The Nation Newspaper

Tag: One year

  • Import your car Nigeria marks one year

    •Offers 30 per cent off brokerage fees

    Nigeria’s first auto brokerage services provider in Nigeria, Import Your Car Nigeria Limited (IYCN), is offering 30 per cent discount on its brokerage fees for all online customers who either bid or buy outrightly from its over 200,000 inventory of vehicles between April to June 2019.

    This is to mark its one year anniversary.

    The General Manager, Sales and Operations, Mrs. Adanna Stella Atoba, said IYCN’s first year has seen the company deliver seamless experience to its customers, expand its affiliation with international auction outlets and contributed to the economic development of the country through job creation.

    She said: “We thank our customers for believing in us. IYCN and our affiliated partners in the United States and Canada delivered 100 per cent customers’ orders and was able to strive on referral from happy customers and repeat buyers. We are happy with what we have achieved within our first year.

    “In celebration of this milestone, we are offering 30 per cent discount on our brokerage fees for all online customers, who either bid or buy outrightly from the over 200,000 inventory of cars, trucks of motor cycles via our online platform from April 1 till June 30. “To take advantage of this opportunity, you can visit our website www.importyourcar.ng. From the menu, select your vehicle type and model and pay a commitment fee to bid or buy outrightly. You’ll automatically get 50 per cent discount on the brokerage fees payable for our service.”

    IYCN is a one-stop shop for automotive buyers who will rather import their vehicles to be sure of the car history, mileage and save cost of up to 35 per cent as compared to local dealer prices. Upon customer’s bid or purchase of vehicle from IYCN’s inventory, the company picks up the vehicle from the auction facility to the port of export; undertake custom export processes, and customs clearance/duty payment when shipped vehicle arrives Lagos, Nigeria.

     

  • One year on

    One year on

    Lagos has always been a place of small beginnings. A small port town, a puny army, a humble royalty, a seeming patch of land, straggles of settlers. During the Yoruba Wars, it snorted under the shadows of valiant horsemen and kabooms of gunfire exchanges.

    But it has not taken its smallness with humility. It is as though it is haunted by Prophet Isaiah: “A little shall become a thousand and a small one a strong nation.”

    In the past century and a half, Lagos has dwarfed everyone. It has moved from a tiny port town to a towering harbinger of commerce. It hosts the banks and money, the entrepreneur, soldiers of destiny and the great bards. The nationalist twitted the imperialist, from Macaulay to Azikiwe to Awolowo.

    Its heroes have always followed a trajectory from the unknown. I.K. Dairo, Fajemirokun, Gani Fawehinmi, Awolowo, et al. It is the place where Nigerians have patented their geniuses. One of such narratives is in the offing.

    The story of Akinwunmi Ambode had such a heady start from when he became his party candidate. The PDP had its Jimi Agbaje, and he was in the flush of PDP largesse. His supporters said he was the one. Some young and some professionals and some ethnic stalwarts coalesced. They said Agbaje was the winning formula. They said he had the gift of the garb, a winsome look, a charisma that did not go beyond a nifty suit and rakish fila, or Yoruba cap. He spoke about grandiose topics like “ocean economy” and a murky agenda for the youth.

    Agbaje wore the false garb gladly. He pivoted towards the idol of the tribe, and he raked up tribal hate among Lagosians. He said he was going to elevate the Igbo as a kingdom, at least fiefdoms, in Lagos by ranking their chief on an equal pedestal with the Oba of Lagos. President Jonathan rolled into Lagos to back his separatist and Balkanising agenda. In the heat of the campaign, they had decided to give phantom contracts and offices.

    In fact, a crop of ethnic lawyers amassed money to throw a victory party a week to the polls to celebrate the “takeover of Lagos” as though it was some form of military encounter. Lagosians thought differently and voted for commonsense over clannishness, continuity over brashness, competence over showmanship.

