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Former Super Eagles Star Graduates At 69, Emerges Best Student

Published

2 years ago

May 20, 2023

Never say never– a time-tested aphorism reminiscent of an unyielding desire in one dying to achieve a target. Ben-Lutnaan Duamlong, former Nigeria international and one-time coach of the Super Eagles, had always nursed a dream. Like every sane individual with an ambition and a life goal, Duamlong never allowed his dream to die despite distractions and hiccups along the way.

After spending his childhood and adolescent years as a football player and coach, winning lots of laurels, honour and fame, Ben-Lutnaan Duamlong retraced his tracks and returned to the classroom; not as a teacher but as a student.

And at the end he excelled. Above all, he achieved his life target of becoming a fine artist. Duamlong graduated from the University of Jos at 69 and was the best graduating student of his set with a CGPA of 4.32.

“I have always loved the arts. Like I wrote in the handbook of my first and only exhibition, ‘football and arts, to me, are one and the same. While football is performing arts, what I am doing now… painting is abstract arts. They all form the creative. Art to me is everything. Art is life. ”

He wanted to read philosophy. On a second thought he said to himself, “I have a passion for arts and during my days in the Green Eagles in the 1970s, I enrolled for a course to study arts with a correspondent College in England.

“They were sending me tutorials and assignments on drawing and arts. I then said, why don’t I try my hands on this? Even as a kid I used to draw but I had never painted,” he said.

“It wasn’t easy at the beginning as my first painting was nothing to write home about. Gradually, I came into it. Now, thanks be to God, I can do it. In fact, I have held my first exhibition titled SWITCH”

Switch, a maiden solo exhibition by the new ‘kid on the block’ was well received and Duamlong attests to that.

“Encouraging. In this part of Nigeria, art is not much in peoples’ consciousness. I plan to have another exhibition before the end of this year or early next year.”

He retired in 2016 as coach of Kaduna United Football Club and was offered admission to read Arts in UNIJOS through direct entry. “My admission was made easy with the qualification I had from the National Institute for Sports and in Germany.” With no formal background in arts apart from the Correspondent College in England, Duamlong hit the ground running.

At school, he found himself in the midst of boys and girls about the ages of his children. Naturally, this would have evoked a feeling of discomfort in some old people. But not Duamlong. “They were not as old as my grandchildren but younger than my children. I didn’t look at that because all that was on my mind was how to become an artist.

“So, I enmeshed myself in that process and did everything I could to succeed. Like I told you, in the beginning I was on ground zero. Apart from those tutorials, books and assignments I never had a formal arts teacher until I got to the university. From time to time I used to do pencil work, drawing.”

But most students shy away from Fine and Applied Arts because of its complexities and intricate nature. Most Nigerians still cannot appreciate arts, particularly abstract arts. Why was Duamlong bent on making arts his major?

Duamlong’s typical day at the university was, in his words, hectic. “Although I sent myself to school, I must wake up early to beat the traffic. I would get to school before 8 am, because some classes start as early as 8. Thereafter, I would go to the first floor because our studios are on the 8th floor. In most cases when I go up, because I had a challenge with my leg – I needed to operate my knee and hip.

As soon as I dropped my last exam paper, I went for the operation for knee and hip replacement. Because of the stress, when I go up in the morning I don’t come down until it’s time to go in the evenings. The toilets are on the ground floor. But I had to endure till around 5 pm in the evening before I came down.

“It was hectic because I painted everyday, even on weekends I painted. I did that in order to cover lost grounds.”

Duamlong (l) with the VC, UNIJOS Professor Tanko Ishaya
But what are those lessons derivable from arts? What does it mean to Duamlong being an artist?

“I told you before, art is everything. Art is life. Art is also abstract. It is an abstraction of a whole. When you condense a story like an abstract picture – you may look at an abstract picture.

“When you go to some places and see an abstract picture that wouldn’t make sense and when the artist who painted it comes and explains all the strokes you will say wow…I did not look at it that way. In the arts there are so many perspectives for you to view life.”

Reading at an old age is not as simple as it seems. The distractions are numerous. For a man who had long left the classroom, reconnecting with the past calls for heavy adjustment. Domestic and family problems and even social pressures could provide numerous excuses for the uncommitted.

Determined Ben Duamlong had his challenges and was up to it as he surprisingly cleared his papers and made a CGPA of 4.3, the highest in his set, beating vibrant-looking younger students.

Deservedly, he emerged as the best-graduating student of his set. How was this possible?

