Manchester United players have had to resort to wearing replica kits during matches as the approved Adidas clothing is too tight for them.

As a result, the sportswear giants are now scratching their heads trying to find a solution after a number of complaints from Red Devils stars. None of the United players are believed to have worn the official home socks since the second game of the league season back in August.

According to Mail Sport, the tight kits have been an issue for just about every player in the squad, including goalkeeper Andre Onana. The Cameroon international had initially donned the professional shirt, designed to be tighter than the one made for fans, but sources now claim he has opted to change to the looser, replica fit of the supporters shirt.

Onana stuck with the adidas-approved gear until October's 2-1 win away at Sheffield United. From that point onwards, the £47.5million shot-stopper has bid farewell to the old shirt and welcomed a more comfortable new one.

Ironically, a kit-related issue plagued United's goalkeeper last season when David de Gea claimed his kit was too baggy. Alterations have clearly been made without Onana's wider frame in mind and as a result the 27-year-old is suffering.

A plethora of outfield stars have even gone to manager Erik ten Hag with their complaints over the fact that the socks feel too tight on their calves. A number of United players often cut holes in the back of their socks anyway, but Ten Hag's men have opted to wear the fan-issued socks for now ever since August's 2-0 defeat away at Spurs.

Adidas are expected to have sorted the problem within the next month. One source told MailSport the German sports titans are planning to make some "light amendments."

 

 

Andre Onana is now wearing a replica shirt due to the fit of the previous professional one ( 

Image: 

Michael Regan/Getty Images)

It is unclear how much of United's poor form can be put down to the kit troubles, with the Red Devils losing five of their opening 10 league games this term. Their last outing came in the form of a humiliating 3-0 defeat on their own patch against local rivals Man City.

[mirror.]

Alex Greenwood will return to Manchester City for more medical checks after sustaining a head injury in England's defeat by Belgium in the Women's Nations League.

She was then taken off on a stretcher but was later seen walking around.

City said Greenwood had "been carefully monitored" since the incident.

They added that the 30-year-old centre-back, who was replaced by Chelsea's Jess Carter, "is alert and well and will return home later on Wednesday ahead of a review with our medical team".

"It was not nice to see her in pain," Lucy Bronze said after the 3-2 loss.

England full-back Bronze told ITV4: "Obviously when it's a head injury, it's something you can't take lightly. The medical team were superb on the pitch, making sure she was safe, so I just wish her a good recovery."

There was concern from team-mates who stood around Greenwood offering support as she received treatment from the medical staff and took on oxygen.

Blom also received treatment on the pitch and her head was bandaged up before she was allowed to continue playing.

At full-time Lionesses boss Sarina Wiegman confirmed Greenwood was "conscious and talking" before adding "she's all right - when she's walking, she's all right".

[BBC]

The Senate has confirmed the appointment of Etekarnba Umoren as the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Akwa Ibom State.

Umoren had served as Chief of Staff to Senate President Godswill Akpabio during his time as Minister of Niger Delta Affairs.

The former aide of was also a prominent member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom.

His appointment had sparked up controversies, with different groups and civic rights activists asking President Bola Tinubu to revoke it.

But the president had, in a letter read on Tuesday, asked the Senate to confirm Umoren and other nominees.

On Wednesday, Umoren was confirmed alongside Isah Shaka Ehimeakne (Edo), Oluwatoyin Babalola (Ekiti), Abubakar Ahmed Ma’aji (Gombe), Shehu Wahab (Kwara), Aminu Kasimi Idris (Nasarawa), and Mohammed Abubakar Sadiq (Niger).

The remaining three nominees from Rivers, Zamfara and Lagos, Anugbum Onuoha, Abubakar Fawa Dambo and Bunmi Omoseyindemi were absent.

The nominees were confirmed after they were screened on the floor of the Senate Wednesday.

Tinubu said, in the letter, said his request for Senate confirmation of the nominees was in compliance with the constitutional provisions.

The confirmed RECs are to serve a five-year term each, and can only be removed by the president and a two-thirds vote from the National Assembly.

It also approved the nomination of seven persons for appointment as Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs).

The Senate also confirmed the appointment of Mr Shaakaa Chira as the Auditor-General for the Federation.

