“God will fight my fight for me’- laments Nigerian player pained after he’s thrown out of Rio Olympics hotel

Two out of Nigeria’s footballers sent back to Nigeria from Rio de Janeiro after they were told by Nigerian Football officials that their feeding and living expenses can no longer be catered, has lamented how they were thrown out of the team’s hotel and had to spend their own money to pay for the two nights they spent in Brazil before coming back to Nigeria.

The Nigerian Football Federation ordered two alternate players Stanley Dimgba and Yusuf Mohammed as well as several unnecessary officials to head back to Nigeria as they could no longer be catered for, and one of the players who prefers to remain anonymous has now cried out.

“God will fight my fight for me. It was heart-breaking when we were told to quit the team’s hotel in Sao Paulo,” said the player to AfricanFootball.

“When we returned to Sao Paulo (from Salvador) they gave rooms to only the 18 players registered for the competition and even some team officials did not get hotel rooms too. For the two extra nights we spent in Brazil, we had to pay with our own money for our hotel and feeding. That is life for you.”

A top NFF Official speaking to The cable said,

“Yes, it is true that the curator, media officer as well as the two alternative players have been asked to go back to Nigeria. The ministry can only take care of 18 players and seven officials. The ministry cannot afford to be paying for extra rooms, feeding, allowances out of the 25 people that are supposed to make up the team to the Olympics. The aforementioned people have already left the team’s hotel and are no longer with us.”




Annular eclipse to occur all over Nigeria on September 1st

An annular eclipse will occur in all parts of the country with different degrees of totality on Thursday September 1st . This is according to a statement released by the Head, Media and Corporate Communications of National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Felix Ale yesterday August 16th.

An annular eclipse occurs when the sun and moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the moon is smaller than that of the sun, hence, the sun appears as a very bright ring or annulus surrounding the dark disk of the moon.

According to the statement, the highest degree of obscurity in Nigeria during the annular eclipse would be in the Southern part of Nigeria, particularly in Lagos, where it was expected to have 80 per cent obscurity, while the lowest degree of obscurity would be about 45 per cent and this would be observed in the Northern part of the country, particularly in Sokoto. in Abuja, the annular eclipse will be observed at about 60%.

The eclipse is expected to occur between 7.15 a.m. and 10.03 a.m, with slight variations in actual timing across the country. In Lagos, the first contact will occur at about 7.15 a.m, while the maximum eclipse will occur around 8.30 a.m. and will end by10.03 a.m.

The eclipse is expected to commence in Abuja around 7.17 a.m, with maximum eclipse to be recorded at about 8.32 a.m. and the eclipse will end around 10.00 a.m. The statement warns that the eclipse is not a spiritual issue but a natural occurrence that can be accurately predicted by science. It warned that nobody should observe eclipse with naked eyes as such act can lead to permanent damage to the eyes.

The Space agency appealed to the general public not to panic or attach any mystical interpretations to this event





Charlyboy says being gay is not evil


Controversial Nigerian entertainer, Charles Chukwuemeka Oputa, popularly called Charlyboy, has revealed his stance on why being gay is not evil.

The Area Fada had been in the news over his alleged kissing eccentric presenter, Denrele Edun.

He has again taken to the social media to scrutinize public opinions about the lingering question of his sexuality despite being married with children and grandchildren.

He wrote, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Matthew 7:1-2

“The Nigerian social media highway is most times polluted by silly, rude, reckless, stupid, careless judgmental comments, this reminds me of the drivers I see on our roads.

“Check out comments on some blogs, even on my facebook page, some comments are obviously ignorant, stupid or down-right off the hook in relationship to the issue.

“Some of our social media junkies have an opinion as if anybody sends them and a lot of times it is so crazily judgmental.

“I consider myself a liberal minded fella. I try never to judge, even though total strangers have been ignorantly unkind and judgmental about my treasured brand, Charlyboy.

“I have walked my journey guided by the philosophy, “live and let live”.

“Recently, there was this trending story of an American who married his Nigerian gay partner, David Shoen-Ukre, in New York on July 30, who accused Nigerian bloggers, of causing the couple harm by publishing their stories without permission.

“The rain of curses, and the terrible judgmental comments that ensued after the story broke, was incredible.

“Many concluded that the couples were evil, I have never seen hate and ignorance come so alive in words.

“I cannot speak louder than the stupidity of other people who will disagree with me on this.

“NO, being gay is not evil.

