Iwobi, Akpom outshine Iheanacho

Arsenal duo of Alex Iwobi and Chuba Akpom grabbed a goal each as the Gunners ended their pre-season campaign on a high by beating Premier League rivals Manchester City 3-2 at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg.

The Gunners dominated the early chances but fell behind to a Sergio Aguero goal, yet they battled back well in the second half to claim a morale-boosting victory a week before the new season.

City’s only real chance prior to their breakthrough fell the way of Aguero after he drifted past makeshift centre-back pairing Gabriel Paulista and Rob Holding, but Hector Bellerin got across well to take the sting out of a shot that Petr Cech eventually collected.

The Citizens then moved ahead on the half-hour mark thanks to a simple close-range finish from Aguero, who simply stuck out his boot to divert the ball beyond a helpless Cech following Raheem Sterling’s fine cross into the box.

Alex Iwobi was one of those to remain on the field, and it was the youngster who dragged his side level five minutes into the half when tucking the ball past the reach of replacement keeper Joe Hart.

Wenger’s men nearly had a second soon after when Sanchez curled a free kick back off the underside of the bar, while Theo Walcott’s well-struck shot required a big save from Hart.

The second did arrive in the final quarter of the match through Walcott, a man who has been at the centre of a debate over his best position, exchanged passes with Sanchez and delicately dinked the ball over Hart.

There was still time for two more goals late on, as Chuba Akpom came off the bench to punish some slack play at the back from City before Kelechi Iheanacho nodded home at the back post to drag his side back into it.

