The General Overseer of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM), Pastor Daniel Olukoya, has urged women to deliberately develop their musical talents by embracing organ playing, describing music as a potent instrument for evangelism, self-actualisation and empowerment.
The event, the Ladies on the Organ 2.0, was organized by the Association of Nigerian Female Organists (ANFO), at the MFM International Headquarters, Yaba, Lagos.
Tagged, ‘Her Hymn, Her Organ’ had talented female organists, played on three manual organs. One after another, they took their turn at the grand wooden console, filling the auditorium with powerful classical hymns.
Olukoya, who is the grand patron of ANFO stressed that gender should never be a limitation to excellence in any field, including music ministry.
According to him, encouraging women to take up the organ goes beyond music, as it also challenges stereotypes and creates opportunities for women to thrive.
“What a man can do, a woman can even do better,” Olukoya said. “This initiative is a means of evangelism, confidence-building and a reminder that gender barriers should not restrict anyone, especially those with passion for music.”
He disclosed that, to sustain the vision, an organ school has been established at Mountain Top University to provide structured and professional training for aspiring organists.
“That is why we created a platform and made teachers available to train more people,” he explained. Together, we are breaking barriers and empowering the next generation of female organists. With time, this vision will continue to grow.”
The cleric further encouraged women across denominations to seize the opportunity, noting that the initiative, which began with a maiden edition last year, has continued to expand without discrimination.
In the same vein, ANFO founder and wife of the General Overseer, MFM, Mrs. Folashade Olukoya, said her passion for empowering women through music was shaped by her personal experiences and observations of societal realities.
Recalling how her parents often intervened in resolving disputes, she observed that women tend to bear the brunt of challenges in marriage and society. This, she said, inspired her to create a platform where women could discover and fully actualise their God-given potentials.
“My husband believes strongly that people can actualise their potential,” she said. “I decided that if everyone stays in their space and fulfils their God-given abilities, life will be better for all of us.”
Describing women as “solutions,” Mrs. Olukoya warned that any society that fails to create space for women risks stagnation.
“A nation that does not give space to women will remain lonely. Women are needed to move the world forward. When women are denied space, they become unfulfilled and unable to actualise their potential,” she said.
In her exhortation, she urged women to see themselves as the “Eves of our time,” encouraging them to identify their spheres of influence, raise their voices, pursue their passions and grow in wisdom. “Whatever we do, let us do it heartily, not unto men, but unto God,” she added.
Also speaking, ANFO Coordinator, Mrs. Abiodun George, commended Pastor Olukoya and his wife for their unwavering support, highlighting the financial and technical demands of learning the organ, which she described as an expensive instrument beyond the reach of many.
“Purchasing an organ is not affordable for most people,” she said. “But the General Overseer believed in us, provided professional trainers and created a safe space for us to grow. The training fees alone are beyond what many of us can afford, yet Pastor Olukoya made it accessible.”
One of the standout performers at the event, 28-year-old Temitope Aina, expressed excitement after receiving a standing ovation from the audience. She said her passion for music began in childhood, nurtured by a father who is a pianist and a mother who is a choir leader.
A first-class graduate of the University of Ibadan, Temitope currently teaches at a piano school, offers online music lessons to clients in the diaspora, and is pursuing a Master’s degree in Music at Mountain Top University.
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has urged Nigerians to fully embrace the gift of Jesus Christ, describing it as the only gift without limitation.
Speaking recently, Pastor Adeboye emphasised that God has given the world the priceless gift of His son, and accepting Christ opens the door to all associated blessings.
“The echo is simple: the only gift that has no limitation is the priceless gift, the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ. God has given the whole world this gift,” he said, calling on everyone to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour so that blessings of healing, victory, favour, breakthrough, and prosperity can be released in their lives.
Adeboye reassured believers that by next year, those who are sick or seeking divine intervention would experience answered prayers.
“One of the blessings of the gift of Jesus is healing. Those who are sick will receive their healing. One of the blessings is victory. If you are being pursued by the enemy, you can be sure your enemy will not overcome you,” he said.
He also urged Nigerians to live lives that reflect Christ’s character.
“Christ came to save mankind from sin. Our attitude as Nigerians should be to accept Jesus and ensure that our lives resemble Him. Jesus is truthful; let us be truthful. Jesus is holy; let us be holy. Jesus is merciful; let us be merciful. Jesus is compassionate; let us be compassionate.”