[DailyTrust]

A Rivers State High Court sitting in Isiokpo Division, Ikwerre Local Government Area, has issued an interim order restraining the Rivers State House of Assembly and the Speaker, Martins Amaewhule, from carrying out any action with respect to the impeachment of Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

Also restrained are the Deputy Speaker, the Clerk of the House and the Chief Judge of the State, Justice Simeon Chibuzor-Amadi.

Presiding Judge, Justice Ben Whyte, issued the order following a suit filed by the governor.

Justice Whyte directed that the parties should maintain status quo, pending the determination of the Motion on Notice.

The judge adjourned the suit to 14 November, 2023, for hearing of the motion on notice.

[DailyPost]

President Bola Tinubu has requested the Senate to approve the sums of $7.8 billion and €100 million in his administration’s proposed 2022–2024 borrowing plan.

The president made the request in a letter read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio on the floor of the upper legislative chamber on Wednesday.

More to come…

[NaijaNews]

Oman, a nation in the Gulf region has suspended the conversion of visit or tourist visas into work visas.

This policy change signifies a significant shift in the country’s immigration regulations, and this took effect on the 31st of October.

Before this decision, those visiting Oman had the choice of initially entering the country on a tourist or visit visa and later transforming it into a work visa.

This process offered a pathway for individuals in pursuit of employment prospects in Oman.

The Royal Oman Police has said that this will have an impact on travellers and expatriates within the Gulf country.

This recent announcement signified that consequently, travellers are now obligated to obtain work visas from their home countries before they arrive in Oman.

Previous law on visitor visas

Previously, expats and visitors entering Oman on visit visas could have them converted into work permits.

The rule applied to those with family joining visas and student visas, among others, provided certain conditions were met accordingly.

According to the decision announced then, the following type of visas stipulated in the Foreigners’ Residence Law, could be converted into a work visa or temporary work visa.

The statement read:

• “A visit visa issued to residents of GCC countries, a visit visa issued to meet relatives and friends in the country, single-entry tourist visas (valid for up to 10 days or a month), single and multiple entry business visas, express visas, investor visas, student visas, visas provided to sailors serving onboard, or passengers aboard cruise ships, visas for owners of residential units and their family members.”

The Inspector General of Police and Customs, General Hassan bin Mohsen Al-Shraiqi, has issued Decision No. 142/2021 amending some provisions of the executive regulations of the Foreigners’ Residence Law, and it stated:

• “Based on the Foreigners’ Residence Law promulgated by Royal Decree No. 16/95, and the executive regulations for the Residence Law issued by Resolution No. 63/96, and based on the requirements of the public interest, it was decided:
• “The competent authority may convert the visas stipulated in clauses (3 / A, 3 / B, 3 / D, 3 / E, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16) of this article into a work visa. Or temporary work if its conditions are met, by the controls set by the competent authority, and after paying the prescribed fee for that”.

What they said

However, the latest policy states that this has been reversed.

According to a statement by The Royal Oman Police in a Twitter post:

• “Within its review of the policies for obtaining some types of visas, announces the suspension of the conversion of all types of tourist and visit visas to work visas for all nationalities coming to the Sultanate of Oman”.

[Nairametrics]

Nigeria’s top-ranked squash players in the men’s and women’s categories Onaopemipo Adegoke and Rofiat Abudulazeez qualified for the third round of the ongoing Prime Atlantic Squash Open, National Daily Newspaper reports.

The second edition of the Prime Atlantic Squash Open – a four-day event, served off at the Teslim Balogun Stadium Surulere, Lagos Tuesday.

Adegoke, who is the defending champion in the men’s category, walked over Matthew Jimoh just as Gbenga Olowoyo advanced to the next round in the absence of his opponent, Femi Shedara.

In other men’s results, Ismail Abubakar defeated Abdulraheem Durosilorun in three straight sets 11-6, 11-6, 11-2.

In the women’s second round, Abudulazeez, Abdulraheem Khadija, Mistura Durosilorun, Blessings Isaac, Riskat Ahmed, Jadesola Olatunji, Grace Okon Udeme James, Awawu Balogun, Ruth Okoro Rebecca Auta and Ibukunoluwa Ajani all qualified for the third round.

Speaking with newsmen after the first round of matches, tournament director, Wasiu Sanni expressed delight at the level of competitiveness of the players.

“The first edition was very impressive and we had Adegoke emerge as champion.

“This edition is more elaborate and that’s why we believe it is going to me more competitive,” Sanni said.