Painful thing dad did to me –Eucharia Anunobi

Veteran actress, Eucharia Anunobi assumed that the world would be at her feet growing up in a wealthy family. But she was mistaking. Life taught her a different lesson.
With passion to succeed, the Imo State-born actress never threw in the towel. She forged ahead through modelling and saw her way through. In this exclusive interview with Entertainer, Anunobi opens up on her life as an evangelist and actor.
What has been your experience since you lost your father?
My father died last year. My father’s memorial is in August. When I went to see my father in the mortuary, I saw one of the wonders of God. His beards were still growing. I was like ‘excuse me, you mean that hair doesn’t die?’ That was amazing! The hairs on my father’s head were still growing and they needed to be shaved before the final dressing and lay to rest. We are wonderful creatures.
How do you combine acting and being born again?
Do you know when I started ministering? By the grace of God, I gave my life to God on March 17, 1997, at Holy Ghost Power Ministry Church, Adeniyi Jones, Lagos. The pastor of the church then was Pastor Emma Obasi who is still a father of faith to me. March 17, 2017 will make it 20 years I have been with God. While you are seeing me as a movie legend, all the years you have been seeing ‘act all the actable’. I am still acting because I have not left my talent. This is my own definition of being born again. Born again means you have realised and discovered that you were living a life of sin, but now, you want to live a life that would please God.
As a born again, how do your colleagues relate with you?
I remember years ago when I gave my life to God, my colleagues were laughing at me. ‘Your mates are busy doing aristo, your mates are busy seeing governors, your mates are busy going to the clubs in Victoria Island, Ikeja, and everywhere, you sey na church you wan go’. They used to say that ‘something is wrong with Eucharia’. ‘Can you imagine with all her degrees, and doctorate in waiting, na to go church?’ But today, by the grace of God, where I sit they can’t sit; where I go they can’t go. I sit with governors and presidents not for aristo, and not for someone to take me to a corner of a room to sleep with me. I am not among the superstars they would say, ‘that one get good shape, go corner her for hotel for me’ and they come and meet you only in the night. They don’t need to take me to any corner of the room through Personal Assistant. They call me to the lobby of the governor or president’s chapel to pray and declare the word of God Almighty. And when I am done, they shake my hands and say, ‘lay hands on me’.
Tell us something about Eucharia that the people don’t know.
I paid my way through university. I came from a privileged home. I no be ajepako, I be ajebota (butter girl). My family house was at 5, Musa Yar`adua Street, Victoria Island (in Lagos). I went to St. George’s Primary School, the one at Falomo in Lagos and Army Chidren’s School, Guardian Barrack. I had ‘A’ in most of my subjects in secondary school. The next thing, I supposed to enter university, but my father called the whole family because I am the first-born and says, ‘I don’t have interest in training a girl further after secondary school’. My own father, Chief Ejike Emekache Ezenwa Anunobi, said that! He said he would train only the boys. So, after leaving secondary school with brilliant results, my father said ‘no!’ With all the money wey he get. We get two cars that time, to tell you how rich we were. We dey live for flat with Oyibo people around. Yet, my father abandoned me in the middle of the way. That was how, on my own at age 16, I started to fight for my destiny. But then, good friends helped me.
What kept you going and how did you pull through?
The bible says, ‘show me your friend and I will tell you who you are’. My good friend, Peter Ononiwu knew me back then. He saw my tears as I was crying. He said ‘do you know that you are a very beautiful girl with a fine shape? ‘You can start modelling’. It was Peter that introduced me to modelling. That was how I started modelling. Modelling has gone down; it was at that time that modelling was on. There was no modelling show they did that I was not on the front burner. It was then I discovered that God gave me a good shape. It was then I discovered I had a unique face. You know, people call me ‘the ancient lady’, ‘Philippians lady’ or ‘Chinese lady’ because of my face and small eyes and because I have unique features. So, when any fashion designer saw me, he or she would pick me because of God’s glory upon my life, and because I started seeking God early. It was the denouncement of my father that, he’s not going to send me or any other girl to university or higher institution that made me seek God early. After that, I started modelling. But I was determined in myself that, if my father said a girl can be nothing, then I would prove him wrong. I said to myself ‘I am not a mistake of creation’. ‘There is a reason God made me a female’.
I used to hear him telling some of his friends that Eucharia is too brilliant to be a girl; she should have been a boy. And I would say to myself ‘na me come make myself boy? Why would he be saying that I should have been a boy? On my own, I said a girl must be something and I started digging the bible. By the grace of God, I fought for myself. I paid for my JAMB and then passed. I went to University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and in those four years, I paid my school fees by myself. There is a reason why you are depressed, because if I am not denied of the blessing, I won’t be who I am today. There is a reason my father turned his back on me, because if maybe he left me in the comfort zone or comfort home, I wouldn’t be able to discover who I am.
As an evangelist, do you still accept scripts like Ashawo (Prostitute)?
If they give me the one of Ashawo, I will do. But then, I’m not going to smoke, because I don’t smoke in real life, and I’m not going to drink. I can simulate, for instance, like in drinking, but then, I might not wear clothes that will reveal parts of my body. There is one I did with Mama Patience, we went to rob a bank; there’s a film we went to rob a bank. We were carrying AK-47; the gun is heavy o! The title of the movie is Widow’s Gang.

Tin-Can Island Customs generate N130.76bn in 7 months

The Tin-Can Island Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) generated a revenue of N130.76 billion in the last seven months of the year.

A statement by the command on Monday in Lagos, said that the Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Yusuf Bashar, made the disclosure while exchanging views with some stakeholders in his office.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the revenue of the command nose-dived from N145.60 billion recorded in the seven months of 2015.

The controller said that the statutory function of the command remained revenue generation and facilitation of legitimate trade.
Bashar said that deliberate and concerted efforts were being made in terms of strict adherence to the rules and standards of operation.

He said that the operations, processes and procedures of Customs were fully automated so that trade facilitation could be guaranteed.

