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Cleric seeks collective approach to stop insecurity in Nigeria

Ime Njoku
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Nigerians leaders have been urged to collectively work together to end insecurity and shrine lasting peace in society.

The Imam of the Izala Central Mosque in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, south-south Nigeria, Sheikh Bashir Salihu Abuga gave the charge during a sermon to mark the end of Ramadan at the Cultural Centre Complex ground.

Stem violence

Sheikh Abuga condemned the spate of violence in the northeast perpetuated by Boko Haram and the killing of security personnel in the southeast as well as herders-farmers clashes including kidnappings for ransom across the country.

Abuga reasoned, “the way that insecurity has risen in recent times is alarming. The situation across the country is getting worse by the day. Bandits demand ransom from farmers before they can harvest their crops in the north, kidnappings everyday and we hear of herders-farmers clashes even in the southwest.

“In the southeast, secessionists are targeting security personnel and many people are living in fear because our leaders have not been able to fulfil the promises of security they made. So, I am using this medium to urge all our leaders to work together and tackle the security challenges in Nigeria,” he urged.

The cleric commended Governor Ben Ayade for taking a pragmatic approach and establishes a joint taskforce that has been working hard to see peace returns to Cross River.

He urged the Muslim Ummah to continue to pray for peace and unity in Nigeria, urging them to share food with their neighbours and less privilege amongst them as each person would give account of his stewardship to God.

“I urge all Muslims especially those in Cross River to continue to live in peace with our neighbours. As we celebrate the end of Ramadan, I encourage you to share food with your neighbours and friends as well as all the less privileged around you irrespective of religion of tribe,” Abuga said.

Peaceful season

In an interview, the Secretary of the Hausa/Muslim Community in Cross River State, Shaban Abdullahi described the just ended Ramadan as very peaceful despite the security challenges.

Abdullahi, who noted that the history of the Hausa community in Calabar particularly spanned more than a century, said “we have never experienced any ethnic or religious crisis here, which goes to show you that we have a very cordial relationship with our host.”

“We have always taken part in Utomo Obong, the annual cultural tribute held in honour of the Obong of Calabar. The Hausa Community get the invitation annually and we always attend that function in our numbers. The Qur’an tells us to respect constituted authority and the Obong is one and that is why we respect him,” the secretary said.

According to him, “Governor Ben Ayade and others before him have always had good relationship with us and we do not see that changing. Because our forefathers, who settled here more than one hundred years ago bequeathed to us the need for peaceful coexistence, religious tolerance and respect for our ethnic differences and that is how we have been in Cross River, cordial, peaceful relationship.”

He advised citizens and residents of Cross River to continue to maintain the peace and cordial relationship as well as adopt dialogue as a means of conflict resolution in any case.

Muslim families were seen visiting families, friend and taking pictures around recreation spots, while others were observed distributing food packs to neighbours, friends and people with special needs.

 

Ime N

 

Italian trade agency trains Nigerian Agribusiness on European markets

Nnenna Okoronkwo
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Agribusinesses in Nigeria are getting a rare opportunity of being trained by a country’s trade agency, in order for them to become competitive in exporting there successfully.

Through a program called E-Lab Innova, the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) is providing select agribusinesses in Nigeria with training on how to successfully penetrate European markets, and areas of clear opportunities they can target in a country requiring inputs for its manufacturing industry.

The E-lab Innova is an educational training program for the agri-food sector in Nigeria promoted by ITA in collaboration with the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), together with other Italian partners such as AICS and MACFRUT. The training program is aimed at increasing the technical and managerial skills of Nigeria agri-food companies in order to support their access to EU markets and to foster business partnerships with Italian companies.

Alessandro Gerbino, the Italian Trade Agency director for West Africa, said the organisation helps Italian companies do business abroad and promotes made in Italy to the world.

While it also functions as part of the Italian embassy in many countries, it only started in Nigeria about a year ago and the first sector it decided to develop its activity is the agribusiness value chain.

