Unease in Isoko North over planned replacement of Owhefere
U. S.- based artist, E’major, arrives in Enugu
PEOPLES Democratic Party ( PDP) groups in Isoko North Council Area of Delta State, including stakeholders, youths and women ha ve resisted the choice of Jude Ogbimi as replacement for late Tim Kome Owhefere, who represented Isoko North Constituency in the state House of Assembly.
An aide to the late Owhefere, Udo Gospel, lamented that PDP leaders in the area did not consult widely before presenting Ogbimi to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, as preferred candidate for the vacant seat, noting that the decision was wrong and should be reversed immediately.
Udo told The Guardian that Leo Okuweh Ogor, who represents Isoko Constituency in the House of Representatives, presented Ogbimi’s name to Governor Okowa during Owhefere’s burial at Akiowhe.
He said PDP leaders, who hosted the governor ganged up to destroy the good works and structures the late Owhefere had put in in the constituency.
THE long awaited Southeast Sports Foundation athletics meet will hold tomorrow at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu. The event, earlier scheduled for Friday, March 19, was brought back to tomorrow due to scheduling hiccups.
The organisers are said to be having hectic time controlling the large number of athletes who have registered for the event.
Last week, the Athletics Department of Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, U. S., offered 23 pairs of spike shoes and jogging shoes for athletes to compete in the competition.
The South East Sports Foundation is a pet project of U. S.- based Nigerian former athlete, Victor Okorie, who was one of the most gifted hurdlers to rise from the nation’s school sports system. Okorie, who won a silver medal for Team Nigeria at COJA 2003 All Africa Games in Abuja, has been bankrolling a scholarship programme for athletes and training some Nigerian coaches at the National Institute For Sports ( NIS) in Lagos. The competition is open to all Nigerian athletes.
The organisers have promised to provide hotel accommodations, transportation, and feeding for 95 participants, including 50 athletes and some coaches within the Southeast zone.
MEANWHILE, Nigerian-American hiphop and reggae artist based in Minnesota, U. S., E’major, has arrived in Enugu ahead of the competition. E’major, who was in Lagos on Sunday to celebrate the 2021 Women’s Day, is expected to thrill athletes and spectators at the competition. Two other Nigerian hiphop and reggae artists, Leo Saint, and Badmanq, are expected to team up with E’major at the event tomorrow.
Athletes are expected to arrive in the coal city today to compete the following day in 100m ( men and women), 200m ( men and women), 400m ( men and women) and the jumps.