By Babatunde Ogunrinde

No fewer than 36 players featured in the first real actions at the Organised Basketball Network (OBN) Academy arena located at Plot 8 Ogombo Road, Ajah, Lekki, in Lagos.

The young players had their feel of the state of the art arena to signal the opening of the basketball academy, put together by Obinna Ekezie, a Nigerian former professional Basketball player.

The players, comprising of 18 girls and 18 boys competed in three-pointer actions, basketball dunking competition and a full cut match.

Ekezie, the CEO of the academy, had made his mark in basketball representing great clubs such as Atlanta Hawks, L. A Clippers, Washington Wizards, Vancouver Grizzlies of the U.S. and many other leagues in Europe.

He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that his dream was to use his vast experience to get the right attention and the right platform to nurture youths to stardom.

Nigeria youths are talented in the areas of sports, music, art and entertainments.

If we create that platform for them to excel, indeed the sky is just the beginning for them to soar, Ekezie said.

He said that the OBN Academy would also be delighted to work with the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF).

He said he was ready to work with other stakeholders to discover and groom young talents across the country.

OBN Academy is targeted at improving childrens skills in basketball and education.

The academy is ready to expose young ones to quality basketballfacilities, which is not available anywhere in the country for young players to learn the game.

The players will also gain more experience through basketball lessons from experienced foreign and domestic coaches.

Also speaking to NAN, Tijani Umar, a stakeholder in basketball said he was delighted to be at the venue to see the state of the art basketball arena for youths development.

He said that ever since he knew Ekezie he had always wanted to do something for Nigeria.

I am proud to see that he is finally fulfilling his dreams by doing exactly what he planned to achieve.

It is a wonderful edifice; indeed this is having the right structure for the development of basketball in Nigeria.

The youths are going to benefit immensely from this, Umar said.

Similarly, Fortunate Emechite, a young female player said that she was delighted to be a part of the opening game.

Emechite hopes to continue to play in the arena.

It is a beautiful arena for young players to learn the game and develop.

We need more places like this because it gives us hope that some people care about our future, Emechite said.

Mrs Blessing Nwachukwu, who brought her son to the academy, said that she was delighted to see such an arena for basketball and was confident that her son would be guided well.

It is a good development and I am proud of what Mr Ekezie has achieved.

The basketball academy will definitely develop a lot of young players for the country, Nwachukwu said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Igbaugba Ehigimetor

Team Edo on Monday evening won the gold medals in the male and female six-a-side cricket event at the ongoing 20th National Sports Festival (NSF) in Benin.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Edo male team won after defeating Kwara while their female team won against Lagos.

Lagos and Akwa Ibom came third in the male and female categories respectively to win the silver medals.

A member of the Edo teams coaching crew, Theophilus Ibodeme, described their success as an act of God and the result of hard work.

We dedicate these gold medals to God Almighty and by His grace, we hope for the best, he stated.

NAN reports that six gold medals are available in the cricket competition, with four of them now left to be struggled for.

They are in the T20 event for male and female, as well as the ODI for both male and female.

Competition in the cricket event will continue on Wednesday.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Usman Aliyu

Downpour, on Monday, disrupted some activities at the ongoing 20th National Sports Festival (NSF) in Benin.

The rain, which started around 4:45 pm forced officials of the sporting fiesta to halt some outdoor games including swimming and tennis among others.

Meanwhile, Edo has won the gold medal of the six-aside cricket event at the festival tagged Edo 2020.

Edo beat Kwara and Lagos to silver and bronze medals respectively.

Also, Rachael Tonjo, the record holder in the swimming event won gold medal for the hosting state.

Tonjo, who is an Olympian told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that it had been her dream winning the most prestigious medal.

That was my dream all through preparation and I am happy my dream has come true.

It is not easy training every time. I have been training for long. You know the games suffered several postponements,she said.

The gold medalist, who noted that she had represented the country at various international sport events, said she hoped to win gold medal at world sport event soon.

