Lesbianism killing female football in Nigeria- NFF VP

Abuja Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) vice-president Seyi Akinwunmi has blamed lesbians for recent poor performances of the country's women's team.

The country's national team Super Falcons are the most successful African nation in the game, having won the continental title a record nine times and competed at every Women's World Cup since it started in 1991. But they have failed to qualify for this year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and were also under-par in last year's All Africa Games in Congo.

The NFF official blamed the decline in the women's game nationally to same-sex relationships, which are illegal in religiously conservative Nigeria.

"Lesbianism kills teams," he complained at a meeting of sports writers in Ibadan on Saturday.

"People are afraid to talk about it. The coaches also take advantage of the girls, so there is much more to build in female football."

AFP reported that it contacted Akinwunmi for comment but he was not available.

Nigeria, which is almost evenly split between a largely Muslim north and predominantly Christian south, has found itself in hot water with football's world governing body before on the issue.

According to the agency report, in June 2011, women's coach Eucharia Uche came under fire for branding homosexuality "dirty" and "spiritually and morally very wrong", and for admitting she forced lesbians out of her team.

Three years ago, the former chairwoman of the women's league, Dilichukwu Onyedinma, reportedly announced a ban on lesbianism in Nigerian football, prompting a FIFA inquiry.

FIFA's non-discrimination stance includes gender and non-inclusive policies on the part of member countries are "strictly prohibited and punishable by suspension or expulsion".

Several high-profile female footballers are openly gay or bisexual, including ex-USA star Abby Wambach, whom Time magazine named among the world's 100 most influential people in 2015.

Nigeria in January 2014 introduced strict new laws banning same-sex marriage and civil partnerships, proposing up to 14 years in jail for law-breakers.

Gay rights campaigners described the legislation as "one of the world's most homophobic laws" but the government at the time said it had the support of more than 90 percent of Nigerians.

EU to negotiate with Nigeria to deport citizens

The European Commission said on Wednesday in Brussels that it is ready to start negotiating an agreement with Nigeria to deport Nigerian migrants who do not qualify to stay in the European Union.

The Commission said that the move would ensure that returns are done "rapidly and efficiently." It said the readmission agreement would respect international law.

“The European Commission has just proposed opening negotiations with Nigeria on a readmission agreement,” Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva told a press conference.

“This agreement aims to ensure a rapid and effective process for identifying and returning Nigerian nationals who do not have the right to stay in the European Union.”

The move is similar to a recent agreement EU had with Turkey that is drastically curbing migration flows from the Middle East.

A “readmission agreement” would involve migrants from Nigeria being deported in exchange for EU economic aid for Nigeria.

It would be the bloc’s first major return deal with a sub-Saharan African nation — its only existing one is with island nation Cape Verde.

Around 22,000 Nigerian nationals crossed the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe last year, according to the EU's border agency, Frontex.

The EU only provides international protection to people fleeing conflict or violence. EU member states must still give the green light for the readmission talks with Nigeria to begin.

Thelma West: Nigerian lady in male-dominated diamond trade

Nigerian Thelma West is a rare gem in the diamond world as a woman in a male-dominated sector with few Africans, despite the continent being the main source of the precious rocks.

The first in her family to work in diamonds, West is used to being an outsider, having been raised in a Jewish family in a country where Jews number fewer than 50,000 out of a population of around 180 million.

"I'm the only Nigerian Jewish woman in the trade, and I don't know of other African women in the business," the 32-year-old told AFP at her London-based business as she greeted customers with a broad smile and sparkling diamonds on her hands and wrists.

Discretion and security are essential, with the anonymous-looking building guarded by an encrypted intercom system and a reinforced door, all under the gaze of a bank of security cameras.

  

After attending the most prestigious international school in Lagos, West travelled to Britain aged 16 to finish her education.

"I wanted to become an engineer because at that time in Nigeria, you had to choose a solid career, such as doctor, lawyer, engineer," she told AFP.

But, as the saying goes, "Diamonds Are Forever" and the sparkle of the stones, which had captivated West since childhood, was an irresistible allure.

"My mum had loads of jewellery," said the daughter of a Guinness drinks company employee mother and a property developer and industrialist father.

"We were always playing with her jewellery box and she would always clean her jewels, and I would help."

West headed for Antwerp, the world's diamond capital, aged 17 despite "not knowing anybody" in the Belgian city.

There, she enrolled at the internationally renowned Hoge Raad Voor Diamant school to hone her skills.

"Even though you go to school, most of your knowledge comes from working with diamonds day-to-day," she said.

After trying for six months in vain to secure an internship,  was eventually taken under the wing of an Orthodox Jew diamond dealer, who worked with her every evening after school for a year.

She was then recruited by one of the biggest diamond suppliers in Europe based in Spain.

"It was being sent in at the deep end," she recalled. "I was 19 and I was responsible for every single diamond the company had".

Teaming up with school friends from Lagos who had moved into investment banking, West set up her own business in London to trade the precious stone.

Metal tongs in hand, West explained the secrets of some of her stock.

"Diamonds have fire," said West.