Adeboye lamented that many Nigerians accept Christ in words but not in action, urging them to emulate Jesus in their daily lives. Looking back at 2025, he noted, “We didn’t serve God the way we ought. In 2026, let us praise Him more, show appreciation, live holy lives, love others, and stand against kidnapping, insecurity, and all forms of vices.”
He assured Nigerians that whatever the nation has lost will be restored for those who align their lives with Christ.
The frenzied jockeying for political supremacy in Rivers State between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and FCT minister Nyesom Wike is bound to constitute one additional piece in the 2027 presidential election jigsaw puzzle for President Tinubu. Rivers has indeed become a simplified complexity. The state legislature is APC majority, but the lawmakers don’t see eye-to-eye with the governor who is now also in APC, having recently defected to the ruling party from the moribund PDP. The supposed political leader of the state remains Mr Wike who is still standing pat in the PDP but who receives the loyalty of the legislature almost in its entirety. Finally, in the puzzle, both the PDP and APC in the legislature are largely and firmly pro-Wike.
However, President Tinubu will need both Mr Fubara and Mr Wike joining hands together to ‘deliver’ Rivers to the APC; but these are two men engaged in shadow boxing, with one continuing to posture imperiously, and the other unable to decipher sublime politics, let alone practise it with the suavity and depth expected of a leader with the most basic qualification. What the president must find ways of dealing with is how to manage two Rivers politicians with very large egos. Mr Wike brooks no challenge, and Mr Fubara gives no quarter. One is ruthless and the other naïve; and both will, going forward, demand the president to clarify his allegiances. But it is a clarification the president will be loth to give. He will prefer to walk the tightrope than recklessly do pole vaulting and risk breaking a leg or an arm.
Oyo State’s governor Seyi Makinde said so many things during his media chat last Tuesday in Ibadan, the state capital. His statements have helped to open a window into the delicate workings of his mind, the quality of his reasoning, and the depth of his political perspectives. He has, unfortunately, not emerged with the lustre he hoped his frank and provocative discussions would acquire. Anyone who seeks a rational explanation for the collapse of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should look no further than Mr Makinde, an engineer, who now doubles as the leader of the party; Tanimu Turaki, the actual chairman of the party; and before them, their 2023 presidential candidate, the remorseless former vice president Atiku Abubakar.
Mr Makinde’s expostulations are extraordinary and far-fetched, even bogus. Mr Turaki, a lawyer, is remembered for his mawkish interpretation of politics and his public invitation to the United States president Donald Trump to save Nigerian democracy because two factions of the PDP fought over the party’s headquarters in Abuja. And the flighty Alhaji Atiku encapsulates his politics in adventurism and opportunism, jumping from one party to another seeking relevance and office. Three straight electoral defeats starting from 2015 and ending in 2023 have conspired to strip the party of knowledgeable and experienced politicians and strategists, leaving third-rate party leaders incapable of plotting the most elementary electoral victory. One year of trying to coax the party into a fighting force has also depleted it of vigour.
Back to the magisterial Mr Makinde. Like everyone else left in the PDP, the Oyo governor blamed outsiders for the party’s woes. The insiders were, in his estimation, loyal and blameless, in fact flawless, having observed all rules and regulations as well as electoral laws and the constitution perfectly. He dismissively characterised any other faction purporting to be a faction as either pretentious or inexistent. Then he sneered at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for disingenuously seeming to recognise the existence of factions. Hear him: “And by the way, the way the PDP is today, there is no faction. We held a convention here in Ibadan. We gave adequate notice to INEC, which is all that we are required to do under the law. So, it will take INEC some time if they choose to behave like the ostrich, bury their head and all of their bodies outside…Now, to hide all of these things that they are not supposed to hide, they basically called the two factions together, played our people, by saying they wanted to engage with the leadership of PDP…And then, they (Makinde faction) got there and found out that they called Samuel Anyanwu and co (Nyesom Wike faction). I said, that’s even silly to start with…”
Mr Makinde is in denial over the status of the party. No Nigerian believes the PDP is not factionalised in fact and in law, except of course the governor and his coterie. And talking about the convention, which many party leaders counselled should be postponed until some healing could be attempted in the party, the governor insisted all the convention planners needed to do was invite INEC. He was silent on whether there was no right or wrong way to notify INEC of the meeting, or that INEC reserved the right to assess the legality of the invitation. The governor went on to argue that the Supreme Court had, by two judgements, seemed to virtually cede to parties the power to determine their own affairs one way or the other, irrespective of the provisions of the law. He likened the electoral commission to the ostrich and derided it for ‘tricking’ the Makinde faction into sitting at table with the Wike faction, an accusation echoed by party chairman Mr Turaki who has accused INEC of bias. The fault is always in others, never in the PDP or its shambolic self-appointed leaders.
