Telecom company, 9mobile, has announced the approval of a $23 million loan by the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC).
The company said in a statement on Sunday that it will use the money to honour existing debts, finance its costs and invest in growth.
Formerly called Etisalat Nigeria, 9mobile is Nigeria’s fourth-biggest telecoms operator behind MTN, Airtel and Globacom.
It was formerly operated by Abu Dhabi-based Etisalat until the local company defaulted on its debt, forcing lenders to step in to find new investors.
The Nigerian Communications Commissions (NCC) recently announced that it had slammed 9mobile and Airtel with a total fine of N136m for violating various industry regulations.
The NCC, in its 2019 first quarter enforcement report, stated that the network providers flouted different rules such as automatic renewal of data subscription, wrongful disconnection of an interconnect carrier and breaking the Do-Not-Disturb directive.
Professor Joshua Obaleye of the Department of Chemistry, University of Ilorin has announced the discovery of anti-malaria, anti-cancer and anti-tuberculosis drugs by a team led by him.
He said the drugs can be mass-produced to save lives.
Obaleye told newsmen in Ilorin that the team had tested numerous world-class metal compounds from his laboratory for the treatment of various diseases.
According to him, studies show that when a metal is attached with a pharmaceutical, it increases the efficacy of the drug.
But the don, who is also the President, America Chemical Society, Nigeria Chapter, and Chairman, Nigeria Chemical Society, Kwara State Chapter, said he lacked funds to commercialize the drugs.
According to the professor, he has also produced anti-inflammatory drugs and vitamins.
He said:“We need to commercialize all these drugs and invite the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control and other regulatory bodies to come over to examine what we have produced to confirm if what we say we have is what we have.
“When they investigate us and find out what we say is authentic, maybe they will be happy to help us.
“We have produced metal anti-tuberculosis, metal anti-malaria, metal antibiotics and many more. We have produced a lot of them in this lab.
“Most of these drugs we have produced in our lab have other applications; even structural studies of them is enough. We can even use them as raw materials for other drugs.”
Obaleye called for effective collaboration among researchers in
the same discipline as well as interdisciplinary collaboration in order to come out with
world-class discoveries.
He said that collaboration had given him great opportunities to come up with groundbreaking researches.
“We are making a lot of achievements, we have many collaborators from India, we have collaborators in Malaysia, Japan and so many other countries.
“We work with people we know are experts in those areas; if you don’t collaborate, you just be a local champion without any progress,” he said.
For David Luiz, this was an introduction to Arsenal and their infamous defensive fragility. For Arsenal, this was an introduction to David Luiz and his infamous defensive fragility. The very thing that Arsenal feared when they signed Luiz from Chelsea came to pass in only his second game as Unai Emery’s side were once again ripped apart by a Liverpool team that seemingly enjoys nothing more than pummelling their visitors from north London.
Make that 15 goals scored by Jurgen Klopp’s team in Arsenal’s last four trips to Anfield. A new season brought new faces and a new threat from Unai Emery’s side, but the same old problems were exposed by the same old faces in red. Chief among them was Mohamed Salah, providing Luiz with a very personal torment in a thrilling second half performance that reminded the league just how hard it will be to stop Liverpool this season.
When Luiz swapped Chelsea blue for Arsenal red, he would not have imagined spending his second match trailing after a motoring Salah, watching the Liverpool winger disappear further and further into the distance. Neither would he have envisaged being so careless as to pull Salah’s shirt and award the Egyptian the most foolish of penalties in the crucial moments after half-time.
This, it is safe to say, is not what Luiz was signed for. Where was the defensive leadership, the organisation, the calmness? Frankly, it was all at the other end of the field, where Joel Matip and Virgil van Dijk were occasionally ruffled by Arsenal’s attackers but ultimately sturdy under pressure. For all the talk of the opposing strikeforces before the match, it was the defenders who made the difference at Anfield, for good and for bad.
Liverpool go top, then, and they do so with another humbling of a ‘big six’ opponent.
