Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk was named Uefa Men’s Player of the Year, beating off both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to the award for the first time following last season’s Champions League success.
Van Dijk found himself up against Messi and Ronaldo on the three-man shortlist for the Men’s Player of the Year, who together have the award five times in the eight years since its inception in 2011.
But Van Dijk was unsurprisingly recognised for Liverpool’s Champions League glory, with the centre-back playing a pivotal role in converting Jurgen Klopp’s side from runners-up in 2018 to European champions in 2019.
Ronaldo saw his quest to win a sixth Champions League squashed by Ajax last season, but his campaign hardly went badly as Juventus wrapped up an eighth consecutive Serie A title to give the 34-year-old his first Italian league title, while Portugal beat Van Dijk’s Netherlands side to Nations League glory in June.
Messi meanwhile ended the season with tenth career La Liga title, while Barcelona reached the Champions League semi-finals only to come unstuck against eventual winners Liverpool.
Van Dijk also claimed the Champions League Defender of the Season award, while his Liverpool teammate Alisson Becker claimed the Goalkeeper of the Season for his performances in the Champions League.
Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong took home the Midfielder of the Season award after inspiring Ajax to the semi-finals last season before his summer move to Spain, while his new teammate at the Nou Camp in Messi claimed the Forward of the Season award.
Some of the highest-earning Nollywood films will soon be available on the popular American streaming platform.
Since announcing plans to invest in the African film industry 2018, Netflix has been adding a lot of Nigerian movies to its service.
The growing list of Nollywood films currently available on the popular American streaming platform includes “Chief Daddy”, “Lionheart” and “The Wedding Party.”
Viewers are about to get even more Nigerian movies as the service has recently acquired three more films.
The news of the acquisition was revealed by Film one, distributor of all three movies, via their Instagram page. According to the independent distributor, “The Wedding Party 2,” “ King Of Boys” and “Merry Men” will soon be available on the platform.
Coincidentally, these three are some of the highest-earning movies in the country. Here is what you need to know about them:
The Wedding Party 2: Destination Dubai
This 2017 Nigerian film is currently the highest-grossing Nigerian film of all time. It earned a total of N512 million.
Directed by Niyi Akinmolayan, the sequel to The Wedding Party follows characters as one of them accidentally proposes marriage by accident. Viewers will also see a disastrous traditional engagement ceremony and finally a wedding in Dubai.
King of Boys
This 2018 Nigerian political thriller film is focused on power tussle. It tells the story of a businesswoman and philanthropist named Alhaja Eniola Salami with growing political ambitions.
It grossed N231 million making it is the fourth highest-earning Nigerian movie of all time. A sequel is currently in the works.
Merry Men:The Real Yoruba Demon
Set in Abuja, it follows four rich men (the Merry Men) who seduce powerful women, steal from the rich, get contracts from the political elite and give to the poor.
With N230 million, it is the fifth highest-grossing Nigerian film.
With the rate at which most men are so keen on staying fit, it is rather surprising that the study shows they pay less attention to fruits.
One of the many important fruits men need in their regular diet which plays a vital role in any fitness routine is Bananas. It is rich in nutrients- vitamins (A, C, and B6), Minerals (Potassium, Magnesium, Folate, Riboflavin, Niacin, Thiamine, and Iron), Proteins, Carbohydrates, Fibers.
Below are some of its extraordinary benefits to the body:
Heart and Nerves
High potassium contents in bananas can nourish the heart and nervous system. It helps with muscle contraction. Therefore, bananas are good for the heart, digestive system, and other muscle movements. This is why bananas are recommended to be eaten before and after exercise.
Blood and Immune System
The high content of Vitamin B6 supplies blood haemoglobin and maintains healthy blood sugar levels by turning carbohydrates into glucose. It also helps the body to produce antibodies that are effectively used by the immune system to fight disease.
Good Mood Enhancer
Bananas contain an amino acid called tryptophan, which is converted into serotonin in the body. It keeps the moods positive, helps to fight depression.
Also, one banana contains about 400 milligrams of potassium; therefore eating one in a day can help you stay healthy during times of stress.
