Gist Coven

Despite its ability to produce four million tonnes of rice and cultivation of one million hectares in a year, the road to Zabarmari Community in Jere local government area of Borno State has remained a shadow of itself. According to the indigenes who are mostly rice farmers, apart from poor road network and absence of other basic amenities begging for government’s attention, the community with the population of over 300, 000 settlers also want government to assist the rice farmers with modern farm tools. Government’s intervention through the rehabilitation of the road linking Zabarmari to Maiduguri, the capital city of Borno State, as well as loans to the farmers , the indigenes said will increase production of rice that can feed the north east and by extension , Nigerians. Speaking yesterday in Maiduguri, the chairman Zabarmari Rice Processing and Farmers Association, and an indigene of Zabarmari, Hassan Mohammed, appealed to the federal government to replicate what it has do...

Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has vowed to kill his players if they fail to finish the English Premier League (EPL) season without the title. Guardiola said there was no chance of his team becoming complacent despite their superb form to the start of the season. Manchester City continued their EPL dominance with a 2-0 win at Leicester City on Saturday. City have made a flying start to the season, dropping just two points from the first 12 games and are 8-point lead at the top of the table, scoring 40 goals and conceding just seven. “That is not going to happen because I am their manager,” Guardiola said. “The team, that is not going to happen. I’ll kill them. Complacency doesn’t happen in my teams. “They can play bad, teams are going to beat us, that happens. “But if you see the team, they have the desire to have the ball and play. We are not a team that speculates about absolutely anything. That’s not going to happen.”

West Brom have sacked manager Tony Pulis, the club has announced. Tony Pulis has left his position as head coach at the Hawthorns after just two wins in his last 21 Premier League games following Saturday’s 4-0 defeat to Chelsea. Albion are just a point and a place above the relegation zone after an 11-game winless run in all competitions. West Brom won their first three games of the campaign, but have not won since 22 August, when they beat League Two Accrington 3-1 in the Carabao Cup Chairman John Williams said in a statement: “These decisions are never taken lightly but always in the interests of the club. “We are in a results business and over the back end of last season and this season to date, ours have been very disappointing. “We would like to place on record our appreciation of Tony’s contribution and hard work during a period of transition for the club which included a change of ownership. We wish him well in his future endeavours.” Assistant Head Coach Gary ...

The Airlander 10, also referred to as the flying bum, has crashed. A combination of a plane and an airship, it’s the world’s largest aircraft and hit the ground “less than 24 hours after a successful test flight,” reports BBC. But it wasn’t necessarily flying. According to witnesses, it fractured in two at the airfield in Bedfordshire,UK, after it “broke free from its mooring mast, triggering a safety system which deflates the aircraft”, explained its owner, Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd. This might give you an indication as to why it’s known as the flying bum: Two people on the ground suffered minor injuries: No one was on board, but a female member of staff suffered minor injuries and was taken to hospital as a precaution. A colleague also sustained minor injuries while dealing with the incident. “The safety feature is to ensure our aircraft minimises any potential damage to its surroundings in these circumstances,” Hybrid Air Vehicles added. “The aircraft ...

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has, over the weekend, stated that with the Bank Verification Number (BVN) in place, biometrics will soon be used for transactions on the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) instead of the existing pin code. The Chairman, Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF), Dipo Fatokun, ‎made this known during the Year 2017 annual retreat of the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF) held at the Best Western Plus Hotel, Iyaganku, Ibadan, Oyo state capital. He made this known at the retreat with the theme: “Operationalising a Four Sided Approach to Preventing Fraud” were top officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the US Consulate, Lagos, Consumer Protection Council (CPC) ,Union Bank of Nigeria Plc,  Access Bank, First Bank, Mobile Money Operators, among other stakeholders in the financial sector of the nation’s economy. According to Fatokun, introduction of biometrics‎ into the banking system was part of the effort of the CBN to ens...

