The latest Africa Attractiveness Survey, which provides an analysis of Foreign Direct Investment into the continent, has ranked Nigeria as the 17th destination for FDI in Africa.
President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria
The report, which was released on Wednesday, May 3, 2017 by EY Africa, a financial advisory services company that carried out the survey, showed that South Africa remained the biggest FDI hub in Africa.
Morocco was said to be Africa’s second largest recipient of FDI, followed by Egypt.
The report added: “In the west of Africa, recession in Nigeria resulted in FDI projects easing 3.8 per cent compared with 2015.
“With the plunge in crude prices, Africa’s largest oil exporter has been hit by a scarcity of foreign exchange, impacting businesses that are already grappling with issues, including insufficient power supply and complexity in paying taxes.
“On a more positive note, the sheer size of the Nigerian market and its diversification initiatives has led to a significant shift in the nature of FDI to the country.
“Should progress be made on various dimensions notably business enablement, governance and human development, Nigeria remains well-placed to become the largest FDI market in Africa over the next decade.”
According to the report, China was the biggest investor in Africa, with diversified investments across sectors such as mining and metals, services, pharmaceuticals, technology, infrastructure and manufacturing.
In 2016, according to the report, Chinese FDI created jobs three times the number of jobs created by the next biggest investor, which is the US.
The report said: “Besides trade and FDI, Chinese companies and state-related entities have financed and built many infrastructure projects across the continent.
“These include ports, roads, railways, dams, telecom networks, power stations and airports.
“One notable example is the October 2016 launch of a Chinese-built railway linking Addis Ababa in Ethiopia to the port of Djibouti, involving an investment of over 4 billion dollars.”
On US investment in Africa, the report said speculation that President Donald Trump’s foreign policy may be unfavourable to Africa was creating some uncertainty regarding the future of the US engagement with Africa.
Brexit was said to have negatively impacted Western European investment in Africa, with FDI easing from 10 per cent in 2015 to 6.1 per cent in 2016.
Also, jobs created by Western European investors declined by 81 per cent.
The report advised: “Governments across the continent will need to redefine their trade and investment relations with a post-Brexit UK.”
Also, according to the report, the biggest bottlenecks to achieving inclusive growth in Africa were globalisation, demography and technology.
It said: “Institutions such as the Africa Development Bank and the African Union, must take the lead in investing in cross-border infrastructure, such as connecting regional power systems, railway networks, air and maritime transportation.
“Governance must be tightened to help Africa compete globally for the capital required to support infrastructure development.
“Government need to invest in education and vocational training programme, adopt more flexible labor market policies and improve the regulatory environment for businesses to facilitate the growth of SMEs.”
The Federal University Ndufu-Alike Ikwo (FUNAI) in Ebonyi State has distinguished itself among other universities in Nigeria. This came to the fore in the 9th edition of the Nigerian National Mathematics Competition for university students held recently at the National Mathematical Centre, Abuja.
Leader of the FUNAI delegation, Dr. Louis Omenyi
Declaring the competition open, Executive Director of the Centre, Professor Stephen Onah, noted that Nigeria was in dire need of mathematicians to enable it surmount its present developmental challenges.
He added that the competition “is one of the Centre’s initiative to produce quality future mathematicians for Nigeria”, adding that “the best team will represent the country in the International Mathematics Competition.”
FUNAI was participating for the first time in the event, which also had 33 other Nigerian universities in attendance.
At the end of proceedings, the university was placed 8th overall and 1st among the universities that were participating for the first time in the competition.
The university was represented by a team of four students, namely: Nkume Friday Uzochukwu, Edigbo Vincent Onyebuchi, Ozor Emmanuel Ifeanyi and Onuora Ogochukwu Theresa, all of the Department of Mathematics/Computer Science/Statistics/Informatics.
The university representatives won medals in different categories. Ebigbo Vincent Onyebuchi won Silver medal with a total score of 71 points, taking 12th position out of 128 students from all the universities that took part in the competition. Nkume Friday Uzochukwu also won a silver medal with total score of 66 points in another category and Ozor Emmanuel Ifeanyi won a bronze medal with a total score of 43 points.
Speaking after the event, the leader of the university delegation, Dr. Louis Omenyi, said: “Though we got the invitation very late and the time of the competition was also very close to the first semester examinations, yet we still made an impressive result.”
