Author: tdpel

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, has expressed surprise at the Academic Staff Union of Universities’ one-month strike, which began on Monday.

As he stated, if ASUU and the FG have not achieved an agreement after multiple rounds of negotiations, the fault is no longer the government’s.

This was Adamu’s response to questions from State House Correspondents shortly after the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday.

“Unfortunately, ASUU has gone on strike, and I am looking for them because all of the concerns are being solved,” he said.

“The last thing that happened was that our committee looked at their demands but there are renegotiations going on. They submitted a draft agreement which the ministry is looking at.”

The Minister said that ASUU’s decision came abruptly amidst ongoing negotiations.

Speaking of ASUU’s draft agreement, he said, “A committee is looking at it.

Immediately it finishes, the government is meant to announce what it had accepted.

Then suddenly, I heard them going on strike.”

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has described the death of a member of the Governance Advisory Council (GAC), the apex leadership body of the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Tunde Samuel, as a great loss to the State.

The Governor who also commiserated with GAC members, leaders and members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, especially in Agege and Lagos West Senatorial District, said the demise of Prof. Samuel has created a vacuum in the ruling party.

Prof. Samuel, the Pioneer Provost of Micheal Otedola College of Primary Education (MOCPED) Epe, Lagos and former Special Adviser on Education to ex-Governor Bola Tinubu, died on Wednesday at 73 years.
Governor Sanwo-Olu, in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Gboyega Akosile on Thursday, described Prof. Samuel as a renowned scholar and one of the few Nigerians in academics that used their wealth of experience to make a mark in the education and political sectors in Nigeria.

He said: “The passage of Prof. Tunde Samuel is a great loss to Lagos State, especially our party, the All Progressives Congress because of the critical role the deceased was playing in the party before his death, both as GAC member and party leader in Agege.

“Prof. Samuel was an epitome of dedication and selflessness in public service. He contributed to the education sector in Lagos State, especially as the Pioneer Provost of Micheal Otedola College of Primary Education (MOCPED) Epe, Lagos and former Special Adviser on Education to ex-Governor Bola Tinubu.

“He also did his best for tertiary education in Lagos State as one of the founding fathers of the Lagos State University both as a member of the Implementation Committee and two-time member of the Provisional Government Council.

“As a member of the GAC, Prof. Samuel displayed exemplary leadership in Lagos politics. He worked with members of the progressive camp since the inception of the present Fourth Republic in 1999 to ensure that our party remains the ruling party in Lagos State in the last 22 years.

“I symphatise with GAC members; leaders and members of APC over the death of one of our leaders. I pray that Almighty God is pleased with the soul of Prof. Samuel and grant the family, friends, associates and APC the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.”

The Lagos State Blood Transfusion Service has commenced the deployment of its newly procured ‘Bloodmobile’ – a mobile vehicle equipped with everything necessary for a blood donation procedure – to the public and corporate organisations in continuation of the voluntary blood donation drive started earlier this month.

Speaking at a donor drive held at the headquarters of Ibile Oil and Gas, Ikoyi where the ‘Bloodmobile’ was recently deployed, the Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Service (LSBTS), Dr. Bodunrin Osikomaiya, explained that the mobile blood donation vehicle was procured to aid the blood donor drive and ease the conduct of community blood donation outreach campaign across Lagos.

She said: “Mr. Governor magnanimously approved the procurement of this specialised vehicle to help in our quest of meeting the State’s blood demand and ensure adequate supply of safe blood for transfusion in Lagos”.

Dr. Osikomaiya explained that the locally fabricated ‘Bloodmobile’ has some remarkable features typical of a standard blood donation centre, including compartments for registration and blood donor procedure, post-donation and relaxation spot, blood storage compartment, two electrical donor chairs and an inbuilt air conditioner.

The Executive Secretary, therefore, tasked healthy residents to support the initiative by donating blood voluntarily to ensure the availability of safe blood and blood products for transfusion in health facilities across the State.

Emphasising the huge demand for blood and the need for voluntary blood donation, Osikomaiya disclosed that about 37% of the population are eligible and clinically fit to donate blood, stressing that someone is always in need of blood every two seconds.

She noted that one pint of donated blood can save three lives, adding that this is why efforts are being intensified by the State government to meet and surpass the blood requirement through recruiting and retaining voluntary blood donors.

