Jose Peseiro has made four changes to the team to play against Guinea-Bissau in their final Group A encounter on Monday evening.

The Portuguese coach has dropped captain William Troost-Ekong and in comes experienced Kenneth Omeruo who will take up the armband.

Other include Joe Aribo and Bright Osayi-Samuel who are making their first starts, while Moses Simon returns to the starting eleven after being dropped for the 1-0 win over Ivory Coast last week Thursday.

Samuel Chukwueze and Calvin Bassey retain their places while Victor Osimhen continues to lead the line.

The Super Eagles are on four points after two matches and will look to possibly take top spot in the group with victory in a match that begins 6pm Nigerian time.

Super Eagles Starting XI: Nwabali, Bassey, Omeruo, Ajayi, Osayi-Samuel, Aina, Onyeka, Aribo, Moses, Chukwueze, Osimhen

An Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court on Monday sentenced a man, Ademola Oladimeji to four life imprisonment for sexually assaulting his three children.

The children were aged five, seven and nine.

Delivering judgment, Justice Abiola Soladoye, held that the evidence of the respective prosecution witnesses were believable and truthful.

Soladoye, however, said that their evidence established the offence of sexual assault by penetration and not defilement.

According to her, the evidence of the three survivors was corroborated by the investigative police officer and their mother’s.

He said: “Upon careful review of the evidence before the court, the children did not say their father inserted his penis into their ‘bumbum’, they only said he touched their ‘bumbum’.

“I observed the three of them. They did not lie against their father, they did not say he used his penis, he only used his fingers.

“The children gave an unshaken testimonies on how their father fiddle with their innocence multiple times by inserting his fingers into their vaginas.

“The wife of the defendant, in her testimony said the children complained of pain in their private and she was informed at the Mirabel Medical Centre that the children had been sexually assaulted.”

The judge added that defendant was desperate to distant himself from the allegation by denying the offences.

According to her: “To the mind of this court, I do not believe his narration though he denied fiddling his daughters but his testimony did not add up.

“His narration showed how desperate his is to get out of the charge against his own children.

“The court holds that there was penetration as oral and documentary evidence before the court pointed to the fact that defendant messed around with the purity of his three children.”

Soladoye said the conduct of the defendant was despicable, morally corrupt and incestuous and against the order of nature.

The judge, who said the prosecution failed to establish the three-count bordering on defilement, thereafter changed it to sexual assault by penetration and convicted him on each of the counts.

She also convicted Oladimeji of the fourth count charge of sexual assault by penetration and sentenced him to life imprisonment on each count.

The sentence, the judge held, would run concurrently.

Soladoye said that the name of the convict be registered in the Lagos State Sexual offences Register.

The state counsel, Mrs Olufunke Adegoke called five witnesses in proof of its case while the convict testified as a sole witness. (NAN)

No fewer than 6,700 traders have been displaced following the fire outbreak that consumed a section of the Mandilas building, a popular marketplace on Lagos Island.

Daily Trust learnt that the fire also destroyed 450 shops, 30 offices, including some law firms, two hotels and five restaurants.

The fire, which started from the first floor of the popular Mandilas house around 11am on Sunday, later spread to surrounding market stalls at Atunwase International Market.

The Iyaloja of Atunwase International Market Mandilas General, Alhaja Adeniji Rashidat, said goods worth billions were destroyed by the fire.

“Over 6,700 traders have been displaced from their business places following Sunday morning fire outbreak that consumed a section of the building. Also 450 shops, 30 offices, two hotels and five restaurants, were destroyed,” she said.

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Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the South West, Ibrahim Farinloye, said the affected houses had been sealed to avoid loss of lives.

Farinloye confirmed that the fire displaced about 6,700 traders and destroyed 450 shops, 30 offices, two hotels and five restaurants.

“The fire which started at about 0011 hours began on the first floor where an alleged electric wielding activity was going on. It was alleged that the people around did not notice the fire until it was too late before fire service was contacted.

“The fire also spread to surrounding market stalls at Atunwase International Market with equal extensive damage as the main main complex,” he added.

Farinloye further said officials of the Lagos State Safety Commission and Building Control Agency were on the ground to assess the integrity of all buildings at the scene.

According to him, all structures have been locked down to prevent access to the shop for the safety of traders and the public.

“Other agencies on the ground today (Monday) are Lagos Fire services, Red Cross, Nigeria Police, Neighbourhood watch, Lagos Island Local Government Sanitation, Lagos State Business District are currently making efforts at making the scene safer for people,” he said.

Some football enthusiasts have expressed the hope that the Super Eagles will win their last group match against Guinea Bissau in the ongoing Total Energies African Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.

The fans expressed their optimism ahead of the Monday encounter in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria in Enugu.

They, however, warned the senior national team not to underrate their Guinea Bissau as such could be dangerous.

