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http://ift.tt/2rHRPxW Leonardo Bonucci. PHOTO:AFP Leonardo Bonucci admits that Juventus’ defeat to Real Madrid was especially bitter as they believed it was their time to taste Champions League glory.Madrid became the first team to win back-to-back trophies in the tournament’s modern format with a commanding 4-1 win in Cardiff on Saturday. Juve were deservedly level at half-time after Mario Mandzukic’s wonder goal cancelled out Cristiano Ronaldo’s opener, but the Serie A champions produced a listless display after the break to allow Zinedine Zidane’s side to cruise to victory through further goals from Casemiro, Ronaldo and Marco Asensio. It is the second time Juve have finished runners-up in the space of three seasons, with Barcelona having beaten them 3-1 in 2015, while they now hold an unenviable record of having lost their last five Champions League finals. Writing on his Instagram page after the match, Bonucci conceded that it was a tough end to an otherwise successful...

http://ift.tt/2qqjQJg Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom Political parties demand cancellation of polls The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State has won all 23 chairmanship positions in the Saturday, June 3, 2017 local councils election just as it won 186 councillorship slots. Eight political parties namely the Accord Party, ACD, APC, CPP, LP, NNP, PDP and SDP contested the elections.Chairman of BSIEC, John Tsuwa said the results reflected the true wishes of Benue people at the polls, which he described as the most peaceful and credible election in the state since the return of democracy in the country and Benue in particular. Meanwhile, political parties under the auspices of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) yesterday rejected the process and the outcome of the Saturday’s local council election in Benue. The parties described the election as a rape of democracy and the rubbishing of every tenet of free, fair and credible election at the local g...

http://ift.tt/2rHCAoz PHOTO:AFP Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon says he has one final chance to win the Champions League next season following Saturday’s disappointment in Cardiff.The Serie A champions were beaten 4-1 by Real Madrid, as goals from Casemiro, Marco Asensio and a Cristiano Ronaldo double saw Zinedine Zidane’s side become the first team to retain the trophy in the competition’s modern format. Buffon has now tasted defeat in three finals with Juve – in 2003, 2015 and 2017 – and he has yet to get his hands on European club football’s biggest prize in his storied career. The 39-year-old accepts it will be difficult for Juve to match this season’s triumphs in Serie A and the Coppa Italia as well as reach another Champions League final, but he is determined to give it a go. “I still have one more year on my contract, so that means I have one more chance of winning the Champions League,” he told Sky Sport Italia.“It will be tough to do better than this year, becaus...

http://ift.tt/2qRe5G9 This file photo taken on September 14, 2010 shows Spanish writer and journalist Juan Goytisolo during a press conference in Berlin. Goytisolo, one of the most celebrated Spanish writers of the postwar period, whose work earned him the Cervantes 2014 award, died on June 4, 2017 at the age of 86 at his residence in the Moroccan city of Marrakech, his literary agency in Spain reported.JOHN MACDOUGALL / POOL / AFP Veteran Spanish anti-Franco writer Juan Goytisolo, one of Spain’s most celebrated writers of the postwar period, died Sunday aged 86, his agent said. The novelist and essayist, who won the Cervantes Prize — Spain’s version of the Nobel — in 2014, died in Marrakesh, Morocco, “surrounded by his loved ones,” said the Carmen Balcells agency in a statement. A member of Spain’s Royal Academy, he had suffered from health problems for some months, including a fractured hip which had forced him to use a wheelchair He was born in 1931 in Barcelona to a bou...

http://ift.tt/2rAq8F7 Shareholders of May & Baker Nigeria Plc may soon receive bumper returns on their investment, as the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday, ratified its 12 year agreement with the pharmaceutical firm for local vaccine production. The Managing Director of the company, Nnamdi Okafor, who made the disclosure while addressing shareholders at the 66th yearly general meeting of the company in Lagos at the weekend, said with the FEC action, the partners will immediately take steps to reconstitute the board of Biovaccines Nigeria Limited. Biovaccines Nigeria is the company set up for the purpose of vaccine manufacturing in the country through the May & Baker partnership with the Federal Government Besides, the shareholders approved the firm’s six kobo dividend for every 50 kobo per share due to every of its investor for 2016 financial year. In 2005, May & Baker entered into a joint venture with Government to take over the facilities of the Fed...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J ABUJA—Nigeria cannot achieve growth and development in its economic diversification plan without proper planning and access to quality data in the agricultural sector, the Statistician General of the Federation, Dr. Yemi Kale has said. Dr. Kale stated this on Wednesday at the presentation and formal handover of Agricultural Market Information System, AMIS Computer Assisted Interviewing, CAPI System to the Federal government    by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO at NAF Conference Centre, Abuja. AMIS CAPI system is an inter-agency platform set up for the collection of agricultural    data in Nigeria and to enhance food market transparency and policy response for food security.    It was launched in 2011 by the G20 Ministers of Agriculture following the global food price hikes in 2007/08 and 2010 to about 150 per cent. By bringing together principal trading countries of agricultural commodities, AMIS a...

