The Convener Ministers of God Prayer Network International, Bishop Bola Oyegbami, has called on the federal government to put in place policies and programmes that will improve the economy and create job opportunities that will help in putting a stop to the exodus of youths outside the country.
Oyegbami made the call recently at a Day of Prayer for the nation, organised by Ministers of God Prayer Network International held at the Christ The Light Chapel, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, titled ‘Restoration unto Wealth upon Nigeria from God.’
Oyegbami said, “The government needs to implement policies that improve the economy, create job opportunities, and curb security challenges to checkmate the exodus of youths outside the country. They should also establish industrial farming, and create export-friendly policies.”
Speaking on the essence of the prayer session, Oyegbami, said: “The essence of the programme is for God’s mighty hand to come down upon the nation and restore the nation. We just concluded a 70-day night vigil, praying over the nation and God said he has answered and that he is going to bring wealth into the nation.
“God will make a David of whosoever is on the throne and the situation will be changed. The throne in the nation is connected and dedicated to the throne of God in Nigeria. And the throne of God is of righteousness and justice. God is going to use the ministry of circumstances to change the situation of the nation. Since we started this prayer for the nation and state, things are changing gradually, that is how it is going to turn around and righteousness will come over the nation, she added.
In her keynote address, the First Lady of Lagos State, Dr. (Mrs.) Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu urged Nigerians to maintain their faith in the face of adversity.
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has blessed the newly reconstructed RCCG Lagos Province 28 Headquarters, located in the Ogudu GRA Scheme 2 area of Lagos State.
The church, known as the Province of Latter Glory, was formally dedicated on May 26, 2024, after a devastating fire destroyed the previous structure nearly three years ago.
Assistant Pastor in Charge of the Province, Thompson Olulade, reflected on the challenging journey of rebuilding the church. “It was a very big challenge and a very hectic journey initially. Securing demolition permits from the government was particularly tiring. But we bless God for what He has done today. We can now celebrate a new structure, a new edifice that people can identify with. The scripture is fulfilled in the life of LP28; that the glory of the latter house shall be greater than the former.”
Addressing the youth, Olulade emphasized the importance of acquiring skills and knowledge, especially in the current harsh economic climate. “We advise the youth to learn more skills and keep themselves equipped with the right knowledge. They should affiliate with the right people to shun evil and make progress even in adversity. We encourage them to draw closer to God because, without Him, we can achieve nothing in life.”
Pastor Silvanus Akinsulore of Edo Province 5 who was pastor in charge of the province when the outbreak occurred recounted the tragic fire incident that necessitated the rebuild.
“It happened around 6 a.m. on May 9, 2021. I had a vigil in the church until around 3 a.m., only to be called at 6 a.m. about the fire. By the time I arrived, it was too late to save anything. Today, I am so happy that God has brought beauty from ashes. I am grateful that my family and the church survived, and we can celebrate with our leaders.”
Emphasizing the importance of fire safety, Akinsulore added, “Every public building should have a standby fire extinguisher and a reliable water system. Our government should also be more proactive regarding fire incidents.”
Pastor Bola Orekoya, the Pastor in Charge of Province 28, praised the safety measures implemented to prevent future incidents.
After two years of unending ‘cold war’ within the leadership fold of the Lagos State Chapter of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), an election into the office of the PFN Chairman was conducted during the week to the amazement of a lot of stakeholders within the fellowship, ADEOLA OGUNLADE, in this write-up looks at the feud, and the future of the Christian body
The PFN, Lagos Chapter, had its election during the week, the Founding Pastor of Global Impact Churches, Ogudu, Lagos, Rev Yemi Davis, won with 10 votes; Pastor Esosa Ize-Iyamu had 8 votes; and the Senior Pastor of the Foundation of Truth, Rev Yomi Kasali, came third with 7 votes while other officers elected unopposed, including the General Overseer Abundant Life Gospel Churches, Rev. (Mrs.) Janet Onaolapo as Deputy Chairman; Rev. Udo of the Foursquare Gospel Church as the Secretary; and Pastor Sola Osunmakinde as Treasurer.
The election of Rev Davis as the new chair of the Lagos PFN has not gone down well with some of the members of the Christian body.
An indication that all was not well within the Lagos PFN was the sudden resignation during the week of the National Vice President (Southwest), Archbishop Alagbala Bishop Osa Oni.
It will be recalled that the National President of the Fellowship, Bishop Wale Oke who has papal oversight over all the state chapters, gave an order in February 2024 to the ex-Vice President of the fellowship, South West, Archbishop Alagbala John Osa-Oni, to appoint a new chairman for the chapter.
Osa-oni took up the challenge; he fell back to an 11-member advisory committee that has been in existence for years in the fellowship to carry out the assignment.