“A man marrying a man maybe a hard pill for a lot of us to digest, but the world has changed even since I took a dump this morning.

“Don’t judge others simply because they sin differently than you. Every aspect of humans are diverse. Skin color, tribal marks/culture, height/weight, religious beliefs/tastes, everyone thinks differently and are different.

“Speak evil of no one, avoid quarreling, be gentle, and show perfect courtesy towards all people.

“For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.

“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.

Speaking further, the Social Engineer cum showbiz impresario concluded as he said: “Let’s make sure our comments are germane to the topic.

“I have always said that people’s sexual preferences are their cup of tea. Even though many will swear that I am gay too.

“I however must confess that I have a few close associates, casual friends who are Gay, and I truly don’t mind their company or friendship.

“In fact I have found the few of them, with very warm hearts, and fantastic soul.

“And for those who would want to come and quote bible for me, this is a piece from the same Holy book. Titus 3:2-7

“Let’s be concise in our comments, demonstrating respect for people and ideas whether we agree or disagree with them and limit ourselves to decency.

“Make we no they show how small our mind dey.

“We see what we see from where we stand, what is evil to me, are the men in Agbada/Uniform who sold our country, our future and rendered most of us hopeless, future-less, obnoxiously poor in a land filled with plenty.

“They are the VERY EVIL ONE’s, and we are feeling the effect of their EVIL.”




SunTrust Bank will finance SMEs to stimulate economy – CEO


The Chief Executive Officer of SunTrust Bank, Muhammed Jubrin, has said the bank will focus on the Small and Medium-scale Enterprises by providing financing for them to enable them to play their roles in the economy.

Jubrin was quoted in a statement to have said this at the official opening of the bank to the public in Lagos.

He said, “In line with our strategy, we are going to drive SMEs transactions certainly and part of our strategy is retail banking; we want to create a retail bank of choice and certainly, SMEs are the engine room for the growth of any economy.

“And to provide financing services to support the SMEs will be the only way we can support the growth of the economy and particularly in line with the vision of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the current administration.”

He noted that over 90 per cent of banking transaction were being transacted electronically worldwide.

Jubrin said, “Banking is no longer where you go to; the only financial institution that can stand in the future is no longer those with physical branches but only by banking services that will be driven by technology and, therefore, most customers oftomorrow will no longer be interested in going to the banking halls.

“We are a financial technology bank that will bring banking to your home rather than make you come to us. We will be everywhere but we will be nowhere. We will have the minimum branches required to operate as a bank but we will drive financial services through technology.”

The SunTrust Bank’s CEO said the bank would offer telephone, mobile and Internet banking underpinned by the traditional banking ethics of probity and integrity.

He said, “The bank’s competitive edge will be the strong reliance on technology and the bank will be encouraging customers to access its services from the comfort of their homes and offices and as such the bank will not be engaging in a proliferation of branches.




FG needs $7bn to kick-start mines, steel industry


The Federal Government is seeking investments worth $7bn in mining and steel over the next decade as it targets the development of gold and iron ore extraction industries to diversify the nation’s oil-dependent economy.

One of the government’s priorities is to meet the annual steel demand of 6.8 million metric tonnes, from a current output of a third of that, produced mainly from scrap iron, according to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.

“About $5bn will kick-start the mining sector. In two to five years, we want to have started production of iron ore, lead, zinc, bitumen, nickel, coal and gold at a serious scale,” Bloomberg quoted Fayemi as saying. “Companies considering investments in Nigeria’s mining industry include Lagos-based Multiverse Mining & Exploration Plc and Kogi Iron Limited, based in West Perth, Australia,” he said.

Boosting mining output, along with developing agriculture and infrastructure, is part of plans to broaden the economy, which is Africa’s second-largest oil producer. Crude accounts for around 70 per cent of the country’s revenue and 13 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product, according to the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun.

Global oil prices, which fell from over $100 a barrel of Brent crude in 2014 to under $50 a barrel currently, and reduced output due to militants’ attacks on pipelines in the Niger Delta region, have squeezed state finances and caused a chronic dollar shortage.

Fayemi will this month present a mining plan to President Muhammadu Buhari and later a bill proposing the creation of a regulator for the sector.

“Currently, the ministry does everything: licensing, monitoring, inspection, and it shouldn’t be like that,” Fayemi said.

Prospective investors had expressed concern about an uncertain regulatory environment, he said.

An autonomous agency would be better positioned to focus on performance and efficiency of the sector, according to the minister.