Sports
For The Three Musketeers Of Kano[Monday Lines]

By Lasisi Olagunju
An epic poet describes the Fulani hunter as “shepherd of wild animals.” The hunter is also the one “who knows the calm and wild forest, with its many dangerous paths…..” When a man so described describes you as a target, you had better go sew a dress of steel. If you are from the South-West and you can read, read this: “Our next target now is this geo-political zone. The south-west geo-political zone. You know we are good at getting the target. We will do all that is possible to bring them into the fold.” That is from Abdullahi Ganduje, immediate past governor of Kano State and incumbent national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He made the solemn pledge in Akure, the Ondo State capital, after his party’s governorship election victory in that state two weeks ago.
Now, which fold was Ganduje talking about? And who are the “we” that are “good at getting the target”? Ganduje is smart. He chose his words deliberately and carefully. The strongman from Kano has significantly stepped back from his earlier obsession with capturing Oyo and Osun states. He now targets the entire zone. For whom? It can’t be for the APC – the party already has two-thirds of the zone. In Adebayo Faleti’s ‘Ogun Awitele’ (Foretold War), a band of thieves sent a handwritten letter to a village head: “We are coming to rob your people in seven days’ time.” The tone of the letter rattled the Baale and his chiefs. If you are sure of the efficacy of your amulets, you swear by them. The leader of the band of thieves signed his name as Ajiboogunsoro (he-who-wakes-up-to-converse-with-charms). A significant takeaway from that moment of fear and anxiety is the village head’s charge to his security chiefs to always know that no matter how powerful the boastful invaders are, “you should always remember that you are hunters, they are thieves (ode ni yín, olè ni wón)”. What Ganduje, the big man, said is evocative of a deja vu. There is something in Nigeria’s political history that suggests today’s mission as an echo of a daring, fateful yesterday.
But, whatever the man might be saying, I suggest he and his “we” take time to watch closely the Eyo masquerade of Lagos and listen attentively to their songs. The Eyo seductively mock their challengers with a folk song composed for colonialism on the futility of its land-grabbing propensity. They sing: “The white man took Oluwole; Lagos did not utter a word. With ease, the white man took Marina; again Lagos was silent. Now, they want to take Isale Eko. They think we are dumb.” The Eyo actually use the Hausa word, Kurumo (deaf and dumb). The Kano man, Ganduje, understands perfectly the imagery of the speechless who is at the same time dead in hearing. I am very sure that no one ever takes the South-West as a zone of the invalid, deaf and dumb.
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Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is a former governor of Kano State. He has been the boss (and friend) of Ganduje from the beginning of time. In a speech he delivered at the convocation ceremony of Skyline University, Kano, two weeks ago, Kwankwaso claimed that “Lagos” was working hard to enslave the whole North. He said: “Today, we can see very clearly that there is a lot of efforts from the Lagos axis to colonize this part of the country.” Kwankwaso is an old war horse and a rambunctious power-player. You ignore him at your peril, and to your sorrow
You remember a gentleman called Festus Odimegwu, a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Breweries Plc who was made the chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC) by President Goodluck Jonathan? In October, 2013, because Odimegwu said “No census has been credible in Nigeria since 1816″ (1866?), Kwankwaso stormed the Villa and asked President Jonathan to sack the man as NPC chairman. Kwankwaso told State House correspondents after meeting Jonathan: “I also raised the issue of the chairman of the National Population Commission, NPC, headed by one Festus Odimegwu. We are not happy about that appointment, and (we) think that it was a mistake. He (Odimegwu) had only worked in the alcoholic industry all his life. And my guess is that he’s taking a lot of his products and that is why we feel that his appointment is a mistake because he cannot be the chairman of NPC and at the same time attack what his predecessors have done.” With “automatic alacrity”, Jonathan obeyed Kwakwanso and asked Odimegwu to go on October 17, 2013. That is how you feel the power of power.
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Ganduje was direct in naming his target: the South-West. Kwankwanso went poetic; Lagos was (is) his metaphor for the West. The man who wants to be president of Nigeria also spoke on tax collection. He said: “Today, we are aware that the Lagos young men are working so hard to impose taxes and take away our taxes from Kano and this part of the country to Lagos.” Who are Kwakwanso’s “Lagos young men”? And what VAT is Kwakwanso fighting over? VAT from confiscated products of “the alcoholic industry”? Or from the leveled groundnut pyramids of Kano?
