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AFCON: Cote d’Ivoire Suffers Humiliating Exit, Loses 4-0 to E/Guinea
Ivory Coast slipped to the brink of a humiliating exit from the Africa Cup of Nations as the hosts suffered a 4-0 thrashing by Equatorial Guinea in their final Group A game in Abidjan on Monday.
Emilio Nsue scored a double to follow up his hat-trick against Guinea-Bissau as Equatorial Guinea finished top of the group ahead of Nigeria on goal difference.
Nigeria saw off Guinea-Bissau 1-0 in the group’s other game.
Ivory Coast have only failed to get out of the group phase once in the previous nine editions of the tournament, in 2017.
The two-time champions will have to endure a nervy wait to find out if they will go through to the last 16 as one of the four best third-placed sides.
Jean-Louis Gasset’s men need a series of results to go in their favour to avoid sliding out of the competition, after suffering their heaviest ever home defeat.
Thousands of Ivory Coast supporters filed out of the stadium late on as Equatorial Guinea scored three goals in 15 minutes to embarrass their opponents.
The Ivorians started brightly but struggled to create any clear-cut chances, with Oumar Diakite’s wild effort off target after a poor punch by Equatorial Guinea goalkeeper Jesus Owono their best opportunity in the opening 25 minutes.
Nicolas Pepe appeared to be fouled in the box on the half-hour mark, but the winger decided to stay on his feet and a penalty was not given despite Owono coming out to gather the ball.
Equatorial Guinea grabbed a surprise lead with their first real attack shortly before halftime.
Right-back Carlos Akapo weaved his way past a couple of weak challenges and into the area before squaring for Nsue to divert the ball into the bottom corner.
Ibrahim Sangare briefly thought he had equalised in first-half injury time, but VAR quickly ruled the goal out for a clear offside against the Ivory Coast midfielder.
Sangare wasted an excellent chance less than two minutes after the restart, ballooning the ball high over the bar from close range with only Owono to beat at the back post.
Fiorentina forward Christian Kouame also failed to draw the home side level when face to face with Owono, firing his shot straight at the ‘keeper.
Ivory Coast were again denied an equaliser in the 67th minute by VAR for offside after Jean-Philippe Krasso slotted home left-footed.
The underdogs made the Ivorians pay for their profligacy six minutes later, as Pablo Ganet curled a wonderful free-kick into the top corner.
That goal prompted many of the fans in the Alassane Ouattara Stadium to vacate the stands, and the ones who remained were left stunned when Nsue tucked away his fifth goal of the tournament after a quick counter-attack.
Ivory Coast’s goal difference, which could prove crucial in the fight for qualification, took another dent with two minutes of normal time remaining, as Jannick Buyla bobbled a shot into the corner from a rebound.
Equatorial Guinea should have rubbed further salt into their opponents’ wounds in added time, but Luis Asue’s mishit strike with the goal gaping could not take the gloss off a famous victory.
AFP
Nigeria on Wednesday made a high-level presentation to the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) in London, United Kingdom, as part of efforts to advance its bid to host the 2030 centenary edition of the Commonwealth Games.
The Nigerian delegation, led by Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Mallam Shehu Dikko, and Director General, Hon. Bukola Olopade, emphasised that the bid is an opportunity to foster a shared legacy that epitomises the Commonwealth spirit.
Nigeria presented an all-inclusive bid, with focus areas such as sports excellence, arts, international cultural exchange, tapping into a budding creative economy, building a new shared commonwealth legacy and shaping the future of the African youth.
The bid reflects the core values of Commonwealth Sport: More in Common, Equality, Humanity, and Destiny. The Abuja 2030 Games are designed to bring people together through the power of sport, reaching across gender, disability, culture, ethnicity, age, and background. They will celebrate what binds the Commonwealth together, fostering solidarity while opening pathways for more people to succeed in sport.
The bid also represents equality by offering Africa, for the first time in 100 years, the chance to host the Games. It reflects humanity by promising to transform lives and turn one million dreams into one million skills.
Also, it embodies destiny by positioning the Centennial Games in Nigeria as a defining moment that will shape the next century of the Commonwealth through youth, skills, and inclusive growth.
The delegation included the Bid Coordinator, Mallam Mainasara Ilo; the President of the Nigerian Olympic Committee, Engr. Habu Gumel, Minister of Arts and Culture, Hannatu Musawa, Presidential Spokesperson, Hon. Sunday Dare, former Olympian and 2-time Commonwealth gold medalist, Mary Onyali, and current world number one para-badminton player, Eniola Bolaji.
Nigeria’s Abuja 2030 bid is presented as an opportunity to shape the next century of the Commonwealth through humanity, equality, and shared destiny, ensuring that Africa’s youth are an important part of the future.
President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday conferred national honours of the Commander of the Order of the Niger posthumously on four late Ogoni leaders.
They are Albert Badey, Edward Kobani, Theophilus Orage, and Samuel Orage, popularly remembered as the Ogoni Four.