Weight
Fibre can help to maintain the bowel movements regularly, and bananas provide 12 per cent of the fiber needed in a day. It also helps you to feel satiated longer after eating, reducing the possibility of overeating so that your body weight can be maintained.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the National Intelligence Agency and the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to launch a probe into the contract between the Federal Government and the Process and Industrial Developments Limited, signed in 2010.
The controversial contract has become the subject of a $9.6bn judgment debt imposed on Nigeria by a British court last week.
The president also directed that the contract itself should be probed with a view to identifying Nigerians involved in the signing of the deal in 2010 for possible prosecution.
The President’s decision to probe the firm and its activities was based on the fact that the Federal Government suspected foul play in the contract which was negotiated and signed under the past administration in 2010. But who are the past and present Federal Government’s officials that represented Nigeria to sign the purported contract 2010 between the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the P&ID?
Umar Yar’Adua
The late President Umar Yar’Adua was technically at the helm of affairs when the project must have been tabled before the Federal Government. However, he was on a sick bed in faraway Saudi Arabia on January 11, 2010 when the contract was signed.
Unfortunately, the soft-spoken President is no longer alive to say what he must have known about the contract that has the capacity to lead the country to steady haemorrhage.
Goodluck Jonathan
President Goodluck Jonathan was Vice President at the time the contract was signed.
Although he was the most senior government official in the absence of his boss, he was treated as a ‘leper’ and an outsider by the ‘cabal’ that took charge of government business in the absence of Yar’Adua.
However, on the doctrine of necessity subscribed to by the National Assembly, Jonathan became the acting President on February 10, 2010 and went on to be sworn in as President on May 6, 2010 upon the demise of Yar’Adua.
Our correspondent learnt that questions were asked on the contract when Jonathan became president but they were not answered. Thus, the fire kept smouldering.
Before Jonathan quit office on May 29, 2015, P&ID and the Federal Government had agreed at a settlement fee of $850m but he decided to hand over the liability to the incoming government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Attorney General, Michael Aondoakaa
Michael Aondoakaa was appointed the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation on July 26, 2007. He was reputed to be one of the members of the ‘cabal’ that ruled Nigeria in the absence of Yar’Adua.
It was not yet clear what role he played in the P&ID contract saga. However, as the chief law officer of the country, he was expected to review major contracts before the country could sign such document.
He lost his seat in the cabinet on February 10, 2010 – the day that Jonathan assumed power as the acting President.
Rilwan Lukman
Rilwan Lukman, an engineer, was a recurring decimal in the nation’s oil and gas industry. He was appointed Honorary Advisor to Umar Yar’Adua on energy and strategic matters in August 2007 and in December 2008, he was appointed the Minister of Petroleum Resources.
So, he was the Minister of Petroleum Resources at the time the ministry signed the contract with P&ID. However, he left the cabinet on March 17, 2010 when Jonathan dissolved the Federal Executive Council. He died on July 21, 2014.
Liyel Imoke and Cross River State
Liyel Imoke was the governor of Cross River State between May 2007 and May 2015. Although the GSPA contract was a federal project, his administration might have played some outsider role in the project. As of the press time, it was not certain what role the state government under him played.
Mansur Mukhtar
Dr Mansur Mukhtar, economist and experienced technocrat in both the public private sector, was Minister of Finance at the time the deal with the Process and Industrial Development Limited was signed.
The former Director General of Debt Management Office was appointed the Finance minister by the late President Umar Yar’Adua on December 17, 2008.
As the Chief Finance Officer of the country, a major financial transaction should not scale through without passing through his table.
The Federal Ministry of Finance Incorporated through which the government must have acquired 10 per cent equity in P&ID is also under the purview of the Ministry of Finance.
Mukhtar left the government in March 2010 when Jonathan dissolved the cabinet.
Lamido Sanusi
Lamido Sanusi was the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria at the time the Federal Government entered into the contract with P&ID on January 11, 2010.
It could not be determined what role he must have played when the contract was signed. However, it is usual for the chief banker of the nation to be aware of contracts that will commit the nation to foreign exchange transactions.
