By Igbaugba Ehigimetor

Several members of the Main Organising Committee (MOC) of the 20th National Sports Festival (NSF) have arrived in Benin City, ahead of the events commencement.

Musa Ebomhiana, a Project Manager in the LOCs Media and Communication Sub-Committee, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Benin.

He said the MOC members led by Nebeolisa Anako, who is MOC chairman, arrived in Benin on Wednesday evening ahead of the Friday arrival date for the festivals athletes and officials.

The arrival of the MOC members has put paid to the question of whether the festival would still hold in Benin or has been postponed as being insinuated in some quarters, Ebomhiana said.

He said in spite of this however the state was ready to host the rest of the country.

The Local Organising Committee (LOC) members, headed by the Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, met last (Wednesday) night to compare notes and it was all agreed that all is set for the hosting of the festival.

Everything needed are in place and I can only say that we are just waiting for the arrival of the athletes and their officials for the games, Ebomhiana stated.

NAN reports that the 20th NSF, which has suffered several postponements, is holding from Friday to April 14. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Kemi Akintokun

Team Edo on Wednesday overwhelmed Team Kaduna with 57 runs to emerge champions of the National Mens Cricket Championship in Benin City.

Peter Aho, the captain of Team Edo, attributed their victory to discipline and huge support from the Edo State Cricket Association.

We give the glory to God and we thank all our mentors and the leadership of the Edo State Cricket Association who have sacrificed and encouraged the team to this height.

We dedicate this victory to them, the member of the national under-19 Cricket World Cup team in South Africa in 2020 said.

Yahaya Ukwenya, President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, while speaking on the competition said the event has served its purpose.

Ukwenya said the opportunity to have more players drawn into the pool to be camped for the national assignments the country would be involved in later in the year was very key.

We set out to, among other things, use this event as a platform for the best players in the country to showcase their skills.

The national coach, Asanka Gurusinha, watched every match of this encounter with a team of selectors.

Soon our national camp will open for the assignments ahead with some new players invited based on their performance here, he said.

Mustapha Yussuff of Team Lagos was named the bowler of the series for bowling 16 wickets in four matches.

Selim Salau and Isaac Okpe from Edo and Kaduna state were adjudged the Fielder and Batsman of the event respectively.

Sylvester Okpe, the captain of Team Kaduna, was named the Most Valuable Player of the Championship.

Kofi Sagoe, the newly re-appointed Chairman of Lagos State Cricket Association, who was one of the selectors at the event, said the event has put some players under the spotlight.

Sagoe said the development would enrich the base of the national team.

He said:I think we should commend the work done by the Federation for constantly pushing the boundaries for developmental initiatives.

We have some learnings and have seen some more promising talents that should be mentored and groomed. This, I think, our national coach is equipped to bring about in them.

As for Lagos, our team was adjudged third, based on Net Run Rate, since there was no third-place match.

They are back in Lagos and had began technical analysis of our performance at this event, including some fixes that we hope will help us place better at the upcoming National Sports Festival.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that eight states - Lagos, Edo, Kwara, Anambra, Kaduna, Ebonyi, Rivers and Oyo -participated in the championship which began on March 22.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

Seouls metropolitan government said, on Thursday, it had notified the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of its bid to co-host the 2032 Summer Olympics with Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea.

The Seoul government said a written proposal on the joint hosting of the Olympics by Seoul and Pyongyang was submitted to the IOCs Future Host Commission.

The IOC selected Australias Brisbane as the preferred host for the 2032 Summer Olympics in a surprise move announced on Feb. 25.

The South Korean government and the Seoul city immediately expressed regrets at the decision and held consultations with the IOC, leading to the presentation of the co-hosting proposal, the metropolitan government said.

The government said it asked the IOC to continue to hold negotiations with other competing cities, as Brisbane has yet to be finally selected as the venue of the 2032 Olympics.

President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to cooperate to jointly host the 2032 Olympics through the Pyongyang Joint Declaration adopted in September 2018.

The metropolitan government said its co-hosting proposal contains a vision of Beyond the Line, Toward the Future and five major concepts, including cost reduction and minimal environmental damage, inter-Korean connection and peace and a combination of cutting-edge technologies and Korean culture.

In particular, the proposal elaborated on the realisation of global peace through sports and other positive ripple effects from the co-hosting of the Olympics by Seoul and Pyongyang, the government said. (Yonhap)

Source: NAN News

By Igbaugba Ehigimetor

The Edo State Traffic Management Agency (EDSTMA) says no fewer than 400 traffic personnel will be deployed in Benin metropolis during the 20th National Sports Festival (NSF).

Dennis Oloriegbe, the agencys Managing Director, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin on Thursday the move was to ensure asmooth flow of traffic during the event.

He said the personnel would also be involved inrescue and emergency operations, as well as assist visitors navigate their way during the event.