http://ift.tt/2qRvPBw At the recent meeting in London with the theme “Trends Shifting Real Estate Capital Flows in Sub-Saharan Africa was the African Chapter’s   first London’s GRI forum, an official of Ecobank Nigeria Plc, Mr Kunle Osilaja led the discussion on how Africa compares to other emerging global markets. Leading real estate and infrastructure experts under the aegis of Global Real Estate Institute (GRI) club have identified funding challenges to investment in real estate and proposed options for practitioners in African continent to operate optimally. At the recent meeting in London with the theme “Trends Shifting Real Estate Capital Flows in Sub-Saharan Africa was the African Chapter’s   first London’s GRI forum, an official of Ecobank Nigeria Plc, Mr Kunle Osilaja led the discussion on how Africa compares to other emerging global markets, the impact of regulatory and policy changes and obstacles preventing flows of foreign capital into Africa. Part...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J A   recent study by Oregon State University, OSU researcher on the relationship between work and sex habits of married employees has revealed that those who prioritized sex at home unknowingly gave themselves a next-day advantage at work, where they were more likely to immerse themselves in their tasks and enjoy their work lives. According to the Associate Professor, OSU’s College of Business, Keith Leavitt, maintaining a healthy relationship that includes a healthy sex life will help employees stay happy and engaged in their work, which benefits the employees and the organizations they work for. “We make jokes about people having a ‘spring in their step,’ but it turns out this is actually a real thing and we should pay attention to it,” said Leavitt, an expert in organizational behavior and management. Leavitt explained that the study  showed that bringing work-related stress home from the office negatively impinges on employees’ sex lives. In an era ...

http://ift.tt/2rel9JW Alex Iwobi The tempo is the Super Eagles’ Paris camp was revved up a notch yesterday when London-based Alex Iwobi and Ola Aina arrived to join their mates in preparing for Thursday’s friendly game against Togo. With Iwobi and Aina in town, the number of players in the camp preparing for the June 1 friendly match against the Hawks of Togo in France in now 19.The Eagles, who forced the national team of the Island of Corsica to a 1-1 draw during the first friendly at Ajaccio, will start heading back to Nigeria to begin final preparations for the 2019 AFCON qualifying match against South Africa in Uyo on June 10. According to reports from France, Leicester City’s Wilfred Ndidi and Olarewaju Kayode arrived in the camp shortly before Iwobi and Aina made their entrance. Manchester City forward, Kelechi Iheanacho, who scored the Eagles’ equaliser against Corsica last Friday, left the camp for London, where he is expected to complete his move to West Ham United...

http://ift.tt/2reCUZU Nigeria Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) 2017 conference vice chair, Okey Egbuchu (left); NBA-SBL secretary, Priscilla Ogwemoh; vice chair, NBA-SBL, Seni Adio (SAN); conference chair, Olubunmi Fayokun; chair, NBA-SBL, Olumide Akpata; chair, NBA-SBL training committee, Dr. Adeoye Adefulu, and vice chair, SBL training committee, Tolulope Aderemi during a press conference in Lagos. Worried about the increasing number of unemployable lawyers graduating from the Nigeria Law School yearly, the Nigeria Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) said it is determined to stem the tide. Chair of the section, Mr. Olumide Akpata said the 11th edition of its conference slated to commence in June 18 in Lagos will address the issue of “law and the changing face of legal practice”. Joined by members of the conference organizing committee and other SBL members, Akpata said the meeting would seek to address the global evolution of legal practice, the f...

http://ift.tt/2qtIBWH US actor Joaquin Phoenix poses on May 28, 2017 during a photocall after he won the Best Actor Prize for 'You Were Never Really Here' at the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France. Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP Joaquin Phoenix, who won best actor at Cannes on Sunday, rose to stardom playing tortured souls and a whole bunch of bad guys. His winning role as a hammer-wielding hitman in Lynne Ramsay’s “You Were Never Really Here” combines both archetypes in a magnetic performance, laying bare his monosyllabic character’s physical and psychological wounds. Variety magazine said the 42-year-old, who bulked up for the part, “never plays wounded the same way twice”, praising his “eccentric, sometimes hilarious inversions of the hardman archetype”. The actor — three times Oscar-nominated, including for playing troubled country singer Johnny Cash in “Walk the Line” — made a glancing allusion to his own childhood traumas when ...

http://ift.tt/2oFgJ0P Investors who spoke with The Guardian on the development, argued that investors’ confidence in the market would remain low, until government focused more on policies that would boost liquidity and make the market thrive for both local and foreign investors. Attempts by quoted companies to woo investors with high dividend payouts have not yielded the desired result, as capital market investors blame investment apathy and illiquidity for the poor performance and low share prices and market capitalisation at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). The President, Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), recently revealed that about 27.01 per cent of companies listed on the NSE equities market are still trading at par value of 50 kobo, just as about 47 out of a total 174 quoted companies remained flat at 50 kobo per share as at last Friday. With the equities remaining at par value, it means that the shares have retained the values quoted in the corporate...