Kwakwanso spoke about colonialism; Ganduje spoke about “getting the target.” Those two deserve more than anyone’s passing attention. Between them, Kano has been a captive cripple since 1999. Ibrahim Shekarau who acted during an interlude was Kwankwaso’s permanent secretary. The incumbent governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, is Kwakwanso’s son-in-law. Check the figures: How many poor people did they meet in Kano in 1999, how many do they have now? In his ‘The Psychology of Science: A Reconnaissance,’ Abraham Maslow wrote in 1966: “If the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail.” Some describe what Maslow propounded as the ‘law of the instrument’. Others say it is the ‘law of the hammer’. Yet, some other analysts prefer to christen it ‘Maslow’s hammer’ or ‘the golden hammer.’ For persons whose idea of leadership is all about slave raiding, zone targeting and capturing, their choice of mission will always employ the rhetoric of slavery.
While Ganduje and Kwakwanso are doing their own their ways, the third Kano man, Shekarau, has been busy setting up a group he calls League of Northern Democrats (LND). At a meeting with the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) in Kaduna some days ago, a more nuanced Shekarau spoke on why he is doing what he is doing: “This marks the beginning of what we hope will be a transformative coalition for Northern Nigeria to confront its challenges…The challenges facing our region – poverty, insecurity, illiteracy, religious intolerance, disunity, and diminishing political influence – are indeed serious. The North is today in an ugly situation…” There is a fitting quote here attributed to Albert Einstein: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Those who disfigured the face of beautiful northern Nigeria cannot now beautify it. You know what happened when the monkey insisted she wanted to beautify her child’s ugly face? She pushed the eyeballs deeper into the sockets. Monkey’s fingers are not structured to beautify anything. Take a look at them.
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So, when I heard Ganduje say that his target was the South-West, I wondered why it is not his “target” that Kano’s groundnut pyramids are restored. And, when Kwakwanso said ‘Lagos’ was determined to colonise his “part of the country”, you should wonder why his rhetoric was all about power and not how to make his part of the country as safe and prosperous as the part where Lagos belongs. And Shekarau spoke about the North’s “diminishing political influence.” If I would counsel him, I would suggest that what the North of 2024 needs to regain its mojo is for its leaders to make the region safe by educating their young, and empowering and feeding their poor without enslaving them.
I call Kwankwaso, Ganduje and Shekarau the three musketeers of Kano. A soldier armed with a musket is a musketeer. In French history, we read of the Musketeers of the Guard (Mousquetaires de la garde) or the King’s Musketeers (Mousquetaires du roi). They existed to fight the king’s battles. Their exploits of guile, of swordsmanship and chivalry later spilt over to the plains of popular culture. Because of them, we have books and films with ‘The Three Musketeers’ (Les Trois Mousquetaires) as titles. The story of Kano since 1999 has been an intricate story of war and romance among those three musketeers who shared the years equally among them. They are not done with that city state, and with their North. They are not even done with the whole country. That is what you get when an elite band targets, captures and enslaves an enclave. Get your popcorn. They appear gearing up for war – with “Lagos”. And a good fight is coming.
Sports
PHOTOS: Fulham Marks Nigeria’s Independence Day With Players, Staff At Motspur Park

English Premier League club Fulham on Tuesday hosted a gathering for its Nigerian players and staff to mark Nigeria’s 65th Independence Day anniversary.
The event, held at the club’s Motspur Park training ground, brought together members of Fulham’s Nigerian contingent, including Super Eagles internationals Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey, and Samuel Chukwueze.
Club officials said the occasion was organised to recognise the contributions of its Nigerian players and to celebrate their country’s national day.
Photographs from the gathering showed the Nigerian trio joined by several of their non-Nigerian teammates, who participated in the celebration.
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The get-together included light refreshments and informal conversations, with the players using the opportunity to reflect on Nigeria’s place in football and beyond.
Nigeria gained independence from the United Kingdom on 1 October 1960, and the 2025 celebration marked its 65th year as a sovereign nation.
Sports
UCL: Spurs Snatch Late 2-2 Draw At Bodo/Glimt

Tottenham emerged from a chastening trip to the Arctic Circle with a 2-2 draw in the league phase of the Champions League thanks to a late own-goal by Bodo/Glimt’s Jostein Gundersen.
Local-born Jens Petter Hauge scored a brace for the impressive hosts before Micky van de Ven and the 89th-minute own-goal snatched a point for Thomas Frank’s Europa League winners.
The repeat of last year’s Europa League semi-final, which Spurs won 5-1 on aggregate, looked set to finish as a first win for Champions League debutants Bodo/Glimt until the late drama.
The result leaves Spurs on four points after an opening win against Villarreal, while Bodo/Glimt have back-to-back 2-2 draws following their late equaliser last time out at Slavia Prague.
