The acclaimed Nigerian singer and songwriter, Harrison Tare Okiri, widely recognized by his stage name Harrysong, has hurled serious accusations against Nollywood superstar, Destiny Etiko, in a lengthy tirade that also slams his former label boss KCee and his estranged wife, Alexer Perez Gopa.
Harrysong, who has been locked in a public conflict with KCee, whom he accused him on Friday of signature forgery and fraud, vowed to unveil the deceitful schemes allegedly orchestrated by Alexer and her mother, implicating Destiny Etiko.
Alexer had earlier contacted popular Instagram blogger Cutie Juls to reveal her distressing experiences with the singer, claiming that the former Five Star signee pressured her to terminate her third pregnancy and voiced his frustration about the possibility of having another girl.
In a fiery and unrestrained response to these allegations and the gossip blog Alexer used to air them, Harrysong took to Instagram Live with a blistering tirade, blasting Destiny Etiko for allegedly masterminding his wife’s connection to gossip blogs in a calculated effort to smear his name.
He vehemently accused Etiko of being the puppeteer behind the scenes, orchestrating this campaign to tarnish his reputation with these scandalous accusations.
Accompanied by a damning voice note as evidence, Destiny Etiko was allegedly heard directing Alexer on the specific Gistlover blog to select from the multitude of similar accounts on Instagram, to reportedly highlight Harrysong’s purported mistreatment towards her.
According to Harrysong’s account, Destiny Etiko was allegedly urging Alexer to exploit their marital discord as a means to gain fame and drag Harrysong’s name through the mud.
He proceeded to unveil a catalogue of alleged transgressions, delineating a sequence of purported atrocities ascribed to Alexer and her mother amidst the backdrop of his marital woes.
Media
In a bid to douse the tension that envelopes the ancient city of Kano and find lasting solution to the imbroglio that characterises the emergence of new monarch, the 26th Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi, met with security operatives on Saturday.
The details of the crucial meeting has now been made public, with Emir Sanusi describing his reinstatement by the state government as justice against the injustice done to him in the past.
On Friday, Governor Abba Yusuf reinstated Sanusi as Emir of Kano after deposing the 15th Emir, Aminu Bayero.
This was after the Kano State House of Assembly heard the motion on the Kano State Emirate Council Amendment Bill and eventually abrogated the 2019 Law that allowed for the creation of the five separate emirates from the old Kano Emirates.
But despite a court stopping Sanusi’s reinstatement, he was enthroned by the State government.
The development has heightened tension in the north west state and put the reinstated and dethroned emirs on a potential collision course.
However, meeting with security chiefs on Saturday, Sanusi said he had not seen the specific court order.
“The emir, who spoke for over an hour during the meeting, told us that what the state government had done was justice against the injustice meted out to him in the past.
“He told us that he had not seen the court order we were referring to, describing it as a media court order until he sees it,” a source privy to the meeting told Daily Trust
Kylian Mbappe played his last match for Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday, winning the French Cup against Lyon.
The Ligue 1 champions won 2-1, thanks to goals from Ousmane Dembele and Fabio Ruiz.
Jake O’Biren pulled one back for Lyon in the second, before PSG keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma produced a superb save minutes later.
PSG, who are the Ligue 1 and French Super Cup champions, have now secured a record-extending 15th Cup title and first since 2021.
However, they were only able to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League, where Borussia Dortmund eliminated them.
Mbappe leaves as a free agent and is widely expected to sign for Real Madrid.
Popular Rapper, Nicki Minaj has been arrested over all ages for possession of drugs.
She was arrested at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands on her way to Manchester for her performance at Co-op Live.
The Singer had shared a video of airport officials asking to search her luggage on her Instagram.
She in the video denied that she was carrying any drugs but was told that she needed to go to the police station.
She also alleged that some persons have been trying to sabotage her tour
“They’ve been trying to stop me from coming to every show. They took my bags before I could see them. Put it on the plane. Now they’re waiting on customs.
“This is what it looks like when ppl are paid big money to try to sabotage a tour after all else fails. Everything they’ve done is illegal.” She wrote.
A former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr Ibrahim Lamorde is dead.
He died at the age of 61 years.
Mr Lamorde reportedly died on Sunday morning in Egypt where he had travelled for medical treatment.
Mr Lamorde was the third Executive Chairman of the anti-graft agency.
