The Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has been in the news for the widely rejected proposal to create cattle colonies in all the states of Nigeria. Soon, he and the President Muhammadu Buhari administration might be back on the front pages for another crisis which is rapidly building up unnoticed.

The threat of massive famine in 2018 and 2019 is becoming a reality to those close to Nigeria’s farmlands. In the past, food shortages had occurred on account of unfavourable weather or pest infestation. Low rainfall or excessive flooding as well as locust attacks had in the past also resulted in low food productivity.

This year, the country is likely to experience the first full blow of the crisis occasioned by armed herdsmen’s attacks on farmers nationwide which had resulted in losses of lives and property and the displacement of thousands of farmers from the rural areas to safe havens far away from their farms.

In most cases, these attacks were accompanied with the burning of the homes of the farmers, destruction or looting of their food storage facilities or the occupation and grazing on their farmlands by cows and herdsmen. Even if the ongoing military operations are successful, most displaced farmers will find it difficult to resume their farming.

Government’s tardiness to put a stop to the armed Fulani herdsmen atrocities has created a situation in which farmers are unable to harvest what is left of their ravaged farms because they are either in refugee camps or are on the run for their lives. Most of them are also not planning to return home soon to start planning for the planting season which starts anytime from now. With millions of farmers not harvesting now and not planting for the next season, it requires no prophet to predict a looming famine.

The blame should lie squarely at the doorsteps of the Federal Government which failed to mobilise the security forces to effectively provide security when the attacks intensified over the past couple of years. Media reports of these attacks were totally ignored, until the Benue State Government decided to conduct a state funeral for the victims of the New Year Day massacres on live television.

We are raising this alarm to enable the Federal and state governments to brace up for the food shortages ahead and plan to mitigate them. All efforts must be made to eliminate the herdsmen threat.

The nomadic livestock operators should be persuaded and assisted to accept the ranching option. There is no other way forward than this.

The armed foreigners and their local accomplices must be apprehended and dealt with. Special plans must be made to resettle, rehabilitate and provide special funding to enable our farmers go back to work in safety and security.

Vanguard

After decades of squandering the country’s hard-earned resources and scouring the whole area around the now fast-receding waters of Lake Chad in a frantic, but futile bid to discover oil in commercial quantity, the Nigerian government is shifting its attention to another bizarre, money guzzling venture. This time, it is a plan to build a refinery at an unnamed border town between President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state of Katsina and the neighbouring Niger Republic.

A recent statement credited to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources said an agreement had already been reached between the two countries for the erection of the facility, complete with the construction of pipelines from the Nigerien oil fields of Agadem, in Diffa Province, to the refinery site. Without doubt, this sounds like another wild goose chase, which should be discontinued. It is a badly-thought-out plan which, if pursued, will only result in Nigeria having her fingers burnt.

At a time when the world is tending towards a private-sector-driven economy, it is amazing that Nigeria is still stuck in the past by embarking on such a state-sponsored project. Even the sole refinery that is in Niger, Soraz Refinery, located in Zinder, is not a wholly government-owned facility, but one that has a majority Chinese interest. If the government of that country considers it imperative to involve foreign investors in the building of its refinery, why is the Nigerian government so interested in direct funding?

If the decision to build the new refinery in the Niger border is informed by the threat posed by militants in the Niger Delta region, what about the threat of terrorists that are swarming the whole of that region of Africa? Besides, how much supply can be expected from a country that reportedly produces only 80,000 barrels of crude oil per day compared to Nigeria’s 2.3 million bpd?

In fact, this is the time for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the inefficient state oil behemoth, to divest from the downstream sector of the industry to pave the way for competent and efficient private investors with the wherewithal to take over. The Nigerian state has shown over the years that she is not good at managing businesses, as exemplified in her failed attempts to run the steel industry and the losses that have been accumulated by the NNPC in its oil ventures.

Perhaps, it is in partial realisation of this that the government has been encouraging private investors to invest in critical sectors of the economy, especially in local oil refining, where the country, the largest oil producer in Africa, spends billions of naira on refined petroleum products import every day.

It is for this same political reason that it was announced recently that a 248-kilometre-long rail line would be constructed to the same country from Kano in Nigeria. The critical question to ask is, why the obsession with Niger Republic? Why use the scarce resources in an economy that is just recovering from recession – where many of the youths graduate from the university and roam the streets for years without jobs – to go and develop another sovereign state?

