Lagos CAN approves cross over service

Christian Association of Nigeria, Lagos State chapter  has approved cross over night service for churches in the state. 

In a statement by its chairman, Bishop Stephen Adegbite, said, the overwhelming enquiries and agitations by many Churches and Christians in Lagos necessitated the need for the approval.

Adegbite, however, urged churches in the state to follow all Covid-19 protocols to prevent the spread of the virus.

He said: “There will be cross-over night service on December 31, 2020, in many Churches that    observe the annual service. However, it must be noted that the curfew imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic is a Federal Government directive. Hence, Churches who want to observe the cross-over night shall be allowed to hold service till 12:15am into January 1, 2021 morning.  Service must end by this time.

“However, for Churches which observe their watch night or cross-over night service till the middle of the night, no Church member must be allowed to leave the Church premises or service venue till after the end of the curfew period (4am) as directed by the Federal Government.”

Earlier, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, of Lagos State, had said that there would be no room for cross-over service in the state, due to the rising in the coronavirus spreading in the second wave.

He urged religious leaders to encure their followers obey the safety measures put in place to curb the spread of Coronavirus.

It’s mandatory to obtain clearance for weddings — LASG

The Lagos State Government has made it mandatory for prospective couples to obtain clearance from the state government to hold weddings with 300 people in attendance.

This was contained in a notice by the state government on Friday, titled, ‘Stay At Home’.

“Weddings and social gatherings must not exceed 300 people with prior clearance from the Lagos State Safety Commission,” the notice partly read.

The Director-General of the Lagos State Safety Commission, Lanre Mojola, confirmed the development with The Punch on Saturday morning.

He said the state government is concerned about large gatherings and big weddings as the state experiences a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases.

The director-general said, “If it is not a big wedding, maybe 50 people, 100 people, we are not really concerned. But if it is a large gathering with 300 people and above, it is mandatory that you get a clearance. It is a free clearance; no payment whatsoever.

“The process is not difficult, you go online and input the details of the wedding. There might be a requirement to have safety marshals on ground, depending on the size of the wedding.

“The move is to put in place some control measures to prevent super-spreader weddings and hold people accountable. It also helps us in planning. For instance, if we are envisaging 500 guests at a wedding, there will be more attention on them. We will do our regular patrols and visit such places to ensure that they comply with safety protocols.”

“We will also forward those locations to our brothers in LASTMA (Lagos State Traffic Management Authority) and LAMATA (Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority) to be on the lookout that there is a big wedding and many cars will be coming into a neighbourhood so as to aid efficient traffic management,” Mojola said.

How Ronaldo won PLAYER OF THE CENTURY

...beat Messi, Lewandowski at Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai 

The fact finding has shown how Cristiano Ronaldo won Player of the Century Award at Globe Soccer Award in Dubai, after beaten his arch-rival in football, Lion Messi and Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski. This award has added to Ronaldo’s  fame and numerous awards he has received before.

The Portuguese striker and Juventus forward, who has won Balon d’or award five-time, smiled on stage in Dubai as he was named the Greatest Football Player from 2001 to 2020.

It was gathered that Ronaldo was picked as the best player of the century because of his consistent on field and scoring. The 35-year-old Ronaldo scored 44 goals for club and country this year 2020. While Messi scored only 26 goals both for Barcelona and Argentina this year. This award follows the Golden Foot award, which was first introduced in 2003, for players aged 28 or above and can only be won by a recipient once in their career. Only Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski scored more than the former Real Madrid and Manchester United attacker. 

Ronaldo scored once in each half to see Juventus win 4-0 and move level on points with Inter and one adrift of leaders AC Milan.

Ronaldo’s contribution has equalled that of former Juventus forward Omar Sivori from 1961 - who scored the joint-third most goals in a single year behind Gunnar Nordahl in 1950 and Felice Borel in 1933. 

Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola won the coach of the century award, following his emphatic reigns in charge of Barcelona and Bayern Munich before his move to the Premier League.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes won the agent of the century trophy.

Ronaldo’s former club Real Madrid were picked as the club of the century, after winning five Champions League titles and seven LaLiga’s during the last 20 years.

Other award winners at the ceremony included Champions League winners Bayern Munich, who won the club of the year award for 2020. Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski was crowed player of the year, beating Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.

