19082019 - Nigeria to spend N2.53bn on 43 ministers

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2019 — 45
NFF mourns
Oyuki Obaseki
The <strong>Nigeria</strong> Football
Federation has expressed
shock over the death on the
morning of yesterday, of a former
Chairman of the <strong>Nigeria</strong> Premier
League and 2nd Vice President of
the <strong>Nigeria</strong> Football Federation,
Chief Oyuki Jackson Obaseki.
The 75 –year old breathed his
last on Sunday in Benin City,
having left his giant footprints in
the sands of time with his extensive
work, passion and vision <strong>to</strong> take
<strong>Nigeria</strong> League’s elite division <strong>to</strong>
new heights. He was pioneer
chairman of the body
known as Interim
Management
Committee
which was
inaugurated in
February 2005,
and which
transmuted
<strong>to</strong> the
<strong>Nigeria</strong>
Premier
League
t h e
following
year.
D’Tigress retain
2019 Afrobasket
women title
By John Egbokhan
D
’Tigress have done again it.
They have won a back-<strong>to</strong>back
FIBA Afrobasket Women
Championship title, beating
hosts and record champions,
Senegal 60-55 in the final of the
2019 edition played last night at
the 15, 000 seater Dakar Arena.
In the first quarter, Coach Otis
Hughley started with regular
starters, Vic<strong>to</strong>ria Macaulay,
Adaora Elonu , Evelyn Akha<strong>to</strong>r
,Iify, Ibekwe and his selection
paid full dividend as the
<strong>Nigeria</strong>ns won the opening
quarter 14-10.
The chants by the home crowd
were not enough <strong>to</strong> s<strong>to</strong>p a sailing
ship It was not a high-scoring
game but D’Tigress led by 4
points after the opening 10
minutes nonetheless.
D’Tigress <strong>to</strong>ok the second
quarter 32-24. Ezinne Kalu was
the <strong>to</strong>p performer for <strong>Nigeria</strong>,
with 10 points while Lena Niang
was the best performer for the
hosts, posting six points. Just
when it looked like the
momentum was going Senegal’s
way, D’Tigress made a spirited
fightback in the
Still at half time, A<strong>to</strong>nye
Nyingifaled with three assists,
while Ndeye Sene was Senega;s
leading player in terms of assists
with two assists.
D’Tigress ended the third
quarter with an 11-point lead,
4837 heading in<strong>to</strong> the last quarter
of the Championship match
inside a packed Dakar Arena.
Ezinne Kalu still the <strong>to</strong>p scorer
with 12 points while Lena Niang
of Senegal posted eight points
<strong>to</strong> <strong>to</strong>p score for the hosts, who
were playing catch-up on the
rampaging <strong>Nigeria</strong>n ladies.
Evelyn Akha<strong>to</strong>r led in rebounds,
one more than Senegalese As<strong>to</strong>u
Tarore.
In the final quarter, Senegal
romped <strong>to</strong> a 21-0 lead, <strong>to</strong> take
the lead from the <strong>Nigeria</strong>ns, But
with a three pointer, <strong>Nigeria</strong>
reacted <strong>to</strong> lead 51-49 in a nerverending
finale. The nerves were
down inside the Dakar Arena as
the Lionesses staged a big
fightback <strong>to</strong> cut down <strong>Nigeria</strong>’s
lead.
Super Eagles midfielder,
Wilfred Ndidi yesterday
denied Frank Lampard a winning
return <strong>to</strong> Stamford Bridge after
Chelsea were held <strong>to</strong> a 1-1 draw by
Leicester City. Mason Mount
scored his first Chelsea goal inside
the first seven minutes on his first
appearance at the Bridge.
But Ndidi’s bullet header midway
through the second half rescued a
deserved point for Brendan
Rodgers’ side. On his Stamford
Ukraine coach Andriy
Shevchenko has called up
twenty-four players for the
upcoming European
Championship qualifier against
Lithuania and friendly with threetime
Africa champions <strong>Nigeria</strong>.
Of the 24 players called up for
preparation and participation in
the games, three are on the books
of British clubs including Andriy
Yarmolenko (West Ham),
Oleksandr Zinchenko
(Manchester City) and Maryan
Shved (Celtic).
