Exousiang01: That is 3rd mainland bridge, it ranks among the top 5 busiest roads in Africa, not just Nigeria. If you expect traffic on 3rd mainland bridge to be the same with any road in Nigeria at night then you need a brain check....
I wonder why you are arguing with that guy. All roads do not have the same volume of traffic all the time. I can post videos and photos of empty Third Mainland Bridge and also post videos and photos of congested Coastal Road.
It was obvious she had done so during her time in office.
She stated publicly that she did plastic surgery. People hailed her back then as the first Nigerian public official to openly admit to doing plastic surgery.
Today, 20th February, 2026 is Friday after Ash Wednesday. The theme for our reflection is the worship that offends the heavens.
The passage of scripture from Isaiah 58:1-9 that we read today is one of the most unsettling passages in all of scripture.
The passage paints the picture of a people who want God to be present in their lives, to pay attention to their sacrifices and the spiritual observances that they carry out. God says yes. Even though he is present and sees all their religious activities and devotional practices, he's not impressed.
Indeed, the people prayed, they fasted, they humbled themselves, they afflicted their bodies, yet God said, "Fasting like yours will never make your voice heard on high."
Why is God so unimpressed and cold towards them? Because God refuses to bless whatever is not rooted in love. Because their fasting never touched their neighbors, it never had a positive impact on their well-being. They humbled themselves before God, yet remained indifferent to the suffering around them.
Isaiah exposes a brutal truth to us. Piety that does not soften the heart, hardens the conscience. They fasted, yet they oppressed their workers. They prayed, yet ignored the poor. They abstained from food yet consumed one another with greed, gossip and cruelty. Their devotion was like a theatrical performance in which mercy was absent. Their worship was a show. Their hearts remained cold towards their neighbors plight.
So God asked a rhetorical question. Is that the sort of fast that pleases me?
That was meant to tell us that not every sacrifice pleases God. Some sacrifices and gifts merely soothe guilty consciences and do not arise from genuine love and desire to make the world a better place. True fasting, true worship begins where God is in the heart and in the lives of people. It begins with loosening chains, breaking yokes, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, advocating for the oppressed, and restoring justice where it has been denied.
Fasting that does not lead to transformation of life is empty. Like a drum that makes noise but carries no rhythm. It signals devotion produces no change.
However, Isaiah did not leave Israel in despair. He promised. "Then your light will shine like the dawn".
Light is delayed not because God is absent, but because obedience is partial. When mercy is withheld, the radiance of the soul goes dim. You may wear ashes on your forehead, but if your hands are closed, your words unkind, your eyes blind to injustice, the dawn will remain distant.
True life demands action. True worship demands justice. True fasting must change not only your body but your life.
Consider the reality in many of the cities including our Lagos. The office worker who prays for blessings on Monday but does not mind cheating a taxi driver on Wednesday. A politician or civil servant who makes a public show of fasting and prayers but does not bat an eyelid in converting public funds to private purse especially funds meant for social services and utilities. The wealthy merchant who gives assistance to people for social media applause while ignoring families even his own family members who are starving just outside his gated estate. The students who post scripture quotes online but turn their faces away from classmates suffering in silence.
How often do we offer devotion yet ignore injustice towards others?
A fast that ignores the poor starves the soul. God is not moved by hunger that produces no mercy. Worship that bypasses justice eventually offends heaven.
Lord rescue our spirituality from hypocrisy, move our hands to act, our mouths to speak, and our lives to serve. Let our lives shine not for vanity, not for applause, not for self-satisfaction, but because love has moved us, mercy has guided us, and obedience has directed us.
Today is Friday. We have stations of the cross in all our parishes. We encourage you to make an effort to participate in this pious act.
And may the Almighty God bless you as you go about your tasks today in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Most Reverend Doctor Alfred Adewale Martins, Catholic Archbishop of Lagos.
