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Sunday, 06 October 2024 07:02
[OPINION] Affordable And Regular Electricity: Why Is Nigeria Still In The Dark While Other African Countries Shine? - Isaac Asabor
![[OPINION] Affordable And Regular Electricity: Why Is Nigeria Still In The Dark While Other African Countries Shine? - Isaac Asabor](/media/k2/items/cache/35db32fba08c771f46a0708ae15c98b1_Generic.jpg)
Electricity is the backbone of any modern economy, fueling innovation, industry, and social development. Across Africa, countries such as Ghana, South Africa, Egypt, and Kenya have managed to provide their citizens with more regular and affordable electricity, creating an environment where businesses thrive, and homes function without the worry of frequent power outages or exorbitant costs. These nations have set an example of what is possible when a country’s energy sector is properly managed and maintained.
Nigeria, with its massive population and wealth of natural resources, should have been one of the first to achieve this feat. Yet, despite its potential, Nigeria remains stuck in an energy crisis that leaves much to be desired. Ostensibly to catch up with some African countries which offer regular and affordable electricity to their citizens, Nigeria has in recent months introduced a new electricity tariff structure, with bands such as A, B, and C, resulting in more consistent power supply. However, this has come at a high cost, as affordability has become a pressing concern for many consumers.
This begs the question: “If smaller African nations with fewer resources have achieved affordable and regular electricity, why has Nigeria, the giant of Africa, failed to do the same?”
For instance, Ghana is often hailed as one of Africa’s success stories in electricity provision. After undergoing severe power crises in the past, the country implemented structural reforms that have significantly improved its electricity generation and distribution. Ghana has invested heavily in its energy sector, diversifying its energy sources to include hydropower, natural gas, and solar power. Today, the country boasts one of the most reliable electricity grids in West Africa, with over 85% of its population having access to electricity.
More impressively, the cost of electricity in Ghana remains relatively affordable compared to Nigeria. This is because of the government’s proactive approach in subsidizing electricity for lower-income households while ensuring a consistent supply. The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) also ensures transparency and accountability in its operations, which helps to maintain consumer trust.
In a similar vein, Kenya has emerged as a leader in renewable energy, making significant strides in achieving regular and affordable electricity for its citizens. The East African nation has focused on geothermal energy, which accounts for over 45% of its electricity generation. Kenya’s investment in renewable energy has not only improved the reliability of electricity supply but has also driven down costs, making it one of the most affordable in Africa.
In rural areas, the government has implemented off-grid solar systems to ensure that even remote communities can access power. This strategic approach to energy diversification has allowed Kenya to achieve almost 80% electricity coverage, with the goal of reaching 100% by 2030. As a result, Kenya has become a benchmark for other African nations, including Nigeria that are struggling with electricity provision.
While South Africa is currently experiencing electricity challenges due to aging infrastructure and the country’s reliance on coal, it remains one of the few African countries that has historically provided affordable and regular electricity. For decades, South Africa’s electricity system was one of the most robust on the continent, delivering power to over 85% of its population at relatively low costs.
Despite recent issues with load shedding, South Africa’s state-owned utility, Eskom, still manages to keep electricity rates affordable for most citizens. The South African government is now working to diversify its energy sources by investing in renewables like solar and wind power to ensure that its citizens can continue to enjoy affordable and regular electricity in the future.
Egypt is another African country that has made remarkable strides in its energy sector. The North African giant invested billions of dollars into modernizing its power grid, which includes one of the largest solar parks in the world at Benban. Egypt has also successfully reformed its energy pricing system, ensuring that electricity remains affordable for its citizens.
In addition to modernizing its infrastructure, Egypt has reduced energy subsidies over time in a way that balances affordability with sustainability. This ensures that while the government reduces its financial burden, the cost of electricity remains within reach for both households and businesses. Egypt’s commitment to renewable energy has not only made it a leader in Africa but has also helped stabilize its electricity supply, achieving almost universal access.
Nigeria’s electricity sector tells a starkly different story. Despite being Africa’s largest economy and boasting enormous reserves of oil and natural gas, the country has struggled for decades to provide stable and affordable electricity to its citizens. The introduction of tariff bands like A, B, and C has led to more consistent supply for some areas, but this improvement has been overshadowed by soaring costs, which have made electricity unaffordable for many Nigerians.
Given the foregoing situation in Nigeria’s energy sector, not a few people have commented that the reasons for Nigeria’s ongoing electricity woes are multifaceted, blaming the country for so much dependency on fossil fuels. Their reasoning cannot in any way be faulted as it is crystal clear that Nigeria’s heavy reliance on natural gas and fossil fuels for electricity generation makes the country vulnerable to fluctuations in global energy prices. When the price of gas rises, so does the cost of electricity generation, leading to higher tariffs for consumers. This reliance on a single source of energy also limits Nigeria’s ability to diversify and stabilize its energy supply.
Also been mentioned for the umpteenth times as one of the reasons for poor and costly electricity supply is poor Infrastructure. The foregoing view can be buttressed against the backdrop of the outdated power infrastructure in the country; even as the infrastructure is poorly maintained leading to frequent breakdowns and inefficiencies. In fact, transmission and distribution networks are plagued with energy losses, which further contribute to the high cost of electricity. Without significant investment in upgrading these systems, Nigeria will continue to struggle with both regularity and affordability.
In fact, not a few people’s views have either being read or heard in the media saying that corruption has been a major stumbling block in Nigeria’s energy sector. As gathered, they often say that the privatization of the power sector, which was meant to bring about efficiency and improvement, has been hampered by vested interests and mismanagement, resulting to a system where power distribution companies (DisCos) often underperform, leaving consumers with erratic service at exorbitant prices.
For years, successive Nigerian governments have promised reforms in the power sector, but these promises have rarely been fulfilled. Political leaders often shy away from the difficult decisions needed to overhaul the system, such as cracking down on corrupt practices or fully liberalizing the energy market. The absence of strong political will to tackle these issues head-on has left Nigeria lagging behind its African counterparts.
At this juncture, it is expedient to ask, “Is There a Way Out?” Absolutely, Nigeria has the potential to provide both affordable and regular electricity. If smaller African nations with fewer resources have succeeded, there is no reason Nigeria cannot follow suit. The solution lies in a combination of key steps that cut across energy diversification, investment in infrastructure, government accountability and 4. Public-Private Partnerships (PPP).