He added: “The success is excellent and marvelous and I hope that by the next competition we will come first”, and thanked the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Chinedum Nwajiuba, for his unquantifiable support to the team which made them to excel in the competition.
Speaking on behalf of other participating students, Edigbo Vincent Onyebuchi, a final year student of the university, thanked the University Management for giving them the opportunity to represent the university in the competition, noting that their success was as a result of the Vice Chancellor’s uncompromising stance towards academic excellence.
He further expressed optimism that the university, having come this far in its first attempt, would definitely clinch the overall first position in the nearest future.
Meanwhile, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Nwajiuba, has congratulated the students and their handlers for making the university proud; charging them to ensure that by the next edition of the competition the university would occupy the prime position.
The competition was won by University of Uyo, while Federal University of Technology, Akure and University of Ilorin were 2nd and 3rd respectively.
The Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) is hopeful of an excellent outing when the country’s representatives at this year’s World Table Tennis Championship, compete in Douseldolf, Germany.
Segun Toriola
World number 26, Haruna Quadri, Segun Toriola, Ojo Onaolapo, Omotayo Jide, Funke Oshonaike, Edem Effiong and Akpan Cecelia make the men and women who will be doing the country proud at the competition.
Secretary to the NTTF, Bola Adedeji, said the players had been well motivated to deliver in Germany.
“The players are happy and in top shape and are set for the world championship.”
Nigeria’s contingent to the championship who will take part in the men’s and women’s events are expected to leave the country on the 27th of this month, when the World Table Tennis Championship in Germany is expected to serve-off through to the 6th of June, 2017.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has said that it will soon invite World Unified Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Anthony Joshua, to the country.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who made this revelation in a statement, added that the country is proud to be associated with the newly-crowned unified heavyweight champion, whose Nigerian heritage he has publicly acknowledged.
He hailed Joshua for his humility despite success in boxing and his undying spirit coming up from the canvas after he was knocked down by Wladimir Klitchsko.
Ogun State Government has also revealed plans to honour Joshua.
On Tuesday, May 9, 2017 during the Technical Expert Meeting in Bonn, Germany, the newest volume of the Compendium on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Baselines and Monitoring will be officially launched. This publication, the Passenger and Freight Transport Volume, is said to be a comprehensive guide through existing methodologies for GHG quantification of different types of transport mitigation actions.
Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, which coordinated the compendium
The Compendium is a UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) coordinated, multi-stakeholder effort to provide a resource map of methodologies, methods, and tools for establishing baselines, and monitoring emissions reductions from mitigation actions. The Compendium covers methodologies in all IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) sectors.
The Passenger and Freight Transport Volume provides readers with an overview of available methodologies for the mitigation action they are considering. The methodologies presented in the volume were chosen with a view to cover a broad range of different mitigation action types in terms of scale, type of intervention and affected modes. Additionally, focus was put on interventions with significant mitigation potential.
The Passenger and Freight Transport Volume covers more than 30 methodologies, which are structured into eight different mitigation action types:
Intra-urban mass rapid transit investments
Comprehensive urban transport programmes
Vehicle efficiency improvement programmes
Alternative fuels incentives
Inter-urban rail infrastructure
Freight transport infrastructure investments to shift mode
National fuel economy standards
Pricing policies (still under development)
In addition to its official launch, the Transport Volume will be highlighted in the following events:
Wednesday, May 10 2017, 1 – 2:30 pm (German time): Webinar on MRV of Measures in the Transport Sector – New volume of the Compendium on GHG Baselines and Monitoring
Friday, May 12 2017, 12 – 3 pm, Bonn: Round Table Discussion – NDC Implementation and Transparency in Transport
The publication is coordinated by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in cooperation with the UNFCCC Secretariat and the Partnership on Sustainable Low Carbon Transport (SloCaT), with funding from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), and written with the assistance of the Centre for Clean Air Policy (CCAP).
It is almost four years since the climate and water related global partnership known as “WISE-UP to Climate” was formed, to advance knowledge on utilising natural water ecosystems and built physical infrastructure to foster socio-economic development.
