President Buhari coming to Lagos on Monday, state govt advises residents on traffic diversions

Read the press statement below..

The Lagos State Government will formally welcome President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, May 23, 2016 on a two-day working visit to the State. It will be President Buhari's first official visit to the state since he assumed office about a year ago. 

A statement issued by the State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, stated that this is the first time in about 15years that a sitting President will be visiting the State on a working visit and is a testimony to the landmark achievements in the last one year of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as well as the good working relationship between Lagos State and the Federal Government.

 Ayorinde added that President Buhari during the visit, would formally commission the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) Rescue Unit in Cappa Oshodi built by the State Government to ensure prompt and swift response to emergency situations in the State. 
He said the President would thereafter commission the newly constructed Ago Palace Way in Okota, Isolo after which he will pay homage to the Oba of Lagos, His Royal Majesty, Oba Babatunde Rilwanu Aremu Akiolu at the Iga Iduganran, Lagos Island. 
The Commissioner disclosed further that the President would later in the day be hosted to a reception rally by the State Government at the Tafawa Balewa Square, (TBS) Lagos where he will also commission and hand over security equipment and vehicles contributed by the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration to securities agencies to beef up security in the state. 
The release added that activities for the first day of the President’s visit would be rounded up with a State Banquet in his honour at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island.   
The President will on Tuesday participate as the Special Guest of Honour at a breakfast session with Corporate Lagos to be hosted by Governor Ambode at the Lagos State House, Marina, after which he will have a short session with the public service at the State House, Alausa-Ikeja.

The Commissioner quoted Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as being joyous over this landmark presidential visit to the State that contributed so much to his emergence as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.  
He added that Lagosians are looking forward with excitement to receive the President in the State, just as he urged residents to bear with law enforcement agents and traffic control authorities who will effect road diversions in some of the routes that the President motorcade will pass through during the visit. 
SIGNED
STEVE AYORINDE
COMMISSIONER FOR INFORMATION AND STRATEGY
LAGOS STATE 
MAY 21, 2016.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic will play his final Paris St-Germain game in the French Cup final against Marseille despite missing training with a calf injury.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was named Ligue 1 top scorer in three of his four years in France

The 34-year-old Swede, who is leaving at the end of his contract this summer, is the club's all-time record scorer with 154 goals in 179 appearances.

Coach Laurent Blanc said: "Zlatan hasn't trained much this week because he's been failing pain in his calf.

"But he's got the mental fortitude to be able to play this match."

Ibrahimovic scored twice in his final league game - a 4-0 win over Nantes at the Parc des Princes.

The game was halted after 10 minutes while fans gave him a standing ovation and then he left the pitch with his children - to another round of applause - before the final whistle.

Blanc added: "He and the other players will give everything they have to win. They have a winner's mentality, which is exactly what you need to win finals."

Paris St-Germain, chasing their second domestic treble in a row, finished 31 points clear at the top of Ligue 1 this season.

Marseille finished 13th, meaning they need to win at the Stade de France to reach next season's Europa League.

It is the final game of Scotland striker Steven Fletcher's loan spell from Sunderland.

FA cup preview:: Crystal palace v Manchester. United

Crystal Palace and Manchester United drew 3-3 in the FA Cup final in 1990

TEAM NEWS

Wilfried Zaha is expected to return for Crystal Palace after missing the last three games with a hamstring injury.

Bakary Sako has also been passed fit for Palace, whose only absentee is midfielder Joe Ledley.

Matteo Darmian, Morgan Schneiderlin and Marcos Rojo return for United, while Marouane Fellaini is back after a ban.

Adnan Januzaj and Timothy Fonsu-Mensah are unlikely to be fit, while Bastian Schweinsteiger and Luke Shaw are unfit and Memphis Depay is not in the squad.

MATCH PREVIEW

The echoes of the last FA Cup final between these sides 26 years ago reverberate loud and clear around Saturday's rematch.

This is only the second time Crystal Palace have reached the final and on both occasions Manchester United have been the opponents, while Alan Pardew has been a key component of both Palace sides - as a player in 1990, and now the manager.

The first time around, Palace faced a Manchester United side led by an under-pressure Alex Ferguson in need of his first piece of silverware. The second instalment sees Louis van Gaal in a similar scenario although, unlike Ferguson, lifting the trophy may not be enough to save his job - he is odds on to be replaced.

That initial triumph under Ferguson was the first of five FA Cup wins for United in 15 seasons, and victory this weekend would be their 12th overall, moving them level with Arsenal at the top of the all-time list.

It has been 38 years since there were first-time champions in both the top flight of English football (Nottingham Forest) and the FA Cup (Ipswich), but after a season when Leicester have already upset the apple cart, who would bet against Palace following suit and winning a major trophy for the first time in their 110-year history?