Given the foregoing, it is expedient to opine that Nigeria must prioritize the diversification of its energy sources by investing in renewable energy such as solar, wind, and hydropower. Renewables offer a more sustainable and cheaper alternative to fossil fuels and will reduce the country’s vulnerability to global energy price fluctuations.
In a similar vein, there is an urgent need to overhaul Nigeria’s electricity infrastructure. Upgrading transmission and distribution networks will reduce energy losses and improve efficiency. This requires significant investment from both the government and private sector, but the long-term benefits will far outweigh the costs.
Still in a similar vein, the Nigerian government must demonstrate the political will to hold DisCos accountable for their performance. Strengthening regulatory bodies such as the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to ensure transparency and fairness in tariff pricing is critical to restoring consumer trust.
Added to the foregoing steps, Nigeria should explore public-private partnerships to finance energy projects and build more power plants. By working with foreign investors and multilateral agencies, Nigeria can access the funding needed to improve its energy sector and provide affordable electricity to its citizens.
In fact, the examples of Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt show that regular and affordable electricity is not a pipe dream, it is achievable. Nigeria, with its abundant natural resources, has the potential to lead the continent in energy provision. However, without the necessary reforms, investments, and political will, the country will remain in the dark, while other African nations continue to shine.
It is time for Nigeria to harness its full potential and deliver what its people deserve: reliable, affordable electricity that powers growth and development. If other African countries can do it, why can’t Nigeria?
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Sunday, 06 October 2024 07:00
[OPINION] Steve Jobs: The Visionary Who Revolutionized Technology, And Left A Lasting Legacy - Isaac Asabor
![[OPINION] Steve Jobs: The Visionary Who Revolutionized Technology, And Left A Lasting Legacy - Isaac Asabor](/media/k2/items/cache/b7e6989986d50fe50e4b3ae834be424f_Generic.jpg)
On October 5, 2011, the world lost Steve Jobs, the visionary co-founder of Apple Inc., at age 56 due to complications from pancreatic cancer. Jobs left an indelible mark on multiple industries, transforming the way people interact with technology through devices like the Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, and iPad. His influence extended far beyond consumer electronics, leaving a legacy that continues to shape modern life.
Born in 1955 in San Francisco, Jobs was adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs and raised in the heart of Silicon Valley. Although he dropped out of college after one semester, his journey would soon see him co-found Apple with his friend Steve Wozniak in 1976, in his parents’ garage. With no formal training in technology or business, Jobs possessed a unique blend of vision and intuition. He believed that computers could evolve from niche tools into devices integral to everyday life, a belief that became the cornerstone of Apple’s success.
Under Jobs’ leadership, Apple introduced the Apple II, one of the first personal computers, and later the revolutionary Macintosh in 1984, which introduced a graphical user interface that forever changed personal computing. Even after his departure from Apple in 1985, Jobs continued to leave his mark. He founded NeXT, a company whose technology would play a critical role in the development of the World Wide Web, and acquired Pixar, which went on to redefine the animation industry with “Toy Story” and other classics.
When Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, the company was struggling. Through his unmatched leadership and relentless pursuit of perfection, he turned Apple into one of the world’s most valuable companies. Products like the iPod, iPhone, and iPad became cultural phenomena, seamlessly integrating into the daily lives of millions of people across the globe. Jobs’ genius was not just in the products themselves, but in understanding how people would use them, and how they would impact culture and communication.
Despite his medical struggles, including a pancreatic tumor surgery and a liver transplant, Jobs’ commitment to his vision remained unwavering until the end. On August 24, 2011, just six weeks before his passing, he stepped down as CEO of Apple, leaving behind a company that embodied his passion for innovation.
Steve Jobs’ journey on Earth was one that left a monumental landmark. His life’s work was not only about creating products; it was about reshaping entire industries and redefining how we engage with the world. As his biographer Walter Isaacson noted, “Jobs was the greatest business executive of our era, the one most certain to be remembered a century from now.” His legacy lives on through the millions of lives touched by his innovations, his bold leadership, and his uncompromising vision of the future.
In the annals of history, Jobs stands alongside great innovators like Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, a true testament to his transformative influence on technology and culture. His earthly journey, though cut short, continues to inspire generations.
Steve Jobs’ journey on this earth is one that future generations should not only admire but also strive to emulate. His life was characterized by a relentless pursuit of excellence, a fearless willingness to take risks, and an unwavering belief in the power of innovation to transform the world. Jobs’ approach to life serves as a blueprint for aspiring entrepreneurs and visionaries. Despite lacking formal technical education and facing numerous professional setbacks, he possessed an uncanny ability to see opportunities where others saw obstacles. His resilience in the face of adversity, from being ousted from Apple in 1985 to fighting health challenges later in life, stands as a testament to his strength of character. His story encourages individuals to persist through failure and keep their focus on a higher purpose.
Moreover, Jobs’ journey highlights the importance of following one’s passion with dedication and discipline. He was not just a businessman or a technologist; he was an artist who approached technology with a deep appreciation for design and user experience. His ability to merge functionality with aesthetics revolutionized the tech world, turning Apple products into cultural icons. This dedication to creating products that people love, not just use, is a lesson that transcends industries and professions. Jobs taught us that true success lies in the impact we make on others’ lives, and that achieving this requires a combination of passion, vision, and the courage to challenge the status quo. His earthly journey, though finite, offers a lasting guide for anyone looking to leave a meaningful mark on the world.
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Sunday, 06 October 2024 06:56
[OPINION] Wike’s Nigeria Feeds Citizen’s Bodies to Pigs - Festus Adedayo
![[OPINION] Wike’s Nigeria Feeds Citizen’s Bodies to Pigs - Festus Adedayo](/media/k2/items/cache/63b8e136e249fb03ffaed30bced188a0_Generic.jpg)
In South Africa, farming communities are severally under attacks by white farmers, exacerbating an already high crime statistics in the country. This is especially rife in rural areas, despite the official cessation of the obnoxious racist system of apartheid 30 years ago. In same August, in the eastern province of Mpumalanga, two men – a farmer and his security guard – were arrested in Laersdrift, located beside a small South African town called Middleburg, for allegedly murdering two men on a farm. Accused of stealing sheep, the men were incinerated beyond recognition. The court had to subject their ashes to DNA analysis to be able to establish their identities. In the same vein, a 70-year old white farmer, Christoffel Stoman, of Lutzville, a Western Cape province, had allegedly driven over and broken the two legs of a 6-year old boy for picking a fallen orange on his farm. The boy’s mother, walking with him past Stoman’s farm, on their way to town to purchase groceries, was horrified as his son got mowed down by Stoman.
