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Real Madrid and rivals await Champions League draw in Istanbul

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Champions League Draw

Title holders Real Madrid and the rest of Europe’s elite clubs will be able to start plotting their route to Champions League glory when the draw for this season’s group stage is made in Istanbul on Thursday (25 August) from 5 pm Nigerian time.

All going to plan, the journey will end back in the Turkish city on June 10 next year for the final at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium, the same venue where Liverpool defeated AC Milan on penalties in 2005.

Istanbul was supposed to host the final in 2020 and again in 2021, but on each occasion, UEFA moved the game to Portugal due to pandemic-related restrictions.

Another late change was required last season, with Saint-Petersburg being stripped of the final after Russia invaded Ukraine, and Paris instead stepping in to host Madrid’s 1-0 victory over Liverpool.

The Spanish giants have now been crowned kings of Europe 14 times, twice as many times as the competition’s next most successful club, AC Milan, and they started this season by defeating Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt in Helsinki to lift the UEFA Super Cup.

“The joy and satisfaction you get after such wins tends to stick around, making you feel like no one should ever take your place. And that’s a pretty strong motivation to keep winning,” coach Carlo Ancelotti told UEFA.com in a recent interview when asked about the chances of a repeat triumph for his side.

Their success is likely to be recognised elsewhere on Thursday, with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and Karim Benzema nominated alongside Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne for the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year prize for last season.

Ancelotti is nominated alongside City’s Pep Guardiola and Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp for the coaching gong.

As for the draw itself, Real is in Pot One along with the champions of Europe’s other leading leagues in the shape of City, Bayern Munich, Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto, and Ajax, as well as Europa League winners Frankfurt.

Liverpool will be in Pot Two, meaning there is a possibility that they could get a rematch with Real. Chelsea, winners in 2021, and Tottenham Hotspur are the other English representatives.

Man Utd lifts Old Trafford’s gloom, surprises Ten Hag, Casemiro in Liverpool win

Meanwhile, Celtic will be in Pot Four as they return to the Champions League proper for the first time since 2017.

Russian clubs are banned because of the ongoing war, but Ukraine — where a new domestic season kicked off this week — will be represented by Shakhtar Donetsk.

Dynamo Kyiv, who faced Benfica in the playoffs, was hoping to join them but lost 5-0 on aggregate to the two-time winners.

The final places will be decided in this midweek’s play-off round ties, with Bodo/Glimt aiming to become the first Norwegian team to feature in the group stage in 15 years.

What awaits all clubs involved is an intense two months of competition, with a World Cup in November and December forcing UEFA to organise all six matchdays in the space of nine weeks starting on September 6.

There will be an international break in that period too, and the demands on the players will be greater than ever, but the financial rewards will make it worthwhile for the clubs.

A UEFA circular sent to member associations in July detailed the prize money up for grabs this season, and a team going all the way to victory in the final will rake in around 90 million euros ($90 million).

On top of that will be an added share from the television market pool of each country as well as amounts depending on a team’s ranking based on performances over the last 10 years.

That ranges from 1.137 million euros for the lowest-ranked side taking part — who will come from among the winners of this week’s play-off ties — to over 36 million euros for Madrid, who boast the best coefficient.

As a consequence, the rich will carry on getting richer, and the number of potential Champions League winners may continue to narrow as a result.

The draw for the Europa League — featuring the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, and Roma — takes place on Friday, with the Europa Conference League draw just after.

www.focusmagazinesoline.com/AFP

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A Great Nigeria is Possible, Bola Tinubu Assures Nigerians

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Bola Tinubu

ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT BOLA TINUBU AT THE 2023 CABINET RETREAT FOR MINISTERS, PRESIDENTIAL AIDES, PERMANENT SECRETARIES AND TOP GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONARIES AT THE STATE HOUSE CONFERENCE CENTRE, ABUJA ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2023

It is a great morning in Nigeria and I am humbled and happy to stand before you on this retreat, with forward-looking determination to embark on a very strong, bold endeavour to rebuild our country’s economy and our people’s hope renewed.
2. Thank you very much for your attendance. With strong determination, we are brought together the best brains, the best hands to navigate the future of this country.

3. We are not looking backwards; we can’t compare and give excuses. This is our country we have to build it; we have to renew the foundation. We have to give hope to the populace, to Nigerians in doubt whether democracy and economic growth will be the pathway to their prosperity.

4. I’m here to assure you and walk with you the best brains we can put together in civil service, the brain that we can put together in our democratic parliament and have been chosen for us by the public.

5. It is a good thing that the chairman of our party is here but the President is the president of all, whether affiliated with some political parties, regardless of religious, ethnic or otherwise, we are one.