Sanusi, who became Muhammadu Sanusi II, the 14th Emir of Kano, was appointed governor of CBN on June 3, 2009. He was suspended from the apex bank by President Jonathan on February 20, 2014 in controversial circumstances.
Buhari and AGF Abubakar Malami’s role
President Buhari inherited the controversial contract when he assumed office on May 29, 2015. The controversy that surrounds it could have been settled by him with good negotiation.
However, he must have been too busy with preliminaries of taking over power to be bothered about settling a project that was not executed with $850m.
The President also failed to appoint a minister to take charge of legal affairs until November 2015.
An official of the Ministry of Justice had told a London court that the handover to a new government was responsible for the delay in implementing decisions reached with the P&ID.
Malami is the current Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation. He has been in charge of the contract suit since he assumed office.
Although he assumed office when the arbitration had awarded the $9.6bn judgment to the P&ID, the company accuses him of ignoring an offer of $850m to settle the case out of arbitration.
Malami has promised that everyone that led the country to the alley would be punished.
The Ogun State Police Command said it had arrested three members of a community vigilante group for the alleged murder of one Ahmed Obisanwo, a 400-level student of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye.
The three suspects, who were paraded on Wednesday at Eleweran State Police headquarters, were said to have killed Ahmed and thrown his corpse into a river, after he was arrested by the group over cult related activities in Ijebu Igbo town.
Speaking with newsmen during the parade, the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Bashir Makama, explained that the trio of Idowu Ayodele, 53, Segun Ogunsanwo, 53, and Akeem Salisu, 55, had invaded a hotel in Ijebu-Igbo area of the state on August 8, dispossessed lodgers of their valuables and seized two young men.
According to him, the suspects, who claimed that the two young men were cultists and arrested them during initiation, eventually released one of the boys and could not account for the whereabouts of the other one.
The CP informed that the suspects were arrested after Ahmed’s parents reported the case at the police station that the whereabouts of their son could not be accounted for by the suspects.
“These suspects went into a hotel and ordered everyone to lie down and dispossessed them of their valuables. They seized two people and didn’t return them. After a while, one of them came back and said he had escaped. When we asked him about the second person he taken with, he said he had been killed. It is six weeks today, that person has not returned.
“There was a complaint and we worked on that, which led to the arrest of these three people and the recovery of four locally made double barrelled guns and live cartridges. On further interrogation, they said the other person that was taken had been killed and the body had been thrown into a river. We asked them to show us the river, so that we can go there and conduct a search and recover his body”.
“One of them even claimed to be a member of So Safe Corps, but Corps commandant has outrightly denied that. One of the weapons recovered from them is painted in police color. They will be made to face the full wrath of the law”. Makama stated.
One of the suspects, Akeem Salisu, who spoke with newsmen, denied killing Ahmed. He said the vigilance group was commissioned by the community to rid it of cultists and thugs.
Salisu claimed that three other members of the group, who he said have run away, had carried out the raid on the hotel and arrested the suspected cultists.
Hundreds of new state laws take effect on Sept. 1, and one of them makes it illegal for someone to send you nude photos you never asked for.
“Many people – especially women – get unwanted sexually explicit pictures by text or social media,” said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. “Now, it’s illegal in Texas.”
On Friday, Gov. Abbott ceremoniously signed House Bill 2789.
Law making unwanted explicit photos a crime may be hard to prosecute, attorney says
The law makes it a Class C misdemeanor to send an unwanted, unrequested indecent photo – by text, dating app, email or any other platform.
Anyone found guilty of doing it could face a $500 fine.
According to The Texas Tribune, the law makes Texas one of the first states to take a stand against sending sexually explicit images, which about 40% of women report receiving without consent.
Buba Galadima, ex-spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Presidential Campaign Council, has alleged that President Muhammadu Buhari has the judiciary and National Assembly, “completely under his armpit and pocket.”
Galadima said this while accusing the Buhari-led administration of intimidating and muzzling the judiciary. Featuring on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Galadima was reacting to claims that some “friends of this government” are trying to manipulate cases in court.