It should not be forgotten that, in 2012, the Katsina State Government funded the construction of a government house for the governor of the Niamey region – another profligate step by a state that parades some of the poorest human development indices in the world. The tame reason for this, it was reported then, was to “strengthen the bond of relationship between that country and the state.”

Prospecting for oil and building refineries are lucrative businesses that can easily attract private sector interests. If prospecting for oil in the Lake Chad Basin and, in recent times, the Sokoto and Benue basins, held bright prospects, private investors would have moved in long before now, and Nigeria would not have to spend its scarce resources on that venture. Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, for instance, decided to site his refinery in Lagos, close to crude oil source, simply because he is a businessman and knows where to put his money.

There are many things the government could invest in for the good of Nigerian citizens. The parlous state of the country’s education system is crying for adequate funding. So also is the health sector, which has deteriorated so much that the President had to seek medical care abroad the last time he took ill. Even in the area of infrastructure, there are many areas seeking attention. It is interesting to note that while the money for the construction of the rail line to Niger has been reportedly included in this year’s budget, the proposed rail track from Lagos to Calabar is still pending, just as the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and other important and economically-viable highways across the country remain in a very poor state.

Punch

Manchester United receive apology from VAR chiefs after Juan Mata’s FA Cup goal was disallowed showing ‘incorrect lines’

Manchester United have received an apology after Juan Mata’s goal against Huddersfield was incredibly disallowed by VAR.

The Spaniard appeared to give the Red Devils a 2-0 lead in the FA Cup tie, only for the officials to chalk off the effort with the help of the video technology.

The video assistant referees should only be summoned for clear and obvious errors, though Mata’s goal was a close call, which has led to Hawk-Eye releasing an apology for a “technical error,” report the Manchester Evening News.

The lines shown during the latest high-profile Video Assistant Referee controversy were not straight, which created much outrage on social media.

The company also remains adamant that the match officials were given straight lines to make their decisions with – and not the ones that were shown to those watching on television that were anything but.

Match referee Kevin Friend had awarded a goal until the VAR’s lengthy intervention.

There was controversy after those viewing on BT Sport were shown images of Mata’s positioning between wonky overlayed lines that created further confusion surrounding the decision.

Hawk-Eye is responsible for providing the technology used within VAR, and explained via a statement: “A technical issue led to an incorrect graphic being provided by Hawk-Eye to BT Sport last night.

“To confirm, the VAR saw the correct image with the correct lines to make the decision. This was a case of the wrong image being provided to the broadcaster and we apologise.”

Do you believe it? Could the analysis be right? Is it not debatable? Could it be a case of analyst being entitled to their opinions?

Well, the story is that Super Eagles forward Ahmed Musa has been named among 50 Worst players of in premier league history.

The report dished out on Wednesday on Fourfourtwo.com simply titled “Fourfourtwo: 50 worst players in premier league

With a commentary on each player, the commentary on Musa begins with “Ouch. In the glow of their Premier League-winning season, Leicester broke their transfer record to bring Musa to England for £16.6m from CSKA Moscow. How they landed on the

Nigerian forward is harder to explain, though, given that he has always been an unremarkable and patchy player who, most importantly, didn’t have a natural place in their side.

Maybe he was part of a long-term plan that Claudio Ranieri was never given time to implement? Possibly, but at no point

during his rotten 18 months at the King Power (33 games, five goals) did his transfer ever look likely to be remotely successful. Quietly, he was loaned back to CSKA in the January 2018 transfer window”

Those listed in the first batch alongside Musa include Aston Villa’s jean Makoun on 42, Southampton’s Agustin Delgado on 43, Arsenal’s Sebastien Squillaci on 45, Aston Villa’s Aleksandar Tonev on 46, Nottingham Forests’Mikola Jerkan on 47, Leeds

The report further indicates however that other players on numbers 40 to 1 will be released next week.

Musa who was superlative in his first stay with CSKA Moscow between 2012 -2016 making 125 appearances and scoring 42 goals for the side had what could pass for a nightmare following his transfer to Leicester as he struggled to have playing time.

A worried Super Eagles coach at a time told the duo of Musa and equally embattled Kelechi Iheanacho to seek other clubs where they can get playing time ahead of the World Cup. Musa’s return to CSKA Moscow was held in sports circles as it was envisaged that his chances of playing regularly is high. He has not only blended back with ease but has already scored two goals in friendly matches for the side and indication that he might return to super form when the Russian league resumes off in March.

