Our path is our way

By Darren Plant, Reporter

Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo has acknowledged that returning to Old Trafford to face Manchester United in the Champions League is "a huge emotional thing".

Ronaldo spent six years of his career with the Premier League giants before leaving in 2009, and the Portuguese superstar will be returning to the Theatre of Dreams for just the second time on Tuesday night.

The 33-year-old was also quick to show his support to former manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who is currently recovering from a brain haemorrhage which he suffered in May.

At a press conference, Ronaldo told reporters: "It's a huge emotional thing for me to come back. I know all about the history. I won trophies here - cups, leagues, Champions League.

"Sir Alex Ferguson is someone I will never ever forget and I'd like to express my best possible wishes to him."

Ronaldo has scored five goals from 10 outings since signing for Juventus in the summer.

By Matt Law, European Football Editor

An own goal from Hector Bellerin saw Leicester take a 31st-minute lead in London, but Arsenal then scored three times without reply, including a double from substitute Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, to make it 10 straight wins in all competitions.

The Gunners have now been victorious in their last seven Premier League matches, meanwhile, and have moved above Tottenham Hotspur into fourth position in the table, just two points off the summit.

Leicester had a glorious chance to take the lead inside the first two minutes when Kelechi Iheanacho broke the offside trap before driving into the Arsenal box, but the Nigerian saw his strike deflected over by Rob Holding.

Iheanacho then forced a smart save from Gunners stopper Bernd Leno in the sixth minute as the visitors made a strong start to the clash in the English capital, and that was a sign of things to come in the first period.

It took until the 14th minute for Arsenal to have a shot, but the attempt from Stephan Lichtsteiner - in for the injured Nacho Monreal - was always flying over Kasper Schmeichel's goal.

Leicester should have had a penalty in the 18th minute when Holding clearly handled the ball inside his own box, but the referee waved away the appeals, which were led by Harry Maguire.

Maguire then should have sent Leicester ahead moments later when he had a free header inside the Arsenal box, but Leno was on hand to make a wonderful save.

Arsenal were struggling defensively and indeed in the final third, and a long-range strike from Alexandre Lacazette in the 26th minute never threatened to trouble Schmeichel.

Leicester finally took the lead in the 31st minute, but they needed a huge slice of luck. Indeed, Ben Chilwell managed to drive past Bellerin into the box, and the left-back's low cross was deflected into the home side's net by Arsenal's Spanish defender.

Schmeichel kept out a dipping Granit Xhaka free kick in the period that followed, before the Leicester goalkeeper had to keep out a strike from Alex Iwobi as the home side chased a leveller before the break.

It did appear that Leicester would enter the interval with a one-goal advantage, but Arsenal equalised in the closing stages of the half when Mesut Ozil, who had the captain's armband, carefully placed a low Bellerin cross into the back of the net off the post.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan had a wonderful chance to send Arsenal ahead early in the second period following a mix-up inside the Leicester box, but the Armenian fired just wide of the post from a dangerous position.

Leicester came within inches of re-taking the lead just before the hour when Wilfred Ndidi rose highest inside the Arsenal box to meet a corner from the right, but his header smashed off the woodwork.

Aubameyang and Matteo Guendouzi both came off the Arsenal bench in the 61st minute, while Marc Albrighton replaced Iheanacho for Leicester as the two managers made alterations.

Aubameyang needed less than two minutes to make his mark, with the January arrival from Borussia Dortmund tapping a low Bellerin cross into the back of the net to send the Gunners ahead.

The home side then had their third in the 66th minute when Aubameyang finished off another fine move. Lacazette released Ozil inside the Leicester box with a fine pass, and the German's flick was turned home by Aubameyang for his second of the match.

Lacazette should have made it 4-1 in the 78th minute when he was presented with a low cross inside the Leicester box, but Schmeichel was on hand to make a fine save.

Lacazette had another super chance in the 84th minute when Iwobi delivered low into the Frenchman, but the centre-forward fired over the crossbar.

In the end, 3-1 was how it finished on a mild night in the English capital, with Arsenal turning things around in front of their own supporters to put up their 10th straight win in all competitions.

ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Leno; Bellerin, Mustafi, Holding, Lichtsteiner (Aubameyang 61'); Xhaka, Torreira; Mkhitaryan (Guendouzi 61'), Ozil (Ramsey 80'), Iwobi; Lacazette

LEICESTER CITY (4-2-3-1): Schmeichel; Amartey, Maguire, Evans, Chilwell; Mendy, Ndidi; Ricardo (Ghezzal 69'), Iheanacho (Albrighton 61'), Maddison (Okazaki 75'); Vardy

Shehu Sani

The senator representing Kaduna Central senatorial district, Comrade Shehu Sani , who resigned his membership from the ruling All Progressives Congress ( APC) , told his supporters that in the next two days he would announce new political party.

Sani , who assured his supporters for the show of solidarity over his decision to quit the APC , said he would contest for Kaduna Central senatorial zone in the 2019 general elections.

Sani , wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday morning: "This is to thank all my supporters and friends for the show of solidarity and assurances of support over my decision to exit the APC . I assure you that in the next two days you will be informed of my new party . And be rest assured I will contest in the upcoming elections Insha Allah . ” the Senator said.

A Leadership correspondent gathered that Senator Shehu Sani , may get the Peoples Redemption Party ( PRP ) senatorial ticket , as sources said he has opened talks with PRP leadership including the party ’s Board of trustees chairman, Balarabe Musa.

Senator Sani , who was reportedly granted an automatic ticket by the leadership of his former party ( APC ) for second term was on Thursday last week did not make the final list submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) by the APC national leadership.

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The corps member was mercilessly flogged by one Deacon Friday Udoka, the principal of her PPA, the Government Technical College in Abak, Akwa Ibom State.

According to reports, the assault was because the lady, Kolawole Olaitan Adeola, helped her friend write her name in the attendance register of the college, on Friday, October 19, 2018.

The principal was said to have flogged her in his office before dragging her outside to continue the flogging in the presence of students. Udoka then proceeded to notify the NYSC Local Government Inspector that he no longer needs her in the school.

Authorities in Cameroon’s northwestern anglophone region on Sunday denied that six children were kidnapped from a school there two days ago, saying an attempt was made but that it was unsuccessful.

The region’s governor “wants to inform the public that the activists have indeed tried but, thanks to the spontaneous collaboration between the local community and the timely intervention of our security forces no student was kidnapped,” a statement issued by the chief administrator said.

On Friday a teacher told AFP that gunmen abducted the six children from a school in the region’s capital Bamenda. The information was confirmed to AFP on Saturday by a source close to the Bamenda security services.

Local media reports said one of the six had managed to escape, but that information was not independently confirmed.

Cameroon’s two anglophone regions in the west of the country are the site of an uprising by armed separatists, who have called for a boycott of the schools. They argue the French-language education system penalises English-speaking students.

Already, since the start of the new term in September, insurgents have killed one school director, mutilated a teacher and attacked several high schools.

The results of the country’s presidential election, which took place on October 7, are still to be announced, but the incumbent, Paul Biya, ran for a seventh term in office.

Biya, 75, has refused to enter into dialogue with the separatists and at the beginning of the year launched a military crackdown in the regions.

AFP

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday that Berlin would not export arms to Saudi Arabia for now in the wake of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s violent death.

“I agree with all those who say when it comes to our already limited arms exports (to Saudi Arabia) that they cannot take place in the current situation,” she told reporters at her party headquarters.

Her foreign minister, Heiko Maas, had already said on Saturday that he currently saw “no basis for decisions in favour of arms exports to Saudi Arabia”.

Germany last month approved 416 million euros ($480 million) worth of arms exports to Saudi Arabia for 2018. In the past, military exports by Berlin to Saudi have mostly consisted of patrol boats.

Merkel reiterated that she condemned Khashoggi’s killing “in the strongest terms” and saw an “urgent need to clear up” the case.

“We are far from seeing everything on the table and the perpetrators being brought to justice,” she said.

Merkel added that she would continue to consult with international partners about a coordinated reaction to the case.

Germany and Saudi Arabia only returned their ambassadors in September after 10 months of frosty relations following criticism from Berlin of what it said was Saudi interference in Lebanese affairs.