He also berated Buhari for failing to sign the Electoral Amendment Bill despite being passed by the National Assembly weeks to the general election.
Galadima stated that the refusal to append his signature was a deliberate ploy by the presidency to rig the poll, a situation that led to a face-off between the executive and legislature.
According to Galadima: “This government is intimidating the judiciary. You have heard in the social and print media of certain friends of this government visiting judges, trying to mould their opinion on the cases before them.
“We have the head of a government who believes that he will first accuse you and it will be your duty to prove yourself innocent.
“There is no place, no country in the world where you are accused and you prove yourself innocent. The President has consistently stood on this promise and now that he has the complete judiciary under his armpit and the National Assembly inside the pocket, we Nigerians are in trouble.”
MEPs from across the EU are organizing to trigger a formal investigation into the British government for breaching of the rule of law because of Boris Johnson’s “disturbing” move to suspend parliament. The queen approves PM’s request to suspend parliament.
EU parliamentarians are circulating an emergency question to the European Commission calling for action under Article 7 of the EU’s founding treaty, which has been used to censure countries such as Poland and Hungary when their governments have been deemed to be undermining democracy or fundamental rights.
The bid, launched on Wednesday evening, already has the backing of dozens of MEPs from member states including France, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain and Denmark – and drawn from all of the parliament’s mainstream political groups. MEPs have until next Monday to put their name to the proposal, when it will be sent to the commission, and organizers say new signatories are being added every few minutes.
The emergency call states that the UK government’s suspension of the Commons, described by its own speaker as “an offence against the democratic process” and a “constitutional outrage” – “will have the effect of preventing the parliament from exercising its legislative function, providing checks and balances to the executive and in particular from taking parliamentary action in relation to the Brexit process”.
The MEPs ask whether the commission is aware of “any precedent where a member state has suspended its parliament for such a length of time or at such a moment of importance” and asks how the commission assesses “the compliance of the UK as a current EU member with the EU rule of law standards, in particular with the respect for fundamental values referred to in Article 2” of the bloc’s treaties.
Sophie in ’t Veld, one of the MEPs backing the motion, was among those who led the charge against Viktor Orban’s nationalist government in Hungary, which has been accused of violations of fundamental rights. The European parliament voted by a two-thirds majority last year to force the commission to trigger rule of law proceedings against the central European state.
“If in any EU member state the government would suspend parliament at such a crucial moment, it would be considered a ‘clear risk of a serious breach’ of the values enshrined in the EU treaties, and a sanctions procedure would be initiated,” she told The Independent.
“In 1993 the heads of government decided that EU membership ‘requires that candidate country has achieved stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy’. It is obvious that the move of Boris Johnson is contrary to that requirement.”
Antony Hook, a British Liberal Democrat MEP who is coordinating the bid said: “Suspending the UK’s parliament for political convenience is clearly against the fundamental principles of the European Union and the basic principles that any parliamentary democracy should uphold.
The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday, refused to grant the motion filed by Mr Omoyele Sowore, Convener, #RevolutionNow protests, challenging his detention for 45 days by the Department of State Security.
Justice Nkeonye Maya, who declined all applications by Counsel to Sowore, Mr Femi Falana, SAN, sent the case back to Justice Taiwo for further hearing.
Falana, who had asked the court to set aside the ex parte order granted by Justice Taiwo, also applied for bail orally when Justice Maha rejected the earlier application.
Sowore, who is presently in detention had, on August 9, approached the court, seeking an order to vacate the ex parte order that gave the DSS the legal backing to detain him for 45 days.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Justice Taiwo Taiwo had, in a ruling on an ex parte application, on August 8 ordered Sowore’s detention for the said period to enable the DSS to carry out and conclude its investigation on allegations levied against him.
The DSS had also, on August 20, challenged the court order, allowing it to detain Sowore for 45 days against its request of 90 days pending investigation.
The Lagos State House Assembly on Tuesday set up a committee to investigate the purchase of 820 buses by the administration of former governor Akinwunmi Ambode in the state.
