• Super Eagles lose 2-0 to Ghana in CHAN 2023 qualifying match
• I don’t have a special presidential candidate — Obasanjo
• Lagos police arrest fake soldier, recover uniforms, others
• ASUU Strike: Lecturers’ union rejects government’s offer of a pay raise
• Lagos loses 22,500 children to air pollution

Across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, these are the five top Nigerian news stories you shouldn‘t miss:

Super Eagles lose 2-0 to Ghana in CHAN 2023 qualifying match

The Super Eagles B team was defeated in Cape Coast Sports Stadium by the Ghanaian Black Galaxies by 2-0.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will face a difficult task in the second leg in Abuja on Saturday after conceding two goals to the Ghanaians in the second half.

Afrieye Barneh converted from the penalty spot in the 50th minute, and Seidu Suraj added a second in the 87th minute to put Ghana ahead of the Super Eagles despite the game being cagey in the first half.

With four minutes remaining, Suraj fired a shot from close range that Adewale could only deflect into his own net after the Super Eagles made a brave effort to tie the score after falling behind once earlier in the game.

Nigeria will enter the second leg contemplating how they can overcome this loss to make a return to the competition after missing the last edition in Cameroon, while Ghana is considering making a return to the CHAN after missing the last three editions.

I don’t have a special presidential candidate — Obasanjo

In a statement made on Sunday in Minna, former president Olusegun Obasanjo stated that he will not be running for office in 2023.

Obasanjo talked to reporters shortly after visiting retired Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, the former Head of State, in Minna.

He said, “I don’t have a special candidate, as far as the 2023 presidential election is concerned.

“I have come to see my brother, who was a bit indisposed, and when he was abroad I had wanted to visit him, and the day I arrived in London to visit him was the day he left.

“So, I said, ‘well, since I could not see him in London, I will come to see him in Nigeria’. And so, that is what I have come to do.

“He is special in a way, and he was indisposed, so I had to come and see him.”

Obasanjo however added that if there was anybody again who is special and indisposed that he has to see, he would go see him.

“I am still strong enough,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Obasanjo had also visited another former Nigerian leader, retired Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, who he held a closed-door meeting with.

Lagos police arrest fake soldier, recover uniforms, others

According to the Lagos State Police Command, on Sunday, investigators detained Andy Edwards for armed robbery after he pretended to be an army captain.

According to reports, Edwards lured unsuspecting victims by disguising as a military commander before robbing them at gunpoint of their goods.

According to information obtained, the 39-year-old man pretended to be a modeling agent to entice women to audition, following which they were robbed of their automobiles and other belongings.

From the suspect’s home, items were found that included a Ford Edge SUV with the license plate KRD 276 EG, a sewing machine, a POS machine with six SIM cards, two pairs of military camouflage uniforms, and one number plate with the number AFL469 GD.

The Spokesperson for the State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday where he stated that the command acted after receipt of a complaint from one of Edwards’ victims whose identity remained undisclosed.

Hundeyin said, “Detectives of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested a fake Army Captain, Andy Edwards, ‘m’ aged 39 for armed robbery.

“The fake soldier, who posed as a modelling agent, would invite ladies for auditioning and then rob them of their cars and valuables at gunpoint.

“He was arrested following a painstaking investigation that was launched after one of his victims reported the robbery of her Lexus RX330 SUV.

“Further investigation led to the recovery of one Ford Edge SUV with registration number KRD 276 EG, one sewing machine, one Point of Sale machine with six SIM cards, two pairs of military camouflage uniform, one number plate – AFL 469 GD, in the suspect’s house.

“While investigation is being rounded off, the owner of the Ford SUV is hereby urged to come forward to claim same. Suspect would be arraigned at the conclusion of investigation.

“The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Abiodun Alabi, FDC once again assures the good people of Lagos State of the unwavering commitment of officers and men of the Command towards annihilation of crime and criminality in the state.”

ASUU Strike: Lecturers’ union rejects government’s offer of a pay raise

The Consolidated Academic Salary Structure (CONUASS) of the federal government has been criticized by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike in Abia, as being “unilateral” and hence undesirable.

The Chairman and Secretary of the union, Michael Ugwuene and Paul Nwiyi, jointly released a statement on behalf of the organization on Saturday and made it accessible to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia.

The statement reads, “Failure of Government: Collective Bargaining Agreements is the Way Forward.”

According to it, professors and other ranks received raises from CONUASS of 35% and 25% of their present pay, respectively.

It alleged that ASUU had no input into the review, which was created by the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission and given to the FG/ASUU Renegotiation Committee under the direction of Prof. Nimi-Briggs.

The award is unilateral and completely in violation of all national and international laws, which are the foundation of the collective bargaining agreement, according to the group.

It was asserted that the Trade Dispute Act of 1976 and ILO Conventions 49 of 1948, among other laws, required that the government and ASUU teams participate in the renegotiation process.

“A negotiated salary, needless to say, affords industrial harmony because the worker has made an input.

“A negotiated salary is a right, an awarded salary is potentially arbitrary and is just that: an award,” the statement added.

It further stated that none of the issues that precipitated the six-month-old strike, including salary, had been squarely addressed.

“Not even the issues that have no financial implications, like a commitment to adopt UTAS and the release of the Visitation Panel White Paper to the respective universities,” it added.

The committee’s determination to force the payment of earned academic allowances to specific universities was criticized by the group.

It also voiced concern over the federal government’s decision to move the fund to the 2023 budget rather than request a supplementary budget for its N170 billion pledge for revitalization.

In order to allow its students to return to their schools, the union urged well-meaning Nigerians to urge the government to resume and wrap up the ongoing re-negotiation swiftly.

Lagos loses 22,500 children to air pollution

According to the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, the state’s air pollution caused 22,500 child fatalities in 2021.

It was stated that 75% of the state’s 30,000 deaths in 2021 were attributable to the poor environment.

This was revealed to reporters on the sidelines of the official “EKO Clean Air” project kick-off ceremony on Saturday in Lagos by the General Manager of LASEPA, Dr. Dolapo Fasawe.

According to The News Agency of Nigeria, the project’s theme is “Breathe Clean Air Now.”

Fasawe said that the data came from a study that examined the effects of air pollution on locals’ health.

She noted that upon resumption, the governor prioritised health and the environment in the administration’s THEMES agenda “because there is no good health without a good environment.

“Eko for Clean Air is preaching prosperity, good health, increased GDP, and increased productivity for the people of Lagos State.

“We are currently in the Itedo community and the response has been mind-blowing.

“We did an Air Quality Study before this intervention and we also did something called the K-A-P: Knowledge, Attitude and Practices and we realised that a lot of people did not know the effects of air pollution on health.

“So, our coming here to preach clean energy and recycling, the people are excited and they are committed to partnering with the government on the project.”