[dropcap]L[/dropcap]ionel Messi has signed a new contract tying him to Barcelona until 2020-21 with a buyout clause worth 700m euros (£626m). The 30-year-old Argentina international’s ,whose previous deal was due to expire next year, has put paid to speculations of his readiness to commit his future to Nou Camp.
Since joining the club at the age of 13, Messi has helped Barcelona win eight Spanish league titles and won the Champions League four times.This means that Messi, has scored 523 goals in 602 appearances for the club, will spend 21 years with the Catalonian giants.
He was presented with his fourth European Golden Shoe on Friday – the award given to the highest scorer in European club football – after finding the net 37 times in the Spanish league last season. The club announced in July that Messi had agreed a new deal, after he had reportedly rejected an initial offer in May.
In a statement, the club said Messi “still has a lot more to give, which is music to the ears of all Barca fans who will get to continue marvelling at his greatness”. Club president Josep Maria Bartomeu said, “We are in luck with the Barça players. We continue to enjoy the best player in the history of football.”
“For a long time we have been waiting to do the signature and today it was done. I am pleased to still be connected to the club. As I always said, this is my home.
“I always wanted to end my career here. My dream was to end my career with Barcelona and we are on track, “Messi told Barca TV.
Bags of rice seized by Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) operatives.
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Calabar Free Trade Zone and Akwa Ibom Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has seized 200 bags of smuggled foreign rice at Oron in Akwa Ibom State.Mrs Burromvyat Patience, the Customs Area Controller in charge of Calabar Free Trade Zone and Akwa Ibom Area Command, made this known to newsmen in Calabar on Saturday.
Patience said that the Heavy Duty Mack Truck that was carrying the 50kg bags of rice was intercepted by the Operating Officers of the command on Nov. 22, on the Oron axis.She said that the suspects had disguised the rice as sand and covered the bags with empty sacks.She added that it took the operational intelligence of the officers of the service to discover that it was smuggled parboiled rice that the truck was carrying.
“The NCS is at it again. Today, I present to you a rare seizure; rare in the sense that our operating officers at Oron axis were able to successfully intercept a heavy duty truck with 200 bags of illegally imported rice.“The seizure is spectacular because the officers went the extra mile to apprehend the suspects, who made frantic efforts to escape.
“The concealment, no doubt was designed to beat the prying eyes of our officers but the reverse became the case.“The duty paid value of the seizure is put at N5.9million and the truck registration number is NTE 35 XA,’’ she said.She disclosed that a total of 1,521 bags of smuggled rice were seized by the command between January and October this year with a duty paid value of N34.9 million.
“It will be recalled that in October, this command presented a revenue profit of N7.8 billion which is about 90 per cent of the command’s annual revenue target of N8.7 billion.“Our successes so far were possible courtesy of the amiable Controller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd),’’ she said.
She reiterated the command’s commitment to combat all smuggling activities and enforce Federal Government’s fiscal policies.
[dropcap]E[/dropcap]mmerson Mnangagwa has been sworn in as Zimbabwe’s president in a ceremony at a packed stadium in the country’s capital, Harare, BBC reports.It follows the dramatic departure of Robert Mugabe after 37 years of authoritarian rule.
The former vice-president’s dismissal earlier this month led the ruling Zanu-PF party and the army to intervene and force Mr Mugabe to quit.Mr Mnangagwa, who had fled the country, returned from exile on Wednesday. The opposition is urging Mr Mnangagwa, who has been part of the ruling elite, to end the “culture of corruption”.
Although Mr Mnangagwa has unseated Zimbabwe’s long-time ruler, he is still associated by many with some of the worst atrocities committed under the ruling Zanu-PF party since the country gained independence in 1980.He was the country’s spymaster during the 1980s civil conflict, in which thousands of civilians were killed. But he has denied any role in the massacres, blaming the army.
After being sacked as part of a power struggle over who would succeed Mr Mugabe as president, Mr Mnangagwa fled to South Africa two weeks ago – only to return home on Wednesday to a hero’s welcome.
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he trial of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has been adjourned till December 5, with the court insisting that the defendant’s sureties either produce him or explain his disappearance to the court.
The Abuja Division of Federal High Court, presided over by judge, Mrs. Binta Nyako, had in October adjourned the matter till yesterday in expectation of the appearance of the sureties. She had further given instructions that the sureties had three options regarding their roles in the disappearance of the IPOB leader.
Reacting to an application by one of the sureties, Eyinnaya Abaribe, through his lawyer, Ogechi Ogbonna, that he should be relieved of his role as Kanu’s surety and that the court withdraw its order for a bond of N100 million, Mrs. Nyako submitted that only the appearance of the defendant would prevent a possible forfeiture of the bond.
“Even if you apply from today till next year, this court will only have one of these three options for you: produce the defendant, pay the bond or demand for time to come and explain to court.