"That stone is too flat but it's got a lot of life in it, it was cut about 100 years ago," she said, pointing to one tiny rock.

"This one cost just over £100,000 ($141,000, 126,000 euros), it's got a low colour but it has been cut perfectly so it reflects light in such an amazing way."

Fewer than 50 clients, 12 of whom are investors, have access to West's knowledge.

"I can find a diamond and call them and say 'we have to buy this diamond, trust me' and they follow me," she said.

Her multinational client base -- introduced by word-of-mouth -- includes Swiss, Russians, Ghanaians, Nigerians and "a handful of French".

Helped by a 10-woman team, West creates all of her company's products, which come with a lifetime guarantee. Her most ambitious creation was a custom-made necklace worth around £2 million.

She plans to open a workshop in Nigeria, "where I'll train girls in the art of making jewellery".

West gives little away but also said she is creating "a revolutionary tool" that will help people in her business.

"That tool should be part of every diamond dealer and every shop".

AFP

Obasanjo to speak on diversification of Nigeria's economy in Georgetown University Qatar

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria, will be an honored guest of Georgetown University in Qatar on Tuesday, where he will discuss “Nigeria's evolving transformation,” exploring the challenges and opportunities in the nation’s efforts to diversify its economy. 

The public lecture at the university campus, is open to the public. Obasanjo will pay special attention to instructive insights from Qatar’s own experience of investing natural resource wealth to transition from a hydrocarbon-based economy to a knowledge-based economy. This is with a view to examine what lessons Nigeria can learn from Qatar and what opportunities exist for collaborations. 

“It is a great honor for Georgetown to host a former head of state of President Obasanjo’s caliber,” said the dean of ​GU-Q, Dr. Gerd Nonneman. 

"Two themes of enormous importance for the world as well as for us here at Georgetown are the urgency for single-commodity economies to diversify in pursuit of sustainable development; and the building and safeguarding national cohesion in countries of complex ethnic and religious make-up. President Obasanjo's experience and insights into the challenges and opportunities for Nigeria, in such efforts, are extremely valuable for all those concerned with these issues, not least here at Georgetown where our students and professors continuously engage with these questions."

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo served as Nigeria’s military Head of State from 1976 to 1979. Subsequently, he was popularly elected as the President for two consecutive terms from 1999 to 2003 and then from 2003 to 2007. His tenure at the helm of democratic government ushered in a commitment to the rule of law and crucial political reform. 

In 2008, Obasanjo was appointed by the United Nations as a special envoy to mediate in conflict situations around the continent, including in Democratic Republic of Congo, in Zimbabwe and in South Sudan. He is called upon regularly to oversee democratic elections on behalf of the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States in countries across the continent. 

Obasanjo is a member of Club de Madrid, an independent non-profit organization created to promote democracy and change in the international community. Its members are over 100 former democratically elected Presidents and Prime Ministers from more than 60 countries. 

Outside the political arena Mr. Obasanjo has been a catalyst in driving Africa’s economic transformation. The region is now amongst the fastest growing in the world, rapidly becoming the destination of choice for international investors looking to emerging and frontier markets.

Fans attack Ikpeba for unfair remark on Mikel

Former African player of the year and Prince of Monaco Victor Ikpeba was in the receiving end of a Twitter war after his unpopular tweet on John Obi Mikel stirred a barrage of insults and abuses.

Ikpeba who is a soccer pundit with SuperSport tweeted, “If Mikel can score you can make it in 2016.” However, with over 180 retweets and 29 likes for the tweet, fans did not take it lightly with the Olympic gold med

alist as they fired back.

@Wunmi Fenwa replied the former Super Eagles striker, “This is rather unfair.”

“Pls how many goals do you have in UCL,” tweeted @enifamous.

@Mrvictorikpeba did you ever score in the UCL... YOUR career was quite wack,” tweeted @AY_Shemzy

@MrvictorIkpeba I agree with Funke why the hell would you say some shit like that,” tweeted @mr_aystyles.

Some fans praised the Chelsea midfielder for his effort and believed his away goal will count as a bonus in the return leg in London. “Away goals count double, Mikel goals count treble..,” tweeted @gate1marco.

Even former INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega was not left out in the praise for Mikel, tweeting “I’m happy for our own Nigerian platey Mikel Obi’s goal tonight.”

Ikpeba played 13 Champions League matches for two teams and scored five goals.  The Prince of Monaco played four matches in the 1993/93 season for AS Monaco, scoring a goal. In the 1997/98 season, Ikpeba featured in nine matches with an improved goals ratio of four for the principality club. In the 1999/00 season, Ikpeba started for Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund, with just four games under his belt and all from the bench.

Since Mikel joined Chelsea in 2006, he played 57 UEFA Champions League match and is three short of equaling Kanu Nwankwo’s 60 appearances, highest by any Nigerian.

For whatever reason that made Ikpeba take a jibe at Mikel on Twitter, he should have known better that Chelsea fans do not joke with their legends. Perhaps an Ikpeba apology will follow soon to calm the nerves of his attackers.

