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Heartland FC has distanced itself from its former General Manager, Promise Uchenna Nwachukwu, declaring that he no longer has any link or authority to represent the club in any capacity.

In a statement signed by the club’s Technical Manager, Emmanuel Amuneke, Heartland clarified that Nwachukwu ceased to be part of the club’s management since July 2024. The club noted that recent developments necessitated the disclaimer to prevent the public and football stakeholders from being misled.

‘Mr. Nwachukwu is not authorized to represent Heartland FC in any official or unofficial matters, nor is he permitted to act, speak, or transact on behalf of the club,’ the Owerri-based side said in a statement.

Heartland further warned that any individual, organization, or football body – including the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the Confederation of African Football (CAF), or FIFA – that deals with Nwachukwu under the impression that he represents the club does so at their own risk.

The club emphasized that it will not be held liable for any agreements, representations, or commitments made by the former official.

Amuneke assured that the club remains focused on repositioning Heartland FC for greater professionalism, transparency, and integrity.

Arsenal have held internal discussions about expanding the capacity of Emirates Stadium.

The talks are still at an early stage with no favoured plan on how to move forward decided yet, but the possibility of home matches being played at Wembley Stadium if work was to take place has been discussed.

The Gunners played Champions League matches at the old Wembley Stadium in both the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons.

Rivals Tottenham played Champions League matches at the current Wembley in 2016-17, before playing all of their ‘home’ fixtures at Wembley in 2017-18 and most of 2018-19 while their new stadium was completed.

Next year will mark 20 years since the Gunners moved to the Emirates from Highbury.

It is understood talks have involved the possibility of changing the seating plan in order to add thousands of seats as the Gunners look to keep pace with the largest stadiums in the country.

With a capacity of 60,704, Arsenal have the fifth-largest stadium among English football clubs.

Manchester United’s Old Trafford is the biggest ground with a capacity of 74,879, while Tottenham’s home is second (62,850), West Ham (62,500) third and Liverpool (61,276) fourth.

Sir: Three years after seizing power, Burkina Faso’s strongman, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, continues to project himself as the torchbearer of a new African revolution – a reincarnation of the late Thomas Sankara. Yet, his recent performance, marking his third anniversary in power, revealed more theatre than substance. It was less a presidential address and more a self-congratulatory monologue filled with sweeping claims, imagined enemies, and revolutionary soundbites detached from the harsh realities on the ground.

Facing a carefully selected group of journalists – those unlikely to ask uncomfortable questions – Traoré transformed what should have been a serious state briefing into a one-man show. His tone was confident, even prophetic, yet far removed from the desperation of a nation caught in the grip of terrorism, poverty, and displacement.

Traoré opened with drama: when he came to power, he claimed, the Burkinabe army had ‘barely a hundred weapons and 100,000 cartridges.’ Such exaggerations might thrill loyalists but stretch credibility. Even local hunters would scoff at such arithmetic. Yet, the captain reassured his listeners that 15,000 men are now recruited annually and that Burkina Faso will soon ‘make its own weapons.’

How, and with what resources? There were no details – no factories, no engineers, no budget. It was a familiar populist pattern: imagination over implementation, rhetoric over realism.

Perhaps the highlight – or low point – of the press conference came with the grand economic announcement: a tomato processing plant. While jihadists overrun villages and thousands of civilians flee daily, the government’s big victory was the promise of locally made tomato paste.

Agricultural processing is undoubtedly essential. But in a nation where more than half of the territory is under terrorist control, the symbolism felt jarring. The message seemed to be: Burkina may not be safe, but at least it will have sauce.

When policies fail, populists find scapegoats. In Traoré’s narrative, the Ivory Coast has now become the enemy. He accused Abidjan of serving as ‘the rear base of Burkina’s enemies’ and even suggested that President Alassane Ouattara had signed a ‘non-aggression pact’ with jihadists.