The controller, however, said that trade facilitation could only work when importers and their agents were transparent in their declarations.
The controller also reacted to the current hike in the exchange rate for calculating import duty, which is generating concern in the maritime sector.
He said that the NCS, as an agency of the Federal Government, was charged with the implementation of the Federal Government’s fiscal policies.
“It is instructive to note that the Nigeria Customs Service by its statutory role, does not determine exchange rate but only relies on the Central Bank of Nigeria to update us with information in accordance with its establishing Act.
“ It is, therefore, pertinent to note that the current situation is beyond the Customs,’’ Bashar said.
The controller said that the command’s operational methodology was in sync with the Change ideology of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Retired Col. Hameed Ali, which encompassed discipline, integrity, transparency and due diligence.
Bashar further said that, “There is a paradigm shift in the operational system of the command geared toward strengthening the drive in ensuring that the time of cargo delivery is reduced to the barest minimum.’’
The controller expressed his passion for stakeholders’ engagement to strengthen professionalism, promotion of inter-agency collaboration and synergy to ensure robust relationship as well as on-the-job capacity building.
He also mentioned the need to enhance officers’ knowledge, particularly in modern trends and practices, which would promote trade facilitation and due diligence.
The controller said the command was obliged to ensure zero tolerance for corrupt practices in line with global best practices.
He urged stakeholders to support the service in all aspects, so that maximum revenue could be generated in line with the vision and mission of the service.
Bashar said that part of the measures put in place for the actualisation of his mandate “is the assistance of a specialised committee named Dispute Resolution Committee’’.
The controller said that the committee was charged and entrusted with the responsibilities of resolving contentious issues which might arise in areas of classification and valuation of goods.
He said that this would ensure that such disputes are resolved using the statute books. (NAN)

Kano: Governor to address scourge of Almajiri child beggars

Kano State Governor Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje said  that the state has become a center of convergence for Almajiri in Northern Nigeria because there is no legislation outlawing vagrant children who beg in the name of Koranic education.

The Governor said a recent study conducted by his office shows that a majority of the Almajiri in Kano who roam the streets were actually non-indigenes of the state.

Ganduje made the remark while receiving the Project Director of Khalifa Dankadai Foundation, a local non-governmental organization.

The influx of child beggars into the state is a stumbling block in the way of the government’s developmental plans, the Governor said.

“At the moment, Kano has the highest number of Almajiri and from the statistics we got, their number is equal to, if not more than, those attending formal schools.”

He disclosed that he had personally presented a proposal to other governors of Northern states on how to integrate the pupils of Tsangaya and Koranic schools into the formal education system, lamenting that many of these children end up begging instead of staying in one environment to learn.

He promised that the state government would partner with Khalifa Dankadai Foundation to initiate a comprehensive programme regarding welfare and education of the Almajiri, as well as to generally promote social development in Kano.

The Foundation focuses on human capacity building of youth and women, with a special programme covering Almajiri education.

Bomb targeting mourners at Pakistan hospital kills at least 63

A suicide bomber in Pakistan killed at least 63 people and wounded dozens more in an attack on mourners gathered at a hospital in Quetta
The bomber struck as more than 100 mourners, mostly lawyers and journalists, crowded into the emergency department to accompany the body of a prominent lawyer who had been killed in the city earlier in the day.
Bilal Anwar Kasi was shot while on his way to the city’s main court complex, and the subsequent suicide attack appeared to target his mourners, a spokesman for the Baluchistan government said.
Abdul Rehman Miankhel, a senior official at the government-run Civil Hospital, where the explosion occurred, told reporters that at least 63 people had been killed, with more than 50 wounded as the casualty toll spiked from initial estimates.
The military has since been deployed in and around the city’s hospitals.
The toll makes the attack the second deadliest in Pakistan this year so far, after a bombing in a crowded park in Lahore over Easter killed 75.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack.
Targeted killings have become increasingly common in Quetta, the capital of a province that has seen rising violence linked to a separatist insurgency as well as sectarian tensions and rising crime.
Quetta has also long been a base for the Afghan Taliban, whose leadership has regularly held meetings there in the past.
In May, Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed by a US drone strike while travelling to Quetta from the Pakistan-Iran border.
Reuters/AFP

Britney Spears surprises fans with topless photo while on Hawaii holiday

Britney, 34  uploaded a topless photo of her self on Instagram while on Holiday in Hawaii. She captioned the photo 'Still dreaming a mile a minute...'

