Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong has taken responsibility for Nigeria’s surprising 2-1 defeat to the Amavubi of Rwanda in their final 2025.

AFCON qualifier on Monday, November 18.

The match, hosted at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, saw Nigeria initially take the lead through a stunning effort by Samuel Chukwueze. However, defensive lapses led to Rwanda equalizing with a free kick and eventually scoring a decisive second goal due to poor defensive coordination.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Troost-Ekong expressed his disappointment in the defensive performance, particularly his role as a leader at the back. “As captain and the last man in defence, I know we should have done better. I take full responsibility for our shortcomings,” he admitted.

He also highlighted the challenge posed by set-piece situations, which proved critical in the game. “Set pieces can trouble any team, and unfortunately, they cost us today. But I acknowledge that as a team leader, I need to ensure more defensive stability,” Troost-Ekong added.

The Super Eagles’ unexpected defeat has sparked discussions about their preparation and squad composition ahead of the upcoming AFCON tournament.

The federal government has been urged to implement the same-s3x marriage prohibition Act of 2013 to enforce deterrence.

The National President, Association of Papal Knights and Medalists in Nigeria, Rt. Hon Commander Steve Adehi stated this on the backdrop of brewing transgender individuals in Nigeria, citing Okuneye Idris popularly known as Bobrisky.

The president stressed this during the press conference in commemoration of the 16th Annual National Conference of the Association of Papal Knights and Medalists in Nigeria (APKMN), themed, ‘Living an Authentic Catholic Life: Challenges and Opportunities in Nigeria’.

“Well, the position of the Church is very clear. We are against all those forms and those types of living. A man carrying out himself to be like a woman, or a woman living like a man. These are all the things that we are complaining about.

“And men trying to be like women and all that. The Church condemns it in its entirety. Which means, we condemn what this young man is doing. And we condemn other people who live, who also live differently from what God has given to them as their s3x,” he said.

He identified lack of training as the bane of poor leadership, urging the federal and sub-national governments to imbibe Catholic social teachings as preconditions for becoming leaders.

The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Mohammad Abubakar II, has countered the notion that traditional rulers are afraid of State Governors.

The Sultan said traditional rulers were ruling the country even before Nigeria was born in 1960, adding that as monarchs they have more stake and understanding of the country than governors.

He stated this in Abuja on Tuesday at a Stakeholders’ roundtable on Northern Nigerian Youth Development, organized by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation.

The traditional ruler was also responding to the assertion by the former Governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu, who said traditional rulers were afraid of their state Governors.

According to the Sultan, “I heard that traditional rulers are afraid of their governors. No, traditional rulers are not afraid of the governors. Traditional rulers are only respecting themselves, respecting the governors who have authority in the various states, not fear.

“Whenever anything is done, we don’t give up. We leave everything to Almighty Allah, who brought changes to the world and we accept changes as there are.

“Because we all knew, before the governors came to be, our institutions had been ruling the present Nigeria since 1914. There was no Nigeria then before we got independence in 1960. So we have more stake as traditional leaders in the country because we know what our people feel and we are honest with them and we don’t run away whenever anything happens.”