    But as governor, he did not slide into a party. A few stumbles happened early on. Crime smeared the city, and here and there we witnessed fear and trembling. A mere anarchy of hoodlums took over streets and some major arteries. Compounded by a heady traffic snarl, Lagos cast back to military-era melee. PDP critics leapt into the fray and thought that the Lagos voters erred. A temporary Agbaje nostalgia rent the political space. As Mahatma Ghandi noted, “we shall stumble and fall and rise again…”

    So, Governor Ambode never expressed public alarm or rhetorical opprobrium. All he assured Nigerians was that he was working, and he soon would turn everything to rights. A few months later, he fazed the city with an unprecedented supply of security cars, motorcycles, helicopters, walkie-talkies and other gizmos. A new regime of safety suddenly burst into town. The crime lords retreated. Also in a short while, the traffic snarl was contained.

    As he turns one as the helmsman of Lagos, few remember their grumbles. Even the critics have become grudging adulators. Following a tradition of Asiwaju Tinubu and Fashola, he has stamped his signature early. His appetite for development is big. I told a few critics who read this column that they should wait and they would be convinced. I said I had met him a few times before the election and knew he bounced with great zeal, ideas and competence. His resume, I said, was one of the best for governance we ever had in this country. Having worked in all parts of Lagos, he knew where the city hurt and healed.

    Some of them wrote to flay him in the early going, and I counseled patience. Once he settled in, some of them drew my attention to some things he had done even before I knew.

    Some of his early kudos have been in the area of rural Lagos. His infrastructure work, building roads with dual carriage patterns and opening some of the rustic part of the city have impressed citizens. I drove through the Third Mainland Bridge one night, and my car stopped when the security gadget tripped. I had no fear because the bridge was almost like daylight. The long, serpentine stretch of the bridge over the lagoon revealed every detail of lanes and automobile zipping by. No hoodlum could have menaced me without consequences, especially with police also at the ready. A friend once told me that right from work to home at night, all the streets are lighted.

    One of his virtues is his knowledge of the economy. With the economy in bad straits, it now looks like serendipity that an Ambode should hold the state. And he has proved the man to do it. With deft management of the infrastructure of collection, Lagos is perhaps the only prosperous state in the federation today. In the United States, California and New York are regarded separately as world economies, just like Ontario in Canada. Lagos can stand today as an economy in Africa, besting most countries. In the first quarter of this year, the state curled in N101 billion as revenue. This is why Lagos can also boldly pursue grand projects. For instance, Ambode just signed an MOU for the fourth mainland bridge, which could be completed before his first term is over, all things being equal. He also has started what might be the medical mecca of West Africa in Ikoyi.

    He has turned a whole community into a habitat of light, in Ibeju-Lekki where the government is paying the light bill until they get their metres.

    He is doing all these and more without what some thought was his inability to give soaring oratory. Ambode is a man of policy, not a figure of speech. He acts and allows his work, not words, to tell his story. The narrative, so far, is turning him into the alpha governor of today.

     

    Goodbye, Ali

    It was in 1979 at the Tafawa Balewa Square, and I was a student trying to board a bus home. Suddenly, a crowd surged outside the façade of the stadium, and I looked. To my astonishment, the man at the centre was a light-skinned fellow of buxom build faking boxing exchanges with little boys who were ecstatic to return their own fake jabs. The man, with handsome look and dainty footwork, was Muhammed Ali. He was visiting Nigeria to campaign over some humanitarian issue.

    That was my only sighting of Ali. The Greatest died, and I join others to mourn this great black man. He lived a life that is lacking today. A world where religion can be a platform for humane causes. A world where tribe and cant have replaced a multicultural bliss. We have BREXIT, Trump, ISIS, Boko Haram. He was a pugilist for justice. He fought against racism as a conscientious objector when others allowed themselves to die in an America that treated them as sub-human.

  • One year remembrance

    Family, friends and well wishers gathered on Saturday, April 25, to pray for  the late Mrs Victoria Rahkamel Adedayo, who passed on a year ago.

    A community leader and mother to many children, bothbiological and non-biological, Mrs. Adedayo was described as a pillar of support to the family.

