• 
  

German minister calls on FIFA to reform voting system

Posted by NAN 

The interior minister who is also responsible for sport, told newsmen it was a problem that every nation had one vote, “although the footballing importance of the countries is different”

German Interior Minister, Thomas de Maiziere, on Monday called on FIFA to reform its voting system.
De Maiziere said the corruption indictments on senior football officials and the re-election of Joseph Blatter as president of world football’s governing body showed that urgent change was needed.
The interior minister who is also responsible for sport, told newsmen it was a problem that every nation had one vote, “although the footballing importance of the countries is different”.
He said in Germany, this was different within the German football federation as larger state football federations had more votes than smaller state federations.
According to him, it is a similar system within the Bundesrat, which represents the 16 federal states of Germany.
Report says the FIFA congress elected Blatter for a fifth four-year term and all 209 member federations had a single vote, irrespective of size.
It means, for example, that FIFA’s world’s worst-ranked nation, Anguilla, which did not have a federation until 1990 and played a first international a year later, also had one vote.
It added that it has the same say in voting as world champions and four-time World Cup winners Germany, whose federation has some seven million members.
dpa/NAN.

FIFA U-20 World Cup: Flying Eagles will bounce back from loss – NFF Official

The Guardian Nigeria|NAN

Flying EaglesAbdulrafiu Yusuf, Assistant Director (Technical), Nigeria Football Association (NFA), on Monday said the Flying Eagles were not ready to worry so much about their 2-4 loss to Brazil.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Nigerian under-20 male side lost their opening game at the ongoing FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand earlier on Monday.
Yusuf who spoke to NAN from New Plymouth, the team’s present base, said the Flying Eagles had put the loss behind them to focus on their remaining Group E matches.
He said the team would rather see it as a challenge to win the remaining matches.
Yusuf ‎also said the task ahead was to work on the players’ psychology for them to get over the shocking loss, win the remaining group matches and remain in the tournament.
“We don’t really know what happened exactly, but they could not just find their rhythm.
“But that is gone for now. It’s the remaining matches that are now our concern.
“We are already working on their psychology to put the loss behind them and the response has been good.
“So, they won’t brood so much over the loss. They are ready to forge ahead and I am sure that they will bounce back,’’ he said.
The NFA official added that the team’s technical crew would get back to work in earnest to correct the anomalies noticed in the match against Brazil.
“Once we have been able to raise their psyche well enough, the technical crew will get back to work immediately because there is no time for us at all.
“I am confident ‎that they will get the boys back on track,’’ Yusuf said.
NAN reports that the team will face North Korea in their second Group E match on June 4.
Both teams will be seeking to have a win to remain in the tournament as North Korea also lost their first match, 1-5 to Hungary.

AfDB Presidency: Adesina expresses gratitude to Buhari, Jonathan, others

The Guardian Nigeria|NAN

The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari and former President Goodluck Jonathan played key roles in his election.
Adesina, who was elected president of AfDB in Abidjan on Thursday, made the statement in Abeokuta on Monday during a courtesy visit to Gov. Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun.
“I want to appreciate the support of the president and the former President Goodluck Jonathan for their support during the AfDB election.
“Our leaders rallied round us in an unparalleled way, former presidents, Olusegun Obasanjo, Abdulsalam Abubakar and Yakubu Gowon, put a lot of their support behind me.
“I commend former Minister of Finance, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, for her role because it was an election we had to convince 74 ministers of finance from across the world.
“The election went into six round of voting and Nigeria led every single round of that vote; I want to confirm that the election was truly Nigerians’ collective effort.
“We will work very hard to develop programmes that will end poverty in our country, create opportunities for prosperity all across our countries,’’ Adesina said.
Adesina said he would ensure that rural economy was revived as well as encourage regional integration.
Earlier, Amosun expressed appreciation to Buhari, Jonathan and the international community for their support for Adesina during the AfDB election.
He said it was not a personal success to Adesina but to Nigeria as a country.
He said that the emergence of Adesina as the head of the bank was another of many feats of Ogun indigenes.
The governor expressed confidence in Adesina as a seasoned agricultural economist to bring his wealth of experience to bear in his new position.

