My daughter lied against Apostle Suleman, says Stephanie Otobo’s Dad

CONTRARY to claims by Miss Stephanie Otobo that Apostle Joshua Suleiman went for her marriage introduction at her family house, her father, Rev. Benson Otobo, has refuted the claim, saying nothing as such ever happened. Rev. Mr Otobo told journalists in Abuja, Monday that Apostle Suleman has never been to his compound nor known where he lives and that Stephanie, his daughter was not a decent girl he had wished, regretting why she was attempting to drag the name of the revered man of God to the mud.

When asked whether Apostle Suleiman had ever been to his house for any marriage introduction with his daughter, Rev. Otobo responded: “Not at all. Apostle Suleiman does not even know where I live.”

He, however, informed newsmen that he has since called Apostle Suleiman to distance himself from his daughter’s misconduct. Reverend Otobo, who disclosed that his daughter was equally at loggerhead with him at the moment for scolding her two months ago over nude pictures he saw on her whatsapp platform, and that he was not surprised of his daughter’s current character given that she grew up with her mother in Sapele, Delta State, after he divorced her. 

He disclosed that he put an end to his marriage to his daughter’s mother about 30 years ago due to her unfaithfulness. But he said he was shocked that his daughter could go all that far attempting to rubbish the reputation of the man of God, adding that he was shocked to hear all his daughter said about Suleiman. “I was shocked to hear this thing just yesterday. I’m not part of it at all. Even that my daughter, as I speak, we are at loggerhead because two months ago, I saw her picture on the internet, through her whatsapp.

I had a shout with her on the way she dressed and I saw her with tattoo and all that, I now advised her that ‘look, why are you dressing like this, you need to dress decently even on whatsapp, she flayed at me, giving me names, calling me names, telling me I’m not serving God and different kinds of things I cannot even reveal to you now. ” She insulted me and told me that from that day on, I was not her father any more and that I should just forget about her for life. ” If a daughter is telling her father that, I don’t know why I would be involved in anything that concerns her.

 I’m not aware of all these things that she’s talking about.Not at all.” He admitted that his daughter told him that she lives in Canada, wondering who she knows there that she was staying with. “She told me she lives in Canada, I don’t know who she knew there.” Answering question on the whereabouts of her daughter’s mother, Mr Otobo said: “Her mother is in Sapele. And it’s going to 30 years now that I divorced her mother, when these children were even small because of her unfaithfulness. ” So, I have divorced her for a very long time.” When asked how old is Stephanie, he replied: “Stephenie is twenty something years.” On where her daughter grew up, he said: “She grew up with the mother, she was very small when I divorced her mother. What is happening now is like ‘ like mother like daughter.” 

Below is the question and answer from the conversation with Rev. Benson Otobo : Is Stephanie your daughter? Yes, she’s my daughter 

There’s this allegation through the letter by a Lagos lawyer, Festus Keyamo, that there was a relationship between your daughter and the man of God, that the man of God made proposal to marry your daughter. Did he approach you? Not at all.

 So there was nothing like introduction regarding marriage between Apostle Suleiman and your daughter in your house? Not at all. Apostle Suleiman does not even know where I live

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Pastor Johnson Suleiman accused of impregnating a canadian based Nigerian woman, Stephanie Otobo

Controversial founder of Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle Johnson Suleiman, is currently enmeshed in an adultery scandal as a Canadian based Nigerian woman, Stephanie Otobo, has filed a N500 million lawsuit against him for allegedly getting her pregnant and dumping her. This is according to a letter sent to the IG of police by Festus Keyamo chambers on behalf of Stephanie

According to Court papers, Suleiman and Stephanie met in 2016 in Canada and allegedly began a secret affair. She claimed he informed her of his plan to divorce his wife, Lizzy, to marry her and have more male children.


 Stephanie, who is a musician with stage name Kimora, left her base in Canada to Nigeria so she can be close to her pastor/secret lover. She says during sex, Pastor Suleiman would lick her all over her body including her vagina and had suggested that they have group sex with her friends. Stephanie says he got her detained after she told him she was pregnant.

She says she has naked photos as well as screenshots of raunchy messages they sent to themselves.
 Stephanie claims she became a member of the Apostle Suleiman’s church, and followed him every where. He sent her money regularly according to her and she claims he asked her to get pregnant.

