Bisi Akande Is Someone I Can Go Into The Jungle With – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said a former interim Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Bisi Akande is a ‘‘perfect public officer,” and a person he could go into the jungle with.

Speaking at the public presentation of ‘My Participations,’ the autobiography of Akande, Buhari stated that the author has retained inflexible integrity in and out of public office, adding that he never accepted or offered bribes.

The President also described the former governor of Osun State as a decent, truthful, and friendly person as well as an administrator of the first order, whose leadership qualities made him the unanimous choice as the first Chairman of the APC.

“My first personal contact with Chief Akande was, if I recall correctly, in 2006 when preliminary consultations were coming to fruition for a grand coalition to unseat the PDP Government,” Buhari was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his spokesman, Femi Adesina.

“Those efforts eventually came to nothing. Neither he, nor I, nor many of our friends and associates gave up as, in Chief Akande’s words: “the country was going down and down under PDP” (p.396 of My Participations).”

While noting how Akande rose to prominence from his participation in the Constituent Assembly established by the Military Government of General Olusegun Obasanjo, Buhari said the ex-Osun governor was always in the thick of things through the difficulties and political discontinuities of the 1980s and 90s.

According to Buhari, Akande emerged as Governor of Osun State in 1999 when the military handed over to the civilians.

“Chief Akande had a horrendous baptism as Governor of Osun State with discord from his own party; his State Assembly (including an attempt to impeach him without any reason whatsoever); from the trade unions and from his own deputy governor!

“On top of that, he inherited a deeply indebted Treasury, huge arrears of salary, allowances, and pensions. Enough challenges to overwhelm many aspiring leaders.

“Bisi Akande stood four square and faced all the challenges head-on and overcame most of them. His first action was to stop payment of “critical allowances” a euphemism for government money customarily shared by the big boys in Osun State.

“This set the tone of his Administration. By 2003 Chief Akande had virtually sanitised governance in Osun State having cleared some of the troublemakers from his government and, though reluctant to serve a second term, he was persuaded to run again,” he said.

The President reflected on the political history of the author, particularly his bid to seek a second term as Osun governor.

Buhari noted that Akande was the victim – along with other AD Governors – of a diabolical double-cross which ended his gubernatorial career.

He added that it was only APC National Leader and ex-Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu, whom the President said escaped the electoral massacre masterminded by President Obasanjo.

“Desperately disappointed though he was, and being a good Muslim, he accepted this setback as part of the trials of life. He looked to the future of service to the country.

“Chief Akande was in the thick of further attempts in 2011 and 2014 to fuse together different groups and dislodge PDP from governance.

“The key to his thinking which coincides with mine is that Nigeria can only be successfully managed by alliances between major groups.

“Although we failed in 2011, by persistence and knowledge that PDP was driving the country towards disaster, several major parties were able to finally coalesce into APC in 2014.

“Chief Akande was unanimously chosen as the first Chairman of this great coalition. Throughout the difficult negotiations, I found Akande truthful, steady and always with an eye to the ultimate goal.

“In or out of office, he has retained his inflexible integrity. On p.400 of his book, he wrote: ‘I never gave to or demanded bribe from anyone all my life.’ A perfect gentleman. A perfect public officer,” Buhari stated further.

Quoting a famous Hausa saying, ”Labarin zucciya a tambayi fuska” (loosely translated -if you want to know what is in a man’s heart watch his face), President Buhari affirmed that Akande has a permanent smile on his face, saying ”He is the type I will go into the jungle with.”

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Gender Equality Bill Suffers Setback In Senate

The Gender Equality Bill on Wednesday suffered a setback in the Senate as the sponsor Senator Biodun Olujimi was advised to step it down for further consultations with lawmakers who have reservations about the bill.

Senator Olujimi had tabled the bill for second reading in the Upper Chamber during the plenary session, stating that the bill seeks to eliminate discrimination against women and physically challenged members of society.

According to her, the bill will help eliminate gender stereotypes and harmful practices against widows, as well as encourage women to reach their full potentials.

The law

maker also explained that the bill which was thrown out in the Eight Senate has been repackaged and the issues ironed out through wider consultation with stakeholders.

But two of her colleagues, Senators Yusuf Yusuf (Taraba) and Aliyu Wammako (Sokoto), argued that the bill talks about equality between men and women which is against Islam and Christianity.

They say they will not support the bill in this form unless the title of the bill is changed by eliminating equality from the caption.