Tammy Abraham Delivers First Win For Lampard’s Chelsea Against Norwich City
Chelsea on Saturday beat Norwich 3-2 to emerge victorious in the encounter.
The Blues’ goals were scored by Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount, while Norwich showed effort with two goals by Todd Cantewell and Teemu Pukki.
In the third minute of the match, Tammy Abraham opened up the goals which was rapidly equalised by Norwich City via Tod Cantwell in the 6th minute. Mason Mount spurred the blues forward in the 17th minute but was quickly rebuffed by Teemus Pukki in the 30th minute. Tammy Abraham however sealed Frank Lampard’s first win in the EPL
Crystal Palace have a first league win at Old Trafford since 1989 and Manchester United have questions to answer.
In a frantic finish an 88th-minute Daniel James curler seemed to have grabbed United a point yet as added time arrived Paul Pogba squandered possession and Palace moved upfield before Patrick van Aanholt beat David de Gea from close range.
Marcus Rashford had earlier taken over penalty duties following Pogba’s miss at Wolves on Monday yet the No 10 could only cannon the ball off Vicente Guaita’s right post, missing the chance to equalise Jordan Ayew’s first-half opener.
That had been Palace’s first goal of the season and Van Aanholt secured their first points.
Notorious kidnap kingpin, Hamisu Bala, popularly known as Wadume, has made some shocking revelations about his criminal activities.
Wadume, who said he dropped out of school after junior secondary education, also revealed that one Babangida Musa introduced him to crime.
The kidnap kingpin also revealed that he is currently a member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, after dumping the PDP and helped the party win election in the presidential and senatorial election in Ibi town.
Wadume also revealed how the policemen who arrested him were killed by men of Nigerian Army who rescued him.
According to him, “I am 34 years old and married to four wives. I have only four children as two of my wives are yet to conceive. We are eight of us from my mother’s womb and my parents are dead. Due to financial constraint, I had to drop out of school after Junior Secondary School. I attended Government Secondary School, Ibi,” he was quoted by Saturday Sun as saying.
“In Ibi, we are farmers and my father used to be a fisherman. Based on the experience I got when I normally followed him to the river, I started buying and selling fish. It is not easy to catch it by yourself because of the waves and for fear of dying, I decided to restrict myself and was only buying and selling fish. I used to make as much as N5, 000 on a daily basis. I did that for years till I gathered enough money to start my own fish pond.
“I continued in that business till six years ago when my friend Babangida Musa introduced me to the business of buying and selling guns. He imports them from neighbouring countries and sell to me. I am a youth leader, so I have a strong relationship with a lot of bad boys that is why I knew that I would surely excel in the business.
“I started buying only AK-47 rifles from him at the price of N400, 000 and sold them to my customers at the price of N750, 000. Some of my customers are Yakubu Yamaza and one Halilu. Yakubu buys them in large quantities because he normal sells the guns to Fulani bandits and others. He is one of my constant buyers.
“Halilu is a notorious kidnapper and I preferred selling AK-47 rifles to him as a way to guarantee that he will not pick me up one day. In fact, his gang members almost got me but when I told them who I was, they released me. I cannot recall the number of AK-47 guns that I sold to him. I swear to God, I have never kidnapped anybody but I know a lot of them who are kidnappers. They normally buy AK-47 guns from me.
“I was making so much money, so I decided to use the money to buy cars and motorcycles for commercial purpose. I am also a politician and a youth leader. I made so much money from politicians.
“I joined politics about 10 years ago while I was a fish farmer. I was very active and that was why I was made the Sariki Matata (youth leader) of Ibi town. I started as a member of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and switched over in 2015 to All Progressives Congress (APC). In the 2019 election, APC won the presidential and senatorial election in Ibi town. During the governorship election, I switched over to PDP and assisted them to win. In politics, if you want to make money, one needs to join the winning team. I couldn’t get the ticket of PDP or APC to contest for State House of Assembly. Luckily, Young Democratic Party (YDP) accepted me but I still lost the election.
