West Brom: No plans to sell Odemwingie

Osaze

West Brom chairman Jeremy Pearce has insisted that the club will not be forced into a cheap sale of Peter Odemwingie.
The striker is widely expected to leave the club following a season of unrest, but Pearce is adamant the Premier League club will not part company with him unless their criteria are met.
Odemwingie started just 13 Premier League games last season compared to 25 the year before and also halved his goal tally in the English top flight from 2011/12 to five.
The wantaway forward caused a great deal of controversy in the January transfer window when he effectively tried to initiate his own move to QPR, only for it to fall through.
“We have a player who is under contract until the end of the season,” Pearce told the Birmingham Mail.
“Unless something comes in to change our way of thinking he will be back in pre-season and we will deal with that.
“We took a view at the end of January – not only for the reasons of Peter Odemwingie or Queens Park Rangers, also whichever agents were involved who acted disgracefully, but for the long term of this football club that we have to behave a certain way.
“If we don’t do that they will all be knocking on the door. That said, unless we get an offer we’re happy with we won’t sell him.”

Erico applauds Eagles performance

FORMER Green Eagles goalkeeper, Joe Erico has hailed the Super Eagles performance at the ongoing Brazil 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup describing it as a good step to greater things to come.
The former NEPA coach, Erico said the Confederations Cup has given the team handlers the opportunity to really see how far the Eagles can go when they qualify for the World Cup proper billed for Brazil next year. He lamented that the team lacks sharp finishers hence they crashed out of the tournament with only three points after beating the whipping boys of the group, Tahiti.
“The team’s performance at the tournament was quite good , it’s very good for us because it has given us the opportunity to really see how far we can go when we qualify for the World Cup. Luckily, we have the last World Cup qualifier against Malawi here  and the experience from playing against the world’s best  at the Confederations Cup will be of  immense help to us.
Our strikers are lacking in speed off and on the ball. Today’s football requires quickness, a player must be fast and technically and tactically sound to cope. We saw how swiftly  Fernando Torres scored against us. Before our defender could raise his foot, the striker had already nodded the ball into the net. Our attackers require to be fast and sharp”, he said.
The former Eagles goalkeeper trainer, said he is a strong believer in youth development programme and he therefore, advised for the development of the youth by the nation’s football authorities.
He however commended the Super eagles Coach Stephen Keshi saying, “technically, Keshi has done well by bringing the team up-to the level they are now from nowhere.
Nobody gave them the chance against Uruguay  and Spain. So the good thing about this tournament is that they should see it as a pre-World Cup tournament which is going to give them room to improve ahead of the remaining World Cup qualifier”

FRSC introduces e-ticketing for traffic offence

Abuja – The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in partnership with the United Bank for Africa (UBA), on Tuesday, inaugurated e-ticketing to facilitate easy booking of motorists for road traffic offences.
Speaking at the inauguration, Mr Osita Chidoka, the Corps Marshal of the FRSC, said the bank had donated the first set of 60 hand-held devices for the e-ticketing.
According to him, 10 other devices have been donated by another bank for the programme.
Chidoka said the e-ticketing would initially take off as a pilot scheme in Lagos, Rivers and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He said that with the introduction of the system, the FRSC would gradually move away from the conventional method of booking traffic offenders, which he described as obsolete and time-consuming.
The corps marshal said the new system would enable the FRSC to track habitual offenders, improve data management and reduce time spent in booking offenders.
“It will also enhance the capacity of the FRSC to confront road traffic offenders,’’ he added.
He said the commission was in partnership with UBA in sensitising motorists to the dangers of receiving or making phone calls and sending messages while driving.
Mr Kennedy Uzoka, the Deputy Managing Director of UBA, said that the bank was ready to work with the FRSC to save lives.
“We have been looking for partners to save lives and we found the FRSC; we chose the FRSC because of its impact at the national level.
“We can use technology to change the way people behave but texting while driving is very dangerous,” he said.
In an interview with newsmen, Prof. Robert Boroffice, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Science and Technology, urged motorists to desist from using the phone while driving as the habit was a major cause of road accidents.
“If you take the statistics of lives and property lost on the road you will find out that the number is even more than the number of lives lost through AIDs and other pandemic diseases,’’ he said.
Boroffice commended the FRSC for introducing the e-ticketing, saying it is in line with the cashless policy of the present administration.
“The system will also reduce fraud, so the issue of somebody shortchanging the Federal Government or the FRSC does not arise. It is a good initiative.’’ (NAN)
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Uduaghan sends football champions abroad

Ogedegbe Primary School in Warri could soon be more than a Primary school. Kids from the school won this year’s Channels Kids Soccer Competition in Lagos.
And for that Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan , in line with his sports development programme, plansd to transform the school into a special football nursery that will also take their school work seriously.
Interestingly, Dr. Uduaghan was a special guest in the final of the competition with Babatunde Fashola, the Governor of Lagos State.

