George Foreman: If Floyd Mayweather loses, he won’t be able to handle it…

One in a series of interviews with great boxers, past and present, to discuss the May 2 mega fight between the top two pound-for-pound fighters in the world, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in what is sure to be the most lucrative fight in boxing history.

Today: George Foreman, 66, former heavyweight champion of the world, won his last title when he was 45 years old, a record at the time. Foreman, who said he will be watching the fight at home, talked this week with USA TODAY Sports:

In your opinion, what does Mayweather-Pacquiao mean for the sport itself?

I think boxing has always been one champion away from being the greatest sport of all time. Jack Dempsey had this thing, there was no greater event than the heavyweight title match. Then all of a sudden, these guys disappear for awhile, and wouldn’t you know it, Joe Louis appeared. The President, everyone came to the matches. Then things  died down again. Marciano held it up a little bit, until Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier I in the Garden brought the sport back again. So we’ve always been that one champion away from being the greatest sport. When that champion dies, it takes years to gather it back up again. I think Mayweather-Pacquiao can put boxing in its rightful position once more.

Boxing has always been a heavyweight-centric sport, as far as popularity. Does the fact that this is a welterweight fight diminish its impact on the sports landscape?

Not at all, because Mayweather-Pacquiao, it’s not them, it’s the conversation you’ve created. . . . They could be featherweights. It wouldn’t matter. Nothing creates a conversation out of sports like a boxing match. That’s why it’s important that it happens. Heavyweights will come back once again. But boxing can create that worldwide conversation. Everyone in the world is talking about this. I travel all over the world and everyone asks me about Pacquiao-Mayweather. It’s something they can gather together and be one way or the other. You can’t do it in baseball, football, basketball. You can only do it in boxing. I don’t think it lessens anything that they’re lighter weights.

What makes Mayweather’s style a winning style?

Floyd Mayweather is like a genius on defense. A genius. He’s lasted a long time, and it’s all because of defense. He hasn’t gotten better as a boxer, but his defense has been perfected. That’s what I like about him.

And he doesn’t get hit that much . . .

Oh, he gets hit a lot. And sadly, he gets hit in the same place as Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson and some others. . . he gets hit behind the head a lot. That’s the tragedy of the defensive style. When you’re laying on the ropes and twisting and turning, guys are already thinking, ‘get him behind the neck. Get him behind the neck.’ And no one is thinking later on, you’re really tagging the brain in the back. He gets hit a lot, but in the wrong spot.

What do you like about Pacquiao’s style?

What I like about him is I love the (relentless punching) style. And he’s clever enough to box you, too. Like against Oscar De La Hoya, he outboxed him. (De La Hoya) was bigger and taller and had a better jab and the whole thing, and (Pacquiao) outboxed him. And was able to get right in with shots, when he should have been backing off and waiting to recover, he kept hitting him with those straight lefts. I like that style.

Your account of how the fight will play out?

Mayweather is ever a slow starter. Boy, he finishes fights strong, but always concedes two or three rounds early. And because I think he will concede two or three rounds, Pacquiao, a 12-round fighter, will get Mayweather the first six rounds, hands down. Pacquiao will coast in the seventh round, and that will be even. Mayweather will come on real strong in the eighth, ninth and 10thand win those rounds. But he will not win both the 11th and 12th rounds, so I give the fight to Pacquiao 6-5, with one even, on points. I see him stealing a decision.

So if Pacquiao wins, there would probably be a rematch, right?