Details shortly…
The marital battle between Nigerian striker Olarenwaju Kayode and his estranged wife, Ezinne Kayode, has taken an ugly turn, with the latter instituting a legal action against her husband for allegedly claiming to be in possession of the negative DNA results of their three sons, Jason, Jayden and Jamin, SUNDAY PUNCH reports.
An enraged Dora, who is demanding the immediate issuance of a disclaimer, said she had to finally toe that path after Kayode’s claim about their children’s paternity went viral on various social media platforms on Saturday.
She buttressed her stance with a letter from her legal representatives dated May 24, 2024, titled ‘Re: Dissemination of false allegations concerning purported DNA test results of the three children of marriage’ and addressed to Kayode at 14, Tulip Road, Peacock Beach Estate, Lekki, Lagos.
The letter read in part, “It has come to our client’s attention that since May 24, 2024, various blogs and online platforms have been disseminating salacious stories about alleging results of a DNA reveal that none of the three children born during your marriage to our client belong to you.
“This scandalous and defaming story has spread rapidly, causing severe embarrassment to our client and children. Our client has reason to believe that these baseless, humiliating allegations were contrived and strategically planted by you across various media outlets with the malicious intent of tarnishing her reputation and causing irreparable harm to innocent children.”
The purported report allegedly made available to the media accused Ezinne of fraud, cheating on him with Pastor Tobi Adegboyega, stealing his two Mercedes SUVs to finance the pastor’s lifestyle, and abducting their three sons.
The allegations were extensively trashed by Ezinne in a subsequent post on Instagram, decrying the purported DNA test results and asking Kayode to make them public and state the hospital where they were conducted.
She wrote, “Honestly, I am so tired of this man’s nonsense, and it has to stop now. I knew he was not mentally stable when he pulled out a knife on me some months ago, but to go as far as ruining the lives of innocent kids is way too far. Kayode, I didn’t think you would go that low.
“I have kept quiet on all the rumours you have been spreading because they are baseless, childish, and false. But do you include innocent children? No, now I must speak.
“I have never sold any of my properties or cars and given the proceeds to any pastor, bishop, or imam in this world. In fact, all the rumours this mentally disturbed young man, Kayode, is sharing online are all false.”
Ezinne added, “The last couple of years in this marriage have been like hell on earth. I am so drained and in pain, and I just honestly pray this ordeal is all over soon. I do not wish this kind of abuse and oppression on any woman anywhere in the world. If your story is similar to mine, run away from that man and leave that marriage; you are not stuck! And I pray that God will heal you and send helpers your way like he has for me.”
Ostensibly trying to empty her heart on the issue in one day, the lawyer, who in her Instagram profile describes herself as a fierce queen, strong, unstoppable, exuding power, and elegant, wrote in the third post on Friday, “Olarenwaju Ayobami Kayode, my silence is enough. Don’t ever drag my kids into your web of lies. I urge you to provide the result of the DNA to the public and the hospital where it was conducted, as we are willing to give you the DNA. You traumatised my kids by detaining us in DSS custody.”
Adam Idah scored a 90th-minute winner as Celtic beat Glasgow rivals Rangers 1-0 on Saturday to lift the Scottish Cup and complete a league and cup double.
A scrappy game was decided by an error as Jack Butland fumbled Paulo Bernardo’s effort and Idah pounced for his ninth goal of a loan spell from Norwich.
“I said I’d come here to try and score as many goals as I could, I didn’t think I’d score a goal like this in front of all these fans. It’s an amazing feeling,” said Idah, who only made the move to Glasgow in January.
People Talk: On sale of new Naira notes at Nigerian parties0:00 / 1:00
“It’s hard to put into words. Anyone here can see what it means to the fans, to the players. I’ve always supported Celtic, it’s amazing!”
Rangers thought they had taken the lead earlier in the second half when Abdallah Sima turned home a corner at the far post.
But after a VAR review, Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart was handed a reprieve in the final match of his career as the former England international had been pushed by Nico Raskin.
Celtic were far from their best but maintained their unbeaten record in five meetings against Rangers this season, which has also secured them direct qualification for next season’s Champions League by winning the Scottish Premiership.
Victory also continued Brendan Rodgers’ remarkable Scottish Cup record across two spells in charge of the Hoops.
Rodgers has never lost a Scottish Cup tie in 17 matches and takes his trophy haul as a Celtic boss to nine in three-and-a-half seasons.
