Arsenal’s backup goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez is set to leave the Gunners this summer.
Martinez’s performance while standing in for injured Bernd Leno last season, adjudged impressive, sparked intense debates among Arsenal fans about who should be the first choice goalkeeper after seeing the Argentine’s ability.
Arsenal chief, Mikel Arteta is however keen on doing everything possible to keeping the back up goalkeeper offering a new deal.
The Argentine, who was also very crucial to Arsenal’s triumph in the FA Cup and Community shield was said to have turned down the latest contract offer as he is focused only on a deal that gets him more regular first-team football.
A major factor fuelling Martinez’s decision to quit the Arsenal side is Bernd Leno’s return to action. The first-team favoured goalkeeper’s return would see him start ahead of Martinez in Arsenal’s Saturday game against London neighbours, Fulham.
It is likely that Martinez joins Aston Villa if he pushes through quiting Arsenal after the former tabled two bids for the 28-year-old.
Amidst interest from Laliga side Villareal, reports suggested that Martinez would prefer to stay in England .
Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hekeem Odumosu, has approved the appointment of a Judicial Liaison Officer (JLO) for the command to work with the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, agencies, relevant non-governmental organisation and civil society organisations to promote smooth and prompt dispensation of justice in the state.
The commissioner thus appointed Cardoso Yetunde, OC Legal Lagos State, to liaise between the council and agencies and the police to make sure the command’s Human Rights Desk is active; and always expedite actions on cases and matters related to administration of justice in the state.
Odumosu, in a statement by the Police Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, stated this on Thursday while receiving in his Ikeja office a delegation from the Legal Aid Council, South-west Zone led by Lateefat Salawu.
He assured the council of his commitment to support its efforts on the Police Duty Solicitors Scheme (PDSS) which provides enabling atmosphere for easy access to police facilities and suspects by designated members of the council.
Responding, Salawu, who was accompanied by the representatives of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Lagos State chapter, Okey Ilofulunwa, European Union, among others commended the police chief for his proactiveness and spontaneous response to issues and protection of lives and property.
She also promised that the council would work in partnership with the police to ensure prompt dispensation of justice to strengthen the Criminal Justice System in the state.
A sitting Judge of of the High Court, Queens Bench Division in charge of the Administrative Court, Ross Cranston, has ordered P&ID to make a substantial interim payment within 21 days to cover legal costs the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) incurred as part of the country’s recent successful application for the extension of time to challenge the arbitration award and procedural hearing.
Though a case management conference to determine the full trial window is scheduled to take place after November 2020, the Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations in the Office of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, described the latest development as a crucial win.
According to him, “This is another crucial win for Nigeria in our ongoing fight against the vulture-fund-backed P&ID. We are pleased that the English Courts have taken our fraud challenge seriously, and awarded us a substantial interim payment in respect of our successful application for an extension of time to challenge the award.
“This is a significant blow for P&ID, who continue to attempt to delay the process.
“To date, P&ID and its financial backer VR Capital have not produced a single document or credible witness to challenge FRN’s fraud evidence.
“Instead, P&ID has continued to resort to disseminating misleading claims, while taking every step possible to delay or obstruct our investigations across multiple jurisdictions.
“FRN remains firmly committed to overturning the injustice of the $10 billion award, and will not rest until we secure justice for the people of Nigeria – no matter how long it takes.
“Investigations into GSPA are ongoing, and we are confident that more of the truth will be revealed over the coming months.”
In a related development, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has said FRN is not considering any possibility of negotiations with P&ID.
Malami, in a statement by Gwandu, said: “There will be no negotiation or talk of settlement with P&ID or any related party by or on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“The recent judgment of the English Commercial Court confirmed our view
that P&ID and its cohorts are fraudsters who have exploited our country. They will not benefit from their corrupt behaviour.
“This is a classic case with overwhelming fraudulent and corrupt undertones. The Federal Government of Nigeria is not considering any possibility of negotiations with P&ID.
“It is has not only fallen within the tall order exception referred to by the Hon. Attorney General in his interview with Arise TV yesterday, but lacks any legitimate foundation.
“We will not and cannot negotiate arbitral awards where the basis and foundation rely on fraud, corruption, breach of processes and procedures.
