Mikel’s form key to Egypt tie – Adepoju, Fuludu

Former Nigeria internationals, Mutiu Adepoju and
Edema Fuludu, have hailed the current form of Chelsea
midfielder, Mikel Obi, saying he would be key to
Nigeria’s pursuit of victory against Egypt in their
Gabon 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
Mikel, who is in his 10th season at Chelsea, has
rediscovered his form since he returned to the starting
line-up of the English League champions under interim
coach Guus Hiddink. The 28-year-old scored his sixth
Chelsea goal in his 358th appearance on Tuesday in a
2-1 loss to Paris St. Germain in the UEFA Champions
League.
Nigeria will play Egypt on March 25 in Kaduna before
playing the return leg in Cairo and the former Super
Eagles players, who spoke with our correspondent in
separate interviews, believe that Mikel has achieved a
new level of confidence which would rub on his
performance for the Eagles.
Adepoju said, “Mikel has achieved a new level of
confidence in his game and it was what resulted in his
ability to take the responsibility for the team against
PSG. He saw himself as responsible for the
opponent’s first goal and fought well to get one back
for his team.

British Council Presents Lagos Theatre Festival 2016

The British Council Lagos Theatre Festival will be
coming to Lagos between February 23rd and 28th
2016, to hold the biggest Arts gathering in the city and
the largest outdoor theatre festival in Nigeria.
This year, the festival will feature over 100
performances from producers such as Bani
Productions, Comic Republic, Creative Arts Collection
UNILAG, Make it happen Productions, Thespian Family
Theatre, Troopers Arts, Women in Arts and many more
including 4 International productions from the United
Kingdom.
Taking place across 20 venues to include British
Council, National Arts Theatre, Freedom Park,
Terrakulture, Bogobiri, Muson Centre, UNILAG among
others, there will also special workshops for Actors,
Creative Writing, Directors and Producers.
Lagos Theatre Festival 2016 will be an extravaganza of
music,dance,spoken word, musical and performance
theatre.

Asaba to host Milo basketball finals

For the first time since its inception in 1999, the
national finals of the Nestle Milo Secondary School
Basketball Championship, has been moved out of
Lagos State.
It will be held in Asaba, the Delta State capital this
year.
The organisers of the championship, who made this
announcement at a press conference heralding the
18th edition of the tournament on Thursday in Lagos,
said the final play-offs will hold between June 5 and
12 at the Asaba Stadium.
The competition will feature four conferences: the
Western Conference, which will be held in Lagos from
April 21 to 27, with school teams from Delta, Edo, Ekiti,
Ondo, Ogun, Oyo and Lagos states.
The Central Conference, which will be hosted by Ilorin
from April 27 to May 4, will have teams from Benue,
FCT, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger,
Sokoto and Zamfara states.
The Confluence Conference billed for Lokoja, Kogi
State from May 5 to May 12, will have teams from
Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano,
Plateau, Taraba, Yobe and Kogi states.
Then the Equatorial Conference will take place from
May 13 to 19 in Enugu with teams from Abia, Anambra,
Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ebonyi Rivers, Imo
and Enugu states participating.
All teams in the national finals will receive N200,000
each, while the winners, first and second runners-up
will get extra N150,000, N120,000 and N100,000
respectively.
The Managing Director, Nestle Nigeria, Dharnesh
Gordhon, said this edition of the championship “will
stretch to over 9,000 schools across the 36 states and
the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, helping to find
out potential talents.”
The firm’s Category Manager, Beverages, Olufemi
Akintola, said the championship has played a key role
in producing many national and international basketball
stars.
“A good number of the players in the Nigerian Premier
Basketball League participated in the Milo Secondary
Schools basketball championship. Some of our
champions are currently playing in international
leagues in the USA, Spain, Germany, Portugal and even
China,” Akintola said.
According to the General-Secretary of the National
School Sports Federation, Olabisi Joseph, who
represented the federation’s president, there will be
data capturing and biometrics of players at the
conferences to produce a database that will be “an
undefeatable tool in the war against the cankerworm
of the use of mercenaries.”

Lagos light rail ready in December — Ambode

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State says
Lagosians will start using the blue line of the light rail
project by December 2016.
Ambode spoke during the 5th Lagos Corporate
Assembly, a forum for public-private sector
engagement, at the Lagos House, Ikeja.
He said, “The contractors are actually working on the
waters for now and by December this year, the project
will start running. So, work is seriously ongoing.”
Ambode added that the government was about
concluding on the channelisation of the waterways in
Lagos to improve water transport, encourage
investment, and reduce the pressure on road networks
in the state.
He said the state would continue to create an enabling
environment for businesses to thrive with the overall
aim of improving on the socio-economic wellbeing of
the citizens.

President Buhari hosts cocktail party for Diplomats (PHOTO)

President Buhari hosted members of the
Diplomatic corps in Nigeria, to a cocktail party,
at his official residence on Thursday, February
18, 2016.
The visibly elated President said "I am very delighted to
have you at this reception organized principally, to
provide a relaxed atmosphere for an informal interaction
at the early stage of the New Year.
“Although the year is somehow far gone today for me to
say Happy New Year to all of you, but it is not too late to
convey my very best wishes for your well-being, joy and
peace in the rest of 2016.”

Manchester City ready to spurn FA Cup chance

Managers threatening to play a weakened
team in the FA Cup has become a familiar sound in
recent seasons and Manuel Pellegrini joined the
chorus ahead of Manchester City's fifth-round tie
away to Chelsea on Sunday.
At both ends of the Premier League, the financial
incentive to either qualify for the Champions League
or avoid relegation has led to many managers
drawing on their extended squads for FA Cup ties.
In fairness to Pellegrini, who was told at the start of
this month that he would be replaced as City
manager by Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola at
the end of the season, his FA Cup dilemma this
weekend is not of his own making.
The BBC, who are broadcasting City's Cup tie, have
had their request to get the game moved from
Saturday to Sunday accepted by the FA.
That means Pellegrini's men will be in action just a
day before they travel to Ukraine ahead of the first
leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against
Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday, with City bidding to
reach the quarter-finals of Europe's elite club
competition for the first time.
That fixture in turn takes place just four days before
City face Liverpool in the League Cup final at
Wembley a week on Sunday.

I am not pregnant from Jude Okoye - Cynthia Morgan

Dancehall act, Cynthia Morgan has shut down
rumours that she is pregnant from her record label
boss, and senior brother to the Psquare duo, Jude
Okoye.
As the Okoye brothers continue their feud, Northside
Entertainment act Cynthia Morgan, 24, has been
brought into the nasty online war.
On Wednesday a Twitter user asked Cynthia Morgan
to confirm the rumour that she was pregnant from
the head of her label and Psquare manager Jude
Okoye.
The ‘German Juice’ singer flatly denied the rumour.
“FYI I am not pregnant for Mr Jude Okoye,My
Boss.My relationship With him is Strictly Business
And Highly Professional. Thankyou.”
Social media has been lit up since Peter Okoye and
Jude Okoye started their feud.
FYI I am not pregnant for Mr Jude Okoye,My
Boss.My relationship With him is Strictly
Business And Highly Professional.Thankyou
— THE GYAL DEM DON. (@cynthiamorgan1)
February 17, 2016