The House said it was important to investigate the purchase of the 820 buses out of the 5,000 buses proposed by Mr Ambode for mass transit in the state, but which was purchased despite objection by the House of Assembly.
In a motion, Gbolahan Yishawu (Eti Osa 2), noted that at an Executive/Legislative parley at Golden Tulip in FESTAC in September 2017, Mr Ambode informed the lawmakers that 5,000 buses would be bought by the state government.
The lawmaker stated that the executive proposed to spend N17 billion to purchase the buses in the 2017 budget, but that this was not approved by the Assembly.
“In the 2018 and 2019 budgets, the state government proposed N24 billion and N7 billion respectively, but these were not approved.
“The state government still went ahead to import 820 buses at N7 billion, and out of that, 520 are still awaiting clearance at the ports,” he said.
The move by the lawmakers to probe Mr Ambode is likely to complicate matters for the former governor who is facing another probe.
Last week, operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission searched his residences in Ikoyi and Epe as part of an ongoing corruption investigation.
Three weeks ago, a federal judge froze bank accounts containing N9.9 billion allegedly linked to the former governor.
Mr Ambode denied links to the bank accounts.
Inflated project
During Tuesday’s plenary, Mr Yishawu said the House was worried that 520 buses were still awaiting clearance from the bonded warehouse and the Port, waiting to be cleared and that they were purchased with taxpayers’ money without approval.
He urged the House to set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate all the issues relating to the purchase of the buses.
He also asked that the House should investigate the cost of the purchase of the buses and other issues surrounding it to prevent a reoccurrence.
“The state government requested waivers for the importation of the buses and it was not granted.
“The value of the buses were overrated. Some of the buses are still in the ports and they are attracting demurrage.
“N45 billion would be spent on the total purchase of the buses and we need to prevent such an occurrence in the future,” he added.
In his submission, the speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, said the House needed to prevent waste because the expenditure had been done.
According to him, “the vehicles are in the ports and they have been there for almost a year.
“The state will continue to suffer if we allow the buses to stay in the ports.
“We should be the regulators of transporters, the state should not operate the buses.
“How much are we giving the buses out should be addressed. We should get the buses to the roads and save the state from further wastes.”
The House subsequently set up a committee headed by Fatai Mojeed (Ibeju Lekki 1) to look into the matter and report to the House in due course.
Members of the committee, according to the Speaker include Mr Yishawu, Bisi Yusuff (Alimosho 1), Olanrewaju Afinni (Lagos Island 2), Rasheed Makinde (Ifako Ijaiye 2), Yinka Ogundimu (Agege 2), Mojisola Miranda (Apapa 1) and others.
The speaker directed the committee to invite the Accountant General of the state, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport, and others that were involved in the purchase to state what they knew about it.
He also told them to invite the current Commissioner for Finance, the Managing Director of LAMATA and others.
In his contribution earlier, Yinka Ogundimu (Agege 2) stated that the House needed to investigate every transaction that had to do with the procurement of the buses.
He added that It would become a bad precedent if the House didn’t do anything about the matter.
“A huge amount of money still needed to be paid on the purchase of these buses. Whoever has erred should be brought to book,” he said.
In his part, Rasheed Makinde stated that it was obvious that the last administration did many things wrong in awarding contracts.
Mr Makinde stressed that some of these included Visionscape and the proposed fourth mainland bridge.
“The House rejected the proposal on the buses, yet they went on to spend N45 billion on the project.
“Since we did not approve the contract expenditure is null and void, so the money should be refunded.
“The Account General of the State, Procurement Officer and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transportation must be called to speak on the matter,” he said.
In his view, Rotimi Olowo (Shomolu 1), stressed that the provision of the 1999 Constitution in Section 120 has been flouted with the purchase.
“They told us that they wanted to start a pilot project, yet they went ahead with the project.
“Can we still wait for the vehicles to be in the port and attract demurrage.
“The incumbent governor of the state should ask for waivers from the Federal Government so that we could retrieve the vehicles from the ports,” he said.