But that was not the end of his fiery denunciations of his party’s detractors. Despondent, he accused the electoral body of conspiring with unnamed others to kill the party. Said he: “There’s a danger that if you do that, you may, you know, unknowingly… kill democracy in this country, God forbid.” In other words, on the issue of the PDP, and despite the misgivings of so many PDP leaders, including the Ibadan convention planning committee leaders who took exception to the governor’s style, Mr Makinde was peerless and unassailable. Any other person who refuses to identify with his position was a detractor and an apostate. Indeed, as far as he was concerned, the decisions taken at the convention, including the elections/affirmations and expulsions, were unquestionable. It is not clear what he thinks of his logic or whether he has had time to reflect on how he sounded to himself. But his adamantine resolve to press ahead on his chosen path while lashing out at dissenters unsettled by the intractability of the party’s position and Mr Makinde’s oversimplification gives the impression of somebody unable to wean himself off the predictable and mechanical certainties of engineering in favour of the slow and sometimes painstaking effort needed to forge a consensus.
Mr Makinde’s destination in the media chat, however, was Mr Wike and President Bola Tinubu. He accused the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, leader of the other PDP faction, of duplicity in pledging to virtually destroy the party to smooth the way for the APC in 2027. He also described President Tinubu, whom he supported in 2023, as incapable of responding adequately to the country’s challenges because of his refusal to run “a government of national unity, government of national competence.” He said he regretted that support, and would not give it in 2027. Mr Wike will, of course, respond soon, for he is not known to suffer his enemies gladly, especially after being accused of perfidy. As for the president who declined to appoint Mr Makinde’s nominee for ministerial position, it was the end of the 2027 electoral road. Like everything else he said at the media chat, the Oyo governor displayed a penchant to oversimplify complex political matters. The months ahead and the suits filed at various courts by both factions of the party will determine whether the Oyo governor saw the future through his inelegant and imperious dismissals of his opponents and their arguments or he is trapped in the past by his mystifying projections of what he sees as the country’s retrograde electoral future.
The long-awaited United States-led airstrike on Nigeria finally took place on Thursday night or, as local reports indicate, in the wee hours of Friday. President Donald Trump was characteristically immoderate in his tweet on the strikes which he described as deadly. As he put it, “Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries! I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was…Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper. May God Bless our Military, and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues.”
Mr Trump was not only highfalutin, he mischaracterised the orders he gave as designed to salve the wounds of Nigerian Christians. Then he ended his triumphalism with morbid humour of wishing the dead terrorists merry Christmas. Worst of all, he gave no indication of the involvement, cooperation or approval of Nigeria in the airstrike. His Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth, was less given to histrionics. His statement on the airstrike which involved the firing of about 16 Tomahawk cruise missiles against the Lakurawa terror group fighting under the aegis of the Islamic State (ISIS) was more accurate, more balanced. He said: “The President was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end. The Department of War is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight on Christmas. More to come, Grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation. Merry Christmas.” The Secretary of course still played to the Christian gallery, perhaps as sop to his boss, but he at least admitted and applauded the cooperation of Nigeria.
The Nigerian government has reassuringly been very circumspect about the whole affair, probably because it recognises its position as the underdog in the tragedy. Speaking on television, the Foreign Affairs minister, Yusuf Tuggar, said: “It was Nigeria that provided intelligence for the US strike in Nigeria. I spoke with the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, for 19 minutes before the strike, and we agreed to talk to President Tinubu for his go-ahead, and he gave it. After the approval, I spoke again with Marco Rubio five minutes before the strike was launched against the terrorists. Now that the US is cooperating, we would do it jointly, and we would ensure, just as the president emphasised yesterday before he gave the go-ahead, that it must be made clear that it is a joint operation, and it is not targeting any religion nor simply in the name of one religion or the other. We are a multi-religious country, and we are working with partners like the US to fight terrorism and safeguard the lives and properties of Nigerians.” The official statement from the ministry itself was also balanced and cleverly worded.