This is Nduka Odizor playing in a charity match in Italy in 1995. The match was organised to raise money for children in Ethiopia. Because of fear of the anti-spam bot, I will not post the names of the other stars in the video.
naptu2: Tennis was big business in Nigeria from the 1950s to the mid-1990s. Stars came from all over the world to play in tournaments in Nigeria. People like Thomas Muster, Jacob Hlasek, Paul Haarhuis and of course Arthur Ashe, played at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club at one point or the other. We had great tournaments with considerable prizes, like the following big three tournaments:
Chief Olatunji Ajisomo Alabi (aka Lord Rumens) was a multi-millionaire who served as president of the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club from 1966 – 1975. He led other millionaires like his cousin, Sir Mobolaji Bank-Anthony, his nephew Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas, Chief Raheem Adejumo, etc, to invest heavily in tennis, particularly in the LLTC. The centre court at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club was named after Lord Rumens after his death in 1998.
The Lord Rumens Classics was the biggest tennis tournament in Nigeria in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s. It was part of the ATP Tour (the ATP called it “The Lagos Classics” or “The Lagos Open” ). Lots of foreigners played in the tournament in order to gain ATP ranking points. It offered very good prize money, between $60,000-$75,000 in the 1970s and ‘80s and this attracted stars from around the world like Karel Nováček , Thomas Muster, Jacob Hlasek, Paul Haarhuis, Arthur Ashe, Dick Stockton, etc. Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas funded the tournament after the death of Lord Rumens in 1998.
The Lagos Lawn Tennis Club originally had grass courts, but they were converted to clay courts in the 1970s and then to hard courts (concrete) in the late 1980s. A new centre court was also built for the 1976 tournament.
Brigadier General Samuel Ogbemudia was the sports loving governor of the Mid-West State from 1967-1975. He built Ogbe Stadium (now Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium), set up the College of Physical Education, Afuze (to train coaches and PE teachers) and started the Ogbe Hard Court tournament in 1971. It was also during his tenure that Bendel Insurance was formed and the Mid-West/Bendel State dominated sports in Nigeria.
The Ogbe Hard Court tournament was part of the ATP Challenger Tour. It was sponsored by the Bendel State Government, by Pepsi/7up (in the 1970s) and by Guinness in the 1990s. It attracted players from all over the world who came to acquire ATP ranking points and also for the $50,000 cash prize.
Dala Clay Court Prize = $50,000. Venue = Kano Tennis Club
Dala Clay Court tournament was started in 1980 and it quickly eclipsed the Kaduna Clay Court Tournament to become one of the big three tennis tournaments in Nigeria. It was sponsored by Aminu Dantata, Isyaku Rabiu, etc (and is now sponsored by Aminu Dantata’s grand-nephew, Aliko Dangote).
There were several other tennis tournaments in Nigeria in the 1980s, such as the following
Premier Hard Court Enugu. Prize = $25,000. Venue = Enugu Sports Club.
Ogun Green Court. Prize = $25,000. Venue = Abeokuta Sports Club.
John Player Classics. Prize = $25,000. Venue = Lagos Country Club, Ikeja.
Nuel Ojei Classics. Venue = Ikoyi Club.
Nigerian tennis stars
Nigeria had so many tennis stars (some of whom were personal friends of mine) who won ATP tournaments all over the world. They included:
1950s and ‘60s: Walter Obianwu, Herbert Oranye, etc.
1960s and ‘70s: Patrick Obi, Lawrence Awopegba, Thompson Onibokun, Yemi Allen, Kehinde Ajayi, etc. and among the women there was Elizabeth Ekong.
1980s: Nduka “The Duke” Odizor (who got to the 4th round at Wimbledon in 1983 and was ranked number 52 in the world in 1984 and number 20 in the doubles. He won 28 titles overall, including in Taipei, Lagos, Thessaloniki, Monterey, Tokyo, Forest hills in New York City, Benin City, etc), David Imonitie, Sadiq Abdulahi, Tony Mmoh, Yakubu Suleiman, Chike and Emeka Obianwu, etc. We had such great female tennis players like Veronica Oyibokia, Nosa Imafidon, Rolake Olagbegi, Nwando Obianwu, etc.