I really wouldn’t assume that . . . if you’re a fan, you’re pulling for Mayweather. I really don’t want any titles leaving the country anymore. And the thing is, if Mayweather loses this fight  . . . I was, let’s see, 38-0 when I fought Muhammad Ali (Actually Foreman was 40-0 with 37 knockouts coming into The Rumble in the Jungle). When I lost that fight I went into a deep, deep depression. Money didn’t matter, purses, rematches, none of that mattered because I thought I’d lost me, who I am. . . . So if a fellow like Mayweather loses a boxing match, he’s not going to be able to handle that. No amount of money in the world can give you . . . there’s something you lose that’s hard to explain. Undefeated fighters, it’s hard to explain, so  don’t count on a rematch at all.  . . . I’ve been where he’s been and I know it hurts. There aren’t any words to (console)  you, people can pat you on your back and tell you they stole the fight, you looked better, but man, you just go somewhere and don’t even know about life itself. A little simple thing like a loss. You can navigate losing a match if you’ve lost one before, which on the other hand gives Pacquiao the edge. He says, ‘if I do wrong I can lose this fight. I’ve got to win.’ He’s got to win one round after the other. Anyone can tell you Pacquiao’s going to win the first round. But all he has to do is do it again, do it again, for six rounds, he can do it.

Can Floyd turn it from a boxing match into a fight if he has to?

He’ll have to. When you look up and you’re behind six rounds, you’ve got to turn on the offense, and that’s when you can get hurt. Because like I said, he’s a defensive genius, not an offensive genius. And the only way to catch a defensive genius is to make him get offensive. And you can knock him out, make his legs wobbly. That’s what (Shane Mosley) did. Shane was making him miss, and he got off his defensive game and Mosley almost caught him. You can’t have it all. No one can have it all. I was champion of the world and was cleaning everyone out, but then it gets to be six rounds, I’m in there with Muhammad Ali, and I hadn’t perfected my defense, so what do I do? Keep turning on the offense. Next thing you know they counted me out. You can’t have it all.

BOXING JUNKIE

U.S. Visa Revocation – Patience Jonathan, Godsday Orubebe and Ibrahim Shema speculated!

Patience Jonathan, wife of Nigeria’s president, casts her vote in Otuoke, Bayelsa State, March 28, 2015. (Courtesy Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde)

When Secretary of State John Kerry visited Nigeria in January in advance of Nigeria’s March 28 elections, he observed that anyone who incited violence or interfered with the electoral process would be subject to U.S. visa sanctions. Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the same point in an opinion piece she published in a Nigerian newspaper on April 20 in which she praised the Nigerian people and the election process.

As a result, the Nigerian media is speculating that the United States “appears set to sanction” First Lady Patience Jonathan, former Niger Delta minister Godsday Orubebe, and the governor of Katsina state, Ibrahim Shema. All three made statements that could be construed as inciting violence or as disrupting the polling and counting process during the campaign and election process. For example, the press reports Patience Jonathan as saying, “I’m telling you, anyone that comes and tells you [to] change, stone that person.” Shema has been taped calling on his supporters to kill the opposition, whom he described as “cockroaches.” Orubebe on television disrupted the collation of presidential election results while insulting Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman Attahiru Jega, whose performance has even been praised by President Barack Obama.

The U.S. Department of State does revoke visas, and carefully follows required procedures. However, speculation as to whose visa is being revoked is exactly that – speculation. Visa revocation is covered by United States laws that protect privacy. Therefore, the Department of State never makes public the name of a person whose visa it has revoked, nor will it comment on whether an individual is under review for possible visa revocation. It also does not publish the number of visas it has revoked from the citizens or residents of a particular country.

So, we will never know from the Department of State if the visas of Patience Jonathan, Godsday Orubebe, Ibrahim Shema, or anybody else, have been or will be revoked.

by John Campbell in AFRICA IN TRANSITION

“I believe in miracles,” says #BringBackOurGirls co-founder Obiageli Ezekwesili…#WITW

When terrorists grabbed nearly 300 girls from a boarding school in Nigeria last spring, the government was silent for weeks. But Obiageli Ezekwesili was not. A former minister of education, she helped spark the “Bring Back Our Girls” campaign, drawing millions of hashtag activists around the world. “Nobody has a right to make you choose between being educated and staying alive,” she said Thursday at the Women in the World Summit in New York. “That is not a choice.”