Though a post-strike assessment is yet to be finalised, initial indications are that the strike on the Lakurawa terrorist camp in Tangaza local government area of Sokoto State was highly impactful. The US has promised more strikes in the coming days or weeks. The bigger surprise, however, is that the first strike occurred in the Northwest rather than in the Northeast, against bandits instead of against Boko Haram/ISWAP. In time, it may become clear why the first targets were located in the Northwest. Significantly too, Nigeria and the US, minus Mr Trump who has doubled down on his pro-Christian and genocide narratives, have reached an understanding that Nigeria’s security situation is more nuanced than the Americans had at first been fed. The North of Nigeria is predominantly Muslim, and consequently most victims of the terrorist attacks in the region have been Muslims. The objective of the terrorists is the establishment of a caliphate, regardless of whether the goal was the largely Muslim Nigerian North or whether it was Mali, Burkina Faso or Niger Republic. Using the Fulani land grabbing and herdsmen-farmers clashes narratives of the Middle Belt of Nigeria to approximate the insecurity nightmare assailing Nigeria paints only a part of the picture. Mr Trump has, however, chosen a narrative that pleases him, energises his support base, and grabs the attention of a sizable number of Nigerians. He will continue to stick to that narrative, while his aides apprised of the bigger picture will do their best to moderate his overreach and find common ground with Nigerian authorities.
Last Thursday’s US airstrike has surprisingly not been opposed or denounced as some people expect. Islamic cleric Ahmad Gumi, popularly regarded as bandit sympathiser, was among the first to open his mouth and put his foot in it. He decried the Sokoto missile strikes and demanded the cessation of the bombings. Then he followed up by imperiously asking Nigerians to live at peace with herdsmen. No one still regards his choices or statements with any respect. They see him as a loose cannon unworthy of his position as a faith leader or a retired military officer. Those who have been victims of the terrorist violence in the Northwest have in fact welcomed the strike and hoped that civilian casualties would be avoided, and the terrorists bombed flat. But consistent with its hasty and sometimes illogical approach to issues and the practice of opposition politics, a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) criticised the government for not alerting Nigerians to the strike. They did not say how that could be achieved without tipping off the terrorists.
The Nigerian government had initially worried about being denounced for enabling the US airstrike, and for compromising and denuding the country’s sovereignty, especially in light of Mr Trump’s inconsiderate tweet about saving persecuted Nigerian Christians. Some Nigerians had also worried that US involvement, especially if mistakes occurred, might inflame passion, accentuate religious and possible ethnic divisions, and lead to dangerous escalations. This fear was not unrealistic on account of America’s poor record at foreign military interventions. But so far, the airstrike has achieved some measure of success, has given hope of significant degradation of terrorist forces, and may encourage Nigeria to put boots on the ground in those far-flung and ungovernable places to carry out mop-up operations and reassert state authority.
While it is not out of place to seek foreign help to help reassert control against rampaging insurgents and caliphate dreamers, there are also arguments as to whether Nigeria, over the past decades, did not by its actions and inactions, some of them leading to the erosion of their own secular constitution by bigoted state laws, attract and encourage terrorism. If the US assistance is sustained and leads to significant degradation of terrorism and insecurity, Nigeria must thereafter do a lot of soul-searching to see whether the right lessons have been learnt. The US is intervening today because (1) Nigerians are not of one mind in opposing and fighting foreign terrorists and insurgents, sometimes because of ethnic or religious affinity with the attackers; (2) poor, incompetent and undisciplined governance and widespread corruption; (3) the country had been rendered vulnerable for far too long as a result of poor investment in security and law enforcement apparatuses; (4) the country is militarily weak to take on the insurgents, let alone stand up to the great powers; and (5) Nigerians have failed to make up their minds whether they want to stay together under a new and restructured mandate or retain the current untenable structure.
Hopefully, the tempo of the current US intervention, as humiliating as it might seem to the image and sovereignty of Nigeria, will be sustained. It should give Nigeria breathing space and perhaps some elbow room to reexamine its approach to governance and security. Firm lessons must be learnt from an anomalous security situation in which two past administrations allowed a small ulcer to become gangrenous. Nigeria is of course not out of the woods yet, while the situation still calls for deft handling. But overall, the country must rebuild its national esteem, be proactive in handling security and systemic threats, and find ways of averting any future possibility of being picked on by great powers which ram strange elixirs down their reluctant throats.