As they watch this grisly movie, like the rest of the world, Nigerians are entitled to their shock. However, literally and figuratively, on the social and political planes, our country can be said to be grappling with leaders of similar sadism as South Africa’s Oliviers. Almost on a daily basis, Nigerians’ bodies are figuratively fed to swine, simply because they pick expired pig foods from our collective farm.
Nigerian leadership in the last seventeen months, like Olivier, has figuratively thrown Nigerians’ bodies to the swine who now take turns to feast on our flesh for supper. Nigerians are writhing under excruciating poverty occasioned by wickedness in high places. They encounter limited vision and foresight of leaders who claimed it was their time to rule but who have no time to think through the people’s plights. Perhaps the greatest Olivier-like savagery inflicted on Nigerians is the gradual destruction and undermining of the foundation of democracy by the born-to-rule taskmasters. In almost 17 months, all the institutions of democracy, like the electoral system, free press/speech and impartial judicial system have been dealt mortal blows. They are all comatose today. This speaks to that eternal aphorism that democracies are not killed by guns but by wicked undermining of its foundation.
If Nigerians are so distressed about the misrule in their country today, unfortunately, they are in a Catch-24 situation. We are locked up in a paradoxical situation from which, except an intervention of providence, we may never escape. As Sule Lamido warned recently, if the Leviathan in Aso Rock didn’t control the Senate, the Nigerian Army, Nigerian police, DSS etc and yet won the 2023 election, it is wishful thinking that anyone can stop the reproduction of this misrule in 2027. The ones at the top today have worn upon them the classical head of the Medusa. In real terms, like the sobriquet of one of the friends of Ayinla Omowura, an Abeokuta musical warlord of the 1970s, they are reincarnates of Ab’esuj’obi – one who shares kolanut with the devil.
According to the playbook of democracy, opposition deepens democracy. In Nigeria, the Leviathan has effectively castrated opposition. And this is why we should all be bothered. It is a Lagos model given federal promotion. The Leviathan then dipped his hands into his wiles pouch. From there, he brought out a colony of termites, led by a choleric dictator who is seeking political vengeance in his home state. His main assignment was to gradually corrode virtually all the internal strength of the PDP. I will not be shocked if the Leviathan is also the sponsor of the crisis in the Labour Party as well. Like a colony of pests called termites, Aso Rock and Nyesom Wike have visited on our country, using Rivers State as model, one of the most debilitating democratic devastations ever in history. This means that, whatever tyranny and limited vision leadership which Nigerians complain of today has a longer expiry period than they may think. We should all buckle up for a marathon. It is a distressing reality.
What happened in Edo State last month, coupled with the lawlessness that has eaten up Rivers State today, are clear signals that the electoral, judicial and police institutions have been ambushed. In broad daylight, with the obvious abetment of the Villa, electoral process was cavalierly thrown to the swine. The animals in turn mauled it with maniacal relish. It was obvious that Mahmood Yakubu’s INEC didn’t have any qualm licking the pus-dripping wound of the Leviathan and his accomplices.
Sim Fubara and Wike
With wanton abuse of electoral rules by INEC, advocacy for the abrogation of state electoral commissions for being lapels of state governors will not make any sense. From what is going on in Rivers today, with INEC openly in bed with a federal minister whose Hippopotamus ego will not stop from his Samson complex, any INEC-conducted state election will automatically be a from-frying-pan-to-fire situation. We will obviously be substituting local state despots for Abuja despots. In all, INEC’s Edo sham election hasn’t shown that the commission is the solution to governors’ brazen perversion of democracy. Kayode Egbetokun stands smilingly on the fringe to offer autocracy and totalitarian rule a pillow for comfort and the judiciary a final seal.
The second prong from which to look at this pig-food relationship is ethnic relations in Nigeria. As it stands, in the last nine years or thereabout, ethnic tensions here have ratcheted up so frighteningly, just like among black and white people of South Africa. When you read posts on social media, especially from both Yoruba and Igbo, a tingling feeling of foreboding will creep up your nerves. Of a truth, there is a subsisting history of almost a quarter century-old hatred ramped up between the two ethnicities. However, between 2015 and now, a heavy salvo has been unleashed on the relations between the two ethnicities, so much that if there is any slight prick, the bubble will burst finally.
The most incalculable salvo, more devastating than the machine guns of the civil war, was smashed on ethnic relations in Nigeria by Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year rule. In my piece of May 26, 2019 with the title, Who will be Nigeria’s last president?, I argued that, by the time Buhari exited Aso Rock, there might be no Nigeria as handed over to him. My hunch was based on Buhari’s ultra-ethnocentric rule. That playbook is being revamped today. All the cement and glue that made a united Nigeria have practically been deliberately peeled off or worn out. Ethnic tensions are at a frighteningly high level, reminding one of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Buhari, on national TV, once referred to the Igbo as a “tiny dot in a circle.” It was not different from the pre-fixing of the word “cockroach” by Hutus against the Tutsi. Both depicted a negligible, expendable ethnicity. While in Rwanda, it inflamed passion and expedited genocide, in Nigeria, it bred resistance. Buhari then prosecuted this hate agenda with clinical finish, so much that, by the time he left office, ethnic relations between the east and other ethnicities landed on the borderline.
Curiously and seemingly illogically, since this current government assumed office, Yoruba and Igbo, who were united by their mutual pummeling by Buhari, have squared up to themselves in a needless ethnic animosity similar to the escalation of war between Israel and Palestine. The Leviathan has done little or nothing to quell the inflamed passion and escalation of distrusts between them. The hatreds are bereft of logic, scarcely backed by history and are mere whimsical carry-overs of political antagonisms. Why would a people who have similar histories, struggles and challenges in the hands of their mutual oppressors, hate each other this much?
It is so bad that, if one of the two ethnic stocks, like Maria Makgato and Lucia Ndlovu did, goes rummaging for edible food in the other’s compound, just as Olivier’s maniacal identity profiling of South African blacks, one will feed the other’s flesh to their pigs. Sometimes when I read very acidic but senselessly divisive posts from both sides on the social media, not only do I shudder, I wonder whether the writers were same offspring of leaders like Michael Okpara and Mama HID Awolowo/Alhaji Dauda Soroye Adegbenro? In 1964, both camps, leaders of two erstwhile politically irreconcilable parties – the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) and Action Group (AG) – came together to form the United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA) and campaigned round Ibadan during Okpara’s visit. By then, Chief Obafemi Awolowo was locked up in the Calabar prisons by the Igbo/Yoruba common enemies.
