"I'll knock Joshua out in third round" - Fury

Tyson Fury has predicted he will knock out Anthony Joshua inside three rounds – with a left hook.

The heavyweight world champions are on a collision course for 2021, assuming they both come through their respective title defences.

Fury must defeat Deontay Wilder for a second time while Joshua is due to defend his three belts against mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev.

Those fights are expected to take place this winter with Fury and Joshua then meeting early next year, likely in Saudi Arabia.

And Fury expects an easy night as he bids to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis.

“AJ’s style is tailor made for mine. He’s an upright fighter walking forward with a classic defence,” he told Sky Sports. 

“Strong and powerful. He’s got no footwork, hardly any resilience. And he’s a bit gutless when it comes down to getting clipped.

I think I’d knock him out in round two, three rounds. First time I connect on him, his legs will do a dance and I’ll just jump on him like the little fat kid did in America that time.

It’s going to be a left hook to the temple, and you’re going to see him doing a Bambi dance all over the ring.”

Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn believes the rivals could fight twice next year.

"Simi hasn't put to bed, still heavily pregnant" - Anonymous

During the week, news made the rounds that celebrity couple, Simi and Adekunle Gold had welcomed their first child in the United States.

In light of this, many of their fans thronged to their social media handles to congratulate and celebrate the award-winning songstress who had announced that she was expecting her first child through her latest single titled, ‘Duduke’.

However, when news reporters reached out to a close source to the couple who preferred anonymity, the source confirmed that Simi was currently abroad with her husband and mother but had not put to bed.

The source, while thanking fans for the congratulatory messages, noted that the couple would announce the birth of their child when it happens.

“Simi is still pregnant but she will give birth any time from now. We are expecting the news at any moment. Her family is with her abroad. She was there before the release of ‘Duduke’ video. 

Right now, she has slowed down with some of her works but she has not given birth. Whenever Simi puts to bed, everybody would know,” the source said.

The couple has always kept part of their private life out of the social media space. 

Their 2019 wedding was a private affair which was attended by only close family and friends who didn’t share photos or videos of the couple or the wedding ceremony on social media.

Fans, however, caught a glimpse of the wedding when the couple released a music video that captured some of the joyful moments.

Court sentences Pastor to death by hanging for murder

An Ondo State High Court has sentenced a Pastor, Kolawole Samson to death by hanging for the murder of Ayo Olaniyi in Okeigbo council area of the state, four years ago.

Delivering judgement, the trial judge, Justice Ademola Bola held that Pastor Kolawole was guilty of inflicting injury on the deceased’s head with a cutlass at Gberinlegi Village, via Okeigbo, in Ondo, which later led to his death at hospital.

The state Attorney General and Justice Commissioner represented by two government counsel, Mr Olusegun Akeredolu and Mrs Omotola Ologun, had told the court that the accused had on 3rd of March, 2016, inflicted deep cut injury on the head of the deceased.

They said that the Pastor inflicted the  injury on him when he went to hunt for frogs with three other friends at a fish pond owned by the convict.

According to them the offence was contrary to Section 316 and punishable under Section 319 of the Criminal Code, Cap 37, Laws of Ondo State (2006).

The accused person claimed he was not guilty of the offence.

However, in his judgement yesterday, Justice Ademola Bola ruled that all evidence adduced before the court during the trial in the last four years, showed that the accused was guilty of killing the deceased person.

Justice Bola thereafter ruled that Pastor Samson Kolawole should die by hanging.

Midnight fire guts Olaleye market in Lagos

The tragic incident occurred in the early hours of Saturday, May 30, 2020, when fire gutted Olaleye Market in Somolu, Bariga area of Lagos State in which several items and properties worth billions of naira were destroyed.

Director-General, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, said the raging fire which occurred at about 12.15 am, Saturday, razed the market to rubble.

According to Oke-Osanyintolu, at press time, at about 8 am, though, no life loss, nor injuries recorded in the disaster, while efforts were intensified by emergency responders to ensure that the fire did not cause further havoc as well as curtail it’s spread to proximal buildings.