On the 8th of February, an election was conducted, and the Senior Pastor of Agape Generation International Church, Rev Toyin Kehinde, emerged as the winner. Sixty percent of the members that made up the State Advisory Council (SAC) were present during the February 8th poll.
It was reported that four candidates contested the election, including the Rev. Dr. Toyin Kehinde; The Senior Pastor of Foundation of Truth Assembly, Rev. Yomi Kasali; Pastor Femi Paul, and the incumbent PFN Chairman, Apostle Eyinnaya Okwuonu.
The election that produced Rev Kehinde as the chairman came with a lot of flaks, one of those who was alleged to have been a contestant in the election, Rev Kasali, reacting to an online report, publicly denied participating in the then February 8 PFN Lagos State chairmanship election.
He said, “I never participated in the just concluded PFN election as reported by some online publications.”
Rev Kehinde’s victory in the election was short-lived; a few weeks after Bishop Wale Oke canceled the election.
Bishop Oke in a letter annulling the February 8 election, said another election had been slated for June 30 with an expanded SAC, and will be conducted by the National Publicity Secretary of the Fellowship, Bishop Emmah lsong.
But a source in the fellowship said the May 28 election which produced Rev Davis as the chairman of PFN Lagos State, had the nod of the National President, Bishop Wale Oke. This was against the earlier announced date of June 30th.
“How Davis came into the race is still a surprise to many,” a source within the fold said.
The source stated further that Davis was not known to have shown any interest in the PFN leadership before then. “He was just by the side-line running his ministry,” another source said.
Davis is known within the hierarchy of the PFN as a protégé of Bishop Wale Oke.
This confirmed the insinuations that it was Bishop Oke who prevailed on Davis to take up the challenge.
To confirm the undercurrent politics and realignment within the PFN, during the 17th National Biennial Conference of the PFN held last year in Bayelsa, Rev Davis and another popular pastor in Surulere, Lagos, were very visible, and played major roles in the programme.
“While the idea of election is a great one that should be encouraged, it seems the handling of the exercise itself is a big distraction and a recipe for ungodly politicking,’ a source said.
The Nation gathered that out of the 11 State Advisory Council of PFN in Lagos, three persons representing areas like Epe, and Ikorodu were removed without any proof of committing any infractions that would have warranted their removal.
Three members of the SAC were removed a few days before the May 28 election. The act has caused disaffection within the fellowship.
The 8-member panel was later expanded to 33 and conducted the election that produced Rev Davis.
The May 28 election result was ratified and confirmed by Bishop Oke in a statement issued on May 30 by the National PFN.
While Davis deserves to be cheered and encouraged to take up the task of leading the Lagos PFN, there are signs that the election has left mutual suspicion among leaders of the fellowship.
Speaking with The Nation, one of the contestants said that he was angry, and he had made his position on the election known to the leadership of the fellowship. “I am angry, I can talk now. I will talk at the right time”.
It was reported that 3- members of the committee that presided over the Lagos State election were drawn from the Southsouth (Bishop Emma Isong); North Central (Bishop Bakare); with the PFN National President Chief of Staff (Ogun State) as the Committee Secretary.
This may have angered the ex-vice President of PFN, Archbishop Osa Oni who felt slighted as against the run of play within the fellowship.
Osa-Oni, as the then Vice President had the statutory duty to conduct the election into State chairmanship positions of the PFN in all the six Southwest States in Nigeria.
Speaking with The Nation, the General Superintendent of Holy Spirit Mission (The Happy Family) Bishop Charles Ighele appealed to all members of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria in Lagos to put their differences aside and see how unity and peace can be pursued. Bishop Charles Ighele made reference to Ist Corinthians 10:23 where Apostle Paul wrote “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient; all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not”.
He pleaded with all aggrieved persons to work towards obeying the scriptures and work with the national president of PFN Bishop Wale Oke and the PFN leadership in Lagos state so that the Lagos State PFN can be edified.
When the Bola Tinubu administration clocked one year, the country was agog with news of the looming sack of nonperforming ministers. It is not clear where that expectation came from. The ministers had just spent about nine months, not even a year. Except where a minister is so blatantly incompetent or lethargic or incapable of interpreting the administration’s programmes and policies, it may amount to an overkill to begin thinking of sacking any of them. Some redeployment can be done, and a few rejigging here and there. But to dismiss a minister when he or she had hardly started, even if they had spent over a year, may be excessive.
Some ministers take longer time to settle down, and some are far too introspective for their own good in a country giddy with excitement about hiring and firing officials. Some other ministers may also not be self-promoting, but are nevertheless self-assured and given to quiet and solid achievement. It will be a mistake to approximate the performance and flamboyance of, say, Nyesom Wike or David Umahi as the rigid minimum for the cabinet. No, the president should please cut his ministers some slack. He must not forget that many of his appointees are political IOUs. And with the far-reaching reform he is undertaking, much of it alienating powerful interests, if not regions, he needs to be careful and deliberate.