“Hard work. Hard work. Hard work. There are some people that had graduated from the arts school before me that I went to beg to teach me at weekends. I go to church in the evenings, except there is an occasion that requires me to go in the morning. When I come out in the morning, I would paint till 2-3 pm. I really pushed myself very hard.”

For those who were responsible for his development to becoming one of the best artists at the university, Duamlong’s result did not come as a surprise.

In the foreword to the handbook of Duamlong’s first and only solo exhibition, John Oyedemi, PhD, Head of Department of Fine and Applied Arts, University of Jos, wrote thus: ‘SWITCH’ is a solo exhibition by one prolific individual/artist of his age. Ben-Lutnaan Duamlong was the oldest student and one of the best in the Fine and Applied Arts Department.

He was always in the studio, a motivation to the younger ones.

“I once wondered how he got such energy and mental strength to work. No wonder at graduation, he had the largest collection of paintings which was evidence of hard work.”

On his part, Jacob Enemona Onoja, PhD, Curator and Arts critic, Art history section, Department of Fine And Applied Arts, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Jos said, “Duamlong’s themes of compositions range from human activities depicting culture of his people, football, markets, cityscapes and portraitures of important personalities, lecturers, among others.”

Continuing, Onoja said, “the tactility of the works using the palette-knife, the dexterity of the use of colours, space utilization and forms placement in the compositions, the use of unique subliminal and obvious symbolism and a myriad of stylistic tendencies are expressed in his paintings.

“The artist to me exemplifies tenacity, doggedness and the spirit of working hard to be able to achieve his set goals even at his age of 69, age is just a number.”

He hopes his exploits at UNIJOS at 69 will serve as a source of inspiration to not only the older people who think old age is a barrier to furthering one’s knowledge but to the youth. “Anyone who is ready to push, remain committed and go the extra mile is bound to succeed.”

Before he became an artist, Ben Duamlong was a football player and later coach. According to him, he began playing from the streets before going to primary school.

Duamlong was born in Pankshin, Plateau State, but life actually began in Maiduguri, (North Eastern State) now Borno State.

“The turning point was in my primary 3 in 1963 when I started showing my abilities as a goalkeeper. I went to Maiduguri on holidays with my father’s friend. At the end of the holidays in my Form 2 in1968, I thought we were returning but didn’t know he had made up his mind to keep me there.

“I was training with some town boys and one day something happened and our goalkeeper did not show up. I was asked to stand in his place. By the time I went back to train with the boys, they didn’t leave me with any choice in regard to where I wanted to play. They said they had got a goalkeeper.”

His father was a civil servant who was always on the move. That made little Duamlong live with different people at different times. But that did not, in any way, disrupt his steady rise in academics.

“Of course, but for football, my line would have been academics because many of my mates went on to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. At least, I did my HSC but I decided to go to Sapele to take over from Peter Fregene who was the goalkeeper of Amukpe Lions that metamorphosed to New Nigerian Bank of Benin.

“I came in when NNB had just taken over. I came to Sapele in 1973 after the first National Sports Festival in Lagos. I represented the North Eastern State. I started keeping for the North Eastern state from my Form 2.”

He would not agree that football was a distraction. Could he have achieved his academic goal earlier than he did, if football did not stand in his way?

“Football did not disturb me. If I wanted, I would have gone to school of Basic studies and then straight to the university. But I wanted to play football. I didn’t go through Jos to Sapele. If I did, they would have stopped me.”

He played his way to the national team, the Green Eagles when the likes of Peter Fregene, Joe Erico and Eyo Essien were calling time with the national team.

“When we were going into camp was when the three great goalkeepers were being asked to go because time had caught up with them. They were all great goalkeepers that I loved to imitate. They were my idols and role models.”

VANGUARD

News

Oba Of Benin Suspends Palace Chiefs

Published

7 hours ago

August 28, 2025

Editor

The Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, has suspended two of his chiefs for falling for dereliction of duties.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Secretary to the Benin Traditional Council (BTC), Frank Irabor and made available to journalists in Benin City.

He said their suspension was as a result of their long absence from the palace, resulting in their failure to carry out their palace responsibilities.

The suspended persons are: Chief John Igiehon, the Izuwako of Benin and chief Aimiukpomonyako Oghogho (Ebengho), the Oyenmwensoba of Benin.

“The under-mentioned two (2) chiefs have been suspended from the Palace of the Oba of Benin.

“This is as a result of their long absence from the Palace, resulting in their failure to carry out their Palace responsibilities.

“The public is advised to be wary of unscrupulous chiefs that are no longer functioning in the Palace. His Royal Majesty has approved their _ Suspension and directed the public be duly informed.