Celtic’s win also has historical significance as they move level with Rangers’ total of 118 trophies.
The head-to-head between the clubs is also now level after 441 meetings with 169 wins each and 103 draws.
Erik ten Hag made a convincing case to be spared the sack as Manchester United upset Manchester City to take the FA Cup with a shock 2-1 victory in Saturday’s final.
Ten Hag was reportedly set to be dismissed regardless of the result at Wembley after a troubled campaign that even the United manager described as “terrible” this week.
But United’s hierarchy might be having second thoughts after Ten Hag’s tactical masterclass ruined City’s history bid.
City were hot favourites to win a second successive Premier League and FA Cup double.
Yet Ten Hag found a way to neutralise Pep Guardiola’s side as first half goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo put United on course to win the FA Cup for the first time in eight years.
Jeremy Doku squeezed an 87th minute strike past Andre Onana’s weak attempted save but it was too late to rescue City.
Having ended a turbulent season on a high note, if Ten Hag’s two-year reign does end, his exit would provoke memories of fellow Dutchman Louis van Gaal’s Old Trafford departure.
Van Gaal was fired just two days after United’s FA Cup final victory against Crystal Palace in 2016.
Ten Hag will hope a more apt comparison is Alex Ferguson’s 1990 FA Cup final win against Palace, which kick-started his remarkable run after calls for his sacking earlier that season.
Ferguson was in attendance as a match labelled Ten Hag’s funeral turned into a triumph for the much-maligned Dutchman.
United shareholder Jim Ratcliffe, who has control of football operations at Old Trafford, was also watching from the stands alongside co-owners Joel and Avie Glazer.
Linked with Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino and Gareth Southgate, among others, there is still plenty for Ratcliffe to ponder after United finished eighth in the Premier League this season — their lowest final position since 1990 — and crashed out of the Champions League in the group stage.
Ten Hag believes a lengthy injury list was the root of the problems and can point to the two trophies he has won in three cup final appearances with United as proof of what he can do when his team are at full strength.
Ten Hag ended United’s six-year trophy drought by winning the League Cup last year and has now avenged their 2-1 loss to City in the FA Cup final 12 months ago despite finishing 31 points behind the champions this term.
– Stay of execution –
United will also qualify for the Europa League, avoiding a first season without European action since 2014-15.
They benefitted from an unusually tepid City performance as their double bid fell flat in their first domestic defeat since losing at Aston Villa in the league 171 days ago.
Last weekend, City became the first team to win the Premier League in four consecutive seasons.
But Guardiola’s men looked hungover after the celebrations that followed their sixth title in seven years.
City were furious when their strong penalty appeal was rejected inside the first minute after Lisandro Martinez’s shove sent Erling Haaland sprawling.
Content to sit deep with all 11 men behind the ball, United stifled City impressively and gleefully accepted their gift-wrapped opener in the 30th minute.
Diogo Dalot’s punt forward should have been dealt with by Josko Gvardiol, but the left-back hesitated as he looked for an offside flag.
Gvardiol headed the ball over City keeper Stefan Ortega, who had rashly rushed off his line, leaving Garnacho with the simple task of tapping into the empty net as Ten Hag clenched his fist in celebration.
Garnacho, 19, was the first teenager to score in the FA Cup final since Cristiano Ronaldo for United against Millwall 20 years ago.
Just nine minutes later, the 19-year-old Mainoo punished more sloppy City defending.
Garnacho advanced unchecked down the right wing and found Fernandes, whose superb first-time pass reached the unmarked Mainoo for a clinical close-range finish.
City pushed harder after the interval but although Doku’s shot slipped through Onana’s grasp to set up a tense finale, it wasn’t enough to deny United.
As the final seconds ticked away, Ten Hag stood in the sunshine nervously waiting to celebrate a dramatic win that could earn an unexpected stay of execution or serve as his final fling.
Controversial Afrobeat musician, Seun Kuti has claimed that women are more unfaithful in relationships and marriages than men.
He said the notion that men cheat more than women was a propaganda.
The maverick singer spoke on the ‘Bahd & Boujee’ Podcast co-hosted by reality star Tolanibaj and actress Moet Abebe.
“The society made it seem like it’s only men that cheat. Women cheat more than men,” he said.
The hosts: “We don’t agree!”
Kuti, “Okay, this propaganda out there… The truth is that women cheat more than men. Even in the bible, Joseph’s master’s wife tried to cheat on her husband with him and because he refused, she framed him for rape.
