Boarding announcements were not an issue when I used to commute in Lagos by danfo, the ubiquitous yellow buses, or molue, the mass-transit lorries, which were improvised for public transportation.

The conductors often had a melodious and entertaining way of calling passengers that was enjoyable to hear. They called out in a drawl, accompanying each announcement with a warning for passengers to board with their change in hand or risk a “forced marriage,” which meant giving a fixed sum, usually a bank note, to two or more passengers to share at disembarkation.

Flying is a luxury – or should be – with no room for bus conductors and their outrageous threats of forced passenger marriages. But vehicle conductors across the country might be surprised to know that, however lowly their jobs, there are several areas where they do far better than their cousins at airports across the country, who, for want of a better description, carry the elegant titles of flight announcers, when quite frankly, they perform the job of conductors.

A conductor’s life

There is no intention to deride or demean, please. Conductors, whether at the motor park, opera, or the airport, provide the vital link that helps us understand and enjoy the moment, as we make a rite of passage.

But that vital function is threatened at many airports nationwide, even among crew announcers onboard several flights. I could have missed a recent flight from Asaba to Abuja because I wasn’t sure what the announcer said: “This is a broaden hannouncement on Flight PA7861 from Hum, Hum, Hum, to Ham, Ham, Ham…all persongers on this flight should phulease proceed to the gate to broad…a phust departure call phulease…”

I didn’t understand. The babble was neither British, American, nor trans-Atlantic. It was not even Ingili-Igbo (a variety of standard British English mixed with Igbo phonemes) as Chief Zebruddaya Okorigwe-Nwogbo alias 4.30 might have called it in the New Masquerade. It was indecipherable. But I noticed some passengers rushing to line up or scampering in different directions. I stayed put, waiting for a second, hopefully clearer announcement. It was the same thing.

Accra bound?

I looked at my colleague with whom I was travelling and asked, “Did you hear what the announcer said?” “I think she said something like it’s a flight to Accra,” he responded. “No way,” I replied. “You mean that flights now depart from the Asaba Airport to Accra? And see the number of passengers lining up.”

Time was ticking. We hurried to the line, which is often the typical response when there’s no airline staff in sight, where a passenger smiled a knowing smile and told us it was a flight to Abuja, not Accra. At that time, something that sounded like the final boarding announcement had been made.

I had experienced a similar thing on my outbound trip from Abuja, where the flight announcer seemed more concerned about how her fake imitation of an Oyinbo accent than the clarity of what she was saying. I got up twice to ask at the desk.

Suupri…suupri…suupri

The second time, the announcer who faked an Oyinbo accent told me in plain, audible language that my flight had not been announced. “Is it impossible to announce as you have just told me, Ma?” I asked. She smiled and adjusted the PAS: “This is a boreding announcement on Flight PA74862 from suupri, suupri, suupri, to ham, ham, ham…all persongers on this flight should phulease proceed to the boreding gate…a phust departure call phulease…”

I gave up.

Sometimes, the noise in the departure lounge can make things worse. At other times, the lack of coordination and/or the poor sound quality of the PAS can also compound the problem. There’s hardly such a thing as a level key. The volume is too high, too low or a garbled screeching static sound. As for the tone of voice, that’s something else altogether.

What was that, pilot?

It happens onboard, too. For aerophobics like me, a pilot’s calming voice before departure, midflight, or shortly before landing has a huge calming effect. Often, however, you’ll have to strain to hear. There’s such a deafening noise in the inflight PAS that it’s difficult to decipher what even the pilot says, whether it will be fair weather, or you should brace up for a bumpy ride. On this last trip to Asaba, it wasn’t very different, but it was the attendant who had me cracking a rib.

From her appearance, she seems a full-blooded Nigerian woman, likely from the Southeast. As we neared landing, she unleashed a torrent of fake accents. She concluded by welcoming passengers to “Asaaabhaaa,” pronounced like a JJC would say Asaba, with enough drawl of the “Icheku” variety (the Nigerian TV drama series based on the foibles of the colonial courtroom) to spice the miserly inflight passengers’ lunchbox. Where did she acquire that accent from?

Oyinbo blues

I might be a latecomer to this flourishing business of phonemical jiggery pokery. Farooq Kperogi flagged it in an article two years ago, entitled “Fake Accents on Nigerian Airplanes and Airports,” in which he narrated how an Oyinbo man approached a passenger to interpret what the flight announcer said. It was his second article on the subject in seven years.

Although recent aviation concerns have focused more on air traffic control staffing shortages, technology and flight delays, it would be interesting to see statistics on how indecipherable announcements may have contributed to passenger misery, including perhaps, missed flights.

It wouldn’t be a big issue if the humour of Oyinbo wannabes were all there was to it. It would, in fact, be a good source of entertainment when flights are delayed, as they frequently are. But passengers who bank on in-flight announcers who use them to practice phonology risk missing their flights.

Lessons from the motor park

In many parts of the world, airports are enhancing the quality of announcements. Tools like PAXGuide, for instance, can monitor every announcement, including who made it and when. Instead of terminal-wide announcements, announcements can be targeted and localised to specific gates, while automation through display boards and technological upgrades can also help to improve the passenger’s experience.

There’s also something that airports, with a bit of humility, can learn from the motor parks. I’m serious about this. The conductors in the motor parks hardly ever pretend to be someone they’re not or borrow a language they’re uncomfortable with. Apart from the points suggested, is it also possible for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to authorise using pidgin English (perhaps the most widely spoken language across the country), as the second language for flight announcers at least for domestic routes?

It would take a truly wayward flight announcer to nasalise pidgin English and not sound ridiculous in his or her own ears.

