And Four Other Things…
GO FOR GOLD!
Displaying more of grit and less of panache, the Super Eagles are one match away from winning Nigeria’s fourth Africa Cup of Nations title. I believe I am speaking on behalf of millions of Nigerians when I say we are aiming for the trophy against Côte d’Ivoire today, having painfully lost four finals before. The way Nigerians of all “tribes and tongues” have been celebrating our outings once again confirms my bias — that we really love this country. We do not hate one another. It is just that our leaders have politically mismanaged our emotions. We are united by sport, Afrobeats and Nollywood but divided by politicians. Imagine how great Nigeria would be with quality leadership. Unstoppable.
AFRODEMOCRACY AGAIN
Senegal, one of the most politically stable African countries with no history of military intervention, is on the verge of a debilitating crisis with the strange conduct of President Macky Sall, who is due to step down as president this year after serving two terms. It is very clear that he wants to handpick his successor and is afraid of a strong opposition candidate being elected. In the typical behaviour of African leaders who have no respect for the liberal principles of democracy, he had been clamping down on opposition leaders and has now postponed the election, the first time ever, to “resolve” the crisis he orchestrated. And to think this man came to power as an opposition leader! Nauseating.
RIP, KT
I lost a dear friend on Wednesday. Kayode Tijani, the sports journalist and archivist, died at 55 after a prolonged illness, dating back to the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt in 2019. He went there whole and returned in bad shape, never to recover. KT, as we called him, was one of the most knowledgeable sports journalists in Nigeria and had an incredible trove of videos on the country’s sporting history dating back to the 1960s. He worked at a number of reputable media organisations home and abroad. He was one of the major supporters of TheCable, the online newspaper I founded 10 years ago. I pray that his family, friends and fans will be comforted at these difficult times. Devastating.
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Something to celebrate: The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says it has commenced oil production from the Akpo West field in Port Harcourt, Rivers state. This will add 14,000 barrels per day to our production. It may look small — compared to 250,000bpd from Agbami — but given the various mortgages on our future oil production, this is better than nothing. The NNPC said the new production “is in line with President Bola Tinubu’s directive”. Have you noticed that many statements from government agencies these days start with “in line with President Tinubu’s vision” or “renewed hope agenda”? Is it a standing order or the signature tune? Wonderful.