Ramos, Marcelo, Varane and Modric named in FIFA FIFPro World11 2018

Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Raphaël Varane and Luka Modric have been named in the FIFA FIFPro World11 2018, which was announced at The Best Awards ceremony in London. Sergio Ramos's inclusion means that he has now made the cut on nine occasions after making the line-up in 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. 

Marcelo features for the fifth time in his career, after making the grade in 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2017, whilst Modric makes the team for a fourth successive year (2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018). As for Varane, this is the first time that he has been recognised with a place in the FIFA FIFPro World11 2018. The rest of the line-up is made up by: David De Gea, Dani Alves, N'Golo Kanté, Eden Hazard, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ramos: "This is a reward for the sacrifices, effort and determination"
"This award is a reward for the sacrifices, effort and determination and the hours you spend away from the family. It's all part of an award which makes fighting every day all worth it. I'm dedicating it to my family, who are the ones who put up with me, and to my teammates, who are the ones who've make it possible for me to be here enjoying this day"I'm delighted for Modric. It's as if I've won it myself, we can even share it back at the club. I'm really pleased, he's an excellent player and has made his mark on an extremely important era for us at Real Madrid".

Madridista dominance
"It's been a magical night, in which Madrid once again reigns supreme and it's a clear sign that we're doing a really good job. We dedicate all of these awards to our fans".

Marcelo: "I've only got reason to be happy
"I'm really happy for myself, my teammates and Modric, who had a super season and he's a really great guy and teammate. I've had the backing of my teammates and coaches and I've only got words of thanks for them".
 
"The key is to ignore the criticism and to not get carried away when you receive praise. It's all about just doing my job, being happy and enjoying every moment. Nearly everyone enjoys the way I play, so I've only got reason to be happy".

His debut
"When I made my debut I knew that it was the start of a tale, but I didn't know quite how it was going to pan out. I now know that it's turned out to be a very good story and I'm very proud to have made my Real Madrid debut at the age of 18".

Varane: "I'm really happy because it's the first time I've received an individual prize"
"It's an honour and I'm really happy because it's the first time I've received an individual prize, although I hope to get more in the future. This is recognition for the year I've had at Real Madrid and with the national team. I hope to enjoy many more years like this past one. These teammates are friends of mine and it's an individual award, but we almost receive it as if it's a team prize. I'm really happy for them too". 

"It's a whole life of hard work and many years of sacrifices. This award is the reward for a good attitude and the effort put in throughout my whole life. Today I'm here picking up this accolade and I'm really happy".

World Cup winner and inclusion in World Cup XI
"They're two fantastic accolades and there are no words to describe what it feels like to have a summer like that. I've won the two greatest trophies a footballer can win. I just want to enjoy this because it's fantastic. I thank the France and Real Madrid fans, who always back us. I couldn't have imagine that this would happen to me".

"I'm not aware of everything that's happening to me and all that I've won. I'm always thinking about how I can help the team and you've got to work hard every day. When I call time on my career, I'll look back at everything that has happened and all that I've won, but now I'm just looking forward to winning more silverware".

Modric named The Best
"He's a different sort of player. His ball control and elegance is very special to see. He's a friend and I'm really pleased he's received the award because he deserves it. He's a great player and a super guy".

We Won't Accept Intimidation from Police, Politicians, Anambra Judiciary Warns

The judiciary in Anambra State has warned that it would not tolerate any act of intimidation, threats and harassment on its members.

Prof Ilochi Okafor(San) delivered the warning on Monday during a special court session at the Anambra Judiciary headquarters to mark the commencement of the 2018/2019 legal year in the state.

Okafor who spoke as a senior member of the bar, while delivering his address, condemned recent acts if intimidation on judicial officers in the state by senior police officers, and members of the public, including politicians.

He said: "Threats, killings and physical assault are serious threats of the judiciary.

"Most of our colleagues have passed through  this several times in Anambra, and we must not let this continue to happen."

Okafor cited instances of a Judge in the state who was threatened "through a verifiable phone number" yet the police did nothing about it, while the same judge was accosted while going home from work and held hostage in his car.

He noted the case of another magistrate who was bullied by a police DPO for daring to disobey his order in a criminal matter he was handling.

"These acts of intimidation must stop. The judiciary can not be cowed or intimidated. The bench and bar must fight this together, because if we are caged, justice is caged.

"I am Calling on the honourable the chief judge to immediately meet with other stakeholders and schedule for a meeting with the CP and governor to see a way around this."

