The 5th edition of the Igala Nations Cup kicks of Tuesday 10th August 2021 in 3 centres across the ancient Igala kingdom.At the Idah centre debutants Adusuf football Club of Akaka, Igalamela left it deep into the second half before overcoming a spirited B2K academy who have raced into an early lead in the 35 minutes of proceedings. Matthew Atokolo has put B2K ahead in the 35 minutes after a fine build up from the middle and were bold enough to hold on to the one goal lead onto the end of the first half.

On resumption of hostilities in the second half,Adusuf fc who are making their debut in the annual Soccer fiesta quickly rediscovered their rhythm and took the game straight to their opponent and in the 72 minutes,their effort paid off as Umar Yahaya took advantage of an opportunity that came his way to restore parity.Thereafter,Adusuf fc became alive once again as they continue to pile more pressure on B2K who are yet to recover from the equalizer.

Their consistent pressure and fine run of form in the dying minutes paid off 2 minutes to the end of regulation time when another prodigy Hayatudeen Ali latch on a loose ball to put the game beyond the reach of B2K academy to start brightly armed with the vital 3 points.

ANKPA AXIS

At the Ankpa axis,Ankpa United fc came from behind to ensure they start on a winning note against Okpo United fc who raced into an early lead after Apeh Amen at the Ankpa township stadium put them in the driving seat early in the 34 minutes.Ankpa United fc responded almost immediately and it paid of 2 minutes later when Kabiru Habib capitalized on a defensive loophole to power home the equalizing goal to the admiration of a handful of Ankpa fans.Both side thereafter couldn’t register their names on the scoresheet despite all entreaties and efforts.Scores remain like that till the and of the first half.

Upon resumption of the second half ,both side picked up from where they left off as they went For each other’s jugular but it was Ankpa United fc that was ferocious in front of goal as their consistency and constant drive towards goal paid off in the 78 minutes when Adams Jibrin scored from around the opponent’s 18 to give his side the winner, a vital 3 point and a perfect start to the 5th edition of the tournament.

DEKINA AXIS

At the CSS Agala Ate,one of the best playing pitch with natural grass in Igala land where All Stars fc of Anyigba and Bassa United engaged themselves in a fierce battle for the 3 maximum points,fans who thronged the venue didn’t leave empty handed as they were entertained and thrilled to classic football skills.

The match lived up to its earlier publicity as one of the star match of the opening round due to the solidity and depth of the two side.Both teams couldn’t break each others defense until the 89th minutes when it seems both side were going to share the spoils, Achimugu Favor broke the deadlock with a fine solo run that resulted in a goal to send the Anyigba soccer enthusiasts into a frenzy and wide jubilations.

Action continues in the 5th edition of the Igala nations cup in the 3 axis centres.

GODWIN WAMBEBE
DIRECTOR MEDIA
IGALA NATIONS CUP
10th August 2021

Kogi State Government has urged host communities of public schools to halt the habit of encroachment on the school land, warning that government would take decisive action against perpetrators.

The State’s Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Hon. Wemi Jones, FCIB, gave the warning after he led a team on an inspection tour of the facilities at Government Technical Colleges in Ankpa and Idah at the Eastern senatorial district of the State.

He urged the host communities to those colleges to stop encroaching the school land, stressing that government would do everything possible to recover all its encroached land across the state.

Jones added that the state government would be soliciting the cooperation of the paramount rulers of those communities to help persuade the land grabbers to desist from such act.
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”If you build your structure on school land no matter how beautiful it is, you are merely wasting your time and resources as far as government is concerned.

”Land speculators are deceiving themselves because you don’t have a land or property if you have built illegally on the school land, and the law is going to catch up with you very soon,” Jones siad.

He noted that government was looking at revamping the colleges, to be getting adequate students as intake into the new Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH), Osara.

The commissioner restated the commitment of the state’s Governor, Alh. Yahaya Bello, to revamping education especially technical education in the state.

”As I have said it severally in various fora that His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello is irreversibly committed to revamping education in our state, and technical education takes a primary place if we are ever going to get it right in this country.

”This is because of the fact that the moment you are out of technical college ordinarily you have a vocation that you can then decide to build upon”, he said.

According to him, there is a need to take care of our secondary schools and technical colleges so as to adequately feed our students into those state own tertiary institutions.

”We are here on a visit to the technical colleges to know the level of work to do in rehabilitating and revamping them.

”Presently, we have four state own technical colleges in Kogi, which include: Oboroke, Ankpa, Idah and Mopa, and we have visited three to assess their facilities.

”We will be visiting the fourth one in Mopa before the end of this week by God’s grace”, he said.

Jones emphasised that the state government would revamp all the four state’s technical colleges, and create 17 additional ones in the remaining 17 local government areas of Kogi State.

He added that the establishment of additional 17 technical colleges was already a law in the state, saying, ”we already have a template to run the colleges effectively.

”It is going to be immediate thing, because His Excellency is irreversibly committed to ensuring that education is totally revamped in Kogi”, Jones said.

He noted that adequate provision had been made for the the resuscitation of the four existing technical colleges in the 2021 budget.

The Principal of Government Technical College, Idah, Mr Abdullahi, commended the commissioner and his team for the visit, saying he was so happy for the action.

Ibrahim also thanked the governor for his intervention in resuscitating all the technical colleges in the state, while appealing for provision of adequate qualified teachers.

The principal also appealed the commissioner to help the schools to recover all school land that had been encroached by individuals in their host communities.

In the Commissioner’s team, were the Permanent Secretary, Kogi MOEST, Pastor Emmanuel Idenyi; Director Science and Technology, Mr Dipo Aiyenibe; and Director Tertiary Education, Mrs Taiye Bolu, among others.

The Government Technical College, Ankpa, was established in 1975, while that of Idah was established in 1959 and had its present principal, Abdullahi Ibrahim as its 35th principal of the college.

End