But when she informed him in September 2016 that she was pregnant in a hotel in Ikeja, Stephanie claims Apostle Suleman flew into a rage and asked her to abort it, fearing scandal.

Stephanie claims that Pastor Suleiman gave her a concoction that made her bleed and he ended their relationship.

According to the story, Stephanie went to Warri and relayed the whole story to another pastor who recorded it and started using it to extort money from Suleman.

Stephanie said she returned to Canada afterwards but Apostle Suleman contacted her again, apologized and asked her to return to Nigeria. And when she returned to Nigeria last week, she claims he put money into her account and subsequently froze the account.

It was will Stephanie was trying to withdraw money from the account at a UBA bank after her ATM refused to work, that she was arrested on orders of Apostle Suleman who had reported her of being a blackmailer.

After her arrest, Stephanie filed a lawsuit against Apostle Suleman demanding to be paid N500million as damages for not honoring his promise to marry her and for harassment and threat to her life.

In the letter to the Inspector-General of Police, Keyamo Chambers said Stephanie was arrested on March 3 at a UBA branch in Anthony Village by heavily armed policemen from Federal Criminal Investigations Department (FCID), Alagbon. She's since been in detention where her lawyers claim they have denied her access to them.

Keyamo Chambers has given Suleman a 7-day ultimatum to release Stephanie, meet their demands or be dragged to court

Below is the court papers filed on behalf of Stephanie at Festus Keyamo Chambers.
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Apostle Suleman accuses Canada based singer, Stephanie Otobo, of N500m blackmail

You have read Stephanie Otobo's version of events. Below is Apostle Suleman's version of events, sent in as a press statement.

A Toronto, Canada based female singer, Stephanie Otobo, is presently in the police net allegedly for leading a 5-man gang to demand N500 million from famous Nigerian preacher and president of the Omega Fire Ministries Int'l, Apostle Johnson Suleman.

A statement from the church alleged that the lady who claimed that Apostle Suleman was her lover and that he promised him marriage was found to belong to a cartel

Comprising four male members who were identified as serial blackmailers by the police. Stephanie was said to have been arrested about two weeks ago by the IG Intelligence and Monitoring Unit alongside one Wisdom who is said to be the gang leader. The culprits are said to be talking to detectives at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, on their involvement in the alleged racket.

Lagos lawyer, Festus Keyamo, according to the church statement, backed Stephanie and her gang claiming that the lady was his client while he allegedly insisted that the Apostle pay her the said sum.
On investigating, the statement reads further, it was discovered that the lawyer was sympathetic to the gang's cause given his desperation and open aggression to force their illegal demand.

Below is the full texts of the statement from the church admin department submitting what it said was the genesis of Stephanie's acclaimed familiarity with Apostle Suleman;

"In 2015, the servant of God, Apostle Johnson Suleman went to Canada to preach the Gospel. After the event, a lady called Papa and introduced herself as Stephanie Otobo. Asked what did she want, she said she attended the Apostle's crusade in Canada, it transformed her and she wanted to give her life to Christ. The man of God asked her what her job was and she said she was a stripper, that she danced naked at the nightclub. That was the first surprise. The Apostle told her bluntly that what she was doing was pure prostitution but he could help her out if truly she was ready to go back to God. Because it is of God to save and bless souls, the Apostle offered to help her.

Apostle Suleman prayed for her on phone and never asked to know her physically because that is his nature. He blesses anyone to whomever he is directed by the Holy Spirit. After the prayer, the lady begged Apostle Suleman if he could also help her financially in order to start a new job as she was tired of her dirty life as a stripper. The man of God asked what kind of job she wanted and she said she would like to open an African Store where Nigerians abroad could be buying Nigerian foodstuffs, vegetables and other local items.  The Dollar rate at the time was N150. She was sent money enough to set her up. Later, she was sent more money because she had familiarized herself with the Apostle that she was calling him regularly and praying for him for his humanitarian help. She started attending places where Apostle held crusades. It should  be noted that Apostle Suleman never met the lady one-on-one.

However, the servant of God begun withdrawing from her and ignoring her calls when during one of the phone interactions she told him that a part of her dirty past life included blackmailing men! In fact, she listed men she said she had dealt with in the past. At such weird confession, even a man of God would have a rethink fraternizing with a person of the lady's nature. Apostle Suleman withdrew completely from her right at that moment.