    According to one of her children, “my mother is missed by all and sundry, this is due to her large heart. She was a philanthropist and a home maker, who touched many lives, irrespective of tribe, religion or race.

  • HGCC marks one year

    Activities marking the first year anniversary of the Hand of Grace Christian Centre (HGCC), Ibadan, presided over by Bishop Mike Olasunkanmi Afolabi, has been released. The anniversary will be a four-day programme, beginning on Friday.

    A statement by the anniversary’s Media and Publicity Committee said there would be Ministers’ Conference on Friday and Saturday at Faithjoe Event Centre, beside Alegongo Secondary School, Akobo, by 10 am.

    There will be a Rally and Word Feast in the evening between 5 and 7 pm.

    A special Sunday service, to be presided by Bishop Mike Afolabi, will include a segment devoted to mothers and then a Praise and Dinner Night, by 5 pm.

    The anniversary will be rounded off with an anointing service on Monday, May 11, by 6 am.

    Guest ministers include Rev. Simeon Afolabi and Bishop Mike Bamidele.

     

  • One year of Chibok girls in captivity horrible, says NCWS

    One year of Chibok girls in captivity horrible, says NCWS

    The National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) has described as tragic the inability of the Nigerian military with assistance from neighbouring countries  to rescue the missing Chibok  girls.

    The NCWS said “it is widely feared that they are not only being used as human shields during the ongoing military onslaught but also married off”.

    A statement by its Lagos chapter President, Mrs Iyabo Osifeso, said it was sad that the girls had spent an entire year away from their families, just because they wanted to learn.

    Mrs Osifeso said: “This has been a devastating year for schoolchildren in the North Eastern part of the country. We condemn the terrorist group’s atrocities, including abduction and use of children for suicide bombings.

    “As mothers, our hearts beat with sorrow the precarious state the girls must have found themselves for a whole 365 days in the wilderness.

    “We are equally worried how hundreds of thousands of children have been displaced from their homes and deprived of their rights to live and grow up in safety, dignity and peace. It is unfortunate that majority of those displaced are children and these children are out of school.”

    The body reiterated the need for government to address the issue with urgency.

    “It is high time government changed its tactics in engaging the insurgents. Trillions of naira expended on security must be accounted for. The issue of intelligence gathering among the various security operatives must be totally overhauled with the mindset of injecting fresh ideas that would make our security agents stand shoulder to shoulder with their counterparts in developed countries,” she said.

  • So it’s already one year since Chibok!

    Time is indeed a funny phenomenon. There are circumstances when five minutes – or even less – seems so long a time to wait. How many times have we waited impatiently for the traffic light to turn from red to green? Ironically, the most we have to wait for that change is usually 90 seconds. But it sometimes feels like a lifetime. It also seems to take so long for a water closet to refill with water when you just want to flush and get out. Yet, on the average, with a toilet that has good pressure, it may be less than one minute.

    Yet, there are other situations in which time simply mounts on wings and disappears. It was there all this while, you knew, but suddenly, it is gone, just when you need more of it.

    On Tuesday, it was exactly one year since Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from the Government Girls’ Secondary in Chibok, Borno State. It was unbelievable that 365 days had gone by – just like that – and the girls had not been found.  It was like we blinked our eyes and a year was over.  Was it not just recently that various versions of Madam First Lady’s “All this blood that we are sharing; there is God o!” was making rounds on the social media in the wake of the abduction?  Did not the global outcry over the missing girls contribute to the belated military offensive against the Boko Haram insurgents?

    Indeed one year is gone. What do we have to show for it?  Thankfully, greater military control protecting the integrity of our territory.  On another bright note, some of those who escaped, especially those who are schooling at the American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola, are enjoying high quality education that they did not get before the incident.  Their new experience has exposed them to what quality education is all about and they can now confidently aspire to become anything they want to be because they are in an environment that supports their dreams.  Goodwill is flowing their way from all over the world.  People are donating to fund their education at AUN through the university’s website.  They even have scholarship waiting for them to go further after their undergraduate studies.  The AUN President, Dr Margee Ensign, said universities are falling over themselves to take the girls.

