AFCON 2017 QUALIFIERS: Oliseh cuts Glo League star to six

.Keeps names to chest

SUNDAY Oliseh has confirmed that six Glo Premier League stars will be joining the invited foreign based players for the final phase of his preparations for next months AFCON qualifiers between Tanzania and Nigeria in Dar es Salam.
A delighted Oliseh who has been drilling the local based players for the past three weeks, made this known via his twitter account @SundayOOliseh on Friday after he tweeted: "6 Local players make it to join the Final batch on Monday as we proceed to our final week before facing Tanzania."
Meanwhile, the former Eagles skipper, failed to name the six lucky stars that would be given the Europe based players a run for their shirt.

BOKO HARAM: Switzerland donates 8 million USD to Nigeria

Switzerland has donated eight million U.S. dollars to assist victims of Boko Haram’s insurgency in Nigeria’s northeast region, a Swiss envoy in Nigeria said Wednesday.
The goodwill was also extended to Nigeria’s neighboring countries around the Lake Chad, Daniel Cavegn, charge d’affaires at the Swiss embassy in Nigeria said during a visit to the northeastern state of Borno, theater of Boko Haram’s insurgency.
“We have done a lot to increase the humanitarian aid to the northeast states ravaged by Boko Haram, though this may not be enough,” the envoy said, adding Switzerland was looking forward to do more in assisting people internally displaced by Boko Haram attacks.
Apart from the financial aid granted Nigeria to support the internally displaced persons, the Swiss government is currently trying to establish the root cause of Boko Haram’s insurgency and have deep knowledge of the security challenge, the official said.

Fire guts Saraki’s house

AN early morning fire has gutted the house of the President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki.
The fire occurred on Friday morning at the Abuja residence of Saraki in the Maitama area of Abuja.
Saraki is still living in his personal house as the President of the Senate.
The incident was confirmed by Saraki on his Twitter handle.
He said he was already in the office when the fire outbreak occurred.
Saraki said the fire was quickly contained.
He tweeted: “Thanks for your concern.
“Happened while I was in the office. It was immediately contained.

LASG reiterates zero tolerance for loud noise

THE Lagos State Government says the use of loud public address systems by worship centres and motor parks among others, constitute noise pollution and will never be tolerated in the state.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of the Environment, Mr. Oluwatoyin Onisarotu, said this on Thursday while reminding Lagosians that the monthly environmental sanitation would be held on Saturday.
Onisarotu said the continuous use of loud public address system in the state was a defiant act to government’s plan for a progressive Lagos.
He said, “The government will no longer tolerate the use of loud public address system by worship centres and motor parks among others. It will be recalled that the state had banned such use. Worship centres can only use microphones within their worship buildings.
“Lagosians should support and key into Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s vision of a progressive Lagos.”
Speaking on the sanitation, the permanent secretary said the vision of a cleaner and healthier environment in the state would continue with the Ambode’s administration, adding that the exercise would hold between 7am and 10am with attendant restriction of human and vehicular movements.
He urged the residents to use the period to clean their drains and clear other environmental nuisances in their neighbourhood.
“The period is not meant for football playing or any social gathering, rather it is meant for active environmental sanitation.
“The state is presently enjoying the August break period of less rainfall. Lagosians should take advantage of this break to further clear their drains for free flow of water whenever it rains heavily,” he added.
Onisarotu urged the people of the state to stop dumping waste into drainage channels to save lives and property.
He warned transport operators to comply with the restriction order on human and vehicular movement, saying any vehicle caught violating the order would be impounded, while passengers in such vehicles would be prosecuted.

The Punch

Yemi Alade escapes fire incident in London

NIGERIA'S afro-pop singer, Yemi Alade says she narrowly escaped been caught in  a fire incident in London in the early hours of Friday.
According to the 'Looking for my Jonny' artiste took to her social media page of Twitter and Instagram @yemialadee and yemialade respectively to tweet: "yemialade# 3 things I grabbed when the fire alarmwentOff.
I thought it was a prank but I was frigging scared!!I knew better than to start parking up my clothes!
I thought I was dreaming!!!!but I knew I had to leave immediately. .
I def picked up my Phone,my bible and my iconic in vanity performance outfit!!!! Thinking about it now.....I picked the things I loved. .. 1.phone:to sha call if I needed to
2.my bible:cos I was so scared
3.my iconicinvanity bcos I wasn't goin to loose THE MOST ARTISTIC AND EXPENSIVE PICECES I HV EVER ACQUIRED
Or perform at WEMBLEY tonight in anything less luxurious 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍 We are fine now sha!!!!!!

