VP SHETTIMA LEADS FG'S DELEGATION TO SUPER EAGLES' AFCON FINALS
President Tinubu directs maximum support and urges the Eagles to make Nigeria, Africa proud
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has directed Vice President Kashim Shettima to lead a presidential team to the finals of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Côte d'Ivoire.
The Vice President had also represented the President at the semi-finals when the Super Eagles defeated South Africa in a pulsating encounter. The Nigerian national team is set to face host, Côte d'Ivoire, in a thrilling rematch at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan on Sunday, February 11.
The match will rekindle the memories of Nigeria’s 1-0 victory in the group stage secured through Captain William Troost-Ekong's penalty.
Recognizing the unifying power of football and the immense role the Super Eagles play in fostering national pride and unity, the President, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, believes that Vice President Shettima's presence at the finals alongside the delegation is a testament to the government's unwavering support for the team and its dedication to their success.
The federal government calls on all Nigerians, both at home and abroad, to unite in support of the Super Eagles, and to raise their voices in encouragement, and create a wave of national pride that propels the team to glory.
Stanley Nkwocha Senior Special Assistant to The President on Media & Communications (Office of The Vice President) February 10, 2024
The detailed information from the government is usually released on Friday, but I post the information that the organisers release earlier so that people have more time to plan and there's more awareness.
Lagos State Ministry of Transportation @LagosMOT1
LASG ANNOUNCES TRAFFIC DIVERSION AHEAD OF Y2024 LAGOS CITY MARATHON
The Lagos State Government has issued a traffic advisory ahead of the yearly Access Bank Lagos City Marathon coming up tomorrow Saturday, 10th February, 2024 between 5.00am and 2.00pm.
The following routes will be temporarily unavailable to Motorists during the marathon;
A. Funsho Williams Avenue from Stadium, Surulere B. Ikorodu Road to Anthony Gbagada to Third Mainland Bridge Third Mainland Bridge (Inbound and Outbound)
Dolphin Road to Alfred Rewane Road Falomo Roundabout to Bourdillon Road Lekki Bridge to Freedom Way Akin-Adesola to Ahmadu BelloWay.
Consequently the following alternative routes will be available during the marathon;
Scene 1
Apongbon bridge inwards Eko bridge through Costain Roundabout, Iponri and Bode Thomas for a desired destination or utilize Eko Bridge through Costain Roundabout and Apapa Road to link Oyingbo/Jebba to access Herbert Macaulay for a desired destination.
Scene 2
Motorists can equally go through Victoria Island to link Independence Bridge and CMS bridge to access Apongbon inwards Ijora-Olopa to Iddo and Oyingbo to connect Herbert Macaulay Road to continue their journeys.
For Motorists trying to navigate the Third Mainland Bridge;
The 3rd Mainland Bridge will not be available to Motorists from 12.00 tonight till the end of the marathon.
The Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Oluwaseun Osiyemi further hinted that all outbound journeys from Ikorodu Road, Funsho Williams Avenue enroute Lagos Island are exempted from the diversion, adding that Officers of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority will be deployed to the diversion points for seamless traffic flow and safety of Motorists.
The Transportation Commissioner however advised Motorists who have no serious business along the marathon diversion routes to avoid the areas. He added that movement on the 3rd Mainland will return to status-quo immediately the marathon is concluded.
During the course of our semi-final match, we tragically lost few supporters. In a cruel twist of fate, their fervent passion for the beautiful game unwittingly led them to their final moments
As the Nigeria vs South Africa match unfolded, they were lost in the thrill of the game, unaware of the looming danger. May their souls find eternal peace, forever remembered for their love of football and the togetherness it brings. Rest in peace.
2) Professor Emmanuel Edozien (a legendary former professor of economics at the University of Ibadan. The Gowon government often consulted him about their economic policies)
The traditional ruler of Asaba, Delta State, the Asagba of Asaba, His Royal Majesty, Obi Joseph Chike Edozien, is dead.
Born on July 28, 1925, the Asagba died a few months before his 99th birthday anniversary.
Details of his death are still sketchy as of press time but a statement by the Presidency said President Bola Tinubu condoled his family and the people of the state for the painful loss.