Without healthy ecosystems in well-functioning watersheds, built infrastructure for irrigation, hydropower or water supply may not function sustainably
The essence of WISE-Up’s work has been to prove that, without healthy ecosystems in well-functioning watersheds, built infrastructure for irrigation, hydropower or water supply may not function sustainably, let alone achieve the economic returns necessary to justify investments made. This has been informed by the current practice were decisions on river basins are normally based on built infrastructure, while the natural infrastructure is often not taken into account.
The focus areas for its activities are the Volta River Basin in West Africa and the Tana River Basin in East Africa.
It has concentrated its research on developments in the White Volta River, a tributary of the Volta that passes through the Pwalugu Township along the Tamale-Bolgatanga highway in the Upper East Region. Thus, the partnership has been working with public, private and not for profit institutions, organisations and academia in Ghana and Burkina Faso.
The ultimate goal is to ensure that decisions on any new developments such as the proposed Pwalugu Multi-use Dam (PMD) are made consciously considering the need to ensure that the natural functioning of the ecosystem are secured and not compromised. The research results, which are still being finalised, are expected to contribute to the feasibility studies on the PMD.
Studies have dwelt on the benefit functions of the ecosystem, looking at the socio-economic services it provides for the people; the political economy of water infrastructure decisions and governance; and trade-offs between natural and built infrastructure benefits in the Upper White Volta.
As a follow-up to the research activities, the members of WISE-UP has held its 5th Action Learning Forum with a range of decision makers and professionals in two separate meetings in Accra on the 3rd and 4th of April, 2017.
They were briefed on the progress made so far in terms of research findings and training of stakeholders. The session on the socio-economic services was facilitated by Dr. Marloes Mul of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Laetitia Pettinotti of the Basque Centre for Climate Change. They mentioned the natural ecosystem benefit functions as including flood recession farming, fishing in riparian ponds, and habitat function being the significant population of hippopotamus for tourism.
Other specific ecosystem benefit function include supporting the Bagre hydropower dam, irrigation dam at Kanonzoe and domestic water supply at Ziga all in Burkina Faso; while in Ghana there is irrigation at Pwalugu. Proposed future infrastructure activities on this tributary include doubling of water supply from Ziga to Ouagaduogou, expanding the Bagre irrigation and the construction of the PMD.
Dr. Mul and Ms. Pettinotti used different models to project that these functions link the flow of the river to its potential economic value, represent different beneficiaries and can be mutually exclusive. They noted that the natural ecosystem is currently supporting subsistence livelihood of communities.
Discussion on the political economy was led by Dr. Beatrice Mosello of the UK Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and examined issues that influence and bring about change such as the actors, the processes through which change can happen, why change is needed and whom it will be for.
For instance in the scenario of the PWD, the participants were of the view that people in authority will naturally spearhead change looking at the bigger picture of creating jobs and enhancing the livelihood of the people. In doing this, there will be the need for dialogue with the communities whose livelihood are directly based on ecosystem services and are likely to have their livelihoods altered by any physical developments. They will in turn need to be convinced that the change will be for their betterment.
Naturally, such a trend in the decision-making chain, demands trade-offs where actors are required to thoroughly weigh the available options to ensure that what they settle for will be mutually beneficial to all parties including the ecosystem.
Come November 2017, a closing meeting of this phase of WISE-UP, which focused on data gathering, will be held during which full results of the various research works will be presented. The meeting will discuss ways of re-packaging the data collated into practical tools for implementation.
Dr. Emmanuel Obuobi of the Water Research Institute said capacity building is a crucial aspect of the WISE-UP activity and so far seven basin training sessions have been organised in various locations in both Ghana and Burkina Faso for stakeholders. These include the training of 20 stakeholders in Ghana on developing climate products to support climate change adaptation; training of 60 stakeholders in Ghana in Integrated Decision Support System; and training of 21 stakeholders in Burkina Faso in Hydrological Modelling in Soil and Water Assessment Tool/Climate scenario downscaling.
He said three more basin training sessions have been planned for this year, during which will be trained in using trade-off analysis to support and inform decision making and planning among other things.
Dr. James Dalton, the IUCN Head office in Switzerland’s representative on the WISE-UP Team, announced that as WISE-Up prepares to wind up its initial activity, discussions are on-going to develop and submit a concept for a phase two of WISE-UP. The expectation is for a politically supported and demand driven process, with a vigorous ecosystem adaptation decision-making stance.