The foreign ministers of the military-led Sahelian states of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Republic may have taken the final, fateful steps in establishing a regional alliance distinct from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The draft text for the ‘institutionalisation and operationalisation’ of the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), said Niger Republic’s foreign minister Bakary Yaou Sangare triumphantly on May 17, had been finalised. The new organisation ignores ECOWAS, and has gone ahead to replace French hegemony with Russian hegemony. Between 2020 and 2022, the three countries had experienced coups d’état and immediately attracted a panoply of sanctions that strangulated their economies and instigated street protests. The romance between their starry-eyed publics and the militaries may have now soured, especially with the soldiers entrenching their rulership and hardening their positions, but this did not diminish the efforts to create a new regional body.
It is all but certain that the AES will see the light of day, especially seeing that the foreign ministers were curiously enthusiastic about the proposed regional body. But why they assumed that ECOWAS was being influenced by France is hard to explain. Yes, ECOWAS aggregates French-speaking and English-speaking West African countries, but to conclude that France had an upper hand in the entire region is mystifying. There is no doubt that France had brutally exploited its former colonies, but ECOWAS consists of many independent-minded countries, including Francophone countries, and the three Sahelian countries could still have found relevance and achieved their goals within the larger regional body. Clearly, the three AES countries are all about power games. They resent being lectured on the evils of military rule and the utopia of democratic rule. To them, Russia is less meddlesome and exploitative. It, however, remains to be seen whether Russia would remain altruistic in the face of the AES countries’ rich mineral deposits.
Months ago, in the face of domestic agitations for a return to democratic rule in the AES countries, their military juntas banned street protests and even went ahead to place a moratorium on media reports. Now, Burkina Faso’s military rulers have gone a step further into infamy by postponing democratic rule for another five years from 2024. They claimed to have concluded a national dialogue which produced a consensus, according to the organising committee’s chairman, Col Moussa Diallo, to extend military rule by five years. Most political parties, which had foolishly welcomed the Captain Ibrahim Traore coup, boycotted the dialogue. How Capt. Traore hopes to hold on to power for five more years in a coup-prone country is not known. He had in September 2022 ousted Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba barely eight months after the latter staged a coup against the democratically elected President Roch Marc Kaboré. Clearly, the coups were not about their flagging counterinsurgency war or of the evils of French domination and exploitation. It was all about power.
This column had repeatedly suggested that ECOWAS efforts to mollify the AES were an exercise in futility. Even before the larger regional body reacted petulantly to the July 2023 coup in Niger Republic, which formed the casus belli of the AES break with ECOWAS, those three Sahelian states had yearned to strike a different and independent path for themselves, free of peer review and completely rid of pressures to return to democratic rule. To prevent ECOWAS from fracturing, and hearkening to the ossified thinking of former Nigerian heads of state like Yakubu Gowon and Olusegun Obasanjo, ECOWAS unwisely and awkwardly bent over backwards to accommodate and reintegrate the AES countries, including softening or even lifting sanctions. It was a futile exercise.
The AES will be formally inaugurated soon. ECOWAS had better get used to that awful and depressing idea of a regional split. It is a reality. They may want to blame themselves for pushing the three military-led countries out of the regional body; they should resist the temptation. With the insurgencies in those Sahelian states threatening to get out of hand and economies being increasingly suffocated, something was bound to give. The sanctions and ECOWAS threat of military action simply pushed the errant and recalcitrant states over the cliff of no return. That was where they were headed all along. They have now berthed in their clumsy utopia authored by the distressed and amoral Russia. ECOWAS should be encouraged to sit down and rethink the regional body instead of fighting the tide, imbue what is left with far more noble objectives than its founding fathers gave it, and produce annual festivals, programmes, and scientific and military collaborations and exchanges other global economic and political unions would envy. If the rest of ECOWAS can’t outthink and outdo the AES, then they deserve to fracture even more.
It is going to take a herculean effort for the Nigerian military to transform into the people’s army. The Nigerian government, since military rule began, has had no idea what people’s army means, and the army itself has demonstrated no appetite for change. Hundreds of events and incidents illustrate this deficit. But three recent incidents should exemplify the depressing disconnection between Nigerians and their military, a disconnection that has accentuated the crisis of underdevelopment and stymied the effectiveness of the military in its numerous counterinsurgency wars in the Northeast, costly efforts to pacify the Northwest, and other internal peacekeeping duties.