I have represented Nigeria at international sporting events like All African games.

I have been to Olympic just like they announced. I was in Brazil in 2016; West African competition.

My hope for some years to come is to win gold medal at world sports event, Tonjo said.

Source: NAN News

By Emmanuel Afonne

A U.S.-based Mechanical Engineer, Mr Godswill Nwankwo, has declared his intention to contest the seat of the countrys president in the 2023election.

Nwankwo made his intention known on Monday in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

He said that his intention was borne out of concerns to build on existing structures and improve the standard of living in the country.

According to the intending presidential aspirant, the country needs to be repositioned economically to retain its status of Africas best economy and Giant of Africa.

Nwankwo, who hails from Ukwa East Local Government Area of Abia, also said he would review the countrys constitution and positively review the command structure of the police among others.

When I am elected, my first line of action will be to review the constitution.

Also, the command structure of the police will be reviewed.

There is what we call community policing where you allow people that belong to that community to police or protect the communities that they are serving.

For example, you dont expect an Igbo man to go to Sokoto State and police a community; language will be his or her number one barrier in that kind of structure because he doesnt understand Hausa-Fulani language.

We will want a situation whereby , for instance, people of Sokoto are responsible for their police, Abia communities policed by their people, and in the end you have a state and local government police.

This structure must not be influenced by the Federal Government.

So, my first assignment will be to begin to address the issue of the constitution and come up with recommendations that will work for Nigerians, Nwankwo said.

He said that though he had yet to decide on which political platform to contest, his main obligation would be to the citizenry.

I have been contacted by several political parties. In the end, my sole commitment will be the manifesto, agenda and what I promised Nigerians before the election.

I will not let anything get in the way of my promise when elected and there will be no shackles holding me down from executing my promises.

The 2023 election will be a decision for Nigerians electing a constitutional value that will affect the core values, and the lives of their children and grandchildren.

When I emerge as president, it will be about Nigeria and not PDP, APC, APGA or any political party and so on; I will stop at nothing to see that Nigerians are secured and are prosperous.

I will also ensure that Nigerians are able to access the opportunity we will provide and also able to have access to law enforcement that is supposed to protect them, he added.

Nwankwo added that his manifesto, which can be viewed on Nigeriapresident.com , was crafted to ensure that when he becomes president, Nigerians would be entitled to have equal rights, freedom, liberty, justice and opportunity.

He said that the focal point of his administration would be for every citizen to be happy and safe while going about their lawful duties.

NAN reports that Nwankwo had previously worked for Schlumberger, Halliburton, Baker Hughes INTEQ and several national and multi-national companies both in Nigeria and overseas.

He has a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering with specialisation in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) from Rivers State University.

He also has a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Computer Science with specialisation in Cognitive Artificial Intelligence from Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas.

The aspiring presidential candidate also acquired a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Finance with specialisation in Private Equity and Investments from the University of Houston CT Bauer College of Business in Houston, Texas. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Abbas Bamalli

Former Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Assembly matters, Abdulrahman Kawu-Sumaila has described the recent attack on the personality of the president in London, United Kingdom as unfortunate and barbaric.

Kawu-Sumaila, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said this in a statement issued to newsmen on Monday in Kano.

According to him, the attack is not only on the personality of the president, but an attempt to diminish the image of the country by some bad elements in the name of politics.

Kawu-Sumaila explained that it was wrong to attack the president with such abusive words.

The verbal attack was far away from politics. It is rather a sign of intolerance.

And this has clearly shown that the woman and her accomplices were only dancing to the tune of some high profile personalities who are desperate in tarnishing not only the good image of President Buhari, but Nigeria as a country.

I want to make it categorically clear that their ill-motive action was against the culture and norms of African people.

And I believe neither Islam nor Christianity will support this kind of barbaric action where people will come out openly abusing their president in the name of politics. This is unfortunate.

He, however, assured that those behind the unfortunate incident would soon be exposed.

