Category Nigeria News

With the signing of Super Eagles forward Umar Sadiq on loan, Valencia has completed the first Carlos Corberan deal.

Before Corberan’s return to the club, Los Che have been negotiating a deal to bring in Umar.

Real Sociedad were happy to let go of a player who was not in their plans, according to the new boss, who gave the move the go-ahead.

Sadiq has been on the back foot in San Sebastian, scoring just three goals last season, after an injury that effectively ended his Real Sociedad career before it began in 2022.

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Real Sociedad signalled their intention to let him go, and Valencia seized their opportunity, as the 27-year-old joins until the end of the campaign.

Valencia will receive less than 10 million Euros from the club as part of the agreement, along with a one million loan fee.

Mohammed Mustapha, the newly appointed commissioner of police for Rivers State, has been appointed Commissioner of Police.

Mustapha was recently promoted to Assistant Inspection General of Police, AIG, and deployed to Zone 6 Calabar.

AIG Bala thanked the Rivers State Police Command officers and residents of the state for their cooperation and support during his three-month tenure as commissioner of police in the state during a brief ceremony at the Police Officers’ Mess in Port Harcourt.

He claimed that during his administration, the Rivers Police Command recorded numerous accomplishments, including peacekeeping, human and infrastructure developments.

During his address, newly-acquired CP Olugbenga Adewole promised that his administration would concentrate on improving security for residents and businesses in the state.

At his first press conference at the command center in Port Harcourt, CP Adewole addressed the assurance to his management team.

READ ALSO: Nine Killed, Four Injured In Jigawa Communal Clash

To create a peaceful and secure state, he demanded the support of all parties.

The new CP outlined his focused areas to include, strengthening intelligence gathering, community policing and public engagement, zero tolerance for corruption, fighting cultism and youth violence, and combating oil theft amongst others.

Cp Adepoju thanked the Police Service Commission, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, and the Inspector General of Police for the trust he had in him when he took over as the 47th commissioner of police in Rivers State.

Babagana Umara Zulum, the governor of Boro State, has announced that the state government will pay for the fuel used by farmers in Boko Haram-stricken areas.

Zulum, who had previously been displaced by Boko Haram insurgents, announced the subsidy on Friday night in Bama town when he stopped the distribution of farm inputs to over 5, 000 farmers.

According to the governor, a litre of petrol sold between N1, 000 and N1, 200 in Maiduguri will be subsidised to the farmers for N600. This aims to reduce farmers’ financial strains in rural areas that have experienced years of conflict and economic destruction.

Zulum emphasized that a comparable initiative carried out last year in Damasak, Mobar Local Government Area, significantly increased food production and improved livelihoods.

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According to Zulum, “One of the biggest challenges facing the farming communities here as regards irrigation farming is the rising cost of fuel. As a result, I want to inform the general public that the government will purchase petroleum products and sell them to farmers at a subsided rate. A litre of petrol is being sold in Maiduguri for about N1, 200, but in Allah, a litre of petrol will be sold for irrigation farmers this season at the price of N600,”

The governor added that the Brigade Commander and the Commissioner for Agriculture would work together to ensure the quickest delivery of petroleum products to Bama town’s farmers.

In addition to the petrol subsidy, Zulum distributed farm inputs, including&nbsp, 2000 bags of blended NPK fertiliser, 1000 units of water pumps, and 620 units of gasoline pumps.

Other materials include 380 units of solar water pumps, 1000 units of sprayers, 800 rolls of 2-inch flexible hose, and 1000 litres of pesticides and seeds, among other items.

He claims that his administration has approved the construction of an additional 250 tube wells while also constructing more than 100 for irrigation farmers.

Governor Babagana Umara Zulum has also visited Goniri and Darajama local governments to assess the ongoing reconstruction work.

Zulum reiterated his administration’s commitment to sabotage the project’s quality and expressed satisfaction with the project’s quality.

The world’s oldest person, Japanese woman Tomiko Itooka, has died aged 116, the city where she lived, Ashiya, announced on Saturday.

Itooka, who had four children and five grandchildren, died on December 29 at a nursing home where she resided since 2019, the southern city’s mayor said in a statement.

She was born on May 23, 1908, four months before the Ford Model T was introduced in the United States, in Osaka, close to Ashiya, the center of commerce.

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After the 117-year-old Maria Branyas Morera, a Spaniard, passed away in August of that year, Itooka was declared the oldest person in the world.

“Ms Itooka gave us courage and hope through her long life”, Ashiya’s 27-year-old mayor Ryosuke Takashima said in the statement.

“We thank her for it”.

Itooka, who was one of three siblings, lived through world wars and pandemics as well as technological breakthroughs.

As a student, she played volleyball.

In her older age, Itooka enjoyed bananas and Calpis, a milky soft drink popular in Japan, according to the mayor’s statement.