“The Government remains wholly committed to fighting this case to overturn the exorbitant award without paying a single naira of public money to these fraudsters.”
Nigeria has overtaken India as the world capital for deaths of children under the age of five.
This was based on the 2020 mortality estimates released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), indicating that Nigeria recorded 209,000 neonatal deaths in 1990 – a 61,000 increase compared to 270,000 deaths in 2019.
In the same vein, the figures for number of deaths among children aged five to 14 also increased from 104,000 in 1990 to 119,000 in 2019.
The report explained that while child deaths were uneven across regions, the situation is worse in sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia.
It added that while the pandemic had limited direct impact on child mortality, countries worldwide are now experiencing disruptions in child and maternal health services due to resource constraints and a general uneasiness with using health services due to a fear of contracting novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).
The World Bank had in 2018 said Nigeria would take over from India as the world capital for deaths of children under the age of five by 2021.
The bank’s report was based on the fact that India, with a population of 1.3 billion recorded 989,000 under-five deaths in 2017, while Nigeria, with 196 million citizens recorded 714,000 deaths in the same year.
Speaking on the development, UNICEF Director, Henrietta Fore, said: “The global community has come too far towards eliminating preventable child deaths to allow the COVID-19 pandemic to stop us in our tracks.
“If the child survival targets are to be met on time, resources and policy must be geared toward not only sustaining current rates of decline but also accelerating progress, which would save millions of lives.
“If the trends from 2010 to 2019 continue, 53 countries will not meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target on under-five mortality on time – if all countries were to meet that target, 11 million under-five deaths would be averted from 2020 to 2030.
“Achieving the child survival goals and heading off a reversal of progress in child survival in 2020 will require universal access to effective, high-quality and affordable care and the continued, safe provision of life-saving interventions for women, children, and young people.
“If all countries reach the SDG child survival targets by 2030, 11 million lives under age five will be saved – more than half of them in sub-Saharan Africa.”
In its bi-annual economic update on Nigeria, the World Bank said Nigeria records the highest number of child malaria deaths anywhere in the world, adding that Nigeria had the highest number of out-of-school children anywhere in the world, and that 90 per cent of these children are from Northern Nigeria.
“Nigeria’s weak revenue mobilisation has major implications for its growth and development, including for improving its dire social service delivery outcomes.
“Poverty remains high in Nigeria and access to basic social services is not universal. In 2016, the World Bank estimated poverty at 38.8 per cent of the population using the national poverty line.
“By international poverty line of PPP-corrected $1.90 per capita per day, an estimated 49.2 per cent of the population lived below poverty in 2017,” World Bank said.
Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) in African private sector have expressed optimism about the future of the continent.
In a survey, which was commissioned by the Pan-African Private Sector Trade and Investment Committee (PAFTRAC), and conducted by African Business magazine in partnership with the Afreximbank, to gauge the private sector view around trade, the research highlighted the private sector’s desire for considerable reforms to make the global trade rules system fairer and more transparent.
Two hundred CEOs were surveyed around issues concerning the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and trade in general.
It was done in light of the next phase of ongoing consultations to select the institution’s next Director General. Three of the eight candidates are African: Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Kenya’s Amina Mohamed and Egypt’s Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh.
The CEOs were also optimistic about the future outlook: over 50 per cent of the CEOs believed global trade would increase over the next 12 months; and over 70 per cent of CEOs believe intra-africa trade would increase over the next 12 months.
The survey covered a number of areas which revealed a general consensus that the current rules penalise the African continent and its private sector.
86.6 per cent of the respondents understand the role of WTO in global trade. However, majority of the CEOs believed WTO is not effective in fulfilling its role.
As much as infrastructure, logistics and human capital were cited as two major constraints to growth in Africa, the CEOs also noted the skewed international trade regime as another key constraint.
President of Afreximbank, Benedict Oramah, said: “As the pan-African trade finance bank, Afreximbank has been mandated to host PAFTRAC secretariat. Any reform needs to support a burgeoning African private sector and an increasingly integrated Africa.