“The names of the chiefs are: – ; 1. CHIEF JOHN IGIEHON, THE IZUWAKO OF BENIN and, _ 2 CHIEF AIMIUKPOMONYAKO OGHOGHO (EBENGHO), THE OYENMWENSOBA OF BENIN”, the statement said.

News

Lawyers Fault EFCC Statement, Say It’s Misleading

Published

8 hours ago

August 28, 2025

Editor

Some legal practitioners in Bauchi state have faulted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) official statement about their client on Wednesday, adding that it was erroneous, false and misleading.

It could be recalled that EFCC posted on its official Facebook handle that a Bauchi State High Court has cleared the commission to proceed with its investigation of a former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Bauchi State, Hamza Koshe, and his company, Pentech Engineering Nigeria Ltd.

According to the EFCC statement, the commission said Justice Aliyu Baba, in a judgment delivered on July 30, 2025, dismissed an application by Koshe seeking to restrain the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission from probing him.

However, in a statement jointly signed and made available to newsmen in Bauchi on Thursday by Jibrin S. Jibrin Esq, M.M. Usman Esq, H.B. Pali Esq, Abbas Ibrahim Esq, I.G. Agwam Esq and Salome Audu Esq all counsel to Pentech Engineering Nigeria Ltd & Anor as well as Koshe insisted that the statement was misleading.

According to them, the EFCC owed the public the duty of relating only the truth of what the courts decided as regards the contract financing agreement in the issues their clients were parties.

“Our attention as the legal representatives of Pentech Engineering Nigeria Ltd & Alhaji Hamza Koshe in respect of suit No. BA/271/2024 has been drawn to the statement posted on the official page of the EFCC on Wednesday, where the Commission supposedly rendered an analysis of the judgement delivered by the High Court of Justice No. 4 Bauchi Presided by Justice Aliyu Usman on the 30th July 2025.

“Now against the background of the erroneous, false and misleading publication by the EFCC on the matter, we deem it necessary to set the records straight by stating what actually is the truth of the matter in terms of the enrolled judgment Order of the Court to which this press release is attached.

“It is proper to state as a fact that in an earlier judgement relating to the subject of this release, the verdict of the High Court of Justice No. 10 Bauchi presided by Justice M. M. Abubakar delivered on the 19th December, 2024 is to the effect that the Contract Financing Agreement the subject matter of the suit having been found to be valid and not contravening any law remains enforceable hence, Pentech Engineering Nigeria Ltd is accorded the applicable injunctive reliefs as regards the activities of the Commission.

“We state as a fact that the main question of law determined in Justice Aliyu Baba Usman’s judgment is to the effect that the Contract Financing Agreement the subject of the suit is valid.

“The EFCC failed to state in its statement in reference the fact that many parties and contractors concerned or involved in the Contract Financing Agreement in the issue have been invited by the Commission with virtually all of them responding, honoring its invitation on the matter and thereby discharging their legal obligation speak volumes of ‘the bidding of some’ which the publication seeks to achieve ab initio,” said the lawyers.

The counsel added that the mischief and deliberate misrepresentation in EFCC’s statement could be seen when not only did it make no mention of this fact but also created the impression that their clients went to Court to evade investigation on the matter.

They said that Koshe was a guest of the Commission having honored its invitation in September 2024 which he was released on administrative bail, the terms and conditions applicable to which he has been observing.

“It is also important to clarify as a fact that there is no truth at all in the Commission’s statement to the effect that our client sought a perpetual injunction of general nature against the Commission’s activities.

“The truth about the reliefs sought by our clients is as contained in the Court’s processes filed in the suit in reference.

“We challenge the Commission to provide evidence of where our client ever sought a perpetual injunction at large or of general nature against it or any other body duly established by law.

“We urge members of the public to disregard in its entirety EFCC’s statement on the subject and be guided in its stead by the facts as contained in the relevant court processes to which this release is attached,” he said.

News

Tricycle Riders Sentenced To Five Years Over WhatsApp Group Mobilising Protest Against Nigerian Gov

Published

8 hours ago

August 28, 2025

Editor

Borno State Governor Babagana Umara Zulum has been accused of being power-drunk following allegations that he ordered the arrest and conviction of two members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and tricycle operators for creating a WhatsApp group to mobilize a protest against his administration.

Crack police operatives carried out the arrests in Maiduguri before the scheduled End Bad Governance protest.

The two men, identified as Mohammed Bukar (alias Awana) and Ibrahim Mohammed (alias Babayo), were convicted on June 30, 2025, by Hon. Justice A.M. Ali and handed a five-year prison sentence.

