Author: Chronicle Editor

Grieving father, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu pens an emotional tribute for his late son, Kazeem Olajide Babajide, who died early on Wednesday in Lagos, aged 37. Jide was born on 12 October 1980. We want to express our thanks and deep appreciation to all who have demonstrated their sympathy and expressed their condolences over the loss of our eldest son, Jide. I want to especially thank President Muhammadu Buhari, VP Yemi Osinbajo, the state Governors, distinguished Senators particularly Senate President Bukola Saraki, members of the House of Representatives, APC leaders and members and indeed all Nigerians. I thank the traditional…

Marseille have suspended Patrice Evra after he kicked a fan in the head before his side’s Europa League defeat at Vitoria Guimaraes on Thursday. Footage showed the 36-year-old former Manchester United defender aiming an acrobatic kick at a supporter at the side of the pitch during the warm-up. Evra will be interviewed before any disciplinary action is decided. A Marseille statement also condemned the “unacceptable behaviour” by a “handful of provocateurs”. READ: Tax Fraud: Mourinho agrees to pay Spanish authorities €3.3m European football’s governing body Uefa charged France international Evra with violent conduct earlier on Friday, with the full-back suspended…

The management of the National Youth Service Corps has given a reason for the non-payment of the October allowance of corps members nationwide. The management also apologised to Corps members over the delay in the payment. The NYSC stated these in a statement on its official Facebook page on Friday. “The Management of the National Youth Service Corps regrets the delay being experienced in the payment of personal allowance to Corps members. Read Also Pope asked to consider letting married men act as priests “Management wishes to inform Corps members and the rest of the public that funds have since…

A high-ranking Vatican official has said he is pressing the Catholic Church to consider allowing married men to act as priests in a remote region of the Amazon. Bishop Erwin Krautler, secretary for the Commission on the Pan-Amazon Region, wants the subject on the agenda at a meeting in the Vatican in 2019, he told the Austrian news agency KNA. The proposal centers around the question of allowing faithful Catholic married men to act as priests, including saying Mass and hearing confessions. Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, president of the Bishops Commission for the Pan-Amazon, and close friend of the Pope,…

Police in Zimbabwe charged an American woman over a tweet that appeared to insult President Robert Mugabe, her lawyer has said. Martha O’Donovan, 25, is accused of referring to Mr Mugabe as “selfish man and sick man”, a charge she denies. She faces charges of insulting the president and plotting to overthrow the government, her lawyer told US media. Her arrest appears to be the first of its kind since the country’s cyber ministry was created last month. The charge of plotting to overthrow the government carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. READ: Diamond Bank to sell…

Nigeria’s Diamond Bank is quitting other West African markets to focus efforts at home and deploy its resources on personal banking business in Africa’s biggest economy, it said on Friday. The move by Diamond Bank ends the mid-tier lender’s 18-year push abroad. Several Nigerian banks expanded abroad than a decade ago, encouraged by rising commodity prices and seeking to capitalise on a growing middle class in the region. But prospects have dimmed with a sharp fall in commodity prices since mid-2014 that triggered currency crises in some markets and turned loans sour. READ: Buhari orders Ekwueme’s treatment abroad “After 18…

US President Donald Trump has embarked on an 11-day trip to Asia during which he will visit Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. It will be the longest tour of Asia by a US president in 25 years. The trip comes at a time of heightened tensions with North Korea over its nuclear programme and missile tests. Mr Trump is expected to show a united front with South Korea and Japan while pressing China to take a stronger line with Pyongyang. President Trump flew first to the US state of Hawaii where he visited the USS Arizona Memorial…

Diamond Bank has said it would sell its West African banking operations in Benin, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal to focus on the Nigerian retail banking opportunity. The bank said that the company banking operations in the four West African countries would be sold to Manzi Finances S.A, a Cote d’Ivoire financial services holding company. The bank, in a statement on Friday, said that regulatory approvals for the transactions had been obtained in all jurisdictions anticipated to close before Dec. 31, 2017. “By focusing its resources exclusively on Nigeria, Diamond Bank is poised to capitalise on the positive macro fundamentals…

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the immediate medical treatment of former Vice-President, Dr Alex Ekwueme, outside the country. Malam Garba Shehu, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, in a statement issued in Abuja, said the President’s approval followed a brief he received on Friday over the medical condition of the former Vice-President. Shehu said the approval covered the immediate charter of an Air Ambulance for the emergency movement and the cost of treatment. “President Buhari prays that God will grant the elder statesman speedy recovery,” the statement said. READ: Niger Delta Avengers call off ceasefire, promise bloodshed…

South African prosecutors are appealing for a longer sentence for Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius for murdering girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. They told the Supreme Court of Appeal the six-year sentence was “shockingly light” and he should get 15 years. Defence lawyers say the sentence handed down by a lower court is appropriate. Pistorius claimed he shot dead Ms Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013 after mistaking her for a burglar at his home in the capital Pretoria. Read Also Venezeula: We can’t pay our debts anymore The lower court justified deviating from the prescribed 15-year sentence by saying mitigating circumstances such…