Nigeria marks 500 days since Chibok girls' abduction

RELATIVES of over 200 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram mark 500 days since the abductions with hope dwindling for their rescue despite a renewed push to end the armed group's rebellion.
The landmark on Thursday comes amid a security crisis in northeastern Nigeria, where fighters have killed more than 1,000 people since the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari in May.
Boko Haram fighters stormed the Government Secondary School in the remote town of Chibok in Borno state on the evening of April 14 last year, seizing 276 girls who were preparing for end-of-year exams.
Fifty-seven escaped but nothing has been heard of the 219 others since May last year, when about 100 of them appeared in a Boko Haram video.
Parents of the missing girls are unhappy at what they see as a lack of inadequate effort from their government.
"The government's response has been very slow. If these girls were their biological daughters I don't think they would still be missing. It’s because they don't care about the poor," Esther Yakubu, mother of a missing girl, said.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has since said they have all converted to Islam and been "married off".
The mass abduction brought the brutality of the rebellion unprecedented worldwide attention and prompted a viral social media campaign demanding their release backed by personalities from US First Lady Michelle Obama to the actress Angelina Jolie.
An 8,700-strong Multi-National Joint Task Force, drawing in Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Benin, is expected to go into action soon.
In a report published in April, Amnesty quoted a senior military officer as saying the girls were being held at various Boko Haram camps, including in Cameroon and possibly Chad.

Ambode condoles with el-Rufai over father’s death

GOVERNOR Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State has condoled with his Kaduna State counterpart, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, over the passage of his foster father, Malam Yahaya Hamza, in the late hours of Tuesday.
Hamza, who was a renowned educationist and former Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Education, died after a brief illness.
This was contained in a statement on Thursday by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Habib Aruna.
In the statement, the governor urged his Kaduna State counterpart to take solace in the fact that the late Hamza lived a fulfilled life especially in the Kaduna State Civil Service, where he served as the Secretary to the State Government as well as Chairman of the Council of the West Africa Examination Council from 1997 to 2000.
“I condole with you and the people of Kaduna State in this trying time. Take solace in the fact that Malam Hamza lived a fulfilled life and you’re a product of that fulfillment.
“On behalf of the good people of Lagos State, accept my heartfelt condolence on this irreparable loss. May his gentle soul rest in peace,” Ambode said.

A’Court upholds Ambode’s victory, fines Agbaje

THE Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal on Wednesday affirmed the verdict of the Lagos State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal which upheld the declaration of Akinwunmi Ambode as the winner of the April 11, 2015 governorship election in Lagos State.
The appellate court aligned with the July 1, 2015 decision of the Justice Muhammad Sijaro-led tribunal which declared as incompetent and therefore struck out the petition by the second runner-up in the said election, Jimi Agbaje, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party.
The five-man appeal panel, after dismissing Agbaje’s appeal on the grounds of incompetence, ordered him to compensate each of the respondents in the sum of N50,000 each.
Ambode had been returned winner of the April 11, 2015 poll by the Independent National Electoral Commission having polled 811,994 votes ahead of Agbaje who polled 659,788 votes.

The Punch

Bomber kills self, soldier at checkpoint in Maiduguri

THREE persons, including an Air Force personnel, have reportedly died in an attempted suicide attack in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, on Tuesday night.
The attack was confirmed by the Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 7 Division Maiduguri, Col. Tukur Gusau, to journalists on the telephone on Wednesday, but he did not specify if militants were among the casualties.
Gusau however called on the members of the public to be extra-vigilant, and appealed to them to support the military in its efforts to end the insurgency.
A commander of the youth vigilance group in Gomari Airport ward, Habuya Mahmud, told Punch that the bomber launched the attack at a checkpoint after the Maiduguri airport junction, along the Kano-Jos road, adding that the two male suicide bombers approached the checkpoint shortly before 10pm.
According to Mahmud, who said he witnessed the attack and equally participated in the rescue efforts, the attackers approached the checkpoint from an opposite direction and the guard commander, an Air Force sergeant, flagged them down.
“He told them to move closer with raised arms; but as they got close enough to him, they detonated the explosives strapped on them, which resulted in their death and the Air Force personnel,” he said.
He also disclosed that a woman, who was passing through the area at the time of the attack was injured and was rushed to the Umaru Shehu Hospital at Bulumkuttu.
Daily Post 

BEIJING 2015: Okagbare shuns 200m final race

NIGERIA'S hope for a medal at the 2015 IAAF World Championship in Beijing, China has been dashed as Blessing Okagbare failed to show up for her heat.
Naijasportsxtra.blogspot.com gathered on Wednesday after the IAAF tweeted that she was a non-starter for Heat 3.
Tarmoh of the United States won the heat with a time of 22.79, while Gloria Hooper of Italy , Canada’s Kimberly Hyacinth and Maria Belimpasaki of Greece all advanced.
Recall the Nigerian failed to live up to the billing in the 100m final race that took place on Monday, after placing 9th following her poor start.