Women in Japan typically enjoy a long life, but the country is experiencing a worsening demographic crisis as its population ages, rising medical costs, and a shrinking labor force.

As of September, Japan counted more than 95, 000 people who were 100 or older — 88 per cent of whom were women.

Of the country’s 124 million people, nearly a third are 65 or older.

With his first official trip to the Southeast since taking office in May 2023, President Bola Tinubu is on the verge of history.

This milestone marks a significant step in his administration, showcasing his commitment to unity and progress.

Today, January 4, 2025, President Tinubu will arrive in Enugu State, where he will inaugurate several projects initiated by Gov. Peter Mbah’s administration.

A statement issued by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, on Friday, described the president’s visit as a significant event for the state.

Onyia said: “The Enugu State Government is happy to announce the first state visit to the state by the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Saturday, January 4, 2025. ”

In addition to these, the President will inaugurate 60 fully equipped Type 2 Primary Healthcare Centers as part of a larger project to construct 260 such centers, along with 30 completed and fully equipped Enugu Smart Green Schools, as part of his visit.

Additionally, Tinubu will inaugurate the completed Enugu International Conference Centre, a multi-auditorium and multi-functional facility.

He will also open 90 completed urban roads in Enugu City, a state-of-the-art Command and Control Centre, and 150 patrol vehicles fitted with AI-embedded surveillance cameras as well as some rural roads.

The state and the federal government are anticipated to strengthen their partnership through the visit.

Meanwhile, the apex Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, is thrilled about President Bola Tinubu’s visit to Enugu State, seeing it as a chance to strengthen ties with the Igbo people.

The group anticipates that this visit will open a new era for the Igbo people’s relationship with the Federal Government. It is based on equity and justice.

The President’s visit is also viewed by Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide as a chance to show goodwill, particularly by facilitating the release of Nnamdi Kanu, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader who has been imprisoned.

President Tinubu can leave a positive legacy and be known to the Igbo population and well-intentioned Nigerians by doing this.

Reacting to the visit, Ohanaeze, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alex Ogbonnia, expressed delight over the gradual attitudinal change of the federal government towards the Igbo.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo expresses profound joy over the Federal Government’s gradual adjustment of policies toward the Igbo, according to the statement.

“Ohanaeze has insisted that national peace, unity, patriotism and sustainable economic development of any country are the outcomes, effects or products of equity, and social justice.

“In other words, there is hardly any society or group that can be complacent under severe existential threats such as orchestrated marginalization, relative deprivations, and external instigation of insecurity, conflagrations and crises.

Stand-in Head Coach, Daniel Ogunmodede has called up captain Nduka Harrison Junior, goalkeeper Henry Ozoemena, defenders Sadiq Ismail and Ifeanyi Onyebuchi, midfielder Saviour Isaac, and forward Sikiru Alimi among a list of 26 players to begin closed-camping exercise at the Remo Stars Sports Institute, Ikenne-Remo on Monday ahead of the 8th African Nations Championship finals.

Goalkeeper Kayode Bankole, defenders Imo Obot and Stephen Manyo, midfielders Musa Zayyad, Rabiu Ali and Papa Daniel Mustapha, and forwards Adamu Abubakar and Emmanuel Ogbole have also been invited.

After winning 3-1 in Uyo last week and a scoreless first leg in Accra six days prior, the Super Eagles B bumped Ghana’s Black Galaxies for the first time in the qualification series, making it to the final tournament.

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With the scheduled 1st through 28th February for the African Nations Championship finals, Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda have been given the opportunity to test-drive their facilities and operational efficiency in order to host the 36th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations in 2027.

The 8th African Nations Championship will feature 18 countries, viz joint-hosts Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, Nigeria, Morocco, Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Niger Republic, Congo, Sudan, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Angola and Madagascar.

See List Of 26 Eagles For Campaigning In Ikenne-Remo

Goalkeepers: Henry Ozoemena (Enyimba FC), Kayode Bankole (Remo Stars), Badmus Gbadamosi (Kwara United).

Defenders: Sadiq Ismail (Remo Stars), Waliu Ojetoye (Ikorodu City), Imo Obot (Enyimba FC), Taiwo Abdulrafiu (Rivers United), Nduka Harrison Junior (Remo Stars), Victor Collins (Nasarawa United), Ifeanyi Onyebuchi (Rangers International), Steven Manyo (Rivers United), Abiam Nelson (Kano Pillars), Afeez Bankole (Smart FC).

Midfielders: Jide Fatokun (Remo Stars), Rabiu Ali (Kano Pillars), Saviour Isaac (Rangers International), Musa Zayyad (El-Kanemi Warriors), Papa Daniel Mustapha (Niger Tornadoes), Kazeem Ogunleye (Rangers International)