08042018 - Education in free fall! •Sector gets paltry N3.9 trillion out of N55.19 trillion in 10 years

SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 8, 2018, PAGE 45
Newcastle
not yet safe,
says Benitez
RAFA Benitez has in
sisted his team deserved
all three points
against Leicester City
despite being pushed all
the way during the 2-1
win at the King Power
Stadium.
The Foxes set up a
nervous finish after
Jamie Vardy’s late goal
made things uncomfortable
for United on a day
in which the home side
felt they should have
had two penalties.
Vardy was upended by
Mo Diame while Paul
Dummett’s tackle on Riyad
Mahrez proved to be
a close call.
After the game, Benitez
refused to declare his
side were safe from relegation
but said they
were full value for the
three points.
He said: “Closer yes,
but we are only nearly
there.
“We want to make sure
we have the 40 points.”
Newcastle’s win was
their first one on the road
since January 1, but they
showed resolve and unlike
the trip to AFC
Bournemouth they did
not throw away a twogoal
lead.
Benitez said: “It was
important for us to work
really hard.
“It was a great performance
and we deserved
to win.”
Super Falcons players lament 8-0 bashing by
French women
SUPER Falcons play
ers were shell
shocked by the 8-0 drubbing
handed them by the
French women couterparts
in Friday night’s international
friendly in Le
Mans.
It was the first major
game for the African
Champions and the first
outing for new coach Thomas
Dennerby with the
senior team after he took
the B side to the WAFU
tournament in Cote d’
Ivoire. This was the third
time the Falcons will be
suffering a heavy defeat
in the hands of European
teams. They lost with the
same margin to Norway
in 1995 and Germany in
2010.
According to striker Desire
Oparanozie the team
was ill-prepared for the
POWER POINT... Paul Pogba heads in United back into the game. The first
of his two goals against City.
United rub salt on City’s injury
Manchester United
rallied from two
goals down to win a pulsating
derby 3-2 and
deny Manchester City
the chance to claim the
Premier League title
against their local rivals.
This defeat for City is
coming after their 3-0
thumping by Liverpool
in the first leg quarterfinal
of the Champions
League tie at Anfield.
In the first half City
looked on course to be
crowned PL champions
after racing into a twogoal
lead courtesy of Vincent
Kompany and Ilkay
Gundogan.
But Paul Pogba’s double
early in the second
half turned the match on
its head before Chris
Smalling headed in the
winner.
Kompany headed in
from Leroy Sane’s corner
on 25 minutes, before
Gundogan turned on
Raheem Sterling’s pass
and prodded in the second.
Pogba pulled a goal
back on 53 minutes from
Ander Herrera’s chested
pass, before heading in
his second from United’s
next attack.
Smalling nodded in
game.
“To be honest, I think we
didn’t have adequate
preparation going into
this game, taking into
consideration the fact that
we were inactive for as
long as we were - 16
months,” France-based
Nigeria striker Desire
Oparanozie told BBC
Sport. “We are the champions
of Africa and we can
all say it was rightly deserving.
However, we
can’t deny the fact that
while we were out, our
opposition have been
busy getting stronger.
“I admit it might not be
a good enough reason for
the scoreline but France
were bound to put in a
better showing than us,”
Oparanozie added. Also
speaking was goalkeeper,
Alaba Jonathan who
missed the game. “The
team is training together
for the first time after we
played in Cameroon. The
players need more time
to work together.”
The Falcons will now
focus on qualifying for the
2018 Africa Women Cup
of Nations in Ghana as
Sanchez’s free-kick, a
second assist for the
Chilean, and David De
Gea denied Sergio
Aguero a leveller with a
brilliant save.
City remain 13 points
clear of second-placed
United with five matches
remaining.
“We are not a bad team
as people think we are.
I’m not a bad manager
as people think we are.
We have just proved that
we are the second best
team in the League,”
United manager, Jose
Mourinho said after the
match.
they aim to retain their
continental title.
This year’s Women’s
Nations Cup will take on
extra significance as it will
also decide the continent’s
teams for the 2019
Women’s World Cup - in
what could be Nigeria’s
eighth record appearance
at the tournament.
Falcons'll bounce back,
Pinnick assures
NIGERIA Football
Federation president
Amaju Pinnick has
made excuses for Falcons’
humiliating 8-0
loss to France in a
friendly on Friday
evening, saying the Federation
put all of their efforts
on the Super Eagles.
In a statement released
this afternoon, Pinnick
pointed out that the Super
Falcons are still the
best team in Africa and
fans should not gloat
over the result as it was
a friendly that the
coaches will use to correct
the deficiencies in
the team.
