A US Gymnast must return Medal after 2024 Paris Olympics closes… Controversy and Drama after a week of Celebration

(R) US’ Simone Biles the Silver medallist and (L) US’ Jordan Chiles the bronze medallist celebrate at the end of the artistic gymnastics women’s floor exercise final in Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena. Source-AFP or licensors

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has confirmed that the US gymnastic Jordan Chiles will be deposed of her bronze medal to the Romania’s Ana Barbosu. This comes after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled out an appeal lunched during the match on Monday by Chiles coach which saw her overtake and lead Barbosu on the podium.

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Super AFCON 2023; Semi-Finals Fixtures: Nigeria vs. South Africa & Ivory Coast vs. DR Congo

The following are schedule for the super Semi-Final, AFCON 2023 where old rivals are bound to meet on Wenesday 7th Febuary 2024 :

  1. Semi-final one – (17:00 GMT) Nigeria v South Africa
  2. Semi-final two – (20:00 GMT) Ivory Coast v DR Congo

Super Africa Cup of Nations 2023-Quarter Final Fixtures

2nd February, Friday
  • Quarter Final 1: Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, Abidjan (17:00)- Nigeria vs Angola.
  • Quarter Final 2: Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan (20:00) – DR Congo vs Guinea.
3rd February, Saturday
  • Quarter Final 3: Bouake Stadium (17:00)- Mali vs Ivory Coast.
  • Quarter Final 4: Yamoussoukro Stadium (20:00)- Cape Verde vs South Africa.

Super Africa Cup of Nations 2023

The Africa biennial football cup, Africa Cup of Nations 2023 edition, is being hosted by the West African country of Ivory Coast. The event is sponsored by the Oil and Gas giant TotalEnergies. The competition will run from Saturday, January 13, 2024 to Sunday, February 11, 2024. The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) has been facing series of revamp since 2010 edition. For instance, the Confederation of African (CAF) changed the football tournament to odd-numbered years to avoid clashing with the World Cup.

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Why Africa Cup of Nations 2023 in 2024?

Although the 2023 Nations Cup was due to be held in June-July 2023, but the host nation Ivory Coast requested for change in schedule to January- February 2024 while retaining the original title name. This decision was to avoid the rainy season of the typical West and Central African tropics.

The African Cup of Nation 2023 the Journey so Far

The African Cup of Nation 2023 has been full of intrigues and surprises. Generally, the quality of play has been fantastic as evident by the number of goals scored at the group stage. The AFCON 2023 in Ivory Coast has produced the total of 89 goals from 36 matches in the group stage making average of 2.472 goals per game. Interestingly, Equatorial Guinea has scored 9 goals which is the most goals of the group stage. However, comparing this feast to the last AFCON edition 2021 in Cameroon, the group state produced the total number of 68 goals at an average of 1.89 goals per match. The host nation Cameroon scored 7 goals being the highest number of goals.

The Major Highlights of the AFCON 2023 Group Stage

1. Upset as Big Teams lose out of Group Stages

One of the talking points of AFCON 2023 toutnment are the big teams who will usually qualify to the second round losing out in group stage. Among these Teams are Ghana, Algeria and Tunisia. The Ghana football Team who has seen their worst of the AFCON performance in this tournament have refused to revamp their nationl Team for optimum performance. The influence of Ayew brothers has not been favorable for the good course of the Ghana Team. Asamoah Gyan the most Cap Ghanian footballer has scored 59 goals in 109 games. However, André Ayew with 119 Caps and Jordan Ayew also with 100 Caps only have a total of 46 goals for these 219 games that is 24 and 22 goals respectively.

2. Six Coaches Fired by the End of the Group Stage

Sadly, some coaches have lost their jobs; their respective FA sent them packing. Incredible number of head coach’s “casualty” just by the end of the group stage of AFCON 2023 Tournament is alarming. The list of the Head Coaches are:

  • Chris Hughton Head Coach of Ghana Football Team fired for poor performance.
  • Famous Djamel Belmadi Head Coach of Algeria Football Team fired for losing out of group stage.
  • Jalel Kadri Head Coach of Tunisia Football Team fired for woeful Team performance.
  • Tom Saintfiet Coach of Gambia Football Team resigns after AFCON 2023.
  • Adel Amrouche coach of Tanzania Team sacked after getting an 8-match ban for bad comment about Morocco at AFCON 2023.
  • Jean-Louis Gasset head coach of Ivory Coast sacked for poor performance.

3. Host Nation Lost Woefully to a Lesser Ranked Team

In the history of Ivory Coast Football Team, the heaviest home defeat was their 4-0 defeat against Equatorial Guinea.  Also, this defeat makes it second consecutive home defeat after the 1-0 defeat against the Super Eagles of Nigeria. These have granted Ivory Coast another award-breaking spree of the first AFCON host nation to lose two group games since they did so in 1984.

