After defeating Honduras in the third place match at the Olympics soccer event on Saturday (Aug. 20), Nigeria’s players ended up with bronze medals on their necks and thousands of dollars in their pockets—thanks to Katsuya Takasu, a Japanese plastic surgeon.
The grinning Takasu flew into Rio to rewarded the team with $390,000 for their bronze medal win at the Rio Games after being impressed by the team’s resilience despite the haphazard planning and poor conditions before and during the Games.
After the Nigerian team was left stranded in Atlanta, USA, ahead of the Games because their flights had not been paid for, their plight made headlines. Eventually, the team landed in Rio just seven hours ahead of their first game, against Japan. But despite the less than ideal circumstances, the team served up an impressive performance to beat the Japan and eventually finished top of their group. But the money troubles didn’t end there. Hours before the quarterfinal match against Denmark, Nigeria’s players threatened to boycott the game in protest over unpaid allowances. After reading the team’s financial struggles, Takasu said he “felt the need to make a big contribution.”
Takasu donated $200,000 to the team to “cover bonuses and allowances” and also donated $10,000 to all members of the 18-man team as well as the team manager for winning bronze. Takasu flew to Rio to personally deliver cheques to the team.
“I had traveled from Tokyo prepared to reward them anyway, and to watch them win the bronze inside the stadium was very fulfilling,” he told BBC.
“This team showed resilience and fought the hardest to achieve success despite all their problems. Some people would have given up but they didn’t,” Takasu is reported to have said.
Takasu’s donation was briefly the subject of corruption allegations as officials of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) were forced to deny reports that they planned to make Takasu give the money to the federation rather than to the players. “To say NFF has ‘hijacked’ the money is outright mischief,” Amaju Pinnick, NFF president, said. “Nigeria is a sovereign nation and such a donation must go through a process. If we get a go-ahead, it will go directly to the team.” Reports had suggested the NFF planned to use the donation to offset salaries of members of the coaching staff who have not been paid for the last five months.
Takasu’s gesture was a positive turn in an otherwise poor Olympics outing for Nigeria. Despite lofty targets set by the country’s sports minister, the bronze medal won by the soccer team was the only medal recorded by the entire Olympics contingent.
Monday, August 22, 2016
Friday, August 19, 2016
Video - Nigeria Quadri is first African to reach table tennis quarters
African athletes are making their mark at these Games, especially on the track. There have already been newly-minted world records thanks to Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana and South Africa's Wayde van Niekerk. But not all performances are about gold medals or world records. Some athletes like Aruna Quadri are making history by breaking new ground.
Militant group Niger Delta Avengers want to break up Nigeria
The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) have again threatened to withdraw the oil-producing region from Nigeria.
The militant group, which has been blowing up oil pipelines since February, said that it hoped Nigeria would strike oil in the north of the country “so they can let the Niger Delta go,” accusing President Muhammadu Buhari of dividing the country.
“The Buhari-led government has failed Nigerians with their misdirected policies that have divided the country, as such [that] nobody wants to be part of that failed state, not even the Niger Delta,” said the NDA in a statement on Thursday.
The majority of Nigeria’s oil is concentrated in the Niger Delta, a region of southern swamplands. Militant groups including the NDA have periodically risen up and demanded a fairer share of the country’s oil wealth for impoverished communities in the Delta. The oil sector accounts for more than 90 percent of the value of Nigeria’s exports and 70 percent of government revenue.
Attacks by the NDA and other groups have slashed Nigeria’s oil production by several hundred thousand barrels per day (bpd) in 2016, and the Nigerian government has said it is negotiating a settlement with the militants. But the NDA have denied entering any negotiations and threatened secession from Nigeria.
“The October 1 declaration of independence is still sacrosanct. If the Nigerian government fails to retrace its steps by restructuring this country,” said the NDA. October 1 marks the anniversary of Nigeria’s independence from colonial Britain, which was achieved in 1960.
Elsewhere, ex-Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan has again denied any links with militant groups in the Niger Delta. Nigeria’s Premium Times reported on Thursday that the Nigerian Presidency had ordered a probe into alleged links between Jonathan and his wife Patience with the groups, including the NDA. A similar allegation had been made by a little-known militant group calling itself the Reformed Niger Delta Avengers earlier in August.
In a statement issued by his spokesman, Jonathan’s camp denied the report and said such allegations were the work of people with grievances against the former president. “There is no doubt that there exist such people who may have scores to settle with the former president,” said the statement, reported by Nigeria’s Pulse news site.
The militant group, which has been blowing up oil pipelines since February, said that it hoped Nigeria would strike oil in the north of the country “so they can let the Niger Delta go,” accusing President Muhammadu Buhari of dividing the country.
“The Buhari-led government has failed Nigerians with their misdirected policies that have divided the country, as such [that] nobody wants to be part of that failed state, not even the Niger Delta,” said the NDA in a statement on Thursday.