“The quality of performance on display from these players has been terrific and aside that we hope to use tournaments like these to catch them young for the future.

“Now that squash is now an Olympic sport, we hope to nurture them so we can have good representatives for Nigeria in 2028.”

Nigeria’s No.5 in the women’s category, Durosilorun also remained confident of reaching the rounds of 32 when day two of the event serves off on Wednesday (today), National Daily Newspaper gathered.

[NationalDaily]

It is gratifying that Lagos State government is forging ahead with the construction of the Fourth Mainland bridge by securing a $1.35 billion funding from the Cairo-based African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIM Bank) and Access Bank, Nigeria’s biggest lender by assets. The money will also be used to develop a creek and expand its light rail network. The Fourth Mainland bridge will cost $2.5 billion and would be constructed by a Portuguese company, Mota-Engil Group, and two Chinese ventures. The bridge would be built under a public-private partnership (PPP), meaning that the construction companies will bear part of the costs of the project. It is expected that motorists will pay tolls on the bridge from which parts of the loans would be recouped.

In addition, the state also plans to build an airport near Epe to serve the growing population in the Lekki axis. ‘’This investment will power our long-term infrastructure projects, demonstrating confidence from international and local partners in our growing economy’’, Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced last night. The deal was signed by Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of AFREXIMBANK; Dr. Herbert Wigwe, Group Chief Executive of Access Corporation (he also serves as the Executive Director of the bank) and Mr. Sanwo-Olu in Guyana where they were attending the Africa-Caribbean Summit.

Like all Lagosians, I am excited about the Fourth Mainland Bridge and I commend Lagos government and the managements of Access Bank and AFREXIM Bank for signing this partnership. The Bridge will be 38 km long, connecting Lagos Island (Langbasa in Lekki) to Itamaga in Ikorodu. It is a dual carriageway with provision for BRT (bus only lane) and future expansion. It is expected to become the longest bridge in Africa, featuring three toll plazas, nine interchanges, 4.5 km Lagoon Bridge and other added features. Construction will last four years. This bridge and the new airport will be a game changer in Lagos as they will help ease traffic congestions in the city, cut travel time and decongest the other airports in Ikeja. With a population of 20 million, Lagos is certainly living up to its expectation as the largest city in Africa. Currently, the longest bridge in the continent is Egypt’s 6th October Bridge, measuring 20.5 km.

Lagosians are also thrilled that the city’s rail project is progressing well. It consists of the Blue Line (Okokomaiko – Marina) which commenced operations in September and the Red Line (Agbado – Marina), the construction of which is ongoing. It is expected to commence operations next year. Both lines will carry over 20,000 passengers daily when fully operational. It goes without saying that these projects will undoubtedly stimulate the growth of the GDP of Lagos, estimated at $180 billion today, about half of Nigeria’s, and position it as a 21st megacity.

The involvement of Access Bank is not a surprise to many in the industry. With an asset base of over N30 trillion ($30 billion), the bank has become an infrastructure partner for at least 20 state governments in the last few years, focusing on providing funding for various projects and helping them augment their IGR. Beyond Lagos State, seven other states – mostly in the South West, South-South, North West and North Central and Abuja – would be benefitting from the funding partnerships between AFREXIM and Access Bank. Arranging huge fundings for state governments requires a bank with big muscles. With over 600 branches and service outlets, spanning three continents, 18 countries and with over 50 million customers, Access Bank is well positioned to meet the expectations of the states.

There is no doubt that the country urgently requires enormous investments in infrastructure due to the huge deficits in that area. Across the country, the road networks, bridges and other infrastructure projects have gone decrepit. While states like Lagos, Rivers and Akwa Ibom have been have been upgrading their facilities regularly, some states have fallen behind. Federal roads are particularly in a bad shape. I hope that the beneficiary states will use these funds to improve their roads and kudos to Access Bank for working with the various states in this direction.

I love to report on development news all the time and I hope to hear more of this.

Nigeria is in difficult times anyhow you look at it. It is a tough time for its residents. A few days ago, Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) started selling for N640 per liter in many parts of the country. This means that in less than 6 months, PMS has increased from N184 to N640 without any increase in minimum wage and even improvement in per capita GDP. Nigerians are mostly poor (about half of Nigerians live below poverty level) but pay more for everything. For government, it is battling to escape fiscal bankrupt and stagflation as it borrows to stop forex volatility. Nigeria’s social condition is very fragile, with insurgency and criminality weakening state capacity to provide security and other social and economic goods. The people themselves are more disunited than ever in recent times. Critical economic indicators are very poor, even as the index of public trust is at all times low.

