Our Top Five Stories from Last Week
We wrote about a young man that hawks Agidi on the streets of Uyo, Super Eagles starting their AFCON 2021 campaign on a good note. And Reuben Abati wrote in an opinion about the sensational Mummy G.O and former President Jonathan’s return to politics.
1. Nigerian man wears suit and tie to hawk N100 agidi
Except for the tray — filled with agidi — which he carries on his head, you may be tempted to think that Moses Eteng works with one of the banks in Nigeria.
Mr Eteng, 24, who lives and does his business in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, wears a neat suit with a well-knotted tie every day he goes out to hawk corn flour jellos commonly called agidi in many Nigerian languages.
The wraps of agidi are carefully stacked in the tray, the price for each is N100. A full tray is about N20,000.
To sell agidi in Nigeria is considered a low level business, and those hawking it are usually dressed in ways that are less than attractive.
2. Mummy G.O and Jonathan’s rumoured return, By Reuben Abati
“How far? Is it true that your boss is going back to Aso Villa? I read that some of his aides, I don’t know whether you are one of them, are advising him not to come back because you don’t trust President Muhammadu Buhari who seems to be his chief promoter?”
“Do you have any concrete evidence that Dr Goodluck Jonathan wants to be president again? I thought in 2015, you people argued that he had done two terms and allowing him again would amount to a violation of the 1999 Constitution? I am surprised that the same people who did not want him in 2015, are the same ones now saying he is the best man for the job.”
“I didn’t say so. I asked you a question.”
“I have nothing to say to you.”
“But you must know something.”
“I don’t know anything.”
“But you must have an opinion.”
“I don’t have any opinion. What I can say to you is that in a recent interview, President Muhammadu Buhari disclosed that he really has no interest in who succeeds him in 2023, and he then contradicted himself when he said that even if he has a preferred candidate, he would rather not name him, so that the person would not be eliminated before the election.”
“But we all know he and President Jonathan have been holding meetings. Your boss is a regular guest in the Villa.”
3. Nigeria 1–0 Egypt: Three differences between Rohr’s lethargic Eagles and Eguavoen’s energetic team
Just 56 days ago, in Lagos, Nigeria’s national team, the Super Eagles, were unrecognisable in their encounter with Cape Verde in a World Cup qualifier. The match ended 1–1, and the Eagles were lucky to qualify for the last round of qualifiers for Qatar 2022.
That was an Eagles assemble that started with Victor Osimhen and Odion Ighalo, but on the field of play, the team lacked the colour and texture of the Nigerian National squad football lovers like to love.
Gernot Rohr just had to go and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) finally saw reason and, with some expert machinations, got rid of the German tactician. Eight training sessions under interim manager Augustine Eguavoen, and the Super Eagles spread their wings and soared against seven-time champions, Egypt, on Tuesday in Garoua.
This was a team shorn of their most reliable №9s in Osimhen and Ighalo. Leon Balogun was also absent but the team put in an energetic and tactical display and outplayed Egypt with their talismanic Mohamed Salah, who was kept in check throughout the 94 minutes.
The Eagles were very dominant, creating 12 chances, and could have, should have, scored more than the sumptuous strike from Kelechi Iheanacho that settled the game. This is not counting our eggs before the chickens are hatched, but there was a marked difference between what Rohr served and what Eguavoen is offering after just eight training sessions.
4. 2023: Why PDP must not zone Nigeria’s presidency to the South — Kwankwaso
A former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has argued against the call for zoning the 2023 presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the Southern part of Nigeria.
Mr Kwankwaso made his position known in an interview with Channels Television on Sunday night where he also spoke about several political concerns ahead of the 2023 general elections.
In his argument, the two-term governor of Kano State condemned the insistence of the Southern Governors Forum in July 2021 that the next president of the country must come from their region rather than what is best.
He considered the call by the governors and other leaders as an attempt to intimidate the northern region into relinquishing its right to contest the seat.
Mr Kwankwaso said the decision to contest should be based on strategy rather than mere clamour or sentiments.
With reference to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, Mr Kwankwaso, who is eyeing the 2023 presidential ticket of the PDP, said the party had produced more southern presidents than the north.
“You see many people are mixing what ordinarily shouldn’t come together at all. We have PDP, we have APC, we have APGA and we have many other parties today in this country. And the issue of where a party put his presidency or vice presidency is a matter of strategy.
“If you look at it from 1999, to date, or even after 2023, we have 16 years for PDP, eight years for APC. Now, in the 16 years of PDP, we had a situation where the presidency has been in the south for 14 years and only in the north for two years during the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of blessed memory.
“Now we see some people, maybe because they don’t understand politics or they want to be mischievous, they keep on mixing the two issues of two political parties together. This PDP and APC are contestants in this game,” he said.
As it stands, neither the APC nor PDP has announced the zoning of its presidential ticket for next year’s election.
The reluctance of the two major parties in the country to do so has provoked speculations that they may throw the ticket open to all aspirants.
Speaking on speculations of his possible defection from PDP to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Kwankwaso debunked the rumour and reiterated his commitment to ensure victory for his party in the 2023 polls.
5. EXCLUSIVE: INEC top official resigns, embraces APC, joins governorship race
After serving as a referee for Nigeria’s electoral process for over four years, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Benue State, Nentawe Yilwatda, has resigned from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and immediately joined partisan politics, PREMIUM TIMES can exclusively report.
Mr Yilwatda, a former engineering lecturer at the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, was appointed REC in July 2017 and posted to Benue State. During his four-year stay in office, he participated in the conduct of elections in Benue, Anambra, Osun, Rivers and Cross River states.
But in December 2021, the 53-year-old electrical/electronics engineer suddenly resigned from his post and relocated to his native Plateau State, north-central Nigeria, where he immediately began romancing the governing All Progressives Congress (APC).
When contacted Wednesday, the former REC said he stepped down from INEC for personal reasons. He also confirmed that he had joined partisan politics.
He, however, said he was yet to formally join the APC but that he would be doing so “very soon”.
INEC also confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that the former lecturer had since left the electoral body.
“It is true that he resigned,” Festus Okoye, the INEC commissioner for information and voter education, said. “He has disengaged from the Commission.”
Mr Okoye said he is unaware of the real reason for Mr Yilwatda’s departure from the Commission before the expiration of his five-year tenure. But this newspaper can report that the official resigned to enable him to join the governorship race in Plateau State.