SUB-PLOTS

• The FA Cup is the one major domestic honour missing from the medal collections of United stalwarts Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick.
• The only player in United's ranks to have won the FA Cup is Juan Mata - with Chelsea in 2012. Palace's only FA Cup winner is James McArthur, who played in Wigan's victory over Manchester City in 2013.
• Marcus Rashford could cap off a week which saw him named in England's provisional squad for Euro 2016 by becoming the second youngest scorer ever in an FA Cup final, just 86 days after his debut.
• Alan Pardew, who lost in the cup final as West Ham manager in 2006 as well as losing as a Palace player in 1990, will be hoping to make it third time lucky.

WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew: "They keep the ball really well. We're going to have to be patient at times.

"We are going to be the side that needs to fight that bit harder to win, I don't think there's any doubt about that.

"We have got areas of the pitch where I think we're slightly superior and we've got to make those areas count."

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal: "Always your starting point is to impress and perform well.

"That depends on a lot of factors, including your opponent. Then you get a fantastic match. Our starting point is to win well and score beautiful goals.

"But if we win 1-0 that is also enough. Winning is the most important thing in a final, otherwise you have nothing."

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

• There have been two previous FA Cup ties between these sides - the final in 1990 and the semi-final in 1995 - both went to replays, which were won by United.
• United have only lost one of their previous 20 meetings with Palace in all competitions, a League Cup quarter-final in 2011.

Crystal Palace

• Palace could gain their first major trophy and secure European qualification for the first time in their history.
• A victory would see them become the 44th different club to win the FA Cup.
• They have already knocked out four Premier League teams on their way to reaching the final. That's double the number of teams they've beaten in the league in 2016.
• In their five FA Cup matches this season, Palace have only conceded three goals.

Manchester United

• United are playing their first FA Cup final since 2007. It's their 19th FA Cup final appearance, equalling all-time record holders Arsenal.
• They are also aiming to equal Arsenal's record of 12 FA Cup wins.
• Louis van Gaal is aiming to win his first trophy as United manager - he has previously lifted domestic cups in the Netherlands, Spain and Germany.
• Marcus Rashford will be 18 years and 203 days old on the day of this match and could become the second youngest goalscorer in an FA Cup final after Norman Whiteside, who was 18 years and 19 days old when he netted for United in the 1983 final.

GBAM!!::Prostitutes plan mass protest over fuel price hike

Members of the National Association of Nigerian Prostitutes say they will soon embark on a protest to register their anger at the increase in fuel pump price.

Members of the National Association of Nigerian Prostitutes (NANP), have intimated that they are mobilizing their members all over the country to embark on what they call the mother of all protests to register their anger over the high cost of living in the country occasioned by the increase in the pump price of petrol.

The body in a statement signed by its new leader, Tamar Tion,who took over after the demise of former President, Jessica Elvis, and Secretary, Sandra Efosa, their decision to embark on the strike, stems from the fact that their business has been dwindling as their customers do not have have the money to patronize them and as such, they have been suffering untold hardship.

Part of the communique released by the body after its national executive meeting reads:

"The members of the National Association of Nigerian Prostitutes (NANP), has concluded plans to embark on a mother of all protest to show our anger on the current economic hardship the citizens of Nigeria are passing through.

The hardship has affected every facet of the society including our business as our customer base has diminished and the few men that seek our services do not have the money to pay, even after many of our members have reduced their prices drastically.

Some of our members charge as low as N500 and yet, the customers complain because they do not have the money. We supported President Muhammadu Buhari when he was campaigning, believing he was going to bring about the desired change.

But now things have gone from bad to worse. We are bread winners in our families and some of us have lots of responsibilities. Since this government came into power, things have sky rocketed. And to add to our woes, they have increased the fuel price, making the ordinary Nigerians the worse off.

We are mobilizing our members all over the country to embark on the protest on a date to be announced soon. We will occupy the National Assembly, the various state secretariats and picket the PHCN, NNPC and other parastatals. We are Nigerians and we pay taxes, so we also feel the pains."

APC: Rescue of Chibok girl puts Jonathan, Fayose to shame

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that with the recent rescue of one of the kidnapped Chibok girls by the dreaded Boko Haram, Amina Ali Nkeki, former President Goodluck Jonathan, his wife, Patience and Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose has been put to shame.

Amina was rescued from Sambisa forest on Tuesday by the Nigerian Army after almost two years in captivity.

A statement issued in Abuja on Thursday by the South-East caucus of the governing party decried the attitude of the former President, his wife and governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, “who up to date thought the abduction of the girls was a scam”.

The statement read: “‘For if President Buhari has remained indifferent like the former president, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the penetration of Sambisa forest couldn’t have been possible. Indeed the rescue of Amina Ali has put to shame people like the former First Lady, Mrs Patience Jonathan and Governor of Ekiti, His Excellency, Ayo Fayose, who up to date thought the abduction of the girls was a scam, meant to demonize Jonathan’s regime.