He watched the team from his state lift the trophy and he invited them to the Governor’s Cup final in Warri, May 29.
And yesterday, he visited the school during the inspection of ongoing projects in Delta State. He expressed delight that the school, which produced the likes of Wilson Oruma, has been some kind of a breeding ground for football and said the following to them:
‘’I want to thank you for making Warri proud when you won the Channels Cup which was live on television. I decided to visit you during break time in order not to disrupt your school programme. You played good football during the competition.
I followed you throughout and watched the final. You made us proud. I want to assure the kids that the government will encourage any one who wants to take to football as a career. We will expand your football field to make it a standard one, help in training the kids and boost the football tradition here.
We will send the Channels Kids to a summer school abroad where they could train and also do summer school work. It is part of the training and exposure that I hope will help in developing the kids.’’
Uduaghan promised to pay stipends to the parents of the players to assist in providing them good nutrition for good growth.
Headmistress of the school, Philomena Onoherhe thanked the Governor for his leadership qualities and said that they have been inspired to do more in the area of sports and academics.

CAF Appoints Keita For Eagles/Elephants Match

The Confederation of African Football, CAF, has appointed Malian official, Mahamadou Keita as centre referee for the 2014 African Nations Championship qualifying match between Nigeria and Ivory Coast, billed for Saturday next week in Kaduna.

Keita, 30, became an international referee in 2009.
He will be assisted by compatriots Moriba Diakite, 33 (Assistant Referee 1), Nouhoum Bamba, 35 (Assistant Referee 2) and Ousmane Sidibe, 39 (Reserve Referee).
The Match Commissioner is Idrissa Sarr, a renowned former FIFA-graded referee from Mauritania.
For the return leg in Abidjan on July 27, CAF has appointed officials from Morocco to take charge. Noureddine el Jaafari, a 35-year old who became an international referee only this year, will be at the centre, to be assisted by compatriots Bouazza Rouani, 39 (Assistant Referee 1), Youssef Mabrouk, 38 (Assistant Referee 2) and Khalid Ennouni, 40 (Reserve Referee).The Match Commissioner will be Kossi Adjodo from Togo.

2014 CHAN: Keshi calls up Agbim, 23 others for Ivory Coast Tie

Keshi

Super Eagles’ Head Coach, Stephen Keshi has swiftly turned his attention to the 2014 African Nations Championship qualifying match against Ivory Coast, by calling up 24 home boys for the game billed for next weekend.
Even as the African champions were ruing several missed chances in the 3-0 defeat to World and European champions, Spain at the FIFA Confederations Cup tournament in Brazil, Keshi pencilled down goalkeeper Chigozie Agbim, defenders: Azubuike Egwuekwe, Godfrey Oboabona, Solomon Kwambe and Benjamin Francis, midfielders: Emeka Eze and Sunday Mba and forward: Muhammad Gambo from the squad that were with him in Brazil, he added 14 more from Nigeria’s top flight and two from the lower division.
Others in the squad are goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi, defender Kunle Odunlami and striker Obinna Nwachukwu and Gomo Onduku who were part of the team’s training camp in Germany ahead of the international friendly with Mexico in Texas, USA.
Defender Chibuzor Okonkwo, no stranger to the senior team camp, is joined by familiar faces Umar Zango and Ezekiel Bassey, Ayo Saka and Anthony Okputu.
Nigeria Professional Football League top scorer, Dele Olorundare of Sunshine Stars is joined by former junior international midfielder, Olufemi Oladapo.
New faces are: Mohammed Ajia of Bayelsa United, Enyimba FC’s Ifeanyi Edeh, Pius Samson of Ranch Bees, Festus Ajah of Union Bank FC and Warri Wolves’ Etebo Oghene.
The players are expected to report at the Bolton White Apartments, Abuja on Sunday, 30 June, 2013.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, has announced that the match will be played at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna on Saturday, 6th July.
“We are happy for the favourable response from the Kaduna State Government, and we have also approached the National Sports Commission for permission to use the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna for the encounter.
“The grass is excellent and the entire facility is so well-maintained. The Super Eagles will find the place comfortable,” Barrister Musa Amadu, NFF General Secretary who was in Kaduna on Monday, said.
LIST OF INVITED PLAYERS:
Goalkeepers: Chigozie Agbim (Warri Wolves); Daniel Akpeyi (Heartland FC).
Defenders: Azubuike Egwuekwe (Warri Wolves); Godfrey Oboabona (Sunshine Stars); Benjamin Francis (Heartland FC); Kunle Odunlami (Sunshine Stars); Ezekiel Bassey (Lobi Stars); Umar Zango (Kano Pillars); Solomon Kwambe (Sunshine Stars); Chibuzor Okonkwo (Enugu Rangers)
Midfielders: Sunday Mba (Enugu Rangers); Ayo Saka (Enyimba FC); Olufemi Oladapo (3SC); Emeka Eze (Enugu Rangers); Mohammed Ajia (Bayelsa United)
Forwards: Muhammad Gambo (Kano Pillars); Obinna Nwachukwu (Heartland FC); Gomo Onduku (Bayelsa United); Ifeanyi Edeh (Enyimba FC); Anthony Okputu (Lobi Stars); Pius Samson (Ranch Bees); Festus Ajah (Union Bank); Etebo Oghene (Warri Wolves); Dele Olorundare (Sunshine Stars)