The 2017 edition of the American Music Awards took place on Sunday and was hosted by Golden Globe winner Tracee Ellis Ross. Bruno Mars won the artiste of the year while Diana Ross was honoured for her lifetime achievement. See full list of winners below; ARTIST OF THE YEAR X – Bruno Mars The Chainsmokers Drake Kendrick Lamar Ed Sheeran NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR James Arthur X – Niall Horan Julia Michaels Post Malone Rae Sremmurd COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR “Closer” – The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey X – “Despacito” – Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber “I’m The One” – DJ Khaled feat. Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper & Lil Wayne “Don’t Wanna Know” – Maroon 5 feat. Kendrick Lamar “Starboy” – The Weeknd feat. Daft Punk FAVORITE MALE POP/ROCK ARTIST X — Bruno Mars Drake Ed Sheeran FAVORITE FEMALE POP/ROCK ARTIST X – Lady Gaga Rihanna Alessia Cara FAVORITE POP/ROCK DUO OR GROUP Coldplay The Chainsmokers X – Imagine Dragons FAVORITE PO...

Sturridge want Liverpool exit Daniel Sturridge is prepared to leave Liverpool in January in order to save his World Cup dream, reports the Mirror. The Reds were initially against a loan deal, after enquiries from Paris Saint-Germain last January, but may be open to such a deal after Jurgen Klopp failed to use the England striker in the 3-0 victory against Southampton this weekend.The player is hopeful that Liverpool will put a realistic price tag on him to attract interest, with a late run of games likely to make Gareth Southgate consider him once again for his final tournament squad. After being overlooked for the Three Lions' friendlies with Germany and Brazil, Sturridge now feels that just eight Premier League appearances, including two goals, will not be enough game time to remain in contention. Man Utd Handed Huge Boost As Barca Hesitate Over €100m Move Manchester United have been handed a boost in their reported pursuit of an Atletico Madrid star as one of the...

Pep Guardiola has stated he will maim any one of his players that ever got complacent, after their fiery start to the season. City continued their good run with a 2-0 win over Leicester, as Jesus and De Bruyne got on the score sheet. Manchester City have now won 11 out of 12 EPL matches and have scored 40 goals, conceding just seven and lead the pack with eight points. The Spaniard said there was no chance of his team becoming complacent despite their stunning form. “That is not going to happen because I am their manager,” Guardiola said. “The team, that is not going to happen. I’ll kill them. Complacency doesn’t happen in my teams. “They can play bad, teams are going to beat us, that happens. “But if you see the team, they have the desire to have the ball and play. We are not a team that speculates about absolutely anything. That’s not going to happen.”

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has claimed success in checking Internet fraudsters in the banking sector through various measures to prevent hacking into customers’ accounts. The deputy governor of the apex bank in charge of operations, Mr. Bayo Adelabu, who spoke at the 2017 retreat of the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF) held in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, said the bank would continue to sanitise the financial sector. The event was attended by top officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), U.S Consulate, Lagos, Consumers Protection Council (CPC) and some commercial banks. Chairman, Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum, Dipo Fatokun said with the bank verification number in place, biometrics would soon be used for transactions. “That means if you want to transact with your ATM, you will need to use your biometrics. There is no way you can give your finger to a third party. If that is enabled, it will make our system to be more secure and make all ou...

From Left, Akuoma Omeoga, Seun Adigun (Centre), Ngozi Onwumere (Right) For the very first time ever, Nigeria and indeed the African continent will be participating in the Winter Olympics courtesy of three determined Nigerian ladies, who make up the nation’s Bobsled team. The Nigeria Women’s Bobsled team qualified for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games which will take place at PyeongChang. Seun Adigun, Ngozi Onwumere, and Akuoma Omeoga, who make up the team wrote their names in the sands of time by becoming the first African team to qualify for the bobsled category, after completing the required five races. Their first qualifying race was in the North America Cup in Park City, Utah where Seun and her brakeman Akuoma completed two races in January. They went on to Whistler, Canada for their second track where Adigun and brakeman, Onwumere were the only team to complete the first race. Their hard work paid off in Calgary when they completed their fourth and fifth races for a place ...