AFOLABI

AFOLABI

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that the country needs to do something urgently on insecurity which, he said, has taken over some parts of the nation.

Obasanjo stated this in Bauchi State, on Sunday, where he inaugurated road projects constructed by Governor Bala Mohammed.

He said insecurity in Nigeria today is worse compared to his time in office when he prioritised the security of lives and property across the country.

The former president insisted on community policing, where members of communities know their neighbours, adding that this was crucial to easily identify and address security threats within communities. 

Speaking at the palace of the Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Rilwanu Suleiman-Adamu, Obasanjo stressed the importance of community policing in addressing the rising insecurity in the country.

He said the current state of insecurity in Nigeria needed immediate action to address the situation.

“The best form of security is community policing because everyone knows his/her neighbours within the community. With that, it is very easy to identify the bad eggs.

 

“The situation of insecurity in Nigeria today is so bad, unlike during our terms in office when we prioritise the security of lives and properties across the country. We need to do something urgently about this.”

He urged traditional rulers to encourage community policing in their communities to reduce the spate of crimes.

“During our service to the nation, we did everything collectively, our decisions were taken together to have a uniform focus.

“My brother, Ahmed Adamu Mu’azu, is seated here, and he will bear me witness. Whatever we achieved then was a collective effort.

“We need peace, unity, and collective support in this country if we must move forward. Things can be right and good again in the country, all we need to do is to get united and do things collectively,” he noted.

The former President equally disclosed the donation of hearing aids to 2,000 people with hearing difficulties in Bauchi.

He explained that many people suffered deafness unknowingly until medical checks revealed to them their hearing capacity.

 

Obasanjo narrated how he discovered being partially deaf when he was abroad and could not hear clearly while someone was talking to him.

 

He had insisted nothing was wrong with his ears when the man asked for his permission to check on his ears.

He stated that after the result came out, it was revealed that he was 25 per cent deaf.

“After my result came out, I had to ask the man to also check on my Chief Security Officer then, but shockingly, he was more deaf than I was,” he said.

He said the experience informed the establishment of the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation, where thousands of Nigerians had benefited from its ear treatments and provision of hearing aids.

He noted that he would kick off the distribution of hearing aids to over 10,000 indigent people in the North-East, starting from Bauchi State, where 2,000 people would benefit.

Obasanjo expressed the belief that African countries were not created by God to be poor, adding that their poverty resulted from bad leadership.

 

Speaking on the inaugurated road, the governor said his blueprint, which included the roads, was designed even before he was returned elected as governor of the state.

“I instructed them to develop a road map for the project that will serve our people regardless of the outcome of the election.

“I believe that leadership is not about personal ambition but about collective progress and well-being of our people.

“The project we are inaugurating today is part of our larger ambition for the state,” he said.

Mohammed said his administration prioritised the construction and rehabilitation of roads in the state to aid development.

“As of today, we have undertaken the construction of 116 road projects, totalling 1,482.25km across Bauchi State.

“The roads we are commissioning today have significant milestones in our journey to build a new Bauchi.

 

“They are 7km dualisation of Awala-Maiduguri road, dualisation of 17.7km Kano road to Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa International Airport, Bauchi, 30KM Gubi Gari, Ruda Bida, Siyi to Nasarawa road connecting two local government areas of Bauchi and Ganjuwa,” he said.

Galatasaray are awed by Victor Osimhen’s bicycle kick goal in Saturday’s 3-0 win at Antalyaspor, with the Turkish champions describing the effort as more than a photograph, a work of art, in a statement on their Instagram page on Sunday.

The Nigeria striker delivered the spectacular effort that will stay indelible in the annals of global football to round off the scoring for the visitors two minutes into added time in the Süper Lig Game week 9 encounter at Corendon Airlines Park, Antalya.

It was the third league goal for the 25-year-old, who opened his account with a brave in their 3-3 draw against Kasimpasa before being laid off for two by a hamstring injury.

The Napoli loanee thus helped the two-time defending champions get back to winning ways, and their weekend was made even better with title challengers Besiktas dropping points.

 

After their seismic win at Fenerbahce in the Intercontinental Derby just two weeks ago, the pressure on manager Okan Buruk had considerably eased. But such is the volatile and fickle nature of football, his tactical and coaching acumen was called into question again following back-of-back collapses.