1990s: Katya and Tanya Okpala, Clara Udofia, Osaro Amadin, etc. We also had male tennis players like Sule Ladipo, Jonathan Igbinovia , Kyrian Nwokedi, Priye Hamilton, etc.
Nduka Odizor
Veronica Oyibokia receiving the top prize after winning the All Nigeria Open Tennis Championship in Lagos. In the middle is boxing aficionado, former host of Big Fight of The Decade and former president of the Nigerian Tennis Federation, Mr Chuka Momah.
naptu2: From when I became interested to when I became uninterested.
(I bet that I'm going to forget some names. I'll be back tomorrow morning to post a revised list if I remember any more names).
Men
Bjorn Borg - John McEnroe (Jimmy Connors, Yannick Noah, Guillermo Vilas, Tony Roche, etc).
Ivan Lendl - Boris Becker (Stefan Edberg, Matts Wilander, Pat Cash, Jim Courier, Guy Forget, Henri Leconte, etc).
Pete Sampras - Andre Agassi (Thomas Muster, Goran Ivanisevic, Michael Chang, Todd Woodbridge, Mark Woodforde [The Woodies], Patrick Rafter, Michael Stich, Karel Novacek, Byron Black [African champion], Wayne Black, Younes El Aynaoui [another African champion], Hicham Arazi, Wayne Ferreira, Leander Paes, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Marat Safin, Andrei Olhovskiy, Tod Martin, Richard Krajicek, Paul Haarhuis, Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski, Lleyton Hewitt, Carlos Moya, Gustavo Kuertn, Marcelo Rios, etc).
Roger Federer - Rafael Nadal (Novak Djokovic, David Nalbandion, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Juan Carlos Ferrero, etc).
Women
Martina Navratilova - Chris Evert (Pam Shriver, Tracy Austin, Zina Garrison [ ], Helena Sukova, etc).
Steffi Graf - Monica Seles (Gabriella Sabatini [ ], Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Jennifer Capriati, Kimiko Date, Mary Pierce, Mary Jo Fernandez, Gigi Fernandez, Lindsay Davenport, Anke Huber, Conchita Martinez, Cara Black [African champion], Magdalena Maleeva, Amy Frazier, Chanda Rubin, etc).
Martina Hingis - Venus Williams (Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters, Amelie Mauresmo, etc)
Serena Williams - Maria Sharapova (Caroline Wozniaki, Victoria Azarenka, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic, etc).
naptu2: It's almost perfect! I found articles for all but two of the rivalries that I referred to.
There's no article for the Ivan Lendl - Boris Becker rivalry that I referred to. Instead there's an article for a rivalry between Becker - Edberg.
There's also no article for the Serena Williams - Maria Sharapova rivalry. Instead there's an article for the Williams sisters - Martina Hingis rivalry.
From Maroko Backstreet to Wimbledon, US Open: The Story of One Time Tennis Ball Boy
Growing up in an area of Lagos known as Maroko and picking tennis balls at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club at Onikan had positive effects on him. Till date, Nduka Odizor is the only person in the world to have the rare privilege of doing virtually everything.
From Benin to the US Via Lagos...
Grew up in Lagos and attended Edward Blyden Primarv School Okesuna, Lagos. I started secondary school at the famous New Era College, Benin, established by General Samuel Ogbemudia (rtd). It was a model school for athletes.
Typically, in Nigeria, people tend to disrupt plans that were perfectly laid because Ogbemudia made the plan very well but immedi ately he left office it became school for everybody. When I look back, the school was functional, it was world class. I say world class because I live overseas. It was during my time that about four students from my school left to join the Green Eagles namely Mike Odu, Oyiwe the goalkeeper, I have forgotten others' names but I know them by face. Of course you had me in tennis and others who played for Nigeria including Friday Otabor, Phillip Nwajei, Orlando Amenayi and Solomon Ona. We also had swimmers and track and field athletes in the school.
The point I am making is that whenever things are going well, most Nigerians tend to disrupt it. What they want to do is put their own people and enjoy the benefit of that plan even when they are not qualified, That was what killed the school.