Dangote tomatoes set to tackle poverty, unemployment in Nigeria

KANO It's a situation that mirrors the giant oil industry, where Nigeria has abundant resources but has lacked the capacity, will or ability to exploit it, forcing a reliance on imports.

But Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote is hoping to change tomato production with a giant factory that will boost domestic output, create jobs -- and even, indirectly, fight Boko Haram.

For the past five years, the Dangote Group conglomerate he heads has been working to build a $20-million (18.4-million-euro) tomato processing plant outside the northern city of Kano.

The city and state of the same name has been blighted by poverty and unemployment, seen as key drivers to radicalisation fuelling the Islamist insurgency in the wider north since 2009.

But it's hoped the giant factory the size of 10 football pitches, set alongside 17,000 hectares (acres) of irrigated fields, will help by tapping a potential agricultural goldmine.

The country's agriculture ministry puts annual current demand for tomato puree at 900,000 tonnes.

When the Dangote factory opens from next month it will provide 430,000 tonnes of paste that is used widely in Nigerian dishes from jollof rice to fiery soups.

"Nigeria is such a huge market for tomato paste that we will find quite challenging to satisfy," the factory's general manager, Abdulkarim Kaita, told AFP.

"Already local tomato paste packaging companies have placed orders with us which we will have to work hard to satisfy.

"We are set to begin operations. We are only waiting for the tomatoes which are ripening in the fields."

  

Nigeria grows some 1.5 million tonnes of tomatoes every year, making it the 14th biggest producer in the world.

But it's forced to rely on imports of tomato puree, mostly from China, because of a lack of processing plants.

Dangote's factory, built by Switzerland-based Syngenta, will directly employ 120 people and 50,000 farmers have been engaged to grow the tomatoes required for the process of making concentrate.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has provided technical assistance such as soft loans for seeds and fertiliser. The factory will then buy the produce at competitive rates, said Kaita.

Currently, about half of the local tomato crop rots because of a lack of storage facilities, poor pricing and access to markets, which has prompted many farmers to stop cultivation, said the CBN.

The improved seed varieties to increase yields, access to chemicals, more up-to-date farming techniques and a ready market for the produce is designed to entice farmers back.

"Once we start production the factory will be providing employment to farmers and (the) tomato paste packaging industry, traders, haulage operators and many others to support the tomato value chain," said production manager Ashwin Patil.

Plans to increase production -- and acquire an idle tomato paste factory in neighbouring Kaduna state -- are in the pipeline, he added.

For farmers such as Yusuf Ado Kadawa, it's a lifeline.

"We really incur heavy losses from our yield, which rots away due to lack of (a) ready market for our tomatoes, which is a perishable produce. But now we have a market close to us," he said.

  

President Muhammadu Buhari is keen to diversify Nigeria's economy away from an over-reliance on oil as revenues have been severely depleted by the global slump in crude prices.

Former agriculture minister Akinwumi Adesina, now head of the African Development Bank, in 2013 described the sector as "the new oil".

Some 30 percent of Nigeria's estimated 170 million people are employed in agriculture, mostly at a subsistence level, although moves have been made to commercialise production.

Erratic power supply, which Nigeria has been grappling with for more than two decades, and lack of import controls remain the factory's main challenges.

The factory will have to rely on diesel-hungry generators for electricity, adding to production costs and reducing competitiveness with cheaper imports.

Both issues contributed to the collapse of hundreds of factories in Dangote's home state of Kano in the past two decades, including his textile and wheat flour factories.

But the vice-president of Nigeria's manufacturers union, Ali Madugu, said the future still looked bright.

"Once the government can place restrictions on the import of Chinese tomato pastes... the sky's the limit for the Dangote tomato paste because the market is there for them to exploit," he added.

'Africa's biggest Jesus statue' unveiled in Nigeria

ABAJAH The biggest statue of Jesus Christ in Africa was unveiled on Friday (New Year's day) during a ceremony at Abajah in Imo State, Nigeria,  presided over Bishop Augustine Tochukwu Okwuoma  and commissioned by a renowned businessman Obinna Onuoha.

Commenting on the unveiling, Bishop Okwuoma,  said it would be a "very great symbol of faith" for Catholic worshippers and passers-by alike. "It will remind them of the importance of Jesus Christ," said Okwuoma. More than 100 priests and hundreds of Catholic worshippers attended the nine-metre (30-foot) statue's official unveiling in the village of Abajah in southeastern Nigeria.

Business Onuoha was the brain behind the project, he hired a Chinese company to carve the statue. "We think religions can exist side by side," Onuoha said. "We hope that people can live in harmony."
He said the idea of building a giant statue of Jesus came to him in a dream nearly 20 years ago.

The "Jesus de Greatest" statue weighs in at 40 tonnes and was carved by a Chinese company. The statue is situated in the grounds of a 2000-capacity church built in 2012.

Earlier in the week, Onuoha said it would be "the biggest statue of Jesus on the continent," according  to a report.

The 43-year-old boss of an oil and gas distribution company timed the statue's unveiling to coincide with his parents' 50th wedding anniversary. Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with 170 million people, is split between a more prosperous

And when his 68-year-old mother fell seriously ill a few years ago, she made him promise that he would build a church if she survived.