The first incident relates to the shutting down of Banex Plaza in Abuja for one week over a dispute between a phone seller and a soldier. A trader allegedly sold a defective phone to a soldier, and refused to make good. Soon, the disagreement escalated into a fight and a free-for-all, leading incredibly to the deployment of five teams of soldiers to barricade the shopping plaza for a week. The details of the disagreement, and who provoked whom, have neither been investigated nor reported, nor is it clear who was to blame, nor whether the phone was actually defective or not. Until the disputants are interviewed, the whole truth may not be known. But how on earth such a dispute escalated so quickly until it became an official matter said to be capable of threatening national security is hard to fathom. The reasons may, however, are not be as far-fetched as imagined.
Disputes between buyers and sellers are commonplace. Sometimes they get out of hand, but often they don’t, especially if relevant regulatory or law enforcement institutions function properly. Admittedly Nigeria is a developing country and both regulatory and law enforcement institutions are inadequate or too weak to mediate conflicts. Army spokesman Onyema Nwachukwu, a major-general, spoke of the sacrosanctness of military uniforms, the aggression of the ‘hoodlums’ who attacked ‘unarmed soldiers’, the presence of unidentified miscreants who ‘use the Banex neighbourhood’ to threaten security, and the capacity of such incidents to ‘orchestrate threats to national security’. Alarmingly, commenting on the incident days later, former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Lucky Irabor regarded the statement by the spokesman as mild. For him, shutting down the plaza and occupying it were the right things to do.
In Gen. Irabor’s view, no person in uniform should be attacked because he represents the state. He said: “This applies to any uniformed person for as long as he is an agent of the state. An attack on him is an attack on the state, so any Nigerian of goodwill must condemn such an act. For me, I join to support the closure of Banex Plaza for as long as it takes to have anyone responsible for that dastardly act brought to justice. This is because if we fail to do so, we will be calling for anarchy. The only men who are sacrificing their lives to ensure our collective good are members of the armed forces, the police, and other security agencies.” With such a mindset, it makes it harder for disputes not to be blown out of proportion. That sense of institutional exceptionalism has seemed to corrode thea propriety of responses to provocations and the moderation that should flow from the commonality of human beings and experience. Soldiers sacrifice their lives; but so do doctors, nurses, and others. Ukraine could today not make the distinction that Gen. Irabor has made. When a country’s existence is threatened, everyone becomes a soldier. Indeed, it is in such sacrifices, which the former CDS made reference to, that the best of soldiery and highest regard for the sanctity of life are located. Drawing the kind of distinction the general has done is unhelpful and inciting. If at the level of commanding a country’s entire armed forces a military general could promote a controversial appreciation of military doctrine, then it is time to ask for more fundamental changes and reforms. Perhaps, it is time they went back to military histories and get inspired afresh.
The second incident, sadly, flows from the Okuama, Delta State, incident in which 17 military personnel lost their lives in an ambush by militants on March 14 over a land dispute between Bomadi and Okuama communities. The reprisal was swift and fierce, indeed as the military warned. Okuama is a small community of a few hundred people, but it was soon levelled, a fact that came to light after the military ended their occupation. A third incident is the May 30 killing of five soldiers by militants in Aba, Abia State. The identities of the attackers are disputed, but military officers suspect the Indigenous People of Biafra/Eastern Security Network who organised that day’s lockdown to commemorate the sacrifice of their civil war heroes. Responding to the killings, the military in a statement spoke about the ‘imperative’ to ‘retaliate’ and why it would be ‘fierce in its response’. The military also spoke about the people being the lifeline of terrorists, but also acknowledged that the military could not hope to win the war against terrorism without the people. What would they, therefore, do about the seemingly conflicted role of the people? Whether the military likes it or not, the sacking of Odi community in Bayelsa State in 1999, after the killing of 12 policemen and some soldiers, did not prevent the Zaki Biam, Benue State, killing of 19 soldiers and the reprisal killings of hundreds of Tivs. And both the killings and the sacking of the two communities did not prevent the Okuama and Aba killings, not to say the humiliation of soldiers at an Abuja shopping mall. This is why the military must now begin to consider a different approach to responding to provocations.
As long as the police are structured and funded poorly to rise up to the threat posed by criminals, and as long as soldiers are inappropriately deployed to carry out police duties, the interactions between soldiers and the public would inevitably weaken, if not corrupt, the military. And for as long as Nigeria’s military personnel have a poor understanding of an equally poorly designed military doctrine, they would see themselves and their uniforms provocatively above censure or attack. If their brightest and best embrace a controversial understanding of military doctrine, it is impossible for them not to embark on angry reprisals against audacious criminals who attack soldiers, and in the process killing the innocent in retaliation, or even wiping out entire communities. The Banex Plaza provocation should have been left to the police, and the Okuama incident left to the Department of State Service (DSS) and the police; but anger and the need to retaliate the effrontery of civilians got the better of the military. Letting the police handle the Banex affair does not take anything, not even a jot, from the military. But it seems their military doctrine does not admit to such a lasting and effective approach to civilian provocations.