“In agribusiness lies enormous opportunities for Nigeria and partnership among the two countries”, said Gerbino.

He explained that Italy is among the top ten exporters of food in the world and has one of the most sustainable agric sectors with lower emissions, cutting pesticides by over 20 percent in the last seven years, and has about a third of total protected destination of origin products, which are products certified for quality and authenticity.

As he explained, if the country has been able to achieve this it is in part due to technology available in the Italian market, and with the design of E-Lab Innova, some of this knowledge can be shared with local entrepreneurs in the Nigerian agricultural value chain. This training will in particular, prepare those seeking to export more to EU countries and Italy in particular.

“Our manufacturing sector is constantly in need of inputs,” he said, stressing Italy is a country good in transforming goods and products, the second largest manufacturing country in Europe, therefore, exporters from Nigeria who meet the right qualities and processes can be guaranteed of a market.

Even as the country seeks to maintain its position as a major food producer, it also wants suppliers that can provide products it can viably include in its production value chain.

This is why the ITA is looking to develop and partner with businesses elsewhere such as Nigeria, that can contribute through exports to Italy’s industrial needs.

E-Lab Innova had been previously introduced in regions such as East Africa, Central Africa and now West Africa since 2020. It is a programme that touches several aspects of the agribusiness company’s existence, not only about technology but management, product certifications, logistics, and marketing, which are areas businesses need to be familiar with when exporting to western markets especially Italy.

Also speaking during the session with journalists was Tarek Chazli, Italy’s deputy head of Mission, who said the project is coming at a time Nigeria is recovering from the pandemic, and is just the start of a series of collaborations towards improving economic ties between the two countries.

While he says Italian companies are present in many sectors from energy to construction in Nigeria, the Italian mission wants to push this collaboration into sectors that are key to the growth of this country and agribusiness has been identified as one of such.

Some Nigerian companies have completed training and another group has started, under the E-Lab Innova project, and the Italian mission expects to do more in advancing agribusiness in Nigeria, with Chazli saying, “Italy has a lot to offer”.

The E-Lab Innova is aimed at CEOs of high[1]potential Nigeria Companies, selected with the support of NEPC, active in the areas of producing; mango, pineapple, Shea nuts, and groundnut.

Expert wants greater investment in food security and sufficiency

Nnenna Okoronkwo
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An agricultural extension expert, Dr Bala Shehu, has called on tiers of government to prioritise greater investment in transportation and storage facilities to boost food security.
Shehu said in Abuja on  that the availability of these facilitates would attract private investment, improve access to purchased inputs, credits and enhance marketing efficiency in the sector.

According to him, key constraints impeding sustainable and increased agricultural productivity in Nigeria are low access to financial facilities, inadequate extension and advisory services.

Shehu, who is the Zonal Officer, National Agricultural Extension and Research Liason Services, North Central Zone, also listed challenges of gender inequality, poor road infrastructure and storage constraints.

He noted that there was a well-established relationship between the availability of infrastructure and agricultural productivity in Nigeria.

He said: “This is being hindered by the non-availability of infrastructures such as road networks, post-harvest storage and irrigation technology.

“Other types of infrastructure such as telecommunications and electricity supply also play a major role, but the impact is more evenly dispersed across all sectors of an economy.

“Limited or poor-quality roads and rail transportation inhibit timely access to inputs, increase costs of inputs and decrease access to output markets.”

On limited access to financial facilities, Shehu said agriculture is a major contributor to Nigeria’s GDP and small-scale farmers play a dominant role in this contribution.

He, however. said agricultural productivity and growth were hindered by limited access to credit facilities.

He said modernising agriculture required a large infusion of credit to finance the use of purchased inputs such as fertilizers, improved seeds, insecticides and additional labour.

Shehu noted that agricultural extension and advisory service had been at the forefront in the delivery of adequate information and technologies to farmers for increased productivity.

