Nigeria coasted to a 4-1 victory over flummoxed New Zealand as the 2024 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals rolled into action in Santiago de los Caballeros on Wednesday.

Shakirat Moshood scored one of the competition’s fastest goals since it was launched 16 years ago, when she rounded the defence of the girls from Down Under to score the first goal after only 80 seconds at the CFC Stadium.

The precocious Faridat Abdulwahab rocked the crossbar seven minutes later from 23 yards, and in the 13^th minute, Nigeria went two goals up when defender Taiwo Adegoke’s shot from well outside the box was misjudged by the goalkeeper who palmed the ball over the line before scrambling in vain to push it out.

A check with the Video Assistant Referee confirmed that the ball had, indeed, crossed the line.

Firing from all cylinders, Nigeria again rattled the opposing goalkeeper in the 17^th minute, with a sharp shot from Moshood that was punched over the bar.

Four minutes later, Peace Effiong, all over the pitch, heaved the ball too high from six yards. In the 26^th minute, Harmony Chidi rounded the goalkeeper who made a great block on the second attempt.

Captain Taiwo Afolabi stung the goalkeeper’s palms from close range in the 28^th minute, and from the resultant corner kick, Abdulwahab easily lifted the ball over the goalie from 16 yards for Nigeria’s third goal.

In the second half, the Flamingos continued their raid on the opposition goal, and eight minutes into the restart, it was 4-0 after Afolabi’s looping header from Adegoke’s cross from the right sailed over the goalkeeper into the net.

On the hour, Saxon scored a goal right from the training ground, collecting the ball from a corner kick and doing a smart turn to shoot past goalkeeper Christiana Uzoma, thus pulling one back for the New Zealanders.

Although Chidi, Nigeria’s top scorer from the qualifying series, was again foiled in the 75^th minute, the Flamingos finished on the ascendancy and will look forward to another three points against debutants Ecuador on Saturday, that will take them to the tournament’s knockout stage.  

The presidency on Wednesday declared that there is no vacuum in the country, even as President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima are out of the country.

The presidency, in the statement issued by Tinibu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the President and Vice President are fully engaged with the nation’s affairs, even while they are away, noting that there is no leadership vacuum in the country.

According to the Presidency, Nigeria’s Constitution does not make it mandatory for President Tinubu and his Vice, Senator Kashim Shettima, to be physically present to provide leadership for the country, especially in a virtual age.

The Ondo State branch of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has criticized Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde for requesting the reassignment of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ondo, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Babalola.

Makinde made this request during the kickoff of the Peoples Democratic Party’s campaign in Akure on Tuesday, in preparation for the governorship election scheduled for November 16th.

He appealed to INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu to move Babalola, a sentiment that was supported by the PDP candidate, Agboola Ajayi, who expressed concerns about her being from Ondo State.

In a statement released on Wednesday, APC Publicity Secretary Alex Kalejaiye criticized Makinde’s comments as unwarranted, emphasizing that Mrs. Babalola has shown “integrity, competence, and capacity” in her position since taking office.

The statement, titled ‘Ondo Not an Appendage of Oyo,’ advised Makinde to stay out of Ondo State’s political affairs.

The statement read in part: “The REC has demonstrated integrity and competence since her appointment. It is ludicrous that Governor Makinde would make such demands when he had no influence in her posting to Ondo. Ondo State and the electoral body are not appendages of his empire, where he presides as an administrator.”

The APC also criticized Makinde’s remarks, labelling them as “unsolicited advice”  to the people of Ondo and rejecting his caution about selling their votes.

“Ondo people are politically sophisticated and act based on conviction, not as cheaply as Mr Makinde suggests,” the statement added.

In response to the APC’s criticism, the PDP’s Publicity Secretary, Kennedy Peretei, came to Makinde’s defense, describing the APC’s reaction as “pedestrian.”

Peretei argued that Makinde, as a major stakeholder in the PDP, had every right to raise concerns about the REC’s impartiality.

“The Ondo APC is once again displaying its usual pedestrian approach in reacting to Governor Makinde’s call for a free and fair election,” Peretei said.

The Joint Action Committee of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and Allied Institutions (NASU) has vehemently criticized the establishment of the renegotiation committee formed by the Federal Government.

This committee, which was established on Tuesday in Abuja, has been assigned the responsibility of renegotiating the agreements made in 2009 between the government and university-related unions.

In a unified statement from SSANU President Muhammed Ibrahim and NASU President Peters Adeyemi, the unions labelled the event a “charade,” accusing the government of favouring the Academic Staff Union of Universities while neglecting other unions.

The Federal Government has reformed the renegotiation committee, setting a deadline of three months for it to complete its work.

This is the fourth renegotiation committee established by the government since 2017, following earlier committees chaired by Wale Babalakin in 2017, Munzali Jubril in 2020, and Nimi Briggs in 2022.

“The entire inauguration seemed to revolve around ASUU, with the other unions treated as an afterthought,

“The Honourable Minister of Education’s speech focused almost exclusively on ASUU, while the other unions were barely mentioned,” the statement read.

This is the fourth renegotiation committee established by the government since 2017, following earlier committees chaired by Wale Babalakin in 2017, Munzali Jubril in 2020, and Nimi Briggs in 2022.

In 2020, ASUU initiated a nine-month strike that resulted in the establishment of the Jubril Committee. The recommendations from this committee served as the foundation for a draft agreement created in 2021. A subsequent draft was presented by the Nimi Briggs committee in 2022, but negotiations have still not produced enduring outcomes.

The unions expressed their discontent regarding what they perceived as favouritism during the inauguration on Tuesday. They claimed that the ASUU President was given a significant position at the event, while the leaders of other unions were placed in subordinate roles.