“Voluntary blood donors are heroes who deserve to be celebrated every day because the gift they give is the gift of Life. We encourage citizens to join this league of lifesavers by donating voluntarily”, she said.

Pointing out that blood donation helps to stimulate the production of more blood and promotes good health, the Executive Secretary stated that voluntary blood donors have access to blood without the demand for replacement from LBSTS blood banks.

Osikomaiya explained the process further saying, “Your blood is tested for haemoglobin, packed cell volume (blood level), viral diseases, blood group, Rhesus factor and genotype.

It may uncover potential health problems such as elevated blood levels and low blood levels.

It also helps to maintain iron stores at healthy levels which are linked to low cancer risk and give an opportunity to blood donors to have their clinical vitals done including blood pressure, pulse rate, weight and height”.

She enjoined citizens who are in good general health and between the ages of 18 and 65 years to imbibe the culture of voluntary blood donation at least once every three months.

While noting that the ‘Bloodmobile’ will be going around the State, especially to public places on donor drives, the Executive Secretary stated that citizens can also walk into any of LSBTS dedicated voluntary blood donation centres at General Hospital Lagos and General Hospital Gbagada or the voluntary blood donation centre at the Accident and Emergency Centre, located at the old Toll Gate and the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja to donate blood.

When we begin to learn something, we look for a coach for proper guidance. The same thing happens when we start the workout. A good trainer helps you to burn your calories effectively, as well as build your muscle strength. 

But it isn’t easy to find a good trainer. You often meet a personal trainer who does not have a proper degree but wants to guide you because of money. Don’t come into this trap because you will lose weight and become weaker gradually. Start your journey with a reliable personal trainer because it is your health question.

Here we’ll specify ten symptoms of a bad trainer-Consider these while hiring a personal trainer.

Selling or offering your bodybuilding supplements.

Now, most less qualified trainers try to sell you supplements because health supplements generate huge revenue per year. Pushing to intake protein supplements has become the most glaring issue. When it is the question of your fitness and weight gains, taking supplements is not mandatory. And another point is that without a certified doctor or nutritionist, no one can prescribe you a health supplement; it is ethically wrong. You should not consume any supplements without asking your physician.

Don’t allow body shaming.

There are multiple ways to encourage clients to do workouts regularly. But unfortunately, some trainers choose the negative way of body shaming which is mentally detrimental. Body shaming can’t motivate anyone for bodybuilding training. Instead of that, clients start losing their hope and confidence. If you notice that your trainer body shaming you, don’t allow it because it breeds all types of disorder thinking that demotivates you to perform the workout in the long term

Showing only a single training style

There are many exercise training styles from Olympic Weightlifting, Plyometrics, Flexibility training, Mass Building, and Toning, to Cardiovascular, HIIT, Yoga, Pilates and Flexibility (just to give some examples).

An intolerant and shallow mentor believes that everybody should prepare the same way or with just a single preparation style. For general wellbeing, you want to practice in various ways to challenge the different actual capacities of the human body, for strength, perseverance, adaptability, coordination, balance, dexterity, etc

Don’t create a customized plan

Everyone has a different body structure and nature. So each exercise is not effective for everyone. 

Thus your coach is expected to plan a new workout routine for you. But if he doesn’t do that, he is not a good trainer. As a fitness trainer, he has to create a body fitness program that gives your body a proper balance between weight loss and bodybuilding. If your trainer doesn’t think about the balance, you will experience weakness after a workout because of muscular imbalance that increases the chance of injury.

Promote weight loss before focusing on the muscle building

mentors who just spotlight weight reduction and not muscle/strength building are giving customers a tremendous raw deal. The people who just focus on sheer calories consume cardio, conditioning (lightweight preparing), or center activities, as their main type of activity are working with a cutoff to the amount they can consume and regularly need to limit caloric intake to see improvement intensely. Then again on the off chance that you start with strength preparing to construct a decent base of muscle, you can build your resting digestion just as max calorie consumption for some random exercise, subsequently consuming more calories with a similar relative degree of exertion.

