Nigerian diplomat assassinated in Sudan

The Federal Government on Friday strongly condemned the assassination of a Nigerian immigration attaché, Habibu Almu, at the Nigerian Mission in Khartoum, Sudan.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Tope Elias-Fatile, on Friday, the federal government described the killing as “unfortunate”.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has received an official report from our Mission in Khartoum, Sudan on the death of the Immigration Attaché I in the Mission, Mr Habibu Almu.

“He was killed in his official quarters on Thursday. This, indeed, sad news.

“The untimely death of the officer is certainly a great loss to our country.

“The Federal Government sympathises with the family members of the deceased on this unfortunate incident,” he said.

He said the mission was working very closely with host authorities in their investigations over the incident.

He assured that the government would do everything possible to ensure that those behind the act are made to face the full wrath of the law.

Premium Times

Nigeria may soon have first blockchain technology incubator

Peer-to-peer cryptocurrency trading platform, Paxful, just recently announced a major expansion into Africa.

Because of that, it would be launching a blockchain incubator in Lagos, Nigeria to help streamline operations.

According to Bitsonline, the incubator is scheduled to launch in the fourth quarter of 2018 and Chuta Chimezie has reportedly been appointed to lead the hub and spearhead regional operations in Africa.

Part of the reasons the company chose Nigeria to build this incubator is its demographics. According to a press release, Nigeria commands the highest number of Paxful users in Africa.

So it says a lot that this incubator will likely come as the first of its kind in Nigeria — or even Africa perhaps — when it finally debuts.

Globally, cryptocurrency has been facing intense crackdown as regulators are increasingly raising alarms concerning its volatility in the market.

Using the incubator to grow an army of platforms trading in crytocurrency will be appealing to Paxful. But that may simply raise eyebrows; especially with the whole regulations on cryptocurrency.

Perhaps, it plan to use the incubator in powering other blockchain technologies outside of crytocurrency.

Chimezie emphasises that the incubator is simply a starting point to help driven entrepreneurs in an industry that has shattered boundaries all over the world, and that Paxful initiatives have provided help to those in great need here.

Whichever way this turn out, it will make for an interesting watch.

Techpoint

Super Eagle Alexi Iwobi confident ahead of World Cup

No African nation has ever won the World Cup, but Nigeria's Alex Iwobi isn't letting that hold him back.

The 22-year-old Arsenal forward will play on football's biggest stage for the first time after helping the Super Eagles top their qualifying group for Russia 2018.

"The way we qualified in the group made us very confident," Iwobi tells CNN Sport.
"We've played against some big teams, some big countries, so we are very confident that we can go far."

Iwobi was twice on the scoresheet as Nigeria defeated Argentina 4-2 in a friendly last year. The two sides will meet again at the World Cup, which runs from June 14 to July 15, in a group which also contains Iceland and Croatia. 

Although the Super Eagles have never progressed past the last 16, Iwobi says winning the upcoming tournament is something he has discussed with his teammates.

"Of course, we've mentioned it and talked about it so many times in training, on the coach, in the hotel room," says Iwobi. 

"But we will take it step by step. Our coach always reminds us that we're not there yet. We need to prepare right. We've done well to get this far, so just be relaxed, be cool and wait for when the times comes.

"It's always been a dream to play in the biggest competition and there's no bigger competition than the World Cup to me."

Family affair
After representing England at youth level, Iwobi made his international debut with Nigeria in 2016. He has since gone on to be a regular fixture in a young and exciting Nigeria side which includes the likes of Leicester City trio Kelechi Iheanacho, Ahmed Musa and Wilfred Ndidi.

The nephew of former Fenerbahçe, PSG and Bolton Wanderers star Jay-Jay Okocha, Iwobi fondly remembers watching his uncle play in England.

"My family used to go up to Bolton and Hull to watch some matches," he says.

"My favorite [memory] is probably just watching him in training, just watching how he is. Everyone knows what he's like on the pitch but to actually see what he does in training when I was younger used to fascinate me ... he's always been a role model."

When Okocha, part of the Nigeria side that won Olympic gold in 1996, represented his country, the family would "just scream at the TV," Iwobi recalls.

Will they be making the same amount of noise when the Arsenal man takes to the field in his first World Cup?

"It depends where they are," he says. "If they're in the stadium, they'll be relaxed and cool. If they're at home, they'll be screaming and all the neighbors will hear."

Saying goodbye 

Immediate attention turns to the Premier League and Arsene Wenger's final days in charge of Arsenal.
Wenger handed Iwobi his first start for the Gunners aged just 18. His club form has been up and down since, but Iwobi says he's forever indebted to the man who gave him his big break. 

"I was very young, I was like a scholar," he recalls. "He was always saying to me to enjoy your football, express yourself, and if you make a mistake just continue and be positive.

"Everyone makes mistakes, it's how they deal with it and you just have to keep going. That's the best advice he's given me."

The focus now is on giving his mentor the best send-off possible after 22 years of service.

"The club without Arsene is going to be strange," says Iwobi. "He deserves the recognition that he should get. 

"We are going to do the best for him until the end of the season."

CNN

Mikel Obi and Victor Moses nominated for Nigeria Pitch Awards

Super Eagles Captain, John Mikel Obi and Victor Moses, Chelsea’s winger were on Wednesday nominated for the Nigeria Pitch Awards for 2017/2018.

