urged the party to redirect its affairs towards serving the people well. A former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ibrahim Mantu, has pronounced himself as a born-again politician. Mantu said whatever he now says is the truth and urged members of the Peoples Democratic Party to believe him. Mantu spoke at the ongoing declaration by Prof. Tunde Adeniran to lead the party as its national chairman ahead of the party’s convention slated for December 9 in Abuja. The former deputy Senate president said he had fasted for 30 days during which he said God told him that party must pick Adeniran. He said, “I’m now born again, whatever I say now is the truth. “Some people came to the PDP with nothing and left with billions. We need to bring the party to the people now. We need to be sober and apologise for what we have done wrong in the past. “After fasting and prayer, I fasted for 30 days and night asking God to show me who would lead the party. God showed me Adeniran. “Let’s now look forward and made sure that we elect a credible chairman. We should make sure that nobody shortchanged us at the national convention.”

Nigeria To Pull Out Of 90 World Organisations

Federal Executive Council led by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, mandated a committee to come up with recommendations as it bids to pull out of 90 world organizations. According to Channels TV, the Federal Government has decided to pull Nigeria out of 90 world organisations. As part of plans for the country’s exit from the organisations, the Federal Executive Council has mandated a committee to come up with and present recommendations to it for ratification. The decision is as a result of the financial implications of the country’s membership of the organisations. The country currently owes the organisations over $100million and its failure to meet the obligations has caused the country embarrassment. Details later…

I Wrote ‘Orente’ For Simi – Adekunle Gold

Many still believe singer Simi and Adekunle Gold have been dating for many years now despite the fact that they have denied on several occasions. Though both emerging music stars have kept their romance under wraps, there are strong indications the relationship is alter-bound On a new episode of Soundcity TV‘s “One-On-One“, urban-highlife act Adekunle Gold sits down to chat with Moet Abebe. The singer discusses his relationship with Simi, his debut album “Gold” as well as his ongoing UK Tour. When asked of the status of his relationship with Simi, he declined to give an answer but confirmed that he wrote the song “Orente” for her. Watch the video below:-

PDP will throw APC out of office in 2019 – Gov. Darius

The Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku, has assured Nigerians that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will regain its lost glory in 2019 general elections. Darius said this at a reconciliatory meeting of North East Peoples Democracy Party, PDP, held in Yola, Adamawa State. The Governor, who is also the chairman of the committee said that PDP is set to throw APC out of office in all the six north eastern states of the country come 2019. Darius said the meeting of all members of party in the zone was directed by the national head office of party towards addressing all grievances within the party with a view to forging a strong common front for the 2019 elections. He said that the party was created by its founding fathers with strong internal mechanism for in-house resolution of disputes and strong ideals for the implementation of meaningful programmes for the development of the country. The Governor said, “PDP will win the 2019 elections in the north east and restore accountability, integrity and economic development in country, a quality lacking in the Buhari led APC government.” He, however, told all aggrieved members of the party and those who have left the party, that the doors of PDP were opened for reconciliation and re-admittance of returning members. He also noted that the party was undone in the 2015 elections by impunity, lack of internal democracy, non-inclusion of women and youth in the political structure of the party, gross injustice, lack of fair play and the absence of level playing ground for all politicians within the party’s fold.

Lai Mohammed reveals where Nnamdi Kanu may be

Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has rejected claims that the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is being held by the Nigerian Government. Mohammed’s claim is coming days after the Nigerian army, under the ‘Operation Python Dance II’ invaded home of the IPOB leader and clashed with members of the group in Umuahia, Abia state capital. Ever since the clash, the whereabouts of Kanu has remained unknown. Reacting to the claim, Mohammed told reporters that, “He (Kanu) is not being held by government at all.” According to him, Kanu has “crossed a line” with his agitation for Biafra and that he (Mohammed) suspects the IPOB leader could be hiding.