A fan, Johnpaul Okolo, said he was optimistic that the Super Eagles would win by a wide margin, “if they put their act together”.

“I am not afraid of Guinea Bissau because I know the Eagles will beat them even with a wide margin.

“My advice to the team is that they should go all out from the blast of the whistle and get quick goals and never to underrate their opponent,” Okolo said.

Also, Chidinma Ibezim, said she was not disturbed about the match, adding that the Super Eagles just needed a draw to qualify for the next round.

She, however, warned the team not to take things for granted.

“In football, anything can happen. So, there should be no room for complacency. The Eagles must play with full strength and avoid silly mistakes that could make them lose the match,” Ibezim said.

Obiora Edeh, another fan, said he believed the match would not be as easy as people would think.

“Though Guinea Bissau have lost their last two games, they still have hope. The team will fight with their last blood, if not for anything, at least to redeem their image as a country,” Edeh said.

He, therefore, admonished the Super Eagles to be in their best form to be able to beat their Guinea-Bissau opponents.

“I don’t see the game as easy as people think, I will not be surprised if it ends in a draw, even though I would love Nigeria to carry the day,” he said.

The Super Eagles currently occupy the second position behind Equatorial Guinea, who will also play hosts Cote d’Ivoire today (Monday).

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Lukman, has said the ruling party is creating an atmosphere for its “electoral funeral”.

In a statement on Sunday, Lukman said APC leaders must be reminded that the party would be prone to electoral defeat if they do not adhere to calls for a leadership change.

The former vice chairman of the party said the refusal to listen to internal voices led to the formation of the new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) in 2013.

He said: “Painfully, in the process, a party that emerged with so much promise, APC, winning the support of Nigerians is almost destroyed and on a daily basis creating conditions for its own electoral funeral.

“As loyal members of the APC, we must remind our leaders that parties become more prone to electoral defeat when they resist or block internal pressures for leadership change.

“APC’s electoral victory in 2015, for instance, could be partly explained based on the refusal of PDP leadership to recognise and respect the yearnings of party members and leaders.

“It was the inability to respect internal yearnings for change that produced the splinter group of New PDP, which eventually joined the merger that produced APC in 2013.”

Lukman said President Bola Tinubu and former APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, who fought for democracy in the 90s, should ensure that Nigeria’s political parties are truly democratic.

He added: “Being leaders of APC, APC must emerge as a distinctly democratic party based on abiding respect for rule of law, which should be well reflected in a strong commitment to manage affairs of the party based on compliance with provisions of the APC.

“Anything short of this, will diminish the credentials of our leaders, including President Asiwaju Tinubu and Comrade Oshiomhole.”

Joseph Boakai has officially been sworn in as the new President of Liberia, marking a significant political shift in the country.

The 79-year-old leader, with four decades of political experience, secured his position after winning a closely contested run-off poll against former football star and Ballon d’Or winner George Weah, with a narrow victory margin.

The swearing-in ceremony, held in the nation’s parliament, was attended by notable figures, including Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo and US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

Boakai, who previously served as vice president from 2006 to 2018 under Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia’s first female president, assumes the presidency with the daunting task of addressing poverty, corruption, and a weak justice system.

Liberia, a country of five million people, has long struggled with these issues, exacerbated by years of civil war and an Ebola outbreak.

Additionally, the nation faces the challenge of impunity related to crimes committed during its civil wars.

During his election campaign, Boakai aligned with local power brokers, including former warlord Prince Johnson, who shifted his support from Weah in 2017 to Boakai in the recent election.

Johnson, a controversial figure under US sanctions, has been appointed to nominate Jeremiah Koung as the vice president.

The peaceful conduct of November’s election stands out in a region recently troubled by military coups.

Liberians now look to Boakai to fulfil his campaign promises of job creation, economic improvement, institutional strengthening, and fighting corruption.

His long tenure in politics raises expectations for significant progress in these critical areas.

Guinea-Bissau coach, Baciro Candé has stressed that he and his team are determined to beat the Super Eagles later today in their last group stage game of the 2023 AFCON.

Guinea-Bissau and the Super Eagles of Nigeria will clash at the Stade Félix Houphoüet-Boigny in Abidjan by 6 p.m. later this evening, January 22.

The Wild Dogs are going into the game sitting at the bottom of Group A after two losses in their last two games. Despite such a form, they intend to provide one of the biggest upsets of the tournament against the Super Eagles.

Recall that Guinea-Bissau beat Nigeria 1-0 in Abuja during the 2023 AFCON qualifiers and Nigeria defeated them 1-0 in the return leg.

Hence, though they have suffered defeats at the hands of Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast in the 2023 AFCON Group A, they fancy a chance of bowing out of the tournament with pride.