Tinubu announced the conferment when he received the report of the Ogoni Consultations Committee at the State House, Abuja, on Wednesday.
He urged the people of Ogoniland to embrace reconciliation and unity after decades of division.
“May their memories continue to inspire unity, courage and purpose among us.
“I urge the Ogoni people across classes, communities and generations to close ranks, put this dark chapter behind us and move forward as a united community with one voice,” Tinubu said.
Wednesday’s meeting comes 16 months after the President, in May 2024, promised to “pursue diligently and honourably” the Ogoni cleanup and increase the number of its indigenes benefitting from its empowerment programmes.
Tinubu also pledged his commitment to unlocking the human and natural resource potential of Ogoniland while ensuring the environmental and economic security of Nigerian communities.
At the meeting, the President assured stakeholders that his administration would support the journey of Ogoniland towards peace, environmental remediation, and economic revival, while also facilitating the return of oil exploration to the area.
He stated, “I am encouraged by the overwhelming consensus of the Ogoni communities to welcome the resumption of oil production.
“The government will deploy every resource to support your people in this march towards shared prosperity.”
Tinubu cited developments in 2022 when the Buhari administration transferred the operations of the Ogoni oil field to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and its joint venture partners.
He argued that his government would honour and build on Buhari’s decision.
In his closing remarks, Tinubu called on the people to seize the moment, saying, “Let us together turn pain into purpose, conflict into cooperation, and transform the wealth beneath Ogoni soil into a blessing for the people and for Nigeria.”
Consequently, he directed the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to commence engagement between the Ogoni people, NNPCL, its partners, and all relevant stakeholders to finalise modalities for restarting operations.
“A dead asset is not valuable to the community, the country or the people.
“The longer we procrastinate, the worse it is for everyone,” the President said.
He also directed the Minister of Environment to integrate pollution remediation and environmental recovery into the broader framework of dialogue with the people.
The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, who presented the report, said the consultations included all four Ogoni zones, with input from local communities, traditional leaders, and the diaspora.
Ribadu said, “In all aspects of our national life, Ogoni is one, thirty-something years of very unfortunate history rewrite the wrong now,
“To us was instruction, then we carry out this dialogue, community engagement, talking with the people and getting to understand how to move forward. It has succeeded like what you have seen today.
“He gave directives to all government agencies and institutions and also directly to our office that we must implement everything that have been agreed and we have taken it.”
Ribadu affirmed that his office, alongside all relevant agencies, is committed to restoring peace in Ogoniland.
“We will make sure that we follow his own directives and his instructions.
“We are going to make sure that peace is restored already, it is, and hopefully you will see the benefit of it not just in Ogoni land but the entire Niger Delta and by extension Nigeria,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Dialogue Committee, Prof. Don Baridam, noted that the committee ensured all stakeholders were carried along in the process, noting that the report reflects the collective will of the Ogoni people.
Baridam said the report captured the people’s demands for structured participation in oil production, renewed environmental cleanup, and a framework for sustainable development.
Oil was first commercially discovered in Oloibiri, Ogoniland, in 1958. However, exploration stopped in 1993 following sustained protests against environmental degradation and injustice.
The Ogoni Four refers to four traditional chiefs from the Ogoni community in Rivers State who were murdered on May 21, 1994, in the village of Giokoo.
The killings took place against the backdrop of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People campaign, led by writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, which had been mobilising the Ogoni against oil companies, particularly Shell, and the Nigerian state.
The subsequent struggles of Ogoni leaders to protect their environment from harmful oil exploration were met with severe repression, culminating in the hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa and nine other leaders by the Abacha regime in 1995.
The Punch
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Tinubu Holds Closed-door Meeting with Rivers Ex-administrator Ibas, EFCC Chair, Fin Minister
President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday evening, summoned the immediate past Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd.), to the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Ibas, who arrived at the State House at about 5:50 pm dressed in brown native attire, was accompanied to the meeting by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, and Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede.
Earlier, Edun had been sighted entering the villa briefly before leaving, only to return later carrying a file, underscoring the gravity of the engagement with the President.
Vice Admiral Ibas ceased to function as administrator of the oil-rich State on September 17, following the termination of the six-month emergency rule imposed in March.
President Tinubu had directed the reinstatement of the suspended governor, Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly from the previous Thursday.
During its first sitting after the end of emergency rule, the Rivers State House of Assembly, presided over by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, resolved to investigate the management of State funds under Ibas’ tenure.
Lawmakers specifically resolved “to explore the process of knowing what transpired during the emergency rule about spending from the consolidated revenue fund for the award of contracts and other expenditures.”
Ibas, however, has publicly rejected the decision to probe the State’s expenditure during his six months in office.
Official records show that Rivers State received at least N254.37 billion from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) between March and August 2025, covering the period Ibas served as sole administrator.
Details of the closed-door meeting were yet to be made public as of press time.