Surprisingly, late 2015, perhaps out of frustration, this lady devised a way to get at the man of God for shunning her. She met members of the Apostle's ministry and threatened to go to the media to expose their leader unless she was given a certain amount of them. When asked for what, she said that she was promised marriage by him and that they had introduction ceremony already. Such a mystery!

The questions now begging for answers are; where are pictures of the purported marriage introduction? Who are the other persons and even family members that witnessed the purported introduction and the pictures, and where and when did the purported introduction took place?

To answer these questions, the police have met with Stephanie's father, who was shocked at their inquiry. The old man told the police that he was never aware his daughter was in Nigeria! He also confirmed to the investigators that Stephanie had always been involved in messy stuffs while he said he knew Keyamo to be a controversial character.

Now, if anything, what is baffling to us is the involvement in the matter of Barrister Festus Keyamo who we heard that the blackmailing lady has hired to defend her illicit act. Keyamo is known to be a controversial lawyer and we have found out that he was threatening to pursue the case which in its entirety is a hoax. Besides, while investigating the lady after her plan to extort the man of God, it was discovered that the lady had a connection with Keyamo.

Also, recorded voices of Stephanie and Wisdom revealed that the gang has a link with the dreaded Boko Haram because the gang had earlier threatened to unleash Boko Haram on Apostle Suleman should he refuse to release the N500 million to them."

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Pastor Johnson Suleiman accused of impregnating a canadian based Nigerian woman, Stephanie Otobo

Controversial founder of Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle Johnson Suleiman, is currently enmeshed in an adultery scandal as a Canadian based Nigerian woman, Stephanie Otobo, has filed a N500 million lawsuit against him for allegedly getting her pregnant and dumping her. This is according to a letter sent to the IG of police by Festus Keyamo chambers on behalf of Stephanie

According to Court papers, Suleiman and Stephanie met in 2016 in Canada and allegedly began a secret affair. She claimed he informed her of his plan to divorce his wife, Lizzy, to marry her and have more male children.


 Stephanie, who is a musician with stage name Kimora, left her base in Canada to Nigeria so she can be close to her pastor/secret lover. She says during sex, Pastor Suleiman would lick her all over her body including her vagina and had suggested that they have group sex with her friends. Stephanie says he got her detained after she told him she was pregnant.

She says she has naked photos as well as screenshots of raunchy messages they sent to themselves.
 Stephanie claims she became a member of the Apostle Suleiman’s church, and followed him every where. He sent her money regularly according to her and she claims he asked her to get pregnant.

But when she informed him in September 2016 that she was pregnant in a hotel in Ikeja, Stephanie claims Apostle Suleman flew into a rage and asked her to abort it, fearing scandal.

Stephanie claims that Pastor Suleiman gave her a concoction that made her bleed and he ended their relationship.

According to the story, Stephanie went to Warri and relayed the whole story to another pastor who recorded it and started using it to extort money from Suleman.

Stephanie said she returned to Canada afterwards but Apostle Suleman contacted her again, apologized and asked her to return to Nigeria. And when she returned to Nigeria last week, she claims he put money into her account and subsequently froze the account.

It was will Stephanie was trying to withdraw money from the account at a UBA bank after her ATM refused to work, that she was arrested on orders of Apostle Suleman who had reported her of being a blackmailer.

After her arrest, Stephanie filed a lawsuit against Apostle Suleman demanding to be paid N500million as damages for not honoring his promise to marry her and for harassment and threat to her life.

In the letter to the Inspector-General of Police, Keyamo Chambers said Stephanie was arrested on March 3 at a UBA branch in Anthony Village by heavily armed policemen from Federal Criminal Investigations Department (FCID), Alagbon. She's since been in detention where her lawyers claim they have denied her access to them.

Keyamo Chambers has given Suleman a 7-day ultimatum to release Stephanie, meet their demands or be dragged to court

Below is the court papers filed on behalf of Stephanie at Festus Keyamo Chambers.
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Governors, cronies share chunk of loans – Shehu Sani

Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign and Local Departments, Senator Shehu Sani, has said that 80 percent of loans collected by state governments in Nigeria was shared among Governors, loyal politicians and other cronies.

Senator Sani, who represents Kaduna Central Senatorial District disclosed this on Sunday in Kaduna, while reacting to multiple complaints against late distribution of fertilizer by Amalgamated Farmers Forum.

Sani revealed that Nigeria’s debt profile had, therefore, risen to as high as 60 percent from 10.4 as a result of this development, adding that what would have been given to farmers to improve yields were misused.