Christian Ebere Osinachi wrote himself into immortality in November when he delivered to Club Nacional de Football their much coveted 50th coveted Uruguayan League title. The 27-year-old scored the back-breaking solitary winner for his side deep into the added time of the play-off tie against rival club, Atlético Peñarol in a thrilling final before a delirious capacity crowd that saw his 114th minute match-winning strike at the Gran Parque Central Stadium in Montevideo. But the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup winner with the Golden Eaglets in a recent conversation with MORAKINYO ABODUNRIN believes the Super Eagles can break all odds at the on-going Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco to give the country another major silverware…
FIFA U-17 World Cup winner, Christian Ebere Osinachi, has thrown his weight behind the Super Eagles’ quest to win their long-awaited fourth Africa Cup of Nations title at the on-going continental showpiece in Morocco.
Nigeria have been crowned champions thrice in 1980, 1994 and 2013 and the Super Eagles are seeking to end a 12-year title drought after finishing as runners-up in the last edition in Cote d’Ivoire. But Osinachi who stars for Uruguayan side, Club Nacional de Football, said Super Eagles will need to overcome their recent setback in the CAF Play-Offs for the 2026 FIFA World Cup where they lost the only available ticket to the Inter-Continental Play-Offs to the Congo Democratic Republic last November.
“Yeah , it’s true that the Nigeria recently lost to the Congo DR in the FIFA World Cup qualification play-off but I think the Super Eagles have another opportunity to make Nigerians happy and proud again by winning the AFCON,” Osinachi who has excelled across clubs in South America, told Nation’s Sports. “I think Nigeria can make it because we have the players.
“Nigeria have the players to compete and make it to the finals; and also to win it because last time, the Super Eagles got to the final and unfortunately lost to Cote d’Ivoire .
“But now, I think Nigeria can do it, Yes, I think Nigeria can do it,” he affirmed.
Tomorrow, the Super Eagles will play their decisive second match at the on-going Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON, Morocco 2025, against Tunisia’s Eagles of Carthage in Fez with some of Osinachi’s former teammates at the U-17 level including the striking duo of Victor Osimhen and Samuel Chukwueze expected to be in the thick of action. Osinachi said not being part of the team is not an indication that players like him who feature for clubs in South America are not good enough to wear the national team colours at the senior level.
“ I’m really very happy that I have now some of my ex-teammates from the U-17 level and I’m talking about Osimhen and Chukwueze ,” he continued. “ But I’m not disappointed that I have not been able to play for the Super Eagles.
“I last represented Nigeria at the U-17 and since then, they have not called me for the Super Eagles. I also have the hunger to play for the Super Eagles.
“Often, my teammates always ask ‘why is it that they don’t call you for the Super Eagles?’ They feel that I need to be in the Super Eagles because they usually watch Nigeria matches even as recent as when we lost to Congo DR in the Play-offs.
“ So, I’m equally waiting for the opportunity and if I get the chance today, I will be ready to give my best.”
Having featured across clubs in Argentina, Brazil and now in Uruguay, Osinachi would be the first to admit that playing in the South American leagues is not a child’s play, adding it’s about time that national team’s handlers bore that searchlight on that side of the globe too.
“ Playing in South America is not an easy task,” Osinachi who has been listed for as many as 10 South American clubs across Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, revealed. “ South American league is not a league that you’ll be given so much space to just do anything you want ; it’s hard and tough. No room for excessive dribbles rather you have to very think fast on the ball.
“Here it’s more intensive and I think they )Super Eagles’ technical crew), need to watch some players some of those players in South America because they are as good as players in Europe.
“ I think the national team’s handlers don’t look at players in the south American leagues but not knowing that players from the South American leagues play more intensive football than most other people playing in Europe.”
“ In fact, I can tell you for free that players in South America play more intensive football than players in Europe because our football here is hard. It’s not an easy football.
“So, they need to watch more of South American football too. I know it is very far is very far from Nigeria and maybe that’s why they don’t watch or see players from here in South America whereas Europe is close to Nigeria.
“I want to believe they don’t watch the South American league s as well as the Libertadores, the Champions League of South America. They don’t watch all those competitions.
“ My teammates at Nacional know how good and strong; that I’m a fighter on the ball; I have the speed and I think I can also make the difference with the Super Eagles.