In a rousing call to action to find the missing girls, she said, “It’s unfinished business for the world. We need now a new momentum for their rescue.”

She criticized the Nigerian government for “dillydallying” in the wake of the crime committed by Boko Haram militants a year ago this month. At the time, President Goodluck Jonathan did not publicly address the abduction for weeks. Ezekwesili said leadership “must be about something deeper than yourself—that is where our president failed.” She said he was focused on his “political fortune” and saw the girls as a “competition to his quest for a second term in office.” His attitude, she said: “Try to ignore this.”

However, “citizens refused to go silent,” she said, and so the government had to “deal with it.” Ezekwesili, recently named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people, added, “The whole world caught on to it. Tweets carried on.”

Nigeria recently elected a new president, Muhammadu Buhari, who has vowed to defeat Boko Haram. But he has said he does not know if the girls—who were seized from a secondary school in the northern town of Chibok—can be found. Boko Haram has abducted at least 2,000 women and girls since the start of 2014, according to a recent report from Amnesty International. The militants want to create an Islamic state and vanquish Western influence from schools. In February 2014, in one of their many killing sprees, the terrorists shot and burned 59 schoolboys. They murdered an estimated 7,300 people in 2014 alone, according to a recent report from UNICEF.

The U.S. has sent advisers, investigators, and surveillance equipment to aid efforts to find the girls, with no luck. Lesley Stahl, correspondent for 60 Minutes, moderated the panel on Thursday, asking if Ezekwesili thought the girls could be found. “I believe in miracles,” Ezekwesili said. “I have said that like the parents of our Chibok girls, we will not stop hoping until there is absolutely no reason to hope. There is no evidence that they are dead, so we must keep hoping.” She added, “They’re somewhere on the face of the planet. We need to selectively determine that they will be found.” Turning to the audience, she said, “We just need you to please not go away. Don’t move on.”

Joining Ezekwesili on the panel were John Prendergast, founding director of the Enough Project, a group that combats genocide, and Alexis Okeowo, a writer for The New York Times Magazine and The New Yorker. They discussed government corruption and the resources in Africa that help fund extremists. “Blood diamonds, conflict gold, ivory trafficking, all of these are part and parcel of systems that help finance extremism,” said Prendergast. But both expressed hope that the new government would be an improvement. Said Okeowo, “Buhari is a general. He’s someone who’s known for enforcing discipline.”

Ezekwesili implored the audience at Lincoln Center, “Please don’t go to sleep on our Chibok girls.” She said, “We must rapidly bring this to an end” and make “a clear statement to every girl child that we’ve got your back.”

Drawing applause, she added, “Wouldn’t it be great to have three Malalas come out of those girls,” referring to Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot in the head by the Taliban and who is now one of the world’s foremost advocates for girls’ rights. Girls need to know, she said, “that no one can stand in the way of the girl child—and that she can reach for the skies and even beyond the skies to education.”

In closing, Stahl said to Ezekwesili, “Every person in this room is saying: Why didn’t you run for president?”

WOMEN IN THE WORLD in association with NEW YORK TIMES.

PHOTOS: Senate President David Mark Visits Buhari.

Senate President David Mark paid a congratulatory visit to President-elect Gen. Muhammadu Buhari today April 23rd, 2015. (Punch News)

Nigeria Senate President, David Mark has paid a courtesy visit to president-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.

The meeting which lasted about 30 minutes held at the All Progressives Congress headquarters.

Mark who stormed the venue with his entourage is believed to have discussed national issues as well as working together with the incoming president.

Mark, a Peoples Democratic Party chieftain was elected senate president on June 6, 2007.

As plans for transition of government continue, political analysts believe that the two main political parties can work together to move Nigeria forward in the next four years.

With the APC bagging majority of the seats in the senate, Mark is not expected to be elected senate president again although there are news making the rounds that he is scheming to retain the position.

