Lionel Messi has agreed to join Paris Saint-Germain on a two-year contract, according to reports. The French club reportedly offered Messi an initial two-year deal, thought to be worth £25m a year after tax. He is expected to fly to France to seal the deal, which includes an option to extend it by a year. Messi, his lawyers and his father, Jorge, have been in talks with PSG since Thursday. The move will enable Messi to link up with Neymar, his former teammate at Barcelona. Messi, who had spent his entire career at Barcelona, broke down in tears at a press conference where he formally announced his exit. The six-time Ballon d’Or winner had said he was not prepared to leave the club where he had spent 21 years. He was looking forward to signing a new five-year deal when the club announced that things had changed owing to “financial and structural obstacles”. At the press conference, Messi said until the turn of things, he was optimistic that he would remain at Camp Nou. “This is really difficult for me after so many years, having been here for all my life. I am not ready for this. “These recent days I’ve been thinking, giving a lot of thought to what I can say. And the truth is that I can’t think of anything. This is really difficult for me after so many years. “I’ve been here my entire life. I’m not ready for this. And last year with all the nonsense, I was convinced of what I wanted to say, but this year it is not the same. “This year my family and I were convinced we were going to stay here. That is what we all wanted more than anything. We were at home, and we thought we’d be staying here in Barcelona, the time we’ve hard here and with the city and football has been amazing. But today, I have to say goodbye to all of this,” he said.

Chris Okotie, the senior pastor of the Household of God Church International Ministries, has described TB Joshua as a deceptive magician who carried the Bible around. TB Joshua, who was the founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), died on June 6 after battling a stroke. But on Sunday, Okotie put out a video on his Youtube page where he took a dive into what he claimed was the late clergyman’s belief system. He also alleged that Joshua fulfilled a biblical pattern of “Bar-Jesus”, a false prophet who equated himself with Jesus. “What is the truth about TB Joshua? Who was he? Was he a product of Christianity? Or a practitioner of shamanism? Was he a servant of the Lord Jesus? Or some itinerant religious quack?” Okotie asked. “Was he a true prophet, who was misunderstood? Or a hypocrite masquerading under the habiliment of the Faith? “When God begins a work in scripture, particularly from the old testament, he begins with patterns, what we call types, shadows, adumbrations. “You say why because the patterns determine the flow of power and authenticity of that enterprise. He is a magician, a sorcerer, and calls himself a prophet. “Notice Joshua doesn’t call himself an apostle, he doesn’t call himself a teacher. He doesn’t call himself a pastor because, if he calls himself by any other name outside of prophet, he does not fulfill the pattern. “So, he must stick with that appellation. He is a magician who claims to be a prophet but he is a false prophet.” In another part of the video, Okotie claimed that Joshua espoused a doctrine that deified him. He also alleged that the late pastor deceptively targeted people in the society with philanthropy to model himself after biblical patterns and induce support. “In the first century AD, a group of heretical teachers invaded the church, they call themselves gnostics and that word comes from the Greek word gnosis which speaks of knowledge,” he added. “They claimed that they had the superior knowledge above the church above the Bible and that they had attained the level of esoteric legitimacy that provided knowledge that was peculiar only to that ilk. “They claim that Jesus Christ didn’t come in the flesh and that it was an apparition. They claim that Jesus Christ was the son of Joseph and he was appointed by God for a particular spiritual responsibility. “They said, at the baptism, the Christ Spirit, a transcendental Spirit, came upon him. They said it departed from him at the cross when he cried out ‘my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ “They said this Spirit has been around since that time and goes from one generation to another generation anointing men and bestowing them with a charismatic spiritual gift necessary to fulfill their divine mission. “Joshua claimed he’s that one the Lord has appointed in this generation to bring reconciliation to or between God and man. And he’s not the first to propose such a ludicrous concept. Joshua believed he’s another Jesus.”

A former envoy to Malaysia and elder statesman, Amb. Yerima Abdullahi, has urged proponents of Biafra to seek for plebiscite as away out. Abdullahi, who is also a close associate of the president, said it was better than eroding the peace and progress of the country, adding that fighting a second phase of civil war is unthinkable. He made this disclosure in an interview with our correspondent in Gombe, stressing that leaders should embrace alternative means of resolving the debacle. According to him, “It is not surprising if wars are fought but when wars are fought, eventually someone will lose. However, you become more civilized based on the experiences of the war, so the need to come together and eventually sort out yourselves. Accept that you were defeated in this war, but you will not fold your arms by accepting the defeat. “As an intelligent human being, God has given us high degree of intelligence, we are supposed to use it. For someone to say, you want to leave a country for instance in 2022 on issues debated in 1960’s. It is out of place and unfortunate this is what a lot of us do by bringing issues that transpired years back only to make them relevant, otherwise, what is the use of breaking a country now with Kanu, bringing up the issue of Biafra. “This was an issue that we fought during the civil war and many of us died, some survived. Some of our leaders are still very intelligent and observant people, most of them claimed we can’t afford to fight again, which I believe in, but if there are people who still feels strongly that they want their own country by whatever name they call it. Whether they call it Biafra, the most sensible thing to do is to give them an opportunity to vote. They should hold a plebiscite, if they want for goodness sake let them go.” Abdullahi lamented the negative impact on the average Igbo business man scattered across different part of the country, saying that they should weigh the implications. “If Kanu and his group wants to get out of Nigeria, well for goodness sake let carve it out but they know the implications of being out of Nigeria. The leaders that are leading them should know the implications. They should know that the Igbo man who is very prosperous in Gaboro in the Eastern part of Borno state, in Ilela, Kawoje in Kebbi state. “There are Igbos all over the country and they are not among the poor ones. So for goodness sake give them the opportunity. Let them go atleast we will experience some peace, what we don’t like is dwindling or eroding the peaceful environment. Unfortunately, they have not asked for plebiscite but insist on being given, I don’t know how you will split a country on a platter of gold. However, it is better to allow them go than to say we fight another civil war,” he added.

Three family members died after eating a plate of rice and stew and going to bed, police in Akwa Ibom have confirmed. The incident happened at the residence of the deceased at Obio Etoi, near the Nest of Champions International Stadium, Akwa Ibom police spokesperson SP Odiko Macdon said in a statement on Monday. Odiko who mentioned the victims as UduakObong aged 30, Blessing aged 18 and UduakObong’s 7 years old daughter, said investigations have started on the case. “The Command has removed the lifeless bodies and commenced investigation on the cause of death of the two sisters identified as UduakObong aged 30, Blessing aged 18 and UduakObong’s 7-year-old daughter at their residence at Obio Etoi, near the Nest of Champions International Stadium. “Preliminary findings show that they ate rice and stew before going to bed the previous night of the sad incident,” he said. While condoling with the family of the deceased, the Commissioner of Police, Andrew Amiengheme, has vowed to spare no resources in determining the cause of the death.