    Their story is a testimony that the plans by the Boko Haram sect to kill western education has failed.  They are now more determined that education is the way out, and have bigger dreams than they did before.  They would become a force to reckon with by the time they are done.  We should expect them to become seasoned professionals who would lift their communities up from the doldrums and contribute to nation building as a whole.

    However, that 219 girls are still missing is a sad fact.  While we pray to still be able to rescue them, the time lapse makes it unlikely that they would all still be together.  Except by some miracle, which many are still praying for, we may not be able to get all of them back anymore.  On my way to work on that day, I listened in on conversation by commuters who wondered aloud about how many of the girls may have become mothers since their abductions.

    Testimonies of the lucky few that escaped about their suffering while in captivity and how they escaped are grim, not to mention the stories of those still in captivity.  There have been stories of rape, deaths, enslavement, deployment as lookouts, and other misfortunes that have befallen the girls.  Our earnest prayer is that they be found because a lot of good awaits them.  We pray they return to be re-united with their families and to enjoy the scholarship fund that Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenage Nobel Laureate, is raising for them.

    However, beyond prayers, we challenge our government to intensify efforts to find the girls.  If they have been able to recover territories from Boko Haram, then they can rescue the girls.  They and other children, men and women in captivity, do not deserve the hell they must be going through being held against their will.

    We also urge the government to fix the education sector so children can enjoy better quality education; provide counselling for children who have been victims of insurgency so they can overcome the trauma and live normal, fruitful lives.

  • Equities hit one-year low as bears bite harder

    |It was another day for the bears and they sank deeper into the marrows of the investors. Nigerian equities slumped to one-year low yesterday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as the downtrend at the stock market continued unabated. Investors lost N377 billion with average percentage loss during the five-hour trading session standing at -3.54 per cent.

    With more than four losers for every gainer, the overwhelming bearishness at the market was further evidenced by substantial losses recorded across the sectors. Losses ran into four to three digits as against few points recorded by gainers.

    The downtrend pushed average year-to-date loss at the equities market to -24.84 per cent. With four consecutive losses, the benchmark indices at the NSE slumped to 52-week low. The All Share Index (ASI), the composite index that tracks prices of all quoted equities, dropped from its opening index of 32,203.62 points to close at 31,062.03 points.

    Aggregate market value of all quoted equities slumped to N10.255 trillion compared with its opening value of N10.632 trillion, indicating a loss of N377 billion.

    Market analysts attributed the decline to selling pressure across the sectors as investors scrambled to exit equities and lock up funds in fixed assets.

    “Having sustained four days of consecutive loss with negative 6.5 per cent so far this week, we are of the view that the market for the week will most likely close within the negative territory. We advise investors to tread cautiously in taking opportunistic investment positions in trading sessions ahead as likely market drags at the moment outweigh the positive,” analysts at FSDH Securities noted in a post-trade investment report.

    Nestle Nigeria topped the losers’ list with a drop of N40.77 to close at N774.78. Seplat Petroleum Development Company followed with a drop of N17.09 to close at N324.83. Forte Oil placed third with a loss of N11.50 to close at N218.50. Nigerian Breweries declined by N8.06 to close at N153.25. Mobil Oil Nigeria lost N7.95 to close at N151.05. Guinness Nigeria dwindled by N6.79 to close at N129.06. Dangote Cement dropped by N5.51 to close at N157.99 while Flour Mills of Nigeria declined by N4.72 to close at N43.73 per share.

  • Felix Obuah… One year after

    Felix Obuah… One year after

    The Chief Felix Obuah-led executive of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State came on board on April 15, last year, through the judgment by Justice Ishaq Bello of an Abuja High Court, which sacked the Chief Godspower Ake-led executive of the party that is loyal to Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

    Members of the Ake-led executive challenged the judgment at the Court of Appeal, insisting that the suit should not have been filed at an Abuja High Court, equivalent of a Rivers State High Court, in a case involving the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which ought to have been filed at a Federal High Court. The case is still pending.