The political tragedy unfolding in Rivers State has reached its lowest point: Governor Siminalayi Fubara, supposedly the chief executive of Nigeria’s oil-rich powerhouse, has been reduced to begging President Bola Tinubu for reinstatement after being suspended from office. This is not just a personal failure—it is an unconscionable surrender of Rivers’ political dignity and a direct assault on constitutional democracy. A governor elected by millions now crawls to Abuja, confirming what many have long suspected: Fubara lacks the courage, strategic vision, and political will to defend either his mandate or the autonomy of Rivers State.

First, let us be clear: Nigeria’s constitution does not grant the president the power to suspend or remove a sitting governor. That authority resides solely with the state legislature through impeachment or with the judiciary in cases of gross misconduct. Tinubu’s purported suspension of Fubara—and Fubara’s subsequent groveling for reinstatement—represents an illegal federal power grab, one that Fubara is now legitimizing through his compliance.

This is not mere political maneuvering; it is a constitutional crisis. If a sitting governor can be removed by presidential fiat, then Nigeria’s federal structure is dead. Past governors facing political crises—from Peter Obi’s battles in Anambra to Rotimi Amaechi’s defiance during the Jonathan era—understood this. They fought through legal and political means, refusing to let Abuja dictate their fate. Fubara, by contrast, has chosen submission over resistance, setting a dangerous precedent that weakens not just Rivers but all Nigerian states.

Fubara’s capitulation reveals a leader fundamentally unfit for the office he seeks to reclaim. Rivers State, as the economic engine of Nigeria’s oil industry, possesses immense political and financial leverage that a courageous leader could have mobilized. The governor’s office comes with constitutional protections and political tools designed precisely to resist such federal overreach. Yet Fubara has demonstrated neither the political acumen to rally legislative allies nor the legal savvy to mount proper constitutional challenges. His immediate recourse to Tinubu exposes a shocking lack of strategic thinking – does he truly believe that a president who suspended him illegally will restore him with any real authority?

The historical context makes Fubara’s weakness even more glaring. Rivers State has produced formidable political figures who understood the weight of their mandate. From the early days of Alfred Diete-Spiff to the confrontational era of Rotimi Amaechi, Rivers governors have traditionally fought to maintain state autonomy against federal encroachment. Even Nyesom Wike, for all his later contradictions, built his political brand on defiant independence from Abuja’s control. That Fubara cannot muster even a fraction of this political courage speaks volumes about his leadership deficit.

Tinubu’s intervention is not an act of statesmanship but a calculated power play. The president recognizes Rivers’ crucial importance in Nigeria’s political and economic architecture. By establishing himself as the arbiter of who governs Rivers, Tinubu effectively neuters the state’s political independence while expanding federal control over Nigeria’s oil wealth. Fubara’s willing participation in this scheme makes him complicit in the erosion of state rights. Even if reinstated, he will govern as a puppet, his every move subject to Abuja’s approval.

The damage extends far beyond Fubara’s political future. Rivers people now face the grim reality that their votes can be nullified by presidential fiat. Nigeria’s federal system suffers another blow as the precedent is set that governors serve at the president’s pleasure rather than the people’s will. Other state executives will face similar pressures, knowing resistance has been weakened. Most tragically, this episode emboldens those who believe Nigeria’s democracy is merely ceremonial, with real power concentrated in Aso Rock rather than state houses.

True leadership would have demanded an immediate legal challenge at the Supreme Court, forcing a constitutional reckoning on the limits of presidential power. It would have required rallying Rivers’ civil society, political class, and business elite in defense of democratic norms. At minimum, it should have involved a public campaign to shame this assault on state sovereignty. Fubara has chosen none of these paths, revealing himself to be precisely the kind of weak executive that enables democratic backsliding.

As this sordid episode unfolds, one truth becomes undeniable: Rivers State deserves better. The people who braved rains and sun to cast their ballots deserve a leader who will defend their mandate, not trade it for personal survival. Nigeria’s democracy deserves guardians who will uphold constitutional principles, not undermine them for temporary advantage. History’s judgment will be harsh on Fubara – not merely for losing power, but for how willingly he sacrificed Rivers’ dignity to beg for its return.

The tragedy is not that Fubara was suspended, but that he lacks the courage to fight for reinstatement on principle. In his desperate scramble to keep his job, he has proven himself unworthy of the office. Rivers State needs leaders, not beggars – and Nigeria’s democracy needs defenders, not collaborators.

Jeff Okoroafor is a social accountability advocate and a political commentator focused on governance, accountability, and social justice in West Africa.

There is a looming electricity blackout in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, as electricity workers under the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies have declared their intention to embark on strike.

The two unions who work for the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) said the strike is related to the company not implementing its demand following the suspension of another strike in November 2024.

Daily Trust reports that AEDC supply electricity to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Niger, Nasarawa and Kogi states.

The suspended strike in November saw the picketing of AEDC’s headquarters by its workers, but an agreement was reached on the day the strike began.

In separate letters by the union sent to the Managing Director of AEDC and signed by Opaluwa Eleojo Simeon and Rosemary Odeh, NUEE’s Assistant General Secretary, Liaison, and SSAEAC’s Deputy General Secretary (Corporate Communications) respectively, they said its notice of strike was to inform the management that the strike would start any day.

The letter read: “Recall that we reached an agreement with you on the 27th of November 2024, to suspend an industrial action following a trade dispute declared over lingering labour issues in the company (see copy as attached).

“It is also pertinent to remind you of some of these issues: Non-remittance of pension deduction for 16 months. Non-implementation of the National Minimum Wage. Non-promotion and the continuous stagnation of members of staff for over 10 years. Non-confirmation of staff on acting appointment. Non-regularisation and proper placement of appointments. Refusal to convert Ad-hoc staff to permanent status.

