FIFA suspends Nigeria from all international football

  Nigeria has been suspended from all international football amid allegations of government interference in its football federation.

Fifa announced the ban, which means no Nigerian team - including club sides - can play internationally, on Wednesday evening.

It was the world governing body's response to a court order which compelled the Nigerian Minister of Sports to appoint a senior member of the civil service to take over the running of the Nigeria Football Federation.

A statement from Fifa's emergency committee said: "The Fifa Emergency Committee has decided today, 9 July 2014, to suspend the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) with immediate effect, on account of government interference."

The statement continued: "The decision follows a letter sent by Fifa to the NFF on 4 July 2014, in which it expressed its great concern after the NFF was served with court proceedings and consequently an order preventing the president of the NFF, the NFF Executive Committee members and the NFF Congress from running the affairs of Nigerian football was granted by a High Court of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

"The said court order compelled the Nigerian Minister of Sports to appoint a senior member of the civil service to manage the NFF until the matter was heard in court, without giving any date for such a hearing.

"The authorities then appointed a person who decided to convene an extraordinary general assembly on 5 July 2014. This extraordinary general assembly was convened in violation of the NFF statutes.
"Originally, an elective congress had been planned by the NFF to take place on 26 August 2014.

"The suspension will be lifted once the court actions have been withdrawn and the properly elected NFF Executive Committee, the NFF general assembly and the NFF administration are able to work without any interference in their affairs."

The first impact of Fifa's move will be felt by Nigeria's women, who will be prevented from taking part in the FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup in Canada next month - should the suspension not be lifted by July 15.

The statement added: "As a result of this decision, no team from Nigeria of any sort (including clubs) can have any international sporting contact (art. 14 par. 3 of the Fifa Statutes).
"During the period of suspension, the NFF may not be represented in any regional, continental or international competitions, including at club level, or in friendly matches.

"In addition, neither the NFF nor any of its members or officials may benefit from any Fifa or CAF development programmes, courses or training during the suspension period."

Nigeria's men reached the second round of the World Cup finals in Brazil after finishing second in Group F behind semi-finalists Argentina, but bowed out after a 2-0 defeat by France in the last 16.

The Telegraph

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Half of a Yellow Sun finally approved by Nigerian censors after edits

Nigerian censors on Friday approved the release of the civil war film "Half of a Yellow Sun" after a more than two-month delay during which the producers agreed to edit certain scenes.

The film, based on the best-selling novel of the same name and starring Oscar-nominated British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, is about the 1967-1970 Biafra War which killed more than a million people, many from starvation.

Already showing in Britain and the United States, the film's Nigeria release had been set for April, but hours before its first scheduled public screening, the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) blocked the release citing "regulatory issues".

Writing for the New Yorker magazine's website in May, the novel's author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said the authorities were concerned about a scene in the film adaptation depicting the massacre of Christians from the Igbo ethnic group by Muslim Hausa tribesman at a northern Nigeria airport.

The southeast, which is dominated by Igbos, cited such massacres as a key reason for their region's unilateral declaration of independence, a move the sparked the civil war.

The NVFCB has never clearly spelt out its opposition to the film, but said in a statement on Friday that "Half of a Yellow Sun" had been approved for release.

Censors board spokesman Caesar Kagho told AFP he could not go into detail about what was removed from the film and why.

Kene Mkparu of Filmhouse Cinemas, which is distributing the film in Nigeria, told AFP changes were made from the version shown in the West, but declined to be specific.

"We didn't have to change the essence of the film, but we complied with what they asked us to do," he said.

Ejiofor, who was nominated for Best Actor at this year's Academy Awards for his role in "12 Years a Slave", which picked up Best Picture, stars opposite British actress Thandie Newton in "Half of a Yellow Sun".

The southeast's attempt to create an independent Igbo-led nation, which they called Biafra, was crushed by British-backed federal forces which had military superiority and used scorched earth tactics, including the blockage of all food imports to the breakaway region.

More than four decades on, the Biafra War remains a highly contentious subject in Nigeria, with some marginal Igbo groups still calling for independence.