“Once you sign to be somebody’s surety, that person automatically becomes your responsibility,” she said.
Kanu was last seen on September 14, months after he was granted conditional bail specifically on April 25 based on health grounds.
His lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, accused the Nigerian Army of invading Mr. Kanu’s residence in Abia state and kidnapping him (Kanu). The allegation was, however, denied by military spokesperson, Maj.-Gen. John Enenche.
On the next possible line of action to be taken by the authorities, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ahmed Raji, said the “simple thing to do would be to declare the defendant wanted.”
“It’s simple what the court can do is to declare him wanted. I don’t think the court can do anything more than what it has mentioned in its conditions to the sureties,” he said.
However, yesterday the court shifted the date for its hearing of the sureties’ explanations till December, following the current engagement of judges at a conference in Abuja.
[dropcap]A[/dropcap] Marine Engineer, Capt. Peter onwordi, has suggested that one way to tackle the problem of getting seatime training for Nigerian cadets is to have the cadets on vessels trading along the West Coast routes, as a start-point.
Onwordi told Marine Network in an interview on Tuesday that it would be better to introduce the cadets to practical sea life by having them go on board the vessels that trade along the coast from Nigeria up to Senegal, rather than remain without sea experience. “We have lamented the issue of lack of seatime training for our cadets for so long, when these cadets can start with as little as going on board trading vessels along the West Coast.
“It is something that the government can do in collaboration with some private partners, to enable the cadets get sea experience. “Let them start with that and get familiar with the practicality of vessels on sea and understand how to even do their charting before talking about vessels that go father to Europe and America,” Onwordi said.
The marine engineer called on critical industry stakeholders to support the cause for standard and complete training for seafarers considering Nigeria’s status as a maritime nation. He said: “The cadets cannot even be called seafarers until they get seatime as part of their training. So, it is a concern for everyone who understands the critical role of manpower capacity, especially for a maritime nation as Nigeria.
“There are so much trading activities along the coasts from Nigeria to Benin Republic, to Togo, even up to Senegal. And government can take that advantage to partner with private businesses for vessels where these cadets can be trained practically,” Onwordi noted.
He added that: “Pilots trained at Zaria start learning how to fly from Zaria to Kaduna, then Jos, Abuja before going on longer ranges. Similarly, our cadets can start in same local trading routes before venturing longer ranges.”
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Federal Government has announced that it has concluded plans to re-introduce tolls on major highways across the country. The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), while appearing before the Senate Commitee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency on Thursday, said 38 points had been identified in the first phase of the re-introduction. “Clearly, tolling is coming,” the minister told the lawmakers.
While saying that the new toll gates would be situated at the old spots, Fashola stated that tolls would be collected after the roads had been made motorable. He said, “We are not going to ask road users to pay toll on a road that is not good. While the construction (of gates) is going on, we are working on the design. We want to standardise the design so that when we ask people to come and bid for the construction, we can control what they are going to construct. They are going to construct with the materials we have prescribed.
“We can also control the price so that nobody is bidding with disparage prices; there will be the floor and the ceiling. Your price will vary according to how many plazas you build and not because you claim to have used ‘foreign’ materials.
“The last part we are working on is the software that drives the management, audit and payment of toll. We want to use the development that has taken place between when the old toll plazas were dismantled and now. There were no GSM and payment platforms as of that time as we have cell phones and cards now. We want to make it very easy for people to go to kiosks and buy toll cards and pay tolls.
“It will also be easy to audit from any of our offices. We will be able to see what is going on, how many people passed, how many vehicles, and we can settle payments to operators in a very transparent and accountable way.”
Members of the committee decried that only N800m had been released to FERMA out of the N25bn voted to the agency in the 2017 budget.
They disclosed that there was a plan to move a motion next week to ask the government to release more funds for road maintenance as the Yuletide season was approaching.
Fashola however said releases to FERMA were suspended as the agency did not have a board for some time.
[dropcap]M[/dropcap]INISTER of Information and Culture,Alhaji Lai Muhammad said the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has gone forever and would never come back to rule in near future. The minister disclosed this yesterdayin an interview with newsmen during his two days visit to the state for the ninth meeting of the National Council on Tourism, Culture and National Orientation held in Dutse, Jigawa State.
He explained that present APC administration under President Muhammadu Buhari had recorded tremendous achievements in the last two years as such no any reasonable Nigerian would give his vote to PDP again. He explained that President Buhari had delivered his major promises to Nigerians, adding that the difference
between APC and PDP administration was very clear.
The minister then urged Nigerians to keep supporting the APC administration for a better change and better Nigeria for all.
[dropcap]A[/dropcap] Pentecostal pastor (name withheld) has been reported dead during an alleged sex romp with a 19-year-old-girl in a hotel room in Kwale, Ndokwa West Local Government Area of Delta. Police Command Spokesperson in the state, DSP Andrew Aniamaka, confirmed the incident in Asaba.