Without Osimhen, Galatasaray gave up a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 against Latvian side Riga in the Europa League but defeated Alanyaspor 1-0 last Sunday, putting them in a fine position heading into the international break.

The former Lille striker joined the club in September on loan from Napoli for the remainder of the season. The Turkey club assiduously working to make the move permanent, but consistent pressure from his suitors, especially Chelsea, could render their effort futile.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has revealed why he moved for the removal of Uche Secondus as the national Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Secondus, an elder statesman, was the Chairman of the PDP National Working Committee in 2017 and was suspended by the party in 2021.

The former governor of Rivers State, while addressing his followers and members of the PDP in Port Harcourt on Saturday, said he kicked out Secondus because as National Chairman, he wanted to bring Tele Ikuru to run for the governorship position of the state.

Wike further stated that he does not regret kicking Secondus out of office.

According to him, “Why did we kick out Secondus? We kicked him out because he wanted to bring his cousin Tele Ikuru. Get out, get out, who are you?

“We kicked him out. I have no regret about it. And it’s true. We kicked him out. I heard some leaders say, ‘how can a ward Chairman remove a national chairman?’

“No ward Chairman removed a national chairman. What the ward did was suspend him from the party. When you’re suspended from the party, can you hold that position? People don’t even understand the facts.”

Sunday, 20 October 2024 12:54

Shettima To Represent Tinubu At CHOGM 2024

President Bola Tinubu has tasked Vice President, Kashim Shettima, with leading Nigeria’s delegation to the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

In a statement issued on Sunday by Stanley Nwokocha, the spokesman for the Vice President, it was confirmed that Shettima will represent Nigeria at this significant international gathering, which is set to take place in Apia, Samoa, from October 21 to 26.

The upcoming CHOGM will see participation from King Charles of England and leaders from 56 member countries, all converging to discuss critical issues affecting the Commonwealth.

The theme for this year’s meeting is “One Resilient Common Future: Transforming our Common Wealth.”

The statement reads, “The theme will focus attention on how member countries can harness their strengths through resilience, unlocking potential, leveraging the ‘Commonwealth Advantage’, and fostering a connected, digital Commonwealth.”

“At this meeting, Nigeria and other member countries will also elect and appoint the next Commonwealth Secretary-General.

“In line with the Agreed Memorandum on the Establishment and Functions of the Commonwealth Secretariat (revised 2022) and the principle of regional rotation, the next Commonwealth Secretary-General will come from the Africa Region.

“The candidates for the role are from Lesotho, Ghana, and The Gambia, while Nigeria will have a major role to play as the largest African member in this regard.

“Consolidating the progress made at CHOGM 2022, VP Shettima and other world leaders will also deliberate on the global economy, environmental and security challenges, discussing how Commonwealth countries can work together to build resilience, boost trade, innovation, growth, and empower the Commonwealth’s 1.5 billion young people for a more peaceful and sustainable future.

“The Vice President is expected to use the platform provided by the Commonwealth Business Forum to further attract investors to Nigeria, as global experts from businesses and the private sector convene to recommend and champion solutions to global challenges.

“Senator Shettima will also participate in the People’s Forum, the single largest opportunity organized by the Commonwealth Foundation for people to engage with leaders on global development issues. He will also engage in bilateral meetings and other executive sessions.”

Bayer Leverkusen and Nigeria striker Victor Boniface on Sunday shared video footage and photos of his smashed car after an accident.

The forward can be seen looking into the camera and then showing what appears to be his arm dripping with blood.

 

Other images show a black sports car which appears to have been destroyed in an accident. The post has since been deleted.

 

German tabloid Bild reported Sunday Boniface is “doing well considering the circumstances and is only slightly injured”, citing a source close to the striker.

Boniface wrote on social media on Sunday “god is the greatest” and “god says my time hasn’t come.”

The forward’s club Leverkusen are yet to comment publicly on the news.

The 23-year-old striker joined Leverkusen last season and played a key role as the club broke through for an unbeaten league and cup double — their first ever Bundesliga win — while receiving his debut Nigeria call-up.

This season he has seven goals in 10 games in all competitions. On Saturday, he missed a penalty but headed in the winner in a 2-1 home victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Leverkusen are away at French club Brest in the Champions League on Wednesday.