An analysis of the roster revealed
that three goalkeepers, eight
defenders, eleven midfielders and
two strikers have been invited by
manager Andriy Shevchenko.
Yevhen Shakhov, Sergey
Sidorchuk, Nikolay Shaparenko
Chelsea 1 Leicester 1
Ndidi’s thumping
header leaves Blues
winless under Lampard
Bridge homecoming, Lampard was
forced <strong>to</strong> make some <strong>to</strong>ugh choices
with his starting XI, dropping
Mateo Kovacic and Tammy
Abraham in favour of Christian
Pulisic and Olivier Giroud.
Despite playing 120 minutes
against Liverpool in midweek, the
Blues looked the sharper side as
they came racing out of the blocks.
Inside the first minute of play,
Pedro could have opened the
scoring after being set up by Giroud
Ukraine coach names EPL
stars for Eagles friendly
and Artem Besedin have
been placed on
standby.
T h e
Ukrainians
will face
Lithuania
o n
September
7 in
Vilnius
and take
on the
Super
Eagles
in the
first ever
meeting between the
two countries at the
Dnipro Arena on
September 10.
Rabat 2019: Team <strong>Nigeria</strong> good <strong>to</strong>
go, Toriola, Gumel assure
Team <strong>Nigeria</strong>’s captain at the
12th African Games in
Morocco, Segun Toriola said
yesterday in Rabat that <strong>Nigeria</strong>n
athletes and officials were set <strong>to</strong>
dazzle at the competition.
Toriola said he and his
colleagues were in good shape and
would do their best <strong>to</strong> ensure
<strong>Nigeria</strong> finished <strong>to</strong>p of the Games.
The Games scheduled for Aug.
19 <strong>to</strong> Aug. 31 had started
unofficially on Friday, with some
football games and beach
volleyball.
<strong>Nigeria</strong> are aiming <strong>to</strong> better
their second position placing at
the last edition held in 2015 at
Congo Brazzaville.
“We are good <strong>to</strong> go, because we
have prepared very well. We will
try our best <strong>to</strong> win the games.
“All is set with us because we have
prepared well, and every one of us
is happy <strong>to</strong> be here,” Toriola said.
Speaking also, Habu Gumel,
President of <strong>Nigeria</strong> Olympic
Committee (NOC), said Team
<strong>Nigeria</strong>’s athletes had shown a lot
of courage and commitment
through their preparations.
“We are confident that with such
level of spirit, and coupled with the
lot of training they have received,
Team <strong>Nigeria</strong> will give us the
required medals.
place in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State
recently.
A <strong>to</strong>tal of 16 athletes (6 females
and 10 males) and 5 coaches, as
well as 2 officials, will fly
<strong>Nigeria</strong>’s flag in wrestling at the
Games in three styles; Women
Wrestling, Freestyle and Greco
Roman, and the Olympic
champion believes their ‘best
efforts’ will bring glory <strong>to</strong> the
country.
“My charge <strong>to</strong> the athletes and
but the Spaniard hit a sweet volley
in<strong>to</strong> the side netting.
There was more <strong>to</strong> come and
Chelsea were rampant. Mount and
Pulisic were both denied by Kasper
Schmeichel in the space of a few
seconds as Leicester struggled <strong>to</strong>
contain the Blues.
But their resistance soon broke
when Ndidi was caught dwelling
on the ball by Mount. The young
midfielder kept his balance and
with his second <strong>to</strong>uch slid an effort
beyond Schmeichel.
Just a minute later, Chelsea were
almost in again when Mount’s
shot was spilled by Schmeichel
and Pulisic was denied by the
Dane.
Chelsea nearly doubled their
advantage when Giroud’s
clever backheel found
N’Golo Kante steaming
in<strong>to</strong> the box but a vital
block from
Christian Fuchs
denied the
Frenchman a
certain goal.
12th African Games: Igali charges wrestlers <strong>to</strong>
give ‘best efforts’ in Morocco
President of the <strong>Nigeria</strong>
Wrestling Federation
(NWF) Hon. Daniel Igali has
charged the country’s wrestlers
and coaches <strong>to</strong> the 12th African
Games in Morocco <strong>to</strong> ‘give your
best efforts’ when hostilities
resume in the Northern African
Nation.