Focus on intensity over-exercise form

Most bodybuilders mainly focus on workout intensity over workout gestures. It is wrong. You need to follow the correct format first; otherwise, you’ll develop a long-term injury. We don’t discourage you from increasing your workout intensity, but you should follow proper workout techniques with it. A proper workout format is vital to focus on during any training. If the correct format is not maintained, you will experience long-term health hazards.                                            

The trainer who doesn’t educate or empower clients

There are many professionals in the industry who have the experience that you must give just enough information to make a client potential enough. But educating and making them understand the logic behind each step is very important before starting your fitness goal.

Promote spot reduction

There are two points. One is just literally a trainer who believes in spot reduction and promises to give quick-fix results because bodybuilding is not a one-day journey; basically, it requires time and effort. So don’t choose the spot reduction option. It is an entirely false commitment. 

Promise quick result

The promising quick result is one of the most common advertising strategies trainers follow. A quick result is not possible in a bodybuilding scenario. Thus jump into their appealing advertisement and think logically.

Talk about only lower ab.

Whole-body exercise is essential to build abs. A trainer who talks about exercise to work on your lower abs does not know the actual logic. There are no exercises that strengthen your lower abs.

Lastly, we would say check his qualification, experience, and reputation. Handgrip training is complementary to bodybuilding exercises.

The Rivers State Director of Department of State Services, DSS, Mr. Shittu Mohammed has assured the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, of stronger and more fruitful collaboration in its fight against economic and financial crimes.

He gave the assurance on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State while receiving the new Port Harcourt Zonal Commander of the EFCC, Assistant Commander of the EFCC, ACE Nwanneka Nwokike who paid him a Courtesy Visit in his office.

According to Mohammed, security duties require collective efforts and active synergy and the best way to achieve this is to ensure good relationship with every stakeholder in the law enforcement community. ” Security efforts demand collective engagement of every stakeholder. Our relationship with the EFCC is cordial but it will become stronger”, he said.

In response, Nwokike said that the EFCC would continue to tackle economic and financial criminals in the state and engage every stakeholder in the law enforcement corridor more positively in that regard.

Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo this season moved to the top of the list of all-time UEFA Champions League appearances.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the only player to have made 50 or more appearances each for two clubs: Manchester United (57) and Real Madrid (101).

Ronaldo, in his second spell at Old Trafford, made more than half of his all-time appearances (101) for Real Madrid, as well as 23 for Juventus.

The evergreen Portuguese international is also the competition’s all-time leading goalscorer and the only player to have won the competition on five occasions in the UEFA Champions League era.

All-time Champions League appearances

181 Cristiano Ronaldo, POR (Real Madrid 101, Juventus 23, Manchester United 57)
177 Iker Casillas, ESP (Real Madrid 150, Porto 27)
155 Lionel Messi, ARG (Barcelona 149, Paris 6)
151 Xavi Hernández, ESP (Barcelona)
142 Raúl González, ESP (Real Madrid 130, Schalke 12)
141 Ryan Giggs, WAL (Manchester United)
136 Karim Benzema, FRA (Lyon 19, Real Madrid 117)
131 Thomas Müller, GER (Bayern)
130 Andrés Iniesta, ESP (Barcelona)
129 Sergio Ramos, ESP (Real Madrid)
125 Clarence Seedorf, NED (Ajax 11, Madrid 25, AC Milan 89)
125 Manuel Neuer, GER (Schalke 22, Bayern 103)
125 Sergio Busquets, ESP (Barcelona)
124 Paul Scholes, ENG (Manchester United)
124 Gianluigi Buffon, ITA (Parma 6, Paris 5, Juventus 113)
124 Zlatan Ibrahimović, SWE (Ajax 19, Juventus 19, Inter 22, Barcelona 10, Paris 33, Manchester United 1, AC Milan 20)
124 Gerard Piqué, ESP (Manchester United 4, Barcelona 120)

In total, 43 players have made 100-plus UEFA Champions League appearances.

Who has made most Champions League appearances for one club

151 Xavi Hernández (Barcelona)
150 Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
149 Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
141 Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)
131 Thomas Müller (Bayern)
130 Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona)
130 Raúl González (Real Madrid)
129 Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
125 Sergio Busquets (Barcelona)
124 Paul Scholes (Manchester United)
120 Gerard Piqué (Barcelona)
117 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
115 Carles Puyol (Barcelona)
113 Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)
109 Paolo Maldini (AC Milan)
109 Gary Neville (Manchester United)
109 John Terry (Chelsea)
107 Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid)
106 Víctor Valdés (Barcelona)
105 Philipp Lahm (Bayern)
103 Oliver Kahn (Bayern)
103 Manuel Neuer (Bayern)
102 Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
101 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
101 Marcelo (Real Madrid)

Cristiano Ronaldo is the only player to have made 50 or more appearances each for two clubs: Manchester United (57) and Real Madrid (101).