He said agricultural extension and advisory service were saddled with the responsibility of disseminating innovation to transform agricultural production for food security and economic development of agrarian communities.

“Agricultural extension and advisory services occupy a strategic position in the agricultural production cycle, as it connects the farmers and research scientists and between farmers and policymakers.”

On challenges of gender inequality, he noted that women constituted a huge portion of the agricultural sector, yet, their productive capacity remains constrained and considerably lower than their male counterparts.

This, he said, was contributing to the low overall agricultural productivity, saying the role of women in ensuring adequate land use and food production, processing, distribution and marketing cannot be overemphasised.

Shehu called for a review of the Land Use Act of 1978, saying with this, communal ownership of farmland would be difficult to dismantle in the foreseeable future.

He said: “However, the elements which appear to differ among communities need to be reviewed within the context of each community, towards improving individual titles to farmland, bearing in mind the need for gender equity.

“There is an urgent need for the Federal Government of Nigeria to strengthen its agricultural credit guarantee scheme to reawaken the confidence of commercial banks in smallholder farmers.

“Government must encourage private sector investment in agricultural research and development and act with greater transparency and timeliness in the budgeting, approval, and fund release processes of agricultural research to a change agent.

“The government should sustain the current drive toward improving the access of Nigerian women to farmland, extension services, and related farm inputs, with the active support of local community-based organisations and international development agencies.”

Experts explore how to integrate climate smart agriculture in Nigeria

Nnenna Okoronkwo
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Development and climate experts and policy makers from Nigeria and across the world will gather in a virtual event to discuss how adaption and climate smart agriculture could be properly integrated in Nigeria’s revised Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) which is due to be published before the middle of the year.

The webinar, entitled “Adaptation and Smart Agriculture in the new Nigeria’s NDC”, is being organised by the Centre for Climate Change and Development (CCCD), Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwo (AEFUNAI), Ebonyi State, in partnership with World Resources Institute (WRI). It will hold on Thursday, May 20, 2021.

The webinar is part of a project aimed at injecting independent critical analysis into, and increasing public engagement and awareness, in the revision process of Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) due for submission later this year.

The aim of the webinar, according to the Director of the Centre, Professor Chukwumerije Okereke, is for experts across the world to explore different ways in which adaptation and smart agriculture could be properly and effectively integrated and captured in the new Nigeria’s NDC and climate action broadly.

Commenting on the forthcoming webinar, Prof. Okereke says: “I am looking forward to hosting experts to discuss different ways Nigeria could work harder to provide clearer costing of adaptation measures, current spend on adaptation as well as financing gaps and opportunities as well as help in determining, prioritizing and tracking climate smart agricultural interventions across the country.

“In assembling these highly respected and experienced panelists within Nigeria to share their thoughts on how adaptation and smart agriculture can be effectively captured in the new Nigeria’s NDCs, CCCD AEFUNAI is delivering on its mandate to serve as a major think tank for facilitating research, awareness creation and advocacy meaningful engagement of private sector and other critical stakeholders in the ongoing revision of the NDC in Nigeria. Also recommendations from the webinar would be documented and submitted to relevant government agencies for actions and implementations.”

According to Professor Okereke, the main presentation will draw from “Adaptation and Climate Smart Agriculture in the new Nigeria’s NDCs”, a commissioned short analytical piece by the Centre for Climate Change and Development as part of the project.

The webinar will feature Dr. Robert Onyeneke of the Department of Agriculture, AE-FUNAI; Prof. Emmanuel Oladipo of the Department of Geography, University of Lagos; and Professor Daniel Gwary, Director, Centre for Arid Zone Studies, University of Maiduguri, as panelists and discussant while Professor Okereke is the host and facilitator.

The webinar is part of the webinar series under “Promoting critical analysis of, and stakeholders’ engagement with the revision of Nigeria’s NDC,” a project being undertaken by the CCCD AEFUNAI, with support from the WRI.