 

Jonathan urges Nigerians to put political campaigns behind them and join hands with Buhari.

President Goodluck Jonathan has directed the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation and the various associations that merged into the Jonathan/Sambo Support Group to immediately begin the process of removing the posters, billboards, banners, signs and other campaign materials in support of his re-election bid which still adorn the landscape in major cities across Nigeria.

According to a statement by his spokesperson, Reuben Abati, Mr. Jonathan believes that it is appropriate that steps be taken to restore the environment in Nigerian cities, towns and villages to their pre-elections campaign state.

The state said the president thanked all individuals and organisations who made sincere contributions and worked with immense dedication for the Jonathan/ Sambo Campaign.

“He applauds his supporters and other Nigerians for the disciplined, patriotic and democratic manner in which they comported themselves before, during and after the elections,” the statement said.

“Now that the elections are over except for re-runs in a few states, President Jonathan urges Nigerians to put the recent political campaigns behind them and join hands with the incoming administration in working for a more united, peaceful, stable and progressive nation.”

PREMIUM TIMES

MUST WATCH DOCUMENTARY – ‘India’s Daughter’ on Nirbhaya Delhi Gang Rape..

‘India’s Daughter’: The true story behind the banned film.

She was just 23 years old, a promising medical student determined to make a better life for herself and her parents.

The news of Jyoti Singh’s brutal gang rape and murder in Delhi in 2012 sparked worldwide outrage and galvanized a movement to end the culture of silence on violence against women.

The horrific crime and the debate it ignited are the focus of the new documentary “India’s Daughter” by British filmmaker Leslee Udwin. Yahoo News and Finance anchor Bianna Golodryga sat down this week with Udwin, along with the film’s composer, Krsna Solo, and editor, Anuradha Singh, in New York.

Jyoti Singh was walking home from a movie with a male friend at 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 16, 2012, when the pair was offered a ride by six young men in a private bus. The men claimed to be heading toward Jyoti and her friend’s town just outside the capital city of Delhi. But Jyoti and her friend never got there. Instead, the men beat Jyoti’s friend and gang raped and brutally assaulted Jyoti before leaving both on the side of the road. Jyoti died 13 days later in a hospital in Singapore.

The film, which includes an interview with one of the convicted rapists, Mukesh Singh, has been the source of a great deal of controversy in India. On March 4, it was banned from broadcast by the Indian government. A statement from the home minister’s office cited, among other reasons, that clips from the film “appear to encourage and incite violence against women.” And on March 10, Avanindra Pandey, Jyoti’s friend who was with her on the night of the attack, came out against the documentary to Indian news organization IBN.

Director Leslee Udwin responded that she’s confident the ban will be lifted, saying, “There is no basis for a ban in a democracy where free speech is one of the major pillars of a constitutional society.” She also addressed the claim made by Jyoti’s friend, the young man with her that night, that the documentary is unbalanced: “[He] was given every opportunity to come and be interviewed on this documentary. At one point, he asked for money to do so. I refused.

Four of the men who attacked Jyoti are currently on death row for the crime. A fifth was sentenced to death but committed suicide in prison, and a sixth man, who is underage, was given a three-year sentence.

Despite his conviction, Mukesh Singh still places blame on Jyoti in the film, saying, “It takes two hands to clap. A decent girl won’t roam around at 9 o’clock at night. A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy.”

His views reflect, in its most extreme, the culture of gender inequality in India. Shockingly, these views are mirrored by other men featured in the film, including lawyers. It’s a deep-rooted problem that the documentary’s composer, Krsna Solo, says is being challenged by a younger generation that has adopted it as a universal crisis.

According to a report released last week by the United Nations, 35 percent of women worldwide said they had experienced violence in their lifetime, and 1 in 10 girls under the age of 18 was forced to have sex.