WISE-UP 2 should result in the practice of adaptation by ensuring that the right thing is done in the right place and at the right scale, and integrate the project into the activities of existing implementing institutions.
Dr. Dalton expected WISE-UP 2 to focus on implementation and upscaling of activities, and said funding opportunities exist under the Green Climate Fund (GCF). This is a global initiative under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, to assist developing countries to adapt to and mitigate climate change.
The Chairman for the meeting, Dr. Charles Biney, who is the Executive Director of the Volta Basin Authority (VBA), said WISE-Up has succeeded in placing ecosystems in the agenda of institutional discussions. He stated that “the just completed Draft Water Charter for the Volta Basin was influenced by WISE-UP.”
Nigerian singer/songwriter Tiwa Savage is the newest face to join Rotary’s “This Close” public awareness campaign for polio eradication. A paralysing and life altering disease, polio is on the verge of becoming the second human disease ever to be eliminated worldwide after smallpox.
Tiwa Savage
Savage, who has been described by CNN as Nigeria’s biggest pop star, will help Rotary achieve its goal of a polio-free world by raising awareness about the vaccine-preventable disease. Savage administered a vaccine to children in Lagos in late April. Nigeria regularly conducts mass immunisation campaigns to vaccinate every child under the age of five in the country.
The singer’s participation in this programme comes at a critical juncture. Last year, Nigeria experienced a polio outbreak that paralysed four children after passing nearly two years without a case of the disease. Her involvement in the campaign will raise important awareness that will help ensure the outbreak is stopped.
“This is a cause that hits close to home for me, not only as a mother of a small child, but as a proud Nigerian, whose country has been battling this disease for many years,” said Savage.
Savage’s musical career began when she was 16 years of age as a backup singer for George Michael. Before going out on her own, she worked with many other well-known musicians, such as Whitney Houston, Kelly Clarkson, Andrea Bocelli, Mary J Blige and many more.
Tiwa Savage is also a successful songwriter. She was signed to Sony/ATV Music before establishing her own label 323 Entertainment which teamed up with Marvin Records in 2012.
Last year, Savage signed with Roc Nation as a management client. Already a superstar in her home country, her social media has amassed to a staggering 2.9 million followers on Instagram, 1. 8 million on Facebook, and 1.7 million on Twitter.
Savage announced her new partnership with Rotary last week in New York City at a World Immunisation Week event. As part of the “This Close” campaign, Savage will be featured in ads raising her thumb and forefinger in the “this close” gesture with the tagline “we’re this close to ending polio.” Since the initiative launched in 1988, the incidence of polio has plummeted by more than 99.9 percent, from about 350,000 cases a year to less than 37 cases in 2016.
The Nigerian music star joins other public figures and celebrities participating in Rotary’s public awareness campaign, including Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; actress Kristen Bell; Supermodel Isabeli Fontana; Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu; action movie star Jackie Chan; boxing great Manny Pacquiao; pop star Psy; golf legend Jack Nicklaus; conservationist Jane Goodall; premier violinist Itzhak Perlman; Grammy Award winners A.R. Rahman; Angelique Kidjo and Ziggy Marley; and peace advocate Queen Noor of Jordan.
Rotary launched its polio immunisation programme, PolioPlus, in 1985 and in 1988 became a spearheading partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative with the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and more recently the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Rotary’s roles within the initiative are fundraising, advocacy, raising awareness and mobilising volunteers. To date, Rotary has contributed more than $1.6 billion and countless volunteer hours to fight polio. Through 2018, every dollar Rotary commits to polio eradication will be matched two-to-one by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation up to $35 million a year. To date, more than 2.5 billion children have been immunised against polio.
Nigeria’s national beach soccer team, the Super Sand Eagles, on Monday night crashed out of the 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Bahamas, losing 1-2 to Iran on penalties after full time ended 4-4.
Super Sand Eagles after winning their second group stage match against Mexico at Bahamas 2017
The Sand Eagles went into the game needing to beat Iran in extra time to qualify into the quarter-finals of the competition, but the Iranians were able to force the game into the decisive shoot out.
Nigerian goalkeeper Dami Paul saved Hassan Abdullahi’s opening spot kick but Victor Talli and Sulaiman Obodo missed their spot kicks as the Eagles failed to advanced into the quarter finals of the competition.