Chief judge of the state, Justice Peter Umeadi who presided over the special court session used the opportunity of the ceremony to reel out a long list of achievement by the state judiciary within the legal year.

He however commiserated with families of 12 members of the judiciary who lost their lives within the past legal year.

FG Approves N42.7bn for Ex-Airways Workers, Public Varsities

Fifteen years after the liquidation of  Nigeria Airways, the federal government on Monday approved N22.68 billion for the ex-workers of the defunct national carrier.

President Muhammadu Buhari has also directed that the sum of N20 billion be released immediately to the public universities for a revitalisation scheme.

The Minister of Finance, Hajia Zainab Ahmed,, communicated Buhari's directive on Monday at a meeting with the ex- workers of the liquidated carrier and members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities ( ASUU)
The approval came after the former Airways workers staged a  protest last Tuesday at the entrance of the Ministry of Finance headquartered, a day after resumption of office of the new minister.
The minister, who  addressed the protesting ex- workers, empathised with them, and promised  to take up the issue.
Speaking in Abuja on Monday while meeting with the ex-workers, she said: "Upon my resumption of office as the Minister of Finance, some pending fiscal issues in the aviation and education sectors were immediately brought to my attention. 

"As such, I took it as a challenge to quickly address key issues regarding the settlement of existing claims in both of these sectors. Consequent upon this, I am happy to inform you that Mr. President has graciously approved the sum of N22.68  billion and N20 billion to aviation and education sectors respectively," she said.
While promising that the balance of the severance package of the retired Airways workers would be paid  as soon as government finances improve,  she stated that the initial amount after liquation came to N78 billion.
" This amount was verified by the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA) and other relevant stakeholders in line with the conditions of  service of Nigeria Airways in liquidation and other extant rules and regulations. At the end of which the sum of N45 billion was agreed as the total retirements benefits of the affected staff," the minister said.

On the N20 billion approved for  public universities, which came in the wake of ASUU's fresh ultimatum to embark on strike, the minister stated that the revitalisation fund to be released to beneficiary universities was in line with the administration's determination to revitalise public universities to ensure their smooth running.

" You may recall that the ASUU signed a Memorandum of Understanding ( MoU) with the federal government of Nigeria sometime in 2013 on the terms and conditions on which the government would improve funding for staff welfare and the provision of critical infrastructure in our public universities. However, the implementation of this bilateral agreement has had certain challenges due to revenue shortages and other reasons," she said.

Responding, the ASUU Vice- President, Emmanuel Oshodeke said the agreement entered into with the government was higher than what government offered.

APC Warned To Do The Needful To Avoid a Repeat of Osun Experience

One of the gubernatorial aspirants of the All Progressive Congress (APC)  in Bauchi State, Mohammed Ali Pate, on Monday warned that unless the party leadership did the needful by allowing the teeming members of the party to choose who will be the flag bearer in the 2019 general election in the state, what is happening to the party in the Osun State gubernatorial election will be but a child's play just as he declared that he is not a party to any pact in the state governorship race. 

Addressing a press conference at the NUJ Press Center, Bauchi,, Pate opined that the best solution to the lingering crisis in the party in the state is for the leadership of the party to allow every card carrying member of the party to participate in the primary election through the direct system because according to him, "anything other than that will spell doom for the party in Bauchi state'. 

The gubernatorial aspirant further cautioned that the APC should learn a lesson from the situation in Osun state and do everything possible to avoid imposing candidate on the people of the state against their wish pointing out that the people should be allowed to have a say on who governs them. 

He added that a situation where the state chapter of the party called a stakeholders meeting at the Government House debarring dissenting voice during the meeting has gone a long to demonstrate what he described as "desperation of a few to impose their wishes on the teeming members of the party".

Ali Pate who was a one time Minister of State for Health assured that, " I will remain a spoiler for failed governance, I am going to ensure that the failure we are witnessing now in Bauchi state did not continue for another four years. I will team up in order to change the present change positively ".

While rolling out his plans for the state if given the ticket of the party, Ali Pate said that he is ready to give the best governance to the state by improving education, health care delivery and agriculture as well as improve on internal Revenue generation. 

He then assured that in the event that he did not get the party ticket but satisfied with the process that produces the party flag bearer he will give his maximum support to ensure victory for the party adding however that if he and his supporters are not satisfied with the primary process they will think of the next line of action. 

At United Nations, Fears of A ‘New World Disorder’ As Trump Returns

When President Trump withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal in May, France’s ambassador to the United Nations lamented what he called the coming of “a new world disorder.”

