Video - Nigeria chief coach Salisu confident of good show in 2018 FIFA World Cup

The Nigerian national football will play their last friendly match at home to the Democratic Republic of Congo next week. CGTN's Kelechi Emekalam sat down with the team's head coach, Salisu Yusuf, and she started by asking him about their opponents, including Argentina.

Video - Cleaning up the oil industry’s past mistakes in Nigeria

For decades multi-national companies and the Nigerian government have earned billions of dollars in oil revenues. But oil exploration often led to exploitation of local communities and damage to the environment. Now a big clean-up initiative is under way. Al Jazeera's Ahmed Idris is in the Niger Delta to see if a government-backed project can make a difference.

Nigeria 2018 World Cup kit enjoying huge demand

Nigeria announced on Thursday that the national team's new 2018 kit line had hit a record three million pre-orders, far outstripping anything that preceded it.

While this was the first time such official sales figures have been announced, it's clearly a number that leaves everything else in its wake.

Such high demand for a Nigeria kit is unprecedented, but NFF Vice President Shehu Dikko explained that they the federation were informed at a meeting with Nike on Thursday that the novel, throwback design was behind the broad appeal.

"They told us Nigeria is their best selling kit due to the uniqueness," Dikko told KweséESPN, "so it appeals to everyone both from a sporting and fashion point of view."

The VP was also quick to end any scepticism about the validity of the figures.

"The three million are not actual sales but orders placed by all of their stores across the world," Dikko added. "These orders will not be delivered at once, but probably over the lifespan of the jerseys, which have a cycle of about two years.

"They cannot produce without orders, and some of these orders may not be delivered until next year," he continued, "but the stores have placed them now to ensure they have consistent supply and don't run out of stock."

It's been nearly three months since the kit reveal, and frustration has grown among Nigerians who have been unable to purchase the attire, especially with less than a month to the World Cup.

ESPN

AS Roma supports Nigeria in 2018 FIFA World Cup

Italian Serie A side Roma has come out to back Nigeria at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The club initially posted news of the Super Eagles squad on Twitter and one of Nigeria president Muhammadu Buhari's personal assistants thanked Roma.

In response the Italian club posted: "Good luck to the squad at the @FIFAWorldCup in Russia.

"Italy won't be there, so #ASRoma will be supporting our own players and the #SuperEagles - #ForzaSuperEagles."

The Italian side have two Nigerians on their books, Nura Abdullahi and Umar Sadiq - neither of whom have been included in the Super Eagles' preliminary World Cup squad.

Abdullahi spent last season on loan at Italian rivals Perugia while Sadiq was at Dutch side NAC Breda.

Egypt may well be disappointed not to get Roma's backing given that the Pharaohs' key striker Mohamed Salah spent two seasons at the club.

Nigeria have been drawn in Group D at the World Cup and will play Argentina, Iceland and Croatia.

BBC

Video - Armed gunmen seize at least 80 people in Kaduna State

We start in Nigeria, where at least 80 people have been abducted in the north-west Kaduna State. The victims were seized at gunpoint on major highways in the area.