Oliseh names 23 Eagles for African Nations Championship, as squad leaves for South Africa

Oliseh names 23 Eagles for African Nations Championship, as squad leaves for South Africa
 January 02, 2016 at 2:02 pm in News, Sports 

Abuja – The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Saturday in Abuja said Head Coach Sunday Oliseh has named the Super Eagles B squad for the 2016 African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Rwanda.
The Federation, in a statement by its Assistant Director (Communications), Ademola Olajire, said the coach released the team’s final list of 23 players for the championship.
It said the list has goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa, defenders Austin Oboroakpo and Chima Akas, 2016 Olympic team midfielders Usman Mohammed and Yaro Bature, and forward Chisom Chikatara, among others.
“The list also has Enyimba International FC’s winger Ezekiel Bassey, former junior international Ifeanyi Mathew and Sunshine Stars’ trio of Paul Onobi, Prince Aggrey and Tunde Adeniji.
“Former junior international goalkeeper Femi Thomas, Shooting Stars’ central defender Jamiu Alimi and former Supersand Eagles’ ace Bartholomew Ibenegbu have also been included,’’ the statement said.
It further said the Eagles B team, alongside technical and backroom staff, left the country on Saturday afternoon for Cape Town in South Africa.
“There, the squad will stage a 10-day pre-Championship training camp, and play two friendly games against Angola and Cote d’Ivoire, who are also CHAN-bound on Jan. 6 and Jan. 11 respectively,’’ the statement said.
The Federation said further in the statement that coach Oliseh had arrived in South Africa ahead of the delegation.
Nigeria’s Super Eagles B had finished third at the third edition of the African Nations Championship held in South Africa in 2014.
The Eagles will campaign in Group C of this year’s championship alongside 2011 winners Tunisia, Niger Republic and Guinea, with matches to be played at the Stade Regional Nyamirambo, Kigali.
The championship holds from Jan. 16 to Feb. 7.
The Full List:
Goalkeepers: Ikechukwu Ezenwa (Sunshine Stars); Olufemi Thomas (Enyimba International FC); Okiemute Odah (Warri Wolves)
Defenders: Austin Oboroakpo (Abia Warriors); Kalu Okogbue (Rangers International); Jamiu Alimi (Shooting Stars); Mathew Etim (Rangers); Chima Akas (Sharks FC); Stephen Eze (Sunshine Stars); Christopher Maichibi (Giwa FC); Samson Gbadebo (Lobi Stars)
Midfielders: Ifeanyi Mathew (El-Kanemi Warriors); Paul Onobi (Sunshine Stars); Usman Mohammed (FC Taraba); Yaro Bature (Nasarawa United); Bartholomew Ibenegbu (Warri Wolves); Ibrahim Salau (Shooting Stars)
Forwards: Osas Okoro (Rangers); Ezekiel Bassey (Enyimba); Tunde Adeniji (Sunshine Stars); Bright Onyedikachi (FC IfeanyiUbah); Chisom Chikatara (Abia Warriors); Prince Aggrey (Sunshine Stars)

Petrol to sell for N85 per litre from Jan 1’

Petrol to sell for N85 per litre from Jan 1’
December 25, 2015 at 11:25 pm in News

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME
PORT HARCOURT –  The Federal government is set to reduce the pump price of petrol to about 85 or 86 naira per litre.
Minister of State for Petroleum , Dr Ibe Kachikwu who disclosed this during a tour of the Port Harcourt refinery on Christmas Day expressed hope that the new price regime may come on stream January next year.
He said efforts were on to get the refinery to achieve 60 percent production capacity and to supply about 11 million liters of petrol daily.
fuel-pump
“If you look at the new PPPRA template that we developed and which I just signed off two days ago, when it is announced you will find out that for now ,and I use the emphatic word of the President for now, the price of the refined product will actually be lower than 87 naira, It will be 85. We will probably announce that in January if the prices hold.
“like I said, we have done a modulation calculation and it is showing us below N87. I imagine that if PPPRA publishes it today, it will become effective immediately. But the 1st of January that is when we are looking at.”
“What that does for you is that its modulating. If it goes up you move up, if it comes down you come down. So we take away the fact of having to go find funds to pay for these subsidies that we cannot afford.
“More importantly we try to be as close to the pump price that we have now as possible,” he said.
Kachikwu  who is also the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC said government had resolved to scrap oil subsidy because of alleged fraud around it.
“So for the first time people will understand that the pricing modulation I was talking about is not a gimmick. It is for real. The objective is that we cannot afford to continue to subsidize .We can’t even understand where those subsidies were going to. There is a lot of fraud elements in it so we need to cut that of.
The second is the earning capacity of the Federal Government is deteriorating by the day with lower prices of crude “, he said.
He also said there was improvement in security of pipelines with the engagement of private  contractors by the federal government.

750 West Africans stranded in Nigeria evacuated

750 West Africans stranded in Nigeria evacuated
 January 02, 2016 at 7:36 pm in News 

More than 750 foreigners from eight west African countries, stranded in the southeastern Nigerian port of Calabar since Christmas after their ferry broke down, left by road Saturday, a statement said.


The 758 people were onboard a ship making stopovers along the coast of west Africa “when their passenger vessel… made an emergency berthing” after one of its engines broke down on December 25, the Cross River State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) said.
A convoy of buses conveyed the stranded nationals of Togo, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Mali, Niger and Guinea to their various countries, SEMA said.