America had resigned its role as “a last resort enforcer of international order,” the ambassador, François Delattre said, and there was little France or any other country could do about it.

Since then, the United States has moved still deeper into going it alone at the United Nations, withdrawing from some important agencies and defunding others.

Still, the United States remains by far the biggest single financial contributor to the global organization. But the Trump administration also has pursued what it calls an America First agenda that critics, among them close allies, say has exacerbated crises.

They also say Mr. Trump’s actions have contributed to a level of intractability in the Security Council, the most powerful United Nations body, not seen since the Cold War.

For committed internationalists like Mr. Delattre, there was some hope a year ago when Mr. Trump made his debut at the General Assembly session attended by world leaders. He alleviated the worst fears, if only briefly, when he pledged to seek changes at the United Nations that would make it a “greater force for peace and harmony in the world.”

Mr. Trump began his General Assembly agenda on Monday by participating in a panel on countering narcotics trafficking, which aides said showed his commitment to global cooperation. But few diplomats are under any illusion about Mr. Trump’s return visit this week.

He was expected to deliver an address on Tuesday heavy on state sovereignty and American interest above all, according to his ambassador, Nikki R. Haley.

In a news conference last week, Ms. Haley reprised a talking point from her first confrontational days as ambassador, when she linked America’s financial generosity around the world to support for American priorities and promised she would be “taking names” of those who did not have America’s back.

“We’re going to be generous to those that share our values, generous to those who want to work with us,” she said, “and not those that try and stop the United States, saying they hate America and are counterproductive for what we’re doing.”

That tone has been matched by action over the last year as the United States has pulled out of one United Nations body after another.

Just weeks after Mr. Trump’s first speech before the General Assembly he withdrew the United States from Unesco, the United Nations cultural organization. This summer, the United States left the Human Rights Council, revoked funding for the United Nations agency that provides education and health care to Palestinians classified as refugees, and boycotted a United Nations agreement on migration.

Mr. Trump’s decisions to quit the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal are still sources of deep bitterness, particularly among close allies. His elevation of John R. Bolton, who muses about defunding the United Nations, to national security adviser was greeted with a shudder.

At a news conference last Thursday, the United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, said that multilateralism was “under attack from many directions,” but diplomatically sidestepped a question about whether he thought Mr. Trump was a direct threat.

“I don’t like to personalize things,” he said.

Others were more blunt.

“It’s not just stepping back,” said Louis Charbonneau, the United Nations director for Human Rights Watch. “It’s an assault on the most important institutions we have for accountability and monitoring and exposing the worst abuses.”

Few would disagree about the need for some structural changes to the United Nations bureaucracy, which Mr. Trump, as president-elect, once described as a club where diplomats fraternize “and have a good time.”

When no one is in earshot, some United Nations officials are even willing to consider the possibility that the disruptions caused by the Trump administration could do some good.

But nearly two years into his presidency, Mr. Trump remains for much of the world a source of bewilderment.

Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the recently retired United Nations High Commissioner for human rights, likened Mr. Trump to a bus driver “careening down a mountain road with steep cliffs on either side,” while in the back humanity hangs on for dear life.

Mr. Trump’s decision to conduct a session of the Security Council this week, which is his right as leader of the country that currently holds the body’s rotating presidency, already has been a source of anxiety and confusion.

First his administration announced that he would focus on Iran, rankling European diplomats opposed to his withdrawal from the nuclear accord, while opening the door to a face-to-face showdown between the president and Iranian leaders. Under Security Council rules, a country that is the specific subject of a meeting has the right to be represented there.

Ms. Haley had barely announced that the topic had been changed to the broader issue of nonproliferation when the president appeared to have upended her with a tweet.

“I will Chair the United Nations Security Council meeting on Iran next week!” he wrote. Administration officials sought to allay any confusion, saying that nonproliferation was the topic.

The General Assembly session has come against the backdrop of global calamities: wars in Syria and Yemen, ethnic cleansing in Myanmar, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and climate change. American leadership, many argue, is a prerequisite for solving each of these crises. But in case after case, critics say, American leadership is lacking.

On the mother of all conflicts, between Israel and the Palestinians, “the U.S. lost its credibility as a broker,” said Riyad H. Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations.

In a rebuke to the United States last year, all other Security Council members rose up to criticize Mr. Trump’s decision to move the United States embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the disputed holy city that the Palestinians want as the capital of their future state. Ms. Haley vetoed a resolution demanding a reversal of the decision.