Obi currently plies his trade as a midfielder for Chinese club Tianjin TEDA.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the awards in its 5th edition will hold later in the month in Lagos.

Other nominees for the awards are Ikechukwu Ezenwa of FC Ifeanyi Ubah of Nnewi, Anambra, Leon Balogun, FSV Mainz 05, Germany, Wilfred Ndidi – Leicester City FC of England, and Carl Ikeme of England’s Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Dele Ajiboye of Plateau United FC of Jos, William Troost-Ekong of Bursaspor, Turkey, Shehu Abdullahi of Anothosis Famagusta FC, Anthony Okpotu – Lobi Stars FC of Makurdi and Odion Ighalo – Changchun Yatai.

The rest are Stephen Odey – MFM FC/FC Zurich, Charity Rueben- Ibom Angels, Rasheedat Ajibade – FC Robo and Amarachi Okonkwo – Nasarawa Amazons.

Fidelis Elechukwu of MFM FC, Gernot Rohr of Super Eagles and Kennedy Boboye of Plateau United were nominated for the Coach of the Year Award.

Lagos, Rivers and Delta were nominated for State with the Best Grassroots Development programme.

Similarly, Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo, Gov. Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom and Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State were nominated for Football Friendly Governors of the Year.

Also for the Sam Okwaraji Award for Commitment to Nigerian Football, Amaju Pinnick, President, NFF, Shehu Dikko – 2nd Vice-President, NFF and Chief Ifeanyi Ubah, Chairman, FC Ifeanyi Ubah were equally nominated.

The President, Nigeria Pitch Award, Mr Shina Philips, said the awards had continued to grow to become a significant part of the football calendar in spite of challenges.

He noted that challenges such as securing sponsorship and partnership did not deterred the organisation’s resolve to make the awards an essential part of the nation’s football culture.

“The Nigeria Pitch Awards is a platform for recognising, rewarding and celebrating talented and industrious footballers and other stakeholders in Nigerian football.

“Since the introduction of the awards five years ago, it has continued to grow to become a significant and essential part of our football society,’’ he said.

Philips said that organising a credible and transparent reward system for Nigerian footballers and stakeholders would help youths to imbibe the culture of hard work, patriotism and honesty.

The president of the award added that he was grateful for all partners and all corporate bodies that had identified with the award since the project began.

“We thank the Federal Ministry of Sports and Nigeria Football Federation for their immense support.

“We thank SIAO Partners, Nigeria’s foremost accounting firm for being our independent vote collation body for displaying professionalism in the collation of results and the entire voting process.

“We are also buoyed by the responses we have received from sports journalists, Nigerian footballers and administrators,’’ he said.

Aisha Falode, Chairperson, Nigeria Women Football League congratulated the organisers of the award, saying that it would build the confidence of young people in the nation’s football.

“The Nigerian youths can be engaged through entertainment and sports with football being the most enticing when it comes to sports,’’ she said.

Falode urged sports journalists and stakeholders to support the award because of its credibility and assured that the awards get the necessary support to expand in scope.

Mr Buri Olugbami, an official of SIAO Partners, said that SIAO recognised the potential of football and its impact in providing youth development.

Olugbemi said that they would remain committed to all social and sport activities which would be strategic to youth development.

Daily Post

President Muhammadu Buhari under pressure to reveal illness

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari is under pressure to disclose the state of his health after he embarked on a fourth medical trip to London.

Nigeria's opposition party, People's Democractic Party (PDP), said it was time for the president to reveal his medical condition.

PDP spokesman Kola Ologbodiyan said: "We need full disclosure about the president's health. He needs to be honest with Nigerians to say he his unwell. He can't travel for an official meeting to the US and sneak into London to see his doctor, then tell Nigerians it was a technical stopover due to flight issues."

Buhari,75, announced Monday he will travel to the United Kingdom to see his doctor, reigniting speculation about the state of his health and ability to rule Africa's biggest economy.

The president also saw his doctor last week in London on his way back from Washington where he had met with the US President Donald Trump at the White House, his aide said. 

Nigerians on social media have also joined in the call for Buhari to make his health records public. These calls have grown louder since he announced plans to seek re-election next year.

But the president's spokesman Garba Shehu told CNN Buhari was under no obligation to disclose his medical records.

According to the spokesman, Buhari is the first Nigerian president to make public his need to see a doctor.

"The constitution does not say the president must disclose his health status, it only says he should make his medical vacation public to the House of Assembly."

"Let's check the records, no other president in this country has made public their medical trips abroad," Shehu said.

He added that Buhari's latest trip to the UK did not mean that he was ill and it was merely a review after his treatment nine months ago.

Since he took power in 2015, President Buhari has left the country at least four times on trips that included medical treatment in the UK. So far, he has failed to state the exact nature of his illness.

The president of Africa's most populous country has also faced criticism for seeking treatment abroad when critics say he should be fixing the nation's health system, which is in dire straits.

"President Buhari just loves flying around. If he truly wants Nigeria to grow, His doctor should fly down here instead, whatever equipments and knowledge he has should be brought down to a hospital here to improve our health care system," commentator Yul Edochie said in a tweet.

CNN