Such allegations are not just far-fetched – they are dangerous. They strain regional diplomacy, alienate neighbours, and distract from the government’s inability to secure its own borders. Ironically, when a journalist cited a poll showing that 66% of Ivorians viewed Burkina Faso’s leadership favourably, Traoré shrugged: ‘Really? I don’t follow that. I don’t watch those media outlets anymore.’

This was revealing. In a state where the media is censored and dissent suppressed, even positive news struggles to reach the leader’s ears. Traoré appears trapped within his own echo chamber – and Burkina Faso with him.

Three years on, the outcomes are damning. Burkina Faso remains the most terrorised country in the world. Thousands have been killed, millions displaced, and much of the countryside is beyond state control. Schools are closed, health centres are abandoned, and basic livelihoods are destroyed.

Despite fiery anti-Western speeches and his warm embrace of Moscow, little has changed on the ground. Russian mercenaries and propaganda can amplify slogans, but they cannot rebuild schools, protect farmers, or restart an economy in free fall.

And now, with Burkina Faso – alongside Niger and Mali – having withdrawn from ECOWAS, the country faces deepening isolation. What Traoré brands as ‘sovereign independence’ increasingly looks like self-imposed solitude. Without regional cooperation, intelligence sharing, or trade partnerships, Burkina Faso risks turning into a garrison state – fortified in rhetoric but hollow in results.

In just three hours of speaking, Captain Traoré managed to: turn the Ivory Coast into the supposed headquarters of Sahel’s villains; declare tomato paste the new pillar of national resilience; and redefine politics as the art of deception.

But beyond the theatre, Burkina Faso continues to bleed. The ordinary people – farmers, students, traders, and families – pay the real price for this illusion of revolution.

Traoré may parade as the new Sankara, but three years on, his ‘revolution’ looks more like a parody than a legacy. The real revolution Burkina Faso needs today is not one of slogans or posturing, but of results – restoring security, rebuilding trust, and reviving governance.

Until then, Captain Ibrahim Traoré’s revolution remains exactly what it appears to be: a show more than a solution.

Nigerian smallholder farmers collectively earned over $40 million from agricultural sales through Federal Government and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) co-financed Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP).

IFAD Country Director, Mrs. Dede Ekoue, spoke yesterday in Abuja at the workshop of the 12th Joint Federal Government and IFAD Supervision Mission for the programme.

She said the $334 million initiative, funded by IFAD and Nigeria, has transformed smallholder agriculture, especially in rice and cassava value chains.

Ekoue described the programme as a reflection of Nigeria’s commitment to strengthening food systems, enhancing productivity, and improving livelihoods of rural farmers.

Highlighting its impact, she noted that participating rice farmers record yields of five to six metric tonnes per hectare a remarkable improvement, from the national average of two to 2.5 tonnes.

Through the Commodity Alliance Forum (CAF), the VCDP’s flagship public-private-producer partnership platform, farmers have generated over $40 million in sales through 878 agreements with off-takers, benefiting more than 16,000 rice farmers.

‘These showcase what can be achieved through collaboration between governments, farmers, communities, private sector, and IFAD,’ he said.

‘We are delighted that the VCDP complements President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy, and African Union’s Kampala Declaration on agricultural transformation.’

The Gateway International Airport at Iperu Remo in Ogun State yesterday began scheduled commercial flights

Governor Dapo Abiodun, who inaugurated the ValueJet Airlines flight to Abuja on its Bombardier CRJ jet, lauded the vision of his predecessors in facilitating the construction of the fastest-built airport terminal in the country.

Abiodun described the choice of the location of the airport as strategic and essential in driving the economic development of the Gateway State.

The governor lauded the efforts of the team that delivered the facility, saying such a project would boost the socio-economic development of the state.

He praised aviation authorities, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), for ensuring the regulatory requirements were complied with.Abiodun also hailed the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo, and his team, as well as other aviation regulatory bodies, for ensuring that the best was put together to accomplish the objective.

