News
Christian Chukwu: My mother sent me to sell plantain to stop me from playing football …
Published
1 year agoon

Speaks about early life, Ernest Okonkwo, Green Eagles days, Dan Anyiam, Tico, Otto Gloria, Westerhof, stints in Lebanon, Kenya, Femi Otedola A book on the life and football career of Nigeria’s beloved footballer and coach of international repute “Chairman” Christian Chukwu written by journalist author and publisher Ogechukwu Ajuzie is warming up for presentation in Lagos.
The 361 pages book with memorable photos titled; ‘The Field Marshal Chairman Christian Chukwu; Biography of an African Football legend,’ is a cruise on the history of Nigeria and African football so to say with the life of the former Rangers and Green Eagles captain and coach as well as coach for the Harambe stars of Kenya and Lebanese national team as the anchor.
It takes note of his background, childhood, his youth, team captain and coach as well as everything. No date and venue has been set for this presentation.
FRED IWENJORA met up with the “Chairman” himself who speaks about how he feels about the book and more intimate details as he flashes back on memory lane.
Kindly assess the performance of the Falcons at the just concluded WWC in Australia?
I think that the Falcons performed very well at the world stage. I am very happy with their performance. They did very well and I hail the team and their handlers.
Now tell me sir…what has life taught you at the age of 72?
At 72, I have learnt so much about life, one of which is that nothing is important in life. I have learnt that we are all on a journey in this life. If you like, you can own the whole of Nigeria. But one day you will lose it and go to where you do not know. And some of those who do not have even one room will continue to enjoy the one room they own. I learnt that there is no need to kill one’s self in this life. I have learnt that human beings should take life the way they see it and keep moving and keep living.
Did you ever envisage that your name would be heard across the world while playing street soccer in your neighbourhood and in primary school?
I was just enjoying myself while playing. I cannot completely tell you how I love football. I never knew that I would reach the level that football took me. As far as I am concerned, I was just enjoying myself. Even my father did not allow me to play. He discouraged me in many ways just like my mother who would load up a tray of plantain for me to go and sell. All these were to stop me from playing the game. But I would complete sales and drop my tray at one corner and join my friends on the pitch. Sometimes I forgot my school bag. It is a talent from God which I never knew would make me see the world and meet many big people including presidents and governors.
In 1980, Nigeria won AFCON by slaughtering Algeria; do you recall any thing that happened on the eve of the match and more?
Remember that before that match, we had become so solidified as a team. We started in Ethiopia in 1976 by winning the Bronze. We then won Bronze again in Accra Ghana in 1978. This solidity of the team contributed in our winning the cup in 1980. On the eve of the match, I recall that we slept very well because we had been playing together. We were relaxed. I recall that top government officials came to address us and made promises. When we entered the pitch on that day, we were at our very best and God on our side we hammered Algeria. That is just that.
Then you must agree that when a team is together for long, they do well?
Of course that is very correct. By that time everyone knew each other very well. I knew when Segun would move and when to place the ball to him. And Segun knew when Muda would cross as would Adokiye. We had stayed together and did not even need the coach to tell us what to do at the time on the pitch because we knew ourselves very well.
Let me tell you being friendly, together, brotherly and happy with each other as one family helped us win the cup. In fact, being together is the key to success of any team. I am very happy that we are still keeping our friendships and may the souls of those of our mates who have died continue to rest in peace.
There seems to be a close bonding with members of the team, what do you think is reason for this?
I can’t tell but I may say the passion for the game led us all and not money. I have friendship with all our teammates and as leader you couldn’t afford not to be. You should have seen us a few weeks ago in Lagos when Air Peace Chairman Allen Onyema honoured us. Some of us did not recognise each other again. We had aged much. Some had grey hair, some were limping, others were walking with sticks. We may be old but our friendship and brotherhood still remains.
Captain means leader… Do you think of yourself as being born with leadership qualities?
I have not thought about this. However, my leadership started with Rangers when Dan Anyiam named me Captain at the departure of Dominic Ezeani to the US. When he also moved to take over the National Team the Green Eagles, I was also invited in 1974. He had felt I had leadership qualities and also appointed me captain.
With God on my side I was able to lead and control my fellow team mates from 1974 to 1980. To be captain of your team mates and be successful, you must be trusted and you must be humble. No leader succeeds without these two qualities. If not, no one will allow you to lead him or her. People will misbehave and you can’t do anything about it and it will tell on the general performance of the team.