If they beat Nigeria, they’ll get up to three points, but since they’re now bottom of Group A, that won’t be enough to keep them in the tournament.

“Mentally we will be very strong and go out for a win. We know football has its peculiarities but we would do everything for a win against Nigeria,” the Guinea-Bissau coach said.

“I believe everything is possible, physically and emotionally we will be ready.”

One of the team’s stars, Carlos Mané added, “We know it’s now difficult to progress to the next stage but we will play for our families and our country. We will fight with all we have to give a good game against Nigeria.”

Contrary to rather quite irresponsible speculation and baseless propaganda making the rounds, there is absolutely no intent, not to talk of attempt, overt or covert, on the part of the President Bola Tinubu administration to move the capital of Nigeria to Lagos, I can authoritatively report.

What occurred of recent is the relocation of certain offices for greater functionality and enhanced practicality to a location that best suits them.

Some of these offices never even effectively moved to Abuja, in the first place.

By the way, this idea that everything must be headquartered in a country's capital is a rather unimaginative one which ends up concentrating development in one place to the detriment of other parts of the country.

In fact, it is not even replicated in most other countries.

The Presidency of South Africa is domiciled in Pretoria; the Supreme Court of South Africa seats in Bloemfontein, the Constitutional Court of South Africa seats in Johannesburg; and, the Parliament of South Africa seats in Cape Town.

In Switzerland, a country with a population that is rivaled by the average state in Nigeria, you still hear of Geneva as much as of Zürich, Basel, Bern or Lausanne.

Dubai is so well-known across the world, many people think it is a country of its own, whereas it is in reality just a part of the United Arab Emirates, a country whose capital is actually Abu Dhabi!

In the United States of America, whereas Washington DC is the capital, numberless and quite strategic departments and agencies are headquartered elsewhere.

The Center for Disease Control, CDC, is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia; the US Nuclear Weapons' Command (what arguably makes them the world's most powerful country) is headquartered in Massachusetts; the gold bullion of America, the national wealth of the world's richest country in solid gold, is not kept in Washington but in Fort Knox in the state of Kentucky!

It is very difficult to find a single state in America where something critical to the wellbeing of their country is not located, unlike in Nigeria where we have had this utterly retrogressive and quite inequitable practice of concentrating everything in a particular place to the detriment of other parts of the country.

Washington State is known for Boeing and Microsoft; Michigan is known for General Motors, Chrysler, Ford, etc; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for steel and Akron, Ohio for tyres; Silicon Valley is in California; Houston, Texas is known for the oil industry and so on and so forth unlike in Nigeria where an head office had initially even been earmarked for the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, in Abuja where there is no port (that building is the present location of the Ministry of Defense) or oil companies producing crude in the Niger Delta are headquartered in Lagos!

Let us not make mountains out of molehills or display an inclination to be petty, divisive, clannish or regionalistic over everything in this country.

The Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, is and shall remain the undisputed capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and no one is more committed to upholding that status quo than President Tinubu, himself.

Onokpasa, a lawyer, writes from Abuja.

The Acting Director-General, management and staff of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, celebrate with Festus Keyamo, SAN, Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development on the occasion of his 54th birthday.

Michael Achimugu, Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, in a PR as statement weekend, stated, that Keyamo as the man responsible for an industry as critical as Aviation, that he has shown exceptional leadership and commitment towards positioning Nigeria’s aviation among the best in the world, and we at NCAA align with that vision.
“Your stoicism, reminiscent of social rights and justice crusaders from time immemorial, has pointed us in the right direction and the industry is once again filled with hope, excitement, and direction.

“As you commence this flight on a new age, may the wisdom that comes with experience and love guide your path. We at NCAA believe in your leadership and we have no doubt that God will fill your household with all of the beauties of a new age,” he stated.

House number 43, Idi Maska Road in Funtua, Katsina State, was just like any other building in the busy neighbourhood adjourning the Funtua Central Motor Park, save for the unending stream of visitors that trooped in and out of it. Some of the callers were friends of its famous occupant while others were members of the Social Democratic Party, (SPD).

The building, a one-storey affair, green in colour, was the residence of the legendary Hausa  folk musician, poet and politician, Alhaji Mamman Shata who was at the time, chairman of the SDP in Funtua Local Government Area.

I had travelled from Katsina to Funtua in March 1991 to keep an interview appointment with the musician who had agreed to speak on his music and his aspiration at the time to contest for the position of Katsina State governor.

Last week, as I passed through the town to Malumfashi to witness a friend’s daughter’s marriage, I could not but remember the interesting encounter with the man.

                Shata

A visitor who expected to find Shata’s abode as a mansion in the exclusive part of the town would be disappointed. Despite his social standing as the foremost musician in Northern Nigeria at the time, he relished his life of ordinariness. Not for him the usual splendour of the rich and powerful.

