Thousands of fans left Al Bayt Stadium during the second half as Qatar were unable to fight back from two goals down at intermission in their 2-0 defeat.

Organisers had said that the arena was sold out with 67,372 fans for the opening ceremony and the game.

But many of those seemingly did not even appear to return to their seats for the second half, with the exodus continuing until the end.

Qatar became the first hosts in the 92-year World Cup history to suffer defeat in an opening match.

They can now share the fate of South Africa who in 2010 became so far the only hosts who did not make it into the second round.

German 2014 World Cup winner Christoph Kramer compared the two countries.

“South Africa also had a tough time as World Cup hosts, but somehow you had the feeling that with the country behind you and with the spirit and fire of the people, you can somehow develop a force.

“You didn’t have that feeling at all today,” he said.

The exodus contributed to “a flat atmosphere both off and on the pitch”, but Qatar coach Felix Sanchez insisted that the atmosphere was “great” and they felt backed.

“We felt supported and we hope for the next game that people will feel prouder. I am convinced they will keep supporting us to the end of the tournament,” Sanchez said.

“We are sorry that we could not contribute to this great atmosphere and the party. But we knew this could happen.”

Source: (www.nannews.ng)

 Laing disclosed this when she appeared as a special guest on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum on Sunday in Abuja.

 Laing said that the initial threat that led to the issue of the advice warning British Citizens on the security threat in Abuja has been managed and the advice reverted.

“The FCT and Abuja have been green all the time until we were made aware of the specific security in the Abuja, FCT area, and we have now reverted back to green.

“But the particular threat we were worried about we are confident have been managed.

“It is obviously for the Nigerian government to lead on this, the various agencies are working incredibly hard to pick up intelligence to process and to follow the leads.

“Our job as the UK is to support Nigeria, and we have a security defense partnership with Nigeria, which has many different aspects.

“One of the aspects is support for counterterrorism. So we do military training, for example on counter IEDs to how your soldiers can spot IED and dismantle it if they see one.

“So, we are here to support, but it is obviously for the Nigerian government and the military to lead on security,” Laing said.

Responding to if the U.K government liaised with Nigerian security agencies before issuing the travel advice, Laing said that the UK informed the Nigerian government before making it public.

“But we have a responsibility to our citizens to alert them if we are concerned about a security threat. But of course, that advice is available to everybody, anyone can sign up for a travel alert from us.

“So you have travel advice, everyone has travel advise and so we talked carefully to the government of Nigeria but we also have to alert our citizens and anyone who wants to read,” Laing said.

Source: (NAN) 

Bawa, who did not give the identities of these governors, said two of them were from the North, while the third one was from the southern part of the country.

He said intelligence at the agency’s disposal revealed that the three governors had concluded plans to inject the money into the system through table payment of their state workers’ salaries.

“Let me tell you something; the Intel that I have yesterday and I would want you to take this thing very seriously. Already, some state governors have some of this cash stashed in various houses and the rest are now trying to pay salaries in cash in their state,”

When quizzed on whether the commission would summon the said governors, Bawa said they were closely monitoring them.

“I don’t know how they want to achieve that but we have to stop them from doing that. Well, we are working, they have not paid the salaries in cash yet but it is a very serious thing,” he said, noting that the act was against section 2 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act.

“The law is very clear regarding cash transactions. Anybody that is to consummate any cash transaction as an individual, if it is not through a financial institution, must not be above N5m and if it is above that it is criminal for you to engage in such transaction. And for corporate entities, it is N10m.

“Yes, I agree the salaries are not up to that but why are you all of a sudden, and all along you have been paying people salaries through their bank accounts and now you want to pay them in cash, what are you trying to do? They will come under a lot of guises, they are trying to do verification of officers, that is what we have gotten,” Bawa added.

The development is coming amid moves by the Central Bank of Nigeria to redesign the naira notes, particularly the N200, N500 and N1000 bank notes.

The CBN had on October 26 announced that the country’s currency would be redesigned to address many issues that had negative effects on Nigeria’s economy. The development has since generated mixed reactions among Nigerians

Source: Punch

The PUNCH had exclusively reported how the Federal Government had paid lecturers under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Universities half salaries for October.

Although the government has yet to break the silence on the reason for making the half payment, our correspondent gathered that the decision was taken based on the fact that the lecturers resumed work in the middle of October.