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Playing at home for the very first time in Europe’s top-club competition, Bodo/Glimt grew into the occasion and soon took a firm grip ahold the match.
The referee awarded a penalty to the dominant hosts shortly after the half-hour when Rodrigo Bentancur followed through and caught Fredrik Andre Bjorkan.
But Kasper Hogh’s woes from the spot in the league phase this year continued as his effort flew over the crossbar — following on from his saved effort against Slavia Prague on matchday one.
Spurs remained penned in their own half through the rest of the first period, and Bodo/Glimt’s dominance finally paid off eight minutes after the break when Hauge curled in from inside the box.
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The jubilant scenes at the Aspmyra Stadion were curtailed two minutes later when Pedro Porro’s free-kick drifted onto the post and Bentancur turned in the rebound.
However, the yellow-clad mass of Norwegian fans soon roared again as VAR spotted a foul by Van de Ven as Porro’s cross came in and the referee disallowed the goal.
Hauge doubled Bodo/Glimt’s lead in the 66th minute with a rifled left-footed finish that flew past Guglielmo Vicario after the 25-year-old had glided easily past Porro on the edge of the box.
Porro and Van de Ven made amends for their errors two minutes later when the Dutchman headed home the right-back’s pinpoint cross to give Spurs hope.
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Tottenham manager Frank rang the substitutions in search of a leveller, and replacement Destiny Udogie found Wilson Odobert, but the Frenchman’s header glanced off the woodwork on 85 minutes.
The hosts responded to the pressure as Andreas Helmersen hit the crossbar down the other end.
But it was heartbreak in the end for Bodo/Glimt as Spurs forced an 89th-minute equaliser when Nikita Haikin’s save smashed into the stomach of Gundersen from close range and trickled over the line — the leveller validated after a length check for offside.
AFP
Sports
UCL: Galatasaray Beat Liverpool 1-0 As Osimhen Shines

Liverpool slumped to a shock 1-0 Champions League defeat to Galatasaray on Tuesday as Victor Osimhen’s 16th-minute penalty handed the Turkish giants victory.
The English champions were punished for the latest in a series of poor performances in Istanbul as they suffered back-to-back defeats for only the second time under Arne Slot.
Liverpool were beaten for the first time this season at Crystal Palace on Saturday, but a series of late winners have masked an unconvincing start since a summer transformation of the squad that strolled to the Premier League title last season.
Slot responded by leaving Mohamed Salah and £125 million ($168 million) signing Alexander Isak on the bench among four changes.
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The Dutchman was scathing in his assessment of Liverpool’s first-half performance at Palace as only Alisson Becker prevented an embarrassing half-time score.
However, Slot got little in the way of a response in another disjointed display from his array of star names.
Galatasaray had been thrashed 5-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt to start their Champions League campaign.
The Turkish champions are a far more formidable force on home soil, though, and made the most of Liverpool’s defensive deficiencies.
Slot’s decision to play midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai at right-back backfired.
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Baris Alper Yilmaz gave the visitors a warning of the threat down Galatasaray’s left when he failed to beat Alisson when one-on-one with the Brazilian.
Liverpool should have led just seconds before they fell behind.
Hugo Ekitike was denied by Ugurcan Cakir as he tried to round the goalkeeper and Ismail Jakobs cleared Cody Gakpo’s follow-up effort off the line.
Galatasaray swiftly broke upfield and Yilmaz was awarded a soft penalty for a stray Szoboszlai arm into the Turkish international’s face.
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Osimhen had previously seen a Champions League penalty saved by Alisson, but this time converted the resulting spot-kick.
Florian Wirtz has struggled badly to deliver on his £100 million price tag and is still waiting for his first Liverpool goal after his effort was turned behind by Cakir, while Ibrahima Konate headed just off target from a corner before half-time.
Konate’s poor form has been a major factor in the Reds’ defensive issues at the start of the season and the Frenchman nearly cost his side a second goal early in the second half.
Alisson saved his teammate’s blushes with another save from Osimhen but at a cost as the Liverpool number one suffered an injury sprinting off his line and had to be replaced by Giorgi Mamardashvili.
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Slot introduced Salah and Isak on the hour mark, but Liverpool were still an impotent attacking force.
Isak fired tamely into the arms of Cakir with his first touch.
The closest the visitors came to a response was when French referee Clement Turpin intially pointed to the spot by a foul on Konate, but overturned his decision after a VAR review.
Instead it was Galatasaray who were inches away from the second goal of the night in stoppage time when Lucas Torreira drilled a shot just wide.
AFP
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