His sitting room on the ground floor was sparsely furnished, without even the simple floor carpet or electric fan. Notwithstanding, his admirers and party faithful made themselves comfortable, squatting around him on the bare floor. I don’t know what he expected of me that March afternoon, but after exchanging greetings, I had made myself comfortable in one of the more comfortable chairs.

Shata was an enigma of sorts and it showed all through the hour and half-long interview. He was his usual self – eloquent, oratorical and pedantic.

Shata was always at home whenever the discussion was ‘kalangu’ music or politics. Over the years he had come to master both. He started playing music in his birthplace, Musawa, and it has since brought him fame and recognition across Nigeria and from foreign lands. His music put him on first name basis with the rich and powerful, notably royalties like the late Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Usman Nagogo, those of Kano, Zaria and Daura, Alhaji Ado Bayero, Alhaji Shehu Idris and Alhaji Muhammadu Bashar, respectively. In his day, no big occasion  in Northern Nigeria was complete without him. 

Music has always been his familiar terrain, until the First Republic when he opted to combine it with politics. If this decision took his admirers by surprise, his choice of playing the opposition was even more so as he shunned the Northern Peoples Congress of Alhaji Ahmadu Bello and opted instead for the left-wing   NEPU. Similarly in the Second Republic he decided to ride against the popular wave by shunning the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), and the Peoples’ Redemption Party (PRP), both of which were the dominant parties in the old Kaduna State and joined the Great Nigeria Peoples’ Party (GNPP) led by Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim.

Somewhat a radical, definitely a non-comformist, he holds mostly opposing views on most social and political issues, some of which earned him time in detention. He attributed his travails to the machinations of the other parties “who wanted me to join them but I refused because I cannot abandon the ‘talakawa’”. 

He prefers to be identified with the ‘talakawas’ whose suffering, he said, inspired his decision to go into politics, but he does not tie his philosophy to Alhaji Aminu Kano or any other politician dead or alive who had stood on the side of the ‘talakawa’. 

After what was a turbulent time in the GNPP of the Second Republic, one thought Shata would leave politics alone. Wrong! After the death of the Second Republic, he went back to his music full time but bounced back when political activities for the transition to the Third Republic was lifted. Of the two parties (SDP and NRC) formed by President Ibrahim Babangida, he joined the Social Democratic Party, SDP, and helped the party get a  strong foothold in Katsina State.

In-between pulls and puffs at his trademark Rothman’s cigarette, he told me that politics was his life, just as music was his life, “so there is no leaving one for the other because that would amount to a King abdicating his throne”. 

By local standards, Shata was a rich man who made money through his music. But everything he made, he shared with the poor. He lived with the poor, ate with them and shared in their aspirations. 

For a man who never attended school, he was insistent that he would contest and win the governorship election of Katsina State that year. When I reminded him that he would hardly meet up with the necessary educational qualifications stipulated by law for the governorship contest, he had retorted that the law would have to prove or disprove whether his string of (honorary) doctorate degrees are inferior or superior to the GCE O’level certificate required by law. 

He laughed through the thick cigarette smoke, and followed it up with coughing. 

Alhaji Shata has over 15 awards in recognition of his contribution to music and to the society, mostly honorary degrees by universities around the world. From the Ahmadu Bello University alone, he had three honorary degrees and one from the prestigious University of California. A week before our meeting, he was given a special recognition award by the Performing Musician s Association of Nigeria (PMAN).

Shata was an interesting subject to interview and he managed my poor Hausa the way I managed his smattering use of English language. I was also aware he was quick to anger, so I left one question for last: how does he manage his ceaseless smoking during the Muslim fasting? Dead silence. He obviously didn’t like the question as I knew he wouldn’t.

“Kai, ina ruwa nka?” he repeated the question twice.

I explained that I was just curious because I observed he never for once since the interview started, paused on smoking. Silence again. As he gathered his cigarettes and stood up, I knew the interview was over.

The following week, I splashed the interview on the front page of my newspaper, Katsina Newsweek. It helped put him strongly in the contest against notable candidates like Umar Musa Yar’adua, Abu Jalli Gambo and Idris ‘Piapia’ Nadabo. However, it was his relentless criticism of the party leadership at national and state levels that ultimately brought him head-to-head against Maj-Gen Shehu Yar’adua (rtd), an indigene of the state, and resulted in his eventual disqualification and removal as party chairman.

Later in the year at an event organised by the Gidauniyar Jihar Katsina, we made up, but he would never grant me another interview, a vow he maintained till he died in June, 1999.

Shata was indeed a great man who lived what he believed. My recent trip through Funtua rekindled the memory of that encounter 33 years ago. It was one encounter that made a huge impression on me at the time,  of one man’s conviction and his effort to uplift the poor and the lowly.