In closing, the story of Hastings Kamuzu Banda’s government in Malawi will tell us not to take for granted the danger of a one-party state growing on the Nigerian soil. Banda’s was an extensive cult of personality. He ordered all business buildings to hang his official picture on walls. Today, a particular cap of specific branding is worn by all top officers in Nigeria today, including Villaswill Akpabio, a man who should ordinarily be at the head of checks on the excesses of the executive. Banda brooked no poster, clock or picture hung on the wall that was higher than his portrait. It was a criminal offence. Whenever any film was aired in Malawi, a video of Banda waving to the people must be mandatorily shown. Same happened whenever Malawian national anthem was played. If Banda paid visit to any Malawi city, a group of women were mandatorily expected to salute him at the airport and wag their buttocks erotically to prep up the leader’s voyeur instinct. The performances were also accompanied with special clothes that had Banda’s picture on them. He banned faiths like Jehovah’s Witnesses permanently from Malawi while other houses of worship were mandated to get his government’s approval before preaching.
One major blood-dripping hallmark of Banda’s one party state despotism happened in 1983. Three ministers in his government, Aaron Gadama, Dick Matenje, Twaibu Sangala and a Member of Parliament, David Chiwanga were suddenly found dead. At a meeting with Banda, they voiced their support for a migration from Banda’s one-party state to multi-partyism. They told him to his face that he should perish the thought of a life presidency. Not only did Banda dissolve cabinet immediately, he stripped all members of their status and ordered the three men to be rounded up. They were also tortured and bundled into a Peugeot 604 belonging to Matenje. An accident was then staged for them with their car overturned. It was later discovered that they had been murdered with tent pins which were hammered into their heads. During their burial, Banda ordered that their caskets must not be opened for public viewing. They were subsequently buried at night.
If we think the above is impossible in Nigeria, we should just keep an eye on what is going on in Rivers State. Hours to the state council election, the situation escalated into an embarrassing exchange of allegations between Egbetokun and Governor Similayi Fubara. That is democracy under the Leviathan. We must know that autocracy creeps in harmlessly, just the way music furtively slides into its listener’s consciousness. Of this, Bob Marley once sang, “one good thing about music – when it hits, you feel no pain.” There is a progressive shrinking of the civic space and its replacement with democratic stifling. Wike has suddenly become so powerful that every democratic institution – INEC, judiciary or police – is hidden under his Isiagu clothes. He arrogantly boasts, in inebriated gutturals, that he is the custodian of fire and he can set ablaze any state at his whim. The Leviathan is not bothered. Nigerians laughed at this grisly humour from a totalitarian.
Wike’s boast and the political calculation of the Leviathan who is playing games with the “head” of Nigerians, preparatory to a one-party state, remind me of the Chewa. A Bantu ethnic group of Malawi, the Chewa tribe can also be found in Zambia, Zimbabwe and a sprinkle in Mozambique. They are a very metaphysical people, renowned for witchcraftcy and secret societies called Nyau. Researches conducted by Reverend H. Debrunner, leading to the book Witchcraft in Ghana (1961) says witches play games, including football, at night like ordinary people. In order to do this, they ”’cut off a person’s head and play ball with it.” He corroborated this with another research work by Marwick (1965) who said that similar practice was prevalent among the Akan witches of Ghana who “engage in… harmless pleasures such as dancing and playing football where they are said to use a human skull.” Incidentally, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, who personified witches’ cruelty in his presidency of Malawi, was Chewa. If, like the two black South African women, shot and fed to pigs by a white farmer, Nigerians continue to be daily fed to the swine on social and political planes by the Leviathan and his appendages, we can only chorus, “Long live Hastings Kamuzu Banda.”
Things are tumbling down fast in Rivers, with morbid signals of owls – birds of bad luck omen – crowing in the air. In many African cultures, owls are representative of bad luck or omen of death. They are feared and avoided. Wike and his Villa minders may be kneading together a script which will result in a Dr. Moses Majekodunmi being a gubernatorial placeholder in Rivers. When a State of Emergency was imposed on a chaotic Western Region in June 1962, leading to the Premier’s exit from power, that singular action spelled the death-knell of the Republic. Rivers is the economic livewire of Nigeria. Its peace is the peace of Nigeria. Any tampering with the lucid-hour sanity of that Ijaw state could signal a rupture of Nigeria. It was easy for Olusegun Obasanjo to foist it on an agrarian Ekiti State. It could spell national disaster in Rivers. Hope the Leviathan and his cantankerous sidekick are listening?
Garlands for Mimiko and Farounbi on their birthdays
Within a week, two great Nigerians celebrated their birth anniversaries of 70 and 80 years respectively. They are, Olusegun Rahman Mimiko and Akinyemi Farounbi. While the former, a medical doctor-turned politician, was governor of Ondo State, the latter, a broadcast journalist of over six decades, was Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Philippines. In my estimation, what links both men is a mental acuity, brilliance and patriotism that are difficult to define. I begin with Farounbi.
Till today, what drives Farounbi is a puzzle that may take a very long time to unravel. Woven into a common whole in him is an optimism and faith in Nigeria which many may find hard to access. He prosecutes this faith with a matchless energy that he devotes into his daily activity of speaking truth to power. Farounbi’s voice is almost a daily echo on Ibadan, Oyo State radio and television stations where he blends a profound knowledge of history with his hope that Nigeria will be better. An avid reader with an elephantine power of recall, he is a role model to anyone who still banks on redemption for this country.
At a point, Farounbi and his friend of over 60 years, Tola Adeniyi, of the inimitable Abba Saheed fame, noticed that my zeal in talking to deaf leaders and seemingly dead Nigerian situation was extinguishing. Immediately, he reached out to me sermonizing like a pastor on the pulpit. He followed it up with, in alliance with his friend, Adeniyi, convoking a miniature confab in Adeniyi’s Ibadan home. There, Nigeria was on the table for dissection and at the end of the day, they both succeeded in revving my zeal and commitment to a better Nigeria. Many Nigerians still wonder how an 80-year old man like Farounbi could still retain this high-octane zeal and patriotism for a country whose essences are dropping off like the wings of a sparrow in the hands of political vultures. I sill do, too.
Mimiko and I met for the very first time in December last year in his Ondo town home. At our meeting, I pointedly asked if he knew that I never liked him while he governed my State. He acknowledged that he knew. My Akure people believed that as governor, he held huge hatred for them in his heart. I told him. He then went on an explanation of all he did, driven by patriotism and an eye on the future.