The Khashoggi case has opened a serious new rift with European partners Britain, France and Germany saying in a joint statement earlier that Saudi Arabia must clarify how Khashoggi died inside its Istanbul consulate, and its account must “be backed by facts to be considered credible”.

After a fortnight of denials, Saudi authorities admitted Saturday that Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and prominent critic of powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed after entering the consulate in Turkey on October 2.

But it has faced a growing chorus of incredulity over its belated explanation that he died in a “brawl”, as world powers demand answers and the whereabouts of his body.

AFP

Rebels killed at least 11 people and abducted 15 others, including 10 children, in an overnight raid near Beni, near DR Congo’s eastern border with Uganda, security sources said Sunday.

Police recovered the bodies of 11 civilians killed in the town of Matete north of Beni, he said, adding that the missing children were from five to 10 years old, Beni police chief Colonel Safari Kazingufu told AFP.

The attack, thought to have been carried out by members of the Ugandan Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), had targeted Beni, the regional army spokesman Captain Mak Hazukay told AFP.

“We repulsed the attack but unfortunately, there were deaths among the civilians and soldiers,” he said, without specifying how many soldiers had been killed.

One local resident told AFP he had seen the bodies of two uniformed men at the site of the fighting.

Earlier, a spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO told AFP they had been involved in an exchange of fire with suspected rebels near Beni.

Onyeizu disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday, in Abuja.

“ Since the 1950’s, Nigeria has been burning off its natural gas at flare points and despite efforts by successive administrations to curtail the wastage, the country loses an estimated 2.5 billion dollars each year to gas flaring as well as unattended impact of negative externalities associated to gas flaring,’’ he said

He said the country’s natural reserves was the 7th largest in the world and the largest in Africa, adding that it was estimated that Nigeria had over 187 trillion cubic feet(tcf) of proven natural gas in reserves.

According to him, the country has an additional 600 tcf of unproven volume, 40 per cent of the proven volume is associated with gas

“ In other words, they are produced alongside oil and largely flared at location where we don’t have facilities to harness them,’’ he added.

He said that the Ajaokuta-Kaduna –Kano gas pipeline (AKK) project if well conceived would accrue to the country as the project could be transformational.

He said that apart from the fact that it would address the challenges of environmental pollution that come with open air green gas emission and flaring as practiced in many communities in Nigeria.

According to him, it also had the capacity to trigger an industrial revolution across the country.

“ Don’t forget, every country passes through an economic ladder that starts from Agricultural and food revolution, followed by industrial revolution before technological, computing and Artificial Intelligence revolution.

“ Most first world countries experienced these phases in their developmental stages.

“Therefore, visionary projects like the AKK or the Trans-Nigeria Gas pipeline projects can act as the required enabler to industrial revolution in Nigeria,’’ he said .

Onyeizu, who was an All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial aspirant advised the Federal government to further segment the scope of the project and allow for simultaneous operations.

This, he said, would enable many competent players around the world bid and participate in the installation of the gas pipelines.

“ If well planned, a network of gas pipelines that deliver high pressure gas across the country for industrial use could be commissioned in less than 2 years.’’

He added that the AKK project no doubt had both direct and indirect employment benefits that could be offered to the people of Nigeria.

He said that it would give room for unskilled and skilled labours to thrive because during the construction and installation stages, local people would be recruited to help lay the pipelines.

Onyeizu noted that during commissioning, local experts would also be engaged to work with the counterpart expatriates to see that it started running as planned.

He said the project had the potential to grow the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), when companies or industries operating in the country plug into the gas network to power their factories and businesses.

“ It will re-start the economy on a growth path and with the significant volume of proven gas deposits in Nigeria, we can sustain a radical strategy to industrialize our economy,’’ he said.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Mr Femi Fani-Kayode has said he would rather die, than join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) because of fear of persecution.

The former minister made this known while reacting to news that Musiliu Obanolikoro and Iyiola Omisore who had their passports seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), over corruption allegations have gotten them back.

Fani-Kayode in his statement on Sunday said  that the duo are now in the United States after getting their passports from the EFCC. He stressed that he doesn’t blame anyone for joining the ruling party to avoid persecution because not everyone is strong.

