Top Nigerian newspaper headlines and breaking news in Nigeria today, Thursday, March 30, 2023.
Pope Francis Diagnosed With Severe Infection, Hospitalised
Pope Francis has a respiratory infection and will need to spend “a few days” in hospital in Rome, the Vatican has said.
The pontiff had breathing difficulties in recent days but does not have Covid, the statement said.
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He will need “a few days of appropriate hospital medical therapy”.
“Pope Francis is touched by the many messages received and expresses his gratitude for the closeness and prayer,” the statement added.
His closest staff, including security, were expected to stay the night at the Gemelli Hospital, a person with direct knowledge told the BBC earlier.
Ths is the busiest time of the year for Pope Francis, 86, with many events and services scheduled ahead of Easter weekend.
A Palm Sunday Mass is scheduled this weekend, and Holy Week and Easter celebrations next week.
He is also scheduled to visit Hungary at the end of April.
On Wednesday morning, he presided over his weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square.
Though he looked to be in good spirits, he was seen grimacing as he was helped with getting into his vehicle.
The pontiff has suffered from mobility problems related to his knee in recent months, forcing him to use a wheelchair.
He also underwent surgery to treat a colon problem at the same hospital in Rome in 2021. In January he said the condition had returned.
Despite his ailments, the Pope has remained active and has undertaken trips abroad this year. He visited the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan in February.
In January, the Pope led the funeral of his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI – who was the first pope to step down voluntarily for centuries. He said this was due to ill health.
Pope Francis has previously indicated that he may also wish to follow in Benedict’s footsteps in the event that his health deteriorated.
Police Give Portable 72-hour Ultimatum to Report Himself
The Ogun State Police Command has issued a 72-hour ultimatum for the sensational singer, Habeeb Okikiola, popularly known as Portable, to report himself to the nearest police station or be arrested by Friday.
The state’s Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, has confirmed the situation in a statement obtained by our correspondent on Wednesday.
He also said that Portable had been told to surrender himself to the police or risk being arrested.
Mr. Oyeyemi has confirmed that Portable’s father has pleaded on his son’s behalf and also promise to bring him to the station.
The report shows that two videos on Tuesday went viral showing the artiste cursing some officers of the Force in Ogun state.
In the clip, Portable claimed that an internet fraudster had brought the police to his bar to arrest him and his staff members “for no reason”.
However, the Ogun state police spokesperson, Oyeyemi, explained that the police moved to arrest Portable after five invites were sent to him and another through his father, but he never honored any of the summonses.
He further said the Zazu crooner was invited following a petition by a young studio owner who claimed that Portable together with his aides beat him to a stupor and locked his studio.
Oyeyemi said, “On receiving the petition, an invitation letter was sent to him five times but he refused to appear at the police station. Again, an invitation letter was sent to him through his father; he still did not come to the station.
“The police did not want a breakdown of law and order so his arrest was to be effected on Tuesday and now he started with all series of videos, saying all sorts of things. His father has been begging but we have told him that if he (Portable) refuses to turn himself in between now and Friday, he will be arrested.”
Meanwhile, The reports say that in 2022, Portable’s father had escorted him to the Police Headquarters at Eleweran, Abeokuta, after the singer refused to honor police invitation over the alleged assault of a disc jockey in the Sango area of the state
FG Approves N24.2bn for Free Internet in Airports, Schools, Markets
The Federal Government has approved a contract worth N24.20 billion for the provision of free broadband internet connection in 20 of the nation’s airports, 43 schools and six marketplaces.
Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Pantami, revealed this to State House correspondents after this week’s Federal Executive Council meeting chaired by the President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to him, the selected local and international airports are drawn from the six geopolitical zones, with three airports from each on average.
The higher institutions of learning and markets that will benefit from the five-month project are also drawn from the geopolitical zones.
He said the broadband infrastructure would ensure connectivity in airports, ease e-learning in schools and ease mobile transactions in markets as the economy goes cashless.
Speaking on the memos he presented to FEC, the Minister said,
“In these two memos, certain intervention projects, are going to be implemented by the federal government of Nigeria through the Nigerian Communications Commission of providing Internet in 20 selected airports in Nigeria and higher institutions of learning and also some markets to support micro small and medium enterprises.
“In each geopolitical zone, you have around three airports. In the southwest, we have Lagos and Ondo. For the South-East, we have Anambra and Enugu.
“For the South-South, we have Port Harcourt and Akwa Ibom. For the North-Central we have Abuja and Ilorin. In the North-West, we have Kano, Sokoto and Kebbi. For the North-East, we have Yola, Maiduguri and Gombe,” Pantami explained.
The broadband project also extends to “43 higher institutions of learning at federal and state levels,” the Minister revealed.
They include federal and state universities and polytechnics.
This comes on the heels of an earlier approval in 2022 when the council okayed a similar memo for the provision of unlimited internet in 17 universities and one college of education.
“So this one is the second phase of the project. And in the first memo approved today, we have 20 airports, both domestic and international.
“And in addition, we also have 43 institutions of learning. So in total, 63 institutions are going to benefit and the price for this is N18.95bn.
FIFA Removes Indonesia as Host of 2023 Under-20 World Cup
FIFA announced on Wednesday it had removed Indonesia as the host of this 2023 under-20 World Cup amid political turmoil over Israel’s participation.
