Category: General

The National Sports Festival is upon us in Nigeria. My friends, several co-Olympians based in the United States, have called to inform me they will be in Abeokuta for the 22nd edition of the Games that hold sweet memories for...

I have repeated this tale several times in the past. I shall not tire of recounting it because of its significance. It is a powerful message for governments. It is a true-life story that took place when the current Vice-President...

Last Wednesday, at the invitation of the Federal University Lokoja, I delivered the 15th Distinguished Public Lecture of the university. I am devoting my column this weekend to a slightly edited version of the presentation. When I received the invitation,...

Your Excellency, ECOWAS crisis - SPORTS to the rescue. On behalf of all Nigerians, I salute you, sir. In the year 2002, I was an emissary of former President Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR. I was head of a delegation that was...

2024 is about to drop into the archives of history. The year has had some significant moments and developments that provide a good indication of things to come in the New Year. On the eve of 2025, from my observatory...

By the time you are reading this, the final event at the 2nd African Military Games will be taking place. Soldier-athletes from the over-20 African countries that finally participated will be preparing to return home after the closing ceremonies this...

As a writer of a weekly column, sometimes I run out of subject to write about. The mind goes into ‘idle’ mode, blanketed by the innumerable moving parts of life. Scanning through my mind for the ‘bigger’ stories often obscures...

Two weeks ago, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced the ‘death’ of the Ministry of Sports and immediately announced the rebirth of the National Sports Commission, NSC. With that single move, he did what no President in almost 20 years before...

Last week, I had a very brief encounter with the 18th Chief of Defense Staff of the Nigerian Armed Forces, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, OFR. His words were, however, enough to evoke some recollection, reflection and nostalgia. I am, therefore,...