Methodist Church plans specialist hospital in Ogun – Cleric

The Punch - Nigeria

The Prelate, Methodist Church, Nigeria, Dr. Chukwuemeka Uche, has disclosed the plan of the church to build a specialist hospital in Ogun State.
He said this on Monday when he visited the Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, in his office at Oke Mosan, Abeokuta.
The cleric said as part of the social responsibility of the church, it would invest in building a specialist hospital and agriculture.
He said, “Your Excellency, I want to inform you that the Methodist Church Nigeria wants to establish a specialist hospital in Ogun State and we will need your support in getting land for it.
“We are also going to invest in agriculture. Definitely, these projects will provide employment for our graduates, who are roaming the streets.”
The Prelate noted that armed robbery and kidnapping, among others, were rampart in the country because a lot of youths were unemployed.
He said, “I pity a lot of graduates with Ph.D and master degrees roaming the streets. I want to also appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to fulfill his promise on the provision of jobs.”
Uche also appealed to the governor to return all the schools belonging to church, which the government had taken over, in order to restore their moral values and pedigree.
The cleric also urged the governor to assist in reconstructing and rehabilitating the Methodist Churches that were demolished to pave way for some roads in Abeokuta metropolis, the cleric, however, commended him for massive infrastructure development in the state in his first term.
In his response, Amosun said his government was ready to partner with the church on both health and agriculture, adding that he recognised the invaluable contributions of missionaries in the area of education.
The governor explained that his paternal grandfather was a Methodist while he also attended a mission school, African Church Grammar School, Abeokuta, promising to do everything within his power to support the initiatives.
He said, “The schools that were real schools in those days were mission schools. I will act on your request and assist in rebuilding the churches and mosques that were demolished, but we will not give them money.
“Whatever remains of the land, where a church or a mosque was demolished, I still want the owners to still retain a replica of what was demolished to serve as a memorial. I can then offer lands somewhere else for a bigger version of what the church or mosque used to look like before it was demolished.”

Officials involved in N8bn currency scam dismissed – CBN

The Punch - Nigeria

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday says it has dismissed or suspended some of its six officials that were involved in the N8bn currency fraud in some of its branches.
The apex bank in a statement in Abuja by the Director, Corporate Communications Department, Ibrahim Mu’azu, stated that some of the middle-level officers among the accused had been summarily dismissed or placed on indefinite suspension, depending on gravity of their offence.
It said, “The Central Bank of Nigeria will like to inform the general public of the chronology of events that led the Management of the CBN to hand over some unscrupulous staff to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for prosecution.
“During a routine internal audit of the Bank’s Cash Destruction activities in September 2014, the CBN Briquetting Panel, comprising senior bank staff from different branches, noticed some anomalies at the Ibadan Branch, and immediately reported this to the bank’s management.
“On further investigation ordered by the Governor, it was discovered that a systematic scheme, which has been on for several years, was being run in which mutilated higher denomination notes, originally meant for destruction, were swapped with lower denomination currencies.
“This practice, known as interleafing, basically labels a box with a higher value than its true content.
“As soon as the Bank’s internal investigations concluded beyond reasonable doubt that some wrongdoing had occurred, the affected members of staff, who are middle-level officers were, depending on gravity of offence, either summarily dismissed or immediately placed on indefinite suspension on October 21, 2014, and all handed over to the EFCC for further investigation and prosecution.”
The bank added that following the incident, a nationwide audit of all 37 branches of the CBN was conducted noting that the outcome of the investigation showed that this was an isolated scheme at the Ibadan Branch.
It said it would continue to collaborate with the EFCC to ensure that affected CBN staff as well as their accomplices in some commercial banks, were brought to justice.
The EFCC explained that five top officials of the CBN and 16 others were to be arraigned for alleged complicity in an N8bn currency fraud on Tuesday.
Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said in a statement on Sunday that the suspects were to be arraigned for circulating defaced and mutilated currency notes at the Federal High Court, Ibadan, Oyo State on June 2.
Uwujaren said the 16 others, expected to be arraigned alongside the CBN bigwigs, were members of staff of various commercial banks in the country.
He said that the suspects would be arraigned on five counts at the high court.