Goals from Victor Talli, Emmanuel Ohonoreria, Godspower Igudia and Bartholomew Ibenebau for Nigeria were canceled out by a brace from Mohammed Amadasa and two overhead kicks from Mohammed Muktari before the match went into penalties.
Africa’s other representatives at the competition, Senegal, advanced into the quarter finals, where they would meet Italy.
In a related development, organisers of the Wimbledon Open are set to announce it’s steady rise in prize money for this year’s tennis championship, as the tournament seeks to counter the pound fall in value, following the Brexit votes.
Last season’s singles champions, Andy Murray and Serena Williams, took home £2 million each from total prize purse of £28 million.
This was a 26.4 percent in pay rise on 2015 prize money, but this year’s increase could be significantly larger as the All England Club aims to compensate for the falling pound.
The amount is expected to be announced on Wednesday and prize money has to be £2.2 million to maintain its dollar value compared to previous years.
Climate change is resulting in loss of lives and livelihoods because of extreme weather events and changing seasons. Working people make up the bulk of those affected, and they are increasingly being displaced from their homes. Also, workers are expected to be on the frontlines of the industrial transformation that is a necessity for a zero-carbon future.
National President, Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, addressing Workers during the May Day Rally at the Eagle Square, Abuja
These are some of the sentiments expressed by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), which is also bothered by the fact that increased workplace heat in already hot countries like Nigeria as a result of ongoing climate change is expected to result in work productivity losses and have a significant impact on human wellbeing, population health and local, national and regional economies.
Fears are that the capacity of working people to carry out activities that require physical work will be particularly affected.
In a recent publication titled: “NLC Climate Change Policy”, Labour says that the frequency and severity of extreme weather conditions in Nigeria due to climate change is noteworthy because it affects the workplace.
But Ayuba Wabba, the NLC president, laments that many Nigerian workers do not sufficiently grasp the complex processes of the manifestation of the crisis, nor are they able to relate its effect to the workplace.
In the 22-page document whose production was supported by the Abuja-based Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Nigeria, Labour submits: “The implications of climate change on workers though real, the depth of the consequences would tend to differ for different sectors of production and location. But, in specific sense, it affects productivity, livelihoods and income.
“Labour, therefore, has a significant role to play in addressing climate change, both in terms of protecting workers and ensuring a ‘just transition’ towards a ‘green economy’.”
In the light of the fact that climate change is a developmental issue with political, social and economic implications, NLC points out in the document that it needs to interrogate the process of transition to a low carbon economy, the change from unsustainable production and consumption patterns to government investment and job creation.
This, the body notes, will require significant government investment in renewable energy, efficient transport system, and a creative adaptation to urban development.
The group adds: “Reducing emissions in key polluting industries, encouraging more energy efficiency, skills development and re-training of workers are critical. From a social perspective, climate is an issue for the poor and the working class because it is the poor that will be most vulnerable to the impact of climate change.
“While trade unions need to support the principle of common but differentiated responsibility as an appropriate international response to climate change, it is necessary that we act to hasten the transformation of production, ownership and control patterns in the economy, th the interest of the working class and the poor.
“Thus, trade unions and workers need to understand the causes of these disruptions, in order to ensure strategic participation in critical discussions and to be able to propose measures that would strengthen the fight against climate change. This would be possible by multiplying the positive changes.”
According to Wabba, “Congress will work with interested parties to promote such alternative technologies, especially as they relate to public transportation, energy production, agriculture and mining. It is the hope of Congress that this document will clearly signal the preparedness of Labour to lead in the fight against climate change crisis.”
Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, on Monday, May 1, 2017 allayed fears that plans by his administration to phase out the yellow commercial buses, popularly known as “Danfo”, would lead to massive job losses. He stated that, quite to the contrary, the venture would instead create more jobs in the transportation sector.
Doomed: The days of the legendary and somewhat notorious Lagos commercial yellow buses, popularly known as “Danfo”, are numbered as the authorities insist on phasing them out
Ambode spoke at the May Day Rally held at the Agege Stadium to commemorate the 2017 Workers Day Celebration.
He said the Bus Reform Initiative, aimed at introducing over 5,000 air-conditioned buses to replace the Danfo buses, would open new vista of opportunities, while also redefining the means of road transportation in the State.
