By Temitope Ponle

Ghana has solicited the support of ECOWAS to host the secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) in its capital, Accra, when the agreement comes into force.

Mrs Shirley Botchwey, Ghanaian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, made the request at the ongoing ECOWAS Parliament Delocalised Joint Committee Meeting in Accra, Ghana.

AfCFTA is a planned free trade area, outlined in the African Continental Free Trade Agreement among 49 of the 55 African Union nations.

The 18th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in January 2012, adopted a decision to establish a Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) by 2017.

The CFTA will bring together 54 African countries with a combined population of more than one billion people and a combined gross domestic product of more than $3.4 trillion dollars.

The first countries to ratify the agreement were Kenya and Ghana, while Gambia was signed ratified the agreement on April 2, making it the most recent country to do so.

This makes it the 22country to meet the threshold for the free trade area to formally exist.

The trade agreement is, reportedly, set to become operational a month after the required number of endorsements are deposited with the AU and Nigeria, Benin and Eritrea are yet to ratify the agreement.

The agreement also seeks to create the largest trade zone in the world, increase trade among African countries by 52 per cent and remove tariffs on 90 per cent of goods.

If the agreement comes into force, the secretariat will be responsible for coordinating the implementation of the agreement and shall be an autonomous body within the AU system and the Council of Ministers responsible for trade will decide on the location of the headquarters, structure, role and responsibilities.

Ghanaian foreign minister, however, argued that Ghana deserved to host the AfCTA secretariat because the country had committed so much to the unity of Africa since its independence.

Our Government has decided to and has, indeed, formally expressed its interest to have Ghana host the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), here in Accra.

We are of the firm belief that Ghanas history and credentials on Pan-Africanism, and her continuous commitment to the ideals and values of the African Union will make her to qualify as a worthy Member State of the African Union to host the Secretariat.

I wish, therefore, to seize this opportunity to request all of you to use your good offices to support Ghanas candidature in your respective capitals, Botchwey said.

She recalled the important roles the country the country had played in the establishment of the defunct Organisation of African Union adding that the country did not play host to any AU organ.

Botchwey also reinforced the countrys commitment to the African Integration Agenda.

I trust that we can count on your full support and the support of your countries for the success of our bid, she said.

Source: NAN

Tiger Woods has described his 15th major and fifth Augusta National Masters trophy as his biggest win ever.

It was an epic comeback for the 43 year-old American, who was once bogged down by career-threatening injury, to win the 83rd Masters on Sunday, with an unprecedented back-nine rally.

Ending an 11-year major drought, the 43-year-old American superstar who underwent spinal fusion surgery in 2017 due to chronic back pain seized his first major title since the 2008 US Open.

Its overwhelming just because of what has transpired, Woods said. I could barely walk. Couldnt sleep. Couldnt walk. Couldnt do anything.

To have the opportunity to come back, its one of the biggest wins Ive ever had for sure.

Winning a fifth Masters title, and his first since 2005, cemented a fairytale comeback to the pinnacle of golf for Woods, whose career imploded after a 2009 sex scandal and nagging knee and back injuries.

Its overwhelming just because of what has transpired, Wood said. I was just lucky to be playing again.

With fans chanting his name, an emotional Woods walked off the 18th green and hugged his mother Kultida, daughter Sam and son Charlie just as he had embraced his late father Earl there after his first major victory at the 1997 Masters.

It has come full circle, Woods said. This tournament has meant so much to me and to have everyone here means so much to me and my family.

Now to be the champion 22 years between wins is a long time its unreal for me to experience this. I just couldnt be more happy, more excited. Im just kind of at a loss for words.

Racing to finish before an oncoming thunderstorm, players created their own electric atmosphere, spectators roaring repeatedly for sensational shotmaking on one of golfs iconic stages.

Woods fired a final-round two-under par 70 to finish on 13-under 275 for a one-shot victory to capture a $2.07 million (1.82 million euros) top prize and the green jacket symbolizing Masters supremacy.

We couldnt be happier, Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley told Woods. Youve made history once again at Augusta National.

An all-American trio of three-time major winner Brooks Koepka, world number two Dustin Johnson and Xander Schauffele shared second on 276.

I dont know if there are words Im sure hes ecstatic about it, Koepka said. To have the injuries and come back and do what he has done, it has been tremendous to watch.

It was the fifth Masters title for Woods, his first since 2005, and it moved him three shy of the all-time record 18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus.

A big well done from me to Tiger, Nicklaus told telecaster CBS. Im so happy for him and for the game of golf this is so fantastic.