“Which man did they write in the bible that he cheated on his wife?
“We [men and women] are all equally bad. Let’s just accept that. And men that are out there thinking that you are the only unfaithful one in your marriage or relationship, you are living in a fantasy.
“If she is not stepping out of the house, you’re sure she is in that compound 24 hours, start looking at everybody in the compound.”
An Iveco truck loaded with petrol exploded along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway on Saturday.
DAILY POST gathered that the truck, with no registration number, crashed at about 6:57 a.m. around Ago Igbala, Ibafo area axis of the highway.
The crash was said to have caused a traffic backlog between the scene and Arepo on the outward Lagos section of the expressway.
Confirming the incident, the spokesman of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Ogun State Command, Florence Okpe, ascribed the cause of the crash to reckless driving and loss of control by the tanker driver.
Okpe noted that the accident involved five male adults and recorded no casualties or injuries.
She said, “The crash occurred at 06:57 a.m. this morning on Lagos-Ibadan expressway around Ago Igbala, Ibafo area of Ogun State.
“A total of 05 persons were involved, all male adults, and fortunately no deaths were recorded nor were there any injuries.
“The vehicle involved was an Iveco truck with no registration number on it. The suspected cause of the lone crash was speed and the vehicle lost control and crashed. The tanker was loaded with fuel and no casualties were recorded.”
Okpe noted that a rescue operation has been initiated, but traffic managers are still managing the traffic situation caused by the crash.
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The new Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has disclosed that President Bola Tinubu did not stand in the way of his reinstatement by the Kano State government.
According to Sanusi, the President resisted the pressure of using federal might to stand in the way of his reinstatement and instead, chose to ensure law and order was maintained in Kano State.
Naija News recalls Sanusi was reinstated on Friday as the Emir of Kano by Governor Abba Yusuf after signing the new Kano Emirate Council Law 2024 following the repeal of the Emirate Council Law put in place by former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje by the State House of Assembly.
Speaking on what transpired in Kano State, which led to his reinstatement, Sanusi said President Tinubu recognised that the Kano saga was a local matter and resisted all pressure to interfere or use federal might.
Speaking in an interview with TVC, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said: “As you know, I was appointed the 14th Emir of the single emirate of Kano in June 2014 and now I am reappointed as the Emir of the single emirate of Kano.
“I would also like to express my thanks to his excellency Alhaji Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu without whose principled stance of non-interference in the internal affairs of the state, this would not have been possible.
“The president has shown that he is a respecter of the constitution and the separation of powers, he recognises that this is a purely local matter and that the government has a responsibility to do what is right for the state.
“I’m aware that he has resisted all pressure to get the federal government to be involved.
“This for me is a continuation of service that I started, it is also an opportunity God has given me to improve on my previous tenure.”
Former England and Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney was appointed as the new manager of Championship side Plymouth on Saturday.
A move to Argyle is the fourth managerial role of Rooney’s coaching career, which has so far failed to live up to his stellar playing days.
“Taking this role at Plymouth Argyle feels like the perfect next step in my career,” said Rooney in a club statement.
“This is an opportunity to be part of an exciting project. I look forward to helping to build a squad of players to play expansive football – and to entertain the Green Army.”
The 38-year-old was sacked after just 83 days in charge of Birmingham earlier this year.
Rooney won just two of his 15 matches in charge of the Blues, which contributed to their relegation to League One.
He previously had a short spell with former club DC United in Major League Soccer.
But United’s all-time record goalscorer did thrive in difficult circumstances during his first job at Derby as the club entered administration.
“Throughout the interview process, Wayne showed himself to be a passionate, intelligent, and knowledgeable candidate with an appetite to prove himself and develop his managerial career,” said Plymouth chairman Simon Hallett.
“His ambitions and aims match ours perfectly and we feel he is the perfect candidate to provide the exciting and attacking brand of football that we all like to see and help us achieve the club’s mission.”
Plymouth narrowly avoided relegation in their first season back in English football’s second tier for 14 years, finishing 21st in the Championship.
AFP
A great-grandfather living in Fairfield, Ohio, in the United States, has been chronicled in the Guinness World Records for living longer than others before him with one lung.
The 83-year-old Donald Cantrell has even run marathons and taken on triathlons, with one lung turning 84 on 2 June, 2024.