Robbers kill Ogun Vigilante Services operatives

A gang of suspected armed robbers on Friday night killed five operatives of the Ogun State Vigilante Service at Onihale, Ifo in Ifo Local Government Area of the state.

The operatives were said to be part of the security personnel guarding a filling station at Onihale area, a satellite town of Ifo.

A witness, who pleaded anonymity said the robbers, numbering about 20 who operated in an unmarked lorry caught men of the vigilante services unawares.

It was learnt that some policemen attached to the State Anti-Robbery Squad arrived the scene and exchanged fire with the robbers.

Two of the dead vigilante operatives identified as Nurudeen Kasali, the leader of the team and one Akeem popularly called Omo Iya Laja had already been buried in Ifo on Saturday while the identity of their three other colleagues had yet to be revealed as at press time.

The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the robbery attack but said only two persons were killed.

Adejobi, a deputy superintendent of police, added that the robbers escaped with varying degrees of bullet wounds which they sustained during the gun duel with policemen.

The PPRO also said items recovered from the vehicle abandoned by the fleeing robbers following included one pump action gun, two double- barrelled guns, one phoenix pistol, 34 live ammunition of the pistol, five empty magazines of AK 47 rifle, a sledge hammer as well as three cars.

Adejobi also said 250 expended shells of AK47 rifle were recovered from the scene of the robbery.

The police however appealed to all medical practitioners, both traditional and orthodox, to inform the police in case anybody approaches their hospitals to treat bullet wounds.

Maku mourns Daily Trust MD; says death a huge loss to journalism

ABUJA—Information Minister, Mr. Labaran Maku, has described the death of the Managing Editor of Daily Trust Newspaper, Mallam Suleiman Mohammed, as a huge loss to the journalism profession.
The minister stated this in Abuja when he paid a condolence visit to the management and staff of the newspaper.
He said the deceased worked hard to uplift the standard of the profession and showed exemplary character as well as uncommon commitment to journalism.
He remarked that the people of Nasarawa State, where the deceased hailed from also share from the loss, as a young state that is in need of manpower, especially in the media to complement the projection of the image of the state and its citizens.
The minister also condoled the family of the deceased and prayed God to strengthen and give them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