“ They shouldn’t look down on players in the South American leagues because players in that region has a lot on intensity than even players in Europe,” added Osinachi as he speaks on other sundry issues. Excerpts…
On winning the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup
Yes, you are right, it’s 10 years this year since won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile and it’s always a great memory to recall. I was so happy to be part of the team and happy to have won the World Cup at the first opportunity at that level. The memory of representing my country was great and playing alongside some of my teammates especially Victor Osimhen, Samuel Chukwueze , Kelechi Nwakali, Kingsley Michael , Orji Okoronkwo, Ndidi Anumudu and the rest, it was just simply great . Of course, it was equally great playing under Coach Emmanuel Amuneke as well as the other members of the coaching crew and backroom staff. Although so many things happened along the way but i really thank God how everything went ….because we won the World Cup. I was very, very happy.
On not going to Europe after World Cup conquest in Chile
After the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile, I actually had a club to sign for in Belgium but what happened was that my ex-manager had an issue with the team’s director, something like that. So they had an issue and I was really angry because that was a good opportunity for me to start. Because some of my teammates were also going to Europe and that was a good opportunity for me to start in Europe too. But because of the issue that they had, I lost that opportunity. My ex-manager told me that I should go to Nigeria and stay and that he was going to get a new club for me. But ‘I said no’ because I needed to play football and I don’t want to stay back in Nigeria and start waiting for some contracts. That was how I moved to go to South America, being Rosario Central in Argentina. I started my career there, playing in the youth team. So from there I went to Brazil and here I’m today in Uruguay.
On being called different names in Argentina
When i arrived in Argentina, some called me Lukaku while some also called me Mbappé because I have the force and i have the speed ; so it is because of these two abilities that my teammates call me so many names. I have no problem with that if they are calling me the names because of my playing abilities and not because they wanted to make jokes out of me. So, it feels good because they are calling me those names because I’m strong, I’m fast with the ball.
On playing across clubs in South America
I have had outstanding experiences playing across clubs in South America. In Brazil, they play more with tactics and techniques while in both Argentina and Uruguay, they play with both techniques and force (power). But I must confess that I’m really enjoying playing in Nacional just as I enjoyed playing at Clube Plaza Colonia in Argentina. Frankly, I have enjoyed playing in virtually all the clubs in these three countries because I’m that guy that always make my fellow teammates happy. I’m always happy with my teammates. I always cheer them up and all that, yeah.
On the ‘One-derful’ cup-winning goal for Nacional
I scored the goal that gave the Nacional the league title and I felt so happy. I feel great because the league title meant a lot for us, not only me but my teammates. Because the name on the League Cup is dedicated to one of our former teammates who lost his life while playing for Nacional. Interestingly , he had also previously played for our opponents in that final (Atlético Peñarol) but we wanted to win the cup for him. So , we did it for him. But personally, I feel great scoring the winning goal that gave Nacional the victory. I feel so happy, excited because that was a wonderful goal which makes me feel great representing the club. Nacional is a good club and they are one of the big clubs in South America. The fans they love me and I also love them too because they always cheer me up and all that. So it was great for me. It was something great, something that I will not forget. And even the club also will not forget.
On close affinity with his mother.
Yes, it’s true that I’m very close to my mum because I’m the last born and I was also with my mum while I was growing up with my siblings. Even while others will go out, I was always staying with my mum and that was how I was able to know how to do many house chores. She’s my prayer warrior ; she had done a lot to support my football career though initially she didn’t want me to play football. She wanted me to study and never wanted me to play football because of the experience of my dad . My dad actually played football but never made it professionally. So, my mum was scared that I might also waste my time going on that route with football. But along the line, I asked one of my uncles to speak with my mum that after football I’ll still study and that I’ll make her proud. That was how my mum accepted and started supporting me…by giving me money to buy boots and she was always there checking on me especially when I travel outside the state for tournaments . She played a very great role in my career and what I’ve become today.
On marriage
Of course, I will get married but not yet because I have not seen the ‘special one’. But some day, I will get married and I think very soon, I will be there (laughter).
Nigeria and Tunisia go head-to-head in a high-stakes Group C encounter tomorrow, December 27th, at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, with both sides eyeing early control of the group. Fresh from opening-day victories, the clash in Fez promises intensity, quality and renewed rivalry as two African heavyweights battle for supremacy writes TUNDE LIADI
One of the headline fixtures of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations group stage takes centre stage tomorrow as continental heavyweights Nigeria and Tunisia lock horns in a crucial Group C encounter at the Complexe Sportif de Fès, Morocco.
With both sides winning their opening matches, the tie could go a long way in determining who finishes top of the group and secures a more favourable route into the knockout phase.