In this context, Nigeria needs transformative leadership. But alas, it does not have it. Most Nigerians agree that Nigeria has a leadership problem. The literary genius, Chinua Achebe, penned his thoughts about the challenges of development in Nigeria with the title, The Trouble with Nigeria. In it, he declared magisterially that the trouble with Nigeria is simply the problem of leadership, honest and courageous leadership. As a moralist, Achebe related the leadership failure in Nigeria to moral failure. Many will relate to technical failure, the chronic lack of managerial and leadership competences. 

Those who lament about leadership failure in Nigeria, whether from the perspective of morality or technical competence, allude to the importance of leadership. Leadership matters, that is why its absence is lamented. But how does leadership matter. What makes leadership so important to society? What moves a society forward? Who makes history? Leaders or followers, or situation?

Some have believed that it is the strong man who makes history. That is the argument of the strong man theory of history. This was mainly propagated by Thomas Carlyle in his book, “On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the Heroic in History”. This theory exaggerates the impacts of strong men in history. It builds from the Nietzschean idea of the Superman. But as Archie Brown argues in the Myth of the Strong Man: Political Leadership in the Modern Age, strong men are shaped by the contextual understanding of political leadership. The argument of the contextualists is, as Harvard leadership professor, Ronald A. Heifetz puts it, is that strong men as ‘history makers’ were successful because “they stood at the vortex of powerful political and social forces, which themselves were of interest. Thus, the more or less contemporaneous emergence of the United States’ first great leaders- Jefferson, Washington, Adams, Madison, Hamilton, Monroe, and Franklin- is not attributed to a democratic fluke but to the extraordinary times in which these men lived”. Therefore, the contexts of a society matter for the quality of leadership in the society.

In modern political economy, there is the reemergence of the structuralists in the form of New Institutional Economics, who argue that economic and social transformation comes from the institutions that determine the quality of interaction between the people and the leaders. Douglas North is the leader of the group and got a Nobel prize for showing how society changes through institutional reform. But the question is: how does institutions change, is it through social dialectics or extraordinary efforts of a strong man? The reality is that no matter the theory of social change, the role of leadership in socioeconomic development is invaluable. A nation cannot get better than its leadership. 

To say that Nigeria has a leadership problem is not saying anything new or insightful. Even those occupying the highest political offices will be first to acknowledge the dearth of effective leadership. Of course, they will shrug off responsibility for the situation. They may attribute it to the notorious Nigerian factor that makes every convention of mankind fail in Nigeria. They may complain about the legacy of dysfunction institutions that militates against their great efforts. Oftentimes, they argue that we must be patient since Rome was not built in a day. Of course, while they urge for incrementalism on matters of social progress, they leapfrog in acquisition of civilizational goods from the advanced societies. 

Despite self-serving arguments of Nigerian leadership in passing off responsibility for leadership failure to the people, we should acknowledge that great leadership requires effective demand by citizens. Where such demand is lacking, it may be difficult to have great leadership. Also, inherited institutions define and constrain leadership. Leaders themselves emerge from institutions and influence the development of those institutions. So, where institutions are terrible, it becomes more difficult to have great leadership. 

Recently, Rotimi Amaechi who has lived the best of his adult life exercising political power accused Nigerians of being responsible for the leadership failure. In his opinion, the real problem is the docility of Nigerian people who do not revolt against political rulers. Nigeria’s leadership is simply the fact that its citizen suffers fools and criminal too long. They do not storm the Bastille and stone the criminals to death. This is an iconic gaslighting. Evidently, Hon. Amaechi who has done nothing else of value than exercise power blames the traumatized people rather than the rulers for the failure of Nigerian as social proposition. 

But all these excuses and explanations of leadership failures are not comforting. They do not overcome the bad consequences of leadership failures. So, we need to understand why leadership fails, and be able to create the conditions that enable the emergence of great leadership. The failure of leadership or the absence of real and effective leadership is a global concern. But the consequences of global leadership failure are more devastating in developing or underdeveloped economies. Developed countries have many mitigating institutions. Nigeria does not have any. It needs great leadership to create great institutions that can mitigate the effects of low-grade leadership that may arise occasionally. 