The one-year initiative that commenced from July 2020 will, according to Project Coordinator, Professor Okereke, help to widen the horizon of the discourse and compliment the current government led NDC revision process.

African nations react to Israeli/Gaza attacks

Nnenna Okoronkwo
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Several African nations including Sudan, Egypt, Morocco and Algeria have condemned the targetted response by the Israeli forces to Gaza’s initial attack triggered by unrest at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Senegalese President Macky Sall also spoke out on the occasion of the Lailat al Miraj (Al-Isra) celebrations in a televised address. The Head of State encouraged peace in alignment with the Holy holiday.

“This is a time to pray for peace in the world, peace in Palestine and Israel, and we take this opportunity to call for de-escalation so that peace may return and healthy and serene discussions may be initiated between these two communities in accordance with international law.”

In addition, hundreds of Kenyan Muslims gathered in Nairobi in a show of their support for Palestinians. They decried the reportedly most intense hostilities in seven years between Israel and Gaza’s armed groups.

Hussein Khalid, a local activist made his position as a Muslim Kenyan citizen very clear.

“We are here today because injustice anywhere in the world is an injustice everywhere in the world. We want to tell our government to end all diplomatic ties because Israel is oppressing the poor, the weak, the marginalized and we are telling our government.

“The government of Kenya is a peace beacon in East Africa, and Africa, we cannot associate ourselves with an oppressive regime. We are telling the whole world, the UN and everyone: free, free Palestine! Free, free Palestine!”

The protests were later dispersed by anti-riot police using teargas on the impassioned activists.

Elsewhere in Cape Town, South Africa, Chief Mandla Mandela on behalf of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party at a support rally quoted his iconic anti-apartheid freedom fighting grandfather Nelson, “Our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinian people”.

In power since the white-supremacist apartheid regime was toppled in 1994, the ANC has historically held a pro-Palestine stance.

Earlier this week, the South African government condemned the attacks on Palestinian Muslims gathered for worship at the al-Aqsa mosque and reaffirmed its support for a two-state solution on the underlying issue.

Mandla Mandela called on his government to close the South African embassy in Tel Aviv and sever all diplomatic ties with Israel. “We need to close it down completely and make sure we have one embassy in Ramallah in Palestine.

Nelson Mandela’s words were recited again this week: “Our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinian people”. This time by his grandson, ANC MP Chief Mandla Mandela, at a rally in support of the Palestinians in Cape Town.

Although, the main opposition party the Democratic Alliance (DA) does not appear to share the expressed position. The European descended party MP Darren Bergman stated, “The best we can do in South Africa is to call for peace. Our government has already taken a stand and I don’t think that’s helpful in improving the situation. Our condemnation must be on both sides.”

In a statement, the Desmond Tutu Foundation called for an end to decades of support for the Israeli apartheid regime.

Muslims in Libya after performing Eid al-Fitr prayers also organised a rally in support of Palestinians on Tripoli’s Martyrs Square. Many Muslims and non-Muslims across the African continent and worldwide in the international community publicly condemn Israel’s bombardment of Gaza and call for peace on behalf of the Palestinian people.

Suzan O/AFN

Nigerian conservationist recognised for leading action to save bat species

Nnenna Okoronkwo
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Nigerian conservationist, Iroro Tanshi, has received a prestigious Whitley Award worth £40,000 to save the short-tailed roundleaf bat after discovering the country’s first and only known population.
The Whitley Awards are presented annually to individuals from the Global South by UK-based charity the Whitley Fund for Nature.
Iroro is one of six conservationists to be recognised in 2021 for their commitment to conserving some of the planet’s most endangered species and spectacular natural habitats. During a virtual celebration Wednesday, May 12, they received messages of support from charity Patron HRH The Princess Royal and Trustee, Sir David Attenborough.

Sir David Attenborough, WFN Trustee, said: “Whitley Award winners are local environmental heroes, harnessing the best available science and leading projects with passion. I admire their courage, their commitment, and their ability to affect change. There are few jobs more important.”

