Popular Fuji Artist Wasiu Alabi Pasuma Attacked By Armed Robbers

A  nine-man  gang attacked music artiste, Wasiu Alabi, aka Pasuma, in Ahmadiyya end of Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway on Monday night. The armed robbers snatched Pasuma’s Range Rover Sports Utility Vehicle with number plate Lagos, MUS 830AP, and also dispossessed him of other valuables. Sources say the singer, in company with a friend, were on their way to a show when he was attacked by the culprits. It was learnt that some of the culprits forced their way into Pasuma’s vehicle and drove him around for over three hours before dumping him into a bush near Ota, Ogun State, and made away with the vehicle; at about 9pm. The source said, “On Monday night, Pasuma was on his way to perform at a party but on getting to Ahmadiyya, he was attacked and the culprits took all his money and his mobile phones. His friend, who was in the car with him, was robbed as well.” “The robbers then took control and drove Pasuma around for about three hours. While he was in their custody, Pasuma hid his face from them so the robbers did not know he was the one. When it was about 12 midnight, they dumped him and his friend in a bush at Itele area of Ogun State.” The matter was said to have been reported at the Lagos State Police Command headquarters while efforts were being made to recover the vehicle. When contacted on the telephone, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, said the police had commenced investigations into the robbery. She said, “The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Tunde Sobulo, was informed and he sent signal to the control room. Efforts are on to recover the vehicle and apprehend the robbers.”

Revealed: Neymar's secret weapon to gain revenge on England and upstage Messi at Barca

Confirmation of his transfer to Barcelona has already excited millions. Thought of as the finest South American talent on the globe, Neymar joins what is already the most talented squad in the world, but herein possibly lies the problem. The Brazil forward has been used to, for some time, being the main man for both his club, Santos, and country. And while his arrival at Barca is likely to be followed by the exit of David Villa - as great a vote of confidence as any - there's no question that Lionel Messi is Barca's superstar. Rightly so, too, but look beyond him and there's Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Dani Alves, Alexis Sanchez, Pedro and more. Carles Puyol is the club captain, Gerard Pique is married to Shakira and Cesc Fabregas has to make do with a place on the bench. That being the case, Neymar might have to settle for being one of the supporting cast, but that's never been his style - so how could he possibly elevate himself above Messi, possibly the finest player of all time? Sportsmail can exclusively reveal his plan. New boots. Already known for his flamboyant appearance, Neymar will be wearing Nike's new orange and black Hypervenoms. Zlatan Ibrahimovic - who once disappointed at Barca, living in Messi's shadow - and Wayne Rooney, another criticised for not nearing the same level, gave feedback to Nike regarding the shiny new boots, meaning Neymar, and worryingly for England with a friendly away to Brazil on Sunday, may stand the best chance at Barca yet. 'I’ll be fulfilling my dream to be playing with great players, like Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Daniel Alves, Adriano and others who are in the team,' Neymar said. 'So I'm anxious to get there. 'They (Nike) showed me two models (of boots) and showed me this one, which I found really beautiful. 'I like colored boots. I always loved it.'

Toure completes free switch to Liverpool from Manchester City

Kolo Toure will officially become a Liverpool player on July 1 after he completed a medical ahead of his move to Anfield. Liverpool have agreed in principle a two-year deal with Toure, who has taken a drop in the £90,000 a week salary he was being paid by Manchester City. His contract expires on June 30 and the formalities of the free transfer will be completed then. Brendan Rodgers is anxious to bolster Liverpool’s defence in the wake of Jamie Carragher’s retirement and while Toure does not fit the profile of players who Liverpool sign under Fenway Sports Group, the 32-year-old will provide experienced cover. Liverpool's need for fresh faces at the back is further accentuated by Skrtel's uncertain future at the club. Speaking this week the Slovakian, who signed from Zenit St Petersburg in 2008, has revealed he is ready to consider offers to leave. 'I have not had any specific offers,' he said. 'But if some should come and they interest me, I would probably ponder it seriously. I do not want to be that specific. 'The club has the biggest say in this in any case, because they have the right for it with me being contracted. 'Besides, I am not saying that I want to leave at any cost. I feel sorry for what happened in this season. But I have been here for five-and-a-half years and I have built a position here.'