What character of yours made you trustworthy?
This is not for me to say but for my teammates who have said I led them well. I just lived a normal life. I was fair, friendly and sincere to all. But they know better.
You came across several Coaches either as player or coach like Dan Anyiam, Tiko, Otto Gloria, Westerhoff and a host of others…could you describe them and how you worked with them?
Dan Anyiam knew me well. He started seeing me when I was a teenager rocking Uwani Enugu. He came to see a street match at Ngwo Park, Enugu and hugged me after the duel and encouraged me to continue. He had such a likeness for me that I couldn’t explain or understand. He said I played his in his position. He once came to our house to talk to my father who refused me from playing.
Anyiam made a lot of impact in my life as a player. Tiko was also good. He was part of a nine member Yugoslav coaches distributed to top Nigerian teams by the soccer managers of Nigeria at the time to boost our game. Tiko first joined us at Rangers. He saw many talented players in Rangers and put his interest and hard work and we all loved his style. We also gave him victory at the regional competition and this victory must have improved his profile to be called up to Green Eagles.
We also met Otto Gloria at the National team. We knew him as a great Brazilian coach with international clout. He came with his assistant Carliso. All our coaches were sincere and acted on merit. No one played without being in real form. You did not make the team because you were this or that or that someone influenced your invitation. That was why when Okala lost some bit of form, Best Ogedegbe was put in at the final of the cup of nation in 1980. All these coaches believed in fitness and performance.
Westerhoff?
My working with Westerhoff did not just happen. I was recommended to him when he started looking for someone to work with. By then I was still in Germany for the course. He already came with his assistants but I do not think he loved the people he was working with. So when I returned from Germany, I honoured his invitation. He welcomed me to join him and I in turn gave him absolute respect as my boss. I never challenged him because he was my leader. I am not trained to challenge my bosses but I could make suggestions.
There is so much respect in not challenging your leader and he found me capable and suitable. Even when his country man Bonfere Jo was with him, he believed and trusted me and even sent him to the Olympic team. There is nothing like waiting for your own turn. I can say we worked well and achieved quite a lot. Again Westerhoff believed and insisted on local players whom he built and recommended to international clubs. This helped Nigerian football in every way. When these players returned to play, they already knew themselves and the way to play. The team became solid and we did well and the records are still there and unbeaten.
One may be correct to say that your closeness to these coaches also helped you as a coach?
Yes, I agree. All I learnt from the system helped me so much especially in being fair and sincere, humble and firm at the same time. I fielded players on merit. Playing with these top class coaches was like being in school. I later also attended courses in Germany and Egypt. I picked the many good sides of these leaders and added my character and God did the rest.
There used to be Brazilians and Ghanaians in Nigerian league; do you feel somehow that our league has gone down?
I will not say it has gone down but I can say it has changed. There are still many teams in the league and they are running. However what I can say is that the devaluation of our economy has changed many things and killed many things. A foreign player cannot come to Nigeria to earn lower than he would earn in his home country. Again the European and other foreign leagues have changed our mentality.
Now how do you feel when you are called Chairman, field Marshal?
Each time I hear that I feel thankful to God and feel highly honoured. I quickly remember ace radio commentator Ernest Okonkwo, may his soul rest in peace, he nicknamed all of us. He called me Chairman, field marshal, called Segun Mathematical, called Sylvanus Okpala Quick Silver, Adokiye Chief Justice, Blockbuster Alloy Atuegbu etc. I am very grateful and remember him always. I believe my fellow team mates also remember him always for the names he gave that we all still bear and take glory in to this day.
I do not know why we do not have commentators of such talents any more in Nigeria. Radio commentators of those years made you feel you were in the field of play.
Any memories of your stints in Lebanon and Kenya….?
The Super Eagles had a vacancy for a coach and I was invited. It was keenly contested and I lost it. I quickly answered the call of Lebanon and went there. After one year, I left Lebanon and answered the national call again. Yet I lost it and was full of regret for leaving my job in Lebanon after only one year to answer a patriotic call. I lost it to politics. They couldn’t have invited someone, making him dump his job only to deny him the job and begin to talk about me being an assistant. Thanks to God, Kenya invitation came for me to take up the Harambe stars of Kenya immediately after.
My stay in Kenya was memorable and I know that they were still talking about me in Nairobi many years after I left. I reorganised Kenyan football. My first observation was that Kenya did not have feeder teams like the under-17, under-19, under 20. I was worried and created the teams to feed the national teams. They understood with me and we created them and the difference was clear to them.