The Super Eagles head into the game on the back of a hard-fought 2–1 victory over Tanzania on December 23, a result that underlined their status as one of the tournament favourites. Goals from Semi Ajayi and Ademola Lookman sealed the win, and Eric Chelle’s side currently sit second in Group C on goal difference.
Tunisia, meanwhile, occupy top spot after an impressive 3–1 win against Uganda on the same day. The Eagles of Carthage looked sharp and clinical in attack, extending a run of strong recent results and sending an early message to their group rivals.
Nigeria and Tunisia share a rich Africa Cup of Nations history, having met several times on the continental stage. Overall, the two nations have faced each other 17 times, with Nigeria holding the edge with eight wins, Tunisia claiming five victories, and four matches ending in draws.
At AFCON specifically, their rivalry has produced memorable moments. Nigeria defeated Tunisia at the 2000 AFCON tournament, while the Super Eagles also edged Tunisia on penalties at the 2006 quarter final tie in Egypt . It was a 1–0 victory in favour of the Super Eagles at the third-place match at AFCON 2019 in Egypt also.
Tunisia’s most recent success came in January 2022, when they stunned Nigeria 1–0 in the Round of 16, a result that remains fresh in the memory and adds extra edge to tomorrow’s clash.
With both teams already on three points, victory would put either side in a commanding position to qualify for the knockout stages as group winners. Nigeria will be keen to avenge their 2022 AFCON exit, while Tunisia aim to maintain momentum and assert their credentials as genuine contenders.
All signs point to a tightly contested, high-quality encounter between two of Africa’s most respected football nations.
Polo enthusiasts in Jos and its environs will be treated to eight days of top-notch experience as the 2025 Jos Winter Polo tournament gallops off at the popular General Hassan Polo Ground with over twenty teams vying for honours across major titles.
The glamorous festival which stared on Boxing Day (December 26), will conclude on January 2nd.
Three glittering major cups categories, Governor Cup, NASCO Cup and President Cup would have participating teams locked down in a week-long battle royal to decide the proud champions of the winter polo festival.
Jos Polo Club President and Secretary of the Nigerian Polo Federation (NPF), Murtala Laushi, has assured that the club will host the best winter polo fiesta that will surpass previous editions in every respect in years.
Laushi noted that with the full backing of the Plateau State Government and other stakeholders, the organizers will deliver. “
“Jos 2025 polo festival will be a festival thriving on ‘strategy, organization, excitement, competition and friendship that would perpetuate the new found peace in the state,” he stated. “We made a promise, that we will give it our all and at the end of the day everyone would talk of the 2025 tourney, ‘This is our annual tournament in which we are well pleased’ Laushi who is the Patron of the high-flying Jos Malcomines team declared.
For many years now, Jos polo and its HANGER partners have been hosting charity events for the less privileged on Christmas day December 25, as one of the major events that annually herald the polo tournament proper.
Initiated by Laushi, the charity event usually concluded with a party for the Grooms and other workers of the club alongside widows of past workers of the club who would also smile home with various gift items from the organizers.
A spokesperson of the HANGER Project, Alison Allanso who expressed delight at the usually huge turn- out particularly the children, the physically handicapped persons, the widows and the internally displaced persons (IDPS), has become one of the major highlights of the year-ending polo fiesta.
Allanso expressed appreciation to all the donors and sponsors who donated to the successful organization and hosting of the event last December, and pleaded that with the continued support from the society, the organizers can host the event twice in a year.
During the event last year, the over 400 participants smiled home with gift items, food packages and other essential items that were handed out during the party.
Apart from various food items that were given out, the less privileged particularly the women and orphans received clothing materials, stationary and other educational materials to help them in pursuit of a better future.
Jos Polo Captain, Yusuf Dauda also confirmed visiting teams from Abuja, Kaduna, Yola, Zaria, Minna, Maiduguri, Katsina, Kano, Bauchi, Abuja and Keffi are expected for a thrilling eight days festival. Major trophies contested for during the fiesta include the Governor’s Cup that remains the event’s biggest prize.
Other glittering prizes are the NASCO Cup, President Cup, and a handful of subsidiary cups to be carted by the winners and Runners-up teams during the Prize presentation Ceremony that traditionally draw the curtain on the fiesta.
Last year, the Jos’ 2024 /2025 polo extravaganza galloped off with over thirty teams drawn from all the major polo clubs across the country, and climaxed with Malcomines polo team, Crown Club & Resort team, Minna Profile and Katsina Aldusar emerging winners.