“The complete collapse of health services owing to the non-payment of hospital bills. Non-remittance of 10 months’ PAYE. Refusal to complete the work on review of conditions of service. Non-implementation of the already completed work on career path. Undue board’s interference with the day to day running of the company.

Non-payment of union check off dues and other third-party deductions, and non-payment of the 2024 productivity bonus. It added that the demands were not implemented despite the workers generating N94bn for the company within the last 90 Days.

They said the milestone was achieved through dedicated services without the provision of necessary working materials and business districts, no longer funded.

“It is also worthy of note that we have significantly lost a huge number of members to death owing to pressure and precarious work conditions.

“Consequent upon the above, you are hereby put on notice of our readiness to resume the suspended action on the 27th November, 2024, and this shall commence anytime from the date of the receipt of this letter without an additional notice.

“Councils are by this letter directed and put on notice to commence full mobilization across the AEDC franchise areas of Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger and FCT for an effective action.

“The struggle shall be sustained until victory is achieved, as a people united can never be defeated.”

[DailyTrust]

A public health expert has raised serious concerns over the increasing health risks posed by the consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (SSBs) in Nigeria.

The expert warned that the country is facing a growing crisis of obesity, diabetes, and other diet-related diseases.

DAILY POST in an exclusive interview with Abayomi Sarumi, Associate Director at Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), said the widespread intake of sugary drinks commonly called soft drinks is silently fueling a health emergency, especially among young people.

“SSBs are drinks that contain added sugars such as sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup, or other sweeteners like honey and molasses,” Sarumi explained.

“Examples include sodas, fruit drinks, energy drinks, and sports drinks. These drinks are full of sugar and give the body far more energy than it needs.”

According to him, an average bottle of SSB contains nearly 14 cubes of sugar, more than the daily sugar intake recommended by health experts.

“This excess sugar is dangerous to the body. It causes a sudden rise and crash in blood sugar levels, leading to fatigue, mood swings, and over time, serious health problems like heart disease, weight gain, and type 2 diabetes.

“All these outcomes are risk factors for noncommunicable disease (NCDs) which are now responsible for more than 30% of total deaths in Nigeria,” he said.

Sarumi pointed out that SSBs are easily available, aggressively marketed, and often seen as a normal part of daily life.

“They’re ultra-processed and wrongly sold as essential. This marketing has made people believe they are harmless, but that is far from the truth,” he added.

Over 54 Billion Litres of SSBs Consumed in Nigeria

Citing data, Sarumi said Nigeria is now one of the largest consumers of sugary drinks in Africa.

“For more than 4 years, it was reported that Nigeria was the fourth largest consumer of SSBs, with 38 million litres consumed in Nigeria. In April 2025, ahead of convergence of food and beverages companies who now target Nigeria for its young and large population, the organisers informed members of the press that Nigerians consumed over 54 billion litres of SSBs in 2024.

This rise, he noted, is happening alongside an increase in fast food and processed snack consumption, contributing to what he calls “a diet-related disease explosion.”

“We’ve seen more than 150% increase in cardiovascular diseases in the last decade, with over 27.5 million Nigerians living with hypertension as of 2022. And with poor diets, tobacco, and alcohol use, the World Health Organization (WHO) says 22% of Nigerians now face the risk of dying early from non-communicable diseases,” Sarumi warned.

Are Nigerians aware of these dangers?

While some people know sugar can be harmful, Sarumi said most Nigerians don’t fully understand the link between sugary drinks and long-term illnesses.

“From our interactions, many people don’t realise just how dangerous SSBs can be,” he said.

He also described how some myths and misleading advice make things worse.

“There are even cases where patients are told by health workers to take sugary drinks before using medication. In a religious and cultural society like ours, many see diabetes or heart disease as spiritual attacks, not linked to their diet.”

Why SSBs are popular especially among young people?

Sarumi believes the food industry plays a major role in promoting SSBs, especially among the youth. “These products are cheap, everywhere, and heavily advertised. They are shown as symbols of fun, status, or success, without any warning about their dangers,” he said.

“The companies behind SSBs also position themselves as ‘friends of society’ through Corporate Social Responsibility programmes, which makes it harder to question their products,” he added.

The way forward

To reduce consumption, Sarumi supports the implementation of a strong SSB tax. But he says this must go beyond raising revenue.

“A good SSB tax should not only reduce intake but also fund healthcare, especially for people living with diabetes and other diet-related conditions,” he explained. “Government must use the tax money for public health campaigns to educate citizens.”

He also called for other supporting measures like: Clear warning labels on sugary products, limits on how much salt or sugar companies can use, banning celebrities from endorsing SSBs, restricting marketing aimed at children.

“These combined policies will protect Nigerians especially children and help improve the overall health of the country,” Sarumi concluded.

[DailyPost]

Lagos State, in collaboration with various partners, is intensifying efforts to combat Nigeria’s alarming annual post-harvest losses, a crisis currently estimated at a colossal N3.5 trillion. This significant drain on the nation’s agricultural sector not only exacerbates food insecurity but also severely impacts the livelihoods of countless farmers and the broader economy.

This was the spearpoint of the Ecotutu Chain in Agriculture Roundtable held yesterday in Lagos. The roundtable was themed “Accelerating Cold Chain Adoption for a Sustainable Agricultural Future in Nigeria.”

Experts highlight that up to 40 per cent of harvested crops in Nigeria perish before reaching consumers, a figure that far exceeds the African average. The immense wastage is primarily attributed to inadequate storage facilities, inefficient transportation networks, limited access to modern preservation technologies, and a critical lack of cold chain infrastructure.