“Over the years, Nigerian government announced billions and trillions of naira as budget for agriculture, some even prioritise agriculture in their speeches but nothing comes out of it.

“Funds to be used to improve or better the farming profession for the farmers were diverted to things other than farming.

“Most times you see the government leaving behind legacy of high debt profile but nothing to show for it. This debt must be paid by government of today or tomorrow generation and that is a very big problem,” he said.

Sani said rather than show interest, Nigerians often times reject government’s request for loans on agriculture and other amenities.

He lamented that while the small scale/peasant farmers who invest genuinely in agriculture were working to feed the 170 million – 200 millions, they were denied loans and fertilizer, “while political brief case farmers were having their ways, accessing loans from agricultural development bank, insurance scheme banks, international community and local sources of funds for their activities.”

“The political brief case farmers’ farms are in the theatre of act of political meetings, they have everything they need to have improved themselves as farmers.

“The politics of fertilizer problem have not been worse than what is happening now. Nigerian farmers are supposed to have fertilizer at the rate of N3, 000.

“If all the money that have been saved from removal of oil subsidy are channelled towards farming, prices of fertilizer and foods stuff would not have gone skyrocketing as it is now.

“We have to tell ourselves, the country and our government the truth. People are suffering. Diversification of the economy is not about pumping money to rice farming alone,” Sani said.

Haruna Gambo, chairman of the farmers’ forum, earlier complained of late distribution of fertilizer to members, poor loans facilities, police detention, threat by banks to members to pay back, even with low input and output, among others.

Any leader who allows xenophobic attacks to happen not fit to lead – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has slammed African countries that over xenophobic attacks.

He declared that leaders of such countries were unfit to rule.

Obasanjo, who said this during an interview on Liberty Radio, Kaduna on Saturday, chided South African leaders for allowing attacks on other African citizens to continue unabated.

According to him, if African leaders should encourage attacks, especially against Africans, it would be calamitous for them (South Africans) and the entire continent.

Obasanjo said, “No African country can attain development in isolation. They must move together as a continent if the desired development is to be achieved.

“What all African countries must remember is that Nigeria fought for the decolonisation of most of the African countries. But, whether anyone remembers what Nigeria did for the decolonisation of African countries or not is not even an issue, the issue is that any African must not be treated as unwanted in any part of Africa.

“Any leader who allows xenophobic attacks to happen under his watch is not fit to be an African leader.

“If youths are behaving childishly, then, what is the leadership doing? It is understandable to see children behaving childishly, but if the leaders also behave childishly, that is a calamity for that country and for Africa.”

On the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, the former President noted that he built a Church and a Mosque in the library because as a leader, he should lead by example.

He condemned a situation where people killed in the name of religion, saying “anyone who kills in the name of religion is an enemy of God.”

EXCLUSIVE: EXPLOSIVE INTERVIEW WITH SURINDER THATTHI VICE PRESIDENT OF FIA…..BY ADRIAN EGONU

The FIA Vice President - Sports Mr Surinder Thatthi, was in Nigeria and i got called up for an interview with him at the Transcorps Hilton Hotel, Abuja. It was indeed a very engaging session as the man very passionate about motoring/motorsports poured out his heart including their organization's disappointment at Nigeria not taking her pride of place in the world of motorsports.

For those who don't know about the FIA, According to Wikipedia;  "the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA, English: International Automobile Federation) is an association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR, English: 'International Association of Recognized Automobile Clubs') on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. To the general public, the FIA is mostly known as the governing body for many auto racing events. The FIA also promotes road safety around the world".

Ultimately, the FIA’s goal is simple – to keep you moving, safely and dynamically.

Please read the engaging and riveting interview:.....

Naija Car Lovers (NCL).

Mr Surinder Thatthi (ST).

NCL: May we meet you sir.

ST: My name is Mr. Surinder Thatthi.

NCL: I hope you're enjoying Nigeria. Is this your first time?

ST: Yes I am. No it is not my first time. I was here back in 2008 with Ishaku Bamaiyi. When he was trying to set up his club. He was then not a member of the FIA. I came and we started some Motorsports activities. 

NCL: Oh really?

ST: As at then Ishaku was more interested in Motorsports. But unfortunately we already had a Motorsports member in Nigeria. He is Abdulraheem Agunbiade. He runs Automobile and Sporting Club of Nigeria. But he is not very active. We are hoping that either he pulls up his socks or he gives up the Motorsports power to an alternative person who might be able to do something better, because Nigeria has a lot of money, we can have a lot of sports as well.