On-fire Lionel Messi on Saturday became Inter Miami’s all-time leading scorer after scoring his second hat-trick of the week as the US-based club beat the New England Revolution 6-2.

With the hat trick, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner took his tally for the club to 33 goals.

 

Miami’s win, in their final game of the regular season, took them to 74 points – one more than the previous record, set by New England in 2021.

 

Messi, who came off the bench in the 58th minute and led the late flurry of goals, has now scored 20 goals in 19 appearances in MLS with his former Barcelona team-mate Suarez also notching 20, from 27 games.

The challenge of breaking the record added some spice to the final game of the regular season with Inter having already secured the Supporters’ Shield for the best record in the regular season to stamp themselves clear favourites in the MLS Cup playoffs which start next week.

Miami had trailed 2-0 before Suarez scored twice before half-time to send Gerardo Martino’s team in level at the interval.

Goals from Argentine Luca Langoni and Colombian Dylan Borrero in the 34th minute had the home crowd chanting for Messi’s introduction from the bench but it was Uruguayan Suarez who began the comeback.

A firm left-foot finish from the former Liverpool and Barcelona striker, pulled one back, after good work from David Martinez.

Then Suarez levelled with a fine solo finish, making space for himself and switching to his right foot before drilling home.

Messi, who had scored a hat-trick for Argentina against Bolivia on Tuesday, came off the bench in the 58th minute and immediately helped put the team ahead finding Jordi Alba who set up Benjamin Cremaschi for a tap-in.

 

New England thought they had drawn level with a goal from striker Bobby Wood but the effort was disallowed for handball following a VAR review.

Messi then made it 4-2, collecting a back-heeled pass from Suarez before brilliantly blasting into the far bottom corner.

The Argentine was on target again when he latched on to a superb pass from Jordi Alba and made no mistake and then he completed his hat-trick in the 89th minute when he met a volleyed cross from Suarez with a precise first time finish.

Messi’s three goals came within an 11-minute spell and after his two month injury absence after the Copa America he now looks back to his best.

– ‘ideal situation’ –

“I have the feeling that we have him in an ideal situation to face the most important part of the year,” said Martino.

 

At the post-game celebration of the Supporters Shield success, club co-owners David Beckham and Jorge Mas were joined by FIFA president Gianni Infantino who announced that the Shield had earned the team a place in the 2025 Club World Cup.

Elsewhere in the last round of the regular season in MLS, Montreal clinched a place in the playoffs with a 2-0 win over New York City.

The victory secured eighth place in the Eastern Conference and the Canadian side will play ninth-placed Atlanta United in the wildcard round on Tuesday for a chance to play Miami in the first round.

Atlanta took the final spot in the East with a 2-1 win at Orlando City.

There was a thrilling finale to the regular season in the Western Conference with the two Los Angeles clubs locked in battle for top spot and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

 

LAFC left the field thinking their 3-1 win over San Jose was enough to have secured the top seed with LA Galaxy losing 1-0 to Houston.

But a stoppage time penalty, converted by Gabriel Pec, looked to have secured LA Galaxy the point they needed to secure first place and left LAFC fans, in California, watching on their phones desolate.

But then in the 11th minute of stoppage time, Houston grabbed a dramatic winner with a header from Daniel Steres against his former club, meaning that LAFC snatched top seed on goal difference – by a single goal.

LAFC will face the winner of the wildcard game between the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Portland Timbers while the Galaxy will host the Colorado Rapids in the first round.

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman noted that the country has recorded a drop in the performance of female students in examination. 

 

Mamman gave the expression at the end of a technical and vocational education training camp for girls in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state capital.

Although he did not state the reason for the decrease in performance, however, the minister further noted that the camp would trigger female students’ interest in skills acquisition and entrepreneurship.

Mamman urged female students to show commitment to their studies.

According to him, the President Bola Tinubu-led administration was determined to produce students with both certificates and skills.

He also reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment towards providing knowledge and skill-based education for Nigerian youths.

According to him, implementing knowledge and skill-based education would promote rapid economic and industrial growth of the nation.

290 students drawn from 29 federal science technical colleges, participated in the two-week programme with the theme: “Painting for the Future”.

Addressing participants, Mamman said that the purpose of the camp was to stimulate innovative and creative abilities in female students, and to encourage healthy competition among them.

