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Commonwealth Games: Nigeria Turn to Amusan, Brume for Medals
Team Nigeria’s medal hopeful, Rosemary Chukwuma and Grace Nwokocha, on Wednesday night, failed to win a medal in the final of the 100m women’s final at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Both athletes finished fourth and fifth respectively in the women’s final, after returning in 11.17secs and 11.18sesc as Nigeria ended the day without a single to remain 10th on the table.
The Nigerians finished behind Elaine Thompson-Herah (Jamaica), Julien Alfred (St Lucia) and Daryll Neita (England), who all claimed the gold, silver and bronze medals respectively.
Godson Brume, Favour Ashe and Raymond Ekevwo all failed to qualify for the men’s 100m final.
In the men’s high jump, Mike Edwards finished in sixth position after three attempts to scale through the 2.22m barrier proved unsuccessful.
However, quarter-miler Patience Okon-George qualified for the semi-finals of the women’s 400m event after she ran 52.63s to finish fourth in her heat. It was good enough to earn her a semi-final place as one of the fastest non-automatic qualifiers.
Samson Nathaniel and Dubem Amene also qualified from Heat 1 of the men’s 400m and will hope to brighten their chances of winning a medal on Thursday (today) when the event continues.
The performance was a far cry from the team’s outing on Day 5, when African champion Chioma Onyekwere made history as the first Nigerian woman to win the Commonwealth Games gold in the Discus Throw with a 61.70m effort in her fourth attempt to take the lead from home girl, Jade Lally, who led from the start of the competition with her opening throw of 57.33m.
Onyekwere’s gold medal feat pushed Team Nigeria back to the Top 10 on the medals table, but there was no big change on Wednesday as they failed to add to their medals tally.
Following the loss of the duo, the Nigerians will be banking on world champion Tobi Amusan in the 100m hurdles and long jumper Ese Brume, who won a silver medal at the recent World Championships in Oregon.
The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