AFP

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Chiwetel Ejiofor on shooting Half of a Yellow Sun in rural Nigeria

FIFA threaten to sanction Nigeria over sacked NFF board

Fifa has given the Nigerian govenment until Tuesday to reinstate the sacked Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) board, or it says it will impose sanctions on the country.

The NFF, led by Aminu Maigari, was sacked by a Nigerian court on Saturday after it was found guilty of misappropriating funds, manipulating its own regulations and handling the Super Eagles' bonus row in Brazil in an unacceptable way. Maigari has since been detained by the Nigerian authorities.

After the hearing, a statement - signed by NFF vice president Obinna Ogba - was released which confirmed the drastic actions and alleged that the previous administration had brought embarrassment to the nation.

"The extraordinary congress unanimously endorsed the dissolution of the Aminu Maigari-led NFF executive committee, and immediate termination of the employment of all management staff," the statement read.

"The congress also endorsed the dissolution of the boards of the Nigeria National League, Nigeria Women League ans the Nigeria Nationwide League.

"Congress bemoaned the unfortunate incident of the international embarrassment suffered by the Nigeria nation at the 2014 Fifa World Cup, by failure of the Aminu Maigari-led NFF to fully and firmly resolve issues of finance with the Super Eagles ahead of the championship.

"Congress accused the Maigari administration of abuse of NFF statues in its constitution of the NFF electoral committee, by altering the list of persons approved by the congress at the 2013 general assembly."

Fifa, however, has criticised the move, claiming it goes against the organisation's principle of country's football associations being independent bodies and expressing concern over the outside interference.

"Fifa has sent a letter to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) expressing its great concern over different actions taken by Nigerian public authorities that affect the NFF," its statement read.

"Fifa has learnt from various sources that the NFF has been served with court processes and that consequently an order restraining the President of the NFF, his executive committee members and the NFF congress from running the affairs of Nigerian football has been granted by a High Court of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

"Fifa has also taken note of the detention of NFF President Aminu Maigari, carried out by representatives of the department of the State Security Service. Furthermore, Fifa is also aware that the Minister of Sport has appointed an assistant director to take charge of the NFF.

"Fifa has reminded the NFF that all Fifa member associations have to manage their affairs independently and without influence of any third parties.

"The NFF has been asked to relay Fifa’s position to the relevant authorities and inform them that if the aforementioned NFF officials are not fully reinstated by Tuesday 8 July 2014 the case will be referred to the appropriate Fifa bodies for sanctions, including the potential suspension of the NFF.

"Fifa will not recognize any person or organ not elected in compliance with the NFF statutes... and therefore it will not consider the appointment made by the minister of sports. An elective congress has been duly convened by the NFF for 26 August 2014 and only decisions and persons elected then will be considered legitimate," Fifa concluded.

However, Nigeria's sports minister Tammy Danagogo has defended the government's actions.

"We will do our best to make Fifa know that there has been no government interference. We have no such intention," he said.

"And I can assure you that we will not interfere beyond doing what is legally required by Fifa rules, and that we will ensure that there is a peaceful atmosphere.

GOAL

About 60 of the 200 schoolgirls kidnapped escape from Boko Haram

More than 60 women and girls are reported to have escaped from the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram, security sources say.

They were among 68 abducted last month near the town of Damboa in north-eastern Borno state.

Reports say the women escaped when the militants went to attack a military base near Damboa on Friday.

The Nigerian military said it killed more than 50 rebels in a clash that night.

Boko Haram is still holding more than 200 schoolgirls abducted in April.

Local vigilante Abbas Gava told journalists he had "received an alert from my colleagues... that about 63 of the abducted women and girls had made it back home".

"They took the bold step when their abductors moved out to carry out an operation," he said.

A high-level security source in the state capital Maiduguri confirmed the escape, AFP news agency reported.

Exchange rejected
The BBC's Nigeria correspondent Will Ross says the insecurity is so rife in Borno state and the access so poor that it is not yet clear exactly how many of the young women managed to escape from Boko Haram.

Relatives of three of the women told the BBC they were safe.