CSKA currently 5^th on the log with 35 points in 20 matches will open up the second stanza of the league on March 3^rdwhen they host 9^th placed Ural.

The Nation

Former Nigeria coach Sunday Oliseh has been sacked as head coach of Netherlands’ second tier side Fortuna Sittard for what the club calls “inadmissible actions”.

'Several attempts by the club to encourage a change in the coach's behaviour have unfortunately not worked, resulting in an unworkable situation,' the team said in a statement.

“The board of Fortuna Sittard emphasizes that the decision to disband Sunday Oliseh is not motivated by the current sporting performance. Because of his inadmissible actions, the coach has made the cooperation with many people within the organization impossible.

“From players to employees. Fortuna Sittard regrets the decision, but states that the club interest goes above all else.”

Portuguese-born Claudio Braga will take over as interim coach.

“Fortuna Sittard has found a temporary replacement for Claudio Braga for the on Sunday Oliseh. Until the Sittard club has found a new trainer, Braga will play the double role of head coach and Head of Youth Training,” stated the club.

Shortly after the announcement was made, Oliseh told his own side of the story, clarifying that he was suspended, rather than sacked.

“I confirm: Due to my refusal to participate in Illegal activities at Fortuna Sittard and violate the Law, I have been Suspended from my duties as Coach by the Foreign Owners of Fortuna,” Oliseh wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.

“Unfortunate for the lovely fans, my players and our hard fought phenomenal positioning for Promotion.”

The 43-year-old Nigerian, however, didn’t revealed the illegal activities he refused to participate in.

Oliseh was appointed as Fortuna manager in December 2016. Since joining, he led the club from the brink to relegation to the playoffs for top-flight promotion this season.

Fortuna is currently third on the league table with 44 points, five behind leaders NEC Nijmejen.

In 2015, Oliseh was appointed by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) as the National team coach.

With the Super Eagles, he achieved an impressive statistic of 14 games (two defeats), 19 goals scored and only six conceded, qualifying the team to the CHAN tournament in Rwanda and to the Group phase of the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers.

In February 2016, he resigned as Nigeria’s national coach citing contract violations, lack of support, unpaid wages and benefits to his players, assistants and himself as the motive.

en.as

John Obi Mikel and Croatia’s Lukas Modric and Ivan Rakitic are on the same level, according to former Super Eagles head coach, Samson Siasia.

The Super Eagles face the Europeans on June 16 for their opening Group D fixture at the Kaliningrad Stadium - with the former Chelsea man expected to lead Gernot Rohr’s men.

 “Mikel is in the same quality with Modric and Rakitic, even though Modric plays in Real Madrid,” he told Goal. 

“Mikel has played in Chelsea for many years and he is doing well in the Chinese Super League. I think they will fight for that position on the field of play.”

Following the Super Eagles’ unbeaten run to their sixth World Cup appearance, the 50-year-old urged Rohr’s men to prepare well and not dwell on their 4-2 victory over Argentina.

“They’ve done well but the problem is that most of our players are not playing in the big leagues and they don’t get enough playing time, the World Cup is not where to do physical activities,” he continued.

Daily Trust

Super Eagles assistant coach Salisu Yusuf was on Monday named the national Under-23 team’s substantive coach.

The position had been vacant after Tunisia ’94 Africa Cup of Nations winner Samson Siasia guided Nigeria to a third-place finish (bronze) at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

According to the Nigeria Football Federation, Salisu, who helped Nigeria reach the final of the 2018 African Nations Championship in Morocco where they were humiliated 4-0 by the hosts, will be assisted by El-Kanemi coach Imama Amapakabo, Plateau United coach Kennedy Boboye, MFM coach Fidelis Ilechukwu and Alloy Agu.

Enyimba manager Paul Aigbogun landed the Flying Eagles head coach job, with Akwa United coach Abdullahi Maikaba, Abubakar Bala, Hassan Abdallah and Suleiman Shuaibu as his assistants. The men’s Under-20 team became managerless after Emmanuel Amuneke was sent packing after Nigeria failed to qualify for the South Korea 2017 FIFA Under-20 World Cup won by England.

