Fani Kayode: Peter Obi Will Get 2% Votes In North, Lose 2023 Election

 Director of Special Projects and New media of the Tinubu/Shettima presidential campaign Council, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has described Labour Party’s Peter Obi as a non-starter who would get only 2 per cent of the votes in northern Nigeria and ultimately lose the 2023 presidential election.

The former Aviation minister in an interview on the AIT Democracy programme said the former Anambra governor only has support based on social media, venting their anger with many of them without PVC.

He said, ” Peter Obi can win parts of Southeast and Southsouth but where will he get 25 per cent of the votes in the North? I can tell you Obi will get 2 per cent or nothing in the core north.”

The former aide to Obasanjo, FFK said Peter Obi supporters are only on social media, crawling out from under rocks to vent their anger.

” These are angry people who crawl out from under the rocks, go on social media and vent their anger. That is what social media is for. I don’t read comments whether for good or bad. These people have the right to vent their anger but I can tell u half of them don’t make the population of voters with PVC.”

Lagos Police PRO Reacts As Man Expresses His Hate For Nigerian Police Force

This post is heartbreaking - Lagos police PRO, Benjamin Hundeyin, reacts to a Nigerian man's post expressing his hate for men of Nigerian Police force


The spokesperson of the Lagos state police command, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, has described as ''heartbreaking'' a tweet shared by a Nigerian man expressing his utter hate for men of the Nigeria Police Force.

It all started when Hundeyin reacted to a tweet about a Police officer who got injured by a hit-and-run driver.

Reacting to Hundeyin's post, the Nigerian man with the handle @MrOdanz said he would never help a dying police officer. His post reads;

''If I see a policeman dying by the roadside and needing help, God in heaven knows I will not help. I will jump and pass. I hate you guys. All of you Nigerian policemen. My experience with you guys have left me very bitter. Even you Mr. Ben, I hatenyou. You guys irritate me

"This post is heartbreaking. The cheering in the clmment section is more heartbreaking." Hundeyin wrote with a sad face emoji, in response to MrOdanz's tweet.

However, the Twitter user didn't relent and further said he has never had a good experience with policemen.
 

21 Cameroon U-17 Players Fail Age Test That Eto'o Ordered For

 Cameroon's Under-17s face a race against time to field a team for regional African Cup of Nations qualifiers after more players failed age tests ordered by Samuel Eto'o, president of the country's governing body, Fecafoot. 

The former Barcelona and Inter Milan striker's insistence on using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) screening saw the squad ravaged at their training camp in Mbankomo, on the outskirt of Yaounde.

Of the initial 30-member group, 21 failed the tests.

But BBC Sport Africa now understands Cameroon have suffered a fresh setback as 11 new players also failed tests on Tuesday, with coach Jean Pierre Fiala struggling to find replacements.

Cameroon host Congo, Chad, DR Congo and Central African Republic for the Central African Football Federations' Union (UNIFFAC) qualifiers between 12 and 24 January, with two teams progressing to April's Under-17 Nations Cup in Algeria.

A Fecafoot statement said Eto'o gave "strict instructions" for the actions to be taken "in order to put an end to the tampering with civil status records which have, in the past, tarnished the image of Cameroon football.

"Fecafoot urges all actors, in particular educators, to ensure that the ages by category are respected."

The fight against age cheats
Many of Africa's international successes in junior tournaments have been clouded by allegations of the use of over-age players.

Fighting age cheats in men's and women's football in Africa
Football's world governing body Fifa introduced MRI scans at the 2009 Under-17 World Cup, which took place in Nigeria.

The MRI works by scanning the wrist to study how advanced the bone structure is

In 2017, Fecafoot blocked 14 players from taking part in the Under-17 Afcon in Gabon after they failed the tests.

Eto'o promised to take action to combat the long-running problem when he was elected Fecafoot president in December 2021 and Simon Lyonga, a journalist with Cameroon's national broadcaster CRTV, says the decision to weed out age cheats has been applauded by the public.

"Here in Cameroon, people are by and large pleased that Fecafoot actually seem to be doing something to try to stop the cheating," Lyonga told BBC Sport Africa.

"It is important for the country to give chances to players of the right age."

Cameroon have twice been continental champions at Under-17 level, in 2003 and 2019.

Pope Benedict XVI Buried In Vatican Tomb After Funeral Led By Pope Francis

 Pope Francis led the funeral of his predecessor Benedict XVI on Thursday in front of tens of thousands of mourners in St Peter's Square, an event unprecedented in modern times.

Red-clad cardinals, dignitaries and thousands of priests and nuns from around the world gathered to say goodbye to the German theologian, who stunned the Catholic church in 2013 by becoming the first pontiff in six centuries to resign.

For the first time in modern history, the proceedings were led by a sitting pope, Francis, who delivered the homily in Italian as part of a multi-lingual service with a Latin mass.

"Benedict... may your joy be complete as you hear his (God's) voice, now and forever!" the pontiff said in tribute to his predecessor, who died last Saturday aged 95.

At the end of the service, Francis made the sign of the cross over Benedict's simple cypress wood coffin and bowed his head, before 12 besuited pallbearers carried it into St Peter's Basilica.

Benedict will be interred in a tomb in the crypt beneath the basilica, where John Paul II's body lay in state before it was moved for his beatification in 2011. He was made a saint in 2014.