I did not finish my secondary school in Nigeria. I went to St. Thomas High School in Houston, Texas because I left after my Class 2 (JS2) in Nigeria.
I have been living in Houston United States for 40 years now. I also attended University of Houston. studied Business Marketing and Fi- nance,"
Choosing Between Engineering and Professional Tennis
"I was fascinated with engineering, In real lfe people wish for something but the Bible says nobody goes to war without counting the cost. Nobody starts to build a house without knowing how much it will cost. I wanted to be an engineer but did not think about the cost of the variable. I wanted to be an engineer because I heard my parents talk about engineering, In Nigeria, people say I want to be rich but they do not kow the cost.
There is a cost to being successtul and being rich. When I got to the university, I changed my major from engineering to Astro Physics. I loved physics but since it was a scholarship I could not play tennis and go to the special class for physics which was between 2 and 5 o'clock when tennis practice starts. I had to change my major to Business and Finance. In scholarship, if I do not play they would kick me out.I finally graduated in 1981.
Going to America and Learning New Things in Tennis.
"The story is really philosophical in the sense that there is a Christian saying that everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die. I wanted to play tennis because I was good at it.
I started playing for the national team when I was under the age of 16. I was one of those child prodigies. I played in Europe for Nigeria. If you count well, I played for Nigeria for 22 years.
When I started playing tennis in Nigeria I was gifted because I was a good athlete. But I saw that there was more money for me in tennis. When I was playing small tournaments I was winning about N20, 00 which at that time was one Naira to a Dollar and you are talking about somebody who is 16 or 17 years of age earning that amount. But in soccer, I realised that if I played half of the time, the coaches would not pay the players. I did not want that headache, so I stopped and decided to concentrate on tennis.
In track and field it was similar but much tribal. They wanted so many people to come from particular tribes and I did not like that. In tennis, what I do is what I get.
I would not say I was really good till I got to the United States. I was just pretending like I knew it. By African standards I was good. I did not know the geometry of the tennis courts, side, speeds, temperaments, psychology and all of it. Those were the things I learnt when I went to America.
In Nigėria, when the guy hits the ball you just hit it back. That was how they taught us. If the guy hits it hard you hit it harder, if he hits it 10 times you hit it 11 times. But the way you can make the guy not hit it, you force him to make mistakes, these I learnt when I got to America.
Odyssey Through All England Club and Wimbledon. . .
"I think people forget that I first played Junior Wimbledon Tennis in 1975 and got the main rounds, I was the only Nigerian who ever played in junior Wimbledon and did well. There was one before me and none after. I said to myself then that what I have done in the juniors I could also do in the seniors.
I Never Wanted to Play Professional Tennis, School Was My Target
My coach then in Nigeria was Dotimi Egbuson from the then Bendel State. But the bottomline is that people also forgot that I also won my first professional tournament in America in 1976 as a senior in high school which is the equivalent of the SS3. I was trying to win. I wanted to practise when somebody called my attention to this tournament. I went and won it. That was when I thought that maybe I had an idea of this profession because I never ever wanted to play professional tennis. I did not have anybody to emulate in Nigeria. It was after that they said in the US that I was good and the universities started coming after me. I also won the First Major University Tournament in my first year in the university, I did all that when I did not know I was really good.
You must also remember that my set then in the university was John McEnroe, Tim Mayote and Peter Fleming, The university is the breeding ground which is what I am trying to do here in Nigeria with Coach Babatunde Abe.
Many people in Nigeria and around the world, including myself, see things and think it is greener on the other side of the fence.'They do not understand that when you get to the other side you have to work to keep the grass greener. I never thought I could play tennis although I knew I was good. I did not think it was achievable. That was the main reason most Nigerian tennis players did not succeed, Whenever those white guys come to play them they tell themselves 'oyinbo man don -come. I cannot beat him.'"
He said that was the mentality that most Nigerians had and that mental siege has prevented many of them from achieving their dream and reaching their full potentials.