Manu Garba staged a comeback to the Golden Eagles after he was re-appointed along with Tunisia ’94 Africa Cup of Nations winner Nduka Ugbade, who assisted him when Nigeria won the UAE 2013 FIFA Under-17 World Cup. Jolomi Atune Ali, Bunmi Haruna, Abideen Baruwa Olatunji are the men’s Under-17 team’s other coaching staff members.

The NFF also appointed Manu’s assistant Atune as the head of the Under-13 boys team, with Jude Agada, Abdullahi Tyabo, Adewale Laloko and Adeoye Onigbinde as his assistants.

Alala Nasidi was named the coach of the Under-15 boys team with Haruna Usman, Ahmed Lawal Dankoli, Patrick Bassey and Ernest Salolome as his assistants.

Chairman of the NFF Technical and Development Committee Ahmed Fresh told thenff.com that the coaches were to resume immediately.

The vice-chairman of the NFF Strategy Committee said, “All the coaches will be unveiled at a later date, alongside the coaching staff of the U20 and U17 girls appointed earlier as a result of their World Cup qualifying campaigns.”

Punch

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has declined the invitation extended to 13 more athletes and two more coaches to the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang even though their doping bans had been lifted.

On February 2, 2018, the suspended Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) provided a list of 15 people whose suspension had been lifted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAF). Thirteen are still active athletes and two are retired athletes who competed at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games and are now acting as support personnel.

The Invitation Review Panel unanimously recommended that the IOC not extend an invitation to the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 to the 15 individuals requested by the suspended ROC.

The panel agreed that the decision of the CAS had not lifted the suspicion of doping or given the panel sufficient confidence to recommend to the OAR IG (Olympic Athlete from Russia Implementation Group) that those 13 athletes could be considered clean.

With respect to the two officials (coaches), the panel took the view that, due to the evidence available from the Oswald Commission reports and additional information at the disposal of the panel, these two individuals should not be considered for an invitation to attend the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

Xinhua

A new World Cup event, featuring eight of top athletics nations is to take place in London this year, British Athletics said on Monday.

Britain and the U.S. are to take part along with South Africa, Poland, France, China, Germany and Jamaica in the inaugural competition, scheduled for July 14 to July-15.

The President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Sebastian Coe, said in a statement that the prospect of the competition was exciting.

“This is one of the exciting innovative events we are seeing in our sport and our thanks go to British Athletics and the Mayor of London for creating it and hosting it.

“We have 8 lanes, 8 top nations, 8 teams and a host of world-class athletes lining up in each event to win the trophy and prize pot.

“This will be a fast-paced and exhilarating experience for athletes and fans.”

He said that one male and one female athlete from every nation would be selected for each track and field event, with the total prize pot set at $2 million over two evening sessions at the London Stadium.

Reuters/NAN

Anthony Joshua is undergoing rigorous anti-doping testing to KO Joseph Parker’s baseless “king of steroids” slur.

The Kiwi WBO champion casually threw out the controversial jab in a bid to speed up the big-fight negotiations and he retracted it and apologised swiftly after.

AJ revealed at the first press conference that he spends around £30,000 per fight getting tests by the UK anti-doping authority, as well as WADA.

And the IBF and WBA champ even revealed he would invite the testers – who must know his exact whereabouts twice a day – into a nightclub with him to maintain his squeaky clean reputation.

One of AJ’s team revealed on Thursday on his Instagram account that the Watford hero had been tested three times inside five days and twice consecutively.

After announcing the fight, AJ and promoter Eddie Hearn hit back at the unfounded steroid claim by revealing the lengths they go to meet regulations.

AJ said: “I sign up three months in advance every time and I have to give them two slots in the day where I definitely will be – so they are able to drug test me.

“I am not trying to prove anything. I pay my money.”

And Hearn – who has serious concerns the massive fight with Tyson Fury could turn to dust – added more detail on the costly process.

The Matchroom kingpin said: “We pay something like £30k every fight, to make sure the fighters are tested.

“As soon as the contract is signed, that testing is under way, that’s WADA. We optionally sign up for that

“We are also with UKAD, through the BBBofC and that’s 365 days a year, random whereabouts testing.

“The last three or four fights we have been test eight times in camp by UKAD and WADA over a 12-week period.

“We are also on 365 days a year WADA testing for the WBA. People ask ‘why is he not on the WBC (testing programme) but he is not a WBC fighter.

“The WBA now have 365 days testing and he pays for additional for random testing and the UKAD.

“He is the one pushing for a clean sport.”

The Sun