NaijaPolitico

Arsenal will face French side Rennes in the last 16 of the Europa League, while Chelsea were paired with Dynamo Kiev in Friday’s draw.

Both Premier League clubs were initially drawn to be at home in the first leg on Thursday, March 7.

However, in order to avoid two games in London on the same night, Arsenal will now travel to France for the first leg, before hosting Rennes at the Emirates Stadium on March 14.

Arsenal’s draw means that their veteran goalkeeper Petr Cech will return to face the club he represented for two seasons before joining Chelsea in 2004.

“When a goalkeeper makes the draw good things happen,” tweeted Cech after former Sevilla ‘keeper Andres Palop performed the draw at UEFA’s headquarters in Switzerland.

The Gunners overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit to qualify for the last 16 by beating BATE Borisov of Belarus 3-0 on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Rennes reached the last 16 for the first time in their history with a fine 3-1 win away to Real Betis in Spain, a result that gave them a 6-4 aggregate triumph.

The Brittany club finished fifth in Ligue 1 last season and are currently in mid-table, but have impressed since the 38-year-old Julien Stephan was appointed as coach in December.

Arsenal manager Unai Emery — who won the Europa League three years running as coach of Sevilla — is familiar with Rennes from his two seasons in charge of Paris Saint-Germain.

London rivals Chelsea, the other Premier League club still in the competition, might also view winning the Europa League as their most likely route into next season’s Champions League.

After beating Swedish side Malmo 5-1 on aggregate, they might find the going tougher against Ukrainian giants Dynamo though.

The clubs met in the group stage of the Champions League in 2015-16, drawing 0-0 in Kiev before Chelsea won 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.

Elsewhere, Sevilla, who have won the trophy five times including twice in its former guise as the UEFA Cup, will face Slavia Prague.

Widely-fancied Napoli will take on the Austrian champions Salzburg, who reached the semi-finals last season.

Former European Cup finalists and UEFA Cup winners Eintracht Frankfurt were drawn against Inter Milan, who won the UEFA Cup three times in the 1990s.

Benfica face Dinamo Zagreb, while Valencia’s reward for knocking out Celtic is a tie against FC Krasnodar of Russia.

That is one of two ties between Russian and Spanish sides, with Zenit Saint Petersburg drawn against Villarreal.

The final of this season’s Europa League will be played in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on May 29.

By Solomon Asowata

Arik Air on Friday said patronage of its “Fly to Vote promo” by Nigerians ahead of Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly Elections was encouraging.

The Spokesperson of the airline, Mr Adebanji Ola, made this known in an interview with Naija Politico (NAN) in Lagos.

Arik Air had after the postponement of last Saturday’s elections, announced a flat fare of N16, 000 “fly-to-vote’’ promotion to assuage the inconveniences to eligible voters, who had travelled for the botched polls.

It said that the gesture was to encourage such persons and other Nigerians, who may have been discouraged by the rescheduling, to try and travel again to exercise their franchise on the new dates of the polls.

The airline said the promo was available for sale from Monday until March 11 for travels between Thursday and Tuesday as well as March 7 until March 12.

According to the airline, a customer must present a valid Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) at the point of purchase of ticket and at check-in, to be eligible to fly.

Ola told NAN that some Nigerians had taken advantage of the slashing of the air fare to participate in exercising their civic responsibilities.

”The patronage has been encouraging. People have been buying tickets to go back to their respective wards in order to participate in the elections.

”The procedure remains that they present their PVCs and the N16, 000 covers all our 17 domestic routes.

”We have put this promotional fare in place to encourage voters’ participation,” he said.

A NAN correspondent who monitored activities on Friday at the General Aviation Terminal of Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, observed that majority of the promo beneficiaries flew with Arik Air’s morning flights to their respective destinations.

Some travelers who attempted to purchase the promotional tickets off the airline’s counter for immediate traveling were turned back by the staff in spite of producing their PVCs.

A travel agent, Mr Uche Ikeagwu, told NAN that the promo flights for the Presidential and National Assembly elections had been fully booked.

”I learnt that those who travelled today already booked their flights since Monday. I was trying to assist my friend but unfortunately, we were told that it was no longer available so we have to consider other options,” he said. (NAN)

By Isaac Aregbesola

U.S. President Donald Trump’s top foreign policy advisor Amb. John Bolton, has urged Nigerians to ensure that the Saturday,s elections are peaceful.

Bolton said this in a tweet by the U.S. Embassy in its twitter account @USEmbassyAbuja accessed by the Naija Politico on Friday in Abuja.

The National Security Advisor of the United States also called on all the candidates in the election to accept the results.

“To all Nigerians working to ensure elections on Saturday are peaceful, free, fair, and credible, we wish you success.

