Author: Chronicle Editor

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state on Monday described Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as a true statesman and an uncommon leader in Nigeria. Okowa made the comments during the inauguration of the massive Prof Chike Edozien Secretariat Complex in Asaba, capital of Delta State. The 13 billion complex was inaugurated by Prof. Osinbajo. He will also inaugurate the 8.5 Megawatts Independent Power Project (IPP) in Asaba. The complex which is named after Asagba of Asaba, His Royal Majesty, Prof. Chike Edozien, sits on a 45,000 square metres and was designed to accommodate the ministries and their workers. Also speaking at…

Manchester United have appointed Ralf Rangnick as their interim manager until the end of the season, subject to work visa requirements. The 63-year-old takes over from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who was sacked on 21 November following a defeat by Watford. Rangnick has left his role as head of sports and development at Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow to take up the job. “I am excited to be joining Manchester United and focused on making this a successful season,” said Rangnick. Following the end of this season, Rangnick will stay on at Old Trafford for an additional two years in a consultancy…

Real Madrid’s Croat midfielder Luka Modric, 36, is open to the idea of linking up with Manchester City when he becomes a free agent next summer. (SuperDeporte – in Spanish) Newcastle are in a race with Roma to sign Hoffenheim’s Austrian midfielder Florian Grillitsch, 26, in January. (Sun) French forward Ousmane Dembele has rejected Barcelona’s latest contract extension offer and the 24-year-old looks almost certain to become a free agent. (Sport – in Spanish) Arsenal have again been named as one of the clubs wanting to sign Raheem Sterling in January. England winger Sterling, 26, has expressed his desire to leave Manchester City for more first-team football. (Transfer Window Podcast, via Express) Fulham are making a big push…

The Union of Plaster of Paris Workers in Nigeria has called on the Federal Government to regulate the price of Plaster of Paris (POP) materials in the market. In separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja, the union members also appealed to the Federal Government to grant approval to license the organisation. Plaster of Paris is a building material used for decorating, molding, casting and protective coating on walls and ceilings of homes and offices. Mr Mathew Abata, POP national public relations officer, decried the increasing costs of materials which affected patronage and livelihood.…

The International Press Centre (IPC) and Media Rights Agenda (MRA) are inviting Nigerians from all works of life to vote for the public institution adjudged to be most responsive to requests for information from members of the public under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and that has adopted innovative and access-friendly practices and procedures to ensure the public’s right of access to information in the country. The online voting exercise, which begins today and closes at midnight on Sunday, December 5, 2021, is the final selection process for the conferment of a “Public Institution FOI Best Practice Recognition” Award…

Canada has detected its first cases of the new Omicron variant of Covid-19, in two people who travelled recently to Nigeria. Both patients are in isolation while public health authorities trace their possible contacts, said federal and Ontario provincial officials on Sunday. “I was informed today by the Public Health Agency of Canada that testing and monitoring of Covid-19 cases has confirmed two cases of the Omicron variant of concern in Ontario,” Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said in a statement. “As the monitoring and testing continues,” he added, “it is expected that other cases of this variant will be found…

NDLEA has seized 12,385 kilograms of “Loud’’ marijuana smuggled into Lagos from a neighbouring country through the waterways. Director, Media and Advocacy of the NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi, who said this in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja, described the drug as a strong variant of marijuana. Babafemi said that 12,385 pellets of the “Loud’’ marijuana were brought in through the Atlantic Ocean and ferried in boats to the Eko Atlantic Beach, Victoria Island. The weed would have been distributed from the beach to drugs hotspots such as Lagos Island, Peti Alagba and others across Lagos and other states,…

Forty-two inmates in Jos Correctional Centre are writing the ongoing November/December Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) of the National Examination Council (NECO). ASC Longdiem Godfrey, the Public Relations Officer of the Plateau Command of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), announced this to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos. According to Godfrey, the 42 inmates are sitting for the SSCE examinations at its adult school within the prison yard. He explained that the move to write SSCE while in incarceration was part of the mandate of the service aimed at making the prisoners useful to themselves, families and society after…

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said on Sunday that it was keeping an eye on new evidence on the new COVID-19 strain, Omicron, which was discovered in Southern Africa very lately. The new variety is “is considered highly transmissible” and has already provoked a new wave of travel restrictions aimed at Southern African countries. However, the NCDC stated in a statement signed by its Director-General, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, that “the fears about its ability to evade protective immune responses and its being vaccine-resistant are only theoretical so far.” The NCDC asked Nigerians to take adequate precautions, stressing that the…

Festus Keyamo, Minister of State for Labour and Employment and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has criticized the judicial panel of inquiry established to probe police brutality and SARS-related abuses across the country. In response to an inquiry concerning the government’s stance on a leaked report by the Lagos judicial panel, the human rights lawyer described the panel as illegal. “I will not answer this question as a sitting minister,” he said on Channels TV’s Sunday Politics. “I will answer this question as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, and so, I am entitled to my own opinion. This is not the…