No ban on ‘peaceful protests,’ Presidency says (Read full details)

The government said there were no plans to ban peaceful protests anywhere in the country. PHOTO: AFP

The Nigerian government has said it will not prevent people from registering their displeasure with the state of the nation through peaceful protests.

“This administration will not prevent Nigerians from expressing themselves in peaceful protests,” said Laolu Akande media aide to Vice President Yemi Osibanjo Friday on Twitter. “Tt’s a fundamental right of the people.”

1. This administration will not prevent Nigerians from expressing themselves in peaceful protests, it’s a fundamental right of the people.

— Laolu Akande (@akandeoj) February 3, 2017

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Akande’s clarification came after the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Fatai Owoseni, said his command would not allow the  protest planned by popular artist, Innocent Idibia, also known as Tuface, to hold in any part of the state.

He said his command had received an intelligence report that criminals were planning to hijack the process to wreak havoc on Lagos.

“We know that Tuface does not have the capacity to contain such a crowd and we will not fold our hands and watch while things go out of hand,” he stressed.

Tuface had announced that he would a ‘massive nationwide’ protest on February 5. He later postponed the planned mass action to February 6.

He said there was a “need for Nigerians to rise against what is happening in this country having waited patiently for the legislatures that were elected to represent the people all to no avail.”

“A call for good governance,” he said. “A call for urgent explanation into the reckless economic downturn nationwide. A call for nationwide protests as we say No to the Executive, No to legislatures, No to judiciary…. You have all failed us.”

But Akande said the government has been investing in social programmes aimed at easing off the suffering of millions of Nigerians, claiming that the level of such investment has never been seen in the country.

“No government has ever laid out the kind of Social Investment Programme the Buhari govt is now running across the nation that will touch millions,” he said.

2. No govt has ever laid out the kind of Social Investment Prog, the Buhari govt is now running across the nation, that will touch millions

— Laolu Akande (@akandeoj) February 3, 2017

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

With rising prices of commodities, the effects of the programmes are yet to be felt by the people. The government acknowledged this problem on Wednesday at the Federal Executive Council and announced that it had set up a committee that would ensure a steady flow of produce to markets and reverse the rising food prices across Nigeria.

Shocking! Wife cuts off husband’s penis, cooks it with noodles for cheating on her with the househelp (see photos)

An aggrieved wife has taken the adage ‘hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’ to another level. According to the tweet shared by @whitney_beryl, the wife caught her husband sleeping with the house help and she sliced off his male member, cooked it with noodles and shared the photo on Snapchat. Check out the graphic photos after the cut and tell us if you think it’s real or a hoax*.

Impatient Chinese chase glory at all costs (Read full details)

Inter Milan's forward from Argentina Mauro Icardi (R) celebrates with Inter Milan's forward from Croatia Ivan Perisic after scoring a goal during the Italian Serie A football match Inter Milan vs Chievo at "San Siro" stadium in Milan on January 14 , 2017. / AFP PHOTO / GIUSEPPE CACACE

European clubs Inter Milan, Aston Villa and Sochaux have had a high turnover of managers since Chinese takeovers, sparking fears that their trigger-happy new owners have little patience and no strategy.

“Many buyouts are irrational and defy the laws of the market,” Zhou Jiming, a football analyst and director at the official China Sports Journal, told AFP.

“The majority of investors lack patience,” he said.

That certainly appears to be the case with Aston Villa, currently under their third manager, after a takeover by Chinese businessman Tony Xia last June.

Xia spent 38 million euros ($40 million) to hire Roberto Di Matteo as manager, hoping the 2012 Champions League winner would be able to lift Villa’s flagging fortunes.

But Di Matteo was sacked just 11 games later and replaced by Steve Bruce.

Meanwhile Inter Milan, who are owned by Chinese electronics retailer Suning, in November named Stefano Pioli as their third manager in just four months, in a desperate bid to restore their reputation.

Their struggles prompted Chievo president Luca Campedelli to question Suning’s commitment to football, mocking the Chinese accent and saying it was “not enough just to pay wages”.

Even as China’s willingness to splash out on foreign talent has drawn top managers such as Manuel Pellegrini (Hebei Fortune), Andre Villas-Boas (Shanghai SIPG) and Sven Goran Eriksson (Shenzhen FC) to the country, many have not made it past a few months.

Eriksson was ousted from Shanghai SIPG despite leading them to a third-place finish in the 2016 Chinese Super League, Fabio Cannavaro was dismissed from Guangzhou Evergrande just six months into the job while Jean Tigana fared even worse at Shanghai Shenhua, sacked after only five games in charge in 2012.

– Leicester lesson –
Chinese investors in football would do well to look at Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the Thai president of Leicester City, reigning English Premier League champion, for pointers, said analyst Zhou.

