WRITINGGAMESNG CHANGED MY LIFE – OLADELE

A former NYSC corps member, Oluwasogo Oladele’s entry won the top prize at the first #WritingGamesNG ahead of 135 others

It is interesting how a single event can catapult you, swing you into a hitherto unexplored territory and change your perspective about life. Better still, it can challenge your life goals, and make you see the bigger picture; a picture you never imagined. Participating and subsequently winning #WritingGamesNG 2016 did exactly that to me.

It seems unbelievable that it is just a little over a year ago that I participated in the first edition of the #WritingGamesNG. That edition that was used to commemorate the 20th year of Nigeria’s unprecedented victory in the Men’s Football event of the Olympic Games at Atlanta ’96 came at the right time for me. So much has changed about me over the course of the past year, and it seems almost like a lifetime ago. While change is a constant phenomenon, the changes in perspective I have experienced are attributable to my experiences during and after #WritingGamesNG.

Being a struggling writer before the competition, #WritingGamesNG exposed me to writers, in Nigeria and outside. Meeting with the Goal.com Nigeria team was a special experience for me. I had the opportunity to interact with top sports writers who are always starting up critical discussions around football and its management in Nigeria. What better way to get motivated than meeting people who are concerned about the comatose state of sports in Nigeria, and fighting hard to resuscitate it.

The greatest leap, however, was travelling to Uganda. It was a place where my perspective about writing got revamped. Writing is a craft and I learnt how to weave my way around it. At the Writivism Festival in Kampala, I was able to meet writers whose books I could have only dreamt of reading. Meeting writers like Michela Wrong (author of It’s Our Turn To Eat) and Oduor Jagero (Ghosts of 1894), felt like a young footballer meeting Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo for footballing tips.  Above other things, I got the motivation to push on as a writer, and to use my craft to fight for a better world.

DEMBELE SIGNING WILL HELP MESSI & BARCA AGAINST DEFENSIVE TEAMS LIKE ALAVES

The Catalans came through with a 2-0 win on the road, but their struggles in tight spaces highlighted the importance of bringing in the French forward

It was comfortable in the end. For the second weekend running in La Liga, Barcelona completed a 2-0 victory, this time at Alaves after beating Betis at Camp Nou last Sunday.

But, once again, there was the feeling that Lionel Messi needs more help in attack.

Soon, the Argentine attacker will have it, of course, after Barca paid an initial €105 million to bring in France forward Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund on Friday as a replacement for Neymar.

The trip to Mendizorrotza came too soon for Dembele to make his debut, but the pattern of the game did highlight the importance of bringing in a new forward to take some of the load off Messi.

With Neymar departed and Luis Suarez sidelined, Messi started alongside Gerard Deulofeu and Paco Alcacer, a front three that will leave most Barca fans somewhat cold after three spectacular seasons of the MSN trident.

Against an Alaves side with all 10 outfield players packed tightly within a 30-metre space in order to frustrate Barca's attacks, it took time for Ernesto Valverde's team to break through. And it was Messi, unsurprisingly, who made the difference.

The 30-year-old, who had hit the woodwork three times against Betis, saw a penalty saved late in the first half, but did open the scoring in the second with the aid of a slight deflection. He also added the second after a poor defensive error by Alexis.

Barca went on to have even more chances as the game opened up after that, but their difficulties in carving open a team defending deep and with many players behind the ball will be a slight concer

POGBA SHOWS ONCE MORE HE'S THE DOMINANT LEADER OF MAN UTD'S NEW DAWN

The midfielder was at the heart once more as United beat Leicester 2-0 at Old Trafford

When Jose Mourinho appointed Michael Carrick as Manchester United’s captain in the summer he refused to identify an understudy for the veteran midfielder. The Portuguese explained that, while the armband would be handed to somebody or other, with Antonio Valencia so far being given that honour, he expected a number of his players to act like leaders on the field.

