Ayeiroyin

Champions Cote d’ Ivoire believe that they can defend their title at next year’s Africa Cup of Nations as they end 1-1 at home to Sierra Leone. The Ivoirians needed a point to qualify, an acrobatic goal from Jonathan Kodjia after 37 minutes calmed home nerves. But after Kei Kamara equalised midway through the second half, the tension was palpable. Another away goal would have knocked the 2015 Nations Cup winners out but they held on despite a nervy finish. Salomon Kalou has a fantastic starter for the Elephants as he had been expected to miss out following the recent deaths of his family (father and aunt).

The Federal Government has explained the letter from United states Congressman Tom Marino to Secretary of State John Kerry, asking the US to withhold security assistance to Nigeria, on the strength of some imaginary infraction by the Buhari Administration, as out of tune with current realities. In the statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said Congressman Marino was poorly informed and urged him to get first hand information from the US Embassy in Nigeria or any other credible source before engaging in what is nothing but “a propaganda of his own imagination.”   The Minister said the Congressman has demonstrated a poor understanding of global security issues by asking the US to refrain from selling warplanes and other military equipment to Nigeria based on a faulty premise. ‘’Insecurity anywhere is insecurity everywhere. Had Congressman Marino understood this, he would not have made the kind of call he made concerning...

Nigerian foreign exchange market face challenges as the naira has lost close to 40 per cent in 18 months. The naira has lost so much of its value on the streets even as the gap between the official exchange rate and the parallel market has continued to widen beyond control. Between December 2014 and June 2016, the value of the naira depreciated by nearly 40 per cent at the Central Bank of Nigeria,CBN window from N165 to the dollar which it was, at the end of December 2014. The depreciation at the parallel market has been more alarming. The pressure on the foreign exchange market is not being helped by the declining value of Nigeria’s major source of foreign exchange, oil, at the international market. The price of crude has been yo-yoing, thereby impacting heavily on Nigeria’s revenue and foreign exchange reserve, which has so far declined by 18.6 per cent to $28.06 billion from the $34.46 billion it was at the beginning of 2015. In trying to stem the problem posed by the foreign ex...

Brazil’s first female president Dilma Rousseff has been shown the way out of office by the country’s corruption-tainted senate after a gruelling impeachment trial that ends 13 years of Workers’ party rule. Brazil’s Senate voted 61-20 Wednesday, August 31, 2016 to sent the President Dilma Rousseff out from office, finding her guilty going against the budgetary laws in an impeachment trial. These process which end today, has dragged on for months. In May 2016, Rousseff was suspended in May.  At the time, Rousseff called the impeachment proceedings an attempt at a “power grab by her rivals“. She alleged political sabotage of her administration by her rivals.

Chelsea complete the signing of the Fiorentina’s left-back Marcos Alonso for £23 million ($30 million, 27 million euros) on Wednesday. Alonso agreed a five-year contract with the Premier League club as Chelsea manager Antonio Conte turned to the Spaniard after missing out on several other defensive targets. The 25-year-old is Conte’s fourth signing since taking charge at Stamford Bridge, following the arrivals of France midfielder N’Golo Kante, Belgium striker Michy Batshuayi and Portuguese goalkeeper Eduardo. “I’m very happy. It’s a step up in my career and I think this is the perfect place for me to continue developing,” Alonso told Chelsea’s website.

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of a substantive Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer and two Executive Directors for the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (NDPHC). This was contained in a statement issued by the Director (Press) in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Bolaji Adebiyi. The new appointees, the statement said, include Joseph Chiedu Ugbo – Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, who has been serving in acting capacity. Mallam Babayo Shehu is the new Executive Director (Finance and Administration), and Engineer Ife Oyedele is Executive Director (Engineering and. Technical Services). Mr. Ugbo is a legal practitioner and infrastructure regulations specialist with extensive experience in electricity industry reform and privatization. He has Bachelor and Master of Law Degrees from the University of Lagos and was admitted to practice Law in Nigeria in 1991. For over 15 years, he provided legal advisory s...

The China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) signed $1.851 billion contract to construct the Kano city light rail. Revealing this to the media yesterday, the company says it has receive provisional letter from Nigeria to go ahead with the projects. The receipt of the contract valid for three weeks from the day of award, after which “uncertainties” will prevail. The company analyse that the rail, with a total length of 74.3 kilometres, is expected to travel at the range of 100 kilometres per hour. ”100 kilometres per hour is as fast as moving from Lagos to Ibadan in 72 minutes.” According to the CRCC, the first phase of the project construction is billed to take two years, while the second phase of the four-line rail is expected to take another two years.