Unfortunately for the military, the enormous firepower at their disposal is wholly unsuited to the kind of interactions and domestic assignments they are saddled with. This mismatch is worsened by the fact that the people actually yearn to love their military; for the ordinary soldier is first a civilian, a brother, a sister, a father, a mother, and a relation whose death or incapacitation would be a tragedy. Prince Harry’s visit last month and the televised events that exposed Nigerian soldiers permanently maimed while on duty brought it agonisingly home to Nigerians the huge and incredible sacrifices Nigerian soldiers make to keep the country safe and united. It is a disservice to their collective sacrifice that their comrades-in-arms descend to the ignominious role of approving self-help and tyrannising civilians on the grounds of the uniforms they wear. Being wounded in action is one thing; sometimes some of them return home in body bags, their eyes permanently closed in sleep while their relations continue to mourn. Surviving soldiers should stop desecrating the memory of their fallen comrades, and senior officers charged with formulating and teaching tradition and doctrine in the military should stop depriving the civil populace from relating with, and loving and honouring soldiers forever poised to give their all, including their limbs and lives, for the country.
The best place to begin this new approach is for the military to eschew violent, supremacist language from their statements during provocations. They have no control over provocations; but they can determine how they respond to attacks, either in ways that honour their uniforms and training or in ways that dishonor their arms. The choice is theirs to make. However, it is time to stop seeing themselves as soldiers superior to the polity. After all, they are not soldiers of fortune. For when they respond fiercely and indiscriminately to provocations like militants and insurgents, talking about retaliation and vengeance instead of calmly and forcefully saying they would bring the attackers to justice, how can they prove they are different from those animals who unfeelingly leave destruction in their wake?
Yemi Eberechi Alade aka Yemi Alade is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Her music is a mixture of Afropop, highlife, dancehall, pop and R&B, and has been of influence in several countries across Africa. She sings in English, Igbo, Pidgin, Yoruba, French, Swahili and Portuguese.
There’s no doubt that across the world, Yemi Alade has achieved a cult-like followership status, which confirms her status as one of the biggest stars to emerge from Africa.
Her stage presence and performances are always breathtaking and mind-blowing because she gives her all in every performance.
She is set to release a new music project and in a brief chat with The Nation’s Assistant Entertainment Editor, Gbenga Bada, she opened up on varied issues including love life and more.
You have a new song out now, ‘Tomorrow,’ what was the idea behind the song?
‘Tomorrow’ is a dance /conscious-oriented song that reminds us of the endless possibilities and 2nd chance that “tomorrow” gives each one of us. It was born from bare melodies that manifested into words that everyone can relate to.
You have consistently released songs over the years. What has been your driving force to have remained relevant in the music industry for so long?
I love music…it’s the one thing that I’m gifted at. I’m deeply rooted and connected to music. It’s therapy, its life and it has chosen me as a messenger.
You are also constantly travelling, and performing at various concerts and festivals around the world. How do you find time to write and record new songs?
There will always be time for the things that are most important, and writing music is something I always do with ease on the road as I make voice notes after voice notes and later create the production.
The music industry is very tough now with content overload, especially in Nigeria where many songs are released daily. How do you manage to reinvent yourself and your music?
The music industry has always been tough. Even before I showed any interest, it was tough and will continue to be tough. But you know what they say about tough situations. The strongest will survive.
On October 2, 2024, you would have officially been on the music scene actively for a decade, how does that make you feel?
A decade is a long time! But officially it will be 14 years in the industry in 2024. Counting from my first song Fimisile ft Eldee the Don
Many people have different views of who Yemi Alade is. In your own words, who is Yemi Alade?
I am myself, true, African, authentic. There is no one like me. I’m unique, a rare gem, a trailblazer, an African rebel making her way in this diverse world of monotony.
Looking at the trajectory of your music career with a new album ready, what inspires your album title including the recent one you want to release in 2024?
Growing up, African pop music was a mixture of music that carried messages and helped us through different situations in life. This album is a blend of what my playlist consists of right now e.g. the new and old pop music that cuts across generations and boundaries. I have always charted my own course and walked the path less travelled. A true rebel in words and action. A lot of albums tend to have monotony in genre and style and it bores me easily most times. This album has something new, old and borrowed. Every song is unique, and a capsule of my thoughts and melodies and a truckload of nostalgia.
It’s a 16-track album that takes you through the sounds of Africa on different tempos and rhythms with features from a few of your favourite artists from different parts of the world.
