Monday, 15 June 2020

Nigeria records 403 new coronavirus cases, total now 16,085


Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced 403 confirmed new coronavirus cases in the country on Sunday.

The 403 cases announced by the Centre for Disease Control takes the total number of confirmed cases to 16085.

The NCDC also announced the discharge of 119 patients from isolation centers across the country with 13 new deaths reported.

“On the 14th of June 2020, 403 new confirmed cases and 13 deaths were recorded in Nigeria
No new state has reported a case in the last 24 hours.”

Till date, 16085 cases have been confirmed, 5220 cases have been discharged and 420 deaths have been recorded in 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The 403 new cases are reported from 20 states- Gombe(73), Lagos(68), Kano(46), Edo(36), FCT(35), Nasarawa(31), Kaduna(17), Oyo(16), Abia(15), Delta(13), Borno(13), Plateau(8), Niger(7), Rivers(7), Enugu(6), Ogun(6), Kebbi(3), Ondo(1), Anambra(1), Imo(1)

Sunday, 14 June 2020

Real win in new home on landmark match for Zidane

Real Madrid resumed their La Liga campaign by marking boss Zinedine Zidane's 200th game in charge with a win over Eibar in unusual surroundings.

The Bernabeu stadium is being renovated so Real are playing their remaining home games at the Estadio Alfredo di Stefano at their training ground.

Toni Kroos ensured there was no settling in period, driving in a brilliant goal after just four minutes.

Sergio Ramos and Marcelo scored before half-time in a routine win.

The hosts faded badly in the second half, with Marcelo in particular looking dizzy at one point and needing to take on fluids, and Eibar pulled one back through Pedro Bigas' fortunate strike.

But Zidane - in his second spell and remarkably just the third manager in the club's storied history to reach the landmark of overseeing 200 games - chalked up another win to move back to within two points of leaders Barcelona.
The France legend has won 10 trophies in charge of the club.

Gareth Bale came on as a second-half substitute but was barely involved.

The pitch at the club's training base - home of Real Madrid's B team and with a capacity of just 6,000 - has the exact same dimensions as the Bernabeu and Kroos looked at home when he hammered in the brilliant opener.

Ramos' goal was equally impressive. The defender cut out a pass 20 yards from his own goal, played in Karim Benzema and charged forward. Benzema picked out Eden Hazard, making his first appearance since surgery in February, and he laid the ball back for Ramos to drill into the vacant net.

Hazard was sharp in the first half and when his shot was saved Marcelo was on hand to smash in the third.

Eibar, involved in the relegation discussion at the foot of La Liga, pulled one back when Bigas diverted a shot through Thibaut Courtois but Real were able to see the game out with minimal fuss. (BBC Football)

Mosques should remain closed- Lagos Chief Imam

Lagos Chief Imam, Sheikh Sulaimon Oluwatoyin Abou-Nolla, has told mosques in the state to remain closed.

He said the position of the Muslim community in the state is continued closure of the mosques.

Lagos State has permitted worship centres to reopen from June 19.

But Abou-Nolla said there was no basis for the reopening of the religious centres going by the increasing figures of the COVID-19 index cases.

“The mosque should still be closed because the number of index cases is still on the rise. They should not open Mosques for now.

“The government should not rush to open religious centres since the reason for their closure has not been defeated,” Sheikh Abou-Nolla said. (The Nation)

Ojudu is angry and we know why -By- Concerned Citizens of Ekiti

Ojudu is angry and we know why  _By_ Concerned Citizens of Ekiti
It was Plato who once listed the two things a person should never be angry at, as what they can help and what they cannot help.

Mahatma Ghandi followed Plato's postulation up by also identifying anger and intolerance as the two enemies of correct understanding.

But Senator Babafemi Abdulganiyy Ojudu, a Nigerian senator of the 7th National Assembly and two-term Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, has decided to discountenance the two unsolicited advices. Rather, he has chosen the path of anger, not minding what the words of these two sages meant.

We know why. Ojudu is our clansman, we know he is perpetually angry and he cannot hide his anger. It is deep seated, he is seething with it, so much that he carries it like a cross, making everyone to wonder if it is not his greatest undoing.