“A new host will be announced as soon as possible, with the dates of the tournament currently remaining unchanged,” FIFA said in a statement.
Friday’s draw for the May 20-June 11 competition was scrapped by FIFA following protests over Israel’s involvement in the 24-team event.
In its statement, FIFA said Indonesia would no longer host the tournament “due to the current circumstances” without specifying details.
Indonesia and Israel do not have formal diplomatic relations, and support for the Palestinian cause in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation runs high, fuelling local opposition to hosting the Israeli team.
Indonesian officials said Bali’s governor calling for Israel to be thrown out of the cup because of its policies towards the Palestinians was likely behind the draw’s cancellation.
Around a hundred conservative Muslim demonstrators also marched in the capital Jakarta this month to protest Israel’s involvement.
We Need Nigerian Air Force’s Assistance — Zimbabwe AFZ
The commander of the Air Force of Zimbabwe, Air Marshal Elson Moyo has said that his country wishes to seek technical assistance from the Nigerian Air Force (NAF).
NAF’s spokesman, Air Commodore Ayodele Famuyiwa disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.
Ayodele said that Moyo made the appeal during his visit to the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, at NAF headquarters in Abuja.
According to the Zimbabwean air chief, his country needed technical support in research and development, unmanned aerial vehicle technology, and operation and maintenance of F7 and Mi-35 aircraft.
Moyo mentioned that both countries could join in common and peculiar aviation interests where their air forces operate some similar aircraft.
He added that NAF had recorded remarkable feats in its transformation effort to develop indigenous capacity.
Due to this, the air commander said AFZ to look inward to address the technical challenges arising from sanctions imposed on his country.
The sanctions he said, have so far limited the ability of AFZ to acquire basic aircraft parts and other technical aids necessary for operational efficiency.
The Zimbabwean air chief would be visiting some NAF units, including the Northeast during his visit to Nigeria.
I Stole Pep Guradiola’s Tactics – Mikel Arteta
Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta has agreed that the way he plays Oleksandr Zinchenko has been fruitful and it was inspired by Pep Guardiola’s use of Philip Lahm at Bayern.
Guardiola came up with a tactic that has helped Arsenal and also shape the Gunnera, putting them in the EPL title this season.
Lahm was a right-back traditionally, but Pep used him more in the central midfield space after the then-Bayern boss hailed him as “the most intelligent player I have ever coached’.
Zinchenko’s effort has proven to be a force in the team and has been in good form since coming back from injury.
Arteta has explained the origin of the tactical shift.
“It started when I was in Barcelona, we used to play a 3-4-3 diamond, and one of the full-backs used to play there.
“But Pep did it at Bayern for the first time with Phillip Lahm and then that was developed at City with many different ways of doing it with different players.
“So that is the great thing, that you can take all the time things from other sports, other coaches to make yourself better,” Arteta said.
APC Not Free of Corrupt Elements – Festus Keyamo
The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo has stated that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is not free of corrupt members in it.
Keyamo made said this his official Twitter handle on Monday.
He argued that corrupt politicians in the ruling party would not be spared if they are caught.
Notwithstanding, the minister said the APC’s era was better compared to the Peoples Democratic Party’s “era of impunity” the nation came from.
He further added that the APC was the best vehicle to wrestle power from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015 and to keep the party out of power to date.
He said:
“I hardly answer ignorant people on Social Media, but let me put this extended video here for the first time. This was in 2017 and I stand by my words.
“In summary, what I said was that the APC may not be our best and may have some corrupt elements within it (they’ll not be spared if they’re caught), but that does not mean we should go back to the era of impunity of the PDP from which we are coming.
“I said and I repeat that the APC was the best vehicle we had to wrestle power from the PDP (like the June 12 struggle was used to wrestle power from the Military) and to keep them out of power till today. The APC still represents our hope. They have over-edited the video to deceive everyone for so long.”
Ferguson, Wenger inducted into Premier League Hall of Fame
Legendary Manchester United and Arsenal bosses, Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger have become the first mangers to be inducted into the Premier League Hall of fame.
The two men are widely considered to be the greatest managers of all time
They both have been recognized as such in third year since the Hall of Fame began.
Ferguson was in charge of United from 1986 to 2013, lifting 13 titles and 528 wins from 810 matches.
He is the most successful manger in the history of England’s top flight.
Wenger managed Arsenal from 1996 to 2018 and the Frenchman is the league’s most experienced manager with 828 games, winning 476 of them plus three titles.
His last title came in 2003/04 when the ‘Invincibles’ went the whole season unbeaten.
Messi Scores 100 International goals
Lionel Messi has hit another milestone in becoming the third player to surpass 100 international goals.
The 35-year-old grabbed a hat-trick in his side’s seven goals demolition of Curacao in a friendly on Tuesday.
Messi’s three-goal haul takes his tally to 102.
The Paris Saint-Germain player passed the 109-goal mark in his 174th appearance for his country.
He had scored his 99th international goal and his 800th of his career in a 2-0 win against Panama last Thursday.
Messi, however, remains third on the men’s leading international scorers chart behind Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who is now on 120 goals and Iran’s Ali Daei, who scored 109 before retiring in 2007.