Nigeria’s leadership failures are glaring. What is not very evident is how to end the run of failure. How do we get a leadership fit for purpose? Every new administration is an opportunity to begin afresh the quest for good and effective leadership. But sadly, it is easily lost because the pressing urgency of politics as usual prevents the beginning of a different leadership journey.

Nigeria’s main leadership failing is in always falling back to transactional leadership when the moment demands for transformative or redefining leadership. Transformative or redefining leadership does not just change society. It first pushes society to a new level of cognition of social crisis and towards new objectives of development. We see this form of leadership in the successful East Asian countries that moved from underdeveloped to developed economies. When General Park became the leader of South Korea, the country had worse economic indicators, including per capita GDP than Ghana. They were coming from colonial rule by Japan. They had gloom and poverty written everywhere. But learning from the success of Japanese transformation, General Park and his colleagues pushed South Korea towards a new frontier of development. 

Transformative and redefining leaders focus on development as transformation, not on maintaining the status quo. They shake up the system, not as reckless experimenters, or anarchists. Usually, transformative leaders have been somehow part of the past and they appreciate its limitations and the acute need to move away from it. The difference between them and other members of the establishment is that they embrace the urgency and necessity to move far away from the distressing status quo. 

In the context of Nigeria’s present and pressing development challenges, what kind of leadership does it need? It is obvious that transactional leadership will achieve nothing. There is no development to conserve or consolidate. Even the unity of the country that we often say must be preserved is almost gone. We need to create a new unity that is based on a deep sense of justice and common identity. 

Transactional leadership is easy and routine. Every society must be governed and there is an office to contest for and occupy. This makes transactional leadership very compelling. We just play politics as usual. There is no clear and compelling objective of governance than to oil the engine of government. This is the reason the current presidency, despite the big talk about visionary governance during the campaigns, has easily settled on business as usual; appointing cronies to big political offices and expanding the bureaucracy in the face of obvious fiscal bankruptcy and the urgent need for fiscal frugality. Nothing but ‘business as usual’ will explain why President Tinubu will budget N4.4b for cars for his office. 

In the past, Nigeria missed moments of transformation and redefinition. The end of colonial rule was such a moment. The Nigerian pre-independence rulers had the opportunity to recreate the foundations of new Nigeria like the founding fathers of the United States of America, but they failed to do so. They assumed the positions that the British colonialists vacated without transforming the colonial institutions and practices. Ann and Bod Seidman, leading development scholars, show how those colonial institutions they left unreformed later undermined the dream of prosperity and freedom post-independence.

What Nigeria gets wrong, and the successful Asian country got right, is leadership. This is not about the intellectual or moral pedigree of individual Nigerian ruling elite. It is about the dynamics of leadership formation and its practices. In the 1960s, Nigerian regions had better leadership, and it showed in the superior economic performance. Those regions were governed by political parties that had strong development agenda which they used to recruit and orient leaders. This is political formation that impacted positively on leadership outcomes. Secondly, the formed leaders had centres of accountability in the party and its organic relationship with the people. 

That form of leadership is gone. Now, political parties, in the words of Governor Wike, are vehicle to help you achieve your ambition, your ‘Emi lo kan’. No vehicle orients passengers. You board, and you exit at convenient points. This lack of a development agenda easily commits the government to business as usual. The essence of government is government.  This is the problem Nigeria has. It needs a new form of leadership that will rise to the challenge of mobilizing the people for adaptive learning. It needs a leadership that properly diagnoses the crisis of development and offers a transformative pathway. This is what every country that has developed has done. It has pivoted under transformative leadership. Nigeria missed it in 1960 after independence. It missed it again in 1970 after the war. Will it miss it again?

Opportunity does not come only once. Nigeria has another opportunity to pivot to transformation and not business as usual. The man who is at the saddle has excelled in transactional leadership. He is a political genius in playing the political chessboard. Can he learn transformational leadership? Can he tear the ‘Lagos script’, and invest executive intelligence not in winning the power game, but in helping Nigeria become a different country? Can he imitate the successful Asian leaders, and not the African strongmen. 

Sadly, Tinubu’s political instinct and orientation may rob Nigeria the opportunity to turn the current crisis into a new beginning of economic and social transformation.  That is, if he insists on being Tinubu.