Igali gave this charge at the
unveiling ceremony of <strong>Nigeria</strong>’s
wrestling team <strong>to</strong> the quadrennial
multi-sport event which <strong>to</strong>ok
Estate agent wins
Betway N50m
Fortune has smiled on a Port
Harcourt based Estate Agent
Emeka Cephas who won a
whooping sum of N50m after
staking with just N13,000.
In a statement by the Marketing
manager, Lere Awokoya, Emeka
played a 10 game accumula<strong>to</strong>r <strong>to</strong>
win this sum.
He equally affirmed that this win
is the second biggest payout in
<strong>Nigeria</strong>’s sports betting his<strong>to</strong>ry.
“<strong>Nigeria</strong>ns appreciate our love
of the game and commitment <strong>to</strong>
prompt payment.”
“Having been operational in the
<strong>Nigeria</strong>n market for almost two
years, we are here for real. As a
measure of our commitment, we
will always keep our promise.”
“We are a premium
international brand, with fully
localized operations in <strong>Nigeria</strong>.”
The Betway WinBoost feature
played a major role in Emeka’s
fortune. He actually won #40
Million with <strong>to</strong>tal odds of 3,077,
but the WinBoost fetched him an
additional #10m, bringing his
<strong>to</strong>tal win <strong>to</strong> N50m.
<strong>to</strong> the coaches is what we practice
on the mat – <strong>to</strong> go out and give
your best effort. You can’t do better
than that,” Igali, a Commissioner
Designate in Bayelsa State said.
“Nobody can do better than their
best effort on the mat.
“If an athlete leaves the mat,
and feels that they could have
done more, they’ve cheated
themselves. And that is our
philosophy on the mat and that’s
how we train".
Sanusi
charges
Flying Eagles,
Falconets <strong>to</strong>
go for gold
The General Secretary of
<strong>Nigeria</strong> Football
Federation, Dr. Mohammed
Sanusi has challenged the U20
boys’ and girls’ National Teams
<strong>to</strong> go for gold medals in the
football events of the ongoing
12th All-Africa Games in Rabat,
Morocco.
Paul Aigbogun’s wards were
forced <strong>to</strong> a 1-1 draw by their
counterparts from Burkina Faso
in their opening match of the
men’s football event on Friday,
while Chris Danjuma’s
Falconets <strong>to</strong>ok no prisoners,
hammering South Africa’s
Basetsana 3-0 in their first
match on Saturday.
“I have confidence in the two
teams that are in Morocco for
the football events and I know
they will do the country proud.
The Falconets have shown their
teeth right from the beginning
while the Flying Eagles have <strong>to</strong>
rejig their strategy.
“From available records,
<strong>Nigeria</strong> has not won gold medal
in the men’s football event since
1973 that we hosted the 2nd All-
Africa Games in Lagos. It is a
very long time and the Flying
Eagles have <strong>to</strong> do make their
best efforts <strong>to</strong> win this this year,”
said Sanusi.
Aruna Quadri
hits semifinal of
Bulgaria Open
Aruna Quadri stunned one of
the most decorated Japanese
stars in table tennis <strong>to</strong> reach the
semfinal round of the ITTF World
Tour tagged Bulgaria Open.
Being the last quarterfinal match
in the men’s singles, the Bulgaria
fans were treated <strong>to</strong> an exciting
moment as there was an
unbelievable scenes in
Panagyurishte after the <strong>Nigeria</strong>n
hero knocks Japanese no.4 seed Jun
Mizutani in a seven-game thriller.
The 2019 <strong>Nigeria</strong> Open
champion expressed appreciation <strong>to</strong>
the Bulgarian fans for their
unrelenting support during the
encounter. Trailing 1-2 on games but
Aruna Quadri is well known for his
comebacks and his fighting spirit
shone through on this occasion,
saving two game points in game four
before going on <strong>to</strong> recover from 4-9
down <strong>to</strong> win game five 11-9.
Mizutani responded well <strong>to</strong> claim
game six, forcing a decider: 9-6
down Mizutani
up the fight,
going on <strong>to</strong>
hold two
match point
opportunities.
refused <strong>to</strong> give
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