“The President of ASUU was seated at the so-called ‘Responsibility table’ while NASU and SSANU leaders were left as mere spectators, a clear indication of the imbalance in the process,” the statement added.

SSANU and NASU voiced concerns that the renegotiation process would disproportionately benefit academic staff while disadvantaging non-teaching employees.

In reaction to what they labelled a “humiliating” experience, the unions criticized the Federal Government for what they see as favouritism.

“The President of ASUU was allowed to speak on behalf of all unions without prior consultation, further proving that the views of other unions are being disregarded,” it further added.

In conclusion, the unions criticized the procedure, voicing significant worries about possible bias in the forthcoming negotiations.

“We reject the charade that took place in the name of an inauguration, as it signals a clear bias toward academic staff and undermines the rights of non-teaching workers,” the statement concluded.

The Jigawa State Police Command has linked the significant number of fatalities and injuries from Tuesday’s fuel tanker explosion to the frantic efforts of residents to collect the spilled fuel from the ground following the incident.

The Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Lawan Shiisu, conveyed this information in a voicemail sent to reporters in Kano on Wednesday.

He stated, “In spite of the police’s attempts to secure the area and alert the public, individuals defied the warnings and began to collect the fuel, which led to a catastrophic explosion.”

Shiisu further mentioned that the police had a hard time maintaining order at the scene, as numerous onlookers disregarded the cautions and approached the accident site recklessly.

“The tanker, loaded with petrol, ignited shortly after the crash, causing an inferno that engulfed numerous people in the vicinity.

“The injured were immediately rushed to General Hospital at Ringim, where medical personnel are working around the clock to treat the victims. However, the death toll is likely to rise as several of the injured remain in critical condition,” he stated.

He mentioned that the Commissioner of Police for the state, AT Abdullahi, has expressed his condolences to the residents, particularly those in Majiya town, where the incident occurred.

He also cautioned individuals to keep their distance from such incident locations to prevent loss of life and damage to property.

He said, “When the accident occurred people started rushing to scoop fuel and in the process, fire ignited from nowhere which led to the death of many persons and injured many others.

He said following the inferno, 94 persons lost their lives on the spot while 50 others that injured were rushed to Ringim General Hospital where doctors are battling to save their lives.

Nigerians, particularly those in rural areas, have been advised against reverting to firewood due to economic challenges and the recent increase in cooking gas prices.

This caution was issued by researchers and climate change advocates during a program in Abuja on Tuesday focused on “Maximizing Energy Transition Opportunities in Nigeria.”

This warning follows a rise in the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), commonly known as cooking gas, which increased from N1,350 to N1,500 per kilogram.

The PUNCH also noted that cooking gas prices reached as high as N1,500 per kilogram in certain retail outlets in Ogun and Lagos States as of Sunday, while the average cost for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of cooking gas in various areas of Abuja surged by 41.6% to N17,000.

In response, Amara Nwamkpa, the Director of Partnership and Development at the Shehu Yar’Adua Foundation, acknowledged that the recent situation might compel some Nigerians to revert to using firewood for cooking.

Nwamkpa also advised Nigerians to think carefully before switching from cooking gas to firewood due to the risks associated with smoke exposure and its health effects.

The researcher emphasized that, as the global community strives for an energy transition driven by climate change, Nigerians should begin exploring renewable energy and clean cooking alternatives.

He said, “The transition to clean cooking is not an attempt to completely eliminate firewood but to reduce the exposure and inhalation of smoke in the process of its use. These are some of the things that cause respiratory diseases and 40 per cent of the pneumonia cases we are having in the country.

“There are several versions of this clean cooking (stoves) that still use firewood. The good thing about it is that it uses less wood. This involves rudimentary technology because clean cooking is all about insulation and the expertise of building these local ovens or stoves can even be done by local welders and artisans in the community.

“This is the kind of initiative that could touch the lives of the majority of Nigerians if we successfully transition from continued exposure to firewood smoke to clean cooking. It will also improve their health and quality of life, especially for people at the bottom of the pyramid. It will even ameliorate the hardship many areas facing in the country.”

Another specialist from the Africa Policy Research Initiative, Olumide Onitekun, echoed the caution that using firewood poses health risks.

Onitekun also expressed worries that persistent advocacy efforts are needed to inform grassroots Nigerians about the dangers due to the long-standing cultural norms surrounding firewood usage.

He said, “Our transition is not binary. It is a process. Nigeria has an abundance of natural gas. Health-wise, using firewood for cooking is not safe. There are a whole lot of health implications involved when humans are exposed to the emissions that come from firewood cooking.

“This is why the advocacy for clean cooking is very important. The health benefits of climate change beyond the environment cannot be overemphasised. The need to domesticate clean cooking is essential.

“We know there is a cultural barrier to this because people, especially at the grassroots have been using firewood for a long time. This is why engaging them must be targeted. I believe it is high time the government put the right policy in place to stimulate the interest of the private sector in the area of renewable energy.

“Things may be expensive, there are different forms of acquisition. For instance, I understand the pay-as-you-go model comes with its challenges. But we can’t have a solution without a challenge.”

In his earlier remarks, Patrick Okigbo, Founding Partner of Nextier Advisory Limited, highlighted that the key distinction between energy transition and fossil fuels lies in the fact that the former is motivated by climate change rather than by resource scarcity or efficiency concerns.

Okigbo also asserted his belief that Nigeria is steadily moving towards the global transition to renewable energy and anticipated a future when the country would no longer depend on crude oil from the Niger Delta.

The PUNCH