    The Obuah-led executive, according to the Abuja High Court, was duly elected at the Rivers state congress of the PDP, which took place on March 17, 2012 at the Alfred Diete-Spiff Civic Centre in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

    Shortly after Obuah became chairman, in the Rivers House of Assembly, five of the 32 lawmakers: Michael Okechukwu Chinda (Obio/Akpor II constituency), Kelechi Godspower Nwogu (Omuma), Evans Bipi (Ogu/Bolo), Martins Amewhule (Obio/Akpor I) and Victor Ihunwo (Port Harcourt III) switched loyalty to the Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike.

    Wike is also the grand patron of the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI).

    On April 22, last year, the then 27 pro-Amaechi lawmakers, in a 32-member House of Assembly, suspended the Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Council, Prince Timothy Nsirim; his deputy, Solomon Eke; and all the seventeen councillors.

    A seven-member caretaker committee, headed by Chikordi David Dike was screened by members of the Rivers Assembly on April 23 last year and inaugurated on the same day by the Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG), George Feyii, but unable to function effectively, with police sealing off the council secretariat on “order from above,” while ignoring the court order.

    The Obuah-led PDP asked Amaechi to recall the suspended Obio/Akpor officials, but the governor insisted that it was the responsibility of the lawmakers, who were investigating the allegations of misappropriation of funds and corruption levelled against them.

    The 27 lawmakers were eventually suspended from the PDP on April 29, 2013. Amaechi was later suspended from the ruling party by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP for anti-party activities and subsequently recommended for expulsion by the Rivers chapter of the party.

    Amaechi eventually defected to the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC). Many elected and appointed officials also joined him in the APC, which angered President Goodluck Jonathan and leaders of the PDP.

    Amaechi, an Ikwerre from Ubima in Ikwerre Local Government Area, declared that Wike, also an Ikwerre, from Rumuepirikom in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, would never succeed him in 2015, preferring somebody from another ethnic group or senatorial district.

    Wike said he is from Ikwerre South, while Amaechi is from Ikwerre North and that he is qualified to be next Rivers governor.

    To mark his first anniversary, Obuah hosted on Saturday, April 19, members of the PDP (formed on August 31, 1998), his associates and friends at the Krisdera Stadium of his Omoku hometown, the headquarters of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA in Orashi, Rivers state, where a former governor of the state, Dr. Peter Odili, hails from.

    PDP members came from the 23 local government areas of Rivers State and beyond, with the event held amid tight security. An unmarked Armoured Personnel Carrier was stationed at the main gate of the stadium. People were frisked by stern-looking and fully-armed riot policemen.

    The anniversary proper was preceded by a thanksgiving service at the stadium, with many clerics and gospel musicians in attendance, while cultural dancers were not left out in the carnival-like event, with politicians in attendance mostly wearing PDP uniform.

    The supervising minister of education, while speaking at the first anniversary, alleged that Amaechi and his supporters were jittery and afraid, with efforts allegedly being made by them to return to the PDP from the APC.

    He also accused the NGF chairman of planting moles in the PDP, claiming that members of the party knew them and their movements.

    Wike described Rivers as a PDP state, while stating that the party would take over the seat of power in Rivers in 2015, from the APC.

    Wike said: “When the Chairman (Obuah) and his team won on April 15, 2013, they said in the next three weeks, the judgment would be set aside. They are one year and they (Amaechi and his supporters) have moved to another party.

    “Instead for them to concentrate on what is happening in their party, they are interested in what is happening in the PDP and they are all making efforts to come back to the party.

    “What is important to us is how PDP will take back the seat of Government House, Port Harcourt in 2015. Let Amaechi not rush. Let him take it calmly. Let him take it easy. He has been telling various stories to different people and groups. All those people he has planted in PDP. We are aware. We know them and we know their movements.

    “They are saying it is the turn of this and that. Come to the party. The party will tell you the war canoe house it is going. Come and participate in the affairs of the party, in order to be waxing stronger.

    “We will not disappoint you. All of us, we are working as a team. Do not bother about their abuse. We are all human beings. People must abuse us. We are still moving forward. The best material will emerge. PDP does everything openly. APC is one man’s party. PDP is the people’s party.”