Sambo Dasuki charged with illegal weapons possession

A Nigerian court charged the country's former national security adviser for illegal weapons possession, according to a statement.
Sambo Dasuki was one of several military chiefs Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari fired last month. Dasuki, along with Nigeria's army, navy, air force, defense staff and intelligence chiefs, as well as its air marshal, were replaced with merit-based candidates after failing to end the six-year Boko Haram insurgency.
In raids last month, authorities recovered at least seven high-caliber rifles, military gear and 12 new vehicles, including five bullet-proof cars, at three of Dasuki's residences, according to Nigerian media.
Punch quoted Nigeria's Department of State Security as saying it had credible intelligence linking Dasuki to "alleged plans to com­mit treasonable felony against the Nigerian state" and noted that investigators believe he was able to procure the firearms and vehicles with money obtained through corruption.
The former national security adviser proclaimed his innocence and said the weapons belonged to his security guards, the BBC reports.
Dasuki is the first senior official from the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan to be charged since Buhari took office in May on a pledge to fight corruption and crack down on Boko Haram.
He had advised Jonathan on security issues, briefly took on responsibilities of the defense minister and was a proponent of delaying Nigerian elections earlier this year due to security concerns.
Buhari replaced him with retired Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno, a native of Borno state, where a majority of Boko Haram attacks are centered.
News of Dasuki's charge comes two days after suspected Boko Haram militants in Borno state ambushed a convoy carrying Maj. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai, the newly-appointed chief of army staff and also a Borno state native.
The BBC and Punch quoted the DSS as saying the charges against Dasuki were representative of its commitment for democratic values, and that no one was above the law, even those highly placed in society.

66,000 to perform this year’s Hajj- NAHCON

SIXTY-six thousand Nigerians will perform this year's Hajj exercise, using six airlines with 13 aircrafts.
Speaking the inaugural airlift of the intending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia at the Kaduna International Airport, President Mohammadu Buhari represented by Nasiru El-Rufai of Kaduna State, said government had set up a coordinating committee to supervise 2015 pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
He said the committee, which would be funded by the service charge, which pilgrims paid to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), would be led by the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi.
The inaugural flight which was flagged off at the Kaduna International Airport, conveyed 300 pilgrims from Jema’a and Kajuru Local Government Areas.
President Buhari said the Federal Government was committed to the success of the Hajj exercise even though it would not get involved.
It, however, urged the pilgrims to pray for the country, stressing that the country needed all the prayers that it can get, given the challenges it was facing.
Chairman of NAHCON, Alhaji Abdullahi Muktar. Muhammadu, said the commission was committed to a hitch free Hajj operation this year, having introduced a lot of new measures that would ensure its success.
According to the chairman, six airlines would be deployed to convey 66,000 pilgrims to the Holy Land, using 13 aircrafts and it would be completed before the closure of Jedda Airport on September 17.
He said the airlift of pilgrims back to the country would be based on first in, first out, which according to him was instituted by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammed Sa’id Abubakar and would end on October 27.
He added that there would be no VIP tents during this year’s pilgrimage as all NAHCON officials will stay with all

pilgrims in order to know their yearnings and challenges.

Police begins withdrawal of VIPs guard

NIGERIA'S Police Service Commission (PSC) and the Inspector-General Police, have concluded arrangements to enforce the presidential directive on the withdrawal of policemen from Very Important Personalities (VIPs) who are not entitled to their services.
This is contained in statement issued by Mr Ikechukwu Ani, the Head, Press and Public Relations of the commission, in Abuja on Tuesday.
It stated that a high level monitoring team had been deployed to the nation’s airports, highways and other public places to enforce the presidential directive.
The statement stated that the Chairman of the commission, Mr Mike Okiro, said the team had the powers to stop VIPs’ on the highways and airports to confirm their status.
He said that any erring VIP or policeman caught in such unauthorised beat would be prosecuted.
Okiro said the commission and the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force would enforce the presidential directive to the latter.
He stressed that henceforth only authorised government officials and VIPs’ would be entitled to police security.
Okiro noted that the nation could not be battling with inadequate Police Force while majority of these scarce officers were in the service of few privileged Nigerians.
“Nigeria Police will now be structured to do its primary duties of providing internal security and protecting lives and property,” Okiro said.
He said that the commission would give the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force the required support and encouragement to enhance its efficiency and effectiveness.
The chairman warned that the commission would not hesitate to discipline any police officer who flouts the presidential directive by hanging onto these VIPs’ for pecuniary gains. (NAN)

NFF buys 2015 Nissan Altima for Oliseh

THE Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has fulfilled its promise by acquiring a brand new Nissan Altima 2.5 SL for the newly contracted Super Eagles handler, Sunday Oliseh.

 The tweeted read, "Just In: @sundayooliseh Nissan Altima 2.5 SL 2015 Model Car has just been delivered at the NFF Secretariat."

The car is valued at 28, 150 US Dollars (about N5.5 million) on the auto giants website.