What’s clear is that
defense shambles cost
the Super Falcons
against the French national
team after they
conceded eight goals
from inside the box,
which could have been
prevented if they were
more organized.
‘’Our Super Falcons
team is the best female
team in Africa. Our pride
in them will never
waver. As with any
friendly match, the game
against France was more
for the technical team to
look at the players now
and see who and what
will fit,’’ Pinnick stated.
‘’The result, though
very lopsided just shows
how much work is in front
of us. We concentrated a
lot of our efforts on our
Super Eagles, but it was
unintentional.
‘’Hopefully, we will do
them proud as well. So,
I would like to just tell
Nigerians that I, the Executive
Committee and
Management of the
NFF, are all very proud
of our Super Falcons
and we know they will
make us proud as they
usually do.
‘’One bad experimental
result does not
change a priceless asset;
our dear Super Falcons.’
Dalung optimistic despite poor start
THE Minister of Youth and Sports Barrister Solo
mon Dalung is confident that Nigeria will surpass
its past record at the ongoing Commonwealth
Games. Barrister gave the assurance despite the country’s
poor start at the Games in Gold Coast which enters
Day 3 on Saturday. “The Games have just started
and our team has prepared very well. Although the
early start has not been quite impressive as we expected,
that does not suggest that that’s what we are
expecting. We are quite hopeful that we will surpass
our records in this Games. We should not be discouraged
by the poor start. The team is in high spirit and
the officials are dutifully working round the clock. Our
aim is to make the country proud.”
In boxing on Friday, Millicent Agboegbulem defeated
Salte Huni of Tonga 5-0 in the Women’s 75kg
Round of 16. The Minister was accompanied by the
President, Nigeria Olympic Committee Engr Habu
Gumel, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Mr
Olusade Adesola and the Director Planning, Monitoring
and Implementation Mrs Hauwa Kulu Akinyemi
to cheer the boxer.
D'Tigers lose 67-82 to Canada
THE Canadian national basketball team on Saturday
defeated the Nigerian national male basketball
team, D’Tigers, 82-67 points at the ongoing
Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.
The Nigerians had lost their first preliminary qualification
game against the Tall Blacks of New Zealand
on Friday and have now all but crashed out of the
tournament.
Canada were favourites going into the game, and
in the game’s first quarter Canada took a 23-16 points
lead, while D’Tigers took a narrow lead of 21-20 in
the second period. D’Tigers also rallied to take another
slim lead in the third quarter, pipping Canada by
15-14 points, with both leads doing little to peg the
North Americans back.
It was in the final period, however, that Canada extended
their domination, taking 25 points against
D’Tigers’ 15. The Nigerian basketball team are now
in the bottom of Pool A, having played two matches
and lost both. Pool toppers New Zealand and secondplaced
Australia played their group’s other game later
in the day.
Gold Coast is a 'Ghost Town' as
business struggle to make money
THE Commonwealth Games has failed to de
liver on an expected economic boom, frustrating
business owners who are struggling amid dwindling
sales as the Gold Coast becomes a ‘ghost town’. Compounding
the anger is mayor Tom Tate, who said businesses
needed to ‘get out there and market’, adding
that he ‘never sat still when I ran my business’. Retailers
and owners are furious at the mayor’s comments,
saying they were ‘pissed off’ at the assumption
they weren’t working hard during the Games.
Southport coffee shop’s sales have reportedly been
slashed from an average of 200 coffees a day to just
ten.
Commonwealth Games bosses have admitted they
frightened visitors off with their overly-negative preview
of the event. Queensland Premier Annastacia
Palaszcuk is disappointed in plans which scared people
off with fears of traffic chaos, and Gold Coast Commonwealth
Games Corporation chairman Peter Beattie
has admitted it has been a failure. ‘We were worried
about the traffic, of course we were. I think we probably
did [go too far] and I accept responsibility for
that. That’s not the government, that’s me,’ he told
the Courier Mail.
Ghana women set Hockey
dreams high
GHANA women were dealt Trans-Tasman baptism
of fire to mark global tournament debut, but have
hearts to match.
“We are here to give the people of Ghana hope and
to leave a great mark on the world,” women’s captain
Nafisatu Umaru declared before their Commonwealth
adventure began on Friday. And even after a 12-0 drubbing
by New Zealand there remained hope. Yes, short
in stature against the muscled shoulders of the Kiwis,
but big in heart. The African media outlet which called
the result “humiliating” clearly weren’t present. “I’m
proud to play with this team,” Elizabeth Opoku then
revealed after their debut on the global stage. “The
quickness and movement and the skill level was far
ahead of us. They played a continual game. “We don’t
give up easily. We play to our game and we still have
to fight.”