FIFA Player of the Century was a one-off award created by FIFA to decide the greatest football player of the 20th century, announced at the annual FIFA World gala, held in Rome on 11 December 2000. Maradona and Pelé were joint winners of the award.

Since 1991, FIFA have had awards for FIFA World Player of the Year and they decided to bring in the new millennium by conducting a public vote to decide the FIFA Player of the Century. This was to be decided by votes on their official website, their official magazine and a grand jury. Maradona won the Internet-based poll by wide margins, garnering 53.6% of the votes against 18.53% for Pelé. Despite the fact that Eusébio, who played football professionally during Pelé's era, placed third in the poll, many observers complained that the Internet nature of the poll would have meant a skewed demographic of younger fans who would have seen Maradona play, but not Pelé. As a result, FIFA decided to add a second poll and appointed a "Football Family" committee composed of football journalists, officials and coaches, who voted Pelé the best player of the century with 72.75% of the vote, thus both were joint winners of the award. 

One dead, 5 injured as Customs, smugglers clash

At least, one person has been confirmed dead  following a clash  between  some officers of Nigeria Customs Services and  rice smugglers in Oke Ola area of Ilaro, Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State on Saturday.

It was gathered that trouble started when the Customs officers stormed a hide-out where  imported rice were stocked, shooting into the air to scare the smugglers.

The armed smugglers were said to have engaged the officers in a gun battle that led to the killing of an innocent boy, who was playing football with his colleagues at the Local Government Primary School, Oke-Ola, Ilaro.

An eye witness, who preferred anonymity,  said no fever than five persons sustained gun injuries during the encounter.

The Public Relations Officer of Ogun 1 Area Command of the NCS, Ahmed Oloyede, who  confirmed the incident, described it as unfortunate, even as he said he did not have details of what really transpired.

His words: “I heard about the incident, but I have not got detailed information of what happened. What I was briefed was that it was a joint operation conducted by the border drill officers and FOU.

“They made some seizure and there was an altercation between them and the smugglers. They were attacked and all they could do to disperse the smugglers proved abortive. In the process, the smugglers tried to lynch the officers. So, they had to find their way out.

“I don’t have detailed information  yet, but that’s just the brief information I have about the incident.

“It is very unfortunate that when officers make an arrest, you see  hoodlums in their large numbers attacking operatives. Even the so-called innocent ones are being used for this. You see people with arms in their hands, carrying weapons.” Culled from Vanguard

Lack of govt input: Maize scarcity looms in 2021 — Farmers

FARMERS in the Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State, yesterday, lamented over their loss in the year 2020 planting season, as a result of failed flood forecast and lack of government input, which they claimed might cause maize scarcity in 2021.

The farmers, under the aegis of the Association of Farm Settlers, Ipapo-Iseyin branch, stated this after an emergency meeting, held at the weekend in the state.

In a statement by their Chairman, Mr. Alabi Kazeem, the association claimed its members immediately went to access loans from commercial banks and private individuals, when they heard about the heavy rain forecast, which they believed would assist in late maize planting.

The statement reads: “Many of our members had decided against planting maize this year because of the poor and unstable rainfall, but when they heard of the forecast from the Federal Government, through the meteorology department as well as the rigorous campaigns from Oyo State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources that there would be heavy rains towards the end of October and November, they sourced for funds to plant maize.

“Unfortunately, the failed forecast led to a staggering loss to our members. They lost millions in bank loans and borrowing from family and friends to plant maize, many cannot even pass by their farms to see the withered maize farms, we are so hurt by this occurrence.” 

“In as much as we are not blaming the Federal and State governments for issuing flood alerts to safeguard lives and properties, including those of farmers, we are using this opportunity to urge them to come to our aid, our members are running from pillars to post to repay loans they took from banks and individuals.”

They called on President Muhammadu Buhari to evolve new measures to assist farmers to determine weather forecasts and also provide basic supports to genuine farmers.

“Our fear for now is what will be the fate of poor Nigerians that depend largely on basic food items that are sourced from maize, it is easy to predict that there will be a scarcity of maize next year with what happened this year unless government quickly evolve a way out to assist farmers to surmount this problem.

“Our governor in Oyo State has shown an unparalleled love for farmers in Oyo State and we can all see that he is out to make agriculture the major pillar to promote the State’s economy, we are calling on him to please extend the funding from the loan for farm settlement to us at Oke-Ogun”, they stated.

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