What are the major themes in your forthcoming album?
Femininity, style, dance , motivation, liberation and consciousness.
How often do your personal life experiences influence a song?
90 percent of the time.
How would you describe your music evolution over the years?
I honestly have just continued to make music with the constant element being Yemi Alade.
One question many will ask aside from your music career is your love life. Are you in a relationship at the moment and are you looking at walking down the aisle anytime soon?
I would like people to continue to focus on the things that I am willing to share with them, which is music.
What is the biggest thing stardom and fame have deprived you of in the last 10 years?
Personal space and sometimes freedom of expression without being judged
What do you regard as the next level for you?
I’m on the journey to discovering that…
What’s your biggest worry at this stage of your life and career?
My worries have all been cast on God.
When and how do you relax?
I like to visit new food spots that have excellent reviews and when I feel like I need new stimuli, I go to a new country and get a villa to myself with a personal chef and a view that’s breath taking. It relaxes me immensely.
It was a glorious homecoming for Super Eagles and Leicester midfielder Wilfred Ndidi when he visited the New Maracana Sports Complex in Ajegunle-Lagos State midweek. The influential and regular Premiership defensive midfielder shelved the toga of a superstar when he landed at the famous Ajegunle grassroots football den, which had recently undergone a complete transformation with multiple and neatly caged football pitches catering to children of different ages.
Ndidi, one of the most capped Eagles players, which has earned him the skipper’s band a couple of times, freely shared banter and hi-fives while kicking football around with up-and-coming youngsters from U10 to U17.
He was not in a hurry to leave as he took pictures with the truly enamored children who were happy to have this rare moment with a superstar they only see on TV.
“I don’t see myself as a star,” Ndidi declared warmly as he shook hands and exchanged high-fives with over 500 children inside different pitches or cages on the sprawling facility.
Without hesitation, Ndidi would laugh whenever the kids said something that drew his attention.”I was where they are some years ago and I count myself lucky that I have the opportunity to be where I am now. I don’t take my humble beginning for granted,” said Ndidi, who played a pivotal role in Leicester’s return to the Premiership after one year in the Championship.
He scored six goals in all tournaments as he was pushed further up from his familiar defensive midfield enabling him to push forward and find the net more times than before.
“I have seen many young kids here, meaning that this complex provides an opportunity for young kids to come and engage themselves in positive things and be happy playing football and to relate with themselves. No doubt this is the future of our sports development policy. I thank Yemi Idowu, who has been very supportive when we talk about promoting Public Private Partnerships. I have also been told how much the Lagos State Government has provided an enabling environment to make this happen. When you see government providing the enablement and willing people who have passion and ready to develop sports, this becomes the product of that kind of partnership.”
“When I told some friends that I was coming to Ajegunle, they wondered what I was coming to do here. To find something positive that you can showcase to the rest of the country located in Ajegunle speaks volumes of how much having sufficient will, commitment, and passion can achieve.”
Ndidi also showed his benevolent side as he talked about his humble background shortly after inspecting one of the hostels he facilitated in the massive Maracana Sports Complex.
He noted that he decided to contribute his quota to the facility to allow more youngsters to showcase their skills and thereby achieve their dreams of playing in Europe.
He said: “Grassroots football is important and to be honest, this is amazing; it wasn’t like this during my playing days as a young footballer. I’m happy to be here and see how it’s moving on. This is unbelievable because when we were young, we didn’t have facilities like this, special thanks to Mr. Yemi Idowu, he made me understand what he was doing and I said I would get involved for the kids.”
From here Ndidi returned to the pitch to spend more time with the children, among them, players of Nathaniel Idowu Football Academy fondly called Nath Boys.
They all gathered around Ndidi hungry to have a share of him, asking questions and wanting to touch him, and not once did he try to avoid them. He said he felt truly at home.
Interestingly, Ndidi was a product of Nath Boys from where he transferred to Genk-Belgium before berthing in England with former English champions Leicester United.
“I would do anything to grassroots football because I come from there,” he said as he joined other dignitaries to gift the kids’ soccer balls.
“This is going to go a long way in helping the kids and I can see they are happy playing here. In our time, when we played on the streets and roads, we fell and got injured, so, having facilities like this is an encouragement.
“Our football would have been amazing if we had these kinds of facilities then. We underrate grassroots football, where the kids want to play. When we nurture them from a young age, it gives them confidence to believe in themselves going forward. You can’t just bring a 20-year-old to play football without them having that structure from a young age.
“So, I think this is amazing and I look forward to seeing the kids’ progress from here.”
Emotionally touched by Ndidi’s kind gesture, one of the boys, who simply called himself Remi, said he would not forget this day. “He’s one of my favourite Premiership players, and I want to play for the national team like him one day. He has made my day. And he’s so humble. He answered all the questions we asked him and was free with us.”