Bale's better than Neymar

Bale's better than Neymar and would listen to any offer from Real, claims the Tottenham star's own agent live on Spanish TV Real Madrid are ready to ramp up their long-standing interest in Gareth Bale after the Spurs star's agent revealed they would listen to an offer from the Spanish giants. Real have made the £65million-rated Welsh wizard their top summer transfer target after missing out of Brazilian superstar Neymar, who decided to sign for La Liga rivals Barcelona. And Bale's agent Jonathan Barnett told Spanish TV show 'Futboleros' they would have to listen if Real president Florentino Perez came calling. Barnett said: 'If someone like Mr Perez was interested in Bale it would be a great honour. And we would listen. 'We’re not speaking to anybody… Bale is better than Neymar. He’s proved himself better than Neymar. He’s proved himself in the best league in the world. 'I would hope that any club who wants him, wants him not because they lost Neymar. I would think he’d have to be their first choice. 'Listen, it’s crazy, but whatever Neymar cost, Gareth Bale is worth more. Leading Spanish dailies Marca and AS both splashed on Wednesday with images of Bale. Marca branded Real’s chase for Bale as 'Mission Zidane', while AS went with 'Bale is the golden bullet' on their front cover. Real legend Zinedine Zidane has been asked to lure Bale to the Bernabeu. Zidane works with the youth teams at the Bernabeu and has watched Bale, 23, this season,  particularly in Tottenham’s Europa League campaign. Zidane, 40, spoke in glowing terms about the Spurs star, who is set to sign a new contract at White Hart Lane worth up to £200,000 a week, despite Tottenham’s failure to qualify for the Champions League. Zidane said: ‘Big players like that, talented players like that, can always go to Real Madrid. ‘He’s more than good enough.I’ve been watching Tottenham for the very reason Gareth Bale is playing. ‘Aside from people like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who are top players, he is the footballer who impressed me the most, I must admit. He particularly impressed me because he was consistent. He wasn’t just great in one or two matches, he was consistently a good player, all the time, and he was consistent in scoring goals, very important goals.’

Chealsea Targetted striker Radamel Falcao set to join French big-spenders "Monaco" for £51m as Carvalho arrives for free

Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao has become the latest superstar to join newly-promoted big spending Ligue 1 club Monaco after passing a medical at the club. Hot on the heels of the capture of Porto duo Joao Moutinho and James Rodriguez for around £60million on Friday, Monaco have splashed the cash again, offering the Columbian a four or five-year deal with the club, and securing Ricardo Carvalho's signature on a year-contract with the option of an additional year. In addition, 27-year-old Falcao's contract will have a get-out clause which will allow him to depart during the first year of his career at the club, Spanish newspaper AS revealed. Jorge Mendes, Falcao's agent and Monaco owner Dmitry Rybolovlev will thrash the remaining terms of the agreement. Atletico, who Falcao spent two seasons with and scored 70 goals in 88 games, will bank more than £50m from the deal, which is the striker's buy-out clause. One part of the contract which has been ironed out is Falcao wages - he will earn £8.5m per season after tax, tripling his current deal at the Vicente Calderon. The deal will no doubt come as a blow to Chelsea, who have been linked with the forward ever since he scored a hat-trick against the Blues during Atletico's 4-1 Super Cup final win last season.  Meanwhile, Falcao thanked Atletico Madrid for his successful stint at the club. Falcao told Colombian radio station W radio: ‘I’m very grateful for these two years at Atletico Madrid. ‘I never expected to win three titles in so short time, this has been like a dream. 'Yesterday I lived a very emotional moment I had never lived before with the fans and a club. ‘I will never forget it and I don’t know how to give them thanks. ‘Right now, I can’t talk about my future, there will be time later.’ Carvalho, 35, was out of contract after three seasons at Real Madrid and therefore arrives for free. 'It's an exciting league,' he said. 'I'm very happy to join AS Monaco FC and to be part of the new adventure. This is a new challenge for me.'