However, he said as for he, would rather die than join the ruling party or bow to president Muhammadu Buhari.

He wrote:

The Nigeria Police Force has arrested 22 persons suspected to be directly involved in the killing of innocent people at Kasuwar Magani in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

Force Public Relations Officer, Mr Jimoh Moshood, disclosed this while addressing a news conference in Abuja.

“Twenty-two suspects directly involved in the killing of these innocent people have been arrested and they are now in police custody, and they have been assisting the police further in the investigation into the incident,” he said.

Mr Moshood said normalcy has been restored to the area while some prominent personalities kidnapped during the incident have been rescued.

He condoled with the families of the victims on behalf of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Ibrahim Idris.

“The IGP condemns in entirety the attack and killings of innocent people, calls for calm as the police special investigation team has made a significant progress in the investigation into the attack and the killing of innocent people,” he said.

Meanwhile, the police boss has deployed the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 7 Headquarters in charge of Kaduna and Niger states, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to lead the Police Special Intervention Force already on the ground at Kasuwar Magani.

The team comprises operatives of Police Mobile Force (PMF), Counter Terrorism Unit, Conventional Policemen, Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS), and Intelligence Response Team (IRT) among others.

The police spokesman revealed that the team would embark on operations that would cover the entire Kasuwar Magani and environs, as well as other trouble spots in the state.

The team was also directed to work in synergy with the Kaduna State Police Command to ensure that total peace was restored and sustained in the area.

Abuja – The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said its Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, was set to revamp Nigerian economy through the creation of qualitative employment for the youths.

The party said that Abubakar would also implement the political and economic restructuring of the nation in a manner that would engender unity, inclusiveness in governance and uplift the general standard of living for all.

Ologbondiyan added that if elected Abubakar would immediately commence the marketing of Nigeria to the international business community, as well as providing a clement environment for businesses to thrive in Nigeria.

“Abubakar will open a system-wide fight against corruption as soon as he is elected into office by strengthening the institutions empowered by our laws to do their jobs.

“He will do this while he also concentrates on the onerous duty of governance and rescuing our people from hunger, starvation, bloodlettings and wanton killings.’’

Ologbondiyan assured that rebranded PDP would ensure that all those looting the national treasury, would definitely face the wrath of the law and go to jail.

He added that Abubakar administration would not only fight poverty but will also uncompromisingly fight corruption.

Ologbondiyan said that a combination of Abubakar and his running mate, Peter Obi, known internationally for their forthrightness, hardwork, ingenuity and managerial competencies, would liberate Nigeria from the economic wastage and notoriously incompetent.

“Abubakar comes with the Nigerian resilient entrepreneurial spirit to once again open up our economy, attract investments, create jobs and unite our citizenry for a more productive nation.“

He added that as a successful entrepreneur, Abubakar had perfected an economic template that would reduce the cost of governance, plug wastages, tackle corruption, and channel resources for the welfare of the people.

Ologbondiya said what Nigerians earnestly desire now was a resourceful President.

“Our youths are earnestly seeking for an in-charge President, not one who rules by proxy. They look forward to a President who will give hope in the face of a consuming despair and one, whose words resonate with their aspirations in life.’’

He said that the 2019 election was, therefore, a direct referendum on the determination of Nigerians to choose a new leader who would rescue the nation from hunger and starvation.

“The 2019 election will never be about character assassination or mouthing some worn-out sloganeerings about corruption but will be about a demonstrable capacity to deliver on the mandate,’’ he said.

(NAN)

Rivers State Government has advised the Minister of Transport, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, to stay away from Port Harcourt if he feels the State is unsafe.

Amaechi, while speaking at the Dedication service of the Tonye Cole campaign organisation in Port Harcourt Sunday, called for replacement of Governor Nyesom Wike over insecurity issues in the state.

According to him, “It is unfortunate am saying this before the camera because its like demarketing Rivers State when you hear about death. We heard about how many killings up to eight persons just last week.

“If the Governor cannot take charge and people are dying, then there is a need for replacement and for people to vote for their lives.

Reacting to the minister’s comment, the State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Barr Emma Okah said Amaechi should show his anger by hosting his party activities, Church programmes and birthday parties in Abuja outside the state since he claims Rivers State was unsafe.