The media aide to the President, Ajuri Ngelale, who released the statement on Thursday, said Tinubu celebrates the impactful life of the late monarch and eminent professor of medicine, acknowledging his advocacy for peaceful co-existence among Nigerians and inimitable role in forging partnerships across divides.
“His Majesty lived a full life defined by the loftiest ideals of peace, unity, patriotism, honesty, and dignity. This is a sad loss, coming at a time when Nigeria needs more peace-builders and bridge-builders,” the President said.
While praying for the peaceful repose of the beloved departed, the President urged the Royal Family and all those who mourn this gaping loss to take solace in the legacies of His Royal Majesty.
Professor Edozien began his university education in 1944, after he had secured an admission into the University College of Dublin, Ireland. He successfully completed his BSc degree with honours in Physiology from the National University of Ireland in 1948, with further success on MSc in Physiology in 1950, Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Chemotherapy (MBBCh) in 1954. He received several academic awards in the process to justify his satisfactory performance.
The late monarch was a Professor Emeritus at the University of North Carolina, a Professor of Nutrition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, and a Professor of Nutrition, of the School of Public Health of the University of North Carolina.
azpekuliar: You lied though. Mildred Iweka played the role of ‘Segi’ in Basi and Company. I go call Naptu2 for you now.
Sorry, I forgot to come back to this.
It's just like the Papa Ajasco situation, there were more than one Segi. Mildred Iweka was the first and most popular Segi, but remember that she also acted in Checkmate (as Nduka's wife) and, if I remember correctly, there was a time that she was pregnant and took a break from acting.
Anyway, I remember that there were a lot of personnel changes at Basi and Company. Albert Egbe was the first Basi, but Zulu Adigwe later took over the role. Tekena Harry McDonald was the first Alali, but someone else later took over the role.
2) Zulu Adigwe (I didn't quite get used to him. I always preferred the person that acted that role before him. He didn't quite get the Mr B walk).
3) Albert Egbe (I first saw him in Jagua Nana's daughter in 1987. He acted alongside Richard Mofe-Damijo and Chinua Achebe's daughter. That was also the first time that I saw Richard Mofe Damijo [he was credited as Evans Mofe Damijo).
4) Basi And Company (8pm on NTA Network from c1988-1990).
5) It was written by Ken Saro Wiwa. He later published a couple of books that were based on the sitcom (I still have one of them). There were many clues within the sitcom that he was the one that wrote it. The most popular beer at Dandy's bar was called Saros Beer and I think there was an episode that featured a bank called Saros Bank.
naptu2: The Super Falcons also staged a sit-in protest after the African Women's Championship in South Africa in 2004. They refused to leave their hotel until they were paid.
Consequently they missed their flight to Nigeria and became stranded. President Olusegun Obasanjo had to send the presidential jet to pick them up.
Agony of ex-Super Falcons coach, Godwin Izilien 12 years after Nations Cup triumph in South Africa
By Gowon Akpodonor | 30 December 2016 | 2:04 am
In 2004, Coach Godwin Izilein led the Super Falcons to win the African Nations Cup in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was the fourth AWC title for Nigeria.
Twelve years down the line, the coach, now 74 years old, and the rest of his coaching crew are still being owed salary arrears of over $28,750, out of which, $12,000 of the amount belongs to Izilien.
As in the case of the Coach Florence Omagbemi-led Super Falcons squad that won the recently concluded 2016 African Women’s Nations cup in Cameroun, the team to the 2004 AWC in Jo’burg was not given any chance by the then NFA board led by Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima before their departure for that championship.
With determination, however, Izilien and his players fought and won the battle, beating the Lionesses of Cameroun 5-0 in the final with Perpetua Nkwocha (now an assistant coach of the team) accounting for four goals plus a late strike from pocket dynamite, Vera Okolo.
Millions of football-loving Nigerians back home celebrated the victory late into the night, but unknown to them, Coach Izilien, members of his coaching crew and the players were being subjected to derision in far away Johannesburg.
Sensing another round foul play when the Galadima-led NFA defaulted in paying all entitlements after the competition, the girls protested by refusing to leave their hotel rooms the next morning for the airport, insisting on getting their camp allowances and winning bonuses.