“ We urge every voter to participate and every candidate to peacefully accept the election results,” Bolton said.

In the same vein, Canadian High Commission in Nigeria also advised all Nigerians to go out on Saturday and vote.

The High Commission in its twitter account @CanHCNigeria, said Nigerians would decide their future through free, fair and credible polls.

“Remember! We encourage all Nigerians to exercise their democratic rights to get out and vote tomorrow.

“You will decide Nigeria’s future and deserve a free, fair, credible and peaceful chance to do it. Time don reach make una put una vote where una mouth dey!

“Dear all joking aside, we hope all you tweets also get out to vote when the time comes. Urge your followers to do the same,” the mission said.(NAN)

By Stanley Nwanosike

Security agencies, on Friday, beefed up security at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Enugu State headquarters ahead of Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections.

A correspondent of the Naija Politico (NAN), who visited the INEC headquarters in Enugu, observed that a detachment of mobile policemen, about 30, had been deployed to INEC state headquarters in Enugu.

This also followed about 15 personnel of the Police Counter Terrorism Unit [CTU] at hand at the INEC headquarters in Enugu to shield the office against arson and other forms of terrorism.

There was also deployment of an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) in front of the office with stern looking mobile policemen, who had barricade the road leading to the INEC headquarters in Enugu.

NAN also observed increased numbers of personnel of sister security agencies such as the Department of State Security as well as the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps.

Also, one lane of the Achi Street, Independence Layout, where INEC office is located has been barricaded against traffic making motorists to follow alternative routes.

Reacting, the state’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Ebere Amaraizu, told NAN that the increased number of security personnel in all INEC offices in the state would ensure adequate security for election materials and INEC staff.

“There is a need for additional security presence in the state most especially in all INEC offices both at the headquarters and council areas in the state.

“Police, working in synergy with other sister security agencies, will provide 24/7 protection to INEC offices, its personnel as well as election materials,’’ he said.

Amaraizu however, urged residents not to panic but to cooperate with security agencies to discharge their election duties effectively. (NAN)

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has written a personal letter to all his friends in Nigeria, in which he reminds them of the journey from 2015 and why they owe themselves the duty to come out on Saturday to vote.

The letter which was circulated on Thursday was titled: A Time Such As This!

Dear Friend,

Thank you for the opportunity to write to you at this important time. The news of the postponement of 2019 Presidential and National Assembly polls came as a rather rude shock to me as it must have been to you also. However we must not be discouraged- the task ahead is certainly of greater moment than the distraction.

I still treasure your overwhelming support for our candidacy in 2015 and also continue to carry the burden of fulfilling the great undertaking and mission for which I have been thrust forward.

In the past weeks and over the course of my time in office, I have interacted with everyday Nigerians not only to give account of our stewardship, but also to listen. Across the length and breadth of our great country, I’ve seen and heard passionate Nigerians who work hard to earn a decent and dignified life. Working closely with President Muhammadu Buhari, we have had the privilege to share our vision of a country where all Nigerians, regardless of tribe, class and background can aspire to a viable future and dignified existence. This belief is something that President Buhari has borne and demonstrated for decades as a soldier, public servant, candidate, and now, as President. Now more than ever before, we feel we are truly at the cusp of greatness.

In 2015, on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), we undertook to tackle insecurity, corruption and an economy characterised by extremely deficient infrastructure and the sheer abundance of poverty. Despite extenuating circumstances, we have worked hard to actualise our mission. A nation at war, we delivered on our commitment to secure our territorial integrity by liberating 17 Local Government Areas from the grip of insurgency. We halted the march of the insurgents to Kaduna, Kano and Abuja where they had bombed churches, mosques, government buildings including the UN building and Police Headquarters in Abuja before 2015. Today the activities of insurgents and the new ISIS West Africa (ISWA) are largely restricted to Northern Borno.

I, like many other Nigerians, have believed, all of my life, that our nation has sufficient resources to provide a dignified existence for most of our citizens. Our curse has been the character of leadership that has often advanced personal gain as the underlying motive for public service. I know that has changed since 2015 and many can see that as well. We are doing far much more with lesser resources than prior administrations. Corruption is the singular reason why for many years before 2015, uncompleted or non-existent infrastructure littered the landscape just as poverty alleviation schemes were additional vehicles that enriched only a handful at the expense of a growing and aggrieved population. Inevitably, the inequality gap is the underlying cause of insecurity and social tension.