Bukola, a female player with an Ajegunle-based academy said: “I had fun today and he (Ndidi) was fun to be with. Though my soccer idols are Asisat Oshoala and Ronaldo, with what I’ve seen of Ndidi, he’s now my idol. I want to be like him.”
Ndidi, whose soccer idol remains former Super Eagles captain Mikel Obi, also believed strongly in family ties. One thing he said has been helping him in his career.
FAMILY MAN
“People often think I do the extraordinary training before games. I don’t know about the rites others perform, some soccer stars go the extra mile to make sure they’re fit for games. Football as we all know is not an easy game, one has to be fit and settled for the best frame of mind. As for me, working on my diet has been the topmost rite I performed to regain fitness ahead of games. Most people don’t know this and it has helped shape me into what I become today.
“Secondly, spending quality time with my loved one, especially my wife, makes me feel special ahead outing. It helped relax my mind and enhanced my psychology. Most big names in football also do this, which I think most people don’t know and I won’t relent in performing it for it has worked for me,” he stated in a media parley in Lagos.
PLAYING IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP
Spending the last season in the Championship, he said has taught him a valuable lesson too: that the English lower tier is tough and challenging.
“Competing in the English second-tier division can be quite challenging. The championship presents difficulties due to the demanding schedule of playing multiple games in a short period, including weekends and weekdays, along with extensive travel across the country.
“It was really difficult, but it’s a good experience because sometimes when you are in the Premier League, you don’t appreciate it, but going down to the Championship was like an eye-opener for us. Now we are back in the Premier League, and I don’t think we will ever want to go down there because it’s really difficult.”
Having missed the 2024 AFCON due to injury, Ndidi returns to the Nigeria team for the World Cup qualifying matches against South Africa and the Republic of Benin and he said they are going for the maximum points, even without top striker Victor Osimhen. He said: “Osimhen is a great player, he’s a hustler. I call him ‘hustler’ because he plays like a street footballer with strength and a strong mentality. There is no doubt that we are going to miss him. He’s quite important to the team because he drives the team forward and he has great impact.
“However, we have many great strikers who can bring their dynamics into the team and make an impact. It’s all about the team. This is not the time to begin to think about him not being around but to go out there and win the matches and wish him the best as he recovers from his injury.”
Born and bred in Surulere, Lagos to Igbo parents and educated in Zaria-Kaduna state, where he attended the famous Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Prince Anozie Ugenyi considers himself to be an all-round Nigerian. A quality that has helped him steer the ship of the United States-based Nigerian Sports and Cultural Organisation (NSCO) to the right part.
The former footballer, who is also a founding member of the organisation, said NSCO has gone a long way in uniting Nigerians in Diaspora, promoting and propagating Nigerian sports and culture.
He said: “NSCO came about as a result of some forward-looking Nigerians in the United States. We just thought that something was missing. We have a place where we sometimes play, especially soccer players and those who love soccer. The place is called Orange Park in Orange City-New Jersey. Our members play there every Saturday just to keep fit, but along the way, we saw that our community was lacking in certain cohesion and camaraderie and we looked for a way to change that. We came up with this idea, Benson Egbutu, The Igwe of Odimnanto, and Chief Ike Emeka. The name was coined by me and it has to do with a lot of my experience in life and where we all come from.
“I have always loved cultural things. It was a little bit difficult to merge sports and culture because they don’t like they fall in the same category, however, we managed to do that. That was how we decided that we would be having an annual carnival.
“On the carnival day, Nigerians come from all walks of life together. Nigerians are hard-working people and if you allow them they will work 24/7. So, the idea is to make them leave work for one particular day, come together, and celebrate that entity called Nigeria. It is also an opportunity to meet new people. That was the whole idea and it works. The first year was massive and it is only the Nigeria Independent celebration day in New York that beats it. Based on that, we decided to step it a little higher.”
Ugenyi noted that after more than 10 years of existence, all the objectives of the organisation have been met.
“We set out to create a platform to come together at least once in a year to celebrate the entity Nigeria. We have been able to achieve that. And the most interesting part is that the kids are the ones who always look forward to it. They want to see new things that they have not seen about Nigeria.
“We deliberately go out of our way to bring new things. There are young Nigerians who have never seen masquerade before. Masquerade became the big thing that they always looked forward to. And we create opportunities for them to compete in Afrobeat music and they love it. We have achieved a lot. It is a melting pot for Nigeria with people coming from all parts of New Jersey and its environs. We have added top sportsmen to attend like Austin Eguavoen, Emmanuel Amuneke, Fatai Atere, Segun Odegbami, and Ben Iroha, who is one of our regulars. Also, Tajudeen Disu, Felix Lebarty, and a lot of them come around just to give these young Nigerians the opportunity to see the heroes of Nigeria.
