Author: Adejuyigbe Francis

A Civil Society Organisation, Yiaga Africa, on Tuesday called on the Independent National Electoral Commission and the National Universities Commission to bar universities from scheduling examinations during the election period. According to data from INEC, over 26 million registered voters in the country’s voter register are students. Though the commission did not give a breakdown of the registered students according to the types of tertiary institutions, YIAGA noted that the intervention of INEC and the NUC will enable more students to exercise their rights to vote. “Dear @inecnigeria, can you engage the National Universities Commission to request universities to refrain…

Manchester United boss, Erik ten Hag will be without three key players when they face Nottingham Forest in tonight’s Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg tie at the City Ground. Ten Hag confirmed at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday that the likes of Diogo Dalot, Jadon Sancho, and Anthony Martial would not feature against Nottingham Forest. The Dutchman said, “The players who were not available for the Arsenal game – Dalot, Martial, Sancho, are also not available for tomorrow [Man United’s clash with Forest].” Man United head to the game after losing 3-2 against Arsenal in the Premier League in their…

The Polish Football Association have confirmed Cristiano Ronaldo’s former manager, Fernando Santos, as their new national team head coach. Santos was unveiled at a press conference on Tuesday, having left his role as Portugal’s coach after their shock quarter-final elimination against Morocco at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Recall that the 68-year-old coached Ronaldo during his time as the coach of Portugal’s national team. Speaking after his unveiling, Santos said: “It is an honour for us because we are talking about a great country. “Poland is a great country with an extremely rich history and culture.”

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has unanimously voted to increase the benchmark interest rate by 100 basis points to 17.5 per cent. The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this while reading the communiqué at the end of the two-day MPC meeting, the first of the year. The development means this is the fifth time the CBN would increase the interest rate despite calls by stakeholders against the increment. The CBN said previous increases were beginning to yield results with the slight drop in the inflation rate recorded in December 2022. However, the CBN stressed…

National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa has declared Nigeria as the most viable Information Technology (IT) investment destination. The DG stated that the country ticks all the boxes in terms of size, population, youth demography, government support, and legal and regulatory framework. At the 2023 Digital Life Design (DLD) conference in Munich, Kashifu said in two decades, there would be a global shortage of 85 million IT professionals, advising the world not to overlook Nigeria. “The average age in Nigeria is 19. We have the demographic advantage to become the global IT talent factory”, the NITDA chief…

Stefanos Tsitsipas blasted into a fourth Australian Open semi-final on Tuesday and a showdown with Karen Khachanov as he zeroes in on a maiden Grand Slam title. The Greek third seed proved too powerful for unseeded Czech Jiri Lehecka on Rod Laver Arena, storming home 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4. He will face the Russian 18th seed Khachanov for a place in his first Melbourne Park final, having crashed in the semis three times previously, including in the past two years. Russia’s Khachanov booked his place when American Sebastian Korda retired hurt with a wrist injury while trailing 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, 3-0.…

Darren Bent has questioned where Antony’s end product his despite his ‘tricks and flicks’ at Manchester United. Antony signed for the Red Devils from Ajax in the summer, their second most expensive ever signing in a deal that could rise to £85million. The 22-year-old had a strong start to life at the club as he scored in his first three Premier League games. However, he has had little impact since then, and has left Bent far from impressed so far this season. Speaking to talkSPORT Drive, he said: “All tricks and flicks, no substance at the minute. “He’s doing all this…

Christophe Galtier seemed unsurprised by Kylian Mbappe’s brutal five-goal display in Paris Saint-Germain’s Coupe de France demolition of Pays de Cassel on Monday. PSG eased into the last 16 of the competition with an emphatic 7-0 victory at Lens’ Stade Bollaert-Delelis, with Mbappe involved in all but one of their goals. The sixth-tier opposition – who were technically the home team – did not look overawed and played some attractive football during the early stages, but the floodgates opened once Mbappe put PSG ahead with 29 minutes played. It was 4-0 by half-time, with Mbappe netting three and setting up…

Simone Inzaghi told Inter Milan to forget Monday’s dismal defeat to Empoli, after which the Nerazzurri were still not giving up hopes of winning Serie A. Inter remained 13 points behind runaway leaders Napoli after going down 1-0 at home following a first-half Milan Skriniar red card. Empoli were good value for their win against Inzaghi’s out-of-sorts side, and the head coach appeared to recognise that as he sought to move on swiftly from this match. “We have to archive it immediately,” he said. “We will have another difficult game, and we have to forget immediately, looking ahead. “Of course, we…

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says Nigeria is set to host the regional digital economy conference in the country. NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Dr Reuben Muoka made this known in a statement on Monday in Abuja. Muoka said policy makers and stakeholders in the digital economy ecosystem in the West African sub-region would converge in Abuja from Jan. 31 to Feb.1, for the Digital Economy Regional Conference. He said that they would converge to discuss the future of digital economy and intensify regional public private partnerships for the region. “The event is being hosted by the Ministry of Communications…

The Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise Ltd. (LPLEL), promoter of the Lekki Deep Sea Port, says the port will boost Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Promote (GDP) and facilitate trade volume. The Managing Director of LPLEL, Mr Du Ruogang, while addressing the media during the official inauguration of the Lekki Port by President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said that the macro-economic benefit of the port was enormous. Ruogang noted that the Lekki Port remains a game-changer that would redefine maritime activities in Nigeria and the entire West African sub-region. He highlighted other benefits to include; improvement of external trade competitiveness through improved port…

Arsenal’s latest signing, Jakub Kiwior has revealed why he joined the Gunners this January transfer window. Arsenal on Monday confirmed the signing of Kiwior from Italian club Spezia. Kiwior became Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta’s second January signing. The Poland international moved to Emirates Stadium in a deal worth £ 20 million. The 22-year-old, who has nine caps for Poland, signed a four-and-a-half contract with the North London club with the option of a further year. Speaking to the club media following his move to Arsenal, Kiwior explained the reasons behind his switch to the Premier League leaders, revealing that their…