Djokovic, Osaka, Serena, Thiem, others advance on opening day
NAOMI Osaka of Japan opened proceedings in Rod Laver Arena with a quick victory over Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova but the curtain came down on a thriller by Canada’s Denis Shapovalov and Italy’s Jannick Sinner on day one of the Australian Open. The top seeded Novak Djokovic, was in perfect form with his 6/ 3, 6/ 1, 6/ 2 victory over Jeremy Chardy of France.
In this third career meeting, Pavlyuchenkova won the toss and elected to receive. It did not favour her as Osaka took the first game and broke her opponent’s serve to lead 2- 0. The world number extended the lead 3- 0. Pavlyuchenkova lost four game points before conceding the fourth game but she took Osaka’s serve to register on scoreboard. A double fault serve gave Osaka the sixth game and she served out the set after 33 minutes of play.
Pavlyuchenkova served first in the second set and held for 1- 0. Osaka leveled without dropping a point on serve, broke her opponent to lead 2- 1 and extended the gap to 3- 1 in a quick service game. Games proceeded with serve but Osaka was taken to deuce in the sixth game with an exclamation.
She stepped out to serve for the match, after taking Pavlyuchenkova’s serve to lead 5- 2. She lost the first two points for 0- 30 but took three points to reach match point, in which a long rally ended with Pavlyuchenkova’s shot landing over the baseline.
The older Williams sister, Venus played against Belgium’s Flipkens. Kirsten saved three break points in the sixth game and broke Venus’ serve in the seventh game to lead 4- 3. The 40year- old Venus broke back and held two service games to take the set 7/ 5. She raced through the second set, winning it at 5/ 2 to advance to second round. The younger Williams’ sister, Serena, lost the opening service game but rolled past Germany’s Laura Siegemund 6/ 1, 6/ 1.
SOMETIME last year retired Air Commodore Idongesit Nkanga had called me to say that he would like me to be the reviewer of his biography which he planned to launch on January 27, 2021 when he would be 69. The book which is written by Mr Princewill Isong Daniel is a documentation of his flight from the tarmac of his career as an airforce man and politician to the pinnacle of national recognition. January 27, 2021 came and I did not have the opportunity of reviewing the book because Idongesit Nkanga had died 34 days before his 69th birthday. Nkanga was the first indigenous Governor of Akwa Ibom State and stayed in office from September 5, 1990 to January 2, 1992. Before then the young state had two governors who were non- indigenes namely Col Tunde Ogbeha from Kogi State and Col. Godwin Abbe from Edo State. It was unclear why the military which had established a tradition of appointing military officers as Governors to states other than their own sent Nkanga to his own Akwa Ibom State.
That policy had two sides; the advantage was that the indigene- Governor might know the lay of the land better and show a deeper commitment than the non- indigene. The disadvantage was that the indigene could be easily ensared by ethnic bigots and force him into an ethnic cocoon.
They did that to Nkanga forcing him to stop the broadcast of news in all vernacular languages other than Ibibio, the language of the majority tribe to which Nkanga belonged. This caused a lot of tension in the state. I was miffed for two reasons ( a) I was married to an Ibibio girl and I am of the Annang stock. Does it mean that the Ibibios think I am inferior and should not have been allowed to marry their daughter? What will happen to my children whose feet are in the two tribes, who speak a mish- mash of Ibibio and Annang and are married to people from various parts of the country? What will happen to me and my wife who teach each other proverbs of the two tribes? I wondered.
Many years later whether my three brothers who got married to Ibibio girls a few years later would have decided otherwise because of the ethnic bigotry that some small- minded people had tried to impose on the state. If that happened love would have lost and bigotry would have won. ( b) At a philosophical and practical level I believe in diversity and inclusivity. I know that diversity is not a crime. It can only bring the crème de la crème to the table.
