Michael Ojuroye Initiative (Ngo)

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE Evans has trained with Nigerian athletes since 1975. Former Olympic 400m champion and renowned American coach,  Lee Evans , is back in Nigeria and currently running a grassroots programme in conjunction with the Lagos State government  after the huge success achieved in the same project with the Cross Rivers government The 67-year-old coach, who is also a social activist, first came to Nigeria in 1975 and was instrumental to the rise of some of Nigeria greats. In this exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES in Lagos, Evans slams former Nigerian athletes for not doing enough to help track and field, noting that they are always about money which is not good. PT: Why have you lately stuck to grassroots coaching? If I was trying to coach some elite athletes there might be some problems so I just stay with the grassroots and that’s what I’m happy with. You know I did the same in Calabar for three years and you see Cross Rivers has the best youth tea...

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE Al Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahiri has accused the United States of "plotting" to overthrow Egypt's Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. In an audio recording posted to militant Islamist forums, he said the US colluded with the Egyptian military, secularists and Christians to force out Morsi. Zawahiri, himself an Egyptian, said: "Crusaders and secularists and the Americanised army have converged ... with Gulf money and American plotting to topple Mohamed Morsi's government." He accused Egypt's Coptic Christian minority of supporting the Islamist president's ouster to attain "a Coptic state stripped from Egypt's south". They are the militant leader's first public comments on Morsi's ousting, reports Sky News. The comments came as backers of Morsi staged defiant rallies after the government ordered their protest camps to be broken up. Supporters of Morsi began to march after Friday prayers, p...

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE ABUJA  (AFP) – A Lebanese suspect with alleged links to Hezbollah and on trial in Nigeria for terrorism offences told a court on Friday he was aware of a plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Abuja. The alleged plot, which had not previously been made public, came up during questioning of the defendant during the trial of him and two other Lebanese in high court in the Nigerian capital. The defendant, Talal Ahmad Roda, alleged that another man who is at large was behind a plot to assassinate the ambassador. The man was identifed as Abdulhassan Tahir. Asked by prosecutor Samuel Edege whether he was aware of the alleged plan, he said “yes” but did not know other details. Questioning then moved on to other subjects. It was not clear whether anyone sought to put the alleged plot into action or which Saudi ambassador had been targeted for assassination since a name was not provided. The motive for the alleged plot was also not described. ...

BY FUNMI OJUROYE The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency is taking covert steps to monitor specific Nigerian celebrities moving in and out of the country,  Saturday PUNCH  has learnt. Spokesperson for the NDLEA, Mitchell Ofoyeju, who dropped the hint during a telephone interview with our correspondent on Thursday, did not reveal the names of such celebrities. He was reacting to reports that some people in the entertainment industry find it easy to traffic drugs in and out of the country. Ofoyeju said, “We have some people we are working on but it is not for us to say who is under our surveillance. The purpose of the investigation will become defeated. We have some credible leads that we are working on. “This is not to say the NDLEA is relaxing its surveillance on ordinary Nigerians or other categories of travellers to ensure the eradication of drug trafficking in this country. “You need to remember that the agency is an elite organisation that works basicall...

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE The Rivers State affair is very unfortunate; it is shameful and it has shown that we have learnt nothing and forgotten nothing and that our politicians can and will do anything and everything to achieve parochial interests. It is a naked display of the might-is-right syndrome in a descending order such that as Amaechi is suppressing the LGs and legislators with contrary spirits, the Abuja forces are unleashing their awesome powers on him. It has also brought glaringly to the public attention again the issues of state police and the precarious position of chief-security governors who do not even have a say in the appointment of their personal security details! All efforts must be made to de-escalate the crisis. The president must act and act fast because even if he is not directly involved, the sordid events are happening in Nigeria, in his party, and in his zone. He was also a governor before and a victim of institutional and political oppression; he knows w...

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE Three officials of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) died today in a road crash in Ilesa, Osun State, officials of the union told SaharaReporters. They are: Adolphous Okonkwo, a former national financial secretary; Kafayat Odunsi, a journalist at the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) in Lagos; and Tunde Ojenike, chairman of Radio Nigeria and Ibadan Network Centre of the NUJ. They were returning to Lagos from a meeting they had in Abuja when the accident occurred. The accident occurred at about 4pm as the sojourners approached Osu town.  A rear tyre of the official’s bus was said to have malfunctioned, and the speeding vehicle somersaulted several times before plunging into the forest. Officials say there were several injuries.  The survivors were first taken to the Osun State General Hospital, Ilesa, but were referred to the Ladoke Akintola Teaching Hospital (LAUTECH), Osogbo where they are being treated in the emergency unit. Gbenga Opado...

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE Having written several articles on the current macabre dance and political crisis rocking Rivers State and x-raying its effects on the future political developments of Nigeria if not checked, I do not see further need to come up with another piece on this subject despite new challenges that need to be addressed. Even the poser by Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka ‘that the man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny’ could not sway me otherwise. However, while I was in this state, I opened a daily guide from the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) titled ‘Open Heavens’ and was confronted with the bold title for the day titled, ‘ Danger of Silence’. The Spirit of God jolted me in a manner that seems to mean that no tangible result has come out of my past write ups on this issue, as peace still eludes the State, and the need to soldier on; especially given the nature of the new piece you are about reading and the fear of being misunderstood. ...

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By: FUNMI OJUROYE WASHINGTON — The State Department issued a worldwide travel alert yesterday, warning citizens of potential terror attacks in the Middle East and northern Africa by al-Qaida and its affiliates. “Current information suggests that al-Qaida and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks both in the region and beyond, and that they may focus efforts to conduct attacks in the period between now and the end of August,” the department said. The attacks are seen as occurring in or emanating from the Arabian peninsula, according to the statement, and “may involve public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure.” The department also listed 21 U.S. embassies and consulates that will be closed this weekend as a precaution. Those being shut are in the Mideast, northern Africa and southern Asia, including in Libya, Egypt, Yemen and Afghanistan, according to a list posted on the department’s website. “The Department of State has instructe...

Amaechi met President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan at the Port Harcourt International airport today The anti-Amaechi forces at work in Rivers State are getting uncomfortable with the ongoing peace talks between President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Rotimi Amaechi. They are worried that reconciliation between the two could threaten their own political future and sources say the individuals concerned are at work to derail the peace talks. They are said to have mapped out a six-point agenda to put their plan into effect and sway the President from any peace pact with the Rivers State governor. It was gathered that the anti-Amaechi forces have been meeting in Abuja and Port Harcourt since penultimate Friday after the wife of the governor, Mrs. Judith Amaechi received the First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan at the Port Harcourt Airport. Some of those at the two sessions included a former principal officer of the National Assembly, some members of the factional PDP Executive Com...