Author: David Great

The Oyo State Government on Friday approved the immediate release of car loans for primary school teachers, across all zones in the state. The car loans are palliatives to teachers, the coordinating Director, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, Mr. Jacob Dairo disclosed in Ibadan, Oyo State capital. He explained that the loan which is to be distributed in many tranches is to cushion the effect of the removal of fuel subsidy, on Oyo State primary school teachers. According to him, the scheme was approved by Governor Seyi Makinde, who instructed that the loan be provided to all teachers, without…

Reports in the Italian press on Friday indicate that former Napoli boss, Luciano Spalletti is set to take over as coach of the Italian national team, succeeding Roberto Mancini. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Spalletti, the federation’s top choice, will sign a three-year contract until September 2026. The former Napoli boss has held several telephone conversations with federation president Gabriele Gravina and has now agreed to take over from Mancini. Spalletti and Gravina are due to meet on Friday to finalise the contract. Following his appointment, which could be made official on Saturday, Spalletti is expected to hold his…

Chelsea have completed the signing of Belgium midfielder Romeo Lavia from Southampton for a fee believed to be £53 million plus £5 million in add-ons. The 19-year-old signed a seven-year contract at Stamford Bridge to add more depth to Mauricio Pochettino’s squad. Lavia started his career with Anderlecht in his native Belgium and spent eight years with the club before joining Manchester City at the age of 16. “I’m really happy join Chelsea and be a part of this exciting project. It’s an amazing football club with a great history and I’m really excited to get started,” he told Chelsea…

Chelsea have inquired about Rennes’ 21-year-old Belgium winger Jeremy Doku after their move for Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise fell through. (90min) West Ham, Manchester City and Tottenham are also keen on Doku. (Independent) Chelsea backed out of the deal to sign France Under-21 winger Olise, 21, when Palace informed club lawyers they would consider taking the case to a tribunal. (Fabrizio Romano) Chelsea have added Nottingham Forest and Wales forward Brennan Johnson to their list of attacking targets and have held initial talks with the 22-year-old. (Guardian)  Forest have set an asking price of £40m for Johnson, with Tottenham and Brentford also considering a move for the attacker before the window closes. (Independent) Chelsea are also looking at…

More than 100 people have been arrested in a city in east Pakistan after thousands of Muslim mob burned churches and vandalised homes, BBC reports. There was violence in Jaranwala sparked by claims that two Christian men had torn pages from the Quran. Reports said this led to the attack on the historic Salvation Army Church that was burnt to the ground after the riot erupted. Ruins have been surrounded with barbed wire as the situation remains tense in the city. Public gatherings have also been restricted for seven days in Faisalabad district, which includes Jaranwala. The two men accused…

The Nigerian government on Thursday approved five trucks of rice each for the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory as part of palliatives to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy. The rice measure by the federal government was announced after a National Economic Council (NEC) meeting chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima. NEC also reached a consensus on frontier States bordering the Niger Republic. The council agreed that these States should be assisted with more palliative materials given the number of refugees into their States. Chronicle NG reports that NEC had also approved N5 billion to each State to…

Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria has announced a new limit on the number of cards a customer can have at any given time. In an email to customers, the bank noted that customers cannot request more than four debit cards. “Kindly note that effective immediately, the maximum number of debit cards allowed per client is four (4),” the commercial bank said in a statement. Standard Chartered added that, “To apply for a replacement if you already have 4 or more cards, you must first block an existing card(s) before proceeding to request for a new one. Standard Chartered announces how Nigerians…

Argentina’s world cup-winning captain Lionel Messi has been nominated alongside Manchester City’s duo of Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne for the 2022–23 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award. Messi scored four goals and made four assists in seven games for PSG as they crashed out in the round of 16 last season. He led Argentina to their World Cup success in December 2022. Erling Haaland scored the first goal in the 5-4 penalty shootout win over Sevilla in the Super Cup on Wednesday. The Norwegian scored 12 goals to finish as the top scorer last season as City…

By Etim Etim Democracy is in danger in West Africa. Five of the 15 ECOWAS countries have fallen into military dictatorship in the last two or three years. The recent military takeover in the neighbouring Niger Republic has set Nigerians on edge. Many are wondering if we are following. Will our hard-won democracy be taken away by our military, 24 years after they returned to the barracks? Defence Headquarters, the headquarters of the military high command, this weekend issued a statement vowing not to ever stage a coup or dabble into politics again. Director of Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Tukur…

Bernardo Silva is set to sign a new deal at Manchester City, ending another summer of speculation over his future. With just two years left on his current contract and once again being open to a new challenge, the player has been available on the market this summer. Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona are among the clubs to have shown an interest in Silva, just as they did last year. City Manager, Pep Guardiola has always maintained that a player can leave if he no longer wants to be at the club. Guardiola signs two-year deal at Manchester City But, the…