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There was a mild drama on Friday evening during a debate organised by BBC News Pidgin for candidates in the September 19 Edo State Governorship Election as Governor Godwin Obaseki excused himself from the debate just at the beginning.

Obaseki, who is seeking re-election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, had featured briefly in the virtual debate but stepped out to attend another meeting.

The governor asked the moderator and his co-panelists to allow his deputy, Philip Shaibu, to continue the debate in his stead.

This development drew the ire of the All Progressives Congress candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, who objected to the idea, insisting that he would not debate with Shaibu.

Obaseki said, “First, I wan’ thank una say una invite me come this programme, make we debate among ourselves, make we fit talk wetin we wan do for the people of Edo State.

“But make I first start by apologising. You see, as I dey now, I no dey Benin. I had to travel on emergency this evening come somewhere. And the meeting dey very important. But abi tell una, so my deputy dey on ground. E no get anything wey I dey do wey im no know.

“So, I say out of respect, make I first do this opening round, I will rush go the meeting, and hopefully my deputy go continue.”

Reacting, Ize-Iyamu said, “Abeg make I talk small for wetin Governor Obaseki talk. This debate na for governorship candidates, no be wetin den dey delegate. If he no go fit stay, he no go fit stay.

“But say he wan’ comot make im deputy go come dey follow us debate, I no get hand for that one. If he no dey ready, make im no say, he no wan’ debate with us.

“But if he wants to debate, he has to stay but me no go sit down with im deputy. If na deputy own, I go call my deputy make im come talk with im deputy. No be me and im deputy dey debate, na governorship debate.”

Obaseki later left Ize-Iyamu and Jones Osagiobare of the Young Progressives Party to continue with the debate. His deputy, Shaibu, did not, however, feature at the debate but the governor resurfaced after about an hour, towards the end of the debate.

The two major candidates in the election had on Sunday shunned a governorship debate organisation by the Esan Development and Transformation Initiative which was moderated by the Senior Pastor of Lagos-based church Trinity House, Ituah Ighodalo.

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AntiWailer:
You are mad Bro.

No need for plenty stories.

You were bullied and u did not grow up to be Dwayne Johnson or Tyson Fury but u decide to be a petty thief not even an Armed Robber.

Your victim mentality get PHD.

You are mad once again bro.

kids everywhere...your not 35

The only reason I do that is to differentiate my beer when not in a regular joint..Never read meanings to my action

LaboPolitics:


Tearing up labels on bottles in a drinking bar or pub is a subtle way of communication among cultists. So I learned.

If you've been doing it without being a member, please desist from it.

Mighty Jets of Jos and Raccah Rovers of Kano breathing down the duo’s neck.

Alas, came August 13, 1979, the Challenge Cup semi-final clash.

The atmosphere was charged inside the packed National Stadium.

Giant-killers and champions Insurance had recorded a shock win over IICC at this stage of the competition the previous season, on their way to winning the country’s oldest football competition, with an emphatic 3-0 drubbing of Rangers in the final.

Again, the Benin Arsenal had just claimed the league title, pipping the Oluyole Warriors in a photo -finish end to the season.

So, predictably, the atmosphere was tensed.

IICC won the explosive encounter 2-1 but their celebrations turned to grief after the country recorded its first major sporting tragedy, with 24 fans reportedly dead and hundreds injured following a stampede involving anxious fans.

The lights inside the arena were switched off three minutes after the game, thus plunging the stands into total darkness.

Most of the over 80,000 fans made for the exits in a rush, many clutching their pockets and purses for fear of pick-pockets.

But the rush of the thousands of people was too much for the barriers and collapsed under the pressure.

And the horror sight unfolded.

Some of the fans fell with the barriers and were crushed to death. Many others were trampled to death in the resulting stampede in the dark.

By the time calm was restored, 24 fans were reported dead.

Ganiu Yusuf, one of the survivors, narrated the gory experience, insisting that those dead were far more than the 24 declared by the government.

“The turning wheel (at the exit points), where only one person could pass at a time happened to be where three to four people wanted to pass at the same time, and this caused a stampede,” Yusuf said.

“When I got there (exit points) I saw people’s canvasses and slippers. After counting the pairs of shoes littered everywhere, they were that of about 40 people; dead people don’t wear shoes.”

August of sorrow

Just a day to the 10th memorial anniversary of the FA Cup semi-final misfortune, another calamity befell the country on August 12, 1989.

Again, it was inside the National Stadium, Lagos during an Italia ‘90 World Cup qualifier between Nigeria and Angola.

The Super Eagles triumphed 1-0 against the visitors but midfield maestro Samuel Okwaraji slumped and died minutes before the end of the crucial tie.

Indeed, everything went wrong on that sunny August 12.

It was the first match to be played at the stadium in two years and expectedly, anxious fans across the country thronged into the arena in numbers to cheer the Eagles.

Over 60,000 fans had reportedly found their way into the 55,000-capacity stands, while close to 5,000 were stranded outside.

But before Okwaraji gave up the ghost, seven fans had choked to death before the tie, as a result of the overcrowded stands.

According to Sports Village Square, a sports website, “the stadium’s clinic with only three beds was jam-packed with unconscious people.

