Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Ex-Nigeria international Obodo left traumatised after second kidnapping

Former Nigeria midfielder Christian Obodo is traumatised after he was kidnapped in the country's oil-rich Delta state for the second time in eight years.


The 36-year-old, who spent over a decade in the Italy's Serie A, was dragged from his car by unknown gunmen on Sunday after parking to buy fruit in the southern city of Warri.

"I was forcefully taken at gunpoint on refinery road not too far from my house, blindfolded and forced into the passenger seat of my car," Obodo told BBC Sport Africa, as he revealed dramatic details of his seizure.

"They started punching me and one of them threatened to shoot me in the head if I don't stay calm and quiet, it was at this point that I explained to them who I was and probably not who they were looking for.

"One of them recognised my name as the footballer, that was when I knew I wasn't targeted, but randomly picked up by these guys.

"It was really traumatising because the motives were unclear and being subjected to another abduction is very cruel.

"They took my diamond earrings, wrist watch, necklace and demanded for money, but I told them I only had my bank cards."

To make things even worse for Obodo he was locked in the boot of his car as his abductors decided to empty his account.

"I was kept in my boot for more than four hours. They started emptying my accounts using my two unlimited cards," he said.

"They were driving me to different places, I didn't even know we were still in Delta State. You can tell they are highly experienced in these card transactions.

"They were taking out cash endlessly and took their time with different transactions by removing unlimited cash whilst I was locked up in my boot.

"After they realised they couldn't take out more cash they drove me into a dark spot, where I was dumped later that night and was allowed to leave."

It is the second time the former Perugia, Lecce and Fiorentina player has been kidnapped in his hometown, with the first taking place in June 2012 while he played for Udinese.

Obodo said while this latest incident was random, the trauma has left him broken and feeling unsafe in his country.

"It's sad to say that I no longer feel safe anymore," he told BBC Sport.

"Just to park on the road to buy my mother apple and water melon, only to be seized at gunpoint.

"Imagine travelling on the road where you are all alone. A lot has to be done with security across the country for citizens to feel safe.

"I may have lost money and things money can buy, but now I fear that one day one could lose his life to gun-wielding people who might kill you for not having anything they want."
 

History of abduction

Kidnappings - more often of oil workers, the rich and famous - are a regular occurrence in Nigeria, but footballers and their families are increasingly being targeted.

In March 2019, the mother of Nigeria international Samuel Kalu was released after being held by gunmen for six days.

It came almost a year after former Chelseas and Nigeria midfielder John Mikel Obi's father was kidnapped for the second time in seven years in June 2018, before being released after a ransom of 10 million naira (about $27,500) was paid.

Back in 2007, France-based defender Onyekachi Apam was kidnapped by armed men who took his car before releasing him.

A year later, the elder brother of Everton defender Joseph Yobo was kidnapped in oil-rich Port Harcourt before being released 10 days later.

By Oluwashina Okeleji

BBC

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Monday, November 16, 2020

Soyinka to Release Third Novel in December, 48 Years After

Wole Soyinka's third novel, 'Chronicles of the Happiest People on Earth', is set to be released on December 1, 2020, 48 years after his last prose fiction.

This was made known on Twitter by his son, Olaokun Soyinka. A description of the 524-page book by its publisher, Bookcraft Africa reads: "The novel tells the story of a pact and an alliance formed between four friends, to make an impactful change in their nation. Now in the late stages of adulthood, against an evolving political landscape and a change of government, they drift apart, reunite, navigate complex familial relationships, and increasingly gain recognition in their professions -- all the while, their paths interweave with those of prominent religious, community and government leaders, and the tide begins to turn against them, with dire consequences.

"It is a dramatic and engaging read, laced with humour and extraordinary characters. The read also provides a realistic perspective on the state of affairs in Nigeria, with a depth of commentary. In Soyinka's expert hands, the apparently disparate strands are woven together with a master story-teller's aplomb. Chronicles of the Happiest People on Earth is a great and unputdownable read from start to finish."

The Nobel Laureate, known for his poetry and plays, published two novels, 'The Interpreters' in 1964 and 'The Season of Anomy' in 1972.