The majority of Nigeria’s oil is concentrated in the Niger Delta, a region of southern swamplands. Militant groups including the NDA have periodically risen up and demanded a fairer share of the country’s oil wealth for impoverished communities in the Delta. The oil sector accounts for more than 90 percent of the value of Nigeria’s exports and 70 percent of government revenue.
Attacks by the NDA and other groups have slashed Nigeria’s oil production by several hundred thousand barrels per day (bpd) in 2016, and the Nigerian government has said it is negotiating a settlement with the militants. But the NDA have denied entering any negotiations and threatened secession from Nigeria.
“The October 1 declaration of independence is still sacrosanct. If the Nigerian government fails to retrace its steps by restructuring this country,” said the NDA. October 1 marks the anniversary of Nigeria’s independence from colonial Britain, which was achieved in 1960.
Elsewhere, ex-Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan has again denied any links with militant groups in the Niger Delta. Nigeria’s Premium Times reported on Thursday that the Nigerian Presidency had ordered a probe into alleged links between Jonathan and his wife Patience with the groups, including the NDA. A similar allegation had been made by a little-known militant group calling itself the Reformed Niger Delta Avengers earlier in August.
In a statement issued by his spokesman, Jonathan’s camp denied the report and said such allegations were the work of people with grievances against the former president. “There is no doubt that there exist such people who may have scores to settle with the former president,” said the statement, reported by Nigeria’s Pulse news site.
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Video - Efforts ongoing to diversify economy in Nigeria
Nigeria's Vice President Yemi Osibanjo says his administration wants to encourage budget lawmakers to ramp up revenue through diversifying to non- oil sectors. The Naira has depreciated in recent months, deepening a black market in currency trading.
Freed Chibok schoolgirl misses Boko Haram militant
The first Nigerian schoolgirl from Chibok to be rescued from Boko Haram says she misses the father of her baby, a suspected Islamist militant.
In her first interview since being found with her baby in May, Amina Ali Nkeki told Reuters she also wanted to go home to Chibok, a town in the north.
She and her child are being held in the capital, Abuja, for what the government calls a restoration process.
More than 200 girls were kidnapped from a school in Chibok in April 2014.
The abduction led to the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, that was supported by US First Lady Michelle Obama and Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai.
The Boko Haram group has waged a violent insurgency for several years in north-eastern Nigeria in its quest for Islamic rule.
The 21-year-old said she was unhappy about being separated from Mr Hayatu, who was arrested after they were found.
"I want him to know that I am still thinking about him," she told Reuters. "Just because we got separated, that does not mean that I don't think about him."
During the interview she only lifted her gaze from the floor once to breastfeed her daughter when the baby was brought into the room, Reuters reports.
"I just want to go home - I don't know about school," she said. "I will decide about school when I get back."
Her mother, Binta Ali, told the BBC Hausa service earlier this week that her daughter wanted the government to give her a sewing machine so she could become a seamstress.
She said the man claiming to be her daughter's husband had said he was a mechanic from the town of Mubi before he was captured by Boko Haram - and that he had organised their escape.
Earlier her brother had told the BBC that because of an increase in air strikes Mr Hayatu was no longer willing to continue fighting and they had planned to leave together.
Ms Nkeki said she had not watched the video, released by Boko Haram on Sunday, which apparently shows recent footage of some the other missing Chibok girls.
"I think about them a lot - I would tell them to be hopeful and prayerful," she said. "In the same way God rescued me, he will also rescue them."
In her first interview since being found with her baby in May, Amina Ali Nkeki told Reuters she also wanted to go home to Chibok, a town in the north.
She and her child are being held in the capital, Abuja, for what the government calls a restoration process.
More than 200 girls were kidnapped from a school in Chibok in April 2014.
The abduction led to the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, that was supported by US First Lady Michelle Obama and Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai.
The Boko Haram group has waged a violent insurgency for several years in north-eastern Nigeria in its quest for Islamic rule.
The 21-year-old said she was unhappy about being separated from Mr Hayatu, who was arrested after they were found.
"I want him to know that I am still thinking about him," she told Reuters. "Just because we got separated, that does not mean that I don't think about him."
During the interview she only lifted her gaze from the floor once to breastfeed her daughter when the baby was brought into the room, Reuters reports.
"I just want to go home - I don't know about school," she said. "I will decide about school when I get back."
Her mother, Binta Ali, told the BBC Hausa service earlier this week that her daughter wanted the government to give her a sewing machine so she could become a seamstress.
She said the man claiming to be her daughter's husband had said he was a mechanic from the town of Mubi before he was captured by Boko Haram - and that he had organised their escape.
Earlier her brother had told the BBC that because of an increase in air strikes Mr Hayatu was no longer willing to continue fighting and they had planned to leave together.
Ms Nkeki said she had not watched the video, released by Boko Haram on Sunday, which apparently shows recent footage of some the other missing Chibok girls.
"I think about them a lot - I would tell them to be hopeful and prayerful," she said. "In the same way God rescued me, he will also rescue them."
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