Lagos Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, Abisola Olusanya, reiterated the determination of the government to support young innovators and startups to develop storage solutions and post-harvest technologies for farmers.

She emphasised the importance of collective action from all levels of government, private enterprises, and consumers to build a more resilient and sustainable agricultural sector. 

According to her, the government is developing a unified database for farmers and the broader food industry. The purpose, she indicated, was to create a more efficient, transparent, and responsive food system within the state.

The database will be a central repository of vital information, not only on farmers and their produce but also on food purchase and consumption patterns across Lagos.

She indicated that data will be gathered from the Central Food Systems and Logistics hub in the Epe on completion and existing and proposed food hubs. The real-time information, she maintained, will provide invaluable insights into the flow of food from farm to table.

She highlighted the critical need for reliable data in addressing food security challenges and optimising agricultural productivity.

She commended Ecotutu for its solar powered cold chain facility that has helped to reduce food losses, adding that the government appreciated other such efforts towards creating a more robust and responsive food system for Lagos, promising enhanced food security for the rapidly growing population.

The Deputy Consul General of the Netherlands in Lagos. Peter Keulers  said as part of efforts to provide market-led solutions to postharvest losses, the Netherlands government in partnership with Lagos State, developed and launched the Polar Store, an innovative solar-powered cold storage infrastructure in the state. He said the Polar Store serves as both a demonstration site and a training hub, showcasing the potential of renewable energy in cold storage applications.

He said that post-harvest losses have remained a major challenge confronting the Nigerian agricultural sector for so long.

In a spotlight session, the Managing Director, Bank of Agriculture, Jide Sotinrin, said there were ongoing reforms to improve access to finance for farmers.

He said the bank was   putting  in place a system which will enable faster processing of agricultural loans.

According to him, digitalisation of agricultural lending will ensure instant doorstep delivery of credit to farmers while improving the advancing the bank ‘s mission of fostering rural prosperity.

He said the bank will raise the N250,000 maximum limit micro loans  for  smallholder farmers, in the light of the realities in the industry.

According to him, the bank will continue to prioritize responsive agricultural finance , aimed at fostering a robust rural economy, alleviating poverty, and promoting self-reliance through agribusiness.

The Managing Director, Ecotutu, Babajide Oluwase said the Cold Chain in Agriculture Roundtable 2025 roundtable aims to address post-harvest losses and fortify Nigeria’s food supply chain.

The roundtable, he indicated ,brought  together important players from the agricultural value chain, to discuss scalable solutions to Nigeria’s growing food preservation problems.

[TheNation]

If an alien is captured in a Hollywood film, the state imprisons it to weaponise its capabilities. Nollywood does not make alien films, but our cinematic representations of contact with non-human forces regularly reflect an individual seeking money. That was how I concluded that if we ever capture an alien in this part of the world, our immediate course of action will be to make it vomit cash. Nothing detains our imagination, absorbs our attention, and conditions our relationship with our humans and non-human beings like money. We fantasise about wealth so much that our popular culture is chock-full of stories of men with magical powers conjuring cash into existence through mystical rituals. The trouble with a society like ours is that the fiction does not merely play out on the magical tube of the television; it also erupts in reality.

 The latest sensational case of money ritual homicide is that of an Enugu-based “native doctor”, Obi Obieze, caught with a 13-year-old he would have sacrificed for his schemes.  What I find rather frustrating about the conversations that attended the man’s arrest were the claims that ritual murder is a violation of the tenets by which “native doctors” are expected to abide, rather than a wholesale debunking of the idea that anyone has the power to make money through such means. It did not help that Obieze’s status as a “native doctor” also fits into the existing belief that practitioners of what we call “traditional religions” have the spiritual expertise to carry out magic such as money rituals (which is why even the practitioners of our Abrahamic religions secretly consult them).

The belief is so powerful that it sustains institutional bias against indigenous religions. Every informed person in Nigeria is aware that those who have been arrested for various atrocities include Christians and Muslims, but it is those of the indigenous religious traditions who bear most of the brunt. For instance, Anambra Governor Charles Soludo has been waging a war against the native doctors suspected of empowering dissident elements in the state by destroying their shrines. Time and space will not permit me to elaborate to Soludo that in the 20th century, the British colonial government also embarked on similar demolitions in Igboland, only to find that their clampdown on shrines counterproductively invigorated the people’s beliefs in their power.

The more we have antagonised our indigenous religions, the stronger the belief in them as repositories of mystical power has grown. There is a generation of people—including charismatic religious movements, charlatans, and a whole lot of other superstitious folks—hell-bent on sustaining beliefs in the magical power wielded by priests of indigenous religions. Their motives are not entirely driven by historical nostalgia nor by the idea that these practices offer ethical guidance for living, but simply because they cannot live without the notion that no god exists anywhere to make money appear from nowhere. That, for me, is where the problem with our cultural attitudes toward our indigenous religions lies. People are more invested in the magical possibilities that these belief systems can purportedly make happen than in the ethical values their meanings carry.

Some years ago, I was at a religious conference in Nigeria where a group of academics presented their research on why people are leaving Christianity and Islam and opting for indigenous religions. It turns out that almost everyone had converted because they were looking for a God that answers by fire, not because they wanted a religion that nudges them to higher values or morals. It is almost as if a magical transformation is the only reason our people seek God. Even our cultural industry does not help the issues. Hardly does Nollywood reflect indigenous belief systems as a source of values and meanings that can reform our social ethics. No, our Gods in our cinema are almost always a caricature.