Udwin hopes her film will move the conversation on this global epidemic forward. On March 9, Vital Voices Global Partnership and Plan International hosted a premiere of the film in the U.S. with Meryl Streep, Freida Pinto and Chris Martin lending their support. Streep opened the evening with a vigil honoring Jyoti, saying, “She was India’s daughter. Tonight she’s our daughter too.” Pinto left the more than 600 people in attendance with a call to action to fight for gender equality.

“This is a world problem and the time has come,” says Udwin. “And the purpose and the hope and the objective of this documentary is to have us all join hands across the world to stop this lack of respect for women. To ensure autonomy for women, safety for women. It’s the greatest unfinished business of our time. And we have simply neglected it for far too long.” – YAHOO

 Watch the film in full:

Jonathan won’t contest in 2019 says Babatope; That’s a no brainer. The question is how will PDP cope as an opposition party?

A member, Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, has said that President Goodluck Jonathan will not run for the presidency in 2019. (Goodluck Jonathan has bitten the bug and I don’t expect him back. What for?)

Babatope explained that the party would shop for a strong Hausa/Fulani candidate to run against the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, in 2019.

Babatope, who is also a member of the party’s elders’ caucus, spoke with our correspondent on Victoria Island, on Wednesday.

He described the outgoing President as a leader, who had done his best in uplifting the nation’s democracy, adding that Nigeria would forever remember Jonathan as a committed leader who kept the nation as one despite several challenges.

He said he was sure that the President would not seek to contest the 2019 presidential election although “the people of the South-South have the right to present a candidate for the election, I’m sure the President will not contest; He will lead us to against the All Progressives Congress.” PUNCH

With due respect to Ebenezer Babatope (pictured above), who had Obafemi Awolowo as his mentor, he doesn’t seem to have felt the cold chill from the wind of change that is still sweeping through the electoral/political landscape of Nigeria, and that’s a shame.

If he sincerely believes discovering a strong Hausa/Fulani candidate to run against the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, in 2019 would guarantee the PDP party success, I have news for him. They will fail woefully. 

The noise I expect to hear coming from the PDP camp is how they will re-group as a formidable propaganda free opposition party that will monitor every move of the APC Presidency, rather than focus on the tribe that will produce the next presidential candidate.

President Goodluck Jonathan lost the election because of the arrogance of his aides which exposed his government of its absolute inept at relating with the people it was elected to govern and provide for. 

Make no mistake about it, if Buhari does half of what Goodluck Jonathan dished out to Nigerians, he would be booted out.

I expect PDP to form a formidable opposition party that will appoint spokespersons to shadow appointed Ministers. This, in my opinion is how PDP should go about preparing for 2019.

You just can’t wish away the arrogance of the PDP or talk tough with the hope to flush out APC in 2019. Re-group, sift your party of bad eggs, organise a roll call of who is in and who is out, mend broken fences, forget the past and look to recruit young and dedicated Nigerians. Accept it, Nigerians wanted Change. Nigerians got Change. PDP were well beaten by APC and the earlier Babatope and co accept it, the better and stronger the party will be. So Chief, get on with the task of being in opposition. 

 

Inauguration Committee: Names of Members. Timipre Silva, Anyim Pius Anyim lead…

Former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipire Sylva, Secretary to the Federal Government, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim and Mrs. Ibukun Odusote during the Presidential Inauguration Planning Committee (PIPC) meeting at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Thursday. Photo: AKIN OLADOKUN.

To ensure a smooth transition of government on May 29, the former Bayelsa State Governor, Timipre Silva and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, will co-chair the 2015 Presidential Inauguration Planning Committee (PIPC).

At a joint briefing by the co-chairmen in the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja, on Thursday, Anyim, said the briefing was to present the programme of the 2015 Presidential inauguration to the public.

He also told State House correspondents that the committee was meeting for the second time.

He said: “There are two parallel transition committee and inauguration committee. Two parallel transition committees work independent of each other but to interface at a point.”

