Frankfurt were triumphant in the UEL final last night as they successfully vanquished Scottish side, Rangers F.C to claim their second UEL title.

Oliver Glasner and his men had their dreams come true as they were able to go all the way, clinching the second tier European trophy. The German side who were unbeaten throughout the entirety of the competition stunned Rangers, coming from behind to level at 1-1, and eventually seeing their opponents out of the room with a 5-4 spot-kick win

For the second time in a row, the Europa winner was decided on penalties as Villareal also needed an 11-10 nail-biting shoot out to beat Manchester United to the gold last year. But this time around, the winner didn’t start the shoot-out.

Rangers had gone ahead with forward, Joe Aribo capitalizing on a mishap at Eintracht’s defence but the latter fought back thanks to an acute Rafael Borre equalizer that caught Calvin Bassey and his partner sleeping.

Both teams fought to the end, nailing, clawing and in the ensuing penalty shoot-out, Kevin Trapp denied Rangers’ Aaron Ramsey while Frankfurt converted all five kicks to win the competition

Speaking of Trapp, the German shot stopper, who was named the man of the match, was highly instrumental in his side’s ambitions saving a potential extra time winner from Ryan Kent before ultimately foiling Ramsey’s penalty.

The hero of the moment had his words to pour out post match, saying: It feels incredible. I’m still trying to catch my breath. For us, for Frankfurt, for the region – for the whole of Germany, I think it’s a wonderful thing. To be able to give back to our fans this way is so special. We believed that we could do it, but you saw we had to dig deep for this win. We never gave up on ourselves, we always believed. It was the most intense experience of our lives for many of us and we’ll need time to recover. This is not my night. It’s everyone’s night. It doesn’t come down to one player, it comes down to a whole team. The league season was a disappointment because we didn’t qualify for Europe, now the euphoria is huge as we look forward to the UEFA Champions League. It’s hard to find the words.”

Oliver Glasner also commented on their prestiged victory saying: “It was our 13th game in Europe and we didn’t lose any of them. We came from behind today, so I can’t find the words to describe what the boys did today and this season, and they don’t often fail me. I’m proud for my players and my work. It was exactly the game we expected. They are very physical, they play long balls. We had to dictate the pace. Our penalties were very good. We have been practising in the last month. Did I think about the UEFA Champions League next season? No. I never talk about the future because we don’t know what happens in the next months. I told the players we had a fantastic journey and that journey should not end in Seville, but tomorrow when we come home with the trophy.”

As earlier mentioned, it is quite interesting to note that Frankfurt didn’t lose a single match en route to the trophy and were sensational in their campaign. They were the true meaning of undefeated. Conquering Betis in the last 16, upsetting Catalan Titans, Barcelona, knocking out English sensation, Westham, Glasner and co did a near perfect, near 100% job and were rewarded with the gold for their efforts with. The win also meant Frankfurt automatically qualified for the UCL next season having failed to do so via the canonical pathway.

Frankfurt first won the UEL in 1980, defeating German counterparts, Monchengladbach 3-3 on aggregate in a two legged final.

No doubt, players like Kamada, Borre, Filip Kostic were of great essence in helping their club achieve this feat. 5 of Frankfurt’s goals came from Kamada, who tied with Patson for fourth highest goalscorer of the competition and was the highest for his team

Rafael Borre had 4 goals to his name, including the all-important final goal while Kostic had the highest number of assists in the competition at 6. The Serbian was also the mastermind behind the elimination of their greatest threat and cup favorite, Barcelona as he bagged a brace to capitulate the Spanish giants 4-3 on aggregate.

Frankfurt have done it, they have achieved what they’ve been dreaming about all season long. This fall, the German side would have the chance to feature in the classic UCL and they will look to build on their growing reputation. If not win, at least make a name and advance as far as ability and fate can drive them.

Have you fallen into a situation where you were snapped, voice recorded, or video recorded and those contents made it to social media without your permission or consent and you wished that it never happened? Then this piece is for you. 

Nobody has the right to do that; everyone is absolutely banned from snapping you, recording you or video you without your consent. 

The right to privacy of individuals as provided in the Constitution postulates that citizens have the fundamental right to their private lives. This provision is all-encompassing, covering the spectrum of the snapping, video recording, or voice recording of an individual.

