Buhari will be back to Nigeria on Saturday - presidency says

President Muhammadu Buhari is expected back in Nigeria from his vacation in the United Kingdom this Saturday.

According to LEADERSHIP, a source claimed only a last-minute change of plans could stop that.

The source, who is reportedly a senior official in the presidency, said: “Barring any last minute change, we are expecting the president back this weekend, probably on Saturday.”

Buhari is also said to have cancelled an interview with a foreign media house on Tuesday, but will likely grant one before the weekend.

Another presidential source added that the President “had already packed his bags to leave on Sunday but was advised by his doctors to wait and get results of some tests he conducted before leaving that country.

“I can confidently tell you that Mr. President might still be there (in London) because he has to succumb to the superior knowledge of physicians who conducted medical checks on him, but his mind is in Nigeria.”

Reacting to rumours that Buhari was in a bad state of health, the source said: “What else do you expect from people? If it were to be other past presidents who go on vacation or medical checkup without official notification, there wouldn’t have been room for such rumour.

“But this is a president who is determined to remain transparent in whatever he does in office. Don’t forget that this is not the first time His Excellency is embarking on a vacation outside the shores of the country.”

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Nigeria lost‎ 306 person to tanker related accidents in 2016 – Dogara

No fewer than 306 people lost their lives to accidents, involving petrol tanker/trailers in 2016, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara, has said.
“This is in addition to 750 other incidents, which left victims with various degrees of injuries”, he added, while explaining that this necessitated the urgent intervention by the House of Representatives to ensure that such incidents were reduced to the barest minimum.

Dogara, while declaring a public hearing on the need for government to address the menace of accidents involving fuel tankers, organised by the Adhoc Committee to address the Menace of Accidents Involving Fuel Tankers at the National Assembly, expressed concern that despite legislation and concerted efforts by stakeholders, a good number of deaths recorded on our roads.
He stated, “Reports from the FRSC indicate that between January to December 2016, petrol tanker/trailers were involved in at least 338 cases of road traffic crashes, consisting of 306 death and 750 others with various degrees of injuries.
“The tasks before the ad-hoc Committee is to find out the causes of the accidents involving fuel tankers and other articulated vehicles. Whether they are as a result of the design of our roads, the vehicle, human errors, recklessness or mental state of the drivers and to liaise with relevant stakeholders to fashion out ways of reducing, in the short-run and ultimately eliminating these destructive accidents which are claiming unquantifiable number of lives and property across the country.”
The Speaker expressed optimism that the enforcement of speed limit, which the parliament approved last year, will reduce the number of accidents and make Nigerian roads safer.

“On its part, the House had last year, approved the installation of speed limiting devices on commercial and fleet vehicles and is passionately waiting for the takeoff and the anticipated reduction in the number of carnages on our highways.
“Road safety is a dynamic field and the National Assembly is poised to providing the institutional framework for safer mobility, roads, vehicles and post-crash care through increased budgetary allocation to the relevant sectors.
“These include those with the mandate for construction and maintenance of roads as well as increased co-operation between government and non-governmental organization for the proper utilization and overall safety of road users.
“I am pleased to state that as a legislature, we have put in place deliberate measures to achieve a vision of becoming one of the 20th safest countries, in terms of road transportation and mobility, by 2020 and meeting the UN decade of Action of reducing road crash record by at least half by 2020”, he stated.

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2019: Stop attacking Obasanjo over presidency – PDP chieftain

A founding member of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State and a Biafran war veteran, Chief Joe Ifediobi, has hailed former President Olusegun Obasanjo for advising Ndigbo to prepare ahead of the 2019 presidential election.
According to him, Obasanjo meant well for Ndigbo and was in no way ridiculing their sensibility with his statement.

Obasanjo, who recently hosted the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ogun State chapter, at this Abeokuta Hilltop residence, said he was in support of the return to regional governance, as it will solve the problem of marginalization.
“Irrespective of the thinking of the people ahead of 2019, I personally think that South-East should have a go at the Presidency too,” he was quoted as saying.
Reacting however, Ifediobi, said some Igbo leaders who have been condemning Obasanjo for his comment were only unfair to their region.
Ifediobi recalled that it was Obasanjo when he became the president of the country in 1999 that recognised Igbos and appointed them in enviable positions since after the civil war when Ndigbo was relegated to the background through the appointment of Dr. Ngozi Okonji-Iweala as the Finance minister.

According to him, “What I expected from leaders of Ndigbo is to go back and have serious thought about the disposition of Obasanjo and begins to strategize to make it a reality than to be firing him from left and right. Obasanjo is the friend of Ndigbo but some people don’t know it, he was the first leader after the civil war to appoint Ndigbo in enviable positions and awarded major road contracts in the southeast.‎”
“Ndigbo should know that it is time for them to correct the mistakes of the past by coming together to thinker on how to be the president of the country in 2019.
“Obasanjo based his call for Igbo presidency on the conflicts, agitations and marginalization of Ndigbo in the past which he said will balance the equation if Igbo man becomes the next president. So, we should work towards achieving that, than to be attacking Obasanjo”, Ifediobi added.

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It’s time for Wenger to leave Arsenal – Gallas

Former Arsenal captain, William Gallas, has said the time could be right for Arsene Wenger to step down as manager of the club.
Wenger’s current deal runs out at the end of this season and there has been speculation that he could leave after 21 years in charge.

“Maybe it is time to change something at the end of the season,” Gallas told talkSPORT.
“We can’t forget what he did for the club. He did a very, very good job so sometimes you can’t sack the manager like this. You have to respect the manager.
“That is why I said at the end of the season maybe the board has to speak with Arsene and try to find a solution.”
Gallas also stated that Wenger is being criticized a lot, because of the lack of trophies in recent seasons.

“You get criticism when you don’t win trophies, when you don’t win games, and that is maybe the difference between Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger,” he continued.
“Mourinho wants to win every game and at the end of the season sometimes he has success but, for Arsene, Arsenal didn’t win from 2004 so everybody starts to criticise him because football has changed.
“Football is about victory, about trophies. Players want to lift trophies. If you don’t lift a trophy in your career, you will feel disappointed at the end of your career.
“I don’t know what Arsenal are going to do but they have to win trophies again.”

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