"I remember asking myself how much have I won, maybe 300 US Dollars and I want to collect it and go. I was of the opinion that it will be nice to catch more monkeys. That mentality has been with me till now. When I do business. people will say you cannot do this but I wil say I will try it. If I can, I have tried. It does not hurt to try. I also remember a conversation with Awopegba, Onibokun, Ajayi and David Imonite, Tony Momoh and Sadiq Abdulahi when in their mind they said they cannot win and I won.
I equally remember the first time I was really indigent. It was in my spirit about somebody quitting because he thought other guy was 'Oyinbo'. That was in 1973 when Nigeria hosted the All Africa Games at the National stadium, Surulere.I trekked from the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, because the money with me was not enough. Should I enter a bus and not eat or be able to watch tennis and be able to buy Akara (bean cake)? I chose to trek because I was going to be there all day and eat.
Another period was when Thompson Onibokun played one Istiphanus of Ethiopia. He lost because the opponent was light skinned. I was very upset because he could have beaten the guy. I was a little boy but I did not know the magnitude.
I went to school in Benin and every year they had the Ogbe Hard Court and there were Onibokun, Awopegba, Yemis Allan and Kehinde Ajayi who were the four main guys. I was given an unenviable position of being a ball boy when they got to the quarter finals. I was not happy because I thought I was good enough playing and not picking balls. When you look back now, I was happy watching all the intrigues and the dymanics I am glad that I đid that."
Houston Days and $100k Contract..
"When I got to the University of Houston, I did very well and wanted to turn professional after my first year in school but my foster parents refused and said the agreement they had with me when I first came is that I must finish school. "It does not matter what is going to happen, you must finish University,' In my last year in the university, I became the number one player in the Doubles and I was the Number 3 in the Singles behind John Mcenroe
Nduka "The Duke" Odizor is a Nigerian tennis legend. He is the last Nigerian to get to (and beyond) the second round of any grandslam tournament. He is also the only Nigerian to play on centre court at Wimbledon.
Nduka Odizor grew up in Maroko, a large slum that was near Victoria Island in Lagos. He attended Edward Blydon Memorial Primary School at Okesuna on Lagos Island. He sometimes worked as a ball boy at Ikoyi Club and Lagos Lawn Tennis Club. It was there that his interest in tennis grew. He once said that he was so poor, but he loved tennis so much, that he was faced with a decision of whether he should buy akara to eat (because he was very hungry) or go to the National Stadium by bus to watch tennis and he chose trek from Lagos Lawn Tennis Club to the stadium because he was going to be there all day and so he also had to eat.
He attended the famous New Era secondary school in Benin City. Governor Samuel Ogbemudia of the Mid-West State established the school as a centre of excellence for sportsmen and women, so that they can get an education and play sports, but Odizor said that the system broke down after Ogbemudia left office and the school began admitting "anybody". Odizor played at the National Sports Festival and for the Nigerian National Team while he was still a teenager.
I had a neighbour who was a Nigerian tennis legend in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also very close to the Americans. This was during the Cold War when the Americans and Russians were competing for influence around the world. In the 1970s (after he had retired), my neighbour told the Americans that tennis was getting very popular in Nigerian and that they could create a good feeling towards Americans if they invested in Nigerian tennis. (This was revealed in the diplomatic papers that were released by Wikileaks).
The US Embassy got some American tennis players to participate at the Ogbe Hard Court tournamen (at the Ogbe Stadium in Benin). They got Pepsi/7up to sponsor the tournament. They also held many tennis clinics in Nigeria.
A visiting American professor called Dr Robert Wren saw Nduka Odizor playing at one of the USAID tennis clinics in the 1970s. He offered to sponsor Odizor's education in the United States. Odizor finished his secondary school education at St Thomas High School, Houston. He also attended the University of Houston, where he graduated with a degree in Business Marketing and Finance in 1981.
Wimbledon
Nduka "The Duke of Wimbledon" Odizor played at Wimbledon for the very first time in 1975. He played in the junior tournament on that occasion. He played in the senior tournament in 1982 and got to the second round before he was beaten by Swedish legend, Mats Wilander. However, it was his appearance at Wimbledon in 1983 that made waves.
