daveP: All these beautiful template but they no dey draft how to maximize am to the fullest? Well i hope this Randy era is maximized well. The athletics own is paying off so so well. Favor Ofili is something else entirely right now (her block start has skyrocketed). Not to mention the others.
I join you to hope.
If any at all, the last WWC game vs England should be the benchmark of Motivation till we breakout.
We got maximum benefit from the athletics from 1984 till 2000.
This is the Texas Southern University video (the one I posted on that thread is no longer visible).
naptu2: This race was on my mind when I was on the bridge this morning.
(Yeah, yeah, I know that I've posted this video before).
Nigeria was the African power house in the sprints in the 1980s, while Kenya was the power house in the long distance races, so obviously they would clash in the middle distance races.
This was the 1987 All African Games in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. It was the final of the 4x400m relay for women. Nigeria had 3 excellent 400 metres specialists; Maria Usifo, Falilat Ogunkoya and Fatimat Yusuf, but who would run the last leg?
I was shocked when I saw the name. I didn't understand what was happening.
Mary Onyali was one of Nigeria's greatest stars in the 100m and 200m and that was her name on the list for the 4x400. Yes, 4x400, not 4x100.
Nigeria led in the first, second and third legs, but the Kenyans were hot on our heels. Then came Mary Onyali. She ran that 400 metres as if she was running 4 100 metres races and the gap between her and the Kenyan kept increasing. Nigeria won gold in the 4x400 metres in Nairobi and the noise in my house was unbelievable. Mary Onyali collapsed at the finish line and Falilat had to try and carry her.
Dear @aedcelectricity, why don’t we do this: if you can commit to supplying me 20 hours electricity per day for 3 months, I will pay you N1 million, which I will deposit, in advance, today, with @NERCNG, as an independent arbiter who will confirm how much electricity I got in the period.
If you meet the target, you can keep the N1 million and I will pay any extra if the N1 million doesn’t cover the bill You can also disconnect me until I pay the balance.
If you don’t meet the target, @NERCNG will return my money and I will not pay anything for the 3 months. Deal?
Deltamani: Randy Waldrum Pittsburgh University signed former Bayelsa Queens Attacking midfielder Celina Ottah from Jones College (NJCAA Div 2)..
A good transfer for the Midfielder as she team up with Young Midfield General Deborah Abiodun
What Randy is doing reminds me of 2 very successful eras in our sports.
There were some Nigerian sports administrators that attended university in the US (eg Isaac Akioye) and some retired American track stars that worked as coaches in Nigeria (Lee Evans, Ron Davis, etc). They helped to establish a system in which the best Nigerian track and field athletes got scholarships to study in American universities. This was one of the things that led to the greatest era in Nigerian track and field athletics. Nigeria was a global power house in the sprints and some field events in the 1980s and 1990s.
Clemens Westerhof became coach of Nigeria in 1989. He made it easy for some of the best European coaches (like Louis Van Gaal) to have access to Nigerian players (eg Finidi and Kanu) and he also ensured that the contracts that these players signed with European clubs benefited Nigeria (release of players for national team duty, etc). This was one of the things that led to the most successful era in Nigerian football.
I hope Randy can have similar success with Nigerian female football.
Follow-up Statement Regarding Recent Social Media Posts I Shared On My Page
Dear Followers,
I want to take a moment to address the recent discussions surrounding a retweet I made regarding Nathaniel Bassey and Minister Mercy Chinwo Blessed's son.
Firstly, I want to express my sincere apologies for any distress or confusion my retweet may have caused. This is not truly my character and the retweet I made was just like every other news I source and share on my page.
I want to clarify that my intention in sharing the post was solely to disseminate information, not to endorse or validate the allegations therein.
As someone dedicated to sharing news from various sources, I aim to provide my audience with information how I receive them and I’m not in any way in support of what the originator said.
However, I understand now that the retweet was misunderstood even though I put the original post in quote with a screenshot reference. I did not in any way support the post with any intention to harm rather I also very much worried about it and as a human I am very much sorry to make such a mistake and never will I do it again.
I seek you join me and plead with @nathanielblow to find a place in his heart to forgive my wrong actions as I take full responsibility for having shared the post on my platform.
Moving forward, I will continue to prioritize accuracy and responsibility in my content.