 To restate what I have repeatedly said in this column, there is no money ritual anywhere that works. No magical (or miracle) expertise anywhere in the world can make cash come out of nothing. What is called a money ritual is mostly a manipulation of credulity. After reading virtually every interview of those arrested for money rituals and the confession statement of the ritualists in documented police reports, I reasonably arrived at the conclusion that those arrested are split into two groups: people who knowingly deceive others, and the sincerely stupid people with a flimsy understanding of the modern monetary system. Those of the former category do not expect anything to happen and merely deceive with gimmickry. The latter, on the other hand, genuinely believes the magic is possible and therefore experiments with human lives. These are the ones who admit to trying out the rituals after learning about them. While no cash appears, they still make some money through sales of human body parts and that increases their motivation to keep trying. None of them has any record of testimonies of prior success, and they are usually men whose poverty is indelibly etched onto their appearance.  They all look like their hearts would stop beating if they were ever handed a cash sum of one million in any currency. As stupid as they are, they are also the foot soldiers of a surreptitious economy of organ harvesting who hide their dealings in human body parts under the amorphous umbrella of “money rituals”.

Here is where their shoddy understanding of the modern monetary system betrays them: the cash they want to conjure is an invention of modernity and therefore relatively recent. The spirits that will materialise have supposedly existed before the existence of the legal tender and should be too timeless to be involved in producing something as vulgar as money. In any case, now that the concept of money in the contemporary economy is evolving into more abstract forms due to digital technology, are those spirits also transitioning to a cashless economy, or are they still stuck on paper money?

 Our fore-parents, who originated the idioms of “money rituals”, were not speaking in the same literal language as the present-day “native doctors” who seek to replicate the magic. Their understanding of money rituals by our ancestors was borne of their observation of an emerging colonial modern economy (the slave trade, in particular), where—unlike the agrarian ones they knew intimately—offered the possibility of wealth without obvious work. Some of the contemporary “native doctors” who sacrifice a living human in their money rituals are either confused pretenders or psychopaths whose sickness has not yet been named.

Obieze, who was busted after a search team for a 13-year-old found her entombed in a sewage pit within an unfinished building used as a shrine, was obviously manipulating his clients’ psyche ink about it, knowing that a charm was produced for you from the blood of an innocent soul will do two things to any human: either drive them crazy or sear the conscience. If the latter happens, one is emboldened to the point of the daredevilry that separates great men from their ordinary counterparts. The effect of such magic is not so much supernatural as it is psychological. If you can live with yourself after taking a life, it also means you can engage in any unconscionable action for money. Your chances of making it increase, even if only marginally. And that is what the ruse of human sacrifice in money rituals is all about, not physical cash materialising out of thin air.

Headlining the quartet is Fulham’s talisman and ever-reliable engine, Alex Iwobi, whose standout performances in the Premier League earned him a top-40 global ranking and the highest index score among Nigerian players.

The ranking, released by Swiss-based CIES Football Observatory, evaluates players in the world’s top 60 leagues based on their statistical impact in six critical areas: aerial play, ground defence, distribution, take-ons, chance creation, and finishing, combined with minutes played and team performance.

With an index score of 87.4, Iwobi sits 37th globally and 12th among wingers, underscoring his influence for Fulham this season.

The 29-year-old quietly scripted a remarkable season at Craven Cottage. In what is now a historic feat, the midfielder became the first Nigerian player to feature in all 38 Premier League games in two different seasons, having first achieved the milestone in the 2022/23 campaign. His adaptability across Fulham’s midfield and wide areas has made him indispensable.

Statistically, Iwobi posted 9 goals and 6 assists, contributing directly to 15 of Fulham’s goals. Beyond scoring, his creative instincts saw him create 12 big chances, average 1.6 key passes per game, and maintain an 80 per cent pass accuracy.

In a team often pressed back by top-six opponents, Iwobi’s composure and transitional play stood out, with 52.2 touches per game and a robust chance creation score of 76 by CIES.

The former Arsenal man also showed technical balance, with four goals via his left foot and five from his right, while his relentless off-ball work supported Fulham’s notable victories over Tottenham and Manchester United.

Coming behind Iwobi is the reigning African Footballer of the Year, Ademola Lookman, whose 86.7 index score sees him ranked 48th globally and 10th among attacking midfielders.

The Atalanta star, who recently returned to Nigeria with his CAF African Footballer of the Year, delivered his most complete season yet for Atalanta, tallying 15 Serie A goals and 5 assists, and after a previous season he had cemented his reputation with a headline-grabbing Europa League final hat-trick that clinched the club’s first ever European trophy.

His flair and explosiveness on the flanks were evident in his 85 score for both chance creation and finishing, making him Nigeria’s most potent offensive player by data.

Beyond numbers, Lookman’s performances have reportedly attracted interest from Premier League heavyweights including Arsenal, Manchester United, and Liverpool, with Atalanta slapping a €50m price tag on their Nigerian jewel.

His statistics suggest a player entering his peak, with 2.0 key passes, 2.6 shots per game, and a notable expected assist value of 7.89, which are all indicative of a complete modern attacker.

Third on the list for Nigerians is Victor Osimhen, who, despite facing an uncertain club future, also finds himself among the top 300 with an index score of 81, ranked 159th overall and 20th among centre-forwards globally.

Although the CIES data covers only domestic league performance, Osimhen’s wider contribution to Galatasaray’s season has been phenomenal.

The 26-year-old, on loan from Napoli, smashed records in Turkey with a career-best 37 goals in all competitions, becoming the highest-scoring foreigner in a single season in Turkish football history.

While his CIES data shows a standout finishing score of 86, the ninth highest in the world, his distribution (24) and ground defence (36) remain areas of lesser contribution which is reflective of his role as a high-octane goal poacher and why Galatasaray is offering him a club record €15m-a-year contract to withhold his service.