While I wrote against his government, a détente in my heart came when a relation had to make use of the Mimiko government’s medical initiative called Mother and Child hospital in Akure. I couldn’t believe that any Nigerian leadership could conceive and execute such great medical intervention for its people. My relation was delivered of her baby without a dime demanded of her under very amazing medical care. With a general review I have been able to do about Mimiko after that encounter, especially placed side by side the general rot in governance going on in Ondo State today, I believe Mimiko is a leader whose time posterity will judge kindly.
As these two great Nigerian leaders and patriots celebrate their 70 and 80 years on earth, kindly permit me as I make a toast to their long life and good health.
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Sunday, 06 October 2024 06:50
Chinese hackers breached US court wiretap systems, WSJ reports
Chinese hackers accessed the networks of U.S. broadband providers and obtained information from systems that the federal government uses for court-authorized wiretapping, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
Verizon Communications (VZ.N), opens new tab, AT&T (T.N), opens new tab and Lumen Technologies (LUMN.N), opens new tab are among the telecoms companies whose networks were breached by the recently discovered intrusion, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter.
The hackers might have held access for months to network infrastructure used by the companies to cooperate with court-authorized U.S. requests for communications data, the newspaper said. It said the hackers had also accessed other tranches of internet traffic.
China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Beijing has in the past denied claims by the U.S. government and others that it has used hackers to break into foreign computer systems.
Verizon Communications, AT&T and Lumen Technologies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Wall Street Journal said the attack was carried out by a Chinese hacking group with the aim of collecting intelligence. U.S. investigators have dubbed it "Salt Typhoon".
Earlier this year, U.S. law enforcement disrupted a major Chinese hacking group nicknamed "Flax Typhoon," months after confronting Beijing about sweeping cyber espionage under a campaign named "Volt Typhoon."
[Reuters]
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Sunday, 06 October 2024 06:46
Amazon bets on selling cashierless technology to retailers after pulling it from most U.S. stores
In 2012, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was asked by TV host Charlie Rose whether his e-commerce company would ever venture into brick-and-mortar stores. Bezos said shoppers were well-served by existing physical retailers and that Amazon wasn’t interested in launching a “me-too” product.
“We want to do something that’s uniquely Amazon,” Bezos said. “If we can find that idea, and we haven’t found it yet, but if we can find that idea, we would love to open physical stores.”
Six years later, Amazon landed on a revolutionary retail concept that it hoped would transform how people shop in brick-and-mortar stores. The company launched its first Amazon Go convenience store featuring a new kind of technology, called “Just Walk Out.”
In practice, customers would be able to load up their cart and exit the store without standing in a checkout line. Amazon soon brought cashierless checkout to its Fresh supermarkets and two Whole Foods locations. In 2020, the company began licensing Just Walk Out technology to third parties, signing on retailers in stadiums, airports and hospitals.
But the company has since taken a sideways turn.
In April, Amazon announced it was removing cashierless checkout from its U.S. Fresh stores and Whole Foods locations, a move that coincided with CEO Andy Jassy’s efforts to rein in costs to meet rapidly changing macro conditions.
As part of that effort, Amazon also reevaluated its retail plans. The company discontinued some of its retail chains, closed eight Amazon Go stores, and hit pause on new Fresh store openings. It’s launched a handful of new Fresh stores in recent months.
In place of Just Walk Out, which typically requires ceiling-mounted cameras, shelf sensors and gated entry points, Amazon Fresh stores and Whole Foods supermarkets will feature Dash Carts. The carts track and tally up items as shoppers place them in bags, enabling people to skip the checkout line. Amazon continues to use Just Walk Out in its grab-and-go marts and UK Fresh stores.
A woman uses a dash cart during her grocery-shopping at a Whole Foods store as Amazon launches smart shopping carts at Whole Foods stores in San Mateo, California, United States on February 25, 2024. The smart shopping cart makes grocery shopping quicker by allowing customers to scan products right into their cart as they shop and then skip the checkout line.
Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu | Getty Images
The main challenge for Amazon and other startups working on autonomous checkout is the need to scale it to enough locations and retail categories that it becomes a natural part of in-store shopping, said Jordan Berke, founder and CEO of retail consulting firm Tomorrow.
“Until that’s the case, it’s an uphill battle,” Berke said. “These technology providers, Amazon included, are going to have to subsidize and continue to invest to train the retailer, train the consumer, train the market, that this is a mainstream experience that we can all trust and not need to think about as we walk in and out of a store.”
‘The hardest problem to solve’
At one point Amazon saw Just Walk Out becoming a core part of the experience of shopping in its physical stores. The company in 2018 planned to open as many as 3,000 Amazon Go stores within a few years, Bloomberg reported at the time, citing people familiar with the plans.
Bezos had assigned top talent from across the company, including a longtime Amazon executive who built the original Kindle e-reader, to work on cashierless checkout. The technology was considered a key ingredient in Amazon’s long-running pursuit to become a giant in the $1.6 trillion U.S. grocery market.
When Amazon debuted Just Walk Out in January 2018, it was a “quake moment” for the industry, causing Walmart and “almost every other retailer” to leap into action and consider developing their own vision-based checkout systems, said Berke, who previously led Walmart’s e-commerce business in China.
Amazon and other retailers soon learned that automating the checkout process is “the hardest problem to solve,” Berke said. Cashierless checkout systems require a hefty upfront investment to blanket a store with overhead cameras and hire staff to label and review shopping data.
“It meant a store had to dramatically increase its sales in order to pay off that investment,” Berke said.
Walmart teams found as part of a cost analysis in early 2019 that it would run a retailer between $10 million and $15 million to create a similar computer vision-based checkout system for a 40,000 square foot supermarket, Berke said.
Just Walk Out became an expensive project for Amazon, too. In 2019 and 2020, the company shelled out roughly $1 billion per year, including research and development costs and capital expenditures, to “learn and scale” the technology, Berke said. He said those figures are based on discussions with a former Just Walk Out executive who left Amazon to join Walmart. Amazon didn’t provide a comment on the figures.
Many retailers have since moved on from computer vision in favor of simpler methods like mobile checkout through an app, Berke said.
Walmart uses a self-checkout app in its stores, while supermarket chain Kroger has been experimenting with Instacart’s Caper connected shopping carts at some locations. Retailers like Target and Dollar General are rethinking self-checkout entirely due to concerns of rising theft in their stores, and have added more traditional checkout lanes.