    The supervising minister of education also stated that anybody who was committed to the affairs of the PDP, who believed in the party, would make sacrifice, reiterating that members of the PDP were one family, which he claimed was why APC members were afraid.

    He noted that there must be a party first, for people to say they wanted to vie, while urging all the members of the PDP in Rivers state to come together and work for the party.

    Wike said: “Rivers State belongs to all of us. Nobody will leave this state for any other person. If you want to fly the flag of this party, come to the ward, the local government, the state and make sure you support the activities of the party. Even if you have all the contacts in the world, you cannot be imposed on anybody. Let nobody be deceived.”

    The Rivers Chairman of the PDP, in his welcome address, noted that the road in the last one year had been characterised by some challenges and obstacles, but still with some inspiring moments, with the challenges and obstacles surmounted through the support of the members of the PDP and their dedication to the party.

    He noted that his stolen mandate was restored by the judgment of the Abuja high court, through the support of Wike, who was described as a liberator, with the founding members of the PDP in Rivers, who left the party now returning.

    Obuah said: “Let me restate my resolve to give equal opportunity and a level playing field to every party member to express his or her political rights, as we approach the 2015 general elections, irrespective of social status, height and body weight, ethnic background, religious affiliation or colour.

    “One of the cardinal principles and core values of the PDP relates to justice, equity and fairness, without which political relations soon degenerate into bitter conflicts and an inhuman power game and this I will discourage.

    “We shall not succumb to intimidation and blackmail. We have been able to reconcile, restructure and reposition the party in all the wards of the state. We have been able to re-establish the party as the only viable option for the liberation and elevation of Rivers State and its people.”

    The Rivers PDP chairman also urged members of the party in the state to work for and support the re-election of President Jonathan in 2015, whom he said must be delivered 100 per cent, while admonishing the party faithful to continue to be loyal to the PDP.

    While also speaking, a former governorship candidate, Chief Sergeant Awuse, aka Bulldozer, noted that when the journey started a year ago, to some people, it was an impossibility, claiming that God made it possible.

    Awuse also alleged that PDP was dead in Rivers state, before the revolution started, shortly after the emergence of Obuah as the helmsman, stating that many people, including him, were chased out of the party, with many founding members of the PDP back, which he said was made possible by Wike.

    A former member of the House of Representatives from Rivers state, Chief Olaka Worgu, while also speaking at the first anniversary, alleged that when some unnamed persons tried to kill the PDP in Rivers State, the court rescued it.

    A former Rivers Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs. Toru Ofili, claimed that Wike had brought Rivers people out of bondage, while assuring that Rivers people, especially the women, would support the supervising minister of education to the Government House, Port Harcourt in 2015, while urging him to listen to the cries of Rivers people and vie.

    As Obuah and members of his executive are in their second year, which is very crucial, since primaries of political parties and general elections will be held during the period, efforts must be made not to heat up the polity in the volatile Niger Delta state.

  • Uppercut is one year today hurray!

    Today marks the one year anniversary of Uppercut and I must sincerely thank all those who inspired me to commence this noble venture more importantly, I wish to thank my very good brother and friend Mr. Ade Ojeikere who confronted me while we were in Liberia to watch one of the Super Eagles matches. He was the one that actually encouraged me to start writing according to his words “ why don’t you consider contributing your thoughts or you want to hide this your Ph.D without impacting people abi” as funny as it sounded I promised him that as soon as I get back home I will do something and so it was.

    I also must thank my dear son, Alexander and daughter Atarah not forgetting my loving wife, Jummai who will always ensure that she gets her copy of SportingLife every Saturday just to read my column. Also, I thank my boss Musa Amadu (General Secretary NFF) for his kind words of encouragement when I started as well as Mr. Ademola Olajire, the Assistant Director Media of the NFF not to talk of the numerous readers of my column across the country whose words of encouragement through sms, and emails have spurred me on in continuing this great mission. I must also thank my professional colleagues and my lecturers, especially Prof. Babatunde Asagba of the University of Ibadan for his continuous comments on my column I thank you all. Finally, I thank the most high God who has bestowed me with the wisdom and grace to write, may his name be forever praised.