NAN reports that the 20th NSF tagged Edo 2020 is officially billed to begin on Friday and end on April 14.

A total of 8,000 athletes who are expected for the nations biggest sports fiesta, will start arriving in Edo from Friday.

The festivals opening ceremony is fixed for Tuesday.

While EDSTMA will deploy 200 of its staff for the operation, the rest are adhoc staff engaged for the purpose of the festival, Oloriegbe said.

He said the agency had commenced the installation of directional, parking and identification signages across the metropolis for the purpose of the festival.

If you move across the city this (Thursday) morning, you will see that we have started fixing directional signages, parking signages and identification signages.

We also started the training of adhoc staff who have been engaged to complement the 200 we will be deploying because the crowd will be massive.

We are working to ensure free flow of traffic during the festival, while parking will be banned in some areas in the city.

We are setting up information centres which will give visitors directions during the festival, just as we have also set up rescue and emergency teams that will attend to any issue of emergency.

Oloriegbe, however, noted that in spite of the concentration of its personnel within and around venues of the festival, other parts of the city would not be neglected.

We are not collapsing our operations in other parts of the state, he assured.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

Seven Hong Kong pro-democracy figures were convicted, on Thursday, for taking part in an unauthorised protest in 2019.

Prominent pro-democracy activist, Martin Lee, and media mogul, Jimmy Lai, were among those found guilty in a Hong Kong court.

It was not clear when the group would be sentenced.

The court decision was the latest blow for Hong Kongs pro-democracy movement, which Beijing has been cracking down on with a heavy hand.

In the last few months, especially since the introduction of the controversial national security law in June, numerous well-known activists have been handed lengthy prison sentences for relatively minor offences.

A number of Hong Kong activists fled to other countries in fear of prosecution.

On Tuesday, China approved an electoral reform which means voters would have less say in the make-up of Hong Kongs legislative bodies.

It effectively reduces the influence of the pro-democracy camp in the legislature.

Beijing has stated that it wants only what it calls patriots to govern in Hong Kong, namely politicians who support the central Chinese Communist government.

Hong Kong was handed over to China by Britain in 1997.

Under the agreements required for the transfer, the Chinese government allowed Hong Kong and its residents to retain many of the freedoms they had enjoyed as a British colony, including freedom of speech and a separate judiciary, until 2047. (dpa/NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Ifeanyi Nwoko

Member States and the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have been fully equipped to drive the process of migration and other related issues in the sub-region.

The capacity building project tagged Free Movement Of Persons And Migration In West Africa and powered by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and its partners, began in 2013 and was officially closed in Abuja on Thursday.

Speaking in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, Mr Tony Elumelu, Head, Border Management and Migration Division of ECOWAS said the project has equipped the Sub-region to handle its migration and free movement issues.

I will make bold to say that it has really achieved a lot. As we speak, member states have the capacity to drive the migration process in the region.

You can see that we have been able to strengthen the dialogue process. We have been able to institutionalize some thematic areas, the working group in border management, mixed migration.

We are also trying institutional some emerging issues like migration and climate change, migration and security.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the(FMM) project aimed at maximizing the development potential of free movement of persons and migration in West Africa by supporting implementation of the ECOWAS Free Movement of Persons Protocols and the ECOWAS Common Approach on Migration.

Giving more insight into the FMM Project, the ECOWAS Representative said that it aimed at ensuring the implementation of the free movement protocol and also ECOWAS common approach on Migration.

He added that part of the focus was to ensure that members of the community implement the rights of entry, residence and establishment and also related instrument in terms of migration beyond the region.

As at today, the project has enabled capacity building of ECOWAS Commission and also the member states, he said.

Also speaking in an interview, Farah Mohamed, FMM Project Coordinator in the office of the IOM, said that the project provided support to ECOWAS and its member states.

He pointed out that IOMs mandate was specifically to support dignified mobility, whether it is within ECOWAS as a region or between ECOWAS and the Continental Africa.

We have been working with the ECOWAS Free movement directorate in coming up with policies that will make it easy for member states to adopt and implement the 1979 free movement protocol, he said.

Mohamed added that at its inception in 2013, the project set out to implement the free movement protocol in three core components:

Strengthening the capacity of ECOWAS to develop and review policies for free movement, a case in point is the ECOWAS National Biometric Identity Card which we worked together with ECOWAS to create awareness.

Second component was on supporting member states in developing National Migration policies and thirdly was to work with the non-state actors and civil society across the block.

We worked with 13 CSOs in 13 member states. In Nigeria we worked with NAPTIP on counter trafficking and smuggling in persons, he said.

Going forward, the FMM coordinator said that the IOM now expects ECOWAS to better implement its free movement protocol.