While it’s no longer featuring Just Walk Out as prominently in its own stores, Amazon says it has inked deals with a growing list of customers. More than 200 third-party stores have paid Amazon to install the cashierless system. The company expects to double the number of third-party Just Walk Out stores this year, Jon Jenkins, who previously served as vice president of Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, said in a recent interview. Jenkins departed Amazon in late September to become technology chief of electric bike and scooter startup Lime, according to his LinkedIn page.
Jon Jenkins, Amazon’s former vice president of Just Walk Out technology, gives a tour of the mock convenience store where the company tests its cashierless checkout system in Seattle, Washington, on August 22, 2024.
CNBC
Jenkins disputed characterizations that Amazon’s phasing out of Just Walk Out from its own supermarkets represents a setback or a sign of the technology’s demise. He said Amazon proved through tests in its own grocery stores that the technology is “incredibly capable,” noting it deployed the system in large supermarkets with “600 people in the store at the same time.”
Other startups such as AiFi and Grabango have developed autonomous systems for supermarkets, convenience stores and other retailers, but widespread adoption has been slow, as the technology remains costly and challenging to operate in large store formats.
Inside the lab
Amazon is still fine-tuning its Just Walk Out technology.
In August, CNBC got the first on-camera look at a mock convenience store where Amazon tests the system before deploying it in third party retailers and its own stores.
The testing lab, which it calls “beverage base camp,” is located in Amazon’s Seattle headquarters. It has faux gates that mimic the experience of scanning your smartphone or credit card to enter a Just Walk Out store. The walls are lined with shelves of typical grab-and-go products like Milky Way bars, pita chips and gum, and there are coolers stocked with Coke cans and other beverages.
Amazon sets up Just Walk Out stores by first creating a 3D scan using LiDAR machines or iPads that help it determine where to place cameras so they have the clearest view.
“The goal is to have the fewest number of cameras possible, so we optimize the camera placement so that we can get enough coverage on each fixture to see what is happening in the store,” Jenkins said.
The system determines what shoppers purchased using several inputs, including the 3D scans, a catalog of product images, the video footage, and weight sensors on the shelves. Amazon in July updated the AI system behind its Just Walk Out technology to handle all the inputs in a store simultaneously.
The new “multi-modal” system can generate receipts faster by more accurately predicting which items shoppers have picked up and put back on shelves. The company said these changes should make it “faster, easier to deploy and more efficient” for retailers who install the system in their stores.
Amazon’s “primary focus” is selling the technology to third-party businesses and deploying it in small to medium-sized store formats, where the system “tends to generate a little better [return on investment],” Jenkins said. Earlier this year, Amazon also began selling its connected grocery carts to third parties.
Amazon in September announced several new third-party Just Walk Out stores at universities and sports stadiums.
CNBC
At one Just Walk Out store, inside Seattle’s Lumen Field, home to the NFL’s Seahawks, the company said it boosted sales by 112% last season, with 85% more transactions during the course of a game.
“It was awesome that we had our own stores as the laboratory to sort of build and launch this,” Jenkins said. “But over time, like many things at Amazon, the success of this project and the product will depend on third parties adopting the technology. There will always be more third-party stores in the world than there will be first-party stores.”
Amazon has used a similar playbook in in the past. Amazon Web Services, the company’s wildly successful cloud-computing unit, originated from the company’s need for IT infrastructure to support its fast-growing online retail business. And in recent years, Amazon has leveraged its logistics and fulfillment network to provide services for third parties.
With Just Walk Out, Amazon faces the challenge of convincing retailers that they can trust one of their biggest competitors with handling valuable shopper data.
In 2022, Amazon moved the team behind Just Walk Out from its retail organization to AWS. It marked one of the clearest signals yet that Amazon is serious about selling the technology to other retailers, and could help ease some fears among rivals.
“They’re clearly in sales mode,” said Sucharita Kodali, retail analyst at Forrester Research, in an interview.
Kodali said Amazon still has a “long way to go” before the technology is ubiquitous. Getting there will require patience from Amazon investors and data that shows both retailers and shoppers are embracing the technology.
“There’s almost a viral effect that will occur over time,” she said. “It’s just going to take a long time because you’ve got to cycle through everybody in America having this experience, and for the most part, it’s just Amazon fighting this fight right now.”
Watch the video for a behind-the-scenes look at Just Walk Out:
[CNBC]
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Sunday, 06 October 2024 06:43
Google can now lock your stolen Android smartphone automatically and protect personal data
Google just made your Android smartphone a lot more resilient against theft. No, not physically, but if and when the phone is stolen, the new “theft detection lock” ensures the personal data is safe and that the phone is of no use to the thief.
The new feature, currently rolling out to Android smartphone users in the US, was spotted on the recently introduced Xiaomi 14T Pro and was first reported by Mishaal Rahman on Threads. Google is rolling out three major components of theft-related features: theft detection lock, offline device lock, and remote lock.
The new theft detection lock feature uses a machine learning model that can detect when a phone is snatched from a user’s hand and the thief tries to run away on foot or in a vehicle. When detected, the Android smartphone will automatically enter into theft detection lock mode, where the smartphone will get locked instantly, limiting the thief from accessing sensitive information stored on the phone.
Similarly, another feature called offline device lock will also be triggered if a thief tries to disconnect the phone from the internet for an extended period. Lastly, the remote lock feature enables smartphone owners to lock their stolen devices remotely using the Find My Device manager, ensuring users will have control over the data on the locked smartphone.
Google has been testing these beta features since August, and they will be rolled out to all eligible Android smartphones in the next few weeks. These features can be accessed from the Settings & gt; Google > Google Services menu on eligible Android smartphones. Make sure that you are running on the latest version of Google Play services to experience all the latest anti-theft protection features by Google.
[indianexpress]
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Sunday, 06 October 2024 06:25
The private life of Telegram’s founder adds to his troubles
For many of their nearly 10 years as romantic partners, Irina Bolgar said, she and Pavel Durov enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle. The extravagance grew as Telegram, the messaging app Durov created, became a worldwide hit and cemented him as a billionaire and one of the world’s most powerful tech executives.
During the summers, they would spend about $1 million for a month at a 116-acre resort in Sardinia. In Dubai, United Arab Emirates, they stayed in a beachside penthouse with its own elevator. Private planes ferried them to Paris, Italy and Monaco.
