MESSI, RONALDO, TOURE AND OTHERS MAKE 2015 FIFA BALLON D'OR 23-MAN SHORTLIST.

Manchester City midfielder, Yaya Toure, is the only African nominated for football’s top individual accolade, the 2015 FIFA Ballon d’Or.

The Ivorian midfielder is among a 23-man shortlist released by FIFA on Tuesday, africanFootball.com reports.

Toure is joined on the list by four time winner Lionel Messi, current holder Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester City teammate, Sergio Aguero.

EMMANUEL EMENIKE EXPLAINS WHY HE QUIT SUPER EAGLES.

Al Ain striker, Emmanuel Emenike, has pulled the plug on his time as a member of the Super Eagles, stating that, he did so because he wants peace to reign.

The bulky forward who said he now wants to concentrate on club football scored only nine goals for the national team in 37 appearances.

The 28-year old’s exit from the team comes after that of Vincent Enyeama, goalkeeper and former captain of the team.

LAMAR ODOM IS RECOVERING WELL AS DOCTORS BELIEVE HE WILL LEARN TO WALK AND TALK AGAIN.

Doctors believe Lamar Odom will have to learn to walk and talk again during a lengthy stint of rehabilitation expected to take many months, it has been claimed.

TMZ reported the former star basketballer is likely to have suffered some undetermined permanent damage to his body after he collapsed on Tuesday during a drink and drug-fueled binge in a Nevada brothel.

Having now awoken from a three-day coma, his health is slowly improving but his rehabilitation is expected to require the use of therapists for several months.

#ProjectDDD Charity Train Heads To Makoko, Lagos For Fourth Edition. @ProjectDDDLagos.

When a committed group of givers stay dedicated to a goal, the result is an initiative like #ProjectDDD (Donation Drive For December), put together by Braite Lites group.

The moving charity train which has made stops in several orphanages and communities – from Mushin, to Ajegunle and Ajah – is now heading to the Makoko area of Lagos State, South West Nigeria.

We can proudly say that we have reached out to over 1,500 people and with the continued support of well-meaning individuals within and outside Nigeria, we plan to continue putting smiles on the faces of the less privileged we find around us.

(HIGHLIGHTS) Manchester City 5-1 AFC Bournemouth.

MANC 5 - 1 BOT

(HIGHLIGHTS) Chelsea 2 Aston Villa 0.

CHE 2 ATV 0.

(HIGHLIGHTS) Everton 0 Manchester United 3.

EVE 0 MANU 0

(HIGHLIGHTS) Watford 0 Arsenal 3.

WAT 0 ARS 3

(HIGHLIGHTS) #U17WC Nigeria 2 USA 0.

NIG 2 USA 0

HOW WE SHARED CHIEF OLU FALAE'S N5M RANSOM MONEY.

Three of the suspects arraigned for kidnapping Olu Falae, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation – Abubakar Auta, Bello Jannu and Idris Lawal on Thursday confessed that they received N100,000 each as reward for their involvement in the operation out of the total of N5million collected as ransom.

The suspects, who spoke to reporters in Hausa shortly before their arraignment at the Ondo State High Court in Akure, had denied the charges filed against them in court.

Mr. Auta served as middle man during the negotiations on the ransom demanded.

NIGERIAN ARMY DISMISSES AND JAILS GENERAL WHO LOST EQUIPMENT TO BOKO HARAM.

The Nigerian military on Thursday convicted a Brigadier General, Enitan Ransome-Kuti, blamed for the loss of Baga in Borno State to Boko Haram insurgents in January according to Premium Times.

Mr. Ransome-Kuti, son of Beko Ransome-Kuti, a foremost Nigerian pro-democracy activist who died on February 10, 2006, was arraigned before a military court, sitting in Mogadishu Barracks, Abuja, in May.

He was accused of cowardly behaviour, loss of weapons to Boko Haram, and negligent performance of military duty under section 62b of the Armed Forces Act.

(PICTURES) PILOT OF THE NIGERIAN AIR FORCE FIGHTER JET THAT CRASHED IN ADAMAWA BURIED AMIDST TEARS.

Late Fight Lieutenant Ebitimi Owei was laid to rest at the National Military Cemetery, Abuja today.