Meanwhile, another of the five has apologised to Nathaniel Bassey. Earlier DJ Spoilt Kid tendered an apology, while Okoronkwo Ejike deleted his Facebook page. Now Kingsley Ibeh has also tendered an apology.
Kingsley Ibeh
APOLOGY TO PASTOR NATHANIEL BASSEY AND MINISTER MERCY CHINWO FOR DEFAMATION OF CHARACTER.
I am writing to offer my deepest apologies for the unfounded and hurtful allegations I made against Pastor Nathaniel Bassey and Minister Mercy Chinwo Blessed on various social media platforms.
I now realize that my words were not only baseless but also deeply disrespectful to their character and reputation as Children of God who have gained the love and trust of many over the years.
I want to acknowledge the gravity of the harm I have caused them, their families, and community by spreading false information about their personal life. My actions were irresponsible and lacked integrity.
I understand that no amount of apologies can fully undo the damage I have done, but please know that I am genuinely remorseful for my actions. I take full responsibility of my words and am committed to making amends in any way possible.
I am willing to publicly retract my statements and apologize for them on the same platforms where they were made and also on major National Newspapers.
Additionally, I am open to meeting with them personally to offer my apologies face-to-face and as a way of showing how remorseful I am.
Once again, I am truly sorry for the pain and distress I have caused Pastor Nathaniel and Minister Mercy. I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me.
Court Summons Five Persons For Defamation Of Mercy Chinwo
The complainants said the alleged actions of the defendants are contrary to Sections 391 of the Penal Code and Section 24 (1)(B) of the Cybercrimes (prohibition, prevention etc) Act 2015.
The Chief Magistrate Court, Wuse Zone 2, has summoned five social media users for “criminal defamation” of the reputation of gospel singer, Mercy Chinwo; and her husband, Blessed Uzochikwa.
In the court summons dated April 3, 2024, sighted by Channels Television, Chief Magistrate Emmanuel Iyanna ordered the five defendants to appear in person before the court on April 23, 2023, to answer the charges levelled against the complainants.
The complainants in the matter are Blessed Uzochikwa and Mercy Chinwo while the five defendants are Okoronkwo Ejike, Kingsley Ibeh, DJ Spoiltkid, Terrence Ekot, and Samuel Agozie.
The suit stemmed from posts made by the defendants last week after the gospel singer and her husband posted a picture of their son on Instagram. After the picture of the baby, who was born in 2023, was posted, the defendants alleged that there was a resemblance between the baby and another gospel singer, Nathaniel Bassey, and claimed that he was the father, an allegation that went viral.
In a criminal complaint filed by the complainants’ lawyers led by Pelumi Olajengbesi of Abuja-based law firm, Law Corridor, Mercy Chinwo and her husband said the alleged actions of the defendants amounted to cyber intimidation, injurious falsehood, and cyberstalking targeted at their persons.
The complainants said the alleged actions of the defendants are contrary to Sections 391 of the Penal Code and Section 24 (1)(B) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act 2015.
The “individuals criminally injured the reputation and image of the complainants across the globe resulting from their intentional defamatory posts and an act of cyberstalking,” the lawyers said in a criminal complaint filed before the magistrate.
Magistrate Emmanuel Iyanna thereafter directed the five defendants to appear before the court on April 23, 2024, to answer the charges.
Nathaniel Bassey Petitions IGP
Bassey has also taken action over the matter. The ‘Jesus Iye’ crooner — through his lawyers — had petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun, to investigate and prosecute four persons whom he accused of criminal defamation and cyberstalking. The four social media users in Bassey’s petition are Okoronkwo Ejike, Kingsley Ibeh, Terrence Ekot and Dj Spoiltkid.
Bassey’s lawyers said the alleged actions of the four individuals contravened Sections 373 and 375 of the Criminal Code Act as well as Section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.).
“The consequences of making such statements on social media have been known to tarnish the reputations of individuals, render marriages unstable, and many never recover from them. International reputation is an asset—both for the individual and for the nation—and it takes time to acquire.
“Consequently, we urge you to use your good offices to, in the interest of justice, investigate this matter, arrest, and bring the suspect to justice, which will serve as a deterrent to others.”
Bassey, popularly known as “Pastor Nath” is the convener of online interdenominational worship programme, Hallelujah Challenge. He also pastors a parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG).
naptu2: Some of these things are just too ridiculous. I haven't commented on this issue because it's too ridiculous.
POWA is the Police Officers Wives Association. They do a lot to help police families. For example, they operate schools for children of police officers.
