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U-20 World Cup Kicks Off as Nigeria Targets Three Points against Qatar
Two-time runners up in the U-20 football competition, Nigeria, will go all out for the three points against Qatar at the 15,300 -capacity Tychy Stadium, in their opening match of Group D of the 2019 U-20 World Cup finals on Friday as the tournament kicks off.
The captain of the side, Ikouwem Utin, has confirmed that nothing short of a win will be good enough.
“It is a big match for us, as every other match in this competition. We know the importance of picking up the three points in our first match, which is why we are determined to go all out,” he said from the team’s Vienna House Hotel in Katowice on Thursday.
“Taking the first three points will help us plan our approach better for the remaining matches in the group phase, and also boost our confidence.”
The team will leave their hotel in Katowice for the short drive to Tychy on Friday.
The game kicks off at 5pm Nigerian time. The second match of Group D, between Ukraine and USA, begins at 7.30pm Nigerian time.
Coach Paul Aigbogun and his assistants left out half of the squad members from the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Niger Republic in February, where the team earned the ticket to Poland, and infused a number of exciting talents in the midfield and attack.
While the choice for the number one shirt is between Detan Ogundare and Olawale Oremade (who was custodian in Niger), Valentine Ozornwafor and Igoh Ogbu are likely to keep their spots in central defence. Captain Utin would be at left back while Jamil Muhammad could be at right back.
In the midfield, there’s England-based duo Nnamdi Ofoborh and Ayotomiwa Dele-Bashiru, Perugia’s Kingsley Michael and home-based duo Effiom Maxwell and Aniekeme Okon.
Dele-Bashiru, who plays for English champions Manchester City, has been tipped by FIFA as one of the players expected to shine in Poland.
In attack, the Flying Eagles has England-based Chinonso Emeka, Jerome Adams (Norway), Tijani Muhammed (Czech Republic), Henry Offia (Sweden) and Success Makanjuola, who plays in the domestic league, vying for places.
“We have a tough history to match; silver medals twice, bronze once, and a number of quarter-final appearances. That’s why we must start very well, by taking the points against Qatar and then march on with confidence and self-assurance,” Flying Eagles coach Paul Aigbogun said.
“We are flying the flag of nearly 200 million Nigerians, as well as that of the African continent. We have put a lot of work into building a squad that will make Nigeria and Africa proud.”
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.
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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.