Born Joseph Ratzinger, the ex-pope had not been a head of state for a decade, but world leaders including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni were among those in attendance.

An estimated 50,000 people were in the square for the funeral, according to police, many of them having queued up since dawn to bid farewell.

"Benedict is a bit like my father, so I had to pay homage to him," said Cristina Grisanti, a 59-year-old from Milan, who hailed the former pope's "purity, his candour, his mildness". 

An estimated 195,000 people had already paid their respects earlier when the body lay in State.

Benedict was the first German pope in 1,000 years and church bells rang out across Germany as the funeral finished on Thursday, while many Germans were also at the Vatican.

"We owe him so much. We want to show that we stand behind him," said Benedikt Rothweiler, 34, who came from Aachen with his family. 

"We actually know too little about Benedict. He always accepted everything the way God wants it. This is a good example for us humans."

Two Popes:

Benedict was a brilliant theologian but a divisive figure who alienated many Catholics with his staunch defence of conservative doctrine on issues such as abortion.

His eight years as head of the worldwide Catholic Church was also marked by crises, from in-fighting within the Vatican to the global scandal of clerical sex abuse and its cover-up. 

When he quit, Benedict said he no longer had the "strength of mind and body" necessary for the task, retiring to a quiet life in a monastery in the Vatican gardens.

His death brought an end to an unprecedented situation of having two "men in white" -- he and Francis -- living in the tiny city state.

He and Francis, an Argentine Jesuit, were said to get on well, but Benedict's later interventions meant he stayed a standard-bearer for conservative Catholics who did not like his successor's more liberal stance.

The last time a pope presided over the funeral of his predecessor was in 1802, when Pius VII led the ceremony for Pius VI -- but the circumstances were very different.

Pius VI died in 1799 in exile, a prisoner of France, and was buried in Valence. His successor had his remains exhumed and brought back to Italy, before he was treated to a papal funeral at St Peter's.

European Royals:

Beyond St Peter's, many of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics had been expected to follow the funeral proceedings on television and the radio.

In the majority Catholic Philippines, churches held requiem masses for the former pontiff, including at Malolos Cathedral near the capital Manila.

"This is an unexplainable feeling to witness this," said Cherry Castro, 67, who was among around 500 gathered for the special ceremony.

Portugal declared a national day of mourning on Thursday, while in Italy, flags were flown at half-mast on public buildings. 

The only official delegations were from Germany and Italy. 

But other dignitaries, including Belgian and Spanish royals, the presidents of Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Hungary, Slovenia and Togo, and the premiers of the Czech Republic, Gabon and Slovakia among others attended in a personal capacity.

The service followed traditional papal funerals, with a few changes to prayers and readings to reflect Benedict's status as emeritus pope.

Before being laid in the crypt, his cypress coffin was due to be placed first inside a zinc coffin, then a wooden case.

As is traditional, coins and medals minted during his papacy and a written text describing his pontificate, sealed in a metal cylinder, will be placed alongside his body.

Hit-And-Run Driver Injures Policeman In Lagos

 

A policeman has been injured after being run over by a hit-and-run driver on Thursday at Ilubinrin inward Simpson area of Lagos, IGBERETV reports.

The Lagos State Traffic Management Agency said that the incident resulted in a heavy traffic backlog towards the Third Mainland Bridge and that emergency responders had been called to attend to the injured policeman.

https://twitter.com/followlastma/status/1610889431325581312?t=BkOWu6vYNoLHqXTgs4-9eQ&s=19

Reacting to this, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin on Twitter wrote, 

“35 mins and just 7 retweets. Flip this, let it be a police van involved in hit and run and watch the retweets increase exponentially. 

“Same way the many daily good deeds of the police are shunned, giving the false impression it’s all about negativity and mediocrity.”

Gazelle Gagaraga”: Tinubu Suffers Gaffe Talking About Yahoo Boys In Edo

 Mr Tinubu has continued to mumble unintelligible phrases such as bulaba-bala-blu, giving his image nightmares in explaining away an apparent mental challenge.

Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has delivered another inscrutable lingo at a campaign trail, a habit that is fast forming the major talking point of his public engagements ahead of next month’s poll.

Speaking to supporters in Edo State on Thursday, Mr Tinubu said his vision is to “turn so called yahoo yahoo boys into in manufacturing and creation of than being gazelle gagaraga.”

‘Yahoo boys’ in local parlance means internet fraudsters but The Gazette could not immediately find the meaning of the terminology gazelle gagaraga, despite searches in major dictionaries and thesaurus.

During his recent campaign tours, Mr Tinubu has continued to mumble unintelligible phrases such as bulaba-bala-blu, giving his image nightmares in explaining away an apparent mental challenge.

The former Lagos governor continues to bid for the country’s presidency amidst public concerns regarding his health status and physical fitness for the job. 

Despite speculations of multiple health issues, Mr Tinubu continues to pride himself as the most qualified for the country’s top job ahead of other candidates.

Brymo: An Igbo Presidency May Be A Pipe Dream - Singer On Adichie's Chieftaincy

 Chimamanda Adichie was recently made a chief in her home town Abba, Anambra state after rejecting a National Award few months ago.

inger Brymo's reaction:

if Adichie is truly pro Biafran , which was the conversation that led there … and refused truly national honors.. and recently took traditional title when PO is running for president of Nigeria.. e reach to worry nah!!..