Author: Chronicle Editor

Barcelona have signed Brazil midfielder Paulinho from Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande for 40m euro (£36.4m). The former Tottenham player, 29, is the Spanish club’s first signing since Neymar left to join Paris St-Germain in a world record transfer. Meanwhile, Barca’s Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez will be out for “four to five weeks” after he was injured in the Super Cup defeat by Real Madrid. READ: Aliko Dangote to sack Wenger if he buys Arsenal He will also miss World Cup qualifiers against Argentina and Paraguay. Welcome Paulinho! Good luck and all the best. Your team mates await you. pic.twitter.com/A24iV31qHW— Josep…

The Oluwo of Iwo kingdom, Osun state, Oba (Dr.) AbdulRasheed Adewale Akanbi Ilufemiloye, Telu 1 has charged Nigerians to a special prayer session for the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, and the Governor of the state of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. According to Oba AbdulRasheed, the prayer session has become imperative at this time in Nigeria to foster quick recovery of the President, and plead God’s guidance in the governance of both Nigeria and the State of Osun. READ: Nigeria draws line on hate speech, says its terrorism – Osinbajo The Special prayer session which is…

Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote has expressed his desire to buy Arsenal and declared his first order of business would be to sack Arsene Wenger. Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote is a Gunners fan has never hidden his wish to purchase the club even though current owner Stan Kroenke has no plans to sell. Dangote spoke hypothetically about what he would do if he was to take over at the Emirates. He told Bloomberg: ‘The first thing I would change is the coach. He has done a good job, but someone else should also try his luck.’ And the 60-year-old pledged…

Nigeria’s acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo has stated on Twitter that the Nigerian government has drawn a line on hate speeches, linking it to terrorism. In a series of tweets, he wrote, “FG has today drawn the line on hate speech. Hate speech is a specie of terrorism,” he wrote on Twitter. “The Terrorism Prevention Act 2011 as amended defines terrorism as an act which deliberately done with malice which may seriously harm a country or is intended or can be reasonably be regarded as having been done to seriously intimidate a population,” he added. He continued by saying, “Silence…

The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, has stated that over N400 billion was paid out to public officials as bribes in Nigeria between June 2015 and May 2016. According to the report computed by NBS on average, almost one bribe is paid by every adult Nigerian per year. By combining the total number of people who paid a bribe to a public official with the frequency of those payments, it is estimated that a total of roughly 82.3 million bribes were paid in Nigeria in the 12 months prior to the survey. This results in an average of 0.93 bribes…

Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum, Dr Emmanuel Kachikwu has distanced himself from some fake campaign posters in his native state of Delta parading him as a governorship aspirant. In a statement issued by Idang Alibi, Director Press, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Kachikwu is only focused on delivering key reforms in the petroleum sector. “Our attention has been drawn to fake campaign posters of the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu for the 2019 governorship elections in Delta State pasted by unknown persons across the Federal Capital Territory,” the statement read. His office further noted that the…

Tottenham are not expected to entertain offers from Chelsea for full-back Danny Rose, 27, with the Blues ready to double his salary. (Evening Standard) Manchester United are no longer interested in signing Rose, although the England international is desperate for a move to Old Trafford. (Daily Star) Daniel Levy, the Tottenham chairman, says midfielder Dele Alli, 21, would not be sold even for £150m, with Barcelona and Manchester City both interested. (Sun) Spurs have been outbid by Lyon for Celta Vigo midfielder Pape Cheikh Diop, 20. The Premier League side offered £9m for the Senegal-born Spanish youth international (Daily Mail)…

• 150 others exposed to index case still under surveillance • Hepatitis B epidemic looms as vaccine shortage persists The management of Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) has discharged the three patients admitted for Lassa fever after they tested negative to the virus. Chief Medical Director (CMD) of LUTH, Prof. Bode Chris, yesterday told The Guardian that some of the 150 persons with the index case who had been under surveillance are certified free and not under danger of developing the disease. Bode, who stated that some others still under surveillance could only be taken off the danger list after…

The Borno State Police Command has said that 16 people were killed in Konduga town of the state when three suspected suicide bombers attacked a livestock market by detonating their strapped Improvised Explosives Devices (IEDs) on Tuesday. The triple market bomb blasts also injured 82 traders and passers-by who have been taken to Maiduguri hospital for treatment.The state’s Police Commissioner, Damian Chukwu, who confirmed this yesterday in a text message sent to The Guardian, said that 16 people were killed and not 27 as reported in other media on Tuesday. Read Also President declares seven days of mourning in Sierra…

Real Madrid produced a dominant display in the Spanish Super Cup second leg to beat Barcelona 2-0 on the night and lift the trophy after a 5-1 aggregate win. After a controversial first leg at the Nou Camp that saw Real win 3-1 and resulted in Cristiano Ronaldo’s five-match suspension, the hosts on Wednesday rounded off their pre-season preparations in style. Marco Asensio (4) produced another fantastic strike to add to his first leg efforts before Karim Benzema (39) doubled the lead. While Barcelona improved in the second half, they were unable to reduce the deficit as Real took the…