Who has played the most Champions League finals?

6 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Real Madrid)
6 Paolo Maldini (AC Milan)
5 Patrice Evra (Monaco, Manchester United, Juventus)
5 Clarence Seedorf (Ajax, Real Madrid, AC Milan)
5 Edwin van der Sar (Ajax, Manchester United)

Who has played the most Champions League semi-finals?

21 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Real Madrid)
17 Xabi Alonso (Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern)
16 Xavi Hernández (Barcelona)
16 Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
15 Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
15 Thomas Müller (Bayern)
14 Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
14 Dani Alves (Barcelona, Juventus)
14 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
14 John Terry (Chelsea)
14 Edwin van der Sar (Ajax, Manchester United)
14 Víctor Valdés (Barcelona)

Who has played the most Champions League quarter-finals?

23 Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
22 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus)
22 Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona)
22 Gerard Piqué (Manchester United, Barcelona)
21 Sergio Busquets (Barcelona)
21 Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)
21 Xavi Hernández (Barcelona)

Who has made most appearances in Champions League round of 16?

34 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus)
33 Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
27 Iker Casillas (Real Madrid, Porto)
25 Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona)
25 Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
25 Karim Benzema (Lyon, Real Madrid)
23 Dani Alves (Sevilla, Barcelona, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain)
23 Sergio Busquets (Barcelona)
23 Zlatan Ibrahimović (Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain)
23 Arjen Robben (Chelsea, Real Madrid, Bayern)

Who has made most appearances in Champions League group stage?

98 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus)
95 Iker Casillas (Real Madrid, Porto)
81 Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Paris)
80 Xavi Hernández (Barcelona)

In all cases, club listed are only those for whom the player has appeared in the UEFA Champions League.

Tuesday 8 March 2022
Liverpool
Liverpool FC
21:00
Inter
FC Internazionale Milano

Bayern
FC Bayern München
21:00
Salzburg
FC Salzburg

Wednesday 9 March 2022
1st leg: 0-1
Real Madrid
Real Madrid CF
21:00
Paris
Paris Saint-Germain

1st leg: 5-0
Man. City
Manchester City FC
21:00
Sporting CP
Sporting Clube de Portugal

Tuesday 15 March 2022
Man. United
Manchester United
21:00
Atlético
Club Atlético de Madrid

Ajax
AFC Ajax
21:00
Benfica
SL Benfica

Wednesday 16 March 2022
Juventus
Juventus
21:00
Villarreal
Villarreal CF

LOSC
LOSC Lille
21:00
Chelsea

Tuesday 15 February 2022
Sporting CP
Sporting Clube de Portugal
0
–
5
Man. City
Manchester City FC

Paris
Paris Saint-Germain
1
–
0
Real Madrid

Wednesday 16 February 2022
Salzburg
FC Salzburg
1
–
1
Bayern

FC Bayern München
Inter
FC Internazionale Milano
0
–
2
Liverpool
Liverpool FC

Tuesday 22 February 2022
Chelsea
Chelsea FC
21:00
LOSC
LOSC Lille

Villarreal
Villarreal CF
21:00
Juventus
Juventus

Wednesday 23 February 2022
Benfica
SL Benfica
21:00
Ajax
AFC Ajax

Atlético
Club Atlético de Madrid
21:00
Man. United
Manchester United
See more

Flutterwave, a leading technology company, announced today that it has raised USD $250 million in Series D funding, valuing the company at over $3 billion as the brand continues to transform the way Africans transact on the continent and worldwide

Flutterwave has become the highest valued African start-up with this investment. It is a validation of African talent, innovation and its young inspiring people. It is also a huge endorsement in the growth of the business, innovation and technology landscape in Africa.