Senator Olujimi, on her part, agreed to change the title of the bill to now read Gender Equity Bill.

However, this does not satisfy some lawmakers, particularly Senator Yusuf who says he cannot support a bill when he has not studied the content.

He, therefore, requested that Senator Olujimi steps down the bill for another day.

A few senators, including the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, also argued that given the significance of the bill, there is a need for further engagements to allow lawmakers better understand the purpose and intent of the bill.

Frustrated by the action of her colleagues, Senator Olujimi reluctantly stepped down the gender equality bill to prevent it from being killed and allow for further consultations.

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Awoniyi Scores Ninth League Goal As Union Berlin Beat Leipzig

 

Union Berlin’s Nigerian forward Taiwo Awoniyi (C) celebrates scoring the opening goal with his teammates during the German first division Bundesliga football match 1 FC Union Berlin v RB Leipzig in Berlin on December 3, 2021. Odd ANDERSEN / AFP

In-form Nigerian striker Taiwo Awoniyi’s early goal set Union Berlin on the path to a 2-1 win over RB Leipzig on Friday, lifting them to fourth in the German Bundesliga.

This was Awoniyi’s ninth Bundesliga goal this season while the result leaves Leipzig still looking for an away win in the league.

Ahead of the rest of the weekend fixtures, Berlin climb to fourth on 23 points from 14 games.

Awoniyi pounced at the far post on six minutes to put Union 1-0 but Leipzig midfielder Christopher Nkunku levelled with a speculative shot from outside the box that bounced over the diving keeper on 13 minutes.

Union then grabbed the winner just before the hour mark when a shot from Max Kruse was deflected off teammate Timo Baumgartl and into the goal.

Leipzig, who are eighth in the table, face Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday but their hopes of making the last 16 are already over.

The weekend’s major clash comes Saturday when Borussia Dortmund host Bayern Munich.

Star Bundesliga strikers Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski go head-to-head with one point between the sides.

Haaland has scored 10 Bundesliga goals for Dortmund so far this season while Lewandowski has 14 goals for Bayern.

AFP

Ramaphosa Visits Nigeria, Ask Countries To Lift Travel Ban Imposed On S/Africa

President Muhammadu Buhari and President Cyril Ramaphosa at the State House in Abuja on Wednesday, December 1, 2021.

South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa has called for a lifting of the travel ban imposed on his country and other sister countries.

Ramaphosa said the restriction (which he termed discriminatory) should be reversed to avert long-lasting damage to the economies of the countries affected.

The South African leader said this on Wednesday after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House in Abuja.

He expressed gratitude at the reception and solidarity by the Nigerian government, a gesture he said sends the strongest message.

He adds that both countries have signed 32 agreements which include a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of youth development and agreement on audiovisual cooperation, and a programme of cooperation on arts and culture, expected to boost the film production industries in both countries.

The two leaders equally launched two major initiatives during the bi-national commission, a joint Ministerial Advisory Council on trade, investment, and industry, a platform to wade off obstacles on doing business between both countries, and the inauguration of South Africa, Nigeria youth dialogue.

He stressed that the dialogue will further build the capacity of both South African and Nigerian youths across a range of sectors from peacebuilding to conflict resolution.

Rangnick Granted Work Permit To Start Man Utd Job

 

Ralf Rangnick

Ralph Rangnick has been granted a work permit to start his reign as Manchester United manager, the Premier League club announced on Thursday.

The 63-year-old German will be introduced to the media on Friday and take charge of the team for the first time at Crystal Palace on Sunday.

“As all paperwork has now been completed, we will hold an in-person press conference with Ralf Rangnick at Old Trafford at 9:00 am tomorrow morning,” said a United statement.

United confirmed the appointment of Rangnick as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s short-term replacement on Monday.

But Rangnick, who was manager of sports and development at Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow, had to wait for a work permit to begin his role at Old Trafford.

Caretaker manager Michael Carrick will take charge for a third time against Arsenal at Old Trafford on Thursday, the former United midfielder having overseen a Champions League win at Villarreal and a Premier League draw at Chelsea.

Rangnick will remain as manager until the end of the season before starting a two-year consultancy role at United.

Odili Siege: Wike Accuses FG Of Intimidating Judiciary Ahead Of 2023 Election

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has accused the Federal Government of intimidating the judiciary ahead of the 2023 general elections in the country.

Wike’s criticism followed a recent invasion of the residence of Justice Mary Odili of the Supreme Court in her Abuja residence by men believed to be security operatives.