Amaechi’s Suspension: PDP Govs Insist On NEC Meeting

Some governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party have reiterated their insistence that party leaders must convene the meeting of the National Executive Committee without further delay. The call for prompt convening of NEC, as was learnt, is to signal the governors' resolve to battle with the party leaders over the suspension of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State. Amaechi, who apparently defied the PDP handlers' order not to contest re-election as chairman of the Nigerian Governors' Forum, was on Monday suspended from the party by the National Working Committee. The outcome of the election has been mired in controversy with both Amaechi and Governor of Plateau State Jonah Jang, claiming victory. Already, one of the governors from the northern part of the country, who spoke in confidence to some journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, said he and his colleagues were not moved with threats to either suspend or expel them from the party. He said it would be wrong for the leadership of the party to claim ignorance of the law as stipulated in the PDP constitution concerning the party's NEC. The governor said he and his colleagues knew that one of the problems Amaechi had with the party was his presiding over PDP governors' meetings, where the state chief executives demanded the convening of the NEC meeting. The governor said, "You know that at our meeting of Wednesday, January 9, we demanded the holding of NEC meeting of our party and that the meeting must be held as stipulated in the constitution. "Twenty-one of us (governors) including those mobilising against Amaechi now, were at that meeting, which was held at the Rivers State Governor's Lodge at Asokoro, Abuja. "What does the constitution of the party say concerning holding of NEC meeting? It says NEC meeting must be held at least every quarter. "We held the meeting last when? More than 10 months ago and someone is there talking about someone breaching the party's constitution. "Tell me, those who have refused to call for NEC meeting or those who are subverting the provision of the party's constitution, who will query them?" The party's last NEC meeting was held in July 2012. Apart from the suspension of Amaechi, another issue the governors are insisting on is deliberation on the report of the Independent National Electoral Commission on the party's national convention. INEC, had in a letter to the PDP in March, declared that the election of 12 party officials at its 2012 National Convention was flawed because it did not follow due process. INEC, therefore, voided the election of the affected 12 party officials. Those whose elections were cancelled included the party's Deputy National Chairman, Sam Sam Jaja; National Organising Secretary, Abubakar Mustapha; and Deputy National Organising Secretary, Okechukwu Nnadozie. Others are the National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh; Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Binta Goje; National Youth Leader, Garba Chiza; his deputy, Dennis Alonge; Deputy National Auditor, Umar Ibrahim; National Woman Leader, Kema Chikwe; her deputy, Hannatu Ulam; Deputy National Treasurer, Claudus Inengas; and National Legal Adviser, Victor Kwon. The four national officers whose election were considered to have met democratic standards are the National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur; former National Secretary, Olagunsoye Oyinlola; former National Auditor, Bode Mustapha; and the party's Financial Secretary, Bolaji Anani. Curiously, Oyinlola and Mustapha have been pushed out of office by court judgments. In March, Metuh had issued a statement, saying that the NWC was ready for the much-talked about NEC meeting. Metuh had, in the statement which was silent on the expected date of the meeting, said the party's leadership would present clean copies of the PDP amended constitution to NEC. The constitution was amended at the party's national convention, which held in Abuja in March 2012. The inability of the leadership of the party to hold its NEC meeting since July 2012 due to its internal crisis has prevented the constitution from being fully accepted and circulated. The few copies presented to NEC at its last meeting, was said to be full of errors, which necessitated its return to NWC for correction. This, notwithstanding, the NWC had started implementing the constitution, a move the governors had complained about. Amaechi also told an inter-party summit in Port Harcourt on Tuesday that only the PDP could suspend a governor without reason. He said, "Any government formed without the people's votes cannot be responsible to the people. The only way government or governors or presidents or whoever can stop corruption, can stop maladministration is when that government is put in place by you (the people). "They know that if they don't govern well, you (the people) will vote them out. So your first demand should be that all governments must be responsible enough to allow for a free and fair election. "Indeed, it is only the PDP that has the guts to suspend a governor without a reason. I leave them to God and to you. We must come together to defend Rivers State. It's not about me; I have served eight years as Speaker, nearly six years as governor. "Even if I am removed tomorrow, I am satisfied that this state, this country and history will recognise and remember me. If there is no history that I have made, the one God has helped me to make is the one that I stood out and fought for my right and became a governor." Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu, meanwhile, has said that he would not leave the PDP. Aliyu is the Chairman of the Northern States Governors' Forum and major backer of Amaechi in the NGF. Aliyu denied being a part of a splinter group ready to dump the PDP. The governor said this in Minna, on Tuesday, while reacting to reports that he and some others were planning to dump the ruling party to protest the outcome of the NGF election. Aliyu, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Danladi Ndayebo, said, "The story of planned defection is a figment of imagination of persons who are either threatened by the successes the party has made in the last 14 years or are afraid of squaring up with the party in 2015 general elections." He noted that he remained "a committed democrat, principled politician and loyal member of the Peoples Democratic Party." Meanwhile, the northern socio-political group, the Arewa Consultative Forum, has raised the alarm about the desperation of politicians ahead of the 2015 elections. The ACF, which stated this in a communiqué at the end of its meeting in Kaduna on Tuesday, said that the undemocratic measures were contrary to the peace and unity of the country. "Some politicians are already resorting to measures that are undemocratic and may run counter to the peace and unity of the country," the forum noted in a communiqué signed by its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Fati Ibrahim.