“Normal people no longer take Amaechi seriously because he lives in bitterness. Evidence abound to show that the Rivers State Government and the security agencies are doing their best to secure lives and property in Rivers State and only a deluded or mischievous mind denies this fact” Okah said

Condemning the reckless manner Amaechi talks, Okah said that in normal climes, a former governor and a serving Minister qualifies to be a statesman but the case of Amaechi is a harvest of shame as he maliciously discredits everything the Rivers State Government is doing to develop the State and provide security for the people.

“Amaechi needs to know that any failure of security under our democracy where the Governor has played his role is an indictment on the Nigeria Police and the security agencies who are under the control of the Federal Government and Amaechi should ask the heads of security agencies he posts to the State why there are lapses if any” he said, noting that Rivers State Government will not join him in the journey to perdition by condemning the hard working security agencies.

“Instead of Amaechi to empathise with those who sadly, lost their loved ones, he was spitting on the graves of the deceased and mocking them because he knows he is seeking political mileage with the blood of the innocent and has not supported the State to fight crime since he became a Minister.

“Rather than allow security agencies to do their work unhindered, Amaechi has continued to politicise the security architecture to achieve only political ends since his stooge lost the guber elections in 2015.

“He must explain to Nigerians why security challenges still exist in all states in the Country. Are those Governors also not doing enough or should that also not be the reason they and the President should lose elections”? Okah asked, noting that even the APC led Federal Government has not been able to address all security challenges in Nigeria despite their superior war chest, resources and imprimatur.

On the issue of people leaving the State, Okah said Rivers State is the leading investment destination in Nigeria and dismissed Amaechi as blowing hot air, talking without facts and statistics.

“Amaechi should explain why over 12 million Nigerians lost their jobs since 2015. Is he also alerting Nigerians that his boss is inefficient as President?” Okah added.

Abuja – The Nigeria Police Force said it had arrested three suspected kidnappers and armed robbers in Masaka, Nasarawa and Kano states.

The suspects are: Hawa Yinusa, 22, gang leader, Nura Dahiru, principal suspect and Buhari Hamisu a.k.a wiseman, principal suspect.

Acting DCP Jimoh Moshood, the Force Public Relations Officer, disclosed this while addressing newsmen on the arrest on Sunday in Abuja.

Moshood listed exhibits recovered from them: Three AK47 Rifles,38 Rounds of AK47 Ammunition, one Honda Hennessey Car belonging to the victim and one Cutlass used for killing their victims.

The spokesman said that Yinusa, the leader, had led so many kidnapping gangs; for several kidnappings of prominent Nigerians, including one Aisha Haruna, abusiness woman.

“The suspect, Hawa Yinusa further went to court and sworn to an affidavit claiming that the victim was her sister before she died and was in the process of withdrawing from the Bank N1million belonging to the victim before she was arrested,” he said.

He said that Dahiru and Hamisu were mobilised into the criminal gang by Yinusa, adding that one of the suspects died during a shootout with the police.

Moshood said the suspects have carried out several kidnappings between Abuja, Nasarawa and Plateau States.

“They have also been involved and confessed to other forms of kidnappings of innocent people, collecting their ATM Cards and withdrawing their money before releasing them.

“Some of their victims have come forward to the Police investigator and identified them. They will be charged to court on completion of Investigation.

In a related development, Moshood said Dr. Kasim Abdulganiyu has been arrested for giving false information and misleading the Police.

He said that the suspect gave a false information that led to the search of the house of Amb. Ibrahim Zakari, former Director-General, National Intelligence Agency (NIA) in Kaduna, Kaduna State.

He said that the suspect informed and made voluntary statement to the Police on 20th August, 2018 that firearms and ammunition were stocked in the house of Zakari before the police obtained and executed a valid search warrant in the house on Aug. 28.

“The search was witnessed by the security guards and no relatives of the owner of the house or any other person apart from the security guards were living in the house as at the time the search was conducted.

“The Police Team also had no knowledge that the house belong to Zakari before the search warrant was executed,” he said.