http://ift.tt/2oAzrVD Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode To keep track of media publications, print and online, the Lagos State Government has commenced the process of reviewing the existing Newspaper Law Cap No 2 of 2003, with a view to making it more effective and in tune with modern day reality. The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Steve Ayorinde, said this while addressing the media on the activities of his ministry in the last one year. Speaking on the inspectorate unit under his Ministry, Ayorinde said that the unit is responsible for the registration and renewal of newspapers and magazines published and circulated in Lagos. He thereafter said that the law that empowers the ministry to register the media organisations is undergoing review, necessitated by the need to make the existing law more effective and in tune with modern day reality. According to the Commissioner, once the review is completed, media stakeholders would be invited to a meeting to int...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J With the advent of democracy in Nigeria in 1999, the Niger-Delta region witnessed violent agitation for resource control and youth restiveness. This ushered in an era of insecurity plagued with kidnapping and bombings of oil installation. The nation’s economy was badly affected and this prompted the “carrot and stick approach” by former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. There began a massive clampdown on activities of militants through the Joint Task Force inaugurated by that administration, but the magic wand was the establishment of the Niger-Delta Development Commission. The agency was to address the obvious neglect and genuine calls by people of the Niger-Delta Region. Other program such as the Amnesty Program had the NDDC as a pedestal to build on. This brought a new lease of life to the region as militants embraced peace, laid down their arms in exchange for a better life with many being enrolled in higher institution of learning across the world in a ...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Princewill Ekwujuru The Registrar of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, APCON, says the Act establishing the Council has disqualified the appointment of the Managing Director of Lagos State Advertising and Signage Agency, LASAA. LASAA was established in 2006 to regulate outdoor advertising and signage displays in the state, but is now on war path with APCON over alleged attempt to usurp some of the statutory functions of the later in the areas of regulating communication contents in outdoor advertisement structures and signages. The APCON Registrar, Alhaji Bello Kankarofi, while speaking with journalists on issues plaguing the advertising industry, said that Decree No. 55 of 1988 that established APCON, clearly states that ‘‘no person, not being registered in accordance with the Act, shall be entitled to hold any appointment in the public service of the federation or of a state in any public or private establishment, body or  ins...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Naomi Uzor PHILIP Morris Limited (PML), the national affiliate of Philip Morris International (PMI) in Nigeria has entered into a strategic partnership with International Tobacco Company Limited (ITC) to manufacture one of PMI’s leading brands in Nigeria. Under this agreement, PML will be investing in technology and capacity building at ITC’s factory, creating additional employment opportunities and contributing to the economy of Nigeria. Speaking during an official launch to mark the start of local manufacturing held at ITC’s factory at Ilorin, Kwara State, Coskun Kagan Dicle, PML’s Managing Director, said, “We strongly believe that investing in local manufacturing is the right thing for the future as it contributes to the Nigerian government’s efforts to strengthen the economy and reduce the dependency on oil. Capacity utilization “It will also benefit all parties: Our consumers will have their preferred brand readily available at the highest quality sta...

http://ift.tt/2pxMipz Confucius – that renowned Chinese sage of many catchphrases – was, no doubt, high as a kite when he said: “Roads were made for journeys, not destinations”. The idea here is not that he snuck and took some opiate to heighten his creativity, or that he went and indulged in the fruit of the vine. The idea is that he was, of imagination, on an intellectually elevated pedestal and was seeing things that were as sound in concept as they were poetic in expression. In Edo State, the appositely lauded technocrat governor, Mr. Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki, leaves no one in doubt of his unfeigned understanding of the importance of roads to the socioeconomic wellbeing of the people of Edo State. If the road is unduly rough, the governor understands, the journey surely will be unpleasant, and the desire for the destination may wane. It explains why Governor Obaseki reiterates his unambiguous commitment to the development of road infrastructure in the state. During his r...

http://ift.tt/2q0XRIx Vía The Guardian Nigeria Newspaper http://ift.tt/2pxQRjC

http://ift.tt/2pxGIDM Syrians walk down a destroyed street in Aleppo's al-Akroub neighbourhood on December 17, 2016. Youssef KARWASHAN / AFP Sir: The war in Syria is one that wouldn’t end without the super powers really coming together to end it. It strikes me as the same case with WW1 where the axis of power aligned wrongly to start a war that led to the deaths of 10 million people. There doesn’t appear to be a consensual ideological orientation between Persians (Iran) who are largely Shia and Saudi Arabia (Arab) who are largely Sunni. Bashir Al-Assad, president of Syria is a Shia muslim. The Shia in Syria are in the minority but rule the majority Sunni, in the same way that Saddam Hussein was a Sunni minority Muslim who ruled over the majority Shia in Iraq. At the death of Saddam, the Shia took over and during the reign of Nuru Al-Maliki began to deal ruthlessly with the minority Sunni. In the long run, this heralded the emergence of ISIS. Iran, a wholly majority Shia Musli...