6. A great Nigeria is possible, and a greater Nigeria will come under your commitment, guidance, and resolute determination to give the country a direction.

7. I’m with you. And please be assured that this great country is one family in one house, geographically located, partitioned, and living in different rooms. But we are all one family.

8. And we are here to make allegiance and give direction to that one family, making sure that relationships can only be stronger if we give hope to our people. We can only achieve our mission with boldness and strong determination with collaboration.

9. As I’ve stated before, no one succeeds alone. You the civil service, you must not see a minister as he or she will come and go and you will be there. You must make a positive team for the good of this country.

10. Yes! I admit and accept the asset and liability of my predecessor. It’s part of the definition in my professional background.

11. But you are in this ship. You will make good of it but not wreck it. You are a member of a great family; don’t see that minister as opportunistic. See, he or she as a partner that we must take the ship forward. Navigate it through turbulence and clear weather.

12. We are lucky we have a nation; the challenges are all over the world. You can see the chaos all around you. But be focused, like a man driving in the tunnel, don’t see the sky, don’t look up, face your direction. Be committed to the value and principle of results that will affect you, your neighbour, and the entire nation.

13. We’ve spent the last six months reviewing and evaluating ourselves, we’ve come a long way, but we set the agenda. Healthcare is a priority. Education of our people is a must. There is no other weapon against poverty than education. You have the opportunity to change things.

14. Recently, three days ago, we received the Chancellor of the Republic of Germany and his delegation of investors. One of their key complaints and the question is whether they can bring their capital, repatriate their dividend, or, if not satisfied, take their capital away. The Minister of Trade and Investment was called upon by me to explain further, that those obstacles are gone, never to come back again. We are open for business.

15. That is why we established the Result Delivery Unit. At the end of this retreat, you’re going to sign a bond of understanding between you, the ministers, the permanent secretaries, and myself.

16. If you are performing, nothing to fear; if you miss the objective, we’ll review; if there is no performance, you leave us. No one is an island, and the buck stops on my desk.

17. I assure you, you have a free hand. You must be intellectually inquisitive to ask how, why, when, and why it must be immediate. You have the responsibility to serve the people.

18. I’ve taken a young lady very dynamic, Hadiza Balla Usman, to head that delivery unit. If you have any complaints about her, see me. If you’re ready to work with her, stay there. Delivery, yes! we must achieve it for the sake of millions of people.

19. Yes, we are talking about the population of this country. What do you do with it? Make it an asset or a liability? Focus on its progress and come up with bold endeavours. We are great talents around the world, the biggest intellectually sound country in Horn of Africa.

20. Yes, we have challenges in the Sahel, we have challenges of climate change, south and north of Nigeria is battered, with ocean surge, we have desert encroachment in the north, but we are still blessed with arable lands. We can do it; we can build our country.

21. It’s not about theorizing. It’s about practical determination and focused evaluation. Yes, it is our country. We have no other one. Let’s be proud that we are Nigerians. We can do it, we can show leadership, we can fight to make democracy a lasting reference for the rest of Africa.

22. Don’t be afraid to make decisions, but don’t be antagonistic of your supervisor. If they are wrong, debate it. I stand before you and I’ve claimed on several occasions and I’m saying today again as the president, I can make mistakes, point it to me I would resolve that conflict, that error, perfection is only that of God Almighty. But you are there to help me succeed. Success I must achieve by all means necessary.

23. We have great minds, great intellectuals, great intellects, and all that we need.

24. When we were discussing this retreat, I said other than members of diplomatic corps to give us goodwill and inspiration, don’t invite any foreigner to give me a lecture about governance. I’ve been through it, and I believe in Nigeria.

25. It started from the day I was sworn in, and that bold endeavour is only achieved through courage, determination, and focused leadership.

26. We are going through the reform, painfully, and we still have other challenges. Don’t be a clog in the wheel of Nigeria’s progress.

27. Let us look forward. Let us be determined that corruption will go, progress will be achieved, better wages for our workers, and living wages.

28. We will transform the economy to work for millions of our citizens. We must take 50 million people out of poverty. We must build healthcare that works for all. Look around. Don’t be wicked. Look at the standard of education, look at the classrooms, and look at the roads. We can only spend the money, we will find it, we can not spend the people.

29. No crime in borrowing. Thank you, World Bank, for being a lending friend. But let your achievement be homegrown. The determination that Nigeria can do it is here.

30. If it had not started six months ago, we are here to switch off the light, make you included, and make all Nigerians included. Our path for tomorrow is charted for our children and grandchildren. Don’t be selfish about it.