Kawu-Sumaila appealed to chieftains of the APC and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to condemn the attack, which was a serious embarrassment to all Nigerians regardless of party affiliation.

He also urged both APC and PDP stakeholders to do everything possible within the ambit of the law, to prevent future occurrence of such unfortunate incident.

According to him, all those occupying positions in the APC-led government should also strive to protect the integrity of the president and the nation as a whole.

All concerned APC members should put their heads together and address this issue.

We should not let this issue go unchecked, otherwise, some other groups can do worse than this and it will not help matters at all. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Abubakar Ahmed

Three All Progressives Congress (APC) governors on Monday visited Zamfara to inaugurate some projects.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the visit came amidst reports that Gov. Bello Matawalle was set to dump the Peoples Democratic Party for the APC.

The governors, Alhaji Mai-Mala Buni of Yobe; Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa and Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi, each inaugurated houses named after their states.

NAN reports that 18 detached houses were built by Gov. Matawalle to serve as accommodation for state governors and other officials.

Each of the houses was named after the 18 northern states.

While commissioning the Yobe House, Gov. Mai-Mala Buni who is also the National Chairman of the Extraordinary Convention Committee of the APC, commended Matawalle for modernizing the state.

I am particularly impressed by what my brother, Matawalle is doing here in Zamfara in spite of dwindling resources coupled with the security situation faced by the state.

This is the kind of development we need which also translates into the provision of dividends of democracy, Buni noted.

He described Matawalle as a bridge builder, peace maker and dynamic leader who built resilient infrastructure and provided security to the state within a short time.

The governors also commiserated with the government and people of the state over the recent fire disaster which destroyed part of Tudun Wada Gusau market.

Earlier, Gov. Matawalle said the construction of the houses was to provide secure accommodation of international standard to government officials and eminent personalities on official engagements in the state.

He added that the new houses would help in reducing the expenses being incurred by the government in accommodating such visitors in hotels and rented houses.

According to him, the houses were part of the many infrastructural projects provided by his administration to move the state to the next level of development. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Abbas Bamalli

Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State says the review of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Constitution will address mistakes made by the party in previous elections.

Ganduje made the observation at a town hall meeting on the APC constitution review for Northwest region, held on Monday in Kano.

According to him, the APC had paid dearly for its mistakes during the 2019 general election.

APC is a mixture of political parties that merged to form the ruling party, but that lack of strong cohesion is still affecting it, Ganduje noted.

There is no better time for the constitution review than now, because it is time to look back and address the challenges in the party.

There is no better time than now for the review of this constitution, APC as a political party has won many states in the federation since its inception. It has been controlling the Federal Government in the past four years.

Now in the second term, we lost some states during the last election, we gained some too.

Reviewing the partys constitution is the way to rectify past mistakes.

I believe at the end of it, we will come up with a document that will govern the conduct of party members and even the conduct of leaders of the party.

So, we believe this review of the constitution will look into all challenges.

It will remove all those appendages of coming together to form the party, he said.

According to him, the APC has very strong structures in Kano State, with officials at state, local government and ward levels.

He disclosed that the partys caucuses meet monthly to interface on its activities and problems, and take steps to resolve them.

Dr Tahir Mamman, Chairman of the APC Constitution Review Committee, said the exercise was to make the party more solid and stronger.

He said that their task was to produce a constitution that would guide the affairs of the party to make it a model among political parties in the country.

Mamman added that the committee would ensure that the constitution and manifesto were made easier to read by all party members.

He disclosed that the committee had gone round the six geopolitical zones of the country and held meetings with the party stakeholders.

The chairman also said that the committee would organise a retreat where the presentations from across the country would be reviewed before the final document. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Ismaila Chafe

President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the deadly insurgent attack that took place on the Police Command Headquarters and the Correctional Facility in Owerri, Imo.

In a statement by his spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Monday, Buhari described the onslaught as an act of terrorism, saying the anarchists must be brought to justice.