“We have had the masquerades in western, eastern, and southern Nigeria performing. The only one we have not been able to bring is the Hausa masquerade and that is because we don’t have too many Hausas around us here. We are, however, talking with Benue people for their presentation,” Ugenyi added.
In the area of sports, the organization has done much to promote Nigerian football teams and sportsmen.
“We have a Nigeria supporters club in place that whenever Nigeria is playing in the U.S., we send our supporters team to assist in cheering them up. And that is under the chairmanship of Abe Melody, who is a musician here.
“The carnival is also like a scouting game where soccer players show their skills. We have spotted good players whose names have been forwarded to the Nigeria U17, U21 teams at home. Mandy Obiekwu and Jonathan Okafor were scouted at our carnival for the U17 and U20 teams. Okafor is currently playing for a club side in Toronto-Canada.
“NSCO provided the team that won the Embassies Soccer World Cup here in the United States last year. Nigeria won it for the very first time and the NSCO under my leadership provided the players for that event. We help organise supporters here for the Nigerian teams whenever the national teams are in the U.S. We have met with former NFF president Amaju Pinnick and presented what we feel is the way forward for Nigerian soccer.”
Ugenyi, who played alongside great players like Michael Akpan of ACB, Emmanuel Iyorobe, Dominic Alele, and for Ahmadu Ballo University and at the 1988 NUGA Games (Nigeria University games), described ex-international Tajudeen Disu, who was recently appointed NSCO Liaison Officer, as an asset to the organisation.
“Tajudeen Disu is a different breed and there is no one better than him for this position. Taju came to the United States to educate himself and he has used that opportunity to help other Nigerian footballers. It is on record that he brought 16 young players on scholarship to the United States. It is no mean feat. Taju has distinguished himself and we will choose him again if we have to do so,” added the former Mandilas FC player.
Making an appraisal of the current administration of President Bola Tinubu, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) said the economy has been in an adjustment mode with several variables like stubborn inflation, persistent weakening of the Naira, supply chain disruption driven by insecurity, and weak production base, defining the outlook at any given time.
LCCI Director General, Dr. Chinyere Almona in a statement made available to The Nation said while policy choices have been liberal on the side of the monetary and fiscal authorities, expected outcomes have not been recorded yet.
She acknowledged what she referred to as bold decisions taken at some point with sincere intentions of fixing structural deficiencies such as fuel subsidy removal, harmonising official and parallel exchange rates, and adopting a cost-reflective electricity tariff, among others.
She urged the need for a systematic review and evaluation of these policies to achieve the best-desired outcomes.
Almona lamented that in the last one year the fight against inflation has not been successful, as the prices of goods keep an upward trend, with the inflation rate rising from 22.22 percent in April 2023 to 33.69 percent in April 2024, recording more than a 10 percent leap in twelve months.
She said: “In attempts to curb flaring inflation, the Central Bank of Nigeria, through the instrument of rate hikes, has consistently increased the benchmark rate, the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), within the last twelve months. This action has made borrowing costlier and constrained new credit for productive activities. This has continued to weaken our production base and impede new job creation in the economy.”
She recalled that LCCI have consistently advised that rate hikes only will not curb inflation without a corresponding fiscal intervention targeted at boosting agricultural production and industrial manufacturing.
She maintained that LCCI would continue to advocate concessionary interventions for SMEs in Nigeria in the face of shrinking credit to the private sector.
On taxes and levies, she said: “We see a government trying to establish a better tax system that captures more people into the tax net and harmonises taxes to a single number.
The recent establishment of a single window project is expected to drive the ease of doing business in Nigeria.
Establishing the Presidential Committee on Tax Reforms and Fiscal Policy has been evaluated as the government’s commitment to building a new tax system for a thriving business environment, she said, adding that the advent of a single window will ease transactions from one portal, make permits and licenses cheaper, and less prone to corrupt tendencies.
The LCCI boss asked government to as a matter of urgency fix the forex crises, adopt a lower exchange rate for import duties on imported raw materials for manufacturing, offer manufacturers concessionary interest rates in the face of shrinking credit to the private sector, and ensure the policy environment is stable and predictable.
To address low agricultural output, Dr Almona recommend that the government address the country’s high level of insecurity and the exchange rate crisis.
In addition, she suggested the government incentivise agricultural processing and invest in vital infrastructure such as power and transportation.
She regretted that last year, several promising tech start-ups in Nigeria with the potential to contribute to the economy’s productivity immensely stopped operation because of the government’s inconsistent approach to policies related to the sector’s support.