Flutterwave’s latest backers include some of the world’s most respected investors led by B Capital Group, and with participation from Alta Park Capital, Whale Rock Capital, Lux Capital, among others. Several existing investors who also participated in previous rounds also followed this round, including, Glynn Capital, Avenir Growth, Tiger Global, Green Visor Capital, Salesforce Ventures. The new funds will drive Flutterwave’s ambitious expansion plan to accelerate customer acquisition in existing markets and growth through M&A; and develop complementary products while encouraging new innovations in its products and services development.  The Company will share more details during the Flutterwave 3.0 event. The virtual event is billed for 18th February, 2022 and members of the public can RSVP here.

Since inception in 2016, the Flutterwave team has been on a mission to create endless possibilities for customers and businesses in Africa and the emerging markets. The Series D fundraise comes on the back of an impressive run of five years in which Flutterwave has processed over 200M transactions worth over USD $16B to date across 34 countries in Africa. It also follows a year of rapid growth for the brand which now serves over 900,000 businesses across the globe.

 

In 2021, Flutterwave launched a range of new products including Flutterwave Market for merchants to sell their goods via an online marketplace and, most recently, Send, a remittance service that empowers customers to seamlessly send money to recipients to and from Africa. Flutterwave has also partnered with leading global and pan-African technology and telecommunication companies such as PayPal, MTN, Airtel Africa to drive financial inclusion on the continent and create endless possibilities for customers who can build customisable payment applications through its APIs.

Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola, Founder and CEO of Flutterwave, said “Our story is that of resilience and hard work. Our growth so far is due to the support of our customers, our partners, the banks, the public, the regulators, and importantly our people. The Central Bank of Nigeria, under the leadership of Dr. Godwin Emefiele, laid the vision of a transformational Payment System in Nigeria, provided the framework for innovation in this space, and has continued to create regulations that have enabled us to grow and thrive. We are grateful to them and to all the other Central Banks in all the countries where we operate. We set out to build a platform that simplifies payments for everyone and today, our solutions are used across the globe to connect Africans to the world and the world to Africans. We are delighted that investors believe in us and our story and are committing their resources to this belief. This latest funding demonstrates the conviction of some of the world’s leading investors in both our business model, team and the Africa technology market. It gives Flutterwave the much-needed support to deliver on our plans to provide the best experience for our merchants and customers around the world.”

Matt Levinson, Partner at B Capital said, “At B Capital, we seek to back generational companies with broad platform potential. Flutterwave has a unique opportunity to accomplish this as the dominant payments infrastructure provider across Africa. In addition to their emergence as the leading enterprise payments processor for the continent, Flutterwave is innovating at breakneck speed with novel fintech solutions for large corporates, SMEs and consumers. I’ve had the pleasure of backing this world-class team since 2017 and couldn’t be more thrilled that B Capital is leading their Series D. Flutterwave may ultimately build one of the most consequential fintech business in the world, enabling hundreds of thousands of merchants to transact online and connect Africa to the global economy.”

David Glynn, Managing Partner of Glynn Capital, said: “We believe the digitization of payments globally is one of the largest and most important trends in technology. Having been investors in Flutterwave since 2017, we have had a front row seat in seeing Flutterwave establish itself as a leading payments company in Africa as it drives adoption of seamless digital payments experiences for merchants and consumers alike. We look forward to supporting the company as it addresses its significant growth opportunity in the years ahead.”

This latest fundraising has seen Flutterwave’s valuation more than triple since its last funding round in March last year when it became one of Africa’s fastest growing Unicorn.

Following the end of the 27th round of fixtures in the Belgian Pro League, Whoscored.com named Paul Onuachu to their Team of the Week.

In the 53rd minute against Standard Liege on Sunday, the Nigerian international slid home following a terrible blunder at the defense by Standard Liege defender Moussa Sissako, bringing his league record to fourteen goals.

Onuachu, who has a rating of 7.7, and Laurent Depoitre of KAA Gent lead the line in a 4-4-2 formation.

Of his 22 appearances in this season’s Belgian top-flight, the tall center forward has been named Man of the Match by the football statistics website in four matches.

Onuachu registered a game-high six shots against Standard Liege with half of his attempts on target and won joint-game high four aerial duels, along with Standard Liege’s Merveille Bokadi.

The 27-year-old touched the ball 43 times, was accurate in sixty percent of his passes and won one foul for his team over the course of 87 minutes he was on the pitch