Some of those present at the ceremony were: European Union Delegation, ECOWAS Commission and FMM West Africa consortium partners (IOM, International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the International Centre for Migration Policy Development)

Source: NAN News

By Emmanuel Oloniruha

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced Feb. 12, 2022 as the dates for the conduct of elections into the six area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Mr Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, who released the timetable in Abuja, on Wednesday, said the election would be for the offices of chairmen of six area councils and 62 councillorship seats in the FCT, whose tenure would expire in May 2022.

He said that the date was one of decisions reached at the Wednesday meeting of the Commission amidst other where wide ranging issues discussed.

Okoye explained that other issues discussed included the issuance of the timetable and schedule of activities for the conduct of FCT Councils election, the only local government polls that INEC conducts.

He disclosed that the collection of Forms EC9 (Formerly CF001) and EC9B (Formerly CF002) for the election would commence on April 1, while the conduct of party primaries and resolution of disputes arising from the primaries would hold between April 1 and April 24, 2021.

The personal particulars of the candidates will be published on June 5 and the parties will commence campaigns on Nov.14, Okoye said, adding that the final list of nominated candidates would be published on Jan. 11, 2022.

He said by virtue of Section 108 (1)

By Muftau Ogunyemi

Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State on Thursday, April 1, begins a 15-day working vacation, as the first installment of his 2021 Annual Leave.

This is contained in a statement made available to newsmen on Thursday in Akure by MrRichard Olatunde, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor.

The statement said that the governor had transmitted the development in a letter addressed to the Speaker of House of Assembly, Mr Bamidele Oleyelogun.

According to the statement, the leave will commence from Thursday, April 1 to Friday, April 23, 2021, both days inclusive.

While Gov. Akeredolu is away on vacation, the Deputy Governor, Mr Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa will perform the functions of the office of the Governor. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Collins Yakubu-Hammer

Citizen First Nigeria, a Civil Society Organisation, has condemned the attack on Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and an aspirant in the forthcoming Anambra governorship election.

MrJohn Alphabet, the founder of the organisation in a statement on Thursday in Abuja saidit was important to remind the good people of Anambra that politics is a game of principles, consultations, debates and campaigns.

Alphabet said that politics should not for any reason be turned into a fight that would result to irreplaceable loss of lives as some policemen attached to Soludo were reportedly shot dead by gunmen.

We admonish all actors in the politics of Anambra to imbibe the culture of civility and dignity for humanity and to remember the campaign slogan that says Election No Be War.

We sincerely condole with the families of these gallant officers who paid the ultimate price.

We also enjoin the Nigeria Police Force and other security operatives to ensure that the perpetrators of this dastardly act are brought to justice.

Nigeria is a democratic society and such should not be allowed to continue. Democracy is about the people making progressive decisions and not killing people, Alphabet said.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that it was widely reported that gunmen on Wednesday disrupted an interactive session between Isuofia youths and Soludo at the towns civic centre and three policemen on guard were reported to have been killed. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Solomon Asowata

Ikeja Electric (IE) Plc said it had metered only some 24,000 customers under the National Mass Metering Programme (NNMP) of the Federal Government flagged off in October 2020.

Mr Felix Ofulue, Head, Corporate Communications, IE, gave the figure at a news conference in Ikeja.

He said that 106,701 customers of the electricity distribution company had been scheduled to be installed with free prepaid meters under the phase zero of the NMMP.

Ofolue blamed the present situation on theslow pace of registration by its unmetered customers for the NMMP.

According to him, only 57 per cent of customers have so far completed the mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) online application.

The challenge we are having is that people are not going online to register. Only 57 per cent have done their KYC and some are even saying they dont want meters.

There is also the issue of separation of accounts by customers, which involves installation of their electrical connection to the required standard before they can be issued meters.

Some of them have refused to do that and we cannot issue one meter for instance for five flats because it can easily get damaged.

All those who are yet to register are enjoined to visit map.Ikejaelectric.com
to complete their registration as soon as possible, he said.

Ofulue said that without their registration, the DisCo would not be able to get more allocation under the next phase of the programme.

He said that the plan to bridge the metering gap in the country had been given a boost with the million funds from the World Bank.

The official advised customers to desist from attacking employees of the DisCo carrying out their official duties, warning that those involved would be prosecuted.

He urged the customers to help the DisCo to protect its electrical installations from vandals and energy thieves through its recently inaugurated whistleblower programme.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the government had on Oct. 30, 2020 flagged off the NMMP.

The programme is aimed at closing the metering gap in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry to a set target by December 2021.

It will assist in reducing collection losses, while at the same time increasing financial flows to achieve 100 per cent market remittance obligation of the DisCos.

Objectives of the scheme also include the elimination of arbitrary estimated billing, improving network monitoring capability and provision of data for market administration and investment decision-making.(NAN)

Source: NAN News