5 minutes ago|

Housekeeper bolts with employer’s N4.6m jewellery

Lagos – For allegedly stealing her employer’s jewellery valued at N4.6 million, a 23-year-old housekeeper, Idowu Adeyeye, was on Monday brought before an Abule-Egba Magistrates’ Court, Lagos.

The accused, who lives with her employer at Ijaiye Medium Housing Estate, a suburb of Lagos, is facing a three-count charge of conspiracy, stealing and causing a breach of peace.
The prosecutor, Insp. Racheal Williams told the court that the offences were committed on May 28 at his employer’s residence.
According to her, the accused with others still at large stole jewellery valued at N4.6 million, property of the complainant, Mrs Titilayo Ogundipe.
“The complainant got home from work to discover that the door to her room was opened and all her gold jewellery were missing.
“The housekeeper disappeared after the incident, but was later arrested following a tip-off,’’ Williams said.
The offence, she noted, contravened Sections 166 (d), 278 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
The accused pleaded innocence of the offences.
The Magistrate, Mrs Adenike Shonubi, granted the accused bail in the sum of N2.5 million with two sureties in like sum.
She adjourned the case to June 15 for trial.(NAN)

FIFA U-20 World Cup: Flying Eagles will put opening match loss behind them, NFA assures

Ilorin – Abdulrafiu Yusuf, Assistant Director (Technical), Nigeria Football Association (NFA), on Monday said the Flying Eagles were not ready to worry so much about their 2-4 loss to Brazil.

The Nigerian under-20 male side lost their opening game at the ongoing FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand earlier on Monday.
Yusuf who spoke from New Plymouth, the team’s present base, said the Flying Eagles had put the loss behind them to focus on their remaining Group E matches.
He said the team would rather see it as a challenge to win the remaining matches.
Yusuf ‎also said the task ahead was to work on the players’ psychology for them to get over the shocking loss, win the remaining group matches and remain in the tournament.
“We don’t really know what happened exactly, but they could not just find their rhythm.
“But that is gone for now. It’s the remaining matches that are now our concern.
“We are already working on their psychology to put the loss behind them and the response has been good.
“So, they won’t brood so much over the loss. They are ready to forge ahead and I am sure that they will bounce back,’’ he said.
The NFA official added that the team’s technical crew would get back to work in earnest to correct the anomalies noticed in the match against Brazil.
“Once we have been able to raise their psyche well enough, the technical crew will get back to work immediately because there is no time for us at all.
“I am confident ‎that they will get the boys back on track,’’ Yusuf said.
The team will face North Korea in their second Group E match on June 4.
Both teams will be seeking to have a win to remain in the tournament as North Korea also lost their first match, 1-5 to Hungary.(NAN)

Dismissed Army officer nabbed for robbery, impersonation

By Esther Onyegbula

Adokie Tombra, robbery suspect, impersonator

LAGOS—Police in Lagos have arrested a member of a suspected robbery gang that usually wore military camouflage while robbing unsuspecting private and commercial vehicles trapped in traffic around Mile 2, Festac, Alakija and its environs. Police sources said it was discovered that the suspect was a dismissed soldier. He was said to have been dismissed from the Nigerian Army over unethical conduct.
The 43-year-old suspect, identified as Adokie Tombra, revealed that he wore Army camouflage to evade paying fare each time he boarded commercial vehicles. Vanguard gathered that Tombra was apprehended by policemen attached to Festac Division, in full Military regalia, while members of his gang were attempting to escape after a robbery operation.
During interrogation, Tombra reportedly said: “I resigned from the Nigerian Army several years back. Usually, I wear this Nigeria Army camouflage every time I am going out so I will not pay fare.” Confirming the arrest, Police Public Relations Officer, Kenneth Nwosu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said the suspect was still in police custody and would soon be arraigned in court.