Since establishing the project in 2016, Iroro has worked with communities and hunters. She has educated and raised awareness around the importance of bat conservation through training exercises, as well as working towards a local anti-fire law which was introduced in the Buanchor community in 2017 and has resulted in zero wildlife fires in the area over two consecutive years.

With her Whitley Award, Iroro will now expand her work from Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary and Cross River National Park to the Mbe Mountains, locating new caves and tracking bats to better understand their distribution. As well as identifying new roosts for protection, she will address the drivers of their decline.

Iroro aims to reduce the frequency of wildfires in these new sites by 100% by helping farms to find alternatives to agricultural burning, launching an early-warning system and establishing an anti-fire taskforce in each community.

Additionally, she will reduce cave disturbance from fruit bat hunting. Iroro will work with community members, vendors of bat meat, hunters, and Forest Management Committees in each village to establish a hunting ban at high priority caves, while introducing alternative sources of protein.

Iroro Tanshi said: “My earliest memories of being interested in nature are from around the age of six, when I would watch nature documentaries with my father. My interest in bats started during a visit to Uganda in 2010 for a Tropical Biology Association field course and, since then, I have been devoted to protecting these cute little creatures.

“The funding will allow us to expand the scale and scope of our intervention efforts to the other four major communities around Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary and Cross River National Park. Receiving a Whitley Award has given me, and my team, hopes of saving this precious creature from extinction and we are very grateful for the support.”

Edward Whitley, Founder of the Whitley Fund for Nature, said: “We are thrilled for Iroro to receive the Whitley Award. As well as striving to save this special bat species, her work will build conservation capacity by training young conservationists in Nigeria. Iroro should be extremely proud of the remarkable results that she and her team have achieved already, and we look forward to seeing her replicate her successes across a wider area.”

The short-tailed roundleaf bat had not been seen in the wild for 45 years. It was thought to occur only in Cameroon and Bioko until Iroro and the Small Mammal Conservation Organisation discovered a group of just 15 individuals in south-eastern Nigeria in 2016. With all previously known roosts destroyed or their statuses unknown, this population is the last confirmed long-term site for the species.

Forest fires, which destroy critical foraging habitat, often originate on farmland and have intensified over the past decade due to reduced rainfall and a drier climate. The species is also at risk from cave disturbance, as COVID-19’s economic fallout forces more people to hunt fruit bats, flushing out the short-tailed roundleaf bats with whom they share their roosts. Bats are feared by the majority of Nigerians and are often considered witches despite facilitating farming through natural pest control and pollination.

Bats are some of the world’s most maligned mammals, a perception that’s only worsened since the outbreak of COVID-19.

Covid-19 variants: Lagos places 14 countries on watch List

Mosunmola Ore
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The Lagos State Government has placed 14 countries under close monitoring to prevent infection and spread of deadly new COVID-19 variants.

Read also: Lagos on alert to prevent third wave of COVID-19 – Commssioner

 

The state Commissioner of Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, who announced this at a media briefing said the measure became necessary following the discovery of variants from banned countries within another country.

Abayomi said Lagos will begin to monitor movement of people from Canada, USA, France, Germany, Netherlands, Togo, Ghana, Cameroun, Angola, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.

The Federal government had earlier placed a ban on travellers from Brazil, India and Turkey, warning that non-compliant airlines would be penalised.

Abayomi, who also stated that Lagos will ensure that Nigerians returning from lesser hajj observed compulsory 7-days self-isolation, warned that the state will not hesitate to prosecute anybody who failed to comply with the directive irrespective of status in society.

He stressed that possible events that could trigger a third wave include general laxity, false sense of security and non-adherence to guidelines, religious holidays, COVID fatigue, entry of mutations and variants.

Abayomi said the prevention of the third wave of COVID-19 will be carried out along five pillars strategy.