31. Poverty is not a shameful thing. It’s only unacceptable. And we have to banish it because it’s unacceptable. Let’s work on other identifiable areas.

32. Because a memo is submitted to you doesn’t mean that is the end of that matter. Think through it. Be inquisitive. Ask how, when, why.

33. I’m ready to enjoy the retreat going forward. We are not retreating from progress. We are just to talk to one another and chart a path for progress and prosperity of this nation. I’m honoured to declare this brainstorming session open. Thank you.

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Anxiety in Ondo, As Group Launches Operation Ja Ara E Gba To Rescue Aketi

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Rotimi Akeredolu

Akure, Ondo State capital will witnessed a huge movement of operation ‘Ja Ara E Gba’, by a group intent to rescued the ailing Governor of the State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Aketi from ‘a cabal holding him down, thus preventing him from seeking proper medical attention’.

The group had finalised all plans to storm Akure tomorrow, (Friday, 27 October, 2023) with the operation ‘Ja Ara E Gba’, either using the State Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press centre, or another auditorium that can contained a huge crowd expected from all the eighteen local government areas of the State.

The theme of the movement is “Ja Ara E Gba”
According to a close source to the group, ‘a group of friends have locked Aketi down. He needed to be rescued from the grips of this cabal, he stated.

The group called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Dr Umar Granduje, the national chairman of the All progressives Congress (APC) to use their good offices to help ‘us get him out of claws of these cabals, so that he can go for proper treatment’.
The group appreciated the national chairman for his reconciliatory efforts between the State House of assembly and the Deputy Governor that has put the impeachment threat in the cooler.

They also urged the Ondo State people not to give up on the ailing governor. They pleaded that they should continue praying for him.

A close source to the organisers of the movement told www.focusmagazineonline.com that ‘there is no denying the fact that Aketi is ill, sick and cannot perform his statutory duties as the Executive Governor of Ondo State’.

According to the source, who pleaded anonymity, ‘the Aketi we know cannot stay for a week without talking. They should free this man and let him go for treatment’, he said.

He explained that this is not a protest really. We shall gathered at the Press Centre, use our materials, read out our prepared press statement. We shall come with all these placards.
While insisting that the governor, Aketi is sick. And that he is helpless, he believed that some people have hijacked him. The president should intervene and get this man to go for treatment.

The source revealed that while some of his friends were saying he might need some twelve months to complete his treatment and all that, but we believe they should let him go, even if for only eight months.

Therefore, he told www.focusmagazineonline.com that as from tomorrow, it is now operation Ja ara e gba that will rule Ondo state.

‘We shall all come wearing the vest and face cap with the inscription, Ja ara e gba’, he said.

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Drambi Vandi, Killer Cop of Lagos Lawyer on Christmas Day, to Die Hanging

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For Drambi Vandi, the trigger happy police officer who shot and killed a Lagos lawyer, Bolanle Raheem on Christmas day 2022, the long hand of justice ran its full circle early Monday, (09 October) as Justice Ibironke Harrison, sitting in Lagos Division of the Lagos State High Court, pronounced a death sentence on him. He is to die by hanging.

Vandi, since suspended from duty in wake of the reckless shooting and killing of the young mother if two, by the Police authorities, has been facing a one-count charge of murder at the Lagos State High Court since January 2023.

The judge, Ibironke Harrison on Monday found the disgraced police officer guilty of murder and thus sentenced him accordingly.
“The court found the defendant guilty on one count of murder. You will be hanged by the neck till you are dead,” Harrison said.
On 25 December 2022, Mrs Raheem was said to be coming from the Church with other members of her family when they encountered the police check-point under the Ajah roundabout, in Lekki axis of the Lagos State.

Vandi allegedly fired a blinded shot into the car conveying the deceased which hit her and resulted in the death of Mrs Raheem, who was said to be carrying a five months pregnancy at the time.
The police officer was attached to the Ajiwe police division in the Ajah area of the state.
The news shocked the whole nation and instantly, both the police authorities and the Lagos State government swung into action. While the Lagos State Police Command immediately suspended him from its service, the State swiftly filed a murder charge against him at the State High Court.

The Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) had presented a one-count charge of murder of the young lady against the defendant and subsequently arraigned him.
The court opened the trial in the case in January, with the deceased’s husband, sister, police armourer, pathologist and seven others testifying against the defendant.
The prosecution also tendered 27 exhibits to supports its case.
The defendant, Vandi did not called any witness. He was the only witness who testified in his own defence.
In his testimony before the court, Vandi told the judge that the bullet presented in court which was said to have killed Mrs Raheem did not come from the rifle he carried on the day of the incident.

He also claimed that he had never seen the bullet until it was tendered in court.

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