“We have seen, over the past quarter of a century since WTO was formed, the emergence of a robust and dynamic African private sector, and more recently significant steps to integrate Africa under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
“WTO and its new leadership will need to recognise the imperative of African integration and put development at the centre of any trade agenda.”
Interestingly, if the majority of CEOs believed that the global trading system was unfair, most also see the multilateral system strengthening in the coming years.
They outlined a set of reforms that should be undertaken for a fairer and more transparent trading system, including in the areas of voice and participation, tariffs and non-tariff barriers, agriculture and subsidies.
Speaking on the matter, PAFTRAC Chair, Pat Utomi, stated that unless reform was forthcoming the current global crisis may penalise the African private sector even further.
“We have seen during this pandemic companies in the industrialised world have received massive bailouts, tax incentives, not to mention government contracts and fiscal stimuli.
“Companies in Africa were not so fortunate and will have to deal with a world where trade will be depressed because of the post-covid environment. As such, a fairer global trade environment and trading system is more urgent today than ever,” he said.
The survey as well as a debate around a communiqué to be sent to all candidates who are in the race for the directorship of WTO would be presented at a webinar to be hosted by Afreximbank.
PAFTRAC unites African leaders from the private sector and provides a unique advocacy platform bringing together the African private sector and African policymakers to support extra and intra-African trade, investment and pan-African enterprise.
The platform drives pan-African results by providing a framework for private sector engagement in trade and investment issues in Africa, including policy formulation and trade negotiations to support African economies in line with the ambitions of Agenda 2063: “The Africa We Want.”
PAFTRAC enhances advocacy and supports policy actions and recommendations of the private sector on trade; and investment issues at the national, trade corridor, regional and multilateral levels.
President Buhari receives in Thank You Visit President of African Development Bank Dr Akinwunmi Adesina in State House on 10th Sep 2020
President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has described President Muhammadu Buhari as his Supporter-in-Chief and his Defender-in-Chief.
He said Nigeria gave him air, “when I badly needed it in my lungs,” and pledged to always support the country in his private capacity, and as AfDB President.
President Buhari receives in Thank You Visit President of African Development Bank Dr Akinwunmi Adesina in State House on 10th Sep 2020
Adesina had to battle stiff opposition last month to win an unprecedented 100 per cent votes from the regionals and non-regionals that make up the bank, and was inaugurated for second term of five years as AfDB President on September 1.
He thanked Buhari and Nigerians for their support, saying he was proud to be a citizen of the country.
“Home is where dreams are born. Home is where nurturing is provided. It is where support is given for realisation of dreams. I am glad to belong here.
“When I came in June, you received me, and I shared my successes, and the difficulties facing me. You listened, and said you would stand by me. And you did. You not only stood behind me, but also beside me. No greater honour for a man than for his Commander-in-Chief to be his Supporter-in-Chief, and his Defender-in-Chief,” Adesina said, while paying courtesy visit to Buhari at State House in Abuja on Thursday.
President Buhari receives in Thank You Visit President of African Development Bank Dr Akinwunmi Adesina in State House on 10th Sep 2020
In his remarks, Buhari gave extensive reasons for supporting the newly re-elected President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina.
Buhari said: “I congratulate you on your second and final term in office. Congratulations on winning the election. Nothing succeeds like success.
“I have told so many people why I backed you.
“In 2015, at your first term, you were a Minister with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) government, and I was of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“But you are a good Nigerian. So I recommended you the first time. You proved to be competent, you made us proud, and I recommended you the second time.”
The President commended Adesina for his support for Africa in general, and Nigeria in particular, noting that the infrastructural deficits the country has in roads, rail, power, could not be overcome without support.
“There can’t be sustainable development without infrastructure. Our efforts should be seen in the context of lack of resources, but you do your best to support us. I wish you all the best in your final term,” Buhari said, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina.
Ogun State House of Assembly has acknowledged a correspondence from the State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun proposing an amendment to the State Parks and Garages Development Agency Bill.
The Speaker, Rt. Hon. Olakunle Oluomo who read the Governor’s letter dated 2nd September, 2020 before the lawmakers at the plenary held at the Assembly Complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, forwarded the proposed amendment to the House Committee on Transportation for further legislative actions.