There was a bit of friction between the police and the Bola Tinubu Administration in the early 2000s. The Lagos State Government wanted to stop street trading, but police officers' wives were engaged in street trading outside their barracks. This led to clashes between Kai and the police.
In order to solve this problem, POWA decided to build POWA shopping complexes for police officers' wives. These complexes also served as a source of revenue for the association.
A funny article appeared on Sahara Reporters and Nairaland on December 29th. The headline of the article was:
Lagos Gives Traders At Computer Village POWA Complex 24 Hours To Vacate Property
But the body of the article said a different thing. These paragraphs are from the same article.
The traders claim that the demolition plan was proposed by Achieving Greatness Limited to the National President of POWA and the National Market Leader.
Occupants alleged that the wife of the Inspector-General of Police, Elizabeth Egbetokun, purportedly gave the directive for the demolition of the property.
It was learnt that the government gave the quit notice because the POWA Phase I and II had become dilapidated, defaced, and distressed.
POWA owns a shopping complex, POWA realises that the complex is distressed, POWA decides to demolish and rebuild it. What has this got to do with the Lagos State Government?
(The wife of the IGP is always the president of POWA).
What I wrote above was confirmed by the police a few days later.
A statement was published on the Nigerian Police Force's official Twitter page. It's title is:
PRESS RELEASE
PLANNED DEMOLITION OF POWA SHOPPING COMPLEX IKEJA: RECONSTRUCTION IN GOOD FAITH, COMPLIANCE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT TO AVOID HAZARDS.
Despite the facts above, someone created a thread yesterday in which he claimed that the Lagos State Government was demolishing Computer Village. All kinds of people began claiming that the Lagos State Government had an ethnic agenda for demolishing Computer Village.
More surprising is the fact that a moderator moved that thread to the home page.
The moderators had to later modify the title of the thread when the truth became unavoidable.
The truth is that POWA was demolishing the POWA Shopping Complex in Computer Village.
The Lagos State Government also issued a statement that made it clear that it had nothing to do with the demolition. Yet look at the crazy comments on the thread. How can anybody take people that make this kind of comments seriously??
abc115: Traders Count Losses As Police Demolish Computer Village POWA Complex
Traders at the Police Officers’ Wives Association Shopping Complex in the Computer Village, Ikeja area of Lagos counted their losses following the demolition of the complex on Sunday.
PUNCH Metro gathered that demolition took place in the early hours of Sunday with armed security operatives supervising the operation.
The Chairman, Computer Dealer Association, in Computer Village, Tayo Shittu, said the demolition began around 12 am.
Shittu said, “Around 12 am, I was called that about 300 policemen had stormed our plaza with up to three bulldozers that they were bringing down our plaza. The whole plaza, Phase 1 and 2, has been brought down. We are talking of about 300 shops, more than 1000 occupants. In some shops, we have two, three or five people.
“We are not feeling good at all. A lot of our members have travelled for the Christmas holidays. If at all it was supposed to happen, there must be a roundtable discussion. They just came suddenly and brought everything down.”
A shop owner, identified simply as Emeka, who also spoke with PUNCH Metro, said traders lost valuable goods to the demolition.
Emeka said, “Goods including air conditioning systems, inverters, solar panels, burglary, and laptops were taken away. They used hammers to break in and collected valuables before they started breaking. As we moved around here, we could not find some of the things we left. Two months ago, the Lagos State Government came here and collected taxes from all of us but the appreciation they could show us for electing them and paying our taxes is to come and demolish our businesses. Many people working under us are out of jobs. They are sending another set of Lagosians to the IDP camps.”
“We came here by 7:30 am and they were still here, surrounding the area from under the bridge.”
Another shop owner, Omobayo Azeez, said, “Around 12 am on Sunday, over 200 heavily armed police officers stormed the place. According to eyewitnesses, they blocked all entrances to the place and sent away anyone around.”
Traders at the complex in Computer Village had last week sought the intervention of the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, following rumoured plans to demolish the POWA Plaza.
The traders, who deal in computer and information technology gadgets at the Phases I and II of the complex, lamented that about 1,000 occupants would lose their means of livelihood if the plaza was demolished.
They claimed that some officials of the Lagos State Government with armed policemen allegedly stormed the plaza on Thursday afternoon, to give them a 24-hour deadline to vacate the over 300 shops in the POWA complex.