The governor applauded the efforts of the ValueJet Airlines boss and other members of the project implementation committee for their hard work in completing the project.

He said: ‘Our vision for Ogun State, which we have encapsulated, is to provide a focused and cohesive governance, while creating an enabling environment for public-private sector partnership, which we believe is fundamental to the economic growth of the state and the individual prosperity of every citizen of Ogun State.

‘In short, that vision clearly aims to bring more people to live, work, and play in Ogun State. So, in helping us to actualise that vision, we were advised on how we must ensure that our multi-modal transportation connects road, rail, air, and water.

‘This location had been chosen by my predecessors. But, they again confirmed, because they wanted to be passionate about the location of the airport. They again confirmed and validated the fact that this is indeed the location for an airport in the state.

‘Being almost at the centre point of the state, we came back here and noticed that the land had been encroached on and become a dump site. It was a forest. Today, the journey that started in 2021, and that evolved into the first plane that landed here after the construction of our runway, sometime in February 2023, two years afterwards. It has made us one of the fastest-constructed airports.’

Also, the Director General of NCAA, Captain Chris Najomo, hailed the Ogun State government for the project.

He noted that the airport would add value to the aviation ecosystem.

Najomo said: ‘He started this thing in 2021. Now, this is the fastest one we have seen in the creation of airports. As a regulator, we made sure that everything was done according to regulations. As such, we did not leave any stone unturned.

‘If other states want to do the same, they must make sure they take value from what Ogun State has done. It is one thing to start a project, but it is another to see it through and ensure that regulations are followed.’

Also, the Federal Government has given Ekiti Agro-Allied International Cargo Airport approval to start scheduled flight operations or commercial flights, effective October 4.

This followed the expiration of the initial approval for a non-scheduled flight approval for the airport by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in December 2024 and compliance with regulatory requirements.

The NCAA, in the letter dated October 3, 2025, addressed to Governor Biodun Oyebanji, confirmed the new approval for scheduled flights. The approval will be for an initial period of six months.

According to the letter signed by the Director of Aerodrome and Airspace Standards in the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Godwin Balang, the validation inspection was conducted on the airport from June 16 to 19.

‘The outcome revealed that the basic operational requirements for scheduled flight operations to Ado-Ekiti Airport have been significantly complied with and the instrument flight check validation report conducted by NAMA indicates satisfactory compliance with regulatory requirements.

‘In view of the above and in line with the provisions of Nig CARs Part 12 Vol. 1, 2023, I have been directed to convey the Authority’s Interim Operational Permit subject to the limitations of VFR or daylight (sunrise to sunset) operations.

‘Furthermore, Your Excellency is respectfully invited to note that this interim Operational Permit is to enable Ekiti Agro-Allied International Cargo Airport to implement outstanding gaps and commence the certification process, which will allow for issuance of Aerodrome Operational Permit with a year’s validity in accordance with the Nig.CARS Part 12 Vol. 1.’

Also, the Ekiti State government has reached an advanced stage of installing the Instrument Landing System (ILS) to position the airport for night and all-weather operations.

Governor Oyebanji has hailed the development as a major boost to the economic development of the state.

He noted that the commencement of commercial operations at the airport would boost agribusiness, tourism development, commercial activities, and medical tourism.

These activities, the governor said, would further position the state as a destination of choice for people looking for where to live, work, invest, and relax.

Oyebanji thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for providing the enabling environment for socioeconomic development at the national and subnational levels. He also thanked his immediate predecessor in office, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who laid the foundation of the airport project in 2019.

The governor also thanked the founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola (SAN), for his remarkable contributions to the airport project as well as members of the Airport Committee.

Bioclinix Medical Diagnostics Centre has congratulated its Advisor on Molecular Diagnostics, Dr. Elekofehinti Olusola, for being named among the top two percent of researchers globally, a recognition that highlights his outstanding contributions to science, innovation, and biomedical research.