“The state government has developed a five pillar strategies for curbing a potential third wave in Lagos. These includes, ensuring that all travellers carry out COVID-19 tests while also introduce PCR test to determine variants and mandatory 7-day quarantine. We are also going to utilise EKOTELEMED to monitor confirmed cases and provide telemedicine services.

“We are going to be sensitising Lagosians on the importance of non-pharmaceutical interventions such as handwashing, social distancing, thresholds for public gathering, discourage super spreader events.

“Our oxygen supply approach will be in two phases, outsource oxygen plants to private partners and PPP for 700 cylinders/ day oxygen plant while also increase number of vaccine doses administered by leveraging the private sector.”

“Landmark, Agidingbi, Gbagada, FCC, Lagoon and Onikan Isolation Centres have been shut down while Amour II and Gbagada Isolation Centres are being re-activated.

“Of the total 554 bed capacity, 550 beds are currently available. “Also there is a decrease in number of patients who require oxygen therapy at IDH, Yaba.

Following the reduction in number of positive cases, the use of oxygen has reduced from an average of 300 bottles per day in January 2021 to 60 bottles per day in April 2021.”

Abayomi confirmed that Lagos state had so far recorded 58,611 confirmed cases while 54,049 recovered into the community and 4,346 cases were admitted of which 3,906 were discharged as the state recorded 354 death.

 

MTO/Vanguard

Army debunks reports on distribution of Ramadan packages by Boko Haram

Ime Njoku
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The Nigerian Army (NA) has debunked reports from an online news medium, on alleged Boko Haram distribution of Ramadan welfare packages ,to some residents of Borno state. The Nigerian Army made this known in a Press Release sent out by the Director,Army Public Relations ,Brigadier General Mohammed Yerima on the 13th of May 2021. It refuted all information stated in said article as false and urged members of the Public to disregard such articles in the future.   The press release states:   “The NA being a professional organisation decided to look at the article with every seriousness with a view to making intelligence out of it. However, our analysis established that there was nothing substantial about the claim except that it was a hurriedly packaged piece of propaganda that was meant to distract the populace away from the recent defeats being suffered by the terrorists. It is a notorious fact that the terrorists at various times have made several attempts to make the lives of the residents of these states miserable through the Ramadan season which were met with overwhelming response from the troops of Operation Hadin Kai. The most recent of such being their failure to sneak into Maiduguri on 11 May 2021 same day this ill-conceived article was published. The fate of the terrorists that made that audacious attempt is already a public knowledge.                  The author of this article displayed his/her clear lack of situational awareness by getting designation of the various terrorist groups moduled up. In the self-styled amateurish publication, there was no single mention of any community that the said distribution took place which is indicative of the fact that there was indeed no community or village where such activity took place. The writer consciously omitted such an important part knowing that once a name is attached to the publication it would be much easier to unravel the motive behind it, which is simply to mislead the unsuspecting readers.   Our team of eagle-eyed analysts went further to critically examine the pictures attached to this malicious publication and discovered that they were simply stage-managed in a typical terrorists-styled propaganda. The uncoordinated director of the photo shoot presented the pictures according his IQ and decided to measure the standard of the Nigerian public from his own personal standing. He used two poorly constructed shacks sited in the wilderness in multiple scenes by simply changing the arrangement of items and introducing different faces to make it look like an existing structure. He later posted a truck loaded with bags and a few terrorists on it parked in the middle of nowhere. A closer look at the background of all the pictures clearly showed an empty forest with no signs of human habitation or activity except the few terrorists and some children that must have forcefully taken away from their parents. These facts therefore met every known style of the terrorists propaganda.    The million dollar question here is why the choice of Sahara Reporters as the medium to propagate such unfounded piece that failed every test of professional journalism? Could it be that the terrorists find the media outfit fertile enough for propagating their devilish stories? These are questions that demand answers from the publishers of this piece of disinformation.    The NA therefore calls on the general public to disregard this article as it is nothing but a tissue of lies aimed at misleading them. The NA under the leadership of the Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru will continue to maintain the pressure on the remnants of terrorists hibernating in the forests around the North Eastern borders until they are completely obliterated.”   Ime N/PR  

ANC Secretary-General takes party to court over suspension

Nnenna Okoronkwo
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South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general, Ace Magashule is taking the party to court over his suspension.

