Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has appointed the Nigerian Chess Master cum Guinness World Record contester for the longest Chess Marathon in history, Tunde Onakoya, as the Sports Ambassador of the State.

Gov Abiodun made this known on Thursday when Onakoya visited his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

The governor likened the travails of the Chess Master to those of millions of youths in Nigeria who are struggling to make something of their lives, stating that his achievements in the face of difficulties are a testimony that life does not recognize where one comes from, place of birth, or parent’s status in society.

Abiodun also announced the commencement of the State Chess Competition, which will be held in all parts of the state in honour of Onakoya.

He said, “I can see why you continue to be inspiration to many young people across the length and breath of this country. You have gone further by establishing a foundation called the ‘Chess in Slums Africa’ because you are determined to tell your story and encourage other children and get them out of the slums and give them hope and future.

“Today, we will be officially appointing you as our State Sports Ambassador. Coincidentally, Ogun State will be hosting the National Sports Festival in the next nine months or thereabouts and we are boasting that we are set to host the best National Sports Festival that has never been held in the history of this country and coincidentally, chess is one of the games that will feature in that event.

“I have decided that because of you and in your honour, we will begin an Ogun State Chess Competition across the length and breath of the state. Since you are now officially our Sports Ambassador and our Chess Ambassador, we will leave it to you to design that competition from the local government all the way to the state level.

“But we as your state, we will have a sponsor in the Tunde Onakoya Prize, for the winner of that competition.” 

A 2023 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Nigeria by the U.S. Department of State has said the 2023 elections were marred by violence, vote-buying, voter suppression and intimidation among other challenges.

The report seen by Naija News on Thursday also stated that there were reports of campaigning at polling stations, lack of ballot secrecy and various irregularities during the country’s 2023 elections.

The report read, “Many independent observers assessed the results of the presidential, legislative, and state-level elections during the year reflected the will of voters, despite reports of voter suppression and vote buying, campaigning at polling stations, lack of ballot secrecy, violence, and intimidation.”

The report cited an incident which occurred during the March 18 state election in Lagos, stating, “During the March 18 state election in Lagos, All Progressives Congress (APC) supporters reportedly intimidated and suppressed voters in Igbo-dominated areas, which Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, won in the February 25 national election.

“Viral videos on social media showed APC supporters in Ojo threatening to attack ethnic Igbo voters presumed to be pro-Obi. In Eti-Osa, APC supporters also attacked journalists and, in some cases, shut down voting and prevented non-Yoruba voters from accessing polls. They similarly destroyed property and physically blocked voters in Amuwo-Odofin.

“According to videos posted on social media, police officers were present but failed to respond to attacks. There was no evidence that alleged perpetrators were arrested or prosecuted.”

The report also highlighted the persistent underrepresentation of women and marginalized groups in Nigerian politics.

It stated that religious, cultural, and economic barriers were contributing factors for the underrepresentation.

It added: “The national average of women’s political participation in Nigeria was 6.7 per cent in elected and appointed positions.”

The report further noted that media outlets often stereotyped women politicians and, in some cases, refused to cover their campaigns allegedly on the orders of opposition officials and candidates.

 

 

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“Media outlets stereotyped women politicians as “promiscuous” or “cunning” and in some cases refused to cover their campaigns allegedly on the orders of opposition officials and candidates,” it added.

Italian Serie A side, Napoli, have reportedly lined up a series of strikers, including two Nigerians, they are considering signing as a replacement for Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen.

Victor Osimhen who has been the talisman of Napoli in the last three seasons is expected to leave the club at the end of this season if any of his suitors pay the club’s asking price.

Recall that Osimhen attracted the attention of top clubs like Paris Saint Germain, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Arsenal after scoring 26 goals and providing five assists in 32 league games last season.

The performance of the 25-year-old Nigerian striker helped Napoli to win their first league title in 33 years.

Even though Osimhen extended his contract with Napoli in December 2023, the Nigeria international and the Italian side are determined to part ways this summer.

Hence, a couple of strikers have been linked to the side as Osimhen’s replacement including Super Eagles stars, Victor Boniface and Terem Moffi.

Moffi has been one of the most prolific strikers in French Ligue 1 so far this season in which he has scored 11 goals for OGC Nice.

Though the 23-year-old Nigerian striker is currently under contract with Nice until June 30, 2027, PSG could price him away from the side this summer if they decide to.

Another alternative is Boniface, who has been unstoppable at Bayer Leverkusen since he joined the club last summer.

Even though injury kept him out of action for three months, the 23-year-old striker has scored 18 goals and provided 10 assists in 29 games in all competitions so far this season.

 

 

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Joshua Zirkzee of Bologna is also said to be a strong candidate to replace Osimhen if the Nigeria international finally leaves Napoli this summer.