Responding to the fears raised by the Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Lagos State Council, Comrade Idowu Adelakun, and his Trade Union Congress counterpart, Comrade Francis Ogunremi, on the implications of the initiative to drivers, conductors, mechanics and other artisans, Ambode assured that it would benefit all Lagosians on the long run.
He said: “If Lagos is to be globally competitive, we need to change the outlook of the way the city runs. What is of paramount interest to this government is to make sure that every Lagosian has a comfortable means of moving from one point to the other. But I promise you there will be no job losses.
“The Governor is not interested in driving all the new buses. It is the same bus drivers, the technicians, and the mechanics that will also still be employed and trained to use these new buses. Instead of job losses, we are going to employ more people for the greater number of the buses and it will make the city more beautiful and more comfortable for all our workers.”
Ambode, who also addressed the request of the labour leaders on workers’ welfare, assured that, as the state’s Internally Generated Revenue continues to increase, his administration would work out modalities to improve the welfare of workers in line with his mantra of all-inclusive governance.
The Governor said his administration was ready to look into the plight of pensioners as regards the pace of paying pension, assuring that the process would be fast tracked immediately.
He said: “Just like we have said, we have provided vehicles for the unions but again it has not gone round and it has also not gone round to the private sector unions, we will complete the whole scheme before the end of the year.”
Ambode said as part of the celebration of 50 years of the State, his administration would provide a befitting State Secretariat for the NLC, while government would also work on local and international training for labour leaders to make them relevant to the growth of the economy.
Governor Ambode also assured that the officers of the State Public Service, who according to him are the real drivers of the development in the state, would continue to be equipped with the necessary competencies and skills in order to deliver effective and efficient service to the people.
Commending the choice of this year’s May Day celebration, themed: “Labour Relations in Economic Recession: An Appraisal,” the Governor said the leadership of labour unions had demonstrated a responsible sense of stakeholding in the joint enterprise to improve the society and leave lasting legacies for the generations to come through the creation of sustainable wealth and value.
Besides, the Governor enjoined the organised labour to continue to show understanding, while rightly insisting on the due and just entitlements of their members, saying that any industrial unrest will compound the challenges of economic recession.
“I wish to commend the example of Lagos State to the entire nation in respect of industrial harmony. In Lagos State, both the government and organised labour believe that negotiations are more democratic and effective than unilateral impositions by the government or unilateral demands by the workers,” he said.
While alluding to the fact that his administration would not have been able to fulfill the electoral promises without the support of the “most versatile, resilient and innovative Public Service in the nation”, he noted that the immense contributions of all workers in the private sector was also chiefly responsible for the pride of place that Lagos occupies in our nation, in Africa and in the world at large.
Earlier, Comrades Adelakun and Ogunremi commended Ambode for his commitment to workers’ welfare and the determination with which he had been transforming the State, describing the Governor as an accomplished accounting professional, creative intellectual, skilled planner and focused implementor.
The May Day Rally featured March pasts from various Labour Unions, Trade Organisations and its Affiliates who trooped out enmasse despite the heavy downpour and were excited to see the Governor celebrate the day with them.
Nigeria’s Super Sand Eagles on Monday, May 1, 2017 play their last group stage match against Iran in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup at the National Beach Soccer Stadium in Bahamas.
Azeez Abu scored the winner as Nigeria beat Mexico 5-4. Photo credit: Getty Images
The Nigerian Beach team came from behind to beat Mexico 5-4 in extra time in their second match in the competition, having lost 6-12 to Italy in their first game.
The other group game will see Italy battle it out with Mexico.
Meanwhile, Nasarawa United of Lafia moved up to the 19th position of the table of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), after edging Rivers United 1-0 at the Lafia Township Stadium on Sunday, April 30, 2017.
In the other rescheduled Week 14 game, Sunshine Stars of Akure beat Rangers International of Enugu 2-0 at the Akure Township Stadium.
The Akure Gunners are now 14th on the League chart with 24 points. Coach of Sunshine Stars, Augustin Equavoen, expressed happiness over the win, as his first match and victory with the team.
“The organisation of the team is very good. Rangers did not get a clear-cut chance at goal as my team possessed the ball all through,” he said.
Rangers’ midfielder, Ette Matthew, was not a happy man seeing his side slump in Akure. “It’s quite unfortunate that we lost, we did not play well,” he lamented