“As a youth leader, money meant for the youth was given to me. I am to mobilize them, hire thugs where necessary and make arrangement for weapons that can be used to protect our people. There is a lot of killing in my state, so it’s wise to always protect yourself in-case of any attack. It was during 2015 and 2019 elections that I made so much money to acquire cars and houses.
“On the day he was rescued by some soldiers, he added “On August 7 at about 6pm, I was in my house with some family and friends when policemen arrived and arrested me. Everyone was begging them, but they said that I am a kidnapper and handcuffed my legs and hands.
“On our way, we passed through three checkpoints. The first was that of the army and after identification, they allowed us to go. The second one was that of mobile policemen and they also allowed us to continue. It was at the third checkpoint that we wasted a little time but they allowed us to go after the policemen convinced them that they were real.
“Five minutes after we left that point, an army patrol vehicle started shooting at us. Our vehicle got hit and summersaulted severally. When we finally crashed and stopped, everybody was alive except for bullet wounds. The bullets hit part of my scrotum.
“The soldiers quickly rescued me and took me to a red saloon car and we drove off immediately. Initially, I thought they were bandits dressed in military uniform and wanted to kidnap me. It was when we got to Captain Balarabe’s house that I knew that I wassafe.
“The Captain was there and he called the DCO of Ibi Police Division, one ASP Aondona Lorbee. He came to the house and told the Captain that he could not find the key. They then brought an iron cutter and cut the handcuffs on my hands and legs.
“I was outside when I saw the soldiers drive in with four dead men. They dropped them on the ground and I realized that these were the people who arrested me. I was shocked because they were all alive after the vehicle summersaulted.
“Even the DCO saw the dead bodies and just looked at them and left the compound. While the dead bodies were still on the ground, I decided to find my way before anyone will know that I was there. One of the boys that I saw in the compound used his motorcycle to take me to the house of one of my friends, Saidu.
“By then the news of my arrest and escape has spread everywhere. I immediately rented a speedboat and escaped to Tunga village in Nasarawa. I slept there and also used the opportunity to contact my family members. The ones in Ibi told me that soldiers came to the house to look for me, that they asked that I should not allow police to catch me. It was better for me to come to them first as they will guarantee my safety.
“I refused to go back because I was already scared that they killed those policemen. I knew that if they catch me, I will be killed. I ran to my Uncle’s house in Kano. I went there because, he is related to my late mother and the house that he is living in belong to me. He only advised me to report myself to the police and stop running. I decided to stay away from the border because it’s guarded by the military and my face is now known by all.
“It was my uncle who called a doctor to treat the bullet wound that affected my private part. It is possible that I cannot use it again because of the damage and I discovered that when I wake up in the morning, I no longer have erection.
“While I was hiding, friends who knew where I was collected N3 million from me. They said that they were going to use it to pay journalists, so that they will be writing good report about me. It was when I was arrested, that I knew that they did not do anything. I was terrified when men in mufti broke into our house in Kano. I thought they were hired to kill me till I discovered they were policemen.
“I did not ask soldiers to kill anyone. I was happy they rescued me, but I’m happier that police has rearrested me and I’m still alive.
“I am not a kidnapper but I supply arms to different gangs. I make enough money as a businessman. I know that I have committed a crime selling guns; I am willing to change for good.”
At least one of the Premier League’s only two 100 per cent records will come to an end when Liverpool take on Arsenal at Anfield on Saturday.
Jurgen Klopp’s men have equalled their longest ever Premier League winning streak of 11 in a row by beating Norwich and Southampton so far this season.
Latest odds
Unbeaten in eight meetings with this opposition, they are 12/25 (1.48) favourites with 888Sport to set a new club record by coming out on top once again here.
Two of the last three encounters between this pair have resulted in draws, and you can get odds of 19/5 (4.80) on this one also finishing up all square.
Team news
Alisson, Nathaniel Clyne and Naby Keita are all injured for the hosts, while Dejan Lovren remains short of fitness.
Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding, Konstantinos Mavropanos, and Kieran Tierney have been ruled out due to injury, although Granit Xhaka and Mesut Ozil could be in contention after returning to training.