He added that properties and goods valued to worth several billions of naira were razed down in the inferno. LASEMA boss explained, 

“LASEMA Response Team received a distress call from the control room as regards a fire outbreak at the aforementioned location and immediately deployed to the incident scene

Upon arrival at the scene, it was discovered that Olaleye Market located at Shomolu was gutted by fire.

However the investigation is currently ongoing to ascertain the cause of the fire.

Lagos State Fire Service, LRU fire and the Federal Fire Service are currently battling the inferno and preventing it from spreading to other residential buildings.

No life was lost and no injuries sustained, but properties and goods whort several billions of naira is currently being razed down by the inferno” Operation ongoing.”

It was gathered that traders and property owners who raced to the scene to salvage some of the items during the raging fire were prevented by emergency response workers to avoid possible loss of life in the process.

Meanwhile, the victims were seen lamenting the situation and counting their losses.

However, at press time the cause of the inferno could not be ascertained.

Music, the best way to express one's thoughts and feelings - Collins Ebirim

Everyone has the dream and goal of achieving their dream and purpose, Ebirim no matter how they start out. This is the case of Nigerian singer and rapper, Collins Ebirim better known by his stage name, Chimsnero Goldsmith.

Ebirim grew up in the popular Ajegunle area of Lagos, Nigeria where he had his primary and secondary education.

Born in the early ’90s to parents who are civil servants, he developed an interest in music at a very tender age and as such started listening to music. He developed a passion for it and that became the first step to his growing process.

Now based in Cyprus, the Yaba College of Technology graduate already has chart-topping songs to his credit. Speaking during a recent chat, Ebirim said: 

“Music is the best way to gain satisfaction as well as growth and development in understanding the best ways to express one’s thoughts and feelings while matching sounds with words.”

Although he started singing professionally in 2010, before then, he was already known by some artist who he wrote and recorded songs for.

See the states that top the list of Presidential aides

Ogun, Adamawa, Oyo and Lagos states are currently topping the list of states with the highest number of presidential aides in an updated list prepared by the Presidency.

The 142 aides on the list are attached to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.); his wife, Aisha; Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo; his wife, Dolapo; Chief of Staff to the President; and a few ministers.

An analysis of the list showed that Ogun, Osinbajo’s home state, topped the chart with 16, Adamawa, the home state of the President’s wife, Aisha, came second with 12, while Oyo State came third with 11 aides.

Lagos came fourth with 10 aides while Kano followed closely with nine presidential aides to occupy the fifth position.

Buhari’s home state, Katsina, as well as Ondo state, are tied in the sixth position with seven presidential aides each.

Edo, Ekiti and Osun states are occupying the seventh position with six presidential aides each.

Bauchi, Kebbi and Nasarawa states have the lowest number of presidential aides with one each.

States without representation on the list are: Imo, Ebonyi, Bayelsa, Plateau, Zamfara and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

A zonal analysis showed that the South West geo-political zone which has a total of 56 presidential aides accounts for the highest number.

The North West is second with 25 aides while the North East came third with 21.

The South has 17; North Central has 12 while South East came last with nine.

According to an updated list, there are currently eight Special Advisers to the President; 55 Senior Special Assistants; 64 Special Assistants; and 15 Personal Assistants. However, not all of them are paid from federal coffers.

COVID-19 : NMA calls on Buhari to intervene in Kogi

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has urged the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to intervene in the refusal of the Kogi State Government to accept the positive test results of coronavirus patients in the State.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control had on Wednesday confirmed two COVID-19 cases in the state.

One of the patients, who is reportedly a popular community and religious leader, was referred from the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja and diagnosed with the virus at the National Hospital, Abuja.

But the Kogi State Government rejected the result.

The NMA President, Dr Francis Faduyile, and Secretary General, Dr Odusote Olumuyiwa, in a statement on Friday, said the association was “incredibly disturbed” by the response of the Kogi State Government.