Olusola, an Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology, Akure is widely respected for his pioneering work in bioinformatics, molecular biology, and biomedical drug design and development.

His research has advanced global understanding in the fields of computational biology, drug discovery, and molecular diagnostics.

The recognition, compiled from global citation metrics, places Dr. Olusola among a distinguished group of scholars whose research has had significant impact worldwide.

Speaking on the milestone, Dr. Isaac Olatunde, CEO of Bioclinix Medical Diagnostics Centre, described the recognition as both an inspiration and a validation of Bioclinix’s commitment to excellence in diagnostics.

‘We are proud to have Dr. Olusola as part of the Bioclinix team. His expertise in bioinformatics and molecular diagnostics is invaluable to our vision of advancing healthcare delivery in Nigeria. This global recognition shows that our advisor is not just shaping science locally, but contributing meaningfully to the global body of knowledge.’

Dr. Olusola’s role at Bioclinix as Advisor on Molecular Diagnostics is to guide the Centre in developing cutting-edge diagnostic services, build research collaborations, and mentor the next generation of scientists.

With this recognition, Bioclinix believes that Nigeria’s diagnostic and biomedical research sector can continue to compete on the global stage, drawing strength from local expertise with international impact.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and Qatar have strengthened their partnership in combating illicit drug trafficking with the symbolic exchange of instruments of ratification between both countries.

The exchange was conducted yesterday in Abuja by the NDLEA Chairman, retired Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa, and the Ambassador of Qatar to Nigeria, Ali Bin Ghanem Al-Hajri.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the development followed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on March 3, 2024, in Doha, between President Bola Tinubu and the Emir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani.

The agreement focused on cooperation in combating illicit trade in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, and their precursors.

Marwa, in his remarks, commended the existing partnership between both nations, describing it as a joint commitment to tackling a major global threat to public health and security.

He assured that the NDLEA would continue to collaborate closely with its Qatari counterpart to protect the people and countries from the threat of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking.

According to him, the agency in the past four years has intercepted over 1,000 kg of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, cannabis, and other illicit substances destined for Qatar.

Marwa also lauded the government of Qatar for its peace-building efforts and humanitarian interventions across the world through the Qatar Foundation.

He appealed to the foundation to support Nigeria in the provision of rehabilitation facilities for the treatment of persons struggling with drug addiction.

Responding, Amb. Al-Hajri pledged to convey Marwa’s request to the Qatar Foundation.

He commended the growing cooperation between the two nations and noted that the partnership had led to an increase in travels and exchanges between Nigeria and Qatar.

He reaffirmed Qatar’s readiness to continue working with Nigeria in areas that promote security, stability, and mutual prosperity.

The Chairman of the board, management, and staff of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) yesterday hailed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima for the directive to reduce the cost of the 2026 Hajj.

NAHCON described the development as a thoughtful and timely move that has brought relief to intending pilgrims nationwide.

A statement yesterday in Abuja by the commission’s Deputy Director of Information and Publication, Fatima Sanda Usara, reads: ‘The President’s instruction to review Hajj fares downward shows a government that listens and responds to the people’s concerns. It also reflects genuine empathy for the financial strain faced by many Muslims who dream of performing the sacred pilgrimage.

‘NAHCON equally hails the government’s call on pilgrims and State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Boards to take advantage of the current appreciation of the Naira by making early remittances. Acting promptly, as mentioned by the Deputy Chief of Staff, Alhaji Ibrahim Hadeja, after the meeting at the Villa, would help Nigeria lock in the benefits of the stronger currency.

‘The directive and recommendation for early remittances show a deep understanding of both NAHCON’s operational challenges and the economic realities of our pilgrims. It is another clear example of a responsive and people-focused administration that steps in with practical solutions, especially to the Commission.