Over the last three and a half years, we have laid the foundations for a stable and prosperous country for our people. The nation’s wealth is now being invested in capital projects to expand infrastructure and connect people, goods and opportunities by rail, road and air. We have introduced several measures to ease doing business in Nigeria, and also ensure that micro, small and medium businesses can access government services and loan facilities. We also took an unprecedented step towards creating a fairer and more equitable society by implementing Africa’s biggest social investment programme. Through the National Social Investment Programme, we are providing direct support to over 13 million Nigerians who need it by giving relief and assistance to unemployed youth, our children, the weak and vulnerable as well as small and medium businesses. We are directly providing the majority of our people a path out of poverty.

We know that building a compassionate nation under the rubric of social justice, led by the Federal Government, is not only desirable to right-thinking Nigerians, but is a national imperative. This is why the Federal Government did not hesitate to support state governments with bailouts that enabled them to pay unpaid state workers, as well as taking on the responsibility of settling decades of unpaid pension liabilities to retirees of moribund federal enterprises.

While we continue to believe that the primary role of leadership is to advance good for the people of Nigeria, there are many challenges that still beset the nation. For decades, not much was done by way of focused human capital development. Our priorities for the next four years, if elected, are set out in our Next Level Roadmap document. We believe that the gains in providing free meals for children in public primary schools must now be deepened with our plan to revamp education through a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM); prioritising digital literacy; retraining all teachers in primary and secondary schools, and also remodelling and equipping our classrooms. Our Next Level Roadmap also outlines our plans for employment, skills development, health, power, agriculture, industrialisation, inclusion in governance, among others.

We are clear in our minds that many of the APC’s programmes are designed to give Nigerians a lift and make them successful. A lot of thought, rigorous analysis and governance experience went into the development of these programmes and we know that they are feasible once we put our mind to them.

We are running for a second term in office because we believe things will improve significantly than they currently are if we stay the course. We are faced with a choice to keep building a Nigeria where conscience drives the ship of state- making a break from a tainted past which widened the inequality gap. Our choices will shape us – our economic security and our future prosperity. Nigeria, more than ever before, needs a stable and people-focused government to move the agenda for our country forward.

The task of laying a foundation is hard and tedious work. It’s neither glamorous nor exciting for the builder or the observer. Yet without it, the pleasure of a completed building remains a dream. The Buhari administration has spent the last three and a half years laying the foundation. We are asking you to join in putting up the building over the next four years. May I respectfully request you to perform your civic responsibility by going out to vote and I’m confident that by the grace of Almighty God, we will all go to the next level of growth, prosperity and peace.

Let’s join hands to create a nation we can be proud of. God bless you.

Sincerely,

Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN

The Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) has finally admitted Zamfara state All Progressive Congress (APC) candidates into the 2019 general election.

This follows the Court of Appeal ruling on Thursday that the electoral commission should accept candidates of the party.

The state APC was barred from presenting candidates owing to an internal crisis, which did not allow the party to conduct its primaries within the time frame set by INEC.

More to come soon….

Uchenna Eletuo

A cashew nuts exporter, Mr Mathew Obot, on Friday appealed to the Federal Government to provide storage facilities at the country’s seaports to enhance preservation of commodities before export.

Obot made the appeal in an interview with the Naija Politico (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.

He said that the absence of such facilities at the country’s ports was having negative bearing on export of produce and was discouraging many people from continuing with produce trade.

The exporter, while considering the feasibility of fresh tomatoes export as being championed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said that absence of storage facilities was the bane of the trade.

“Because of the paucity of the facilities, I do keep my produce far away from the port for preservation before transporting it to the port when the vessel is ready to sail.

“This process is double expenses; instead of taking it direct to the port from the places I bought it, I have to take it to another location for preservation.

“Many of my colleagues who cannot bear the cost of logistics involved in the business are no longer trading in it. Even we who are in it are just trying to exist,’’ he lamented.

He said that for the country to get it right in the balance of trade in the area of produce export, such facilities needed to be in place.

Obot added that the sector would create the more needed jobs in the value chain and encourage influx of foreign exchange and less pressure on the dollar as being witnessed currently.

According to him, apart from tomatoes, there are many other produce for which Nigeria has comparative advantages in the world market. (NAN)

The African Students Education Support Initiative (ASESI) has urged the Executive Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, to do more in protecting lives and property of Ebonyi people during the 2019 general elections.

ASESI’s Executive Director, Comrade Chinonso Obasi, in a statement on Friday in Abuja, said activities recently witnessed by ASESI’s volunteers in some areas of the state were very worrisome.

Obasi said it took the intervention of the Ugoni community leaders, ASESI volunteers, students’ Union leaders to avert total breakdown of law and order when people suspected to be working for a political office holder, stormed Ugoni Town Hall at about 11 p.m. and dispersed villagers with gun shots.

He said that the desperation shown by some political office holders in Okposi, Ohazara, Local Government Area was enough reason for more security arrangements to protect lives and property in Ebonyi.