4. Good Performance from Team Cape Verde

Regarded as minor, nobody gave Cape Verde a chance. Their last four stats LWDL were very unimpressive. However, in the AFCON 2023 group stage, Cape Verde won Ghana, Mozambique and had a draw with Egypt to top the Group, their best record in the tournament so far. They are known as underdogs, but only few people took into consideration that Cape Verde ranked only 27th in the world and 3rd in Africa.

AFCON 2023 Round of 16 Fixtures

  • Angola 3-0 Namibia (Stade de Bouaké) 27/01/2024, 17:00
  • Nigeria 2-0 Cameroon (Felix Houphouet-Boigny) 27/01/2024, 20:00
  • Equatorial Guinea 0-1 Guinea (Stade Olympique Alassane Ouattara) 28/01/2024, 17:00
  • Egypt 1-1 DR Congo (Stade Laurent Pokou) 28/01/2024, 20:00
  • Cape Verde – Mauritania (Felix Houphouet-Boigny) 29/01/2024, 17:00
  • Senegal – Ivory Coast (Stade Charles Konan Banny de Yamoussoukro) 29/01/2024,  20:00
  • Mali – Burkina Faso (Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium) 30/01/2024, 17:00
  • Morocco – South Africa (Stade Laurent Pokou) 30/01/2024, 20:00

How to Upgrade your Ikeja Electric STS Prepaid Metre

Why Software Update

Ikeja Electric has announced propose upgrade called THE TID ROLLOVER which will impact STS prepaid meters by November 23, 2024. This suggests that on November 24, 2024, the software that powers all prepaid energy meters worldwide, including those in Nigeria, will expire. To enable continuous energy token loading throughout this changeover, all STS Pre-paid meters—meters that get a 20-digit token upon purchasing energy—must undergo an update. Energy token loading will be impossible for any meter that has not been updated before November 24, 2024.

Futhermore, the upgrade will take place when customers receive two sets of 20-digit tokens at the point of vending, effective November 1, 2023 (which is IE’s TID rollover Kick off for the TID rollover upgrade). This is alongside the regular 20 digits energy token. The first set of 20 digits will reset the old meter settings while the second set of 20-digit tokens will upgrade the meter to the new STS platform and as such enabling successful token loading.

How to Link NIN with Prepaid Metre Number

NIN validation is a prerequisite to TID rollover project. As a result, before providing any customers with the 40-digit token for TID rollover, IE will need to authenticate their NIN.

This means that it is only customers that have validated their NIN will be allowed to vend after November 1st, 2023. The customers are expected to visit  https://smartkyc.ikejaelectric.com/nin to validate his or her  NIN and link it to his or her  meter number. Subsequently, customers can recharge their Ikeja Electric prepaid meter on servpay.ng without any additonal fee to generate 40-digits token for upgrade and 20-digit token for electric recharge.

How to Recharge IKEDC Token Online…

Ensuring sustainability and comfortability of his customers, Ikeja Electric has again lunched a new product which would enable her customers remotely load their energy tokens. The following STEPS are require to complete the operation succefully:

  1. Purchase credit token via any authorised paltform e.g servpay.ng
  2. Ensure public power supply is available in the premises during the time of loading operation.
  3. Click the link http://www.ikejaelectric.com/remote-token-loading/ , input meter number, click next and then enter the credit token and click to load.

Please not that this innovation is only available on MOJEC meters for now.

Mohbad’s Death: DJ Splash Claims Naira Marley, Nigerian Musician and his Gang of Spiking his Food, Drinks; Says He’s Been Sick

More comments and reaction have continued to trail the death of Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba a Nigerian rapper, singer, and songwriter from Lagos, professionally known as MohBad. However, Azeez Fashola, also known as Naira Marley, a well-known Nigerian singer and rapper has been accused by DJ Splash’s manager Matthew Aderoju of spiking his food and drinks while they were together. This accusation if confirmed to be true would have serious legal and career implication on Naira Marley.

According to SaharaReporters , ” a woman who identified herself as DJ Splash’s mother, in an audio she sent to an online news blog, Gistlover, accused Naira Marley of ruining her son’s life after moving in with him. He noted that her son returned home with a ‘strange ailment’ and was abandoned by Naira Marley”.

This allegation came to limelight shortly after the death of Mohbad who had made claims of assault by Naira Marley and his crew.

Mohbad made several posts on October 6, 2022, stating “The events of the last two days have left indelible scars in my heart. I have always just wanted to create good music and to provide for my family and myself through my music. As an Artiste from the street, I thought the Marlian Family would be a good place for me.

“However, recent events and certain truths have come to light which threaten my peace, health and career. Because of these issues, I informed Naira Marley on the Marlian WhatsApp group chat of my intention to change my manager.