Reacting to the incident, the president praised the initial response by security guards and security forces for preventing greater loss of life and the destruction of public property.

He directed security and intelligence agencies in the state and the geo-political zone to fully mobilise and go after the terrorists, apprehend them and get them punished under the full weight of the law.

Buhari also called for the best efforts to be made to rearrest fleeing prison detainees, many of whom were believed to be deadly criminals.

He, therefore, appealed to members of the public to assist the law enforcement agencies with any relevant information that could lead to the apprehension of these criminals who perpetrated this despicable act.

The president also urged members of the public to be vigilant as all of us have a stake in preserving our way of life from disruption by terrorists and anarchists.

He assured that the Federal Government would continue to use every available tool at its disposal to confront and terminate this bare-faced anarchy. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Peter Okolie

The Police Command in Anambra says it has arrested six suspected criminals for alleged stealing, cultism and possession of fire arm.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen on Monday in Awka.

Ikenga said the command recovered one locally-made pistol, two live cartridges, one Lexus 330 Jeep SUV and two tricycles from the suspected criminals.

Acting on credible information while on surveillance duty, operatives of the command attached to Ihiala Police Division, on April 4, at about 1820hrs, arrested one Chike Obi, 28 and Okosis Udeagu, 23.

One locally-made pistol with two live cartridges was recovered from them and they both confessed to being members of a deadly cult group, he said.

Similarly, Ikenga said the Inland Police Division on March 22, received a complaint that a Lexus 330 SUV got missing at a car wash, on Heritage Road.

He said all efforts made to locate the vehicle and the car washer proved abortive.

However, he said Police operatives attached to the Division later arrested two suspects, one Pius Aidam and one Effiong Udeme in connection to the car theft.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the car was stolen and taken to Uyo in Akwa Ibom State, he noted.

In another development, he said the command received series of complaints of tricycles being removed from where they were parked along Boromeo Roundabout in Onitsha North Local Government Area.

The police spokesman said operatives attached to Inland Police Station on March 30, arrested one Isienyi Joshua, 22 and Chinemere Emenike, 19, and recovered two tricycles.

They both confessed to being members of a criminal syndicate specialised in stealing tricycles within Onitsha and its environs.

Discreet investigation is ongoing to arrest other members of the gang at large and recover other incriminating items, he added.

According to him, all the suspects would be charged to court on conclusion of investigations. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Yinusa Ishola

The Police command in Ekiti on Monday rescued two-year old twin babies after they were locked up in a room by their mother for three days.

A statement in Ado-Ekiti by Mr Sunday Abutu, the commands Public Relations Officer, said the incident happened in Igbara-odo, Ekiti South-West Local Government Area of the state.

Abutu said the command acted on a distress call by a good Samaritan at about 9:45 hours and rescued the babies who were without food for three days.

He said a lady, who was later identified as Joy Fatoba of Igbara-odo, locked up her twin babies in her room and even threatened to kill them should anyone compel her to open the door.

According to him, the Commands Rapid Response Squad (RRS), upon the receipt of the information, swung into action, rushed to the scene and tactically rescued the two kids.

He said upon interrogation Fatoba narrated that the father of her kids left her for Calabar during pregnancy and had refused to return to take care of her and the kids till date.

She told her interrogator that she could no longer fend for herself and her two kids recently because her hair dressing work started failing, Abutu added.

The Police image maker said the two-year old kids appeared unhealthy when they were rescued and could neither walk nor stand on their own due to dehydration and undernutrition.

He said the twins upon their rescue were immediately rushed to the hospital for medical examination and treatment.

Abutu said the command would ensure the safety of the kids and their mother and that investigation to unravel the circumstances of the incident had already commenced.

He used the opportunity to extend the commands appreciation to the good Samaritan for volunteering the useful and timely information that led to the rescuing of the babies.

Abutu enjoined the residents to always and quickly draw the attention of the nearest Police Station to any suspicious happenings in their locality or call 08062335577.

Source: NAN News