A senior member of ASUU, who did not want his name in print, said, “Some professors got an alert of N121,000. We are still waiting for an official statement from the government as to why they decided to pay us half salaries, though unconfirmed reports state that the decision came from the top.”

The national president of ASUU, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, confirmed the development to our correspondent, “Yes, it is true and we are honestly shocked.”

The PUNCH reports that ASUU had on Friday, October 14, announced a suspension of its eight-month-old strike which commenced on Monday, February 14, 2022. In a statement released and signed by the union’s national president, Professor Osodeke, the union explained that it suspended the strike based on a court order while noting that the government had yet to meet some of the demands which led to the commencement of its strike.

Source: Punch News

EDUCATION: After his elementary and secondary education, he had his Theological training at Immanuel College of Theology, Ibadan. He was ordained Deacon in June 1993, priested in December 1993; was preferred Canon in November 1999, and was also preferred an Archdeacon in 2000 by the then Bishop of Ilesa, The Rt. Revd. Ephraim Adebola Ademowo,   the erstwhile Bishop of Lagos Diocese, Archbishop of Lagos Province, and Dean Emeritus, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion.

As a priest in Ilesha Diocese, Archbishop Olumakaiye served outstandingly. He was always a go-getter and an unparalleled achiever. In any of the Churches he served as a minister, his footprints remain indelibly engraved and very difficult to match. The late Archbishop Olumakaiye had to his credit an enviable record of robust human relations just as his caring and pastoral spirit are sky-rated.

Following Olumakaiye’s unequaled diligence and loyalty in service, he was elected as the Pioneer Bishop of Osun-North East Diocese and was consecrated on July 12, 2009, and enthroned on Thursday, 16th July 2009 at the age of 40 at the Cathedral Church of St Philip’s, Otan Aiyegbaju, Osun State.

As the pioneer Bishop, he turned a tick forest into a Mega City. These are evident in the multi-million naira Bishop’s court, a chapel, library and Resource Centre, Diocesan Headquarters, a multipurpose hall, Bishop’s office Complex, and schools at different locations within the diocese. To increase the spiritual lives of the priests and the congregation, he came up with the idea of building a prayer mountain and a prayer city which was named after Mrs. Oluranti Ademowo.

After a decade of faithful service at Osun North East, The Most Revd. Humphrey Olumakaiye, Ph.D. was translated to the see of the Diocese of Lagos and was enthroned as the 8th Diocesan Bishop on the 30^th of July, 2018.

The Diocese of Lagos was a prepared and fertile land for Archbishop Olumakaiye who came to continue building on the spiritual legacy of Archbishop Ademowo and to push further in Church planting cum human and material development. To his credit, Archbishop Olumakaiye had taken the Diocese of Lagos to greater heights within three years of translation. He was translated just about when the celebration of the centenarian existence of the Diocese was to kick off.

His unprecedented achievements can be categorized into six major headings: Spiritual, Structural, Media, Education, Youth Empowerment, and the Welfare of priests and the congregation.

Spirituality: On his enthronement as the 8th Bishop of Lagos, he came up with innovations that triggered a more spiritual awakening of the diocesan congregation. This manifested the opening of each new year with a 14-day fasting and praying program and has not been broken so far.

This is followed by the declaration of 21days of fasting and praying tagged The Memorial. It is another period of waiting upon God to renew the strength of worshipers and improve their spirituality.

As soon as he was enthroned, he made an episcopal visit to the entire Diocese of about 150 mega churches, including the coastal areas (just like Nehemiah in the Bible). This gave Archbishop Olumakaiye an insight into the exact situation of the churches handed over to him. Seeing the Bishops in most of these areas was like seeing God. He introduced and founded the Divine Mandate Voices as well as the Divine Mandate Partners both of which gained recognition at the start of the 100 years anniversary of the existence of the Diocese of Lagos.

He declared a five-fold ministry of priestly, pastoral, prophetic, prayer, and praise ministry for the diocese. In addition, Olumakaiye also started the Healing and Charismatic Service which now comes up every first Sunday of the month at 4.00 pm in the Cathedral.

He also declared the first three days of every month as Power For The Month in all parishes at 6.00 am; not forgetting the Lenten Diet of 40 days devoted to the in-depth study of the word of God.