Also at the plenary, a member representing Abeokuta North State Constituency, Hon. Modupe Mujota submitted a petition from the residents of Ipaya/Akintunde Communities in Idi-Emi on the need for the reconstruction of the two access bridges linking the communities, which were washed away recently by flood.
Responding, Oluomo directed the petition to the Committees on Transportation and Environment to examine the petitions with a view to addressing all issues raised by the concerned residents.
In another development, the State House of Assembly played host to the National Executive members of the Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria led by its National President, Comrade Augustine Agbo Apeh, with a task to them to engage the State Ministry of Transportation on how to carry out their operation in the State.
Oluomo who reiterated that the State remained open to synergy and working relationship with law abiding unions and associations in all sectors of the State’s economy, pointed out that the State already had two tricycle unions in operations.
In his remarks, Comrade Augustine Agbo Apeh noted that the visit was to partner with the Assembly with a view to adding more value to tricycle operations and its management in the State, assuring that the union was ready to work together with related unions in the State.
As part of ways to proffer long term solutions to Nigeria’s health care challenges, the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) on Wednesday engaged stakeholders in the Nigerian health sector on the topic Looking Beyond COVID-19 in Developing Nigeria’s Healthcare System.
The virtual web conferencing was organized by the Department of Economic Development and Social Studies of NILDS, and had in attendance, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe; Director, Health Planning, Research and Statistics, Dr Geoferry Okatubo; Executive Director, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency; Dr. Faisal Shuaib; Vice President, Nigerian Medical Association, Prof. Razaq Adebayo and Director General, NILDS, Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman as Chief host among other eminent personalities.
The engagement appraised the critical aspects of the health sector under different health care categories such as primary, secondary and tertiary. Also, practical solutions to underlining problems in the Nigerian health sector formed part of the discourse.
At the end of the program, discussants and participants made recommendations to relevant policy makers, National and State Assemblies on how the nation can develop a resilient health sector that can withstand the present and future pandemic.
A photo collage of National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) logo and Nigeria's Minister of Labour and Productivity, Sen. Chris Ngige. Photo - Channels Television.
The Federal Government has approved additional N8.9 billion to pay up the large chunk of the June 2020 COVID-19 allowance to all Medical Health Workers in the country.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, during the meeting between the Federal Government and the Nigeria Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) where a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by both parties on Wednesday in Abuja.
NARD, which had embarked on a total and an indefinite strike in all Federal and State hospitals in the country demands payment of Medical Residency Training funding to all members as approved in the revised 2020 Budget, provision of genuine Group Life Insurance and Death in Service Benefits for all health workers.
The demands by the association also include payment of outstanding April/May and June COVID-19 inducement allowance, determination of revised hazard allowance for all health workers as agreed in previous meetings with relevant stakeholders, immediate payment of salary shortfall of 2014, 2015 and 2016, among others.
According to the Minister of Labour, payment of Special Hazard and Inducement Allowance has been concluded.
Ngige stated that the meeting was satisfied that the N20 billion already appropriated in 2020 COVID-19 budget has been exhausted.
He said the meeting, therefore, commended the Federal Government and Mr President for approving additional N8.9bn to pay up the large chunk of the June 2020 COVID-19 allowance to all Medical Health Workers.
He explained that the approval has been cash backed and the mandate sent to the Central Bank of Nigeria for payments to start with effect from Sept. 9, bringing the total disbursement to about N288 billion.
For the review of a Permanent Hazard Allowance for Health Workers, Ngige noted that discussion would commence after consultation with all stakeholders in the health sector.
Based on the principles of ability to pay, this would cover all health workers in a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and that the meeting would be convened as soon as possible in that regards, Ngige said.
Speaking on the Provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Ngige said NARD had agreed that the Hospitals and Isolation Centres, have sufficient PPE.
He noted that government had paid the total sum of N9.3 billion (Nine billion, Three Hundred Million Naira) to Insurance Companies for Life Group Insurance and payment of death benefits for Health Workers and for the payment of death-in-service benefit to next of kin/beneficiaries.
Ngige added that the enrollment for the Group Life Insurance would be by the submission of nominal rolls by the various Health Institutions, which NARD had been mandated at previous meeting to accomplish.