“We salute the gallant courage of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group, the Nigeria Armed forces, the JTF and the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria, for their fortitude, resilience and perseverance.

“Our message to the parents of the remaining school girls is that they should bear in mind that with God, nothing is impossible. Their hope should not wane, as we have every hope that more girls will be rescued”, the caucus stressed.

The South-East APC, while giving hope to the parents of the girls added that “On hearing of the news of the rescue of one of the Chibok’s school girls by the military, our hope which faded was restored and rekindled. We thank God for his mercies, for this is the beginning of the return of more of the girls, whose parents have passed through enormous and unbearable trauma”

Delta TUC opts out of strike

As affiliates of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) across the country joined in the strike action in protest of the new pump price of petrol, the Delta State council of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Nigeria’s second official labour front, on Thursday, countered  the industrial action. click to read protest in ibadan

Indications of a fissure in the rank of organised labour in the state came from the stable of the TUC, which, in a one-page statement by its leadership in the state, pegged its decision to “suspend” the strike on several pegs.

The statement, endorsed by Comrade Lawson Efenudu (State Chairman) and Comrade Austine Ohwofaria, Secretary, named the pegs of its action to include the immediate setting up of a committee to determine appropriate types and measures of palliative measures within two weeks, and the immediate setting up of a Technical Committee on Minimum Wage to determine a suitable upwardly reviewed National Minimum Wage for Nigerian workers.

It also named “the immediate reconstitution of the Petroleum Product Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to monitor petrol sales”.

The statement was tagged “TUC Suspends Strike”, and was dated May 18, 2016.

Strategically, it added, “In view of the foregoing, the Delta State Council of the TUC, hereby calls on all affiliates to direct their members to go back to work immediately”.

Meanwhile, as part of her efforts to fulfill the promise of prosperity for all Deltans, the wife of the Delta State governor, Dame Edith Okowa has unveiled part of her activities under the auspices of her “05 Initiative” to commemorate the one year in office of the present administration.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday in Asaba, Mrs. Okowa said that on May 27, the “05 Kitchen” will cook and feed as many children that will come for the Children’s Day at the state capital, while at the local government level, they will be handled by wives of the local government chairmen respectively, adding that she desired that all the chairmen’s wives should remain at their various localities to carry out the functions.

She said May 29, being Democracy Day, will be celebrated in the state capital while on the 30th, her foundation will inaugurate the fourth sickle cell clinic at the Oleh General Hospital.

For the celebration of the “05 initiative anniversary, the governor’s wife also stated that there will be a visitation to the five prisons in the state, namely, Ogwashi-Uku, Agbor, Warri, Sapele and Kwale prisons respectively, and this she said should go along with food, gift items and even release some inmates on fine options.

Labour leaders protest in Ibadan, say new price regime a terror policy

The ongoing protest against hike in fuel price continue in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo state on Thursday, as various leaders of labour unions described the decision as a “terror policy”.

Zonal Coordinator of Ibadan Zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Professor Segun Ajiboye, while addressing a mammoth crowd of anti-subsidy removal protesters in front of the University of Ibadan gate, on Thursday, maintained that the pain being unleashed on Nigerians in the past one year by the federal government had become unbearable and required a mass anti-terror movement to check it.

Ajiboye, who noted that the past one year has been full of blames of past government and pain on Nigerians, wondered what the Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, wanted to add to the nation by requesting for  N13million for a trip to China.

He noted that the many lies of the present government must be stopped before Nigerians will be labelled liars in the international community, stating that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is now All Promises Cancelled (APC).

“They promised to bring down the price of petrol below N50, they promised light, good roads and qualitative health services, but rather than fulfilling this, it has been one lie over another while they also disobey court orders at will.  This government has been unleashing terror on Nigerians. We thought when we finished with Jonathan in 2015 it will bring succour to us. All Progressives Congress is now All Promises Cancelled.

“They disobeyed two court judgments stopping hike in electricity tariffs. People are dying on a daily basis. A government that has no control over the black market but asked people to go to black market is clueless” Ajiboye said.

Also speaking, the NLC chairman, Waheed Olojede asked Nigerians not to see the present strike as a labour struggle alone but a joint movement to check anti-masses policies.

He said the present leadership in the country cannot be empowering their friends and unleashing hardships on Nigerians.

He noted that asking people to go to the black market was a ploy by the federal government to bail out their corrupt friends who allegedly stocked their homes with dollars but afraid to take it out due to EFCC onslaught.

He noted that Nigerians are rejecting the increment in Tariffs of electricity and petrol pump price, saying “they (federal government) wants to promote capitalism by liberalising the sector but socialism is the better option for us.”

The protest procession moved no less than 10 kilometre trek traversing NLC secretariat at Idi-Ape, Ikolaba, Customs, Oshuntokun, Kongi, Bodija, University of Ibadan, Sango, and back to NLC secretariat with the labour leaders vowing to continue the protest until government sees reasons and revert to N86.50k petrol price.