Odizor got to the fourth round at Wimbledon in 1983 and he was just one victory away from the quarter-final when he was beaten by Chris Lewis of New Zealand.
Racism
Odizor said that he was given police protection by Scotland Yard when he played at Wimbledon because skin heads and other racist groups sent death threats to him. He said that police officers had to follow him where ever he went.
He also said that he suffered from racism many times on the tour. Some people would not want to share locker rooms with him, some wouldn't want to practice with him and some wouldn't want to play doubles with him.
He said that the problem of racism did not only exist abroad. He said that some Nigerians in Nigeria were also affected by it. For example, he said that he was very angry when he watched a Nigerian tennis star lose to an Ethiopian at the All Africa Games in Lagos in 1973. He said that he believed that even he, as a kid, could have beaten the Ethiopian and that the problem was that the Nigerian believed that the Ethiopian was better simply because of his lighter skin.
Australian Open
Odizor also got to the third round of the Australian Open in 1985, where he lost to American legend, John McEnroe. This match has gone into tennis history books because of a little trick that Odizor played. He surprised McEnroe by serving a underarm drop shot that earned him an ace. McEnroe was so surprised that he did not even move.
US Open
Odizor also got to the third round of the US Open on two occasions, 1985 and 1987.
He was not as succesful in the French Open, where he lost in the first round in 1986.
Titles
Nduka Odizor won singles titles in Lagos, Taiwan and Benin. He also won doubles titles in Monterrey (Mexico), Dallas, Tokyo and Sydney. He won 28 titles overall, including in Taipei, Lagos, Thessaloniki, Monterey, Tokyo, Forest hills in New York City, Benin City, etc.
His highest singles ranking was number 52 in the world in 1984 and number 20 in the doubles.
Nigerian National Team
He was part of Nigeria's Davis Cup team that played in the Euro-Africa Zone Group 1 (just below the World Group. We got to the quarter final of that group in 1988 and 1989). He also represented Nigeria at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea.
After retirement
He established the DOIT Foundation after retiring and he has returned to Nigeria many times to run tennis clinics and to teach Nigerian children how to play the game.
He is considered to be one of the greatest players of all time, winning 49 career singles and 15 doubles titles, including six singles majors: three Wimbledon Championships, two Australian Opens and one US Open. He also won 13 Masters titles, three year-end championships, an Olympic gold medal in men's doubles in 1992, and led Germany to two Davis Cup titles in 1988 and 1989. Becker is the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles Wimbledon title, a feat he accomplished aged 17 years, 7 months and 15 days in 1985.
In 1989, he was voted the Player of the Year by both the ATP and the ITF.
He was the youngest ever male Grand Slam singles champion at 17 years, 227 days when he won Wimbledon in 1985.
He began his amateur career in 1983, turned professional in 1984 and retired in 1999. He was probably the most famous tennis player of the late 1980s.
He was ranked world number 1 for the first time on January 28th, 1991 and spent a cumulative total of 12 weeks at number 1.
You have got to watch this video. This is Nduka Odizor vs John McEnroe at the 1985 Australian Open. Odizor surprises McEnroe and scores an ace by serving an underarm dropshot.
Meet Nduka Odizor, the greatest Nigerian tennis player of all time.
He reached ATP 52 in the Singles and 20 in the Doubles in 1984.
He remains the only Nigerian to have played in the Main Draw of all Grand Slams.
In 1983, the ‘Duke’ as he is fondly called, famously defeated former no. 1 Guillermo Vilas at Wimbledon, a development that put Nigeria in the eyes of the world.
He started as a ball boy in Lagos but his fame started when he started beating older players in Nigeria before leaving for the US.
The Duke also schooled in Benin City - Nigeria at the time.
He is currently based in the United States, but visits Nigeria from time to time, and was present in Lagos when Nigeria defeated Uzbekistan to gain promotion to the Davis Cup World Group II.
Odizor’s son played tennis for a while before choosing to not go professional.
Travel › Re: Beautiful Aerial Night View of Lagos- Calabar Costal Highway by naptu2: 1:14pm On Feb 20
], Helena Sukova, etc).