‘This directive reinforces President Tinubu’s steady support for improving Hajj management in Nigeria through interventions that make the exercise more affordable, transparent, and well-coordinated.

‘NAHCON will work closely with all stakeholders to ensure the full implementation of the directive and to deliver a smooth and rewarding 2026 Hajj for Nigerian pilgrims.

‘Hence, NAHCON calls upon intending pilgrims to hasten and make payment in sequence to the disclosure of the new fare, which will be announced soon. This will enable their boards to make early remittances that will enable the Central Bank of Nigeria to use the favorable exchange rate for the Hajj services.’

Happy World Teachers Day. May we empower, equip and pay them to better win the education war. Amen.

Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN pledges to introduce clean naira notes. Good. Hopefully the good work of the Tinubu government and governor of CBN, Yemi Cardoso and his team to service proper mechanisms for proper use of available funds, naira and dollar, and the efforts to prevent fraud in the supply and service chains like customs and the oil sector, will also improve the value of the clean notes.

At the behest of the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, the bank moguls, often rightly vilified for their greed, collectively released N60b of funds earned from Nigerian citizens’ money in the very profitable bank balances of trillion naira-a-year banks for the refurbishment of the Wole Soyinka National Theatre. Hurray for Sanwo-Olu’s wisdom in choosing to leverage on and actually create a Mega-Public Private Partnership. This is most likely the largest in Nigeria and the way forward. Congratulations to the bank moguls and all involved. However, the curse of most government projects and some in the private sector is poor maintenance.

Hopefully, having expended such a huge sum in resuscitating the WS National Theatre, these same bank moguls have an adequate maintenance blueprint. We have just refurbished the multibillion-naira Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and already, as reported recently in this column, a chronic lack of political will and civil service supervision and maintenance has resulted in thousands of islands of weeds and grass growing along the concrete barrier. Shame!

The Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, SOGON, and women’s groups should together fight the danger of death from ectopic pregnancy. Hospital frontline staff and administrators should be ordered to release ‘GUIDELINES FOR ECTOPIC PREGNANCY CASES’. Ectopic pregnancy patients bleed inside, not outside. No blood is seen by the staff to alert them to the serious situation. The patient can deteriorate very quickly, within five minutes and collapse and die while the staff are selfishly haggling with the patient or the family over the patient’s insurance or ability to pay. Even with money some patients are turned away to avoid ‘inconvenience to the staff or hospital’. Maybe the staff want to close or are just coming on duty.

No medical service with the capability to perform emergency surgery should be allowed to reject such patients. The patient has a high chance of dying while being conveyed to another hospital which also could also reject her if she arrived alive. That second rejection will almost certainly be a death sentence. When I was in practice, I introduced the 15-minute rule for ectopic pregnancy patients. It meant that from diagnosis in the casualty or clinic, to rushing the patient to theatre for knife-on-skin, it should not take more than 15 minutes.

Some patients’ families will run away, deserting the patients resulting in zero hope of recovering the funds expended on surgery. It is also true that sometimes the medical personnel are unfairly and wrongly burdened by conviction or compassion, with raising the ‘lost’ surgical funds.

Unknown to readers, many doctors throughout the country and probably widely in the developing world, pay towards drugs, investigations and surgery procedures for many needy patients, rather than have those same patients abandoned, refused admission or discharged to suffer and even die because they were financially challenged. Delay in ectopic pregnancy care is a death sentence. Period.

We heard a lot around a ‘FREE CAESARIAN SECTION’ policy. Hurray! We await its introduction to help level the financially uneven delivery ground for what is the ‘MOST DANGEROUS DAY IN THE LIFE OF A WOMAN AND CHILD’ in the ‘LABOUR WAR-D’. Why not decisively deal politically with these twin maternal medical emergencies at the beginning and end of the pregnancy spectrum and introduce a ‘free caesarean section and free ectopic pregnancy for those who cannot afford them’?