Court documents with reference number BOHC/MG/CR/2150/CT10/2024 revealed that the men were accused of creating a WhatsApp group called “Zanga Zanga Group”—translated as Protest Group—to mobilize Keke Napep (tricycle) operators for a planned demonstration against the Borno State Government.

Mohammed Bukar and Ibrahim Mohammed were the 6th and 7th defendants in the case in which Governor Zulum accused them of using videos on the WhatsApp group to instigate Keke Napep (tricycle) operators in Borno State to join the protest against the government.

They were also accused of producing videos in Kanuri and Hausa languages, urging tricycle riders to come out en masse, declaring “no going back” on the planned protest against the Borno State Government.

On June 30, 2025, Hon. Justice A.M. Ali sentenced the duo to five years’ imprisonment for allegedly planning the protest on WhatsApp.

Meanwhile, the seven defendants were charged with two counts: Count 1. That the defendants conspired to form a group named Zanga Zanga group (or protest group) on WhatsApp social media platform wherein they agreed to take up arms, to wit; guns, knives, bows and arrows and all forms of dangerous weapon against the Government thereby committing an offence contrary to Sections 60 and punishable under Section 79 of the Penal Code Laws of Borno State 2023.

Count 2. That the defendants formed a group named Zanga Zanga group (or. protest group) on WhatsApp social media platform and agreed to take up arms, to wit; guns, knives, bows and arrows and all forms of dangerous weapon against the Government thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 79 of the Penal Code Laws of Borno State 2023 All the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against them at their arraignment on April 11, 2024. The prosecution called four witnesses to prove their case.

However, all defendants pleaded not guilty when arraigned on April 11, 2024.

The prosecution called four witnesses, including Sgt. Isa Abubakar, an investigating police officer attached to the Crime Squad of the Nigerian Police, Borno State Command.

Sgt. Abubakar testified that on July 21, 2024, the 6th defendant used one of the videos as his WhatsApp status to mobilize tricycle riders for the End Bad Governance protest.

He added that the 6th and 7th defendants also made another video in Hausa, saying, “Allah Yaisa Zulum two Billion Namu,” roughly translating to “May God punish Zulum for our two billion.”

He further testified that he downloaded the videos and arrested the two suspects on July 23, 2024, before handing them over to the Crime Squad office in Maiduguri.

Justice Ali said, “I have considered the pleas for leniency made by each of the convicts and the pleas made on their behalf by their counsel. The 5th convict is 17 years old, the 2nd convict is 14 years old, and the 3rd convict is 15 years old.

“The 5th, 2nd, and 3rd convicts are therefore young persons within the meaning of the Children and Young Persons Law of Borno State.

“It was held by the Apex court in the case of Aminu Tanko VS the State 2009 Legalpedia SC 61216 that where the sentence prescribed upon conviction in criminal charge is term of imprisonment then some extenuating factors, such as the age of the convict and whether he is a first offender can be taken into consideration in passing the sentence.

“It is in this regard that, on the 1st count charge, I sentence the 5th, 2nd, and 3rd defendants to community service specifically washing the toilets of General Hospital Maiduguri, for 3 months. Make an order that they be given 20 strokes of the cane each.

“On the 2nd count charge, the 5th, 2nd, and 3rd convicts are sentenced to 6 months’ imprisonment. The 2nd and 3rd convicts are to be held at the children’s remand home, while the 5th defendant is to be remanded at the Maiduguri correctional centre. The period of imprisonment should commence today.”

“Regarding the first convict, who is also a young man, he is hereby sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment. The first convict is sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment. The 6th convict is sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment. The 7th convict is sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment. All sentences should commence today, the 30/6/2025,” Justice Ali added.

Earlier, SaharaReporters reported that the families of two commercial tricycle operators had accused the state government, led by Governor Babagana Zulum, of ordering their arrest and prolonged detention after they allegedly planned a peaceful protest over the alleged mismanagement of funds contributed by riders.

The detained operators, identified as Muhammed Bukar and Ibrahim Muhammed—both members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)—were arrested by the Police Crack Squad on the alleged orders of Borno State Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Saina Buba.

According to relatives, the riders were detained for three months and two weeks at a police facility before spending an additional two months in prison custody while facing trial.

At the centre of the dispute is a daily N100 ticket fee collected from tricycle operators, supposedly serving as insurance to provide financial support to any operator facing emergencies.

However, the riders alleged that officials managing the fund embezzled the money and failed to assist operators in need, prompting plans for the protest before their arrest.