American President Joe Biden has appointed four brilliant Nigerians into his government. I was sure then as I am now that language does not divide people. It is small- mindedness that does. For the past 37 years I have had the honour of working closely with three other Nigerians from various parts of the country: Dan Agbese ( Benue), Yakubu Mohammed ( Kogi) and Soji Akinrinade ( Osun). None of us speaks the other’s vernacular language. We only speak to each other in English or pidgin yet we have remained strong partners and friends, infact brothers and people wonder whether or not, we do disagree with each other. Of course, we do, we argue, we shout, we pound the table but we remain friends and partners. For us ethnicity is never an issue. Religion is never an issue. Friendship, open- mindedness and professionalism are the threads that bind us together. Those are our survival kits. I was Editor in Chief of Newswatch when the language issue became news. I decided to find out from Vice President Augustus Aikhomu whether it was the policy of
the Ibrahim Babangida government to move against the languages spoken by minorities. He said it wasn’t and that it was actually more beneficial to any government if its policies can be communicated in several languages to the citizens. He promised to get the policy of restricting broadcasts only to Ibibio language reversed. That was done. Nkanga was freed from the tension that had gripped the state. The peaceful resolution of the matter put a spring in his feet. This humble, affable man of good manners used his ingenuity, along with his Deputy, an experienced public servant, Ufot Ekaette to build within 10 months 10 blocks of three storeys buildings which has today been named Idongesit Nkanga Secretariat. It may look like an insignificant achievement today but in those days the money was simply trickling in and no one even believed that the gigantic project would be completed by the Nkanga government. He and his Deputy were practically at the site everyday supervising contractors until the work was done and dusted.
Nkanga was not menacing as a military man but he was self- assured and had a quiet air of authority, rare warmth and an organisational muscle that he took with him to every assignment he was given. His brilliance may not have been noticed except by those very close to him because he was not a loud and noisy fellow.
One day Mr Clement Ebri a man with whom I had worked in the Nigerian Chronicle in Calabar before he became Governor of Cross River State showed up at my door in Ikeja GRA, in Lagos with Nkanga, years after both of them had ceased to be Governors of their states. As they entered Ebri said “I want you guys to hug each other. This problem must be resolved today.” I was totally at a loss because I did not see the language conflict as a problem between the two of us. Once it was resolved I was fine. My upbringing teaches me that people are just people and that in every tribe there are good and bad people. What matters is what values they bring to the table. So I make friends with people of various tribes and stripes provided we have some shared values. No language is superior or inferior. Your language is dear to you as mine is dear to me. You cannot make your language dearer to me than my own is to you or to me. More fundamentally no one chose who his parents would be. So the tribe to which you belong is purely an accident which you had no hand in bringing about.
Nigeria will only be truly united when we learn to accept the existential reality of our diversity and govern in consonance with that reality. That is a fundamental problem of the Buhari presidency. It didn’t start today. It has been a major issue in the Nigerian Armed Forces and other Federal Agencies. Nkanga would not have been military Governor of Akwa Ibom State if Air Marshal Nsikak Eduok, now dead, had not intervened. This is how it happened. The Ghanaian Staff College was an elite college for brilliant service men. Idongesit Nkanga was one of the brilliant Air men selected for the course. On his return he was not immediately deployed. There was a tribal gang- up against him as narrated by Nsikak Eduok. Eduok was asked by the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Nuriadeen Yusuf to recommend six Nigerian Air Force officers to be appointed as State Military Governors. On the day he and his colleague went to submit the list, he was worrying about the illtreatment given to Nkanga without knowing that his face gave him away. As he entered Yusuf read his mood and asked what was his problem. “Nothing Sir,” Eduok said. But Yusuf pressed further and asked him to talk frankly to him as a son to a father. He did, saying that the conditions for appointing military governors seemed deliberately weighted against his own people so even as the
on“Nigeria will ly be truly united when we learn to accept the existential reality of our diversity and govern in consonance with that reality. That is a fundamental problem of the Buhari presidency. It didn’t start today. It has been a major issue in the Nigerian Armed Forces and other Federal Agencies. Nkanga would not have been military Governor of Akwa Ibom State if Air Marshal Nsikak Eduok, now dead, had not intervened. This is how it happened. The Ghanaian Staff College was an elite college for brilliant service men