He said that Abdulganiyu of No. 21 Colorado Crescent, Ministers Hills, Abuja, would be arraigned in court for giving false information and telling falsehood to mislead police action without further delay.

( NAN)

Manchester United midfielder, Paul Pogba, has reacted to his side’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League fixture played on Saturday.

Pogba was at fault for Chelsea’s opener, after losing the Blues defender, Antonio Rudiger at a corner to allow the centre-back a free header.

United went in front thanks to Anthony Martial’s brace, but were denied victory by midfielder, Ross Barkley’s stoppage-time equaliser.

But reacting to United’s draw against Maurizio Sarri’s side, Pogba took to his official Twitter page, @paulpogba, to urge the Red Devils to focus on their next game against Serie A champions, Juventus in the Champions League fixture on Tuesday.

The France international, however, admitted that Chelsea’s clash was a tough game.

“Tough game, we keep focused and on to the next @ManUtd,” Pogba wrote.

Meanwhile, Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho, defended Paul Pogba after his poor marking from a corner led to a Chelsea goal.

“Players make mistakes and I prefer to focus on the global performance,” Mourinho said when asked about Pogba’s role in Chelsea’s first goal.

“My midfield was very good. Paul was good, [Nemanja] Matic was good, [Juan] Mata was good, Ander Herrera was also in the game.

“The three attacking players work a lot – Mata, [Anthony] Martial, [Marcus] Rashford. The team did a fantastic work, so I will try to focus on the level of the performance and forget the bad result. I think we deserve much more than this result but this is what it is.”

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says it has recovered 12 bodies after Boko Haram terrorists attacked a farm in Borno State.

The North East zonal coordinator of the agency, Mr Bashir Garga, confirmed this in a statement on Sunday.

He said the civilian JTF in the area disclosed that the insurgents hacked 12 farmers to death on Saturday as they worked on their fields in the state.

The statement read, “The insurgents allegedly came in two trucks and attacked the farmers with machetes outside Kalle, village 17 kilometres outside the state capital Maiduguri.

“They used machetes to kill their victims who were working on their farms. So far, we have recovered 12 dead bodies from the fields and nearby bush. Three people were injured in the raids.”

According to Garga, the militants could have shot the farmers dead but did not use their guns, so as not to attract the attention of troops in nearby Molai village.

He decried that Boko Haram has stepped up attacks on farmers and loggers in the state in recent years, accusing them of passing information on the group to the military.

The NEMA official revealed that Dala Malari, Fuguri, and Femari, all communities in Jere Local Government Area of the state were similarly attacked by suspected Boko Haram insurgents on Saturday.

He added that one person was killed and while over a thousand people were displaced.

Garga, therefore, called on residents to be vigilant and report suspicious movements and persons to the security agencies.

He stressed that attacks on soft targets have become the hallmark of the insurgents due to increased military clampdown that has curtailed their activities.

He also assured the victims of the attacks that humanitarian partners were already mobilising to cater for them.

The Lagos State Government on Sunday said concerted efforts were on to rehabilitate failed portions of highways and roads across the metropolis, with a pledge to aggressively fix potholes in coming days.

The State’s Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr Ade Akinsanya, in a statement, said though many roads across the State had been fixed in the last few weeks, the Government would nonetheless scale up efforts to ensure that all dilapidated sections of roads across the State were rehabilitated to bring comfort to residents and motorists.

Already, Akinsanya said roads in strategic areas across the State including Ikorodu, Itokin, Lekki, Ojota, Lawanson Road, Ogunlana Drive, Abraham Adesanya, among others have been fixed with motorists and commuters experiencing less travel time by driving smoothly on the roads.

According to the Commissioner, “Massive road rehabilitation across the State has already been embarked upon and we like to assure the public that all road corridors across the State will be touched by the various rehabilitation gangs who have been deployed to all nooks and crannies of the State.

“At the moment, areas already covered include Lekki –Expressway by Abijo and Abraham Adesanya roundabout carried out by Hi-tech Construction; Ojota, Ketu and Mile 12 sections of the Ikorodu road have been attended to, while work is also on-going on Ijede-Ewu-Elepe road in Ikorodu, amongst others.

