'I will be king of Nigeria if I win the FA Cup' - Watford striker Odion Ighalo

 

Super Eagles of Nigeria and Watford FC of England striker Odion Ighalo has bragged that he will be dubbed 'king of Nigeria' if he wins the F.A Cup.

Watford alongside Everton, Man U, and Crystal Palace are in the semi- finals of the English F.A Cup with Watford's game to be played on Sunday, and Ighalo says winning the F.A cup will be an illustrious end to the season after rejecting a £10m move to China last year.

 'I chose my dream first before money,” 

“Though I am not rich, I am blessed,” Ighalo, a devout Christian, says. “I know in the future I can make more money if I do well so I keep cool. I want to prove myself.'' Ighalo told The Telegraph UK.

“I believe in God and I prayed when I faced that situation. I am happy that I turned it down and it’s really helped me grow as a person. Yes, it was big money. A lot of money. But I want to keep going in my career. This is a dream come true so to leave the Premier League and go to China was not the right thing.

“And I know I can earn good money here if I prove myself. Maybe other offers will come, maybe with even more money but I have four more years of contract here after this season and I am happy. I’m improving. When I joined Watford I thought they had what it takes to get promoted to the Premier League. That’s why I joined. I wanted that opportunity.”

“If I win the FA Cup then I will be going back like a king! King of Nigeria!,” 

“The fans want it and we want it.

“This is a big competition here in England. Now we are safe in the Premier League and although we want to do better this semi-final is a very big thing. It’s a chance for people to have a look at us and understand how we have done.

“Not every team in the Premier League can win it but they can win the FA Cup. No-one gave Watford a chance of being where we are today but we are there now and it’s possible for us to win and go to the final.”

He added: “As a footballer it is all the more special because it is played at Wembley, a great stadium, the great stadium of English football and one that I have not played in before. So that means a lot.

“The fans are happy also because they can say they will have a team in the Premier League next season and they have this semi-final.

“If we play the way we can play we will be able to give them a final to look forward to as well. It would be a dream come true.” 

“I watched the finals – I remember big teams like Manchester United and Chelsea playing at Wembley so it means a lot to me to have the chance to get to a final,” Ighalo says. “And I’ve never played in a cup final before, not at any level, not even as a boy, never.”

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Saraki releases statement, denies plans to disrupt his ongoing trial at CCT

Read the press statement below...

The attention of the Media Office of the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has been drawn to a press statement released by a group known as the Citizen United For Peace and Stability (CUPS), Titled Security Alert! - Bukola Saraki finally declares war on the Nigerian Senate.
 

The report by CUPS stated that some unnamed sources told them that Senator Bukola Saraki has made plans to disrupt his ongoing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) by making use of thugs through some key personalities from Kwara State.

The statement is false, malicious and aimed at further denigrating the hard-earned image of Senator Bukola Saraki after their planned sponsored protest failed through earlier awareness to the general public of their sinister moves.

It is worrisome that aggrieved politicians opposed to Saraki's emergence as the Senate President, having failed to remove him, now resort to cheap blackmail by concocting lies under the disguise of "unidentified sources ".

The individuals mentioned in the statement to be planning the sinister move, are prominent Nigerians who respect the rule of law and stand strongly behind the Senate President. In this regard, this is a cheap attempt to intimidate supporters of the Senate President.

It will be recalled that this same mischievous group called CUPS had earlier circulated messages at different times requesting for funds for different non existent political gatherings.

The CUPS has been in the habit of peddling falsehood and deceiving unsuspecting Nigerians as the body has not lived up to its name of maintaining 'peace' and 'stability.'

Senator Bukola Saraki is a law abiding citizen who has demonstrated the utmost respect for the judicial system by taking the pain to attend and defend himself at the Tribunal even though the  trial is believed to be borne out of malice and political persecution.

Moreover, Senator Saraki, despite his  trial at the CCT has continued to perform his constitutional duties as the Senate President elected by his peers.

It is therefore a gratuitous insult to the Office of the Senate President, and the personalities of the patrotic and decent individuals mentioned in the concocted lies by this organisation to link them with tales of acts of gangsterism and violation of temple of justice.

This propaganda by his political opponents is not new and we urge law abiding citizens to disregard the body, its sponsors and promoters. This is the time to for everybody to forget our narrow, self-serving interest, dissuade the manipulation of state institutions to achieve personal and partisan objectives and ensure that rule of law prevails as prerequisite towards the entrenchment of our democratic tenets.

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You need science & spiritual intervention- APC Publicity Secretaries tell Fayose

Publicity secretaries ‎of APC in five Southwest states have asked Ekiti state governor, Ayo Fayose, to seek science and spiritual interventions following his repeated outburst against the Buhari-led government. In a statement jointly signed by APC spokesmen of Ondo, Ekiti, Ogun, Lagos and Osun states, Omo’ba Abayomi Adesanya, Taiwo Olatunbosun; Sola Lawal; Joe Igbokwe and Morakinyo Akintola, they said his actions in recent times depicts a man 'suffering from psychosis.”

The secretaries described as embarrassing Fayose's recent letter to the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, asking for the cancellation of a $2 billion loan to Nigeria. The statement reads in part

“We have observed that Fayose’s public conducts suggest that he has a disease of the mind and mental crisis that need a great assay of science and spiritual intervention to save him before he becomes dangerous to the society. His recent public attitudes call for state of emergency about his mental health. His thoughts and emotions have been so impaired that he has completely lost decorum and conduct expected of a man that can safely live in peace with other people in a sane society where the law works. The last was his embarrassing and illegal communication with the Chinese authority urging President XI Jinping to refuse financial assistance to Nigeria to enable the country address her economic challenges. Also in China, he mounted a rostrum at a train station addressing travellers in tattered clothings and posted his photograph on the Internet, claiming that he was addressing investors in China even when there was no Federal Government’s approval that he ought to seek before a state can embark on such diplomatic trip,”.

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