GWR on its X disclosed that the octogenarian has marked the longest time to survive with one lung as a male with a total of 66 years 204 days, as of 15 January.
It added that very soon, “it’ll be 67 years since Don had his left lung surgically removed.”
Despite having just one lung for the majority of his life, Donald Cantrell popularly known as Don has never considered himself to be disabled and has lived a very active life.
He told GWR, “I feel blessed to have lived long enough to achieve a Guinness World Records title that I never tried or even thought of accomplishing.”
Don’s record-breaking journey began when he was just two years old and contracted pneumonia after getting the flu. He was hospitalised in April 1943 and spent almost a week in a coma.
He regained consciousness and was allowed to return home, but his health condition deteriorated over the next few weeks and he found himself back in hospital.
When he was 17 years old, after finishing his second year of high school, Don said he was continually troubled by bad chest colds and coughs.
A doctor examined Don and found that his left lung had been destroyed by an abscess and the best course of action was to remove it.
Abscess is an enclosed collection of pus in tissues, organs, or confined spaces in the body, and it is a sign of infection and is usually swollen and inflamed.
Disturbed about how the family would afford the surgery, Don disclosed that his mother assured him they would find a way, even if they had to sell their farm.
Don was admitted to hospital in June 1957 for the surgery, and soon discovered members of his church had pulled together to raise the money to pay his bill.
“I was discharged on 4 July, with instructions to return for a follow up in a month,” Don said. “I never went back. I was doing so well it did not seem like I needed to go back.”
The first ever lung transplant did not take place until years later in 1963, according to Guinness world Records.
When Don had his surgery, it simply was nott a possibility to replace his damaged lung with a healthy one.
He said, “By the time this possibility became known, I was healthy and strong, having run many road races, including four 26.2 mile marathons.
“Transplant never crossed my mind. In fact I did not think of myself as having a disability.
“Only my family and close friends ever knew of my lung removal. In competitive racing I never told anyone. Even today, most of my acquaintances do not know. I will tell them soon when the certificate arrives.”
Don went on to work in the manufacturing industry, marry his loving wife Janette in 1960, and welcome two sons and a daughter, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
And he also found his passion for running.
“I remained active in sports, I played basketball, softball, disc golf, bowling with my wife, and golf. Eventually running would be my sport of choice,” he said,
With practice and hard work, he went on to compete in over 100 races, running five marathons and completing several 30-mile triathlons too.
Don found that running had a huge positive impact on his health. His remaining lung even got bigger.
Don continued running until he was in his late 70s and unable to because of his neuropathy, a type of nerve damage.
His final race was The Shark Tooth 10k in Venice, Florida, in 2011.
He believes he has even run a marathon quicker than any other one-lunged athlete – completing one in Colombus, Ohio, in 1984 in 3 hr 37 min 2 sec.
Don said, “My competition in sports brought only benefits. I was never injured and never trained for a race I didn’t run and finish. It certainly strengthened my lung.
“My lungs doctor, whom I visited for the first time earlier this year, in order to complete the application for the record, said that my right lung had expanded, so that my lung capacity is equal to 3/4 of a man with two good lungs.
“My overall health dramatically improved when I began to run and become more active all the time.
“I have rarely been sick in the last 40 years. The Lord blessed me greatly through running.”
Don said he did not know what kind of longevity he could expect after having his lung removed.
He said, “I’m not sure what I expected, but I do know that other people that know about the surgery did not expect me to live very long.
“My brothers and I were at a local country store soon after my operation and the subject came up about me being scheduled to return to the hospital in Lexington for my check-up, and the store owner commented, ‘You will probably be doing that for the rest of your life.’
“Perhaps that is one reason I didn’t ever go back for a check-up. But I truly think I just didn’t let others influence what I thought, it was not up to me or them, it was in the Lord’s hands.”
Although Don cannot run anymore, he still walks an average of two miles every day.
[Vanguard]
What the Super Eagles need is a manager and not a coach.
In the national team, there is less coaching and more player management; less technical training and more tactical planning – a very thin but delicate difference.
Coaching is about teaching players the rudiments of how and what to play through repeated practise. Management is telling them what strategies to play at short notice, and hoping they do so!
Coaching requires a lot of time and rehearsals to master a winning strategy.
Managing is a quick-fix of tactics and organisation.
That’s why the best coaches of clubs hardly ever consider being managers of national teams. The two roles have very different approaches.