Completing Nigeria’s elite quartet is Calvin Bassey, the Fulham centre-back whose remarkable bounce-back season sees him ranked 257th globally and 49th among centre-backs, with a score of 78.2.

At 25, Bassey has matured into a defensive mainstay at Craven Cottage, coming forth from the shadows of an inconsistent spell at Ajax. This season, he featured in 35 league matches, completing over 3,000 minutes, and ranked as the fourth-best centre-back in England according to performance data platform Data MB.

Bassey’s index score of 78.2 echoes notable strength in distribution (74) and aerial duels (58), with additional contributions in tackles and ground duels.

He featured in 35 Premier League games, starting 34, and averaged nearly 89 minutes per match. His 90 per cent pass accuracy, including 86 per cent in the opposition half, and strong duel-winning rates of 62 per cent underscore a composed and confident defensive profile, in addition to 4.8 recoveries per match that contributed to Fulham’s notable defensive scalps that saw them record victories over Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham.

His progress has not gone unnoticed, with reports linking him to Barcelona, as they seek defensive reinforcements.

Notably, the CIES ranking was topped by Mohamed Salah, with Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Pedri González completing the top three. Two other Liverpool footballers top the list for defensive positions: Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold. Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz heads the rankings for attacking midfielders, while Kylian Mbappé is ahead of Viktor Gyökeres for centre forwards.

[Punch]

In his usual bluster, U.S. President Donald Trump at numerous hustings in 2024 promised to get a deal to end the fighting in Ukraine in just one day if elected president. In fact, he boasted that President Vladimir Putin wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II if he was the president.

That invasion became a major escalation of the conflict between the two countries which began in February 2014 when Putin not only annexed Crimea, but also ordered Russian paramilitaries’ war in the eastern Donbas region against Ukraine’s military. But Trump was dead wrong. More than four months after his inauguration, his self-avowed goal of securing a peace deal is dead, virtually.

The U.S. President was wrong in his characterisation of the brutal war because he misread Putin from the onset, believing that the Russo-Ukrainian War was an attempt by Putin to stop Ukraine from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO, an intergovernmental transnational military alliance of 32 member states — 30 European and two North American.

Ukraine had always had relations with NATO dating back to the early 1990s following its declaration of independence on August 24, 1991. She subsequently joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council same year and the Partnership for Peace programme in 1994. Relations were further strengthened with the signing of the 1997 Charter on a Distinctive Partnership, which established the NATO-Ukraine Commission and further enhanced in 2009 with the Declaration to Complement the Charter, which reaffirmed the decision by NATO Leaders at the 2008 Bucharest Summit that Ukraine will become a member of NATO. In fact, until 2006, the Ukrainian Armed Forces worked with NATO in Iraq.

Granted, most Russian officials, including President Putin, believed it would be too risky to allow Ukraine join NATO, but that was not the reason for the invasion. Putin wilfully invaded Ukraine because he never believed it should be an independent state. The NATO spin was, therefore, a mere subterfuge, a smokescreen.

So, Trump couldn’t have stopped Putin from invading Ukraine in 2022 even if he was president because it was a premeditated action and the conditions Russia is giving for peace – Kyiv gives up big new chunks of territory and accepts limits on the size of its army – bear that truth out.

According to a memorandum published by the Russia-owned Interfax news agency on June 2, Putin said a settlement of the war would require international recognition of Crimea and four other regions of Ukraine – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – that Moscow is claiming as its own territory and Ukraine withdrawing its forces from all of them. Russia also restated its demands that Ukraine becomes a neutral country – ruling out membership of NATO, and ceases all military redeployments and limitations on the size of its armed forces, a halt to foreign provision of military aid, satellite communications and intelligence. Moscow is also insisting that Kyiv lifts martial law and holds presidential and parliamentary elections within 100 days, and Ukraine to abandon its demand for war reparations to be paid by Moscow.

Contrastingly, Ukraine is demanding a full 30-day ceasefire during which time peace negotiations can take place. Zelenskyy also said ahead of Monday’s meeting that Kyiv wants the release of all prisoners and the return of 400 Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia. The Russian delegation agreed to work on returning only 10, claiming that they were moved from war zones to protect them.

As if to confirm the widely held belief in Kyiv that Putin has no genuine interest in peace, despite Moscow’s participation in the US-brokered talks in Istanbul, Turkey, Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president and prime minister now serving as the deputy chairman of the country’s Security Council, wrote on Telegram on Tuesday that the talks “are not meant to achieve a compromise peace based on some imaginary and unrealistic conditions invented by others, but rather to secure our swift victory and the complete destruction” of Zelenskyy’s government.

Of course, these demands are non-starters for Ukrainians, who insist that acquiescing to Russia’s conditionalities is tantamount to surrender, a point reemphasized by the Ukrainian ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Ivan Kholostenko, in an exclusive interview with TheNiche on Wednesday: “The document Russia presented during the second Istanbul meeting did not show any meaningful evolution. Despite promising the United States to bring more constructive proposals, Russia returned with the same outdated ultimatums and maximalist demands that mirror its positions from 2022. There was no flexibility, no realism, and no genuine will to move toward peace. This demonstrates how disconnected the Russian leadership remains from both the needs of the Ukrainian people and the broader international consensus.”

Accepting such terms, Kholostenko said, will “amount to surrender, legitimisation of aggression, and a green light for further expansionism.” Ukraine “has consistently made it clear that peace must be just, durable, and based on international law. Capitulation is not an option, nor would it bring lasting stability to the region or the world.”