Why Buhari has not moved to Aso Rock —Aide

The Punch - Nigeria

the head of President Muhammadu Buhari’s media team, Garba Shehu, on Sunday said Buhari had yet to move to the Presidential Villa, Abuja because his official residence was not ready for habitation.
Shehu, in an exclusive interview with our correspondent said workers were currently cleaning and refurbishing the President’s official residence.
He said Buhari would not move in until that exercise was completed.
Shehu said, “As far as the President is concerned, the place (his official residence) is not ready yet.
“Workers are cleaning and refurbishing the place.
“Once the exercise is completed, the President will move in.”
When asked to be specific on how soon Buhari would move in, Shehu said he believed it would not take time.
Meanwhile, personnel of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, especially security operatives are currently at a crossroads on the direction their work will take this week.
The PUNCH’s investigation on Sunday revealed that their dilemma was based on the failure of President Buhari to relocate to the State House and his failure to appoint key aides, three days after his inauguration.
A Presidency official who spoke with our correspondent on the condition of anonymity said they were not yet sure of the President’s schedule and itinerary for the week.
This, he said, was because Buhari had yet to appoint a Chief of Staff whose responsibility it is to arrange the President’s day-to-day activities.
He said, “As we are talking now, we do not know his (the President’s) activities for tomorrow (today). We cannot plan for his activities. We do not know which groups he will be meeting or how many people he will be meeting.
“It is when we have an idea of those who he will be meeting that we can schedule them regarding allocation of time and venue.
“These would have been easier for us if a Chief of Staff is in place.”
A security source also said the situation was affecting the security department.
He said because they were not carried along, the inauguration gala night held inside the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa on Friday nearly flopped as people kept trooping in.
He however expressed the hope that by the time Buhari’s Chief Security Officer meets with them on Monday (today), there would be a clear direction on their activities.
“For now, we are waiting for the two big men (President and Vice President) to move into the Villa so that we can do our jobs. For now, we are only securing the seat of power without the men of power,” he declared.

Solar Impulse 2 begins world’s longest flight: Six days, five nights non-stop

5100 miles from China to Hawaii, powered entirely by lithium-ion batteries and the sun.

by Sebastian Anthony

Solar Impulse 2, which is attempting the world's first solar-powered circumnavigation of Earth, has begun the longest leg of its journey: a single, non-stop flight of about 5078 miles (8172km) from China to Hawaii. The plane, and pilot André Borschberg, will be aloft for six days and five nights, with Borschberg attempting to stay awake for much of that time.
The solar-powered aircraft, which has a larger wingspan than a 747, began its round-the-world trip in March. It departed from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, headed down the Persian Gulf to Oman, hopped over to India, then Myanmar, and finally into Nanjing in China at the end of April. You can watch the current flight live on the Solar Impulse website. (The website is pretty cool; you should check it out.)
This flight, from Nanjing to Hawaii, is the first true test of Solar Impulse's capabilities, and Borschberg's endurance. The previous six legs were all fairly short hops; this, the seventh leg, will be longer than the previous six flights combined. The flight to Hawaii will finally showcase whether a solar airplane can reliably stay aloft at night, with lithium-ion batteries providing all of the necessary juice.

The Solar Impulse website shows the current state of the batteries (pictured above). At the time of publishing, the sun has just sunk below the horizon, and the batteries are starting to discharge. The plane is outfitted with four 41 kWh lithium-ion batteries, each capable of providing 17.4 horsepower (13 kW) to four electric motors. During the day, 269.5 square meters of photovoltaic solar panels on the topside of the aircraft provide the electricity needed to drive the motors, while also charging the batteries in preparation for the evening.

The plane's cruise speed is around 49 knots (90kph) during the day, and a rather placid 33 knots (60kph) at night to save power—which is why it takes so long to fly the 5100 miles from China to Hawaii. If Solar Impulse 2 is successful in reaching Hawaii, it will be the longest flight (in duration) ever for a single-pilot airplane