When implemented countrywide, ‘FREE CAESARIAN SECTION and FREE ECTOPIC PREGNANCY FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT AFFORD THEM’, will bring comfort to millions of families, noting that 70% of the citizenry are poor. It is a worthy investment in the health service delivered to women and in families especially when we consider the amount of money stolen as attested to by the huge sums for which many politicians are taken to court for by ICPC and EFCC, even if they are not convicted due to technical and other loopholes.

For years it has been advocated that Nigeria should have adopted a warlike stance against Boko Haram and its fellow terrorism travellers years ago. It did not and now we are facing a serious low and high tech, including terrorist drone, escalation. Certainly, Nigeria should adopt a much more warlike attitude to acknowledge the cost in our millions displaced, injured and killed and our security heroes past who have fallen fighting Boko Haram since 2009. A warlike footage must cut cost of politics, including the ludicrous cost of political forms for the coming elections and diverting such funds to the military and psychological defeat of the terrorists.

A warlike stance against Boko Haram and other terrorists can only become a reality if we take seriously the combined past and present plight of our dead and more than five million Internally Displaced Persons. We demand a new pressure group – ‘INTERNALLY DISPLACED POLITICIANS’ – IDPOL- made up of politicians who cannot go back home, because of terrorism and Boko Haram. Nigeria must defeat terrorism, Amen

Mikel Obi has challenged the Super Eagles to take responsibility and deliver the results needed to keep their 2026 FIFA World Cup dream alive when they face Lesotho on Friday in Polokwane, South Africa.

Speaking on the Obi One Podcast alongside Chris McHardy, the former national team captain warned that failing to qualify for a second consecutive tournament would be ‘a crime’ and called on the players to shut out off-field distractions and rise to the occasion.

He described Nigeria’s qualifying campaign as hanging by a thread , adding the situation is still redeemable if the players set their minds to play for their country with their hearts.

‘First to qualify, you know, again, we’ve seen, you know, lucky us, um, South Africa has been deducted three points for some reason, ineligible players,’ Mikel said. ‘So that’s good for us. I think right now you can; you can literally say the group is, it’s sort of a shootout group.

‘It’s a shootout group. We have Benin at home and go to win both. We have to win both. We have to win both. I don’t care what’s going on. I don’t care what’s happening. I don’t care what’s going on. I need the players. I know; I still know a lot of them in the squad. I need them. We need them. Nigerians need them.’

The Super Eagles sit three points behind South Africa and Benin Republic in Group C and face Lesotho in Polokwane on Friday before returning to Uyo to host Benin.

With just two games left, Mikel said there was no room for error: ‘Our World Cup fate is in their hands.’

Mikel who rose through every level of Nigerian football, spoke candidly about the inner workings of the national team, adding the Super eagles will have to play out of their skins to book a ticket for the 2026 Mundial.

He continued: ‘I don’t speak a lot about the national team because I know what’s going on. I know what’s happening. For so many years, I probably am the only player. I’m not sure. I probably am the only player who played the under-17, the under-20, the under-23 and the Super Eagles. I played the whole rank. And the Olympics. Yeah. Which is the under-23.

‘So I know deep down inside what goes on there. I know. I understand the players, but when you come to this stage of the tournament, every one of those players’ problems from the top goes away. It goes away. It goes out of the window. It’s about the players. It’s about the players taking responsibility and knowing our World Cup fate is in their hands.’

The former Lyn Oslo midfielder didn’t shy away from criticising the Nigeria Football Federation but stressed that now was not the time for excuses.

‘It’s right now in the hands of the players. Yes. The NFF, the board, they are who they are, the corruption that is going on, the issues that are going on there. all that goes out of the window.

‘Win your two games, the players win your two games and qualify, and then the whole thing – we can talk about the whole thing another day, but our World Cup fate is in their hands, and I’m begging them. I’m with my whole heart begging the players on behalf of Nigerians.’