Ms. Haley, who has been credited by some diplomats with doing her best to moderate the president’s isolationist instincts, insists that the United States remains engaged with the world, but on its own terms.

At the news conference last week, she listed the highlights of her turn as president of the Security Council, including sessions on human rights abuses in Venezuela and Nicaragua and an initiative to improve United Nations peacekeeping.

Others credited the United States with pressuring the Security Council to adopt an arms embargo on South Sudan as well as helping to lead a campaign in recent weeks to avert a military offensive in Syria by the forces of President Bashar al-Assad and his allies, Russia and Iran.

But rights groups and other critics of administration policy say that when it comes to the United Nations, Mr. Trump and his associates have chosen mainly to disengage.

“I think Donald Trump’s rise to the presidency has made a challenging situation significantly more challenging,” said Kumi Naidoo, the secretary general of Amnesty International. “He has taken it to another level of isolation.”

Osinbajo Visits Flood Victims in Anambra, Pledges FG's Support

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday visited Anambra State, where he moved round parts of the state submerged by flood pledging federal government support.

The vice president who visited internally displaced people who were parking their properties from their submerged homes betrayed emotions, while commiserating with the people over their plight.

He announced the support of the government for the victims, stating its unending support in supplying food and  relief materials to the victims of flood disaster in the state.

Osinbajo who visited Umueze Anam, Anambra West local government Area, said the federal government had declared the affected areas as natural disaster zones, saying it would deploy more federal resources to alleviate the plight of the people.

He said: "I flew over those disaster areas and I witnessed the rise in water level, especially in Onitsha, Ogbaru, Awka North, Coscharis farm and other places.

"We have directed the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA),  to continue deploying relief materials to various IDP Camps and some home settlements who have refused to evacuate from their homes."

He commended Governor Willie Obiano for his prompt response to the situation, stressing that he would partner the state government to ensure proper management of the resources.

Obiano while receiving the vice president whobwas accompanied by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state and the minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr Chris Ngige recalled that he had earlier visited the affected areas to ascertain the level of disaster.

He observed that the flood disaster did not only submerge their homes, but their farms, which is the major sources of livelihood for the people.

Some of the victims lamented that their major problem was that their farmlands were all submerged, and their crops destroyed.

Mrs Chinelo Ibe, an indigene of the area said, "some of us borrowed money to cultivate crops, and with this flood, we will be left with huge debt to pay, even as our houses have all been submerged by flood.

"We are begging government to help us, because we are in big difficulty. We sleep by the roadside, cook here too and live our lives by the roadside. We are afraid of going to the IDP camps because thieves will come and loot our belongings. That is why we refuses to go."
Ends.

FG Begins Payment of Entitlements to 408 Ex-PHCN Workers

 The federal government has commenced the payment of entitlements to 408 active staff and retirees/ Next-of Kin (NoK) of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN)  who have been computed and audited by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF).

In a statement issued by its Head, Public Communications, Amina Tukur Othman, on Thursday, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), which put the  entitlements at N1, 053,402,476.03, said its Director General, Mr. Alex A. Okoh, expressed delight that following the approval of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), chaired by Vice President Yemi Osibanjo, the implementation is leading to the resolution of “this outstanding labour issue in the power sector privatisation.”

According to him,  the current milestone in the  resolution and settlement of the outstanding labour liabilities became possible after the Bureau on March 27, 2018, constituted a Technical Working Group (TWG) comprising the OAGF, PENCOM, NELMCO, National Union of Electricity Workers (NUEE), and SSAEAC & NUP which worked assiduously culminating in a meeting between him and the OAGF on August 1, 2018 to finalise the payment process.

Before now, the BPE, through the OAGF  had paid 47,041 out of  the 47,913 active staff  of the defunct PHCN  in 35 batches and 2,962  out of the 4,423 retirement and death benefits  to the beneficiaries in 14 batches.
This was in line with the mandate of the BPE to ensure that labour issues in privatisation are adequately addressed and resolved.
However, given the fact that not all the active staff and retirees/NOKs of the defunct PHCN were verified, the NCP, at its meeting of April 16, 2015, directed the BPE to continue with the process of verification and payment of outstanding cases until a final resolution was achieved.

Following the NCP directive and approval, the Bureau conducted the final verification for staff and retirees/NoKs of the defunct PHCN in the six-geo-political centres between October 3 and 14, 2016, resulting in the 408 beneficiaries who are now being paid.