Soon we won the East African Games Cup. After two years, my family started getting worried saying I must return. That was how I left Kenya. I love Kenya so much. I again returned to Nigeria to join Rangers, my first-ever dream team. After Rangers, I told myself I have had enough. I took a rest which I am still enjoying today.
Are any of your children playing this game of soccer like you did?
This thing is God’s doing. My children love soccer but not like I did and still do. I encourage them to follow their mind and pursue the career after their heart. God gave me four children; two boys and two girls.
Tell me about your wife?
She is a very patient woman. You know we were on the road every time for matches and it was not easy for the woman to carry the house without the presence of the man. I thank God all have come for good and I give her kudos. In those days it was not easy for us because I concentrated on my work. I met her in Enugu. We were family friends. In those days our parents had a hand in our marriages.
Not now when your children would readily bring a spouse from anywhere for you to bless them. And you bless them. In those days your mum would look out for a wife for you and when you tell her you have another girl from elsewhere, she would scream at you to shut up. When they see whom they love, they would check her character and family background not minding that you are the one to live with her.
They would invite you to meet them. Most of the times, it all worked out for good. In those days our parents had huge influences on us. And we listened to our parents. Even when I played football, they did not know because you dared not come home if someone reported you. I made sure I finished my plantain sales before playing. Parents hated footballers and musicians in our days as kids. They wanted lawyers and doctors and engineers. It was until I was playing for National Grammar school Nike and later Highlanders that my mum started taking me serious. Some of her friends at Christ church Anglican Church would tell her we heard your son’s name and she started protecting me from my father.
My father joined the bandwagon when Dan Anyiam came to warn him to leave me alone or I would be expelled from school.
Again another interesting thing during my years with the Highlanders FC owned by the ministry of finance was that they usually came to pick me with the office bus with marked signs of ministry of finance which in those days were tax collectors. Each time they came, men playing draughts in front of our house wouls all scamper to safety. No one wished to be arrested. I was warned seriously that they should not be coming to pick me with this bus. Today it’s all fun but by then it was a serious issue.
Who is Femi Otedola to you?
He is the son of former Lagos state Governor who loved sports. I didn’t know him then but he knew me maybe because of my playing career and fame. When I came to know him very well was when I was sick a few years back. When he heard that I was sick, he transported me to London and gave me first class treatment. May be by now I wouldn’t have been granting you this interview.
You would have been writing history about when this man was alive. It was after this treatment that I came closer to him and we knew each other very well. I am indeed very grateful to him. God used him to save my life. Do you know what it means to transport me from here, forget all the hospital bills and every other thing and put me in a hospital where I was given proper treatment and came back better?. So if you ask me after God I think he is next.
Your book is set for launching in Lagos any time from now, how do you feel about this book?
I feel very happy that this is an everlasting document and children upon children would grow to see it. It seems like the first time such a book is being written about a Nigerian footballer. People before us like Dan Anyiam, Onyeanwuna and a host of others do not have any books on them.
You just hear about them. I am very happy about it and commend the author. The book has been presented in Enugu and we are going to Lagos and then Abuja to make it nationwide. It is expected to be found in major libraries in schools and even the Nigerian Institute of sports. This keeps the subject alive forever. That was why I was very open when the author suggested it to me and gave him all that I knew and still remember about my football life.
Culled from Vanguard

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On Tinubu, you’re on your own, ACF tells Ganduje *We’re wiser now
Published
8 hours agoon
February 13, 2025
It does not lie in the mouth of Abdullahi Ganduje, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) or any othe party’s big-wigs from the North to corral the people into voting for President Bola Tinubu in 2027, as the people were now wiser and more prudent to make crucial decisions.
This much was delivered by Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), a pro-North socio-political organisation, as a clapback to the assurance of Ganduje, former Governor of Kano State to the effect that the people would have no choice but to allow the President do two terms in office as was allowed Muhammadu Buhari, his predecessor.
The PUNCH, in a report, quoted ACF and other northern leaders as declaring that no individual could claim to be the mouthpiece of the North and, as such, it was wrong for the ACF boss to ask the North to wait till 2031 before vying for the Presidency.
Ganduje who spoke on Tuesday, urging politicians nursing presidential ambition in 2027 to bury the idea, as Tinubu would complete two terms in office, told a delegation of the Tinubu Media Centre and Tinubu Northern Youth Forum at the APC National Secretariat in Abuja that it would be unfair to deny Tinubu the chance of being re-elected after a fellow northerner was allowed to finish his tenure of eight years.