“This didn’t go down well with my current Manager Tunde (His Brother) There were instant angry outbursts and protests from him in the chat. I went to Naira Marley’s house with my Producer and my friend on the 4th of October, 2022, to have this conversation and reach a peaceful-resolution.

“We were in the studio, and some of the guys who work with Naira- Sid, Shuddy, Seyi and others- were present, as well as Naira and Tunde. I noticed Tunde was quite agitated as we started the discussion. In the middle of the conversation, Tunde became violent and-attacked me.

“The guys I was with were also attacked, humiliated and stripped naked by Sid, Shuddy and Seyi and some of the other boys. We were barely able to escape. 3 of us had to be checked into the hospital to get medical care for the injuries sustained during the assault.

“Naira Marley was fully present throughout this event, and in fact, coordinated some of the attacks as he instructed the boys to beat us up. Some of this was captured on video.

“It is therefore disrespectful for Naira Marley to insinuate that I started the attack because I was intoxicated as he is fully aware of the facts and circumstances surrounding this violent attack. It is not the first time Naira has lied to push his own narrative, but it will hopefully be the last.

NERC Announces New Costs for Electric Prepaid Meters in Nigeria

The Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) in Nigeria have announced increment in the cost electricity prepaid meters they offer to their customers. In Nigeria, only the Discos are eligible to sell these meres to the electricity consumers in their coverage area.

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Nigeria’s DSTV Subscription Rate the Cheapest in the Sub-Saharan Africa

Multichoice the direct broadcast satellite service provider and owners of Dstv and Gotv is currently present in 50 nations in Sub-Saharan Africa. There have been several debates on fair pricing of Dstv bouquets across the continent of Africa. We have taken a look at costs of Dstv subscriptions in 2023 across 7 countries: South Africa, Nigeria, Cameron, Togo, Benin, Ghana and Gambia.

2023 Price List of Dstv Packages in Seven Countries

Dstv subscribers in Nigeria pay the least for the Pay Tv service in the Sub Saharan Africa. This is followed by the South Africans and Ghana respectively. There is a uniform rate of prices for all Dstv packages in four countries: Benin, Togo Cameron and Gambia. Although, these prices are fixed based on economic and industry conditions which are peculiar to each country. There are two key factors that determines the subscription rate; number of subscriber base and operating environment.

Subscriber Base

Nigeria having highest numbers of Dstv subscriber base in Africa could have contributed to having the lowest monthly subscription of Dstv packages. Nigeria is the most populous county in Africa. She boast of about 230million population and definitely a positive for any emerging market. It has been difficult to estimate or access actual total numbers of Dstv and Gotv subscribers in Nigeria. According to the Multichoice in its 2022 financial report, it stated that it has only 12.8 million subscribers at the end of the company year with an estimated revenue of about N292 Billion. However, according to reports, it is believed that this figures could be more as almost every household or businesses in Nigeria have access to Dstv or Gotv. Another source estimated total numbers of Dstv subscribers to be around 25million (around 10.5% of the population) in Nigeria and even growing. However, the numbers of active subscribers are also critical monthly revenue drive. The Dstv subscribers base in Benin, Togo, Gambia, Ghana and Cameron are far less than 1million hence the stable high price.

Operating Environment

Dstv bouquet prices in South Africa are the second least in Africa. Although, the subscriber base of about 8million is far lower than that of Nigeria even when it houses the Head office of Multichoice, however according to Multichoice’s most recent annual results, its Pay-TV service DStv lost South African subscribers between March 31, 2022, and March 31, 2023. Between these two dates, its subscriber base decreased by approximately 144,000, or 1 point 8 percent, from 8.016 million to 8.16 million. The decline between 2021 and 2022, from 8.177 million to 8.16 million, was significantly less, representing a loss of about 17,000 year-end subscribers.

Strength of country’s currency would affect cost of operation, recently Naira devaluation in Nigeria has lead to weakening of the country’s currency against the Dollar. Meanwhile, Multichoice Nigeria announced tarif increase in April 2023 but this was done before the floating of Naira. Further weakening of Naira could result to higher tariff increase.

Overall, high cost electricity and lack of stable power supply in Africa contribute to decline of active Dstv subscribers and shunning on the Pay Tv services. Multichoice as pioneer in the Pay-TV sector, continuously develop technology that facilitates access to information and entertainment. DStv and GOtv provide access to both local and foreign channels. These channels offer first-run movies, documentaries, kid’s programming, news, and ever demanding live sports.

MultiChoice unveils New Additional GOTV Product, GOTV SUPA PLUS

MultiChoice Nigeria has lunched a brand new GOtv product to affirm their dominance in provision of digital entertainment services in the country. The use of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) technology in Nigeria has made available and affordable access to digital TV entertainment.

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