“Inauguration committee is structured to be joint committee of the present administration and incoming administration and is chaired by Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim for the present administration and former governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva for the incoming administration.”

He disclosed that the PIPC has 14 members from the present government, while 13 members are from the incoming government.

Members of the present government  on the list include the FCT Minister, Bala Muhammed, Minister of Land and Housing, Soon Eyakenyi, Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka and Minister of State for Defence, Austin Akobundu.

Others are – Minister of Water Resources, Sarah Ochekpe, Minister of Tourism and Culture, Edem Duke, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aminu Wali, Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, Acting Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, representative of National Security Adviser, Bello Fadile, Commander, Brigade of Guards, Brig. Gen. A.B. Omozoje and Permanent Secretary of SGF office, Ibikunle Odusote.

Members of the incoming government include Chief Pius Akinyelure, Abike Dabiri Erewa, Sharon Ikeazor, Tony Anwuka, Kawu Baraje, John Shagaya and Babagana Kingibe.

Others are – Ismaila Is a Funtua, Hadiza Usman, Babachir Lawal, Binta Garba, and Samson Osagie.

On the terms of reference, Anyim said: “The mandate of the committee is to draw up programmes of activities for the inauguration ceremony, arrange invitations and accommodation for foreign and local dignitaries, organize approved programme of activities, draw up budget for the programme of activities and co opt into subcommittees persons that may be necessary to assist in the discharge of activities.”

“The purpose of this press briefing is to present the programme to the public, seek their understanding, support and participation in the 2015 presidential inauguration.”

THE NATION

Audu Maikori Steps Down as CEO of Chocolate City after 10 Years!

Chocolate City CEO, Audu Maikori, has announced that he will be resigning from the record label in June 2015, after 10 years of heading what has become one of the biggest labels in Nigeria.

The announcement was made at the recently held Nigerian Entertainment Conference 2015.

According to him, his decision was based on the need to further strengthen the company and allow for the injection of new ideas into the system.

He however did not reveal who will replace him.

He stated:

I have headed Chocolate City for the past 10 years and it’s been the most amazing period of my life despite the many challenges that came with it. There were times, I would get home and wished I wouldn’t have to go to work the next day. Some other times, artistes will need money and even though unavailable, we still have to find a way. At this point I have decided to step down as CEO of Chocolate City to allow for the younger generation to steer the ship. My resignation takes effect from June, but I won’t disclose who will take over from me until then.

At the same event, M.I announced the merger of his Loopy Music with Chocolate City and said that a compilation album will be released soon.

The Chocolate City record label has had Audu Maikori chair its affairs since it was founded in 2005 and presently boasts well over 10 artistes including MI, Ice Prince, Jesse Jagz, Ruby Gyang, Nosa, Victoria Kimani, Loose Kaynon, DJ Caise, DJ Lambo and others.

BELLA NAIJA

VIDEO: Nigerians should expect change from June 1, says Muhammadu Buhari…

General Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s President-elect, has said Nigerians should expect change from June 1 this year, noting that his administration and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) will live up to its manifesto commitment, which he said was carefully put together.

Buhari, who is expected to be sworn in as Nigerian President on May 29, said this in an exclusive interview with TVC News, which was published on the station’s Youtube channel on April Wednesday, April 22, 2015.

The former military ruler also stated that his administration will parade technocrats and people of integrity, noting that people of questionable characters will not be allowed in APC cabinet.

Watch the full interview below:

Revenue Decline: YES or NO! – Sell Nigeria’s oil stakes, raise N14.9trillion, CBN Governor’s advice to Buhari.

The Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele (pictured above), has advised the president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, to consider selling off nearly half of Nigeria’s Joint Venture equity with multinational oil companies, to enable the new government raise a huge balance for immediate developmental projects.

If Mr. Buhari accepts the advice, Nigeria stands to generate about N14.9 trillion, about three times the country’s annual budget, which should be immediately ploughed into providing badly needed infrastructure development.