Boko Haram triggered an international outcry when it captured 200 girls in Borno's Chibok town on 14 April.

It is demanding the release of its fighters and their relatives in exchange for the girls but the government has rejected this.

Last week three women were arrested for recruiting female members for the militant group, the country's military said.

They were said to have targeted widows and young girls, promising them marriage to Boko Haram members.

A state of emergency is in force in northern Nigeria because of the group's increasingly violent campaign to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state.

Maiduguri was the headquarters of Boko Haram until it was forced out by the military and vigilante groups.

BBC

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Patients dying as Nigeria's doctors strike continues

Three days into the ongoing strike by public sector doctors, patients abandoned in hospitals nationwide, yesterday, cried out that they were dying slowly, and prayed for God's intervention to settle the rift between the government and the striking doctors.

While Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State appealed to the doctors to stop using strike as a means of fighting for their demands in the interest of innocent Nigerians, the doctors on their part accussed government of playing hide-and-seek with them.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has mandated its Committee on Health to urgently engage the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, and Ministry of Health with a view to bringing the ongoing industrial action to an end.

Vanguard visited public hospitals in Lagos. From Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH; General Hospital, Gbagada; Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Metta, to Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, were lamentations as patients, who refused to relocate, have been abandoned to their fate.

New patients were denied admission, while elderly ones who refused to leave were offered skeletal services by nurses and other health workers not affected by the strike.

Seeking divine intervention

Some of the patients were seen praying for God's intervention.

At the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos, patients stood in front of Accident and Emergency Unit, praying to God to touch the heart of both government and the striking doctors.

One said: "Our God in heaven, listen to our cry and come to our aid. Arrest the heart of doctors and government to end the strike. We are dying slowly on daily basis."

At other wards, some patients that spoke to Vanguard insisted that whether the strike continued or not, they had nowhere else to seek medical attention.

They claimed their medical needs were peculiar and could not easily be handled at private hospitals.

One of them, who identified himself as Clement Odia, and had been on admission since January, said he was not in a hurry to relocate to any private hospital for financial reason.

'Am going nowhere'

He said: "I came here since January because of my broken hand. You do not expect me to leave now because I am almost healed. If I have to go to private clinic, where is the money? Also, they may not be able to take care of my situation, so I am staying here."

Another patient, who spoke on condition of anonymity, accused doctors of aggravating his pain.

He said: "I know if government answers them, in another six months same doctors will ask for more allowances. No doctor has attended to me since yesterday."

Lagos NMA speaks

State chairman of NMA Lagos, Dr. Francis Faduyile, blamed government for the ongoing strike, accusing government of destabilising already established health system.

He queried why government should agree to make other professionals, who are not doctors, as consultants?

"Everyone knows what consultant stands for in medicine. What will a nurse or pharmacist be consulting? Do they own patients in the hospitals?"

Also speaking, Public Relation Officer, NMA Lagos, Dr. Peters Ogunjobi, accused government of playing hide-and-seek with doctors, saying the strike would continue since the government had decided not to listen to the doctors.

Fashola begs
Meanwhile, Governor Fashola has appealed to the doctors in the country to stop using strike to fight for their demands in the interest of innocent Nigerians.

Fashola spoke at the second convocation ceremony of the Lagos State College of Health Technology, Yaba, saying fatalities from such industrial actions negated their professional calling.

Fashola argued that those that invented strike in the Nigeria health sector did it for the sake of their patients not themselves.

He said: "Medical workers from the lowest level to the highest in the chain of command and team are like gods on earth. Only sick people know your importance."

Fashola noted that workers in other sub-sectors of the nation's economy were not satisfied with their remuneration, but did not hold government to ransom.

Reps intervene

Also, the House of Representatives yesterday waded into the strike as it mandated its committee on health to urgently engage NMA and the Ministry of Health with a view to bringing the industrial action to an end.

The House, in plenary, gave the committee two weeks to report back.

The House, while appealing to NMA and its members to call off the strike, also urged the Federal Government to do everything possible, as a matter of utmost urgency, to have the crisis resolved in the interest of Nigerians.

Vanguard

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