The NMA lamented that the state Commissioner for Information did not only describe the process of arriving at the diagnosis as fraudulent, but allegedly “went on to smear the front-line health workers and the NCDC on live national television.” It said, 

“His use of profane words is capable of demoralising the exemplary gold-winning health workers and the untiring NCDC, which possibly can lead to a national catastrophe. The implied consequences of these unbecoming actions are what the NMA condemns.

The association, therefore, appeals to President Muhammadu Buhari to caution the state governor and his officials immediately.”

"Work will resume soon on unfinished expressways" - FG

The Federal Government has said that after the lull in activities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, work would resume soon on over 50 projects spread across 26 states, including the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated this in Abuja at a press conference to mark the first year of Buhari’s second term in office. Mohammed said, 

“This administration has embarked on a massive infrastructural renewal, the type of which the country had not witnessed since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999.

The administration has embarked on infrastructural projects, roads, bridges, rail, power, etc., in all the six geo-political zones. The COVID-19 pandemic may have briefly slowed down activities in this sector, but work is set to resume in over 50 infrastructure projects spread across 26 states.

These include major projects like the Second Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kano Expressway, the Owerri Interchange, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and Port Harcourt-Enugu Expressway.”

On power supply, Mohammed said following an agreement with German company, Siemens, in July 2019 to boost power supply in Nigeria, the stage was set for the nation’s perennial power problem to become a thing of the past.

He said Buhari also took another bold step to put Nigeria on the path to food sufficiency, stem the flow of illicit arms into the country and improve national security, adding that border closure had boosted the production of agricultural produce, especially local rice, tomatoes, pepper and poultry.

On the fight against corruption, the minister said the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission alone recovered assets worth N81.23bn in the last one year.

On the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, he said the commission “secured 1,270 convictions and recovered huge amounts of money within the period under review.

“The 1,270 convictions include high profile ones, such as the liquidation and forfeiture of the P&ID Nigeria Limited to the Federal Government, after the conviction of the company for fraud and tax evasion.”

On the COVID-19 pandemic, Mohammed said but for the right reaction by the Buhari administration, the situation could have been worse.

Six AirForce personnel attached to Late Alex Badeh sent to jail

Six Nigerian AirForce personnel who were aides to Late Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, have been sent to jail by a Special Court-Martial sitting in Abuja, following the gruesome murder of the former Chief of Defence Staff in December 2018.

Badeh was shot dead by gunmen along Abuja-Keffi Road while on his way back from his farm. The Nigerian Police Force, operatives of the Department of State Services and the military had thereafter arrested about 14 suspects in connection with the murder, who confessed that they were on a robbery and kidnapping operation.

A statement released by the Director of Public Relations and Information of the Nigeria Air Force, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola in Saturday morning, said the convicted personnel namely Squadron Leader Tom Gwani, Flight Sergeant Amu David, Flight Sergeant Philemon Degema, Flight Sergeant Sabo Simon, Sergeant Mukhtar Abdullahi, and Sergeant Alfred Alexander, were attached to Badeh while he was alive.

While two of them were detailed for guard duty at his home, the other four were detailed to provide armed escort for late Badeh.

According to the statement, the six personnel were sent to jail for absconding while Badeh was under attack among other offenses. However, NAF did not specify their jail terms.

Wife of Derek Chauvin files for divorce

Kellie Chauvin, wife of the former Minneapolis cop, Derek Chauvin has filed for divorce after her husband was arrested and charged with the murder of George Floyd.

Attorneys for Kellie Chauvin confirmed the news on Friday night and said that she is seeking the “dissolution of her marriage” to Chauvin. 

"This evening, I spoke with Kellie Chauvin and her family. She is devastated by Mr. Floyd’s death and her utmost sympathy lies with his family, with his loved ones and with everyone who is grieving this tragedy. She has filed for dissolution of her marriage to Derek Chauvin," the Sekula Law Office said in a statement Friday night. 

"While Ms. Chauvin has no children from her current marriage, she respectfully requests that her children, her elder parents, and her extended family be given safety and privacy during this difficult time." 

Derek Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter in connection with Floyd’s death, which has prompted nationwide protests that have turned violent in several cites. 

Three other officers were fired in connection to Floyd's death, but they are yet to be arrested or charged.