It is worthy of mention here that fact many of the members in the diaspora are always looking forward to this program.

The late vibrantly innovative Archbishop also ensured that the Diocese has one target to attain via a dedicated theme for each year. To further enhance members’ spirituality, there is a periodic festival of Hymns. He also led street evangelism that has opened doors for raising more evangelists among priests. The Emmaus Experience which takes place every Easter season is a booster to the faith as members are able to see clearly during the season the way of the cross and visit Gethsemane Garden where notable places in Jerusalem are replicated at the Centenary City.

Structural: The greatest of these monumental achievements, is the acquisition of 1,500 plots of land covering five kilometers for the Diocese of Lagos christened the Centenary City. In this city, there are General TY Danjuma’s Low Income Estate, Gethsemane Garden, Chapel, Convention Grounds, Women, and Youth Empowerment Centres, Low Income Housing Estate, Amusement Park, St. Luke’s Global Hospital, Games village, and more. Work is currently ongoing on the site in an unprecedented way to the glory of God. There is also the acquisition of Delight International Schools now worth about half a billion naira (#500,000,000.00). The school that was acquired with less than 200 students now boasts of 1000 students within an academic session. The Archbishop Ephraim Adebola and Mrs. Oluranti Ademowo Resource Centre is now of a world-class standard with the whole compound fully transformed. The Rocks Apartment (Old people’s home) at Ikorodu which was gifted to the Diocese by the Cathedral Circle, a society in the Cathedral Church of Christ Marina, has since been renamed the Diocese of Lagos Hospital for Elders. It will be the take-off point for St. Luke’s Global Hospital. The lives of individuals are being touched to give to the development of the Diocese.

Media: Archbishop Olumakaiye was a televangelist. He invested so much in making the church occupy her rightful place through the media. It paid off during the invasion of Coronavirus as it became the only means of communicating with the members. Membership of most of the churches increased through social media platforms and this was also evident in the financial status of most churches. The procurement of a digital billboard at the Diocesan headquarters/Archbishop’s Palace in Marina for the advertisement of Diocesan and Parish Programmes was a great achievement.s The establishment of a 24 hours online radio and Television named Lagoon Radio and Lagoon Television remains a big credit to the memory of Archbishop Olumakaiye. All these new developments have offered job opportunities to over 20 youths in the Diocese. The Lagoon Radio and Lagoon television also serve as a learning place for students on Industrial Training in such fields of study.

Education: The Archbishop, being a scholar with a Ph.D. from the Premier University, the University of Ibadan, believed so much in education. Hence, his Professor-wife, Mama Lagos, Motunrayo Olumakaiye, teamed up with him to improve on Archbishop Abiodun Adetiloye Comprehensive College, Igboye in Epe. The same is extended to Delight International Schools which recently acquired functional science laboratories, Basketball and Volleyball courtyards, and a Library. A new school, the Episcopal Anglican College, was established and the first set of students resumed in September 2021 for the 2021/2022 academic session at a temporary site in the Aiyeteju area of Lagos, while the permanent site will be at the Centenary City, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos. Archbishop Olumakaiye was noted to have always encouraged first-class graduates of the Diocese in all universities through a scholarship grant of one million naira (N1,000,000.00) each upon securing admission for Post Graduate studies in any part of the world. This he had fulfilled without fail. And two of these beneficiaries are already studying abroad for their Master’s.

Empowerment: Archbishop Olumakaiye has also made a significant impact on the youths through his constant quest for improvement in their social status. Apart from providing job opportunities, he also followed strictly the path of his predecessor, the Most Revd. Dr. E. A. Adebola Ademowo by giving out non-interest loans to the youths in their businesses in form of empowerment. Every year, selected youths from various Archdeaconries are given between N250,000.00 (Two hundred and fifty thousand naira only) to #500,000.00 (Five hundred thousand naira only) each. Over 100 youths have been empowered since the take-off of this scheme. This is done at every synod in the Diocese.

The welfare of priests and the congregation: The creation of the Directorate of Welfare came into being during the scourge of Covid-19.  Archbishop Olumakaiye was the first cleric to stand by the Government with the sum of N5,000,000.00 (Five million naira) to support the efforts of the governor on palliative measures for the citizens even as he encouraged churches to replicate this gesture in their parishes. Hospital bills were settled for indigent members and priority was given to priests with any health issues.