Also decided at the meeting was that NARD should submit copies of claims already made to the Insurance Companies through the hospitals to the Ministry of Health for onward transmission to the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation that would ensure that the Insurance Companies pay the claims, adding that the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment should also be copied in that regards.
Pertaining to the Universal implementation of the Medical Residency Training Act in all Federal and State Hospitals, the Minister said the 2020 Appropriation Act was revised due to COVID-19 pandemic.
He explained further that the N4 billion appropriated for Residency Training under a wrong heading for Medical Residency Training was to be vired before expenditure.
He said the process of amendment is therefore ongoing and is expected that this process and cash backing would be through in two weeks.
For the payment of outstanding 2014, 2015, and 2016 arrears, the meeting recalled that it had been agreed that the issue will be further discussed post COVID-19 and therefore, no agreement was breached.
The issue of Consequential Adjustment of the National Minimum Wage was also discussed as government promised to pay all owed arrears to members of the association including those in States Tertiary Health Institutions.
“It was noted that those affected were the Youth Corps Members and House Officers, who are regarded as ad hoc staff and for State Hospitals, the Federal Government can only be persuasive.
“It was recalled that NARD had been assigned the responsibility to submit a list from the defaulting hospitals to the Federal Ministry of Health for onward transmission to the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, ” Ngige said.
However, the minister noted that parties agreed to the autonomy of states within the Federation, and as such, the issue of domestication of the Residency Training Act will be at the prerogative of State Governments.
According to him, the meeting agreed that the issue would be tabled at the National Economic Council and National Council of Health to persuade the states to domesticate the Act.
He also noted that on the issue Health Workers in the Medical Centres attached to Universities that the meeting agreed that workers had been tied with the ongoing strike by Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and negotiations concerning them would be on a different platform involving Federal Ministry of Education.
“In view of these Understandings, NARD will consult with her Executive Council within the next 24hours with a view to calling off the strike by September 10, 2020.
“Nobody will be victimized for any activity connected with or for participating in the industrial action,” Ngige said.
While giving his view of the meeting, NARD National President
Dr Sokomba Aliyu, said that the meeting was successful as a lot of pledges and agreements were reached with timeline.
“Following the outcome of this meeting, we are hoping that all of that will address the concerns of our members, so we shall be convoking a meeting immediate with our members on the way forward,” he said.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that government agencies present at the meeting were representatives from Ministry of Health, Finance, Budget and National Planning and National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission.
A Nigeria’s leading entertainment television station, Silverbird Television, has signed on to broadcast one live English Premier League match per week over the course of the 2020/2021 season.
The deal was signed with Integral, current free-to-air rights holder for the Premier League matches in Nigeria.
Integral secured its rights in a sub-licence deal from Infront Sports & Media agency, substantive rights holder for free-to-air distribution rights in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Integral currently has a similar deal with national broadcaster, NTA, and would now be adding Silverbird TV as an additional broadcaster partner.
Silverbird would air one of the 3pm fixtures each Saturday on its free-to-air channel, while it would also show a handful of Premier League produced magazine programmes weekly.
Commenting on the deal, the Managing Director of Integral, Abimbola Ilo, said: “We are once again pleased to be bringing the excitement of the English Premier League closer to its fans in Nigeria.
“Silverbird is an entertaining television station watched by millions of Nigerians and it’s only right that the most entertaining football league in the world is added to its roster.
“With the Premier League’s popularity in Nigeria, this is yet another opportunity for its passionate fans to get exciting up to date content on free-to-air TV”
Also speaking, the Chief Operating Officer of Silverbird Communications, Bola Salako, explained: “We at Silverbird are excited at the opportunity to avail our numerous viewers across Nigeria with select premium football matches from the most exciting league in the world – The English Premier League.
“Silverbird Television is primarily a family entertainment-oriented channel, and it is quintessential for us to ensure that our viewers get the best of every appropriate programming genre.
“Sports is a major part of our content offering and football in particular as the acclaimed ‘king of sports’ holds particular appeal to a large section of our target demographic.
“And with the new Premier League season on the horizon, we are looking forward to team up with Integral on this exciting new project of bringing premium sporting content to mass numbers of Nigerian viewers.”
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