JTF nabs eight suspects over SPDC pipeline inferno

YENAGOA — The Joint Task Force, JTF, in the Niger Delta code-named Operation Pulo Shield, Sunday, said its operatives have arrested eight persons in connection with the recent fire outbreak at a Shell Petroleum Development Company, SDPC, pipeline in Bodo West, Gokana Local Government Area, Rivers State.
Also, five suspected crude oil thieves were nabbed in two separate raids in the creek of the delta.
Spokesman of the Task Force, Lt. Col Onyema Nwachukwu in a statement in Yenagoa said the arrest of the eight suspects was effected by troops of 146 Battalion of Sector 2 of the JTF.
Nwachukwu said the troops who sighted the fire at about 1.30 am on Wednesday mobilised to the scene where they found the suspects in two tug boats.
He said the suspects upon interrogation,  claimed to be employees of Steve Integrated Technical Service and Sege Marine hired by Shell Petroleum Development Company to fix broken pipelines in Bodo.
The suspects, he said, are currently in Sector 2 Headquarters for preliminary investigations, adding that they will be handed over to an appropriate prosecuting agency if found culpable at the end of the investigations.
Also, troops deployed at Sanbarth have arrested two suspects who specialized in vandalising oil pipelines along Kalamabo and Opukula communities in Akuku Toru council area of Rivers State.
The suspects, Fineface  Shedrack and Solomon Doutimiti, identified as serial pipeline vandals and illegal oil distillers, according to the JTF spokesman, were arrested by troops of 130 Battalion of Sector 2 after three nights of ambush.
According to Lt. Col Nwachukwu, the suspects were hacking into Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) pipelines located in the said community when they were nabbed.
Items including an open boat containing pipe hacking equipment were recovered from the suspects, he said.
“The Commanding Officer who conducted the operation, Lt Col Caius Baushe, has called on SPDC to conduct an assessment exercise on the pipeline, noting that the level of excavation and possible touch on the pipeline cannot be ascertained due to high tide that covered the entire area,” he said.
On its operations in the Western Delta he said, its operatives deployed in 3 Battalion of Sector 1 of the JTF also nabbed three suspects running 3 illegal oil distillery camps in Opumani Gbekebor, Beneth Island of Warri South Local Government Area of Delta state and Agbede forest in Edo state.
He said the suspects were arrested during an anti illegal oil bunkering operation with 4 metal tanks, 236 drums and 13 pumping machines at the illegal oil distillation sites.
According to him, five dug out pits used by the oil theft suspects to store stolen crude oil at the illegal distillation camps were also sealed up by the troops.
The suspects, Samson Kristo, Lawrence Pius and Powede Clerk, who are currently helping in preliminary investigations at the Headquarters 3 Battalion he said will be handed over to the appropriate prosecuting agency.
“During the operation, the troops also intercepted twenty seven open boats used by oil thieves to convey illegally distilled products along Chanomi West in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta state,” the JTF Spokesman said.

Operators assess Dangote’s leadership and market development

The Nigerian Stock market has improved  in the last one year as performance indicators, market capitalization and All Share Index moved up by about 76 per cent each.
This is coming barely one year after Alhaji Dangote Aliko, returned as President of Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
An analysis of the market as at the end of trading  Thursday last week  showed that the market capitalization closed at N11.875 trillion while the All share Index ended 36,963.77.points, while market capitalization stood at N6.56 billion.
In the period between August 5, 2010 and June 18, when there was an interim president, Mallam Ballama Manu, there was a huge sell down due to high level of investors’ apathy. The NSE All-Share Index lost 18.2 per cent, falling from 25,715.39 to close at 21,028.37.
The height of uncertainty in the market was said to have led to the sell-down observed during this period. However, the trend changed after Dangote resumed. The first three months in office saw the Index rising  by 21.6 per cent.
Global comparison
On global scale, Nigerian market topped other global indices in the green zone during the Dangote’s regime; leading the continent with  89 per cent  followed by Kenya with 56.20 per cent  of one year return.
Furthermore, African continent rode on the back of these performance to close with one year average return of 30.12 per  cent  gain. Among other continents, Asia recorded lowest one year average returns of 4.55 per cent while the advanced countries (G7) recorded one year average gain of 19.10 per cent to close second.
Shareholders’ remarks
In his own assessment, the President of Association for the Advancement of Rights of Nigerian Shareholders, Dr. Faruk Umar, said “Dangote’s ability to support the election of a first vice president, who may likely succeed him, indicates the kind of solid foundation Dangote is laying. The fact that he is the richest person in Africa and the 25th richest in the world gives international investors the confidence to invest in the Nigerian capital market.”
Similarly, the President, Proactive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Oderinde Taiwo said the performance is worth celebrating because while the market capitalisation rose by 77 per cent, there are some other stocks that have recorded higher growth within one year that Dangote assumed office.
He added that “the growth recorded so far came from positive initiatives supported by the Council led by Dangote. These include the reconstitution of the Council members. A market segmentation exercise from 33 to 32 sectors was completed to rebrand and reposition Nigerian stock market among its counterparts. A series of new products were introduced. Among them are the SIM Capital Alliance Value Fund, the ABSA NewGold ETF and the NSE-Lotus Islamic Index.