The best news out of African football is that Nigeria has finally bowed to the voices of reason to end the ugly, mental enslavement of coaches on the basis of the colour of their White skin, ahead of better experienced and better qualified local coaches.
Finidi George, an experienced Nigerian ex-international player with the highest qualifications is the manager Nigeria needs at this time, a gentleman to the core, one commanding great admiration and respect from the players, administrators and fans.
His success will be determined by the number of exceptionally-gifted players he is able to assemble at very short notice to play as close to a team as possible.
To have several players come from a particular club or league often helps.
But the most important ingredient is having a collection of extremely gifted players for all the positions. Nigeria is enroute to achieving that.
There is a very thin line separating a very good player from greatness. That transition often comes in a sudden boost of needed fuel ‘idling’ in every good player’s mind.
There is a talented football player sought after by many clubs, big and small.
For a few seasons, he plays from match after match displaying occasional glimpses of something exceptional without quite getting there, convincingly. He sometimes moves from one club to another, brandishing those flashes of brilliance but ending up with a shortfall in self-belief and consistency that are needed for greatness.
Then, one day, it happens. He finds a great coach who helps him to make the transition aided by conspiringelements. Mother-luck offers the player the gift of an opportunity which, if exploited, provides the perfect platform for the player to be launched into the stratosphere of greatness!
In one match of magic, it happens and everything changes in the player’s career and even life.
I know because it happened to me.
For several years at the start of my football career I was doing well, earning personal accolades, winning some important matches for club and even the country, winning local cups and championships including the league and even the FA Cup, topping the league’s goal-scorers charts for three consecutive years, and even scoring the most number of goals in winning Nigeria’s first African club cup. I was the first Nigerian football player to be listed in the top ten (and ended up as Third) best players in Africa in 1977, when I was not fully aware of just how good I was and could be.
Through all of that period, I was just a very good player, not very consistent, afraid to take certain risks, unappreciative of my depth in the game and how good I was despite all the shower of encomiums. Even when I was the most celebrated football player at the eve of the 1978 AFCON in Ghana, and ended up as a joint highest goalscorer, I was still not convinced, in the depths of my mind, of my true capability.
Then it happened on that fateful and eventful evening of March 22, 1980. Buoyed by some good fortune, I flew like I had never flown before, played without fear and with a certain conviction, scored two goals created in heaven, and contributed to earning for Nigeria its greatest trophy at the time.
In the 90 minutes of that match, I knew for the first time, what greatness was: knowing what to do beyond the ordinary; being unafraid; deliberately aware of one’s capability; playing like the greats of football – cool, calm, sure, confident and deadly!
When I scored a brace (I could have scored more), it was the turning point of my football playing, the transition point from being good to being great.
Not every player gets to that point of realisation. The few that do, stand out after that. Watch the likes of Jay Jay Okocha, Kanu Nwankwo, Friday Ekpo, Haruna Ilerika, Henry Nwosu, Finidi George, Samuel Garba Okoye, and some others. Once they get to that transition point, they come into the fullness of their ability and ‘greatness’ starts to manifest through their consistency, confidence and masterful displays.
That’s the slight shortfall, so far, in Victor Osimhen’s place in football till now. He is a very good player but still on the periphery of greatness despite his becoming Africa’s best player and his stellar goalscoring in Napoli. When he makes that final mental transition, when he becomes fully aware of his capability and starts to play deliberately with ease, confidence and composure, he will immediately join the ranks of the gods of African football.
Last Sunday night, during the final match of the Europa Cup, Ademola Lookman who flew like an eagle, may have transited into that realm.
His three great goals, with a historic victory for his team to boot, may have taken him to the edge of greatness. In 90 minutes, at the moment of his club’s greatest challenge in football, his earned the transition rights through his performance. It is not easy to score a goal in football. To score two goals is extremely difficult. To score three in the finals of a European Club championship is a ‘miracle’.
I listened to Ademola Lookman after the match when he addressed the press. I saw in his eyes and heard in his voice, the evidence of his metamorphosis from a really ‘good’ player to a ‘great’ one, going forward. Ademola will never be the same player again. In a quantum leap, he finally completed what he started at AFCON 2023. Now, he is in the territory of the gods of the ‘Beautiful game’.
I congratulate him, and wish him great days ahead in his football. It is now that Nigeria will start to enjoy and benefit from the greatness of the man.