For the fifth year running, Laushi and his miners were the biggest attraction of the annual festival that remains the biggest sports cum tourism event, attracting tourists and equestrian enthusiasts in their droves to the chilly Plateau State capital city every year.
The Nigerian Boxing Board of Control (NBB of C), has welcomed Guts & Gloves Promotions as an official promotional licence as the outfit marks its formal entry into Nigeria’s boxing ecosystem, reinforcing its commitment to driving a new era of structure, professionalism and athlete-first development within the sport.
The partnership provides immediate credibility for the organisation and positions Guts & Gloves as a transparent and trustworthy platform for boxers, promoters, gyms, and sponsors seeking stability and growth in a fragmented promotions landscape. The company enters the sector with a clear mandate to discover, nurture and spotlight Nigerian boxing talent through structured pathways and community-driven engagement.
Founded by Onabajo Ayodeji & Temitope Deyeye, the co-founders reaffirmed the brand’s mission to uplift the sport as they stated that: “Guts & Gloves remains committed to raising the game for athletes and coaches in Africa. To every boxer doing the work in the shadows, keep fighting. Put on those gloves and never stop believing in your guts. We will find you, and the world will see you.”
Rooted in the energy of Nigerian grassroots boxing community, home to a rich network of trainers and amateur fighters, Guts & Gloves Promotions intends to serve as a reliable springboard for emerging talent.
Its athlete-first model focuses on long-term career development, improved access to professional exposure, health and mental care for fighters, brand building for fighters, and the creation of competitive opportunities across local, national and international circuits.
The organisation’s strategic approach integrates credibility-building, community nurturing, and talent broadcast initiatives, alongside future flagship events designed to strengthen Nigeria’s boxing culture. With an emphasis on partnership-driven growth, Guts & Gloves is opening its doors to sponsors, corporate brands, and industry stakeholders seeking to invest in the next generation of Nigerian boxers who’ll bear the Nigerian flag at a global stage.
As the boxing sector positions itself for renewed momentum, Guts & Gloves Promotions enters the ring with a clear intent: to become the preferred destination for talent development, professional matchmaking, and sustainable boxing promotions in Nigeria.
Pamodzi Sports Marketing, a leading force in sports marketing, sponsorship, hospitality, and rights acquisition in Nigeria, has strongly condemned a recent media article that questioned the Nigeria Basketball Federation’s (NBBF) engagement with a major national institution.
The company described the report as ‘myopic, self-serving, and blind to the bigger picture of basketball development.’
The article in question had suggested that ‘the partnership initiative was political theatre designed to elongate the current board’s tenure’. But Pamodzi rejected this claim, stressing that the timing of such deals is irrelevant compared to their long-term impact on the sport.
“The writer’s obsession with timing shows how myopic his thinking is. There is no best time to pursue a partnership that will benefit basketball. What matters is the deal itself, and the biggest beneficiary is the sport, not individuals or boards,” Pamodzi said in a statement.
“Instead of reporting the sport, the writer is busy acting as an agent for those hell-bent on killing the sport. Why is he not seeing beyond politics? Why is he blind to the fact that basketball needs institutional support to grow? His narrative is not journalism, it is a hatchet job,” the statement continued.
Highlighting the structured nature of the partnership, Pamodzi noted that the institution involved will only revert in the first quarter of next year, underscoring that this is not a unilateral promise but a carefully planned process.
Pamodzi has a proven track record of negotiating landmark deals that have transformed Nigerian sports, including sponsorship agreements for the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) that have outlived successive boards.
The company emphasized that basketball has long struggled to attract the kind of sponsorship needed to elevate players, coaches, and officials and that dragging politics into every initiative only holds the game back.
Beyond basketball, Pamodzi’s diverse activities and aggressive initiatives have made it a central player in the sports industry. The company operates across media sports events, athlete and player marketing, relationship marketing with sports associations, sports management and promotion, multimedia campaigns, and strategic licensing.
Pamodzi is also the organizer of the prestigious Okpekpe International 10km Road Race, the first road race in West Africa to have its course measured by a World Athletics-accredited course measurer. It was also the first in the region to be granted a World Athletics label, designating it among the leading road races worldwide.
For Pamodzi, the message is clear: partnerships that strengthen Nigerian sports should be celebrated, not politicized.
“This is about basketball, pure and simple. Those who insist on dragging politics into every initiative are the ones holding the game back,” the company concluded.