Speaking on Thursday during a special court session to mark the opening of the 2021/2022 Legal Year of the Rivers State Judiciary in Port Harcourt, the governor said the Federal Government wants to continue to ride roughshod unchecked over the rule of law and the sanctity of the country’s electoral system, hence, the renewed attack on judicial officers.

although it is still early morning in our democratic match towards 2023, the attack on Justice Mary Odili is a prelude to many more and even worse political maneuverings we should be prepared to experience from the APC-led Federal Government, which having lost relevance and popular support is becoming more and more desperate over its dwindling political fortunes by the day,” Wike said.

“While cases with political undertones, including the constitutional validity of certain sections of the recent amendments to the 2010 Electoral Act, if assented to by Mr President, would necessarily come before our courts; what is important is the duty and capacity of our judiciary to save our democracy and the country.”

According to him, it is the responsibility of the government at all levels to protect the judiciary and accord the courts such assistance as they may require enabling them to safeguard their independence, advance the rule of law, and dispense justice equally and fairly to all citizens.

While the present Federal Government has been very weak in resourcing and strengthening the judiciary, Wike said it has been very strong and readily predisposed to ridiculing the entire institution and subjecting individual judges to both physical and psychological trauma for its own self-interest.

“We all witnessed the infamous midnight raids on judicial residences and the subjection of some judges, to illegal raids, arrests and detentions by agents of the Federal Government purportedly carrying out a baseless sting operation back in 2016

“Since then the intimidation of judges whose judgments, intellectual or moral disposition they are not comfortable with has continued unrelenting with the latest attack on a peaceful mother, wife of a former Governor and Justice of the Supreme Court, our own highly revered Hon. Justice Mary Odili

“It is important to emphasize that we allow these intimidations to become acceptable standards of behaviour and even become complicit in their unholy design to undermine the administration of justice when we all opt to keep quite in the face of these assaults,” Governor Wike added.

Governor Wike, who commended the leaders of the Nigerian Bar Association, the Chief Justice of Nigeria and members of the public for promptly condemning the idiotic siege on judiciary, said they  must quickly move beyond the verbal protestations to unveil those behind the raid on Justice Odili’s residence and ensure that they all are held to account for their actions, otherwise this impunity would never cease to rear its ugly head in the country.

He challenged the Federal Government to come clean on this infamy with the names, identities and affiliations of those allegedly arrested for their roles or found to have been involved in the attack on the residence of Justice Odili, if it is not to be perceived as the primary mastermind.

Speaking on the proposed setting up of law school campuses, the governor urged the management of the Nigerian Law School, the Council of Legal Education and the Federal Government to see the folly in the plan, and nib the idea from the bud before it causes more damage to a foremost institution that is already severely challenged for lack of adequate funding.

He explained that the Port Harcourt Campus of the Nigerian Law School being built by the Rivers State Government was consciously demanded for and approval secured from the Council of Legal Education and ultimately from President  Muhammadu Buhari, through the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and named after late Nabo Graham-Douglas, SAN.

Wike added, “Here again, some lazy and uninformed characters have criticised our Law School development project with the unfounded and lousy allegation that it lacks budgetary provisions in our 2021 budget, even when they conceded to the propriety of the project and the optimal benefits it would attract to the State and the business community.”

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Steven Gerrard Becomes Aston Villa’s New Manager

Aston Villa on Thursday announced Steven Gerrard as their new manager to replace the sacked Dean Smith.

The former Liverpool captain has left his role as Rangers boss to take the reins at the club, who have lost five straight Premier League matches.

Gerrard guided Rangers to a first Scottish Premiership title in 10 years last season, finishing the campaign undefeated in the league.

“The board of Aston Villa are delighted to appoint Steven as our new head coach,” said CEO Christian Purslow.

“He then took the brave decision to test himself in the intense and high pressured environment of the Scottish Old Firm. His subsequent achievement in winning the Premiership title with Glasgow Rangers really caught our eye as did his experience in Europe.”

‘Club With A Rich History.

Gerrard is considered one of the greatest players in Premier League history, scoring 186 goals in 710 appearances for Liverpool.

However, this will be his first taste of management in the English top-flight.

“Aston Villa is a club with a rich history and tradition in English football and I am immensely proud to become its new head coach,” said Gerrard.

“It was apparent how ambitious their plans are for the club and I am looking forward to helping them achieve their aims.”

Villa are 16th in the Premier League after picking up 10 points in their first 11 games.

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