When Ishaku approached the FIA for the Motorsports arm, he was told it had been given to another person but he however was given the Mobility arm.

NCL: Based on our population, the truth is that many people here have a lot of interest in automobiles and motoring sports in Nigeria. So what are the things you think he should do to improve even if an alternative person coming in, what are the things best for them to do?

ST: It's not expensive to start grassroots Motorsports. And grassroots Motorsports for your children is karting for example. Building a karting track is not expensive at all. So if somebody builds a karting track and the kids have an opportunity to show their talent, you never know, there is nothing to say that a Lewis Hamilton can't come out of Nigeria, but they have to be given an opportunity to get there. If you don't give them the opportunity, you will never find the Hamilton. 

Ishaku Bamaiyi; President-Automobile and Touring Club of Nigeria, an affiliate of the FIA (Mobility arm).

NCL: Why has it taken you this long to come to Nigeria to do this?

ST: Quite frankly we have been pushing Abdulraheem to do more in Motorsports and he's been attending our conferences, our regional congresses and we keep saying to him over and over again including the President of the FIA Jean Todt has expressed to him that we would love to see more happening in Nigeria. But you know we are a governing body, we are not going to make Motorsports happen for you. All we can do is to create the enabling environment and encourage the clubs to do more themselves. So that's what we are doing basically. It's trying to say that the club either does more for Motorsports in Nigeria and if they can't do it then we have to give it to somebody who can.

NCL: Right now do you have any affiliations with the Nigerian Government or are there other agencies here you are working with?

ST: No. Not in Motorsports but certainly on the road safety side, we are working with the FRSC (Federal Road Safety Corps). And they were in kenya for a road safety conference and our President who is also a special envoy for the UN (United Nations) for road safety was in Nairobi for the same conference and he expressed to them that he wants to come here and he is going to be here in August for a UN and the FRSC seminar for all the West African countries on road safety, so he is going to be one of the chief guests. And because he will be here we decided also to have a Motorsports congress here which is what Ishaku is helping us to organize here in Abuja.

NCL: I knew when the conference took place in Nairobi, Kenya last year. Between then and now, do you think they made appreciable progress interms of road safety, and other things that were discussed during the conference. Why i am asking is to know how we can also make progress here in Nigeria.

ST: I am not 100% sure about the road safety side because that's not my area of competence. I am on the Motorsports side. And on the sporting side, i'm sorry, your progress has been zero. Nigeria is the worst African country in terms of progress in Motorsports. So i will really love to see more happening here in Nigeria because you have the capability, you have people with...,you know Motorsports is all about fast cars and there is no human being that doesn't love fast cars. Everybody loves fast cars, so you already have Nigerians who have the love for Motorsports so why are we not giving them the medium to create Motorsports here? So that's what we are trying to encourage and that's why we want to have the congress here so we can say 'get into gear' and do something about it.

NCL: So for the road safety, you can't speak much on that right?

ST: No, road safety is not my area but certainly our President will be here and he will be the chief guest of the conference taking place for road safety and he will be talking. You know there is a lot of synergies between Motorsports and road safety because some of our drivers like Lewis Hamilton are also ambassadors for road safety and that's all due to the encouragement of our President which is very good. 

NCL: Between now and August we have 5 months. And we also have only 3 more years before year 2020 when the Global Road Safety Decade of Action Plan ends, i know it's not your area but what are the things you think we should do as a government and as individuals to improve on road safety to achieve the aim of the Decade of Action?

ST: One thing that i discovered yesterday, because we had a meeting with some officials of the FRSC is that they don't have any teeth. They have not been signed off by the President yet to be able to actually go out there and check for speeding, yeah, because the bill has been passed by the Legislature but not been assented to by the President if i understand well. The FRSC is quite a big organization, there are many vehicles in the organization, but if those vehicles are not going out there to check the people that are speeding, people that are drink driving, that means the organization is set up but not active yet. So that's something that maybe this conference will also talk on that i will report to Jean Todt from the things i discussed yesterday and if that's the case then maybe he can encourage the people in authority to do something about it so that road safety can be improved here. You know that Nigeria has a very high statistics on road crashes in the Africa. I think you are only second to South Africa so if that's the case, then somebody has to do something. The body that is designated for road safety does not have the full powers yet which is important. 