“Medical personnel said there were so many of them and they had to be treated on the bare floor. Fifteen of them had to be taken to the General Hospital in Lagos.”

Niyi Mosuro, a 15- year-old schoolboy from Ijebu-Ode, was one of the victims identified, alongside bodies of Shehu Tijani and Okorie Agwu.

Again, Ganiu Yusuf was at the stadium and was second time lucky. He left the arena unhurt!

“It was actually before and during the match that the stampede took place,” Yusuf told Saturday PUNCH.

“I had a seven-year-old boy with me that day at the stadium. Unfortunately, our stadium managers couldn’t do enough to manage the crowd. There were more people outside the stadium than those inside and they were all eager to watch the game.

“I saw ambulance vehicles going about several times, more than five times.”

Yusuf insisted, just like the 1979 incidence, that the death toll was higher than the figures officials gave to the public.

“Some family members of those who came to watch the match complained that they couldn’t see their relatives for a number of two or three days.

“I seriously doubt the official report given to us by the government that only five people died that day.”

More August grief

On August 12, 2020, the Nigeria Football Federation announced that head coach of the U-15 boys national team, the Future Eagles, Danladi Nasidi, died on the 31st anniversary of the death of Okwaraji and the fans.

Previously, on August 12, 2006, the Okwaraji’s 17th anniversary, a similar tragedy struck during a match between Plateau United and JUTH FC at the Nasarawa Stadium, Keffi.

Twenty-year-old Boniface Danjuma, Plateau United’s defender, collapsed and died during the Nigeria Professional Football League match.

Something to cheer about in August

However, it’s not been topsy-turvy all the way for Nigerian football in August.

On August 11, 1985, the football-loving populace was mournfully awaiting the sixth memorial of the ‘1979 stampede.’ It was just two days away.

However, a young set of Nigerian kids put smiles on their faces before that day, as they sensationally and against all expectations, beat West Germany 2-0 in the final of the U-17 World Cup, to emerge champions of the world and first winners of the competition.

On their arrival, horns blared, fellow compatriots cheered as the heroes were driven around the streets of Lagos.

The squad, captained by Nduka Ugbade, had streets named after them across the country by then military Head-of-State, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, who also rechristened the team the Golden Eaglets.

Atlanta goldmine in August

Eleven years later, at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, the country scooped its first two gold medals at the global sports showpiece.

On August 2, 1996, Chioma Ajunwa entered the history books as Nigeria’s first and till date, only individual Olympic gold medallist, when she leapt 7.12m to win the women’s long jump event.

A day later, the country’s U-23 football team also did the unexpected by winning the gold in the men’s football final — the first African side to do so – after a 3-2 win over Argentina in the final.

“We didn’t just go there (Atlanta) to write a story, we also went there to create history,” goalkeeper Dosu Joseph, who played a big role in the football team’s conquest, said.

Twelve years later, the football team again on August 23, 2008, grabbed a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics, after losing 1-0 to a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina in the football final.

Coach Samson Siasia, who steered the side in Beijing, also led another bunch of youngsters, led by Mikel Obi, through ‘murky waters’ to a bronze medal on August 20, 2016 at the Rio Games in 2016, as the country completed an Olympic medal sweep of all three medals in the football event.


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The Nigerian football faithful will always look forward to August as one month that reminds them of the colossal calamities and successes recorded in the history of the country’s game, reports ’TANA AIYEJINA

Horror at the stadium,” read the banner headline on the cover of The PUNCH of Wednesday August 15, 1979.

It was the tragic story of how 24 football fans died at the National Stadium, Lagos, during an explosive semi-final of the FA Cup, then known as Challenge Cup, between fierce rivals Bendel Insurance of Benin and IICC Shooting Stars of Ibadan, two days earlier.

“This was the worst tragedy ever to happen in the annals of Nigerian sports,” The PUNCH wrote.

Yesterday (Tuesday August 14, 1979), 23 of the bodies were laid in front of the mortuary of Ikeja General Hospital for identification by anxious visitors. According to the police, 64 other victims of the tragedy were still receiving treatment.

“Unofficial figure of the death toll, however, was 46,” the country’s leading newspaper added.

Six years later, Monday August 12, 1985 precisely, The PUNCH had another banner headline on its cover, “We rule the world!”

This time it was the report of the triumph of the country’s national U-16 team, then known as the Baby Eagles, who beat highly-favoured West Germany 2-0 in the final to win the first-ever FIFA U-17 World Cup in Beijing, China on August 11, 1985.

Truly, no month in the history of Nigerian football evokes more bitter-sweet memories among the country’s teeming football populace like August.

The month, by fate, has become one in which the country’s athletes, especially footballers, achieved the country’s highest milestone achievement in global sports.

But again, it is synonymous with deaths, gory scenes, leaving pains behind for decades.

After gaining independence in 1960, the country was struck with a civil war seven years later.
With the war over in 1970 and the nation intact, sports immediately became a unifying factor in the 1970s, with football the most loved and followed by the teeming populace.

Stadiums on match days at different venues across the country were packed, stands filled above capacity, while those who couldn’t get in sometimes outnumbered the lucky ones inside the overcrowded main bowl.

It was like that, and the citizens enjoyed their football and paid their way to support their darling teams.