Media reports show that Magashule made his argument stating that Rule 25.70 in the ruling party’s constitution is unconstitutional.

“The papers were available on Thursday, May 13, 2021, and are set to be lodged in court on Friday on a semi-urgent basis, and that advocate Dali Mpofu is acting on his behalf,” the statement declares.

The new move challenges a party decision to suspend members facing serious criminal charges and who refuse to step down. The ANC resolved at its 2017 national conference that any representative (elected or employed) who was criminally charged should step aside. Magasghule faces several corruption-related charges in connection with contracts the Free State provincial government awarded during his time as premier.

Samkele Maseko, the politics reporter for state broadcaster SABC, said on Twitter;

He followed up with a tweet that says:

The SABC is reporting that Magashule has until the end of business on Friday May 14 to publicly apologise to ANC structures for sending a letter of suspension to party President Cyril Ramaphosa or face further action. Earlier this week, the ANC said it would further discipline Magashule if he did not apologise for trying to retaliate against Ramaphosa for his suspension.

After Magashule’s suspension was announced, a letter written by Magashule to Ramaphosa was leaked to the media. In the letter, Magashule informed Ramaphosa of his decision to suspend him.

Suzan O/ALLAFRICA,TWITTER

Liverpool Thrashes Manchester United At Old Trafford

Chidi Uduma Nwoke
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Liverpool revived its bid for a top-four finish in the Premier League after a 4-2 thrashing of Manchester United in their rescheduled game at Old Trafford.

The initial match on May 2nd was called off as anti-Glazer protestors invaded Old Trafford, while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team were stuck at the team hotel. United fans again protested outside the ground against the Glazer family ahead of kick-off on Thursday night, but there were no repeats of the scenes of earlier this month.

With both teams safely inside the ground, focus could turn to events on the pitch and United took an early lead when Bruno Fernandes’ shot was deflected into his own net by Nat Phillips.

Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes (18) scores against Liverpool at Old Trafford

After Liverpool had a penalty decision overturned by VAR, the visitors equalised moments later. After Mohammed Salah’s shot was blocked in the box, the ball fell to Diogo Jota who fired the ball into the net from close range.

Liverpool started to dominate after the goal and completed its turnaround just before the break when Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick picked out Firmino. The Brazilian got in behind Pogba at the far post and headed the ball into the net in the third minute of stoppage time.

Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino scores header against Manchester United during Premier League match at Old Trafford

After the break, Liverpool extended the lead when Luke Shaw was caught in possession just outside the penalty area.  Manchester United goalkeeper Dean Henderson then spilled Alexander-Arnold’s initial shot, before Firmino pounced on the rebound to give the visitors a two-goal advantage.

Alexander-Arnold’s low drive was then well saved by Henderson before United got themselves back into the contest.

Edinson Cavani played in Marcus Rashford and the England forward sent a low shot past the onrushing Alisson and into the bottom right-hand corner to make the scoreline 2-3.

Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford scores goal against Liverpool

It was Rashford’s 50th goal at Old Trafford.

United had grabbed back the momentum and they were inches away from an equaliser as Phillips cleared Greenwood’s volley off the line. However, as United pushed forward to equalise they left acres of space at the back and Liverpool eventually capitalised.

Salah coolly placed the ball past Henderson after a late counterattack and sealed what could prove to be a vital three points if Liverpool are to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Liverpool winger Mohammed Salah scores against Manchester United at Old Trafford

The win saw Liverpool move four points off fourth with a game in hand, putting the pressure on Chelsea and Leicester in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

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