Ojudu's anger has eaten deep into his fabric. Deservingly or not, he is always looking for a popular figure to unleash it at. This time, it is unleashed at his bosom friend, colleague, compatriot, comrade, state governor and even his political benefactor, Dr. John Kayode Fayemi, CON. Don't ask us what's amiss. Ojudu has chosen Fayemi as his victim, and so be it.

But why should Ojudu's people treat him like a leper and avoid him like a plague? Why? Well, some of them have argued that he is both his own enemy and the enemy of his people.

They argued that the prejudice of their _omiye_ against brother JKF is misplaced and misconceived, yet it so thick that one can slice through it with a knife. It is baseless and unreasonable, they said. But Ojudu cannot just hold back against his friend, they argued also.

Ojudu is today the self-styled fault-finder-in-chief of Gov Fayemi. He has assigned himself the task, not because of what Fayemi has done or not done, but because it has to do with who Ojudu is. It is innate, it is self-inflicted and it is self-destructing. 

Let no one therefore think it can be doused by any nicety from Fayemi. Just like a scorpion must sting without reason, so also Ojudu must beef Fayemi without reason.

But why is Ojudu angry? Ojudu is angry because his relevance is dwindling both locally and nationally. He is adorned as the President's political adviser, but when last has Ojudu seen the President one-on-one, let alone advise him.? That is enough to cause anger. Just like anyone else, Ojudu reads what goes on inside Aso Rock in the dailies, hears it on the radio and watches it on the TV. If in doubt, ask Senator Ojudu to show you a memo minuted to him by Mr. President to either advise him or act. 

Ojudu is angry that he has not been able to gather anyone politically for Mr. President, especially from the South West. He is suspecting that Fayemi must have usurped his function in this area by building political bridges, which should be his (Ojudu's) duty as the Political Adviser to Mr. President. Thus, what Ojudu cannot achieve through political impact, he intends to get through political blackmail. This calls for anger, doesn't it?

Remember when Ojudu asked his people not to ask him for any favor any longer since he was no more a senator? Ojudu is now angry that none of them has died of hunger even when they no longer beg him for food.

And isn't it enough a reason to be angry that when Ojudu dropped out from the party primary race in 2018, none of his people asked him why or begged him to return? Rather, they all queued behind Fayemi, the person he had traduced.

Ojudu is angry because till date, no one bothers to question how he spent his senatorial largesse. He represented his people for four years at the hallowed chamber, he earned N35m monthly, he got N260m annually for constituency projects, amounting to N1.04bn in four years, yet he could not point at any project he did in his senatorial district, save a phoney library he attempted to build at Ikoro, which at best now harbour's an Iroko tree. Add to this the fact that no one from Ekiti has benefitted from Ojudu's earnings to date, especially now that he has warned them to take their _oju kokoro_ eyes off his wealth. Then you will agree that it calls for serious anger.

What baffled many Ekiti people about Ojudu's mean nature is that, not only that no Ekiti person benefitted from Ojudu while he was a Senator, his own father suffered and died in a ramshackled building with a decrepit old latrine and bathroom attached to the house which had almost collapsed! 

Pictures of these were once displayed on the social media! As if that was not enough, Ojudu did not give his father a befitting burial! Up till today, his kinsmen in Ado Ekiti are still asking him when he will give his father a befitting burial. So if somebody who was a Senator treated his own father in such a shameful manner, how do you expect him to treat other people? Ojudu can only sneak in and out of Ekiti in the dead of the night because people are angry with him and he knows the fate that awaits him if seen on the streets of Ekiti! 

Ojudu is not only angry, he is equally ignorant, and we know why as well.

Imagine, Ojudu, the President's political adviser, is ignorant of what funds go to the different states on month-by-month basis.

In his ignorance, Ojudu likened what gets to his state, Ekiti, to what gets to Borno as monthly allocation. He exposed his poor knowledge of how Nigeria is currently being funded. 

Shouldn't someone just tell Ojudu that Borno and Ekiti are not getting the same funds? Borno is regarded as a disaster zone, and thus gets special intervention called Natural Disaster Fund monthly. This is meant to protect and rebuild the state. Ekiti is not classified as a disaster zone and does not get such fund. So while Borno goes home with about N11bn monthly, Ekiti comes home with paltry N2.7bn. 