By Nathaniel Bivan 

Daily Trust

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Nigeria to build new museum for looted art

Nigeria intends to build a new museum over the next four years that could exhibit looted Benin bronzes currently displayed in European and American museums, officials said Friday.


Many Benin bronzes -- a group of more than a thousand prized metal plaques and sculptures looted in 1897 by British troops from the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, in modern-day Nigeria -- are at the British Museum and the Ethnological Museum of Berlin.

The possibility of having the objects returned to Benin City in Nigeria's southern Edo state and shown at the future Edo Museum of West African Art has long been a dream for many.

"I am elated," Theophilus Umogbai, curator of the existing National Museum in Benin, told AFP.

"The museum will serve as an identity symbol of the rich cultural arts traditions of Benin people."

Museums in Europe and America have wrestled with a tangle of legal and ethical problems concerning objects taken during the colonial period.

Even in well-documented cases of pillaging, the law often prevents countries from giving them back -- as is the case with the British museum, which could however loan the Benin bronzes to the new Edo museum.

"This project will help us reconnect our past glory to our present realities," Edo state's governor Godwin Obaseki said, announcing the project at an event on Friday.

He said he hopes the overall project "should be far developed if not totally completed" by the end of 2024.

The 10,000-square foot (930-square metre) museum is being designed by David Adjaye, the award-winning architect behind the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, in Washington.

The Ghanaian-British architect hopes that the building in Nigeria will have "a place on the world stage."

"It is not just enough to give back objects that were taken but to also collaborate and make this a world class centre."

In addition to the museum, an archaeological excavation project will begin in 2021, at a site adjacent to the palace of the Oba, Benin's traditional ruler.

The British Museum and the Legacy Restoration Trust have already secured the equivalent of $4 million of initial funding, according to a statement from the London museum.

Hartwig Fischer, director of the British Museum, said that the new Nigeria museum "will surely become one of the most significant museum initiatives in the coming decades."

Last month, French lawmakers voted unanimously to return artefacts to Benin and Senegal -- although it remains a small number compared to the estimated 90,000 artefacts the country holds from all over Africa.

AFP

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Gunmen attack school in north Nigeria

A group of unidentified gunmen attacked a polytechnic in Nigeria’s northern state of Kaduna, abducting a lecturer and two children, local police said Sunday.

Mohammed Jalige, a police spokesperson in Kaduna, who confirmed the incident to Xinhua on the phone, said police operatives have been deployed to secure the area, track the perpetrators and rescue the victims.

The gunmen invaded the Nuhu Bamali Polytechnic in the Zaria area of the state late into the night on Saturday, said Abdullahi Shehu, an information officer for the polytechnic, adding the victims were taken away with force.

The gunmen shot sporadically into the air to scare the students and teachers after they forced their way into the school.

The lecturer, who teaches at the School of Engineering, Department of Electrical and Electronics of the polytechnic, was later taken away from his residence to an unknown destination.

Shehu said the father of the two abducted children was injured by the gunmen and was receiving treatment at a hospital.

CGTV

Friday, November 13, 2020

Dangote Refinery to employ over 250,000 Nigerians

The management of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals has disclosed that the 650,000 barrels per day project will create jobs for not less than 250,000 Nigerians when completed and fully operational next year.

Group Executive Director, Strategy and Capital Projects, Dangote Industries Limited, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, told reporters at the site that the company’s Refinery has potential to turn around Nigeria’s economy with the employment of thousands of Nigerians for direct and indirect jobs.

He said the huge unemployment rate of Nigerian youths and the need to make the country self-reliant in fuel consumption and attract much needed foreign exchange through export of the products were reasons that motivated the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote to venture into manufacturing

The Dangote Group boss said he was very optimistic that the refinery will be a game changer for Nigeria and the rest of Africa.

According to him, the Dangote Industries Limited has succeeded in substantially reducing the high rate of unemployment in the country, with the conglomerate already recruiting youths from its various agricultural scheme and also into its other subsidiaries. Dangote Industries Limited is the highest employer of labour outside the federal government.

In the same vein, Edwin also assured that, other things being equal, Dangote Fertilizer plant’s products will hit the market this month.

The Sun

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