The Oyo State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, has revealed his succession plans for the State ahead of expiration of tenure.

Makinde noted that he would not support any aspirant or candidate within Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) that is above the age of 52.

The Oyo governor spoke at a Students’ Legislative Summit organised by the Speaker of Oyo State House of Assembly and chairman, Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin, in conjunction with the Students’ Representative Council, University of Ibadan.

He said, “When I came in as the governor of Oyo State at age 51, some people believed it was impossible and against all odds the impossible became possible.

“I have decided that come 2027, I would not support any candidate above the age of 52 in my party for the position of governor of Oyo State.”

Equally, he noted that he has broken the jink of ‘who is your father’ in the political space of the state.

He disclosed that there was a time when ‘who is your father’ was the order of the day in the political space of the state.

According to him, “For us here, we have seen the common situation where ‘who is your father’ was the order of the day but we have been able to break that in Oyo State. My father was a ‘nobody’ and the Oyo State people still gave me the opportunity to lead.

“We may not be able to prepare the future for the youth, but we can prepare the youth for the future. Please, don’t see this event as just an opportunity to look at the issue of leadership in this country. And, in me, Seyi Makinde, the youth have an ally and we will prepare the leaders of the next generation amongst the youth.

“I am here this afternoon to encourage the youth. If you look at the history of Nigeria, we had our independence in 1960 and six years after, in 1966, the person that became the Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, was 31 years and some months old. After him, during the Second Republic, former President Obasanjo retired as a General at the age of 39.

“You should dream big; people have ruled this country at very tender ages. So, for you, don’t think that at 29 or 30, you are too young to rule and I am glad, because this is almost like catching them early.

“You have the students here and in about three years, some of you will be out there to move on. If I were you, I wouldn’t start looking for work; I would start doing my own thing at a very early age of 24 or 25. With the kind of energy you still have, you can pull down the kingdom of Satan.”

The Naira has failed to appreciate against the US dollar at the foreign exchange market despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s recent additional release of $10,000 to Bureau De change operators.

FMDQ data showed that the Naira recorded another drop to N1308.52 per Dollar on Wednesday compared to N1,300.15 exchanged on Tuesday.

On a day-to-day basis, this represents an N8.37 drop from N1,300.15 per Dollar it traded on Tuesday.

In the parallel market section, the Naira was sold at between N1,250 and N1,300 on Wednesday from N1230 on Tuesday.

The development comes despite the Central Bank of Nigeria releasing 10,000 dollars each to BDC at N1,021 to a dollar with a caveat to sell at most 1.5 per cent above the bought price.

This is the third recent intervention for BDCs amid the bank’s effort to defend the Naira.

However, despite the FX rate record, the official window rate still surpassed the parallel market by N8.52.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the National President of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria, Aminu Gwadabe, blamed peer-to-peer cryptocurrency platforms like Binance for the recent depreciation of the Naira against the Dollar in the foreign exchange market.

In recent days, the Naira has slumped six times against the Dollar in the foreign exchange market.

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has said he was not obsessed about replacing President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

The former Governor of Anambra State said he is only desperate to see the poor and underprivileged Nigerians being pulled out of their difficult situation daily.

Speaking during a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja, Obi stressed that he would not shy away from discussing pressing issues plaguing the country.

He said, “We live in a system where public officeholders and politicians are only seen during elections. I can tell you that it is an everyday job. I have said several times that I am not desperate to become the President of Nigeria. But I am desperate to see the poor and underprivileged Nigerians being pulled out of their difficult situation daily.

“That is what I am desperate to see. And all of us can do it as well. You can’t even be happy or fulfilled when several million (Nigerians) don’t know where the next meal will come from. When I see children suffering, it increases my pain. This is not about campaign.”

Focus On Existing Roads, Highways

The LP chieftain disclosed that if he were to become President, he would do things differently by focusing on repairing existing roads as against approving contracts for new ones.

Obi stated that some deplorable major highways, such as Lagos-Badagry and Kano-Kaduna, had become death traps and should be the priority of any serious government.

Pa Onakoya, the father of Nigerian chess master, Tunde Onakoya, has said that he never supported his son in playing Chess.

Recalls that on April 17, Onakoya commenced his attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon.

In a video making the rounds online, Pa Onakoya described the Chess master as resilient, stating that he never knew that Chess would make him popular.

According to him, when Tunde was a child, he would pack everything away whenever he saw him playing Chess because he wanted him to focus on his academics.

Pa Onakoya further advised Nigerian parents to encourage their children to follow their passion.

He said, “To me, Babatunde Onakoya is an angel because whatever he set his mind on must succeed.

“As a small child, when Tunde was playing Chess, I usually packed everything away from him because I wanted him to focus on school. I didn’t know that it was what would make him popular like this.