“The team was abandoned by the Federal Government delegation, but as a coach and father to the players at that point in time, I had to stay back with them until the Nigeria Consulate intervened by paying the players’ entitlements,” Izilien recalled in a chat with The Guardian yesterday. “I took the pain to stay back with them because abandoning the girls at that point would be seen as unprofessional. But I was pleading with them to end the protest since we were in another country, but they refused.
“So many Nigerians who did not even know what transpired between me and the players in Johannesburg started to spread rumour back home that I instigated the players to embark on the protest. Some ‘bad belle’ people even went as far as saying that they saw us displaying Biafran flag while protesting on the streets of Johannesburg. I am an Edo man, and I have not seen a Biafran flag in my entire life. All the rumour were meant to spoil the mind of then President Olusegun Obasanjo and members of the Federal Executive Council,” he said.
Speaking further, Izilien, who also led the National U-17 team, Golden Eagles, to the African Championship in The Gambia in 1995 said: “Some of the Super Falcons players I took to South Africa in 2004 were relatively young. I discovered them during school competitions, and it is only fair that government should have appreciated my efforts. I am only using this medium to appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari, the Vice President, Prof. Yomi Osibanjo, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, members of the Senate Committee on Sports, House of Representatives and indeed all well meaning Nigerians to come to my rescue. It hurts me on daily basis whenever I remember the sacrifices I made for the country, and how I have been neglected in return. The players got their money, so why should I continue to suffer? Many governments have come and gone, but I will be very grateful to the Buhari administration if he could pay us the equivalent of that money. It is a way of rewarding excellence and fulfilling Federal Government’s promises.
“I have written several letters to concerned authorities without a single reply; I am suffering after being neglected by the football authority. To think that I agreed to handle the female national team at a time of crisis without asking for extra remuneration, and to be treated in this manner is not encouraging for the growth of the game. I did it out of patriotism for fatherland.
“We were promised payments on arrival in Nigeria after the championship, but till date nobody has said anything about that money,” Coach Izilien added.
Godwin Izilein, an ex-international and one of Nigeria’s most accomplished football coaches, on Wednesday died in Benin City, the Edo State capital aged 81, The PUNCH reports.
It was learnt that Izilein, who led the Super Falcons to win the 2004 WAFCON in Johannesburg, died after “battling abdominal issues.” A member of the Izilein family, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The PUNCH that Izilein, who also coached the Golden Eaglet at the African U-17 Championship in 2005, said he died in a hospital in Benin.
Media Officer of Edo State-owned Bendel Insurance Kehinde Osagiede confirmed the news.
“He died today (Wednesday) after a brief illness. He was a former Insurance coach who gave everything to discovering and nurturing football talents, both male and female, in Nigeria. The club (Insurance) is saddened by his death,” Osagiede said.
Regarded as one of the country’s best indigenous coaches, Izilein guided the Falcons to their sixth Women’s Africa Cup of Nations glory in South Africa in 2004 in controversial circumstances.
After their continental triumph in South Africa, protesting Falcons players insisted on getting their camp allowances and winning bonuses in Johannesburg before the trip back home, but angry federation officials believed the girls were instigated by Izilein to down tools.
The then Ibrahim Galadima-led Nigeria Football Association board refused to pay Izilein his entitlements — $12,000 — after the protest, with successive boards also reneging on payment 20 years after, until his demise.
Agile and outspoken until his death, Izilein during his last interviews with The PUNCH, pleaded with the Nigeria Football Federation to pay his owed allowances.
“Since 2004 that they have owed me, I have not heard from the NFF,” Izilein told Sunday PUNCH June 2023.
“It’s a pity that I may not get the money again. It’s over 19 years that the NFF has yet to pay me the $12,000 and the N2m promised me by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“What is my offence, since they refused to pay me my money? I did not do anything wrong. The girls said they were not coming back to Nigeria because they were owed by the NFF. I was on my knees begging them, I did not care if they were my daughters.
“I told them that a different meaning would be read into this action. It is easy to say the coaches are responsible and that was exactly what it turned out to be but it’s not fair to me and I feel very bad.”
At club level, the 81-year-old also managed local sides NNB FC and Bendel Insurance.
Sports › Kashim Shettima Leads FG Delegation To AFCON Final. by naptu2(op): 12:49pm On Feb 10, 2024
Dr Sarah!