The Nigerian economy has faced continued pressure from spiralling debts, in the face of dwindling revenues resulting from falling global crude oil prices.

Many of the 36 states of the federation are barely able to meet their obligations to contractors and workers from their monthly allocations from the federation account. Foreign reserves slumped to about $29.9 billion as at March ending.

The CBN governor said the incoming administration should give serious thoughts to the proposal for Nigeria to scale down its majority stakes in the joint ventures currently with various multinational oil companies in the country.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation currently holds, on behalf of the Nigerian government, at least 55 per cent equity in the joint ventures with Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Total, Nigerian Agip, and Pan Ocean.

The partnership means for each daily production of oil in Nigeria, the government receives 55 per cent after production cost had been deducted.

Mr. Emefiele wants government to shed at least 25 per cent of that equity to raise some emergency funds for infrastructure development in key sectors of the economy.

The CBN governor said relevant officials in the Bank have already been directed to evaluate prospects of the proposal to see how it could be realized from the JVs, which account for more than 50 percent of Nigeria’s daily average oil production of 2.3 million barrels.

Mr. Emefiele told the Financial Times of London that the outcome of the study would be presented to Mr. Buhari when he assumes office on May 29.

The governor expressed confidence that Nigeria may rake in about $75 billion (about N14.93 trillion) if the government agrees to cut its JV equity to only 30 per cent.

Private equity companies, he said, could be encouraged to take over the relinquished government stakes and compete with the oil companies, to contribute to the development of the industry.

Part of the proceeds from the equity sale, Mr. Emefiele said, could be utilized in rebuilding macroeconomic buffers in the economy through investments in transport and energy developments projects to grow the economy and create jobs.

He said the government could adjust upwards, petroleum profit tax payable by the oil companies, to compensate for the reduction in government’s equity.

The equity cut back proposal, the CBN governor explained, was one of the most attractive options available in view of the impact of the drastic drop revenue earnings in recent times and the need to avoid piling up more debts.

Though Mr. Emefiele’s proposal could meet stiff resistance from oil firms, politicians and their allies dependent on oil resources for patronage. However, the idea would be welcomed by others who support the idea of unbundling the NNPC and curbing corruption by allowing private participation in the sector.

For years Nigeria’s oil production has stagnated at about 2 million barrels daily average due to several factors, including the failure to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill.

During his campaigns, Mr. Buhari gave a hint as to hat his administration would do after resumption of office on May 29.

“Our manifesto says we are going to break up the NNPC,” he suggested, “but the ultimate answer may well be to divest the whole thing. It is an idea that will be seriously looked at.”

Mr. Buhari, however, said the immediate priority of his administration would be to get the industry back to a position where revenues that belong to the people are getting into the federation account by stopping the leakages, which is costing the nation billions, if not trillions, of naira..

PREMIUM TIMES

Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao ticket sales to begin Thursday; priced between $1,500 and $10,000…

Nine days before Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are scheduled to meet in boxing’s richest fight, tickets for the arena and closed-circuit locations at MGM Resorts International properties along the Las Vegas Strip will finally go on sale Thursday after promoters Top Rank and Mayweather Promotions and the MGM signed the site contract.

“It was a battle but finally everybody came together,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, told ESPN.com on Wednesday night.

The problems among Mayweather Promotions, Top Rank and the MGM over ticket distribution to the May 2 event at MGM Grand Garden Arena threatened to blow up the long-anticipated fight between boxing’s two best fighters, which was five-plus years in the making.

The issues were ironed out during a Wednesday morning conference call involving Arum, Top Rank president Todd duBoef, Mayweather adviser Al Haymon and Leslie Moonves, the president and CEO of CBS Corp., which has a contract with Mayweather.