NCL: Have you been to Lagos before?

ST: No.

NCL: You have come to Abuja, which is a very different place compared to Lagos interms of culture especially as it concerns road usage, everything is different. Lagos is where you can describe more as an ideal miniature Nigeria unlike here. Why don't you think that you find a way to route your trip through Lagos so that you can talk more about Nigeria. Why i say it is because the level of development interms of road safety, traffic management and road usage in Lagos is very different from what one get here. Lagos is putting up lots of structures both interms of rescue for crash victims, traffic management etc, unlike what you might have here so you might have to factor these in to help guide better for one to decide if Lagos is on the right track or should the entire country emulate/adopt the the Lagos model? Or what things need to be added or adjusted to their model? So i will also like the FIA to put more eyes on the Lagos model.

ST: I will pass the message across to our President. And see if he has the time so he probably passes through Lagos as well. 

NCL: What other advice do you have for the Nigerian motoring population?

ST: Well, in the continent of Africa we have probably the top two wealthiest countries; South Africa and Nigeria. South Africa today has 6,900 competition license holders; people that have the license to take part in Motorsports events. They have about 7 racing circuits around the country, they have probably about 15 karting circuits, they have various other forms of Motorsports like rally, Crosscountry, Autocross and Oval Racing events, so, so many forms of Motorsports. In one year, they have 1,100 events in the whole of South Africa. 

And what does Nigeria have in comparison? Zero license holders and zero circuits. So that's what we are saying that certainly there is a vast opportunity to improve Motorsports in Nigeria. Now Motorsporting complements road safety. You make better drivers and better cars, so the proper thing is to start with karting from the grassroots. Those young boys and girls who go into karting, as they grow up might want something else to do. Then it's up to the people in authority to form that something else for them to do like a race circuit. You know a racing circuit is a safe and controlled environment. It's not out on an open road. I'm sure you have a lot of young people who go on your highways or are driving in the night to satisfy their need for speed. And even the drifters who might even be out on the streets in the middle of the night, so you know, this is uncontrolled. It is better to create a controlled environment that is also safe....this is very important. Motorsports right from the grassroots has not developed at all in Nigeria. There is a vast potential and huge revenue to be made from this potential because those 6,900 licensed holders pay a license fee to the Federation. Those 1,100 events pay permit fees to be part of a legal event. So there is so much revenue for the Federation to be gained. That revenue is not revenue for use rather to promote Motorsports. 

NCL: This brings me to my next question. Motorsports is a capital intensive venture. How do you think Nigerian sponsors can benefit from been involved in Motorsports in Nigeria. 

ST: Motorsports related activities are few companies....for instance, at the moment, there is a big Fuel Conference going on here.....Chevron and others are here, these are all people involved in Motorsports. So they can all gain from sponsorship of these Motorsports events. And when you create a Nigerian Motorsports hero, the sponsors will go behind him.

NCL: Will you be here for the Zuru Tourism Trophy in December this year?

ST: Unfortunately no. We do go to events, but we go to events when we are invited to or if they are part of FIA Chairmanship. So unfortunately this event is not part of the FIA Chairmanship. This is even my first time hearing of such.

NCL: Maybe you grant them an exception since every form of Motorsports is still in an infancy stage in Nigeria as encouragement.

ST: Well I have been in the FIA Motorsports for the past 15 years and since the past 15 years, Nigerian Motorsports has remained at an infancy stage so what are you doing?

NCL: Maybe we are baby elephants so we need a longer gestation period.

General laughter.

NCL: Have you heard of Eleko Motor Race?

ST: I have met one of the organizers; Edward Osakwe at one of our congresses outside Nigeria.

NCL: I hope that within the shortest possible time, things will improve as per Motorsports here in Nigeria so that the status quo will change. With the likes of Ishaku Bamaiyi, Edward Osakwe and others trying to do great things in this area despite the challenges and limited resources they face, i believe there will be quantum leaps in terms of Motorsports in Nigeria. 

ST: I will like to see progress, that will be good. I'm sure when things start they will flourish very fast because even the rich need something to do and also put their money into. Motorsports as you said is a capital intensive venture and there are many people with the resources who won't mind putting it into Motorsports so like one wise man once said; "if you want to be a race driver, you have to choose your parents carefully and make sure they have money". 

NCL: The congress coming up in August, is it open to the public or for