So, the negotiations which lasted barely an hour failed; the reason why the international community must be worried. Moscow’s hope of securing swift victory and the complete destruction of Zelenskyy’s government has become forlorn. Three years into a war Putin thought would end in just two weeks, Russia has made no substantial progress. Its hitherto fabled military capabilities has been exposed as grossly overrated and ineffectual when it mattered most.

But therein lies the danger. A frustrated, deflated and highly embarrassed Russia may resort to the use of nuclear arsenal in its desperation, more so as Ukraine continues to display a strategic edge as exemplified in its attack on Russian nuclear-capable long-range bomber planes at airfields in Siberia and the far north of the country on Sunday when it launched 117 drones in an operation codenamed “Spiderweb” deep inside Russia and thousands of miles from the front lines.

Western military analysts described the strikes as audacious. And it was. When the dust settled after the drone attack on airfields stretching from Siberia in the east to Murmansk in the north, 41 Russian warplanes, about one-third of its strategic bomber fleet, were reportedly destroyed causing over $7 billion in damage.

But war is an ill wind that blows nobody any good. The Russo-Ukrainian War is no exception. It has brought about immeasurable loss of human lives, both military personnel and innocent civilians. The destruction of infrastructure and resources is staggering.

A study published on Tuesday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said almost 1.4 million troops – nearly one million Russians and close to 400,000 Ukrainians – have been killed or wounded since the war of attrition began. “No Soviet or Russian war since World War II has even come close… in terms of fatality rate,” the study said. Besides, Russia has reportedly lost nearly 11,000 tanks and almost 23,000 armoured infantry vehicles since the war began. Today, the United Nations is predicting that Ukraine’s reconstruction may cost $486 billion — roughly two and a half times her GDP.

Yet, despite these humongous losses – human and material – at the beginning of 2025, the Russian military controlled only about 18 per cent of Ukraine’s territory. All through 2024, it added only 1,500 square miles, which amounts to less than one per cent of Ukraine. Now, military experts aver that Ukraine’s ability to hold out as long as it has and launch offensive operations in Russia, as it did last Sunday, has punctured the global image of Russia’s military might.

Now, a bolstered Zelenskyy is talking tough. On Tuesday, two days after the blistering attacks on Russian airfields, he said Ukraine will neither surrender nor give in to any ultimatums, even as he affirmed that: “But we do not want to fight, we do not want to demonstrate our strength – we demonstrate it because the enemy does not want to stop.”

And he is correct. Neither he nor Ukraine started this “war of blame.” Putin is the aggressor and this aggression started with the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. This is Putin’s war and it will stop today if the man who started the war by invading another sovereign country decides to put an end to the madness.

In case he fails to appreciate the precariousness of the situation and the futility in his aggression, his friend, the ultimate deal maker, Donald Trump, should help in nudging him to genuine truce rather than threatening that the U.S. is ready to walk away from its mediation efforts unless the two sides demonstrate progress towards a deal. That is no way to make a deal.

Days after floods devastated several communities in Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger State, victims at makeshift camps have continued to voice deep frustration over handling of relief efforts.

It will be recalled that the flood caused by torrential rains last Thursday led to the death of over 200 persons, with more still missing, while properties worth millions of naira were also destroyed.

Consequently, over one thousand people, including women and children now live in temporary internally displaced persons, IDPs, camps.

However, the victims’ frayed nerves got assuaged yesterday as President Bola Tinubu ordered the release of N2 billion and 20 trucks of assorted foodstuffs.

But investigation at some of the affected communities, revealed frustration and disappointment of the victims, especially over lack of adequate food supplies and poor camp conditions.

Many displaced residents lamented that although they were photographed with food items by authorities and relief personnel, they were not given the supplies.

Expressing her pain, one of the victims, Mama Isah, said: “We are 17 people in my household, but we were only given one loaf of bread and some tea. How can that be enough for even our breakfast?”

She appealed to the government to allow well-meaning individuals and organisations support them directly without interference or diversion.

Another victim, Rukaiya Usman, echoed similar concerns, criticising the quantity of food being distributed.

She said: “We are barely surviving, the food they bring is not enough for any family. We feel forgotten.”

Bad camp conditions

The victims also complained about the condition of the camps. Community volunteer, Hussaini Muhammed, described as unsuitable for human habitation.

“There are no toilet facilities, and we don’t have access to clean drinking water. People are getting sick,” he said.

Another volunteer, Ibrahim Abubakar, noted the absence of major emergency response agencies at Kpege Primary School, which serves as one of the major shelters.

On healthcare, Victoria Abubakar, confirmed that all medical assistance and supplies being given to flood victims were sourced through personal and community efforts.

“We are giving out drugs and attending to sick victims out of goodwill. None of this is coming from the government,” she said.

NSEMA admits gaps in relief operations

Reacting to the allegations, the Acting Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, NSEMA, Hussaini Ibrahim, acknowledged the gaps in the relief operations.

“The challenges we are facing are partly due to the absence of a conventional camp,” he explained, adding that the agency is currently undertaking a comprehensive data-capturing exercise to accurately identify real victims and ensure relief materials reach intended recipients.

“We are working to ensure that the right people get what they deserve. This process takes time, but we are committed to transparency and fairness,” he said.

Tinubu orders release of N2bn, 20 trucks of assorted foodstuffs

Apparently responding to the cries of the victims, President Bola Tinubu yesterday ordered the release of N2billion for the reconstruction of Mokwa town to serve as immediate resettlement of the victims.
He also directed that 20 trucks of assorted food items be released and distributed to the affected victims of the flood.

Vice President Kashim Shettima disclosed this when he led a Federal Government delegation to commiserate with the government and people of Niger State over the tragic incident.