“He has done a lot of substantive, solid basic work, and the success has been there. Chinese investors lack this kind of involvement,” he said.

The shopping magnate bought the club in 2010, overseeing the greatest rags to riches story in football when his 5,000-1 shots won the Premier League last year.

According to Peter Kenyon, former chief executive of Manchester United and Chelsea, “The smart people understand it’s not about acquisition, it’s… what you do with it (afterwards).

“I think we are going to see good purchasers and bad purchasers but the ones that I’ve been involved with are long-term, they’ve got a strategy,” said Kenyon, who now advises on football business deals.

Some Chinese owners have proven to be patient: West Bromwich Albion, bought in September by entrepreneur Guochuan Lai, retained its manager, as did French side Auxerre, currently one place off the foot of French second division, following a takeover by China’s ORG Packaging in October.

“The smart ones… want to have a say, but understand it’s not about them picking the team. It’s a serious investment”, said Kenyon, who has worked on some Chinese acquisitions, including the Wanda Group’s purchase of a 20 percent stake in Atletico Madrid in 2015.

That level of seriousness has been the case with Chinese fund IDG Capital Partners which acquired a 20 percent stake in the French club Olympique Lyonnais (OL) as part of a “long-term” investment, according to the firm.

– Global goal –
OL president Jean-Michel Aulas said IDG carried out “a real investigation” before arriving at a decision and has since put “no pressure” on the club’s recruitment of Chinese players.

“We have never imagined controlling Lyon. We are not good, not competent to manage a football club,” said Li Jianguang, who led the operation at IDG.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, a football fan, wants the country to host and win a World Cup, a target which has prompted a flood of money into top-flight teams as well as heavy investment and promotion of the sport nationally.

Chinese Super League clubs, encouraged by the government’s vision of turning China into a football superpower by 2050, have broken the Asian transfer record five times in less than a year, with Shanghai SIPG paying 60 million euros to lure Oscar from Chelsea.

The push to buy European clubs is part of a larger drive to secure China’s place in the global football arena, a quest with heavy political overtones.

“Sport gives you huge visibility, so if it’s successful it reflects well on them, and well on the country,” Kenyon said.

“If it’s not successful it reflects really badly.”

Impatient Chinese chase glory at all costs

Four soldiers killed in Cameroon helicopter crash (Read full details)

PHOTO:AFP

Four Cameroonian soldiers, including a general who was coordinating the fight against Nigerian Boko Haram Islamists, were killed Sunday in a helicopter crash, sources told AFP.

“We lost four men, including the general (Jacob Kodji)” and a colonel, a senior military official who is involved in the fight against Boko Haram told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The men were killed when the Cameroonian military helicopter they were travelling in crashed in Bogo region in the far north, said the official, without giving details of the cause of the accident.

“They were on a mission in Waza Park as part of an operation to battle Boko Haram,” he said.

A local government official confirmed the deaths.

General Jacob Kodji was the leader of Emergence 4, the name given to one of the operations launched by Cameroon against Boko Haram.

As the fight against the Nigerian jihadists raged, Kodji was prompted in August 2015 to general by President Paul Biya. He is the first Cameroonian general to die in the battle against Boko Haram.

Boko Haram’s brutal insurgency, launched in northern Nigeria in 2009, has spread across the border to Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

At least 20,000 people have been killed and some 2.6 million displaced in the violence.

Since Nigeria announced a key victory against Boko Haram jihadists in December, claiming the group had been routed from its Sambisa Forest bastion, its ally Cameroon had intensified operations along its northern border.

Four soldiers killed in Cameroon helicopter crash

Israel’s Netanyahu to speak with Trump later Sunday (Read full details)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (3rd R) attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on January 22, 2017.<br />RONEN ZVULUN / POOL / AFP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he would speak with US President Donald Trump by telephone later in the day, their first talks since the billionaire businessman took office.

Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting that he planned to discuss with Trump the conflict with the Palestinians, Syria and “the Iranian threat.”

Trump has pledged strong support for Israel and vowed during his campaign to recognise Jerusalem as the country’s capital despite the city’s contested status.

Israeli right-wing politicians have welcomed Trump’s election, with hardliners who oppose a Palestinian state hoping it will allow them to move forward with their goal of annexing most of the occupied West Bank.

In an initial move, Israeli officials on Sunday approved building permits for 566 settler homes in annexed east Jerusalem.

Hardline Israeli ministers are also pushing to annex a large Jewish settlement near Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, a move many say would badly damage prospects for a two-state solution.

Netanyahu also strongly opposed the nuclear deal between Israel’s arch-foe Iran and global powers, including the United States. Trump criticised the nuclear deal during his campaign.

The United States is Israel’s most important ally, providing it with more than $3 billion per year in defence aid.

Israel’s Netanyahu to speak with Trump later Sunday