Lagos Oba: We demanded N500m, but got N15.1m –Suspect

The abductors of the Oniba of Iba, Oba Goriola Oseni, yesterday confessed  that they received  N15.1million ransom before he was released on  Saturday.
One of the nine-man  gang, Isaiah, told newsmen yesterday at the Government House, Ikeja, Lagos where he was paraded along with another suspect, Ighodo that they demanded for N500million but eventually got N15.1million.
Oba Oseni was abducted  from his palace at Iba, headquaerters of Iba Local Council Development Area on July  16 this year.  During the abduction, two persons were shot  by the kidnappers.
Ighodo, who admitted that he is  oil thief,  lamented that other six members of the gang were at large, leaving only two of them to face the law.
Explaining the negotiation process between the monarch’s family and them, he said they initially demanded N500 million as ransom, but the monarch’s family reduced it to N40 million.
“After pleas from the family, we later agreed and received N15.1 million in two  installments of N12 million and N3.1 million
“Out of the amount, I  received N200, 000 in two instalments of N100, 000, while Ighodo received N1.2 million and other members of the gang who are now at large received the lion share.
“I was the person who  paddled the Oniba to safety. This happened after the sum of N3.1 million was paid in addition to the earlier N12 million paid.
“However, we were still   demanding for more money.”
He disclosed that they used two AK-47, three Pump Action guns, which  they acquired  for the operation.
Meanwhile, Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode has expressed delight  over the release of the monarch and commended the police and other security agencies for their all-round efforts in securing the release of the Oba as well as the arrest of some of the kidnappers.
The state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Adeniji Kazeem, who represented Ambode described the kidnap of the monarch as a sacrilege and complete desecration of the cultural values of the Yoruba people which must not go unpunished.
“That is why the investigation has been painstaking and purposeful to ensure that the kidnappers were apprehended. The arrest of these suspects is a clear warning to criminal elements that we value and cherish our tradition and will leave no stone unturned to ensure that it is protected from violation by those who have desecrated our values”.
The state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, who said it did not matter whether ransom was paid or not attributed the success recorded to the combined efforts of all agencies in the state as well as the special team of the Inspector General of Police from Abuja.
“We’ve always reiterated that it is not about whether ransom was paid or not. And what I would say is that pressure by the Lagos Command, and the special team of the IGP from Abuja paid off.
“The most important thing is that kabiyesi is in his palace. As to his state of health, I was with Kabiyesi till about 12 midnight and I can tell you emphatically that he is hale and hearty and he is very strong, and nothing is wrong with him.
“As to whether the state government did something or not, if you are suspects being paraded, security agencies are apparati of government. The government has worked very hard to get Kabiyesi liberated.
“What we want to do is to thank and appreciate the understanding of the family. They have been cooperative with us to get the monarch out of the hands of his abductors .”
He vowed that the fleeing members of the gang would  soon be apprehended by the security agencies.  “They can run but no matter how far they run, the long arm of the law will soon catch  up with them.”