In Paul Pogba, United have their leader in style if not in name. The 2-0 victory over Leicester City on Saturday was the latest exhibition of the Frenchman’s accession to the throne. One year on from the questions and the claims he was a waste of money at £89.5 million, Pogba is now the beating heart of everything good about Mourinho’s side.

With Nemanja Matic added to the midfield, Pogba has so much more licence to get involved in attacks than he had during his first full season with the club last term. And he is sure as hell using that space too.

That looked set to be the case when they were awarded a penalty in the 53rd minute following Danny Simpson’s handball from an Anthony Martial cross, but Romelu Lukaku saw his attempt from the spot brilliantly saved by Kasper Schmeichel.

They eventually got their goal when Marcus Rashford side-footed home from Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s right-wing corner, with Schmeichel seemingly caught flat-footed by Eric Bailly’s near-post run.

Rashford’s goal was United’s sixth to come in the 70th minute or later in their three league games so far, and Marouane Fellaini’s inadvertent goal eight minutes from the end made it seven. In 2016-17 they scored a grand total of just 13 in the same period while conceding nine as they often found themselves hanging on in the latter stages of the game.

This Is Why Actress Thelma Okoduwa’s Marriage Is Scandal Free

Edo-born actress and Computer Science graduate of University of Port Harcourt, Thelma Okoduwa-Ojiji, has revealed the secrets behind her scandal free marriage.

Recently, Inside Nollywood met the mother of one and bosom friend of Rita Dominic at a social gathering that brought together several movie stars. The ever glowing actress hinted that social media is a major cause of celebrity marriage crash.

“Everybody now wants to put online every issue they are going through. I don’t do that at all; I don’t put my family life out there. That’s why I have stayed scandal free for years. I have never had any negative thing said about me, either bad press or controversy. I’m not really a social media freak,”she said.

However, Thelma added that she doesn’t judge or condemn those that do so, because they have their lives to live. “It’s not just entertainers, social media and its fake lifestyle have taken over now. Everybody now shows off online, but I’m not that kind of person. The pressure is just too much; it makes people do what they don’t really want to do. It’s getting out of hand. Well, it’s the social media era, so we all have to deal with it. But I don’t judge those who do so; it’s their life.”

The Catholic Church in Akwa Ibom State is not happy with the resignation of a Reverend Father and has begun moves to sanction him.

The resignation of an ordained priest, Rev. Father Patrick Henry Edet, from the Catholic Church in Akwa Ibom State, has not been taken lightly as the church ordered him back or forfeit every privilege attached to the church.

Fr. Edet had announced his resignation about two weeks and also went on a private radio station in the state to announce that he was done with the church as well as announce it on some social media platforms.

A few days after that, Fr. Edet also made known his ministry, The Grace Family Global Outreach, giving a final indication that he was done with the Catholic Church.

But his action has been roundly condemned by the hierarchy of the church in the state with the Bishop of Uyo Diocese, His Grace, Bishop John Ayah, saying Fr. Edet's resignation has not been accepted as he cannot just wake up and decide to leave the church.

A journalist based in the state, Osondu Ahirika, in a letter personally written by Bishop Ayah dated August 12, 2017 wrote on the resignation of the priest to Pope Francis in Rome, with an attachment of the resignation letter, all privileges attached to priests have been withdrawn while he warned all Catholic Churches and members to dissociate themselves from him.

The letter which was read at the St. Patrick Catholic College, Afaha Inang, Uyo and other parishes in the Diocese, implies that any Catholic member who attends Fr. Edet's programs stand the risk of sanctions while awaiting an official reaction from Pope Francis.

A catechist at the St. Patrick who spoke to Ahirika on the resignation of Fr. Edet, said all the comments on social media about the matter were misplaced and misleading as people do not know the true position of the matter.

"Let those who make useless comments on social media continue, the Catholic Church is a church guided by discipline and no form of rebellion of any kind shall be entertained.