“Then they finally sent over a draft reflecting the deal we had agreed to, and it was absolutely 100 percent what we had agreed to,” Arum said. “But it didn’t come over until 6 p.m. [PT], and by 7 p.m. we had reviewed everything and signed.”

Two hours later, the specifics were announced by news release.

Tickets for the MGM Grand Garden Arena are priced at $7,500, $5,000, $3,500, $2,500 and $1,500, not including applicable service charges, and will go on sale at 3 p.m. ET Thursday via Ticketmaster. They are limited to four per household. There are $10,000 tickets, but they are not among the roughly 500 tickets being made available to the public out of the roughly 16,000 tickets.

The rest of the tickets are controlled by Mayweather Promotions, Top Rank and the MGM Grand, which will distribute the tickets — which everyone has to pay for — to their customers, the fighter camps, the fight sponsors, HBO and Showtime (who are putting on the joint pay-per-view), and the brokers with which they do business. A flood of tickets can be expected on the secondary market later Thursday.

Most fans who make their way to Las Vegas to take in fight week festivities will wind up watching at closed-circuit locations along the Strip. There are going to be as many as 50,000 closed-circuit tickets available, but in Las Vegas, the closed-circuit viewing is exclusive to the various MGM-owned properties, which include the MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Bellagio, Aria, Monte Carlo, Mirage, New York New York and Luxor, among others.

Closed-circuit tickets will be $150, not including handling fees, and will go on sale at 6 p.m. ET Thursday. Tickets will be available for purchase at the individual property’s box office outlets, by phone or through Ticketmaster outlets. Closed-circuit tickets are limited to eight per household.

“This has been a very complex event, and we are pleased to have resolved the outstanding issues,” said Richard Sturm, president of entertainment and sports for MGM Resorts International. “We look forward to delivering an incredible event weekend, like only Las Vegas can.”

The MGM Grand Garden Arena is scaled to generate approximately $74 million in tickets sales, more than three times the all-time gate record.

According to Arum, the hang-up in getting the deal signed was that there were a number of issues that were agreed to in the contracts between Mayweather Promotions and Top Rank, including the distribution of tickets. However, Arum said that when Top Rank received the site agreement — another contract between Mayweather Promotions, Top Rank and the MGM Grand — elements of it were contradictory to what had been agreed to between the promotional companies in their earlier signed agreements with each other.

Arum said he felt Haymon and the MGM were conspiring against him and trying to take more tickets than they were entitled to under the deal Top Rank and Mayweather Promotions signed in February.

“We were resolute that we were going to hold on to everything we had negotiated with Mayweather Promotions and they weren’t going to use the relationship with MGM to deprive us of our rights,” Arum said. “Ultimately, that’s how the deal was made. We protected Manny and ourselves, and we weren’t asking for anything we didn’t negotiate. We had a deal with Mayweather Promotions, and then they used the MGM to try to erode our rights. And we stood steadfast and we wouldn’t let that happen, and finally we made a deal, a correct deal, and the fight is going ahead. It’s as simple as that.

“We weren’t going to allow anyone to push us around. We didn’t want more than we were entitled to or want anything extra. We wanted everyone to live up to the deal we made. I have to really commend my guys for standing firm, and I want to thank Les Moonves for being a rational person and poised through this whole thing and for not letting us be pushed around.”

Moonves also was instrumental in bringing Arum and Haymon, bitter enemies, to the bargaining table in the first place to make the fight.

Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe did not respond to messages seeking comment.

ESPN

PHOTOS: President-elect Buhari Meets Ghana and Ivorien Presidents, Obasanjo, Emir of kano, Tinubu and others…

Yesterday, the Emir of Kano, HRH Sanusi Lamido, paid a courtesy visit to President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja. GMB also received Chief Olusegun Obasanjo , and thereafter received the Ivorian president, Alassane Ouattara at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Intl. Airport, Abuja. He also met with the President of Ghana John Dramani Mahama. See pics below courtesy of Facebook and Google images.