His words: “When a leader from the northern part of this country was in office for eight years, we advocated that the next president in our party should come from the south. Luckily enough, we worked very hard with the cooperation of Nigerians. Our president has come from the south and is going, Insha Allah, for a second term come 2027. And after that, it will be the turn of the northern part of this country.”
The PUNCH, however quoted Tukur Muhammad-Baba,National Publicity Secretary of the ACF, as saying that the comment credited to the former governor was a reflection of the cult-like nature of the presidency, where allegiance to the president is paramount.
His words: “Given the nature of the Presidency, it has become something like a cult; a personality cult and allegiance to the president because it looks like the president wants total allegiance and nothing else.
“We are in the season of politics and you should expect that those who are near the corridors of power should express those things. But it’s not constitutional.
“There’s nothing new in what Ganduje said. So many people have said so before. Not too long ago, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume said the same thing that northerners should forget about it until 2031.
“He or she or party members cannot influence voters by force. So, what he said was an opinion and his personal opinion and it’s up to the voters to endorse, reject or modify what he said. I think voters are becoming wise as to where the president comes from. In 2015, we were sold a dummy of anti-corruption.
“We were sold a dummy of many things and people have realised that it wasn’t true. Then, of course, the Renewed Hope came in 2023 and the hope is turning into a nightmare. What will sell President Bola Tinubu, I think and I hope, is not whether he will contest or not, it will be his policies and their impact on the people. If they buy it, fine.”
Mallam Salihu Lukman, former APC National Vice Chairman (North-West), who echoed the same sentiment, was also quoted as saying: “El-Rufai is not saying anything different from what I have been saying all thise while. The only difference is that he is talking for the North while I talk for the whole country.”
Also, Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has declared once again that he remains the right candidate for President in the 2027 general elections.
Reacting to Ganduje’s admonition for the North to wait till 2031 for Tinubu to finish his second term before aspiring for the Presidency, Mohammed, who spoke through his Commissioner for Natural Resources Development, Maiwada Bello, described Ganduje’s comment as silly.
Bello urged the youths to rally around Governor Mohammed, saying that he had set a national precedent by appointing more youths into key positions in government than any other governor in Nigeria.
The commissioner said the Bauchi governor’s bold move underscores his administration’s commitment to youth empowerment and inclusive governance, adding that he deserves the collective support of the Nigerian populace to propel him to the country’s highest political office in 2027.
He said, “We are committed to building a government that reflects the energy and innovation of the youth. No other administration in the country has given young people as many opportunities to serve in high-level positions as my administration.”
In an interview, a former ally-turned-foe of the President Tinubu, Babachir Lawal, affirmed that the North can never forgive Tinubu over the manner he allegedly brought suffering to the region through his nail-biting reforms.
The former SGF reiterated El-Rufai’s warning that the North is massively mobilising its people ahead of the 2027 polls.
He stated, “The North is seriously mobilising with a consensus that Bola Tinubu must give way in the 2027 election. This is no doubt about the consensus. There’s no argument about that. I may not have been supporting El-Rufai’s position. But on this one, I will join him to see how we can stop Bola Tinubu from winning the 2027 election. Because if he does win, you know there will be one large refugee camp.’
“So, there’s that consensus. Everybody understands that if we are to continue with these policies for another four years, northern Nigeria will become one large refugee camp. So, there’s a consensus that for self-preservation alone, we must look for another candidate.”
Babachir said the state of origin of the candidate doesn’t matter, noting that the important thing is for the candidate to understand the need for one Nigeria.
He added, “Now, that is where quite a number of people think that it is only right to find someone who is patriotic and sees Nigeria as one, even if it’s from the South or the North. Some want it to come from the South while others are saying we cannot take the risk of bringing a southerner for self-preservation alone. So, that is where the divergence is.
“But we all agree that we must look for a substitute for Bola Tinubu. Unfortunately, quite a lot of people like Ganduje and other northerners benefiting directly from this government are just irritants. They are people who are talking to justify their positions in this rogue government. So they are justifying their place in it not caring what the other parts of northern Nigeria are going through.
“So, if we can get a good southerner that can rule with equity, we are okay. It’s not actually about the elite consensus. It’s about the masses and what they are saying at the bottom. Even if some elite pretend to be supporting Bola, they will not vote for him because they are the ones at the receiving end of this thing. They are also the ones directing us, political elites of northern origin, to make sure this man doesn’t have a second chance.”