Source: NAN

At the fifth anniversary of the abduction of Chibok Schoolgirls by Boko Haram, parents have fervently appealed to insurgents to release the remaining girls.

Some of the parents told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Maiduguri narrated the ordeals of their daughters who were abducted in their Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno state April 14, 2014.

A rally to mark the anniversary was organized by a non-governmental Organisation, Alamin Foundation for Peace and Development .

At least 270 of the schoolgirls were abducted.

Some of the girls escaped, including, Amina Ali.

Another set of 21 girls were freed in October 2016, while one girl was also rescued in November same year by the military.

Similarly, 82 girls were freed following negotiations with government in May 2017, while one more girl was rescued in January 2018.

Recheal Daniel, a mother of one of the abducted girls, Rose Daniel, appealed to the Boko Haram factional leader, Abubakar Shekau, to release her daughter.

Daniel lamented that the incident had subjected her to pain and agony, adding that her husband was also killed by the insurgents.

She said that since then, she had been shouldering the up-bringing of six children left behind by her husband.

Ayuba Alamson, a guardian to some of the abducted girls, said six of his niece and sisters were abducted at the school on the fateful day.

Alamson said that three of the girls had been freed while the remaining were still with the insurgents.
He lamented that about 18 affected parents had died due to health complications associated with trauma they experienced as a result of the abduction of their daughters.

Alamson urged the Federal Government, United Nations (UN) and development organisations not to relent in their effort at ensuring the release of the girls from captivity.

I also pray for the freedom Leah Sharibu, the only girl held back by Boko Haram insurgents after they released over 112 girls abducted at Government Girls Secondary School in Dapchi, Yobe.

Musa Maina, another resident of Chibok, appealed for the release of his wife, Zahra Musa, and daughter, Hadiza Musa, from captivity.

Maina recounted that he fled Chibok to Konduga after the April 14 school abduction incident, only to ended up in another abduction trap set by the insurgents..

Two people came to my house with guns in an attempt to kill me. I and my second wife managed to escape but they took away my first wife and her daughter, he said.

On her part, Mrs Hamsatu Allamin, the Director of Alamin Foundation for Peace and Development, said thousands of women and children were being held hostage by the insurgents..

Allamin disclosed that the organization had embarked on comprehensive campaign to create awareness on abduction of women by the insurgents in the northeast.

She called for concrete measures to secure the release of the Chibok School girls and other persons being held by the insurgents throughout the country. (NAN)

Source: NAN

In a fierce encounter at the weekend with Boko Haram terrorists, troops of Sector 1 Operation LAFIYA DOLE, along with the Cameroon Defence Force, killed no fewer than 27 of the terrorists.

Chadian forces also killed 63 of the terrorists in a fight near Lake Chad also at the weekend, making a total of 90 terrorists terminated in two encounters.

Although there was no casualty recorded on the side of the Nigerian-Cameroon forces, in the shootout on 13 April in the Northern part of Wulgo, Tumbuma, Chikun Gudu and Bukar Maryam villages of Borno State, Chad lost seven men.

Many weapons and trucks were recovered from the rebels, according to Colonel Sagir Musa, acting director of army public relations.

Among the items recovered were five AK47 rifles, one automatic revolver, three machine guns, one G3 rifle, one M21 rifle, five Rocket Propelled Gun Tubes, Bombs, assorted rounds of ammunitions.

Also recovered were five Gun Trucks, several Motor Cycles, one Land Cruiser Buffalo, one Nissan GT and one Land Cruiser, which was destroyed.

Coordinated military operation is ongoing especially in the fringes of Gombaru Ngala and surrounding areas to deal with the fleeing bandits running out from Multi National Joint Task Force (Op YANCIN TAFKI ) onslaught on their hideouts, Sagir Musa said.

As the Nigerian-Cameroonian forces recorded successes against the terrorists, the terrorists inflicted some harm of their own in Chad.

Although 63 of them were killed by Chadian troops, they killed seven Chadian soldiers in an attack at Azem Bermendoa Agouna, a Chadian military spokesman said on Monday.

The terrorists injured 15 others when they attacked an army position in Kaiga Kindjiria, in western Chad, on Sunday, according to Agouna.

Source: NAN

Arsenal moved into the Premier League top four, but had to work hard to see off 10-man Watford 1-0, thanks to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyangs fortunate early opener on Monday.

Aubameyang profited from an error by Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster as he blasted an attempted clearance in off the Gabon international.