Ojudu's analogy is therefore likened to comparing an apple with a _goro_. But could Ojudu have known this fact? Yes, he could, and he would if he had bothered to enquire before rushing to criticize his friend turned foe.

And lest Ojudu should know, Ekiti government under Fayemi told the world that since it didn't have the whole time in this world, he would rather work along  five priority areas viz: Governance, Agriculture and Rural Development, Social Development, Infrastructure and Industrial Development; and Entrenching the Economy. Has Ojudu checked whether the government is lacking in any of these 5 areas of Ojudu is angry that Fayemi isn't?

Today, under JKF, Ekiti is the pace setter in the following areas: gender equality, transparency and accountability, agriculture (Cowbell Ikun Dairy, Dangote, Stallion rice, JMK rice, FMS Cassava Mill, empowerment of farmers, Raamp roads are activities waiting for Ojudu's selective searchlight). In the area of infrastructure, let Ojudu's anger take him to inspect the following roads: Ado Iyin, Agbado Omuo, Ilupeju-Ire-Igbemo, Ikogosi-Aramako, Oye-Ayede, Ikun-Otun. In the area of infrastructure, Ojudu should talk angrily about the ongoing World Bank assisted water project, electricity IPP, Airport Project, Ekiti Fibre optic cabling broadband project and so on. Ojudu should not also forget about the promised Knowledge Economy, Social investments - free health, free education, etc. Did Ojudu read that Ekiti was adjudged 2nd best in Covid-19 handling? What of the _owo arugbo_, YESSO, etc that are being funded, all from the less than 3billion a month allocation? Ojudu's anger must have taken his mind away from all these.

Today, our clansman, Ojudu is the poster boy for bigotry in Ekiti. We trace his story from the first civilian governor of the state, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, to the second, Ayo Fayose 1, to the third, Asiwaju Segun Oni to the fourth JKF 1 to the fifth Fayose 2 and now to the sixth, JKF 2. The conclusion is that Ojudu is one and the same bigot. 

Ojudu has all along floated different anti-establishment groups, too numerous to mention, all with the intention to crash his party and the state. 

Those groups are only good as blackmailing tools and are as relevant for as long as Ojudu has not been "settled." Once settled, Ojudu would opt out of them, leaving them to crash on the head of his undiscerning followers. 

That is the Ojudu we know and have as our clansman. We are assuring you that you have not heard the last from him yet, and you haven't heard the last uof him either. We bet, our clansman, Ojudu, still has his eyes on becoming the governor our state. To our man, to rise, you must first destroy. Do not say we did not tell you.

Presidency breaks silence on ‘gunshots in Aso Rock’

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd .), has ordered a probe into alleged security breach inside the Presidential Villa.

This was made known in a statement by the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu , on Sunday.

There had been reports of gunshots and a breach of security within the Presidential Villa recently.

The situation was said to have been as a result of a squabble among family members and officials of the Presidency.

The statement noted that some staff and occupants of the State House have been arrested in relation to the incident by the police.

The statement read in part , ” This is to assure all and everyone that the President and Commander- in- Chief of the Armed Forces , Muhammadu Buhari, is not, and was not at any time in any form of danger arising, either from deadly infections or the reported incident by security personnel which is currently under investigation.

” This particular incident happened outside the main residence of the President.

” Armed guards and other security personnel assigned to the State House receive the necessary training of especially weapons handling and where they come short , their relevant agencies have their rules and regulations to immediately address them.

” Having authorised the proper investigation to be carried out into this unfortunate incident by the Police, the President has acted in compliance with the rule of law.

” That a minor occurrence is being used by some critics to justify attacks on the government and the person of President Muhammadu Buhari beggars belief.

” In this particular instance, the President says the law should be allowed to take its course.”


I’ll reveal my next move after meeting with my supporters and Buhari – Obaseki

Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, said he will reveal his next step after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari following his disqualification from the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election in the state.

Obaseki who is seeking a second term in office, also said he is still consulting with his supporters.

Writing via his Twitter handle on Sunday, the governor described his disqualification as an act of injustice.