He commended the African Development Bank for partnering with the Federal Ministry of Education on the project.

In her remarks, the Commissioner for Education in Akwa Ibom, Idongesit Etiebet described the programme as timely and well-intended.

Etiebet urged the participants to take the lessons from the programme seriously, and to use it to add value to themselves in the interest of their future.

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2024 election, Atiku Abubakar, has stated that he is preoccupied with issues affecting Nigerians.

Atiku, a former Vice President of Nigeria, accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and his collaborators of playing politics with the sufferings of Nigerians.

Atiku stated this in response to Wike, who had at an event in Rivers State, said having contested the presidential election in 2019 and 2023 as the PDP candidate and lost, Atiku has been rejected by Nigerians.

He said, “We never contested local government elections. Did we contest? Did we pick form? I hear Atiku Abubakar say, ‘Oh they have rejected me in Rivers State. Okay, assuming though not conceding, he had lost so many times, Nigerians have also rejected him.”

Reacting in a statement on Saturday, Atiku’s Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, noted that the former VP won’t descend into the gutters where the FCT Minister feels at home.

He stated that while Wike may seek to divert attention with his baseless rants, Nigerians must remain focused on the genuine issues affecting them.

Ibe said it is clear that Wike is more concerned with self-interest than addressing the real challenges faced by the nation.

The statement read: “Our attention has been drawn to the recent remarks made by Mr. Nyesom Wike, which can only be described as another of his theatrical outbursts. Ordinarily, we would not respond, but we recognize that silence might be misinterpreted.

“However, we remain calm, knowing that Nigerians are well acquainted with his antics, a lingering symptom of the bitterness he harbours from his defeat to the Wazirin Adamawa at the 2022 party presidential primaries.

“Mr. Wike’s comments are nothing more than a string of inanities, lacking substance and driven by personal grievances. If he truly believes Nigerians are content with the current state of affairs under the government he serves, it reveals a deeper truth: his priorities lie not with the people but with himself. This self-absorption is evident in his preoccupation with domestic affairs in Rivers rather than his ministerial responsibilities.

“While he may seek to divert attention with his baseless rants, we remain focused on the genuine issues affecting Nigerians. It is clear that Mr. Wike is more concerned with self-interest than addressing the real challenges faced by the nation. In contrast, our commitment remains unwavering, centred on the welfare and progress of the people.

“Mr. Wike appears to delight in conjuring fantasies, indulging in his imagination, and paying for live TV coverage to launch tirades against whomever he pleases. However, we shall not descend into the gutters where he feels at home. Instead, we prefer to rise above, maintaining our dignity while others revel in the mud.”

Nigeria have dispatched Ecuador in a Group A match at the FIFA U-17 World Cup to book their spot in the knockouts of the competition.

The Flamingos won the game 4-0. That victory sealed their spot in the next round of the competition having defeated New Zealand 1-4 in their first match of the tournament.

Nigeria scored once in the first half and had a hat-trick of goals upon resumption to win the game.

 

A brace from Shakirat Moshood – one in the 28th minute and the second in the 96th minute- saw Nigeria claim all three points in the match.

Harmony Chidi netted in the 54th minute while Peace Effiong scored in the 66 minute for the West Africans.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has blamed the most recent national grid collapse on the explosion of a transformer at the Jebba Transmission station. 

 

Several parts of the country were thrown into a blackout in the early hours of the day, the third time in a week.

NERC said it is concerned by the “escalating incidence of grid disturbances” which is “reversing many of the gains recently achieved in reducing infrastructure deficit and improving grid stability”.

“Initial reports on the grid disturbance that occurred this morning indicate that today’s outage was triggered by an explosion of a current transformer at the Jebba transmission station at 0815hrs and an associated cascade of power plants shut down arising from the loss of load,” the NERC said in a Saturday statement. “However, efforts to restore supply have advanced with power significantly restored, as at 1300hrs, in 33 states and the FCT.”

 

NERC said it is working to ensure a more “discipline in grid management and optimised investment in infrastructure”.

“In pursuit of finding a permanent resolution to the challenges of the national grid, the Commission shall shortly conduct an investigative public hearing with a view to identifying immediate and remote causes of recurring incidences of grid disturbances and widespread outages,” it said.

“The date and venue of the public hearing will shortly be announced in the national dailies and stakeholders are encouraged to participate.”