Buhari, it’s not the best time to attack IBB

GIVE it to President Muhammadu Buhari, just about 15 months in the saddle, he has learnt so fast the art of politics or probably, all these years he was struggling to be the president, he had undergone political tutelage on how to keep people busy by diverting their attention in other directions when serious issues of deeper concern are on his table.
A cursory glance at his policies will reveal that when the complaints of people were reaching high heavens over the excruciating economic situation in the country, he would come up with issues that tend to distract the people and keep them busy talking momentarily ,so that they forget their sorrows and keep trudging on.
This strategy resonated penultimate week when the Naira depreciated to an all time low, exchanging more than N350 to one dollar, causing more factories to close shop and more Nigerians to join the endless queue in the labour market.
More so, this played up when international aid agencies were bitter over the hunger and malnourishment of children in the Northeast and when the nation was experiencing its worst electricity supply capacity in years.
For the inability of the government to steer the ship of the nation’s economy in the right direction, the president has always looked for an excuse and who to hold responsible. It has always been excuses
upon excuses. Policy summersaults. JAMB would give admission today and tomorrow the Ministry of
Education would cancel it. Ministers openly disagree on the same issue. While the finance minister says
the economy is on technical recession, the national planning minister would disagree.
Truth is no more a home run in Nigeria and has plunged to the deepest abyss. The entire society has
been completely monetized, values and norms eroding fast. The value of our society has fantastically been eroded beyond revitalization and if a good leadership is not enthroned, a better societal reorientation cannot be achieved. Yet, he is looking for excuses. That is why his rating across the globe is nose-diving.
When he assumed office, Nigerians thought they were in for good times, but it hasn’t taken long for
them to realize that the change mantra was a ruse. Instead, they have been engulfed in crisis and threats of disintegration.
In today’s Nigeria, every direction one turns is crisis and mezzanine leadership. People flock around those they perceive as haves for favours of all kinds rather than going to constituted authorities.
The favour recipients, in groups, can dangerously be brainwashed into private armies. Nigeria is drifting
at hypersonic speed and the target destination could obviously be either a federated Nigeria or an apocalyptic split.
As the wailing in the country continues, the president continues to look for whom to pick on and this time, decided that former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, was an interesting target. And based on probable cause, this is a clear and present danger to IBB’s life.
In an interview published in the current edition of The Interview magazine, Buhari said IBB overthrew
him to escape probe.
According to him, he was removed from office 31 years ago, because he planned to purge the military
hierarchy of corruption. Specifically, he said senior military leaders, led by former military president,
General Ibrahim Babangida(rtd) and General Aliyu Gusau(rtd), masterminded and effected his ouster on
August 27, 1985, to save themselves from a probe, which was hanging over their heads like the proverbial sword of Damocles. Buhari said he championed the probe via a proposal he wrote to the Army Council. He said it was after he tabled the proposal for the sacking of Gusau, then Director of Military Intelligence, that Babangida embarked on a coup knowing that he
(IBB) was in line for a probe.
“I learnt that Aliyu Gusau, who was in charge of intelligence, took import license from the ministry of
commerce which was in charge of supplies and gave it to Alhaji Mai Deribe. It was worth N100,000. It was a lot of money at that time. I confronted them and took the case to the Army Council in a memo… I wanted Gusau punished,” Buhari said.