But something changed during that period, according to Bolgar, who is now entangled in a legal dispute with Durov. She said he morphed from a principled entrepreneur whom she admired into an increasingly arrogant, controlling and finally abusive adversary.
According to a Swiss criminal complaint Bolgar made last year against Durov, he abused their youngest son five times in 2021 and 2022. On one occasion, Durov struck the child in the back, sending him across the room, she said. In another, he shook him so hard, the boy’s shoes came off. Later, he grabbed the child by the leg and said he would kill him.
The details are included in public documents related to the criminal case, which was previously reported by Forbes. The files do not list the names of Durov, Bolgar and the children, but there are a number of identifying factors, including the case number for a civil child custody complaint made by Bolgar.
A spokesperson for prosecutors in Geneva confirmed that an investigation was underway but declined to comment further. Durov’s spokesperson said in a statement that the incidents “never occurred” and that the accusations “lack substance.”
Bolgar, in a four-hour interview in Geneva, where she now lives with the three children she had with Durov, said she could not elaborate on the child abuse charges because of the investigation. But she provided other details about their relationship, which now threatens to further complicate Durov’s already significant legal troubles in Europe.
In France, Durov faces criminal charges related to the spread of illicit content on Telegram in a case that rocked the tech world. It is one of the first examples of a democratic government holding a top social media leader criminally accountable for what was spread on their platform.
French authorities detained Durov in August after he landed near Paris on a private plane from Azerbaijan. Prosecutors have accused Durov, an outspoken defender of free speech and privacy, of crimes including enabling the distribution of child sexual abuse material, drug trafficking and fraud. He could face years in prison.
Bolgar’s allegations include unpaid child support, according to the documents related to the criminal complaint. That could mean that even if Durov finds a way to overcome the charges in France, he faces further legal trouble elsewhere.
Her account, along with the case she filed against him, also opens a window into the rarefied life of the highly private Durov, who remains one of the world’s least understood tech magnates. Although Telegram has amassed nearly 1 billion users, Durov has avoided the same kind of scrutiny directed at his peers in Silicon Valley. Guessing the loyalties of the Russian-born entrepreneur has become a parlor game among the tech cognoscenti of Russia, where Telegram dominates.
“The carefully crafted image of Durov as a defender of freedom collapses when faced with his personal life,” said Bolgar, a trained lawyer originally from St. Petersburg, Russia. “It reveals a stark contrast between his public declarations of freedom and his private actions.”
Durov’s spokesperson said that Bolgar and Durov had “never been a couple” and that she laid personal claim to millions of dollars he provided as child support and spent profligately on luxury goods and other extravagances.
“Mr. Durov has many children, and he supports each of them equally at a rate of $10,000 per month per child,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement. “Mr. Durov now hopes that the Swiss justice system will resolve this dispute so that the funds misappropriated by Ms. Bolgar can be used for their intended purpose: supporting the children.”
Bolgar denied misusing money she received from Durov.
His comments contrasted with evidence of their relationship provided by Bolgar, including receipts for lavish vacations; a notarized document promising up to 150,000 euros per month in financial support; years of photos that include the couple smiling on a private jet, celebrating birthdays and spending time together in Italy, the UAE, Russia and other locales; as well as other materials.
A former employee of Durov, who saw the two together frequently from 2013 to 2018, described a loving couple who lived in an apartment in central St. Petersburg. The person, who declined to be identified out of fear of retribution, reported seeing Durov give lavish gifts to Bolgar, including Cartier jewelry.
Swiss prosecutors have not decided whether to bring formal charges against Durov. A child protection tribunal in Geneva, however, suspended Durov’s right to personal contact with the children after Bolgar’s complaint. Making a false criminal complaint is illegal under Swiss law and can carry a prison term or a financial penalty.
The spokesperson for Durov said that he became aware of the charges this summer and that he had hired lawyers to “present the true facts to the Swiss authorities.”
Bonding Over Yoga
Bolgar, 44, said she met Durov, 39, through a friend in the summer of 2012 in St. Petersburg. She said their friendship bloomed over a shared interest in yoga. Things turned romantic on a winter holiday at the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai. She described him as charming and said she was impressed by his libertarian views.
When they returned to Russia, Bolgar said, they lived together at the W Hotel in St. Petersburg before getting an apartment within walking distance of his company’s headquarters. At the end of 2013, she had their first child.
According to Durov, the relationship was transactional. “Ms. Bolgar, who was Mr. Durov’s yoga coach at the time, suggested to Mr. Durov that they have children together,” his spokesperson said in a statement. “He agreed, and three children were born.”
In the ensuing years, Bolgar said, their continuing romance afforded her a ringside seat as Durov’s career took off. When he began building what would become Telegram in 2013, she said, the two texted each other on an early version of the app. She shared pictures of Durov from this time, almost always dressed in black, hunched over a laptop or phone.
In 2014, Durov sold his stake in his first social media company, VKontakte, claiming he was left with no choice after Russian authorities demanded access to user data that he refused to turn over. As a result, he said, he would leave the country. The story would become an anecdote Durov often repeated to trumpet his commitment to privacy.
Bolgar described the truth as more complicated. After several months outside Russia, Durov returned to the country with Bolgar, despite his public disavowals, she said. The two resumed a life together in St. Petersburg.
“When we decided to come back to Russia, I asked him, ‘So you said you would like not to come back to Russia, but now you have the opposite intention.’ He said, ‘Why not come back to Russia?’” she said.
The spokesperson for Durov said that he lived primarily outside Russia after 2013 but that he had never concealed returns to the country.
Bolgar said Durov was not always truthful. When she asked him about a news report in 2014 that said Durov had a separate family, he denied it. Later, Bolgar learned the truth when the couple’s driver brought a bag of presents to celebrate the new year that seemed to be for Durov’s other family.
“The driver mixed up the lists and brought the gifts for older children,” she said.
Durov has often projected an ascetic persona. But Bolgar said he enjoyed the opulent lifestyle. In one message to her, he mused about the cost of a $20,000-a-night Dubai hotel and which suite to stay in.
“I can do it because I made tens of millions of easy money on bitcoins,” he told her.
He also focused on his image, she said, obsessing over fitness and having a friend who owns an agency representing swimsuit models take photos of him for social media. He told her to “come see how people on the Forbes rich list live” and, another time, sent her a picture of him holding a rented baby lion.
Durov’s spokesperson disputed that Durov lived anything other than an austere life. “Mr. Durov has been consistently critical of the extravagant lifestyles of the ultrawealthy and advocates for creating rather than consuming,” the spokesperson said.