Flight Lieutenant Owei who was deployed to combat terrorism in the ongoing operation Lafiya Dole in the North East paid the supreme sacrifice for the peace of the Nation on 10 October on the ill-fated Nigerian Air Force F-7 Fighter Jet that crashed in Adamawa.

Born on 13 October 1984. A pilot, commissioned in 2008. He was survived by wife, two children, siblings and parents. May his gentle soul rest in peace.

CLARK THE FATHER, JONATHAN THE SON - WRITTEN BY REUBEN ABATI.

I have tried delaying the writing of this piece in the honest expectation that someone probably misquoted Chief E.K. Clark, when he reportedly publicly disowned former President Goodluck Jonathan. I had hoped that our dear father, E.K. Clark, would issue a counter statement and say the usual things politicians say: “they quoted me out of context!”  “Jonathan is my son”. That has not happened; rather, some other Ijaw voices, including one Joseph Evah, have come to the defence of the old man, to join hands in rubbishing a man they once defended to the hilt and used as a bargaining chip for the Ijaw interest in the larger Nigerian geo-politics.

U-17 WORLD CUP - EAGLETS LAND IN CHILE TO CONQUER THE WORLD AGAIN.

Defending Champions of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria landed in Chile yesterday with FIFA officials hailing Nigeria for their records in the youth World Cup.

The Emmanuel Amuneke-tutored record-seekers (Nigeria) have won the U-17 World Cup a record four times.

16 years, 11 months and ten days will be the average age of the Nigeria squad when the tournament kicks off on Saturday 17 October, the youngest at Chile 2015. Emanuel Amuneke will be hoping his young charges continue the good progress made by Manu Garba’s champions from 2013, with 12 out of the 21 in their UAE 2013 squad featuring at the FIFA U-20 World Cup earlier this year in New Zealand.

OSCAR PISTORIUS SET TO BE RELEASED FROM PRISON.

Olympic and Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, jailed for killing his girlfriend, is to be freed from prison to house arrest next Tuesday, a South African parole board says.

He was sentenced to five years in prison in 2014 after being found guilty of culpable homicide, or manslaughter.

He shot Reeva Steenkamp through a locked bathroom door but said he thought she was an intruder.

The prosecution has appealed, saying he should instead be convicted of murder.

PICTURE OF LATE DIEPREYE ALAMIEYESEIGHA WHILE ON LIFE SUPPORT.

Late Diepreye Alamieyeseigha's brother shared the picture of the ex-governor while he was on life support at the Uniport Teaching Hospital.

RIP Alams.

MINISTERIAL SCREENING - HOW FASHOLA, KACHIKWU AND OTHERS PERFORMED.

The screening of President Muhammadu Buhari’s ministerial nominees entered the second day Wednesday after the event kicked off on Tuesday with the screening of 10 nominees.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki, kicked off Wednesday’s screening session by announcing that Mr. Buhari had withdrawn a nominee from Niger State, Musa Ibeto.

No reason was given for his withdrawal.

WANDE COAL ANNOUNCES ALBUM RELEASE DATE PLUS COVER.

The six years wait is over for the release of the highly anticipated album from Super-talented artiste Black Diamond popularly known as Wande Coal.

The sophomore album titled WANTED drops on the 26th October 2015.

#LAMARODOM BECAME A MESS BECAUSE HE COULDN'T KEEP UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS - PIERS MORGAN

There can’t be many more pitiful, humiliating ways to potentially end your life than face down in an infamous Nevada brothel, vomiting uncontrollably from the overdose of herbal Viagra you took to keep up with myriad prostitutes during a 4-day binge.

As I write, Lamar Odom is clinging on. He’s in a coma, distraught family and friends at his bedside. But his dignity and reputation are already dead, shredded at the altar of reality television.

It would be inhuman not to feel a massive jolt of sympathy for this giant 6ft 10in champion sportsman as he faces his greatest challenge.

NO IMPUNITY FOR BURKINA FASO SOLDIERS WHO SHOT CIVILIANS.

Amnesty International on Wednesday said there can be no impunity for Burkina Faso troops who shot dead unarmed civilians including children in the days following their September 17 coup.

The troops from the west African nation’s presidential guard, the RSP, “displayed a cold-blooded disregard for human life, killing 14 unarmed protestors and bystanders and wounding hundreds more with automatic weapons,” the rights group said in a statement.

It said two children were among the 14 dead, six of them shot in the back.