Commenting on the development, a Peoples Democratic Party chieftain and lawmaker representing Benue South Senatorial District, Abba Moro, also observed that what is playing out is an alignment of forces ahead of the electoral contest.
Moro also noted that El-Rufai and Ganduje’s remarks smacked of political alignment
He said, “There are several fireworks that are going on in the political firmament at the moment. These are attempts at alignment and realignment. Ambitions are on display and people are expressing sentiments in line with their ambitions.
“My take is that with time, the picture will become clearer as to the direction of things takes shape. Nigerians will make up their minds as to where to go. Don’t forget that this present government is barely a year and a few months old.”
However, taking a different position on the matter, a former Secretary General of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Anthony Sani, submitted that El-Rufai and Ganduje do not speak for the North.
He said, “There is nothing controversial about the statements of the two. This is because none of the two people you have mentioned speaks for the North in so far as partisan politics is concerned. This is because the North can be united politically on issues of real concern to northerners but when it comes to partisan politics, the North does not act in unison.”
He recalled that in the Second Republic, “Shehu Shagari contested against Nnamdi Azikiwe of the Nigeria People’s Party while Obafemi Awolowo of Unity Party of Nigeria from the South and with Mallam Aminu Kano of Peoples Redemption Party from Kano and Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim of famous ‘politics without bitterness’ from the North joined forces together.
“During the third and the current Fourth Republics, the North voted for Moshood Abiola against their son, Bashir Tofa, and voted for Bola Tinubu in 2023 from the South against the son of the soil, Atiku Abubakar. This should also inform political pundits that the North can use contingency in its approach to politics depending on the situation on the ground,” he elaborated.
The National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party, Malam Falalu Bello, expressed disappointment that El-Rufai and Ganduje were playing ethnic or religious politics.
Bello said though the constitution of the country gives Tinubu the privilege of running for re-election, the PRP would field a sellable candidate in 2027.
He said, “The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not allow for an eight-year term for the President of the Federal Republic but a four-year term which for President Ahmed Bola Tinubu comes to an end in 2027 at the end of which he must face the Nigerian electorate to seek for another mandate.
“The PRP had a candidate in the presidential elections of 2023 who came 8th out of the 19 presidential candidates and would, Insha Allah, field its presidential candidate in the 2027 election to face President Tinubu or whoever APC decides as its candidate and our choice will be any Nigerian to bring good governance to Nigerians.”
The Immediate past Publicity Secretary of the PDP in Benue State, Chief Bemgba Iortyom, warned El-Rufai to stop heating the polity with his posturing as the mouthpiece of the north.
The PDP chieftain said playing the south against the North in the name of promoting the interest of the region is an ill wind that will bring no good.
He said, “So I asked again, who are the northerners? Are they Almajiris who are the real face of poverty or El-Rufai, whose children are part of the bourgeois? I think one of his sons is in the House of Reps, right? You have his children in the upper echelons of life. He wants you to understand that he and his children and those Talakawa and the downtrodden are all North.
“He should basically be trying to pacify certain areas where he has caused so much strife within the polity of that state. El-Rufai had placed himself in a larger perspective in the eyes of Nigerians as an ethnic and religious extremist. He’s not the sort of person that should be talking about the north and the south dichotomy. As far as I’m concerned, he’s only leading a crusade in the wrong direction.”
The National Secretary of the APC, Senator Ajibola Basiru, described the claim that Tinubu brought poverty to the North as laughable.
He said, “First and foremost, El-Rufai and others cannot speak for the North. Lukman, on the other hand, is a hireling of El-Rufai. So, whatever he says is from the same person and the way they going about it is laughable. I don’t know when El-Rufai turned himself to the mouthpiece of the north.
“He should, first of all, go and make peace with the Kaduna chapter of the APC before talking about national leadership. Then two, this idea of trying to represent the North is for his personal and egoistic interest because when you look at the structure of government we have in place now, you cannot be saying anybody is anti-north.
“The Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Budget and National Planning, the national chairman of the party, the Vice President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, deputy senate president, and key other ones from the North. So, we don’t know what they meant meant. This is not even a military government. It’s a democratic one.
“The structure and setup of the Nigerian Constitution does not even facilitate or allow marginalisation of any part of the country. There’s no northern state that does not have members in the Federal Executive Council. So, where did El-Rufai and others come up with their theory of Tinubu being anti-North? Even as we speak, the North now North-West, North-East and North Central Development Commissions. All of them have been activated?”
