ONE WORD

Everything you need to live well Usain Bolt’s mission to become a professional footballer appears to have hit the skids, with the former Jamaican sprinter saying his “sports life is over”. Eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt made the declaration due to frustration in his bid to begin a post-athletics career in football. The star athlete walked out on his two-month trial with A-League strugglers Central Coast last year and admitted not everything about his pursuit for a professional contract was well thought out. “I don’t want to say it wasn’t dealt with properly, but I think we went about it, not the way we should,” he said. Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt (C), playing for A-League football club Central Coast Mariners, shoots on goal against Macarthur South West United in his first competitive start for the club in Sydney on October 12, 2018. (Photo by PETER PARKS / AFP) / — IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE — “It was a good experience. ...

The National Association of Nigerian Students NANS has tackled the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, over an alleged negligence to their welfare, which borders on payment of bursary, issuance of scholarship, improved condition of learning and grants for special students(Law and Medical students). The students body also raised the alarm to threat to lives of its leadership particularly of its President, Comrade Danielson Akpan. Addressing a press conference in Uyo on Tuesday, the NANs president said since the Akwa Ibom State Government has failed to honour the one week ultimatum issued it to pay up the bursary owed it’s students, the students have no option than to embark on massive protests. He also warned Governor Emmanuel to risk vote apathy from the students community if he fails to yield to their cause. Akpan recalled that since the ultimatum was issued to the state government on January 12, 2019, his executive members and himself have been inundated with hara...

….projects 2.28% economic growth in 2019 Babajide Komolafe and Emma Ujah The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday cautioned the federal government on the sharp increase in the size of the nation’s external debt which rose by 109 percent to $21.6 billion as at September 30th 2018, from $11.28 billion on June 30th, 2015. Mr Godwin Emefiele answering questions during his screening by the Senate for Central Bank Governorship in Abuja on Wednesday Meanwhile, the committee retained the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 14 percent. It also retained the Liquidity Ratio and Cash Reserve Ratio at 30 percent and 22.5 percent respectively. CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this while briefing the press on the outcome of yesterday’s meeting of the MPC in Abuja. He said, “On external borrowings, committee noted the increase in the debt level advising for caution, noting that it could fast be approaching the pre-2005 Paris Club ex...

(FILES) This file photo taken on May 14, 2018 shows Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn presiding over the annual royal ploughing ceremony outside Bangkok’s royal palace. Thailand’s king has issued a royal decree endorsing the first general election since a 2014 coup, the palace said January 23, with the date of the long-delayed poll expected to be announced within days. Panupong CHANGCHAI / THAI NEWS PIX / AFP Thailand’s king has issued a royal decree endorsing the first general election since a 2014 coup, with a date for the long-delayed poll expected later Wednesday. The election will be the first in the kingdom since the military toppled the administration of Yingluck Shinawatra, rewriting the constitution, muzzling all dissent and appointing key junta allies across the bureaucracy. “It’s a suitable time to hold an election of members of parliament,” said the decree by 66-year-old King Maha Vajiralongkorn, published in the Royal Gazette on Wednesday and countersigned by junta lea...

Mr. Gbenga Adene, Architect I won’t want to agree with former President Olusegun Obasanjo that President Muhammadu Buhari will rig the general election. President Buhari is a product of free and fair election, therefore, I expect him to have the decency to conduct one. The possible rigging that can happen will be ‘see and buy.’ President Muhammadu Buhari and former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo Buhari condones evil, corruption, Obasanjo says Mrs. John Funmilola, Caterer President Muhammadu Buhari has no reason whatsoever to rig the forthcoming presidential election. Any fear by the opposition elements that President Buhari has concluded plans to rig the election must be mere speculation. Mr. Sunday Oladoye Analyst I’m not sure about the accuracy of Obasanjo’s claim, but it might not be far from the truth,  considering the drama that played out before, during and after the elections in Ekiti and Osun states.The outburst from Obasanjo less than one month to ...

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has again lampooned President Muhammadu Buhari, saying the President has shown absolute incompetence, just as he condones evil and corruption under his government. He said this yesterday in an interview with BBC Pidgin English programme, insisting that Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, will perform twice better than Buhari if elected president. The former President is aggrieved that under Buhari, anyone could steal the country dry and go scot-free, as long as he belongs to the All Progressives Congress (APC). His words: “Atiku is not a messiah; he is not a saint. Fortunately, he has not claimed to be one. He has not claimed fake sanctimoniousness. He came here, acknowledged his past misdeeds and showed remorse. “I am a believer and a Christian and the teaching of God is to forgive so that we can be forgiven. In fact, it goes further that if you do not forgive, you have no right to expect God’s forgiv...

Confronting the “12 giant evils”: A responsive national policy alternativef bY Fola Adeola, MCIArb, OFR, mni. Recent public policy debates have put forward the idea that Nigeria’s policy options center around an Economic Growth versus Human Development Index (HDI) dichotomy. I am concerned that this juxtaposition sets up the false premise that the choice can ever, in fact, be binary – that it is possible for a good leader, or even one that aspires to simply average results, to choose either economic growth (usually expressed as GDP growth) OR human development (as represented by HDI) as the basis for a national policy – either because one is sufficient, in itself, or because the other will naturally follow. Fola AdeolaFola Adeola Proponents of an “economic growth” policy thrust put forward the position that if we just focus on growing the economy, human development will naturally follow. They would have us believe that the cure for what ails Nigeria is a leader who wil...