    Within the year under review we have been able to discuss on a number of issues namely; The big question, Accidental sport administrators, Analog sport coaches, Athlete’s commercial patriotism, Stadium collaborative construction, Challenges of sport institutions, Promoting sport economy, Culture of sport criminality, Managing sport nepotism, Winning investors confidence, Sport innovation and reality, Clandestine sport cabal, Sport academy enigma, Sport political intrigues, Sport chronicle 2012, Setting 2013 sport agenda, The science of sport, Sport bureaucracy, Collective bargaining in sports, Sport socialization in South Africa, Super Eagles rebranding Nigeria, Service without honour, Sport sponsorship enigma, Promoting sport business, Benefits beyond Estacode, Unwanted sport Commissioner, Sport safety and security, Sport is a media event, Formation of athlete’s council, Enhancing sport personnel productivity, The painful truth, National lottery and sport development, Namibia sport brand projection personified, Sport and spirituality, Recycled Federations’ no policy, Football clubs modern slavery mechanism, Women in sports, Private sector conspiracy of silence, Losing the steam in school sports, Need for adopting long –term athlete development model, Leadership change in sport organizations, Diversity of sport and Curbing sport hooliganism

    In commemorating this year’s anniversary, I have selected the following comments from readers and I feel I should also share their thoughts about Uppercut as we all celebrate the one year anniversary of Uppercut. The following comments were not edited in any way.

    Dr. Emeruwa, “UPPERCUT” has been entertaining, analytical, educative and well-researched. In your second year I look forward to reading interviews you would be having with sports administrators and athletes from all over the world. I trust you can do that and take your column out of the academic premise as it were now. Congrats on your first year anniversary. – Olukayode Kazeem, Ketu, Lagos (08023339470)

    Am always okay with whatever you come up with every weekend as regards this column. You are good and very creative. Keep it up.- Joseph Nelson, From Okitipupa, Ondo State (08161775066).

    I thank Uppercut for its enriching and indepth analysis of sports. I urge sports administrators in Nigeria to make Uppercut a –must-read. Ride on. Finzo, Portharcourt (07012330819)

    Hello Sir, Uppercut is one of the most articulate and educative write up after my heart. More power to your elbow. Dosunmu Kazeem, Surulere, (08055340351)

    Chris your writeup is balance but the problem is it going to the right direction? (I mean oga at the top) are they reading your column? From. Victor, Illorin (08024986886)

    Dear Dr. Chris Emeruwa (Uppercut) your column in the sporting life is dynamic and fantastic please keep it up. Aliche Sam, Enugu (08032740984)

    Uppercut defines sports and the principles in sports. It’s such a turning point for sports administrators and sport lovers. Gracias. Taiwo Taiye from Sagamu (08133828080)

    I never knew what is hooliganism if not for uppercut, thanks for the education. I now understand that hooliganism have made it difficult 4 away matches to be won in Nigeria’s football league. So as uppercut marks her 1st year anniversary am wishing her more wisdom, strength and resources to continue this work toward getting rid of hooliganism in our soccer system. Deezia Lebura Paul. 100 Rumuola Road Portharcourt, Rivers State. (07068551056)

    It is worthy to mention here that the compilation into a book of all published articles within this first year is currently on the way and as soon as it is published I will communicate to all readers on how to get a copy. Congratulations to us all.

  • One year after Mali coup

    One year after Mali coup

    The aim at first was simply to organise a protest march. The soldiers stationed in the town of Kati were unhappy with the government and with their generals. The latter were criticised for not properly equipping the army for the battle against rebels in northern Mali. But then the situation escalated.

    On March 21, 2012 soldiers led by Captain Amadou Sanogo hurled stones at a general who tried to persuade them to abandon their protest, seized six light-wheeled tanks and set off for the presidential palace in the capital Bamako, some 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) away.

    The protest march had turned into a coup. Within a few hours the mutineers had seized control of the presidential palace. President Amadou Toure disappeared. Captain Sanogo, a junior officer, was suddenly in charge.

    For Mali the coup marked the start of descent into chaos. Islamists and Tuareg rebels exploited the weakness of the Malian army and the political uncertainty in Bamako to seize control of the northern part of the country. The Tuareg rebels wanted to establish an autonomous state, however Islamist groups won the upper hand and imposed a reign of violence based on their interpretation of Islamic sharia law. Hundreds of thousands of Malians fled to neighboring countries or to Bamako in the south. They arrived in packed buses, in search of peace.

    One year later, the Binke bus station in Bamako is again crowded. People wait patiently in line, this time queuing up to buy tickets back to the north. “Yes, there’s great demand,” confirms Ismael Maiga who sells tickets for the journey to Gao, the largest town in northern Mali. “Everyone wants to go back home,” Maiga told DW. “We’ve been here for too long,” chips in a man in the queue who didn’t want to give his name. “We don’t feel at home in the south. We need to go back home now that peace has returned.”

    International intervention

    The Islamists are no longer in control in the north since the French army, together with soldiers from Chad and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), intervened. This came after months of wrangling between the United Nations, ECOWAS and the African Union over the deployment of African troops. In January 2013 French helicopters and fighter planes began to bombard Islamist positions to halt their advance on Bamako. Since then, rebels have been expelled from all major towns in the north.

    The German airforce, the Luftwaffe, is also supporting the mission. Three transport planes are being used to convey troops from neighboring ECOWAS states to Mali. Another plane is based in West Africa to refuel the French jets in the air. In this way Germany is making a relevant contribution to the international operation, said Jörg Bartl, a lieutenant colonel with the Luftwaffe command. “Both air transport and midair refueling are important elements of the overall operation,” Bartl told DW.

    Mission could last longer

    Another useful contribution will be Germany’s participation in the European training mission that is due to start in April 2013. This was underlined by German Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière on a visit to Mali on Monday March 18, 2013.

    A team from Germany will train and equip Malian soldiers and medical officers will set up a field hospital. The lower house of the German parliament, the Bundestag, has given the green light for the Bundeswehr to send 330 soldiers to Mali for a year to complete this assignment.

    While in Mali, de Maizière said he made no secret of the fact that patience would be required, a reference to the likelihood that the presence of European soldiers in Mali could last longer than originally planned. Critics warn that the dimensions of the conflict and the fragilie political situation in Bamako speak against the Bundeswehr leaving again after just one year. They fear a situation could develop similar to Afghanistan where German soldiers have been stationed since 2002. However Lieutenant Colonel Bartl sees only one similarity with the war in Afghanistan. “The current strategy of the rebels in Mali is to avoid direct confrontation.” Like the Taliban in Afghanistan, sections of the Islamist rebels have pulled back to areas difficult to access, such as the Ifhogas mountains in northeast Mali.

    Elections in July

    In the capital Bamako interim president Dioncounda Traore is attempting to restore political stability. The former president of Mali’s National Assembly took over from Captain Sanogo in April 2012 following pressure from neighboring countries. European governments in particular have been pressing for the reintroduction of democratic structures so that Traore’s position can be legitimized through elections. To add weight to these demands, Germany suspended development aid to Mali. In the meantime President Traore has announced that presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in July 2013.

    Not everyone is convinced this will actually happen. Professor Djeneba Traore (no relation to the interim president) is the Malian head of the West Africa Institute in Praia, capital of Cape Verde.

    “If we want people in the north to take part in the elections, then tthe poll must be prepared with great care,” Traore told DW. “In my opinion it is impossible to prepare elections in such a short time.”

    Djeneba Traore hopes the next 12 months in Mali will be less turbulent. At least there appear to be no major obstacles in the way of a return to democracy and peace. Although Captain Sanogo continued to play a role in Malian politics after handing over power to the interim president, he has told DW that he does not intend to stand in the elections. In his words, what is important now is to make good use of the opportunity for a new beginning.