Watford captain Troy Deeney was then shown a straight red card after just 11 minutes, but the Gunners failed to make the most of their man advantage and were fortunate as the hosts twice hit the woodwork.

However, Unai Emerys men held out for a first clean sheet away from home in the Premier League this season to move ahead of Chelsea on goal difference into fourth.

Arsenal also edge to within a point of north London rivals Tottenham and two clear of Manchester United in the four-way battle for the two remaining Champions League places behind Liverpool and Manchester City.

FA Cup finalists Watford were already shorn of the man who helped book their place at Wembley against Manchester City next month as Gerard Deulofeu missed out through injury and Javi Gracias side did themselves little favours early on.

First, Foster dallied as Aubameyang closed in to concede a comical opener.

And within seconds, Deeney was punished for an elbow into the face of Lucas Torreira.

Arsenal now have just three days to prepare for the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final away to Napoli and should have ensured an easier finish.

Said Aubameyang after the match: It feels good tonight because we knew away its difficult for us, but today the team did great and tonight we are really happy. We knew it would be a tough game and I think everybody knows the top four is our target and this game is really important to stay in the competition for the top four and today we did a great job.

Javi Gracia, Watford manager said his team deserved credit for piling pressure on Arsenal, despite being down to 10 men for over 80 minutes.

We did a lot of things to try to win, a big effort. We played for a long time with 10 players and we deserve the recognition. We didnt get any points but it was a good performance after a difficult game with 10 men. Im very proud of my players, Gracia said.

Source: NAN

Cristiano Ronaldo played his part to send Juventus to the semi-final of the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, but his efforts were just not enough as Ajax triumphed in Turin 2-1 and won 3-2 aggregate.

Ronaldo had opened scoring for Juventus in the 28 minute with a header inside the box, but six minutes after, Donny van de Beek, in a move disputed as an offside, scored for the visitors to level the game.

Then in the 67th minute, Matthijs de Ligt headed home the winner after a corner kick taken by Lasse Schoene. The goal made Juventus hopes to qualify more daunting as they needed two goals to level up and win.

Cristiano Ronaldo was bidding for his sixth Champions League title, but it was not to be as
the young Dutch side eliminated his team, the way they eliminated three-time defending champions Real Madrid en route to the quarters with a memorable 4-1 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Its an incredible evening for Ajax and its players and also for Dutch football, said coach Erik ten Hag.

Once again we eliminated the favourites.

We said before we were not the favourites but with our philosophy we can go further, weve again surpassed our limits.

Juventus had been looking to reach the Champions League semi-finals for the third time in the past five seasons.

But Ronaldo, who scored an away goal last week with a diving header in Amsterdam, was Juves only weapon against the impressive Dutch side.

The 34-year-old was signed for 100 million euros ($117 million) last summer from Real Madrid in a bid to win the European trophy for the first time since 1996, when they beat Ajax in the final.

Ajax deserved to qualify, said Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri.

We could have done better, but Ajax arent coming out of nowhere, they were Europa League finalists two years ago and scored five goals against Real.

Its not our worst elimination. We had big expectations, but the Champions League is a strange competition. You have to arrive in peak condition.

In the last month we have been struggling with several injuries. Even tonight we were missing important players.

Source: NAN

Lionel Messi pounced on two Manchester United mistakes to score twice and end their hopes of another Camp Nou comeback as Barcelona breezed into the Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday.

After an excellent start, United were undone twice in four minutes by Messi, who first nicked the ball off the careless Ashley Young and then watched as a weak shot from distance squirmed underneath David de Gea.

Philippe Coutinho, in perhaps his best performance of the season, added a third with a curling effort into the top corner and by the end, an outclassed United might have been relieved the score was not more traumatic than 3-0, 4-0 on aggregate.

A dizzying opening spell, in which Marcus Rashford had hit the crossbar, was long-forgotten, even if it could offer Barcelonas next opponents some encouragement.

Liverpool, who take a 2-0 lead to Porto on Wednesday, are the most likely obstacle between Barca and their first Champions League final since they last won this tournament in 2015. Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane might feel encouraged.

Instead, Uniteds pair of early errors made this another night about Messi and ensured any faint hopes of repeating the comeback against Paris Saint-Germain, or even the famous 1999 rescue act against Bayern Munich, on this same pitch, were dashed.

Messi now has his 109th and 110th Champions League goals and, potentially, three extra matches to reduce the gap on Cristiano Ronaldos 126, after Juventus were dumped out by Ajax. Barcelonas fans celebrated that too.