The APC scribe emphasised that El-Rufai was free to exit the APC if he so wished without levelling any false claim.
Basiru also advised that the former governor should have been engaging in penance over the manner he managed Kaduna State amid the turbulence, killings and rife state of insecurity that rocked the state under his watch.
“We all know he is working together with Atiku. He should not divert from the implementation of the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President. He has also been going about alleging that they want to arrest him and put him in a dungeon. Who does that in a democratic society? The president is a detribalised Nigeria.
“That was why the Federal Government also gave out N150bn support to Kaduna State. But El-Rufai turned around and claimed it was a bribe to Governor Uba Sani. We are talking about funds that will benefit farmers and the agricultural structure in the state. Rather than commending the federal government and seeing it as charitable, he is labelling it as a bribe to his governor.’’
News
Natasha unveils 150 free JAMB forms, five scholarships after Tuface’s engagement
Published
11 hours agoon
February 13, 2025
Even while currently in the heat of the public storm over her current blistering love affair Natasha Osawaru, Deputy Majority Leader of the Edo State House of Assembly, has moved to endear herself with her constituency with the announcement of the purchase of 150 free JAMB registration forms on a first-come, first-served basis to students of the state.
Osarawu, whose love affair with Innocent Idibia, Nigeria’s iconic and award-winning singer, popularly known as Tuface, is on top of social discussions in the country, at the moment, made the announcement in a video, which surfaced on Thursday, the same day she received an engagement from the popular artist.
She said in the video that she would also award scholarships to the top five students with the highest JAMB scores, covering their university education, a rare outing from the legislature in Nigeria, very low on public-spirited gestures in recent years.
She said: “The time has come again to push education into another level. With my fronts as a politician, I will be offering 150 JAMB registration forms for Edo State. It will be first come first serve. The 5 most intelligent students with the best score, I will sponsor their education.”
It is not known whether the gesture is purely a measure of philanthropy, political or appreciation for finally attaining the status of a wife-to-be to the singer, who announced recently that he was divorcing Annie Idibia, nee Macaulay, his childhood love.
News
Canada hits Nigerian military! *Denies CDS, others visa *They can go to hell – Ribadu
Published
12 hours agoon
February 13, 2025
What appears to indicate the new rating of Nigeria on the global stage came to the fore on Thursday with report that Canada denied the topmost echelon of the country’s military, including Christopher Musa, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), to visit the country.
But in a swift riposte, Nigeria has clapped back through the Nuhu Ribadu, National Security Adviser, who brushed off the obvious snub, with an equally disparaging message to the North-American country – go to hell!
Musa, the head of the Nigerian military, had briefed the NSA, himself a retired top police officer, about the snub during the maiden annual lecture of the National Association of the Institute for Security Studies (AANISS), held at the Shehu Yar’adua Centre, Abuja, on Thursday, leading to his angry retort.
Ribadu, pioneer Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, in expressing his strong disapproval over the incident, maintained that such a treatment would not affect Nigeria’s march to greatness.
Musa, who though did not give reasons for the rejection of the visa application, explained that the delegation of the top military echelon was going to honour of an invitation for war veterans in Canada, adding that while half of the delegation, including himself, was denied visas, others were allowed into the country.
Describing the incident as disappointing, but served as a reminder for Nigeria to stand strong as a nation and not be taken for granted, Musa had told the NSA: “Every disappointment is a blessing. Yesterday, I was meant to be in Canada. There’s an event to honour our veterans, those who were injured during battles, and we were meant to be there. We were invited with our team. Half has gone and half has been denied. It’s very disappointing.”
Replying Ribadu, commended the CDS for speaking out about the incident, saying: “Thank you for the courage to say Canada denied you visas. They can go to hell.”
Restating that despite the disappointment, Nigeria remained “peaceful and strong” and must work hard to overcome such challenges, Ribadu also praised the CDS for providing “purposeful leadership” in the war against terrorism, banditry, and other security threats in the country.
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February 14, 2025 4:58 am



February 14, 2025 4:58 am

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News3 weeks ago
We’ll never lie to Nigerians – FG *Harps on transparent elections, free judiciary
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News2 weeks ago
Atiku to Tinubu: Like Trump, adopt ‘Nigeria First’ policy *Reveals plot to rig 2027 polls