Aniamaka said the victim’s wife reported the incident to the police on Nov. 19.He said the hotel workers were alerted on the incident after the girl raised the alarm for help when she noticed the pastor was gasping for breath.“The incident happened last Sunday evening. We learnt the pastor took the girl, who is said to be 19 years of age to the hotel room.
“While they were in the room after some few minutes, the girl reportedly raised alarm which attracted workers in the hotel, who rushed into the room to find the pastor dead.“The wife of the pastor was called to the scene of the incident, where she met her husband dead.“She subsequently reported the matter to the Police Division in Kwale,” Aniamaka said.
He said an autopsy would be conducted to determine the cause of death of the pastor, adding that the police had commenced investigation into the incident.
[dropcap]D[/dropcap]eltans are yet to recover from the shock of Delta line sales by Gov. Okowa two months ago. Deltans raised their concerns over the curious sale of Delta Line to God is Good Motors Limited, a private enterprise which is believed to have been involved as a sponsor of the Governor’s 2015 electioneering campaigns. It was both curious and suspicious because, Delta Line with over 2000 fleet of buses and about a hundred terminals across the country coupled with the massive goodwill was sold out as a carcass for the paltry sum of N161 Million which is a gross undervalue. This was despite the bid for N2 Billion made by the Nigeria Labour Congress.
In a piece I contributed to this medium, I did urge Deltans to be alert and watchful as this government will go on to sell off the strategic assets and legacies of the state. It seems the prediction has come true.Recently, it was reported that the Delta State Government has concluded plans to sell off landed properties belonging to the State Government in Ibadan, Oyo State.
In a statement, Mr. Paul Osaji, the Chairman, Delta Development Property Authority (DDPA) confirmed that the sale of the buildings was approved by the State Executive Council. Osaji described the four buildings as old and dilapidated, having no rental value.
This was the same story fed to Deltans as the excuse for the sale of Delta Line. It was said that Delta Line was being run aground and indebted. The media machine of the Okowa administration went full blast and ran amok in a bid to convince Deltans that Delta Line was a carcass which must be sold as such. But Deltans are not deceived.
It is therefore no surprise that this same line is being repeated. It has become the regular trademark.
The truth of the matter is that the government in Asaba frantically wants to hoodwink Deltans once again. In this age of social media and virtual connectivity, information from Ibadan is that the said four properties situated in the highbrow Iganyaku and Molete areas of Ibadan are in a perfect shape. Despite their age, they remain wonderful architectural masterpieces with enormous aesthetic and economic value. They are far removed from the description being portrayed by the Delta State Government. They are not dilapidated neither are their rental value diminished.
To further expose the underbelly and grand deception of the present administration, the DDPA Chairman stated that the proceeds from the sale of the properties will be used to build housing estates for workers. This is to say the least an irony. As the French Philosopher Albert Camus puts it, “the welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants.” How is it possible that four “dilapidated buildings with no rental value” could be sold and enough money raised therefrom to build housing estates? That must be the miracle of the 21st century.
The truth is like the smoke, and cannot for long be buried in the ground. The truth is that at the moment, a buyer, someone in the corridors of power has been positioned to buy up the four properties for a paltry sum of N2 million.
It is an assault on Deltans to sell off the strategic assets of Deltans meant to serve as an economic buffer for future generations. Cover up and outright lies is an insult on Deltans for which the present administration must apologize to Deltans.
It is time for the State House of Assembly, Political Parties and Critical stakeholders to rise up from their lethargy and call the government to order else this trend will continue.
God forbid that a day will come when the Delta State University, our public Hospitals and indeed the Government House will be sold to the friends and business partners of the Governor.
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Chairman, House Committee on Works, Hon. Evance Ivwurie has reiterated the State Government’s commitment to complete the Okpanam Road project. Hon. Ivwurie stated this during an inspection of the project in company of other members of the Committee in Asaba. The Chairman stated that Okpanam Road project was a pro-people and pro-development project which the Okowa led administration was passionate about to complete, saying that it would ease the sufferings of the people saying that the road was pivotal in the Asaba capital territory.
According to Hon. Ivwurie, “Because of the importance of Okpanam Road, the House members during the budget defence fought for more funding of the project, to ensure that the contractor speed up the work and complete the project.” He urged the contractor to use the period of the dry season to hasten the construction of the road.
Barr Samuel Alege (SAN), Chairman of Tratrix Construction Nigeria Ltd, the Contracting Firm handling Okpanam Road project, stated that the timeline of the road depended on the release of money from the State Government, even as he promised that before December, 2017 the area that had been covered would wear a new look.
According to Barr Alege, “The Company intended to secure the entire road, finish the drains so that we have a road then come back and do the overlay.” He urged the State Government to improve on the funding of the road, to enable the company deliver it on time.
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