Even when Barr. Enoidem resigned his appointment as a Commissioner to contest an election as the legal adviser of PDP, he later returned to the cabinet because of course, his resignation letter was rejected by his boss, Governor Udom Emmanuel and he returned to the cabinet until others were dissolved.

So until the Pope accepts his resignation letter, he remains Rev. Fr. Patrick Edet. That is the cross he is bound to carry, after all, he took an oath to serve the church perpetual," the catechist explained.

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Group denies oil minister's governorship ambition

The Conscience of the Niger (TCN) has warned those trying to discredit the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, by insinuating that he was interested in an elective office in 2019, to desist before they incur the wrath of God.

In a statement yesterday by its leader, Mr. Mitai Okeroghene, the group said it was not the first time the issue was being deliberately pushed out to test the waters.

He said it had been dismissed a few times by Dr. Kachikwu himself, but noted that the timing now reeked of mischief and must be addressed at once.

Okeroghene was of the opinion that those who want to discredit the minister knew what they were doing by churning out his campaign posters to make it appear as if he wanted to be governor of Delta State, knowing full well this has a lot of implications for his current posting.

He said, "Dr. Kachikwu is not stupid. He is a technocrat and not a politician and has not in any form or shape shown indications of wanting to contest election, and so, it stands to reason that those behind his posters flooding Abuja have a sinister plot to achieve and their message is also clearly directed at their target audience, hence, the choice of Abuja as their location for the posters.

"For the sake of argument, let us admit that Dr. Kachikwu has an interest in the governorship of Delta State, is Abuja the place to start pasting posters? What is the correlation between Abuja and Delta governorship? But, of course, they want to insinuate that he was seeking the Abuja blessing, which of course invalidates the whole idea.

"This is why we have come out to state for emphasis and for the umpteenth time that Dr. Kachikwu is not interested in the governorship of Delta or any other elective political office as he currently has a more challenging and critical national assignment, which he has been able to discharge creditably well in the last over a year in spite of the attendant challenges in that office."

According to Okeroghene, the propensity to want to destroy others without any justification remains a major preoccupation of both the active and the passive players in this part of the world and invariably, the bane of underdevelopment in the country.

"Nothing can explain the attack on Dr. Kachikwu because as far as we are concerned, this is an attack on the career of a man who is focused and determined to make a change in the best way possible and as permitted within the limitations of his office.

"He deserves support and commendation and not to make him appear unduly ambitious or losing sight of his current brief.

"But if this is targeted at influencing the rumoured imminent cabinet reshuffle by those who find his ongoing reforms in the system discomforting or a move by those who want to mount pressure on him to run for Delta governorship, it is dead on arrival, because Dr. Kachikwu is not oblivious of the weight of the assignment on his hands and is leaving nothing to chance in making sure that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari succeeds," he said.

Okeroghene, however, said his group had begun investigations into those behind the move and that if they failed to desist from trying hard to discredit Kachikwu, they would go after those behind the attacks.

He said, "Is it a crime for a man to be adept at his work? It is surprising that after stabilising the sector and still cleansing it of its corrupt past, this is all that Kachikwu gets. But whatever creepy plans they are hatching, he is one man, who will leave government unblemished and very successful."

Lavish Photos From Toke Makinwa’s Sister White Wedding

Media personality Toke Makinwa‘s youngest sister Busayo‘s white wedding to her beau Stian Fossengen is happening today in Oslo, Norway.

As expected, big sis Toke has been sharing photos from the wedding on her Instagram page and Snapchat.

The lovely Busayo Makinwa got married traditionally to her Norwegian beau, Stian Fossengen few weeks ago in a fabulous ceremony at the Civic Center in Victoria Island, Lagos which had in attendance celebrities like Mo Abudu, Waje, Arese Ugwu, Eunice Omole, Olakunbi Tomori and Gbemi Olateru-Olagbegi.

The Media Personality and proud big sister looked fabulous as she graced her sister’s wedding.

Here are the photos: