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NFF gives 20-hour blow by blow account of ordeal of Super Eagles in Libya
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) gave blow by blow account of the incident Super Eagles and its officials went through in 20 points of 20-hour ordeal
According to NFF’s Director of Communications, Dr Ademola Olajire, a point-by-point account of how a keenly-anticipated Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match was relegated to a fiasco by Libyan federal authorities and Football Federation was narrated.
The chartered ValueJet aircraft departed from the Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo at 11.55hours on Sunday, 13th October 2024, and landed at the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano at 13.10hours, for the completion of immigration formalities and for the aircraft to refuel.
_2) The aircraft took off from Kano at 15.18hours, for the 3 hours and 35 minutes flight to Benghazi, Libya, expecting to arrive a few minutes before 8pm Libya time.
_3) Just as he was about to commence his initial approach into Benghazi, the captain (pilot) was instructed by the control tower that he could not land in Benghazi (despite having all the required landing papers and having completed all formalities before leaving Uyo and later, Kano, but should proceed to the Al-Abraq International Airport, even though the airport lacked the control navigators for landing at such hours.
He complained that he was short on fuel but his words fell on deaf ears as he was told in stern manner that the directive was from ‘higher authorities
4) On landing at the Al-Abraq International Airport, in the small town of Labraq, at 19.50hours, it was clear that the airport was not a well-utilized facility. There were no scanning machines or the usual equipment for this service, and officials had to make do with mobile phones to scan passport data pages.
_5) The delegation, which included 22 players and team officials; NFF President Alh. Ibrahim Musa Gusau; Deputy Governor of Edo State, Comrade Philip Shaibu; a couple of NFF Board members; NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi; a couple of parliamentarians; a couple of NFF Management; a couple of media representatives and; a couple of stakeholders, was shown scant respect by the airport authorities who applied curt manners and stern tones.
_6) It took over one hour for the team’s luggage to roll through the carousel, despite the fact that the bags and other items had already been hauled from the aircraft immediately on arrival.
_7) No official of the Libyan Football Federation was at the airport to receive the delegation, as is the best practice globally. Airport officials could not answer the simple question on where the buses that would take the delegation members back to Benghazi (where the NFF had booked hotel rooms) were.
_8) When delegation members including the NFF President, Comrade Shaibu and Dr Sanusi attempted to venture outside the airport to ascertain if there were vehicles waiting for the team, they were stopped in the most uncouth of manners by airport security personnel.
_9) Calls to the General Secretary of LFF, Mr. Abdul-Nasser by Dr Sanusi yielded no fruits as the former kept promising that the buses would arrive in ‘10 minutes’, which later became ‘two hours’, and afterwards, ‘three hours.’ Later in the evening, it was no longer possible to reach him on the phone. Frustrated by this attitude, Dr Sanusi approached the security operatives to request that the team be allowed to go out and board the buses the NFF eventually hired.
This request was rejected with insults. It took the intervention of the NFF dignitaries to prevent what would have escalated into a row as the NFF President himself was not spared when he heard exchange of voices between the security personnel and his General Secretary. This aggravated the tension and further frustrated the team
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Davido’s father, Adedeji narrates how govt officials want to frustrate his power plant project
Adedeji Adeleke, the father of the award-winning superstar, David, popularly called Davido, has revealed what he went through securing the environmental permit for his power plant worth over $2 billion.
The billionaire industrialist disclosed this while speaking as a Layperson from the West-Central Africa Division during the Seventh Day Adventist General Conference Annual Council on Tuesday, which was held in Maryland, United States of America.
While sharing his experience as a Baptist member, Adeleke recounted how he ran into bottlenecks with ‘difficult government officials’, with a particular official saying to him that the project would never ‘see the light of day’.
He said he went on his knees and prayed to God because he did not want to accept the government official’s statement as the final say for his company, Pacific Energy which was closely working with Chinese engineering companies for the construction and design of the power projects.
“I am a businessman in Nigeria. I’m into the electricity business. I own a power plant, I generate about 15 per cent of the electricity needs for Nigeria. I have Chinese engineering companies that work for me. I’m building the biggest power plant in Nigeria that will be completed in January 2025. It is a 1,250-megawatt power plant.
“During the course of the design and getting the permit, we ran into difficult government officials. For environmental reasons, our permit was denied, and the particular government officials that I held a meeting with told me to my face that my project would never see the light of the day. But while he was saying that, I was saying in my mind that this guy is talking as if he is God. I was saying in my mind that God should listen to him; Because he is not God, whatever he is saying is null and void.”
“So I left, disappointed and I told my Chinese friends that unfortunately we have difficulty and this project is going to stall. Meanwhile, the project is worth about $2 billion. In the process, a lot of money had already gone into the design and preliminaries. Before we get to the stage where we would need a permit and then break ground. So my Chinese friend was worried because the Afrexim Bank of China was involved so that meant bankruptcy for him. I told him not to worry,” he said.
Adeleke further stressed that his Chinese friend had to travel down to Nigeria to discuss a way out because he never believed that prayer was enough to get the project done, noting that it did as the then Minister of Power granted the approval because he saw that the project was a brilliant one.
Recall that Adeleke had earlier spoken about this power project while delivering a lecture note at the 9th graduation ceremony of Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State in July 2023
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Yoruba Nation: Stop intimidating British High Commissioner, Igboho cautions FG
Yoruba nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, otherwise known as Sunday Igboho, has warned the Federal Government against intimidating the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, over his recent petition on the Yoruba nation.
Recall Igboho had, on Saturday, submitted a 25-page petition to the office of UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, at 10 Downing Street, London, pushing for the recognition of a sovereign Yoruba nation.
In a statement personally signed by Igboho and made available to newsmen on Wednesday, the activist described the reported summoning of Montgomery by the Nigerian government as unnecessary, labelling it an attempt to pressure the diplomat.
He insisted that such moves would not derail the ongoing push for a Yoruba nation.
The statement read, “The British government colonised Nigeria, and we are well within our rights to submit a petition to them regarding our demand for a sovereign Yoruba nation. Nigeria gained independence on October 1, 1960, from the British government, but the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates in 1914 was a decision made by the British.”
Igboho argued that Yoruba people have a constitutional right to demand secession 100 years after the amalgamation, calling the union a “marriage of inconvenience.”
“The main reason we submitted our letter to the UK government is to have them serve as a witness before the United Nations whenever the issue of the Yoruba nation is brought up at an international level,” the statement continued.
He added that the standard response time for such official letters is around two weeks, suggesting that Prime Minister Starmer might not have even read the petition yet.
However, Igboho reassured the Yoruba people that the intimidation tactics of the Nigerian government would not deter the movement.
The statement added, “We remain committed to peaceful, non-violent, and legitimate methods of ensuring the birth of a Yoruba nation. Our people should stay calm and resolute, confident in our collective struggle for emancipation so that we can harness our great potential in a vibrant Yoruba nation once it is created out of the current Nigerian contraption.”
Igboho further stated that the summoning of Montgomery in Abuja would not halt the campaign, adding that he would not hesitate to rally global support for the cause.
“We will continue to seek international backing and bring our agenda before the global community,” the statement concluded.
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