“Majority of Ebonyians now live in fears as most politicians no longer run issues based campaigns but resulted to arm possessions and unnecessary threats to lives.

“This calls for concern and requires urgent attention ahead of the polls.”

The Executive Director advised youths and students never to allow any politician to use them as political thugs nor agents to disrupt elections because the law would come after offenders of the law.

“If anyone or persons must lead in thuggery during elections, let that person or persons be child/children of the politicians who sponsor thuggery,” he said.

(Reuters/NAN) Zimbabweans queued outside banks in the Zimbabwean capital Harare on Friday as the central bank opened trading of a new currency known as RTGS dollars.

Central Bank Governor John Mangudya said in Harare that the new currency would trade at around 2.5 to the U.S. dollar.

Mangudya also announced that the country had ditched the 1:1 ratio between Zimbabwe bond notes and US dollars, a rate maintained by the central bank for nearly three years.

The RTGS dollars are composed of RTGS balances, bond notes and bond coins and are in the basket of currencies.

The exchange rate is seen by experts as a significant devaluation as the regulator attempts to stem chronic cash shortages.

Trading on the Inter-bank market was due to begin on Monday, although Mangudya mentioned trading had started on Friday morning.

An unmanned rocket took off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Thursday night carrying Israel’s Beresheet spacecraft, aiming to make history twice: as the first private-sector landing on the Moon, and the first from the Jewish state.

The 585-kilogram (1,290-pound) Beresheet, which means “Genesis” in Hebrew, lifted off at 8:45 pm (0145 GMT Friday) atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the private US-based SpaceX company of entrepreneur Elon Musk.

Takeoff was followed live back in Israel, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu watching alongside engineers at the control center of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).

So far, only Russia, the United States and China have made the 384,000-kilometer (239,000-mile) journey and landed spacecraft on the Moon.

“This is a very proud moment,” Netanyahu’s office quoted him as saying.

“True, along with China, Russia and the US, we constitute about one-third of the world’s population, but our contribution is vast, regardless of our small size. We are giants.”

“While this is a great step for Israel, it is a huge step for Israeli technology,” Netanyahu said.

The Israeli craft was placed in Earth orbit, from where it will use its own engine to undertake a seven-week trip to reach the Moon and touch down on April 11 in a large plain.

The rocket also contains an Indonesian satellite and a satellite of the US Air Force Research Laboratory.

The mission is part of renewed global interest in the Moon, sometimes called the “eighth continent” of the Earth, and comes 50 years after American astronauts first walked on the lunar surface.

China’s Chang’e-4 made the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the Moon on January 3, after a probe sent by Beijing made a Lunar landing elsewhere in 2013.

“This is history in the making – and it’s live! Israel is aiming for the #moon and you’re all invited to watch,” said a Twitter message from SpaceIL, the non-profit organization that designed the Israeli craft.

It was backed notably by businessman and philanthropist Morris Kahn, who financed the development of a craft. “Make us proud,” he said Thursday.For Israel, the landing itself is the main mission, but the spacecraft also carries a scientific instrument to measure the lunar magnetic field, which will help understanding of the Moon’s formation.

Technically, it is far from a trivial mission.

After its initial boost from the Falcon 9, the Beresheet’s British engine will have to make several ignitions to place the spacecraft on the correct trajectory to the Moon.

When it arrives, its landing gear must cushion the descent onto the lunar surface to prevent Beresheet from crashing.

– India plans to follow –

Beresheet carries a “time capsule” loaded with digital files containing a Bible, children’s drawings, Israeli songs, memories of a Holocaust survivor and the blue-and-white Israeli flag.

At a cost of $100 million, “this is the lowest-budget spacecraft to ever undertake such a mission. The superpowers who managed to land a spacecraft on the Moon have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in government funding,” IAI said.

“Beresheet is the first spacecraft to land on the Moon as a result of a private initiative, rather than a government.”
After China earlier this year, and now Israel, India hopes to become the fifth lunar country in the spring with its Chandrayaan-2 mission. It aims to put a craft with a rover onto the Moon’s surface to collect data.

Japan plans to send a small lunar lander, called SLIM, to study a volcanic area around 2020-2021.

As for the Americans, who have not been back to the Moon since 1972, a return is now the official policy of NASA, according to guidelines issued by President Donald Trump in 2017.

“This time, when we go to the Moon, we’re actually going to stay,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said last week.

To achieve this, the US space agency is changing its model and no longer wants to design the missions itself.

NASA, which has installed equipment on Beresheet to upload its signals from the Moon, said last week it aims to land instruments later this year or next year and that it is inviting private sector bids to build and launch the US probes.

The US space agency plans to build a small space station, dubbed Gateway, in the Moon’s orbit by 2026, and envisages a manned mission to Mars in the following decade.