Nigeria’s Kamaru Usman is confident he will bounce back after losing his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight title at UFC 278 to Britain’s Leon Edwards. The win for Edwards at the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, U. S. on Saturday was one of the greatest comebacks in mixed martial arts history. The 30-year old Jamaican-born British fighter, looked to be headed for a defeat on the judges’ scorecards. But then faked a jab with his left hand and then landed a left-foot kick to the head that sparked the 35-year old Nigerian, to claim the belt. Commenting via his…
Author: admin_secure
The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Allied Institutions have suspended strike. It was reported that the unions went on strike in March, few weeks after the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) down tools. In a chat with our correspondent on Saturday, President of SSANU, Comrade Mohammed Haruna Ibrahim, said the strike had been suspended for two months. He said the unions took the action to give room for the federal government to implement all the agreements reached. ”We have only suspended the strike for…
The Nigerian Army has noted that the voluntary retirement of its personnel was not caused by corruption or poor service conditions. The Army had recently approved the disengagement of a Warrant Officer and 242 others in various formations across the country. In a statement on Saturday, the army cleared the air on the discharge of the soldiers, stating that voluntary retirement was a routine in the army and, therefore, not linked to low morale or corruption. The statement titled ‘Voluntary Retirement Or Discharge Is A Routine In The Nigerian Army’ was signed by the Director Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu.…
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, said yesterday that ₦6.210 trillion was paid as fuel subsidy to independent oil marketers from 2013 to 2021. She, however, said the her ministry paid ₦1.774 trillion from 2013 to 2016, while the rest came under PMS under-recovery by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC Limited. She also said the Federal Government was paying ₦18.397 billion as subsidy per day. Ahmed disclosed these before the House of Representatives ad hoc Committee investigating the subsidy payments regime from 2013 to 2022, led by Ibrahim Aliyu. The minister added that in…
In the face of lingering industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, has denied getting a directive from President Muhammadu Buhari to resolve the protracted strike in two weeks. During the weekly Ministerial Briefing on Thursday in Abuja, the minister told State House Correspondents that the President instead told him to resolve the issues within the shortest possible time, contrary to what the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, told the media. He insisted that he will not succumb to ASUU’s demand for their members to be paid the backlog…
Paris Saint Germain and Argentina footballer Lionel Messi visited Jeddah this week after the Saudi Tourism Authority named the high-profile star as its official brand ambassador. The appointment of one of the world’s best-known sports celebrities to promote tourism underlines the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s highly ambitious plans to grow the value of the sector in the country. Messi – who flew into Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport on Monday for his official unveiling in the ambassadorial role – has become an icon in the football world after more than 20 years on the books of Barcelona and scoring more…
President Muhammadu Buhari has called on security agencies to take the fight to terrorists’ hideouts and ensure they are “completely eliminated”. He gave the directive in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital at an event to mark World Humanitarian Day. ”The Men and Officers of Operation Lafiya Dole, Security Agencies, and the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) are very much appreciated for their commitment to the fight against insurgency,” presidential aide, Femi Adesina, quoted his principal as saying. ”I commend their professionalism and tactical penetration to the hideout of the criminal elements, leading to appreciable improvement of the security situation in…
Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk will each receive a guaranteed minimum of £33.2 million ($40m) for their world heavyweight championship rematch here. This is the second highest purse ever paid to a British boxer since Joshua’s own record of $60 million for the rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudi Arabia in which he regained the WBA, IBF, and WBO titles following his first career defeat. This weekend’s bonanza could rise close to $50 million for either Joshua or Usyk if pay-per-view television sales reach a level sufficient to justify adding a bonus for the winner. The Saudis paid a…
Members of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) at the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, have begun a two-week warning strike over dearth of personnel. The doctors shut down services at the hospital after the association’s general meeting at Owo in Owo Local Government. The President of the Owo FMC ARD, Dr. Olaopa Olutobi, said the strike was inevitable, as they were working ”under dire stressful conditions.” He said there were only 80 resident doctors and health officers in the employ of the hospital. Olaopa said no employment had been carried out in the hospital since 2018. He said the hospital used to…
The Congress of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) at its Annual General Assembly yesterday approved September 30 as the date for the staging of the election for the new executive committee of the soccer body. The election will now take place in Benin City, Edo State. The decision was taken after the President of NFF Amaju Pinnick had quenched the plot to impeach him by the highest-decision body of the federation. There were fears that Pinnick could be asked to step down by the majority the Congress for gross misconduct; sources said that the decision was gaining traction in the…