“More importantly, the various failed portions on the Lagos Badagry Expressway are also being attended to presently. These include the Iyana Isashi Junction, Iyana Era, Agbara and Ijanikin,” Akinsanya said.

The Commissioner, who further said that all the other failed portions on the highway and roads across the State would be attended to in the coming week, specifically thanked motorists and road users for their patience and abiding faith in the ability of the State Government to bring succor and comfort to them, assuring that they would not be let down.

Meanwhile, motorists and commuters have commended the State Government for heeding their call by carrying out comprehensive rehabilitation works on the roads affected by potholes.

This view was expressed by motorists plying the major highways and roads across the State.

From Ikorodu road to Lekki expressway, where the potholes have been fixed, to Ikorodu, Itokin road, Ojota, Lawanson road, Ogunlana drive to Abraham Adesanya roundabout, motorists and commuters have witnessed less travel time by driving smoothly on the road.

It would recalled that following the cessation of heavy rainfall which created hardship for motorists and other road users across the State, the State Government directed the massive rehabilitation of roads across the State.

Abuja – Mr Ike Onyechere, Chairman, Exam Ethics Marshal International (EEMI) says there is no form of justification for the illicit act of Lecturers demanding sex from female students to give them marks in tertiary institutions.

Onyechere made this assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja, while reacting to Prof. Peter Okebukola, former Executive Secretary, National University Commission (NUC) recent media publication.

He said that Okebukola in his interview with NAN, which was widely reported on various media outlets blamed the act on academically weak students, who lure the lecturers for marks.

He added that it was a despicable act and should not be encouraged or justified under any guise but should be outrightly condemned.

The Ethics Marshal, who described Okebukola as a man of integrity, said that the issue of sex-for-marks, which was ravaging Nigeria’s tertiary institutions should be put in proper perspective.

“I completely disagree with Professor Okebukola for blaming academically weak students for the sex-for-mark extortion rackets currently ravaging Nigerian higher institutions.

“Blaming academic weak female student is providing another form of justification, which randy lecturers will use to neutralize their consciences and justify the sexual harassment of female students, some of whom are old enough to be their grand children.

“Sex-for-marks is a rampant type of exam malpractice, whereby morally debased male lecturers and professors blatantly extort sex from intimidated female students in order to award them favourable marks, grades and degrees.

“It is a sub-set of what students refer to as sorting, which means sorting out lecturers by simply paying them for marks and degrees even without sitting for exams, for the male students they pay with cash and other material benefits.’’

Onyechere said EEMI had been involved in cases and received various reports citing an example of where the female student was asked to pay for the hotel room and buy Viagra and a bottle of stout to enable the lecturer perform sexually.

He said that a nationwide survey conducted by the EEMI in 2014 showed that not less than N50 billion was extorted from students in tertiary institutions, saying that each session over 200,000 female students were also subjected to sexual extortions.

He explained that many students cough out N25,000 to N50,000 every session to settle lecturers, saying it has a lot of psychological, sociological, economical and educational consequences that cannot be underrated.

He added that their findings were gotten through undercover work of their Exam Ethics Students Against Sorting (EESAS) marshals, adding that they have even caught some lecturers pants down.

The Ethics Marshal disclosed that from their survey any good looking girl, who catches the fancy of the lecturer was a potential victim whether academically weak or not and anyone, who refused to comply were usually failed irrespective of their performance.

“The scale, scope and pervasiveness of sex-for-marks and other forms of examination malpractice raises one fundamental question:

“Why are the learned professors and lecturers involved in perpetrating malpractice in spite of their understanding of the dangerous consequences?

” The answer lies in what psychologists call neutralisation, where they come up with excuses to rationalise their fraudulent activities, thereby neutralizing their sense of guilt.”

He cautioned lecturers involved in the act to stop as every action and reaction had spiritual consequences.

He added that education sector would never surrender to exam malpractice, no matter how long it would take to cage the monster.

NAN recalls that Okebukola in an interview with NAN on the Oct. 16 had said, “If in the first instance a student is academically good, what will a lecturer tell her, sex-for-which mark?

“All those girls, who run after those lecturers or can be harassed by lecturers are those who are academically weak, even if the lecturer do not want to engage with them sexually, they offer their bodies.’’

(NAN)