The President also directed the ministries of Environment and Agriculture to immediately commence reconstruction of drainages in Mokwa town.

“President Tinubu has directed me to come and represent him and asked me to tell you that his heart is with you and that government will do everything possible to ameliorate your sufferings.

“On my part, I will direct the immediate release of electricity transformers on my arrival in Abuja to replace the ones damaged in Mokwa town,” the Vice President assured.

Shettima urged other arms of government to rise to the present situation, adding that they have roles to play in the governance of the state.

“The Federal Government will play its part, the state government and the local governments should also play their part to alleviate the suffering of the people,” he declared.

He said the intervention of the Federal Government is not playing politics but as normal role of intervention, and pleaded with the people to continue to live in peace with one another and be their brothers keepers, especially in this type of situation.

To achieve the task ahead, the vice president ordered the Minister of State for Agriculture Alhaji Sabi Abdullahi, to relocate to Minna and monitor the distribution of food items and construction of the drainages.

In his remarks, the Deputy Governor of the state, Comrade Yakubu Garba, thanked the Federal Government for the steps taken so far and also commended the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, and Niger State Emegerncy Management Agency, NSEMA, for the outstanding roles that they played since the disaster occurred.

He disclosed that so far, 13,354 people had been identified to be directly affected, while 4,534 individuals were displaced from their homes.

He also said 458 households were impacted, with 161 lives lost.

The deputy governor stated further that 186 people were injured, with 84 individuals still missing, 265 buildings destroyed or severely damaged and two major roads washed away.

According to him, five key bridges, including the vital Goodwill Bridge linking Mokwa to other parts of the country, collapsed.

Earlier in his remarks, the district head (Ndalile) of Mokwa, Alhaji Mohammed Aliyu Shaba, appealed for more support and prayers for the victims.

Meanwhile, the state government has directed a low key Eid-el Kabir celebration, in line with the mood in the state.

The low-key celebration, according to the government, will affect the suspension of Hawan Bar
iki, Durbar,(horse riding) and other elaborate Sallah activities across all emirates in the state.

Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Alhaji Abubakar Usman, who disclosed this in a statement, said: “This decision was taken as a mark of respect for the victims of the tragic incident and to allow for a period of mourning, prayer and reflections.’’

Motorists stranded, as Kogi sees high volume of vehicular movement

The flood, in which Mokwa bridge collapsed, has resulted in significant high traffic volume on roads in Kogi State, as trucks conveying goods to the Southern part of the country have been trapped in traffic for days.

Consequently, motorists who ply Mokwa-Jebba highway, enroute Kwara State, are now forced to use the Abuja-Lokoja-Kabba- Egbe road to link Kwara due to collapse of the bridge.

Some of the heavy duty vehicle transporters who spoke with Vanguard at Nataco Junction in Kogi, said the extent of the damage of the bridge had caused them to travel longer hours to get to their destinations, after getting out of the gridlock

One of the transporters, Muhammed Ahmed, said the bridge collapse has created a major bottleneck and delay in reaching his destination.

Vanguard also gathered that the bridge collapse has compounded the working hours of Federal Road Safety officers in Kogi State who are now made to work till midnight to control traffic to avoid gridlock in all parts of the state. Kogi Sector Commandant of the Federal Road Safety Corp, FRSC, Kumar Tsumwam, confirmed the rise in volume of vehicles on the state roads.

He said they started noticing high influx of vehicles from Gegu point of the state four days ago.

“We noticed the influx of heavy articulated vehicles since four days, specifically last Saturday. For now, our men are on the road up till midnight, controlling traffic. If we don’t do that, the tendency for blockage is very high.

‘’We are now running shifts on the road, so we can have our officers at designated points on the road.”
The officer said their fear was further heightened by the forthcoming Sallah celebration, which increased further the number of vehicles on the highways.

“By Thursday when movement for Sallah festival will commence, it may become uncontrollable. Normally, during festive periods, there is always heavy vehicular movements, now imagine when that is combined with the already tense situation of the heavy traffic, occasioned by the Mokwa bridge collapse,’’ the sector commandant said.

Risk managers demand review of disaster framework, early warning systems

Meanwhile, risk managers have called for an urgent review of existing disaster framework and early warning systems in Nigeria, following the devastating flood in Mokwa town.

The President/Chairman of Governing Board of Risk Managers Society of Nigeria, RIMSON, Dr. Abbas G. Idriss, advised the Niger State Government to develop evacuation routes, shelter locations and resource management system, among other comprehensive emergency response plans that will ensure quick and effective action during floods.

He also advocated the enforcement of zoning laws and land use policies to discourage construction in flood-prone areas, as well as improving community engagement in flood preparedness, response training, and awareness campaigns.

“There urgent need for evaluation of existing early warning systems, their effectiveness, evacuation plans and structural remedies, especially review of construction designs for flood prone areas,’’ Idriss said.
Other critical interventions highlighted include “the urgent review of town planning and strict enforcement of violations; the urgent need to ensure disaster management agencies at the national, state and local governments are manned by qualified risk management professionals; and the urgent need to upskill and equip all existing disaster management personnel for greater efficiency.”

RIMSON also advocated creation of the Office of Risk Management of the Federation to coordinate and monitor all risk management efforts across the geopolitical zones as a national security issue.
It also recommended the “urgent need for incorporation of disaster awareness and education into the national educational curriculum and the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, scheme; and regular national simulation of disaster readiness and response.”

While it stressed the need for an urgent review of budgetary allocations for disaster prevention and relief for survivors, RIMSON called on the lawmakers and the civic groups to monitor the deployment of funds for disaster management.

[Vanguard]