“My advice for parents is that they shouldn’t discourage their children from their passions. I wanted Tunde to be a doctor but I didn’t know that Chess would make him popular like this. I thank God.”

 

Onakoya broke the record of Norwegian players Hallvard Haug Flatebø and Sjur Ferkingstad, who played for 56 hours and 9 minutes in 2018.

A Nigerian lady, tired of the United Kingdom (UK), has made the decision to return to her homeland.

In a trending TikTok video, the lady with the handle nikkystar_55 shared her decision to leave the hustle and bustle of the UK behind and return to Nigeria.

In the short clip, she expressed her fatigue with the daily grind and declared her longing for a simpler life back home.

Upon her arrival in Nigeria, the woman wasted no time immersing herself in the local culture.

She treated herself to a traditional delicacy and was captured in the video engaging in farming activities, embracing the agricultural lifestyle of her homeland.

Reflecting on their departure from the UK, the lady mentioned that they had brought along a considerable amount of luggage, indicative of a decisive move to make Nigeria their new home.

In the clip, the lady shared how her husband encountered a colleague who shared similar sentiments about returning to Nigeria, suggesting a growing trend among Nigerian expatriates seeking to reconnect with their roots and embrace the opportunities available in their home country.

Leader of the Ilana Omo Oodua, Professor Banji Akintoye has disagreed with leaders of the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, on restructuring saying the Yoruba Nation wants self-determination not restructuring.

He said this when he was featured on Arise television’s ‘The Morning Show’.

The professor of History who repeatedly said the goal to achieve his Yoruba Nation dreams will surely come to pass argued that if restructuring is implemented, the same Fulani herders who have allegedly killed more than 29,000 Yoruba will remain in Nigeria and continue their atrocities.

He wondered why there was so much noise about agitation for Yoruba Nation and people look away from Fulani who threatened to take over the seat of power.

While acknowledging the role of Afenifere in restructuring, he noted that the only solution to the senseless killing, maiming, raping and kidnapping of Yoruba was to get out of the country.

His words: “Our fathers in Afenifere are doing the right thing talking about restructuring so that we can go back and live our own life the way we used to live it prosperously. But we, another group of people larger than they are now saying self-determination is the answer not restructuring why because when you restructure you’re still in Nigeria and those people who are killing, maiming and raping our women and daughters remain in Nigeria.

“The only solution to that is to separate from them; to have our own country where we can make laws and determine who to admit. But if we restructure, they still have the right to come to Nigeria and still perpetrate the evils they do.”

Taking exception to the violence displayed by Onitiri-Abiola’s group, who swooped on the Oyo State Government House, he said: “The ideas of the self-determination movement and Yoruba Agitation led by Modupe Onitiri-Abiola are not the same. We started the movement for the liberation of the Yoruba Nation under the existing law of the international community. People don’t seem to recognize the rights of indigenous people that there is a law that every nation that permits any nation that wants to separate from a nation they belong to now to do so.

“The movement that I lead is intellectually sophisticated. No single member of the movement, even though we are in millions, will do what Mrs Abiola-Onitiri did. She and her people are on their own. They are not part of us and we are not part of them. Our struggle for self-determination has been pursued peacefully. We started in 2019 and this is 2024. That is roughly five years now and no single record of violence. We’ll achieve self-determination peacefully.”

No fewer than 119 inmates of the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Suleja, Niger state, have escaped, following hours of heavy downpour which destroyed parts of the facility on Wednesday night.

Spokesman of the Federal Capital Territory FCT Command of the Nigeria Correctional Service NCoS, Adamu Duza disclosed this in a statement on Thursday morning.

He said, “A heavy downpour that lasted for several hours on the night of Wednesday, 24 April 2024 has wreaked havoc on the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Suleja, Niger state, as well as surrounding buildings, destroying part of the custodial facility, including its perimeter fence, giving way to the escape of a total of 118 inmates of the facility”.

According to him, the Service has immediately activated its recapturing mechanisms, and in conjunction with sister security agencies has so far recaptured 10 fleeing inmates and taken them into custody, while still in a hot chase to recapture the rest.

Duza said the Service is not unmindful of the fact that many of its facilities were built during the colonial era and that they are old and weak, adding that the Service is making frantic efforts to see that all ageing facilities give way to modern ones.

“This is evidenced in the ongoing construction of six number of 3000-capacity ultra-modern custodial centres in all the geo-political zones in Nigeria as well as the ongoing reconstruction and renovation of existing ones.

“The Service wishes to assure the public that it is on top of the situation and that they should go about their businesses without fear or hindrance.

“The public is further enjoined to look out for the fleeing inmates and report any suspicious movement to the nearest security agency”, said Duza.