MINISTER SPEAKS: Why 16,000 Students failed Jamb

Minister of Education, Prof. Ruquayyatu Rufa'i, has explained that 16,000 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, results were cancelled by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, because of examination malpractices by the candidates. Candidates writing the UTME at the University of Abuja, Saturday. Rufa'i spoke through Mr. Julius Ameh, yesterday, in Abuja, during the presentation of the Teachers' Guide for the teaching of the National Values Curriculum, NVC, in Basic Education, which was funded by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, ICPC. She said: "We shall be resolute in our decisions as there shall be no sacred cows. Nobody, no matter how highly placed, will be allowed to get away with the breach of the law or perpetration of corruption and evil in our colleges and tertiary institutions." The minister said the inclusion of the guide into the numerous literature available in the education sector, especially on corruption and value orientation, was an indication of the premium which the administration placed on education and transparency in the conduct of government business. She said: "It is also an eloquent testimony of the present administration's determination to heal the wounds of the past quickly, put the ugly past behind and use the new NVC to stretch hands of fellowship to aggrieved Nigerians for complete reconciliation. "The Nigerian child must be encouraged and taught that integrity pays." His self respect must be restored and his growth process rewarded through mentoring and parental care." - she added. Chairman of ICPC, Ekpo Nta, in his address, said that the NVC was applicable at all levels of education and was designed to expose the Nigerian child to a value-based curriculum that incorporates ethical values into academic studies from the early years to adulthood. "The curriculum has been infused into subjects and courses at basic, post-basic and teacher-education levels. It has also been infused into the curriculum of mass literacy and non-formal education," he said. Nta further pointed out the need for teachers to be trained and properly oriented on the methodology and behavioural imperatives for imparting such values. "We therefore, request commissioners for education and chairmen of SUBEB to order for more copies of the teachers' guide such that every school in the basic education system in each state is given enough copies for the use of teachers," he added. The Executive Secretary of National Educational Research Development Council, NERDC, Prof. Godwill Obioma, explained that the NVC as approved by the National Council on Education, NCE, in 2004 was to educate young Nigerians on their duties, rights as well as obligations to themselves and the society. He added that ICPC and NERDC developed the Teachers' Guide to assist teachers as implementers of the NVC, to acquire the knowledge as well as serve as a source of materials for the teaching of the new ideas. "The Teachers' Guide is expected to make the implementation of the NVC easier for teachers. It is meant to serve as a resource material for the effective implementation of the NVC," Obioma further said.