Other achievements of the Archbishop include improvements in the clergy’s physical and spiritual development. Priests are assisted with interest-free loans for their personal house projects and are allowed to go for further studies. There is a Continuous Clergy Education program to help in the personal development of the clergy. More directorates were created to give room for all clergy to exercise their God-given talents in at least one of the directorates. Archbishop Olumakaiye also introduced Clergy and Clergy-wives Christmas get-together that allows the clergy family to catch some fun and interact with themselves every December.

All these achievements would not have been possible without the support of his amiable consort, the prophesying Professor, a praying machine, and a Mission Partner, Professor Mrs. Motunrayo Olumakaiye whose resourcefulness has added laurels to their pungent achievements.

Everywhere  Archbishop Olumakaiye had the privilege to serve had turned out to be a miracle center; hence the Diocese of Lagos is now a miracle center to the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion. All the monumental achievements are the written testimonies of the Most Revd. Dr. Humphrey and Professor Mrs. Motunrayo Olumakaiye.

To crown their testimony of the over four years of Episcopal reign and achievements in the Diocese of Lagos was the hosting of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) Standing Committee meeting which was held from Monday 20th to Friday 24th September 2021 and had in attendance over 900 delegates comprising Archbishops and Bishops, their wives, Chancellors, clergy representatives and women representatives across 170 Dioceses and affiliated Provinces and institutions. At the end of the Standing committee meeting, the Diocesan and Missioner, The Rt. Revd. Dr. Humphrey Bamisebi Olumakaiye was elected the Archbishop of the Ecclesiastical Province of Lagos by the house of Bishops. With this new development, the Most Rev. Dr. Humphrey Bamisebi Olumakaiye became the Primus Inter-pares of Bishops in the Province of Lagos. At their recent meeting of the old province 1, in October 13, 2021, all the Bishops, clergy and laity pledged their loyalty to the new Archbishop who was set to translate all the achievements in the Diocese to every part of the Province of Lagos.

Archbishop Olumakaiye was the first Nigerian priest to preach at St. Merilebourne Church, London; and for four years (2011-2015) was an annual guest lecturer at St. Luke’s Central, Birmingham, UK.

He was a man of international repute, a prolific writer, and an author. He published two great books of international standard namely: Anglican Women: Position, Privilege, and Prospects of Women In The Church and Inculturation and Decolonisation of Oral And Liturgical Theology of The Anglican Communion, Nigeria. He has many other publications in journals to his credit.

Until his call to glory, he was the Chairman Board of Governors, at Immanuel College of Theology (the foremost theological Institution in Nigeria), Ibadan. He is married to the Professor Mrs. Motunrayo Olumakaiye, Professor of Public Health Nutrition, former H.O.D of the Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University. Ile-Ife and their marriage is blessed with a son, Richard; and many spiritual sons and daughters.

In a nutshell, Archbishop Olumakaiye is an embodiment of God’s grace and testimony.

Without any iota of doubt, the Most Revd. Dr. Humphrey Bamisebi Olumakaiye was loved by people for his doggedness and love for the Youth, Elders and Evangelism. He was a pragmatic evangelist to the core; a dynamic leader, a quintessential personality, a spirit-filled Archbishop, a prayer warrior, a born-again child of God, a man who delivered so much in a little while that he became the Diocesan and Missioner of Lagos diocese. A pacesetter and a go-getter, a dynamic preacher and a man with a large heart.

We pray for the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

The body also urged participants to assemble at the Abuja National Christian Centre by 10:00 A.M. and ordered all Christian bodies to mobilize their members nationwide for the programme in order to usher the country into a new era of peace, unity, safety and all-around prosperity.

In a statement issued by Archbishop John Daniel, the Chairman of the National Prayer Day Committee, enjoined all Christians across Nigeria to solicit the help of God and to frustrate evil plans against the country.

According to him, CAN consider this prayer crucial in view of the fact that Nigeria is passing through very challenging times at the moment, despite its sufficient natural, human, and material resources.

Adding that Nigeria is a vibrant and virile land that is full of colour, wealth and all that it would take to be one of the greatest nations on earth, but Sadly, the country has not yet reached where it should be at the moment due to some inherent problems.