Uniteds coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had urged his strikers to be more lethal here but it felt ominous that even before kick-off, Rashford, Anthony Martial, Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez had hit 42 goals this season, while Messi on his own had 43.

Around an hour before kick-off, Alex Ferguson was on the side of the pitch, shaking hands with Ryan Giggs and sharing words with Solskjaer, the scorer of that goal against Munich here 20 years ago.

They could have hardly have asked for a better start. United were brilliant for eight minutes and could have been ahead within 30 seconds as Rashford raced onto a curving Paul Pogba pass and toed away a shot, which Marc-Andre ter Stegen bravely left to graze his own crossbar.

Barca were flustered, so much so the crowd even cheered with relief when Arthur Melo played his teams first convincing pass.

Then, Barcelona had their own eight-minute flurry as United almost conceded a penalty, ruled out after Fred took the ball before bringing down Ivan Rakitic, and then did concede, twice, to Messi.

Both could have been avoided, even if Youngs turn on the edge of his own box was punished in devastating fashion. Young lunged in to atone for his mistake but Messi skipped away from him, poked it through Freds legs and then whipped the ball past into the corner.

Source: NAN

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri announced on Tuesday he would be staying on as coach with the Italian giants next season despite another Champions League disappointment.

Cristiano Ronaldos side crashed out of the championship to Dutch side Ajax after a 2-1 loss on the night in Turin and 3-2 aggregate defeat.

I met the (club) president (Andrea Agnelli) a couple of days ago and told him that I will stay at Juventus. Well sit down with the club and think about the future, Allegri told a press conference.

If I didnt have the motivation I would have told him so straight away, but this is not the case.

I think that during these past five years weve worked well, the players have progressed, said Allegri, 51, who arrived in Turin at the beginning of the 2014-2015 season.

Winning five Scudetto is not easy, reaching two Champions League finals, is not easy.

Allegri has won ten titles with Juventus since arriving in the 2014-2015 season, with the team just one point away from a fifth consecutive Serie A title under his guidance.

Juventus continues to grow on and off the pitch and there is the awareness of having a great coach with us, with whom we will meet in June to take forward the technical project, Agnelli confirmed.

For our part, we are aware of having been in the Champions League quarter-finals for five or six years and are proud to continue along this path.

Juventus have won two Champions League titles in 1985 and 1996 but have finished runners-up five times since, including under Allegri in 2015 and 2017.

Source: NAN

By Alexandra Oladipo

Justice C.N Orji of an FCT High Court in Apo has fixed May 2, for hearing in a N500 Million damages suit filed by Social Exchange Market (SEM), International limited against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Justice Orji, adjourned the case untill May 2, due to non-service of court process on the Attorney General of the Federation.

She ordered the EFCC to serve the Attorney General with its motion on notice.

The EFCC in October 2018, sealed the office of the SEM located in Utako, Abuja and went seized some vital documents based on allegations that it runs a ponzi scheme, which contradicts the Laws of Nigeria.

The company aggrieved by the actions of the anti-graft agency filed a suit in the FCT High Court praying for an order to restrain the commission from disrupting its business.

SEM also prayed the court to award N500 million in damages against the commission.

SEM is a charitable organisation being managed by a certain Donald Olorunkeyede .

Earlier, Mr Moses Efushe, Counsel to SEM had objected to the application for adjournment by the EFCC counsel and asked the court to foreclose the third respondent for lack of diligence.

Source: NAN

By Ikenna Osuoha

Initiative for Leadership Development and Change (ILDC), an NGO, on Tuesday urged Sen. Ali Ndume and other senators of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to accept the supremacy of the party.

President of the NGO, Chief Ugochukwu Nnam, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the political decisions of the party should override those of individual members.

Nnam said that allegiance and obedience to party decisions were critical to viable democracy in the country.

Ali Ndume and others, who wish to aspire to leadership positions in the red chamber ought to drop the idea in accordance with loyalty to party supremacy.

None of them got elected as individual candidate, but on APC platform. Therefore, they must abide by the partys decision, Nnam said.

According to him, there is need for a cordial relationship between the legislature and the executive for economic stability.

He also advised PDP and other political parties represented in the senate to support APC for a progressive Nigeria.

Also speaking, the Deputy National Coordinator of the group, Mr Onyekachi Ebere-Njoku, advised all the political parties represented in the senate to close ranks for a greater Nigeria.

Ebere-Njoku said that it was time all senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria irrespective of party affiliation contributed their quota toward rebuilding the Nigerian ship.

He, therefore, urged them to support the ruling APC to move the country forward.

Source: NAN