Nobody has the right to snap, video, or voice record you (especially in a private place) without asking for your express consent or permission first; if anybody does that, that person will be in breach of your fundamental human right; your right to privacy and you can take that person to court to seek redress.

Section 37 of the Constitution provides thus; The privacy of citizens, their homes, correspondence, telephone conversations, and telegraphic communications is hereby guaranteed and protected. 

This fundamental human right covers the right of an individual to enjoy a peaceful and private life. Everyone is prohibited from breaching this right. Nobody has the right to search through your house, search through your phones, search through your cars or search through your properties, etc without your permission, so also everyone is prohibited from snapping you, recording you, or videoing you at any moment without you permitting that person.

If at any point you feel that this right has been breached or is about to be breached you are to approach the court to seek redress as this is the provision of S. 46(1)of the Constitution and it provides thus; Any person who alleges that any of the provisions of this Chapter has been, is being or likely to be contravened in any State in relation to him may apply to a High Court in that State for redress.

The Federal Government (FG) of Nigeria, on Monday, 21st February 2022, gave a six months deadline to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to come up with innovative solutions in Information Communications Technology (ICT).

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami gave the deadline at a maiden Telecommunications-Based Research and Prototype Exposition in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital territory.

It was gathered that 10 of the prototypes, fully developed and ready for phase of market entry were presented and exhibited on the occasion, whose theme was, “The Drive Towards Commercialization of Telecoms Research for Sustainable Development in the Industry”.

Pantami urged stakeholders to continuously refine the roles of players in the nation’s National System of Innovation by creating new models and incentives.

He stated that this would guarantee objectives of the National Policy for the promotion of indigenous content in the Nigerian Telecommunications Sector.

He said, “I do hope that the next event will not be about the prototype but adopting the solution. I will give NCC only six months from today for not only prototyping but solution and make it a national policy that this is what we have produced.

“We have the brain, we have the capacity and we need to support each other to move this country forward. We must continue to refine the roles of players in the nation’s National System of Innovation by creating new models and incentives.

“This will guarantee we achieve the objectives of the National Policy for the promotion of indigenous content in the Nigeria Telecommunications sector.”

The Communication minister therefore called on tertiary institutions that benefit from research grants to deeply consider commercialization of research prototypes.

“I must reiterate that successful commercialization of these prototypes will require requisite managerial and industrial competences as well as adequate funding. It is, therefore, necessary for the tertiary institutions that benefit from research grants to deeply consider the commercialization of the research outcomes (prototypes).

“This means that collaborations and partnerships are necessary for commercialization,” Pantami said.

In his remarks, the Executive Vice-Chairman, NCC, Umar Danbatta, explained that the exposition was aimed at providing the necessary opportunity for the academic awardees of the Commission’s Telecoms-based research projects.

He disclosed it was for them to display already developed prototypes and pitch ongoing research to the industry stakeholders. He noted the importance of having a commercialisation strategy to transit from rudimentary research into the market in order to address the local challenges and reduce over dependence on imported innovations and technologies.

Danbata said, “This is to encourage the commercialization of these locally-developed telecommunications innovations as a way of fostering and deepening the indigenous technological capabilities of Nigerians.

“It is to support the overall growth of the industry and creating wealth for the spin-off companies.

“This forum will further provide opportunities for collaborative partnerships amongst the various stakeholders that are capable of stimulating the overall productivity and sustainability for the continuous growth of the industry.” he said.

The Regional Manager, Bank of Industry Ltd, Dr Kings Jack, pledged the Bank’s support and called on government and other stakeholders to increase investment in the telecommunications research and development as well as market for investment.

One of the lead researchers from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Sahalu Junaidu, developed an e-band tracker and monitoring system specifically for pilgrims.

Junaidu, a professor of telecom, informed that the e-band was to ease the identification of people and would also help the authorities in the management of persons on pilgrimage.

He, however, said that the project would be made generic so that it would cut across different areas.

Time has obviously come for the concerned authorities in Nigeria to go beyond designing a prototype. The country is of age to commercialize her numerous patents. This is why the university system must be duly funded and supported by the government and other stakeholders towards ensuring that the needful is done headlong.

Hence, the authorities involved need to go beyond mere issuing of an ultimatum. They must ascertain what the relevant institutions, such as the research institutes and universities, require in a bid to showcase the patents within their respective jurisdictions to the global space.