This is an orchestrated total blackmail and being angry with a dog to kill it if Buhari can unfortunately
and sadly evoke an event of 31years ago and see ‘North’s resistance can’t stop restructuring’ perhaps a time for vengeance. Next is probably to cause the arrest of IBB, Gusau, including Obasanjo, T Y Danjuma etc. for phantom reasons and a shutdown of several media outlets. It is unfortunate that President Buhari should choose this time to ruminate on the ugly past. He is rewriting history and equally making history to walk on its head.
This is not time he should dissipate energy on frivolities and idle talk. This is a time that demands
so much from him; a time he should roll up his sleeves and work hard to see how he would remove
the forced wrinkles on the faces of Nigerians who are more disillusioned over his style of governance.
If Buhari is not seeing the real danger of disunity of Nigeria, which most Nigerians are glancing and
staring at, reasoning inductively and deductively and yet remains clueless with no capacity to go head
on to confront the virus to preserve unity, obviously he may suffer a repeat of his failed administrative
idealism. Buhari can look over his shoulders to see Republic of Biafra emerging. It’s no more a mirage.
If Buhari can’t spearhead the renegotiation of sovereignty, he must give way for someone else who
has the interest of Nigeria at heart to come on board.
A peaceful resolution is still possible to arrest the imminent danger of disintegration and a two year
interim national government to renegotiate sovereignty is the only option available, otherwise
forget the brand Nigeria.
The question Buhari ought to have asked is why was there jubilation across the country when
Nigerian heard the voice of Sani Abacha that announced the overthrow of his government? Why
was it that his government became so unpopular in less than 18 months? Why is it that 31 years after ,
Nigerians hardly looked back with nostalgia on that government?
In retrospect, Nigerians usually cite, the good old First Republic, first six years of Nigeria’s birth and
three years of our republic, the existing cities then bore the names of great Nigerians from all walks of
life, from the ethnic nations that makes up our nationstate and from the several political and ideological
divides. In as much as the country was crafted fraudulently and corruptly, there was hope then for a
country and nation building. Not anymore.
The overthrow of Buhari in August 1985 was timely to save the system from total collapse. That
government was seen as the darkest period in Nigeria’s political history outside the Nigeria/Biafra
internecine war and so, no one wanted to remember it. It was a time Nigerians queued to buy milk
and other items that were categorized as essential commodities. In fact, back then, frustration and
hunger were rife.
And now similarly, his ethnocentric and nepotistic style of governance is anti-federal character, anti-
Nigeria, anti-Ndigbo , anti-Hausa (only in favour Fulani), anti-Christian, anti-establishment, anti-basic
needs of life, anti his own policies, anti his own government’s economic team and in fact, anti all
facets of life. Terrible!
Nigerians know that our president was being economical with truth when he alleged that IBB
removed him because he was about to probe former and Gusau. The fact was that his government had
choked up Nigerians and as they suffocated and prayed for God’s intervention, IBB showed up. His coming was answer to their prayers. IBB had also stated the reason for the coup, which
Nigerians believe and not what President Buhari was telling them about the coup.
According to the former military president, there was nothing in the memo, which Buhari submitted to the Army Council. “Don’t forget that I was one of Buhari’s closest aides. I was the Chief of Army
Staff. So, I had an important position, an important role to play within that administration. I don’t think
it had to do with a memo”, Babangida was quoted to have said.
Except for diversionary reasons, this isn’t a good time for Buhari to attack IBB and unearth a history
that the people didn’t want to hear. During his electioneering campaigns last year, Buhari went to
IBB for endorsement and political support and IBB obliged him. That should have meant a lot to Buhari.
•Brady Chijioke Nwosu is Imo PDP governorship aspirant and writes from
Okai Eziama.

Giuliani: Clinton refusal to seek police endorsement shows Dems as ‘anti-law enforcement party’w

Hillary Clinton’s decision not to seek the endorsement of The Fraternal Order of Police is a sign that the Democrat presidential nominee leads “an anti-law enforcement party,” former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said on Sunday.

Giuliani, who supports Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, said on “Fox and Friends” that he sees an anti-police atmosphere developing in America, and he blames Clinton and the Democrat Party for fomenting those feelings.

“It comes right from the top, it includes Hillary, and she’s made herself a part of it,” Giuliani said. “You don’t even go talk to and seek the endorsement of one of the major police unions in the country?”

During her campaign, Clinton has voiced support for the Black Lives Matter movement, which grew out of recent controversial shootings of black men by police officers. Clinton also invited mothers whose sons were killed by police officers to speak on stage at the Democratic National Convention – though the same convention also featured a speech by Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez.

Still, Clinton's decision not to seek The Fraternal Order of Police’s stamp of approval makes Clinton just the second Democratic presidential candidate in at least the last 20 years not to do so. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee, also did not seek the endorsement of the union, which represents 335,000 members. The FOP endorsed Bill Clinton in 1996, but has given the nod to Republicans in 2000, 2004 and 2008. The union did not endorse any candidate in 2012.

“We were talking to the highest levels of the campaign, and we had all indications that she was going to return the questionnaire,” FOP President Chuck Canterbury told The Hill on Friday. “And on the deadline date we were advised that they declined.”