When our correspondent visited the plaza on Friday, it was observed that the vacation order was boldly pasted at the main gate of the POWA complex.
The vacation order with the inscription ‘Lagos State Task Force, Governor’s Office’ indicated that the traders were expected to vacate the plaza within 24 hours.
The Lagos State Government in a statement on its official X handle, @followlasg, on Sunday evening, said the government “has nothing to do with the demolition at the Computer Village in Ikeja. The structure is owned by the Police Officers Wives Association, which ordered its demolition.”
The statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, further read, “Those circulating the fake news that Lagos State Government is demolishing Computer Village are opportunistic ethnic chauvinists who will always relish in vacuous propaganda that can fuel their fiendish mission; they will always fail in dividing Lagosians.”
Gboyega Akosile, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Sanwo-Olu, could not be reached for comments on Sunday as his line was busy and a text message sent to him was not responded to.
The spokesperson for the Lagos State Task Force, Raheem Gbadeyanka, when contacted, said he did not have the facts of the incident yet.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, did not also take his calls nor respond to messages sent to him.
However, Adejobi had in a Saturday statement said there was no going back in the demolition of the building.
Adejobi said, “It has become imperative to properly establish that the complex, a property of the Nigeria Police Officers’ Wives Association, which is officially allocated to wives of police officers and their relatives, has been scheduled for demolition.
“This is to enable the Force to commence immediate construction of a modern shopping complex on the same land.”
Mynd44: The police isn't the problem, Nigerians are the problem.
The initial quit notices were served in 2019. The tenants went to court and the court case started. The court finally ruled that POWA had the right to evict and demolish.
POWA applied for a demolition permit, it was issued and the tenants were served a 3-Month notice ending December 31st.
Then they were also served a 24-hour notice on December 30 to remind them.
As at midnight of 12am January 1, those tenants should have left as they didn't have any legal stance or any right to be there, POWA had gone through the needed steps too and so they can't be held liable.
Also note that those asking where the tenants should go, POWA has not been collecting rent since 2019 when the initial quit notices were served. They refused to make plans now this has happened.
But the beginning part of your post where you said DNA test needs to be done wasn't quoted which means those were your own words. Oga, you knew what you we're doing. Now it's time to answer for your actions.
Follow-up Statement Regarding Recent Social Media Posts I Shared On My Page
Dear Followers,
I want to take a moment to address the recent discussions surrounding a retweet I made regarding Nathaniel Bassey and Minister Mercy Chinwo Blessed's son.
Firstly, I want to express my sincere apologies for any distress or confusion my retweet may have caused. This is not truly my character and the retweet I made was just like every other news I source and share on my page.
I want to clarify that my intention in sharing the post was solely to disseminate information, not to endorse or validate the allegations therein.
As someone dedicated to sharing news from various sources, I aim to provide my audience with information how I receive them and I’m not in any way in support of what the originator said.
However, I understand now that the retweet was misunderstood even though I put the original post in quote with a screenshot reference. I did not in any way support the post with any intention to harm rather I also very much worried about it and as a human I am very much sorry to make such a mistake and never will I do it again.
I seek you join me and plead with @nathanielblow to find a place in his heart to forgive my wrong actions as I take full responsibility for having shared the post on my platform.
Moving forward, I will continue to prioritize accuracy and responsibility in my content.
Breaking: Abure Allegedly Escapes Assassination, House Burnt Down
April 3, 2024
STATEMENT FROM THE LABOUR PARTY
The National Chairman of the Labour Party, Barrister Julius Abure early this morning allegedly escaped assassination attempt on him at his Abuja residence.
His residence was also gutted by a mysterious fire which started a few minutes after 1AM while Abure and the members of his family were asleep.
According to a member of the family who narrated the incidence, the family was woken up by neighbours and security men living in the compound who raised the alarm.
The entire family were trapped as the inferno had reached the staircase making it impossible for Abure and family to escape.
However, it took divine intervention for the national chairman and his family to escape after neighbours and security men gallantly pulled down one of the windows upstairs making ways for the family to escape.
Men of the Fire Service arrived shortly after Abure and his family were evacuated.
Abure and his family were rushed to a private hospital where they are presently receiving treatment. Their condition is however stable.
Politics › Re: Electricity Tariff: Dr Joe Abah Throws A Challenge To AEDC by naptu2(op): 3:36pm On Apr 05, 2024