Pressing Charges
Durov’s behavior changed in 2021, Bolgar said. He became psychologically abusive toward her and began to lash out at their children.
“Either you do everything my way and then you have the moral right to complain, or you do everything your own way and don’t complain,” Durov said in 2021.
In April that year, he struck his son, who was 3 at the time, knocking him “across the room,” according to Bolgar’s statement to the police. In November 2021, in Paris, he struck the child again and shook him violently. As a result, the child suffered a concussion and, for several months, experienced bed-wetting and nightmares, according to the complaint.
Around this time, Bolgar said, Durov began asking her to move to Dubai. She refused. She said she was concerned about laws in the UAE, where Durov had become a citizen, that could give the him rights to take custody of the children.
The last time they saw each other was September 2022. She warned him that if he did not change his abusive behavior, she would go to the police. He threatened to cut off financial support. He did, starting in November 2022, she said.
In 2022, Durov said he discovered that Bolgar had abused the use of cards linked to his bank accounts by spending several million dollars on luxury clothes and expensive jewelry. Durov, according to his spokesperson, “believes that the display of excessive wealth is especially harmful to children, as it often diminishes their motivation and creative drive.”
Bolgar, now working as a project manager, said Durov had never complained about her spending habits.
In March 2023, she went to a police station in Geneva to make the official complaint against Durov.
“Why I didn’t do it before? It was quite hard for me to make a complaint against the person who I spent 10 years of my life with,” she said. “It was some inner barrier in my mind I had to jump over to go to police,” she added.
The Geneva Public Prosecutor’s Office initially declined to accept her complaint because it was made more than three months after the most recent violent episode. A court allowed the case to move forward after she appealed. This year, Bolgar also brought a civil child support case against Durov in Switzerland, which seeks nearly 125 million Swiss francs (about $145 million).
In recent months, their dispute spilled onto social media. In July, after Bolgar made her first public comments about Durov being the father of their children, he posted that he had more than 100 children across many countries as a sperm donor.Bolgar responded on Instagram by posting a portrait with herself and the three children. “We must always stay responsible for our children,” she said. “That’s the difference between a sperm donor and a parent.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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Sunday, 06 October 2024 06:23
Rivers LG poll: Nigeria may start experiencing better election without police — Atiku’s aide
Paul Ibe, the spokesman of the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, said on Saturday the Rivers State local government election may usher in a new dispensation of better polls without police.
He was reacting to the withdrawal of police from the Rivers local government election.
Posting on X, Ibe wrote: “The withdrawal of the @PoliceNG from today’s #RiversLGAPolls2024 will confirm to the whole world the anti-democratic elements and institutions in Nigeria.
“The outcome of the election may usher in a new regime in which our elections are better off without the police.”
Reports had it that voting went on peacefully in the local government elections in Rivers State despite the police barring officers from providing security for the exercise.
Election officials were seen conducting accreditation and voting simultaneously at a polling unit in Ikoku Area, Units 14 and 15 in Port Harcourt City Ward 18.
Yesterday, the Rivers State Police Command announced its withdrawal from the local government election.
Spokesman of the state police command, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, in a statement titled “Proposed October 5th, 2024 Local Government Chairman Election,” confirmed receiving a restraining order preventing them from providing security during the LGA elections.
The command also said it was aware of the 30th September 2024 Court judgement from the Federal High Court Abuja, which bars the Force from participating in the election.
[DailyPost]
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Sunday, 06 October 2024 06:21
New UAE visa procedure excites Nigerian travellers
Nigerians planning to travel to Dubai can heave a sigh of relief following the resumption of flights to the Middle East country.
It may be recalled that on Independence Day, October 1, 2024, Nigerians witnessed the return of seamless travel between Lagos and Dubai as Emirates Airline resumed its daily flights, marking a new chapter in Nigeria-UAE relations and opening fresh opportunities for Nigerians eager to travel and do business in Dubai.
The Chief Commercial Officer of Emirates, Adnan Kazim, who couldn’t hide his excitement, expressed satisfaction over the development. “We are thrilled to reconnect Nigeria to Dubai and our global network. This route has always been popular, and we’re eager to welcome Nigerians back on board.”
Speaking further he expressed optimism that the resumption of Emirates flights is more than just restored travel, stressing that it’s a symbol of the growing partnership between Nigeria and the UAE. This strengthened connection will unlock new markets, boost tourism, and create jobs, driving mutual prosperity in both countries.
“It’s not just Emirates offering direct flights—Egypt Air and Ethiopian Airlines are also providing convenient options with easy transits through Cairo and Addis Ababa. There’s even talk of Nigeria’s very own Air Peace exploring routes to Dubai soon, offering even more ways to jet off in style.”
[TheNation]
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Sunday, 06 October 2024 06:16
Osimhen wins first Turkish Supe Lig award
Victor Osimhen has carted home his first Turkish Super Lig award soon after joining Galatasaray on a season-long loan from Napoli.
The Nigeria international’s impressive goal against Kasımpaşa has been voted the Goal of the Week by beIN SPORTS, receiving a significant number of votes and securing 77.96% of the total.
Osimhen scored his first goal and followed it up with his first brace, but it was not enough to secure all three points for the Turkish champions, who gave up a three-goal lead to allow the visitors a share of the spoils.
The 25-year-old showcased his skill and decisiveness to volley home with his left foot after receiving a pass from former Napoli teammate Dries Marten to put his team 2-0 up.
Despite missing pre-season due to transfer complications, Osimhen has quickly become a key player for Galatasaray, having been involved in scoring or assisting in all four of his appearances for the club.
He took his season tally to two goals and four assists in four games for the Lions since joining on loan from Napoli.
However, Osimhen is currently sidelined with an injury after a knock he picked up during the league game. He missed the Europa League clash against RFS in Latvia on Wednesday, but his injury is not severe, and he is expected to return soon.
He could be back in action on the weekend when Galatasaray take on Alanyaspor in the Super Lig.
Meanwhile, the former Lille player has revealed the key role Galatasaray manager Okan Buruk played in convincing him to join the club.
“Okan Buruk is the key to my transfer,” Osimhen told A Spor. “I was incredibly impressed when I spoke to him.”
The initial loan deal sees Osimhen at Galatasaray for four months. However, his impressive start has led to speculation of a potential extension.
Despite Osimhen’s loan move, reports suggest Chelsea remains interested in acquiring him.
The Blues are reportedly prepared to offer €90 million for the Nigerian striker in the January transfer window.
[Punch]
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