Preview
While recent meetings between this pair have been good to the Reds, they have also offered plenty of entertainment to the neutrals thanks to an abundance of goalmouth action.
No fixture in Premier League history has featured more goals than this one, with 35 scored in just the most recent seven.
Predictions
With Liverpool looking unusually shaky at the back and without a clean sheet in the opening three games, odds of 57/50 (2.14) look like solid value on over 3.5 goals being scored for their seventh meeting in eight with Arsenal.
Paris Saint-Germain have been fined €2,000, after their fans unfurled an offensive banner aimed at Neymar during their Ligue 1 win over Nimes.
Neymar was targeted by fans during the 3-0 victory at Parc des Princes on August 11, amid growing speculation he wants to leave the club.
One banner urged the 27-year-old to leave the Ligue 1 champions, while another expressed dissatisfaction with his behaviour.
Chants of “Son of a b*tch” also rang out in the stands among home fans.
The Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) Disciplinary Committee announced sanctions on Wednesday, said in a statement: “Behaviour of the supporters of Paris Saint-Germain: use of pyrotechnic devices and deployment of an offensive banner.
“€2,000 fine for Paris Saint-Germain.”
Neymar is yet to play for PSG this season, amid reports he will return to Barcelona or join LaLiga giants Real Madrid.
Juventus forward, Cristiano Ronaldo, has admitted that both he and Lionel Messi have benefitted from their long-running rivalry.
Ronaldo and Messi have been at the top of world football for more than a decade.
The duo have won 10 straight Ballons d’Or between them, before their run ended by Luka Modric in 2018.
The two supertars were also LaLiga’s headliners for nearly a decade, with Ronaldo starring for Real Madrid between 2009 and 2018, before he made his move to Juventus.
That span saw Barcelona claim six league crowns to Madrid’s two, while Ronaldo and company held the edge in Europe with four Champions League crowns to the two won by Messi’s side.
“I really admire the career he has had so far and, for his part, he has already said that he had trouble when I left the Spanish league because it is a rivalry that he appreciates.
“It is a good rivalry that exists in football, but this is no exception. Michael Jordan had rivals in basketball, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were great rivals in Formula 1, the only common point between all the big rivalries in the sport is that they are healthy.
“Messi makes me a better player and vice versa,” Ronaldo told Portuguese channel TVI.
Ronaldo described the rivalry between him and Messi as “excellent” and says he would have no issue having dinner with the Argentina at some point in the future.
“I have an excellent professional relationship with Messi because we have been sharing the same moments for 15 years.
“I have never been to dinner with him but why not in the future? I would have no problem with doing that,” Ronaldo added.
Four suspected kidnappers who reportedly collected N3.5m, a carton of schnapps, 30 litres of palm oil and 10 tubers of yam before their victims were released have been arrested .
The Police Public Relations Officer in Ogun State, Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed this on Wednesday .
The kidnappers were reported to have abducted three persons in Ode-Omi in the Ogun Waterside Local Government Area of Ogun State — a boundary community between Lagos and Ogun states — on the eve of the last Eid-el Adha.
The victims who were later freed by their captors after allegedly collecting the items and N3.5m were siblings Bamidele Adams and Jelili Adams; and another individual who is a son of the Chief Imam of Ode-Omi, Abdulazeez Sanni.
Oyeyemi, in a statement, wrote, “Four of the kidnappers who abducted the three people, including the son of chief imam at Ode-Omi in Ijebu waterside on Salah day, have been arrested this morning by the police.”
Oyeyemi said operatives of anti-kidnapping unit of the Police Command had laid an ambush for the kidnappers since the incident happened.
“They were planning to relocate from the creeks. On Wednesday, we surrounded them and laid ambush for them.
“We allowed them to enter their vehicle and as they attempted to leave, we rounded them up and arrested them with their guns and other ammunition.”
When asked whether the suspects were the ones that collected the N3.5m and other items, the PPRO said “it is possible they are the ones who collected yam, oil, and money, among others.”
