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Ex-Italy, Chelsea Star, Gianluca Vialli, Dies at 58

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Former Chelsea striker and manager Gianluca Vialli has died at the age 58.

Vialli was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2017 but after saying in April 2020 that he had been given the all-clear, he was re-diagnosed in 2021.

He announced a temporary leave from his role with Italy’s national team in December to focus on his health.

“Gianluca was a splendid person and he leaves a void that cannot be filled,” said Italian Football Federation president Gabriele Gravina.

“I hoped until the end that he would be able to perform another miracle. Yet I am comforted by the certainty that what he did for Italian football and the blue shirt will never be forgotten.”

Vialli played 59 times for Italy, making his debut in 1985, a year after joining Sampdoria where he would win the Serie A title and European Cup Winners’ Cup during eight seasons with the club.

He also helped Sampdoria reach the 1992 European Cup final but after losing to Ajax, he moved to Juventus for a then world record fee of £12m. Vialli spent four seasons with Juve, winning the Champions League, Uefa Cup and Serie A titles.

He joined Chelsea on a free transfer in 1996 and became player-manager in 1998.

Vialli was the first Italian to manage a Premier League side, taking over from the sacked Ruud Gullit late in the season, and went on to lead the Blues to victory in the League Cup, Uefa Cup Winners’ Cup and Uefa Super Cup.

He also guided Chelsea to victory in the 2000 FA Cup final and Charity Shield but was sacked early in the following season after a poor start.

The striker also had a short spell at Watford, then in the second tier, during the 2001-02 season but was dismissed after the Hornets only finished 14th.

Source: BBC

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Mahama Returns As Ghana President As Bawumia Concedes Defeat

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Ghana’s former President John Dramani Mahama has staged a political comeback by winning the West African nation’s presidential election after his rival, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, conceded defeat on Sunday.
Addressing a press conference from his residence, Bawumia said he had called Mahama to congratulate him, adding that Mahama’s National Democratic Congress (NDC) also won the parliamentary election.
“Let me say that the data from our own internal collation of the election results indicate that former President John Dramani Mahama has won the Presidential election decisively,” Bawumia said.
“The NDC has also won the parliamentary election. Even though we await final collation of a number of seats, I believe ultimately these will not change the outcome.”
Bawumia said he conceded before the official results to ease tensions.
Before his concession, scuffles had been reported in several local constituency centres where results were still arriving from polling stations.
“I am making this concession speech before the official announcement by the Electoral Commission to avoid further tension and preserve the peace of our country,” Bawumia said.
“It is important that the world investor community continues to believe in the peaceful and democratic character of Ghana,” he added. “The people have voted for change at this time, and we respect that decision with all humility.”
Source: Reuters.com
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Wabara Accuses Tinubu of Pushing Millions of Nigerians into Poverty

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A former President of the Senate, and chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara, has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of pushing Nigerians into poverty.

Wabara said the economic policies of Tinubu’s administration have worsened hardship across Nigeria.

He spoke during the board’s emergency meeting in Abuja on Thursday, saying: “The skyrocketing cost of living, coupled with poorly implemented economic reforms, has pushed millions into deeper poverty.”

Wabara stressed the importance of prioritising party unity and collective progress over personal ambitions.

“We cannot afford to let personal ambitions or differences overshadow our shared vision for a better Nigeria,” he added.

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FG Fires Togo, Benin Degree Holders from MDAs

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The Federal Government has fired some civil servants with degrees from private tertiary institutions in Benin Republic and Togo, according to The Punch report.

The directive affected federal workers who graduated from the institutions from 2017 to date.

The Director of Information and Public Relations in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Segun Imohiosen, confirmed the development to one of our correspondents on Wednesday.

In August, the Federal Government announced that only eight universities had been accredited to award degrees to Nigerians in Togo and Benin Republic.

This followed an undercover investigation report in which a Daily Nigerian journalist acquired a degree from a university in Benin Republic in two months and used it to participate in the National Youth Service Corps scheme.

Following the report, the government banned the accreditation and evaluation of degrees from tertiary institutions in Benin Republic and Togo.

The Federal Government also set up an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling to probe the activities of certificate racketeers.

The then Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, revealed that over 22,500 Nigerians obtained fake degree certificates from Benin Republic and Togo and such certificates would be cancelled.

Mamman explained that the revelation was part of a report submitted to the Federal Executive Council by the investigative committee instituted to probe degree certificate racketeering by foreign and local universities in Nigeria.

He insisted there was no going back on the Federal Government’s decision to cancel the about 22,500 certificates awarded to Nigerians by some “fake” universities in the two francophone countries.

Mamman maintained that the decision to invalidate the certificates was not harsh as Nigerians who obtained degree certificates from such tertiary institutions dent the country’s image.

He said, “Most of those parading the fake certificates didn’t even leave the shores of Nigeria but got their certificates through racketeering in collaboration with government officials at home and abroad.

“The fake universities capitalised on the gullibility of Nigerians patronising such fake schools. The Federal Government, through the offices of the Head of Civil Service and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, would fish out those in the government’s employment with such fake certificates. I also urge the private sector to follow suit.”

Although the exact number of affected civil servants could not be ascertained, it was gathered that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (Cabinet Affairs) had issued a memo to all the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to implement the order.

A source, who pleaded anonymity because she was not authorised to speak on the matter, told The Punch that the sacking of the affected workers was based on the inter-ministerial committee’s recommendation.

The official stated, “There was a letter from the SGF cabinet affairs directing all ministries, departments and agencies of government to identify and terminate the appointments of workers employed with certificates obtained from the private universities in the Republic of Benin and Togo from 2017 to date.

“The decision is part of the recommendations of the committee set up to investigate the certificates of people who graduated from the universities.”

Our correspondent also gathered that some agencies like the National Youth Services Corps have commenced the implementation of the directive.

The NYSC Director of Information, Caroline Embu, confirmed to our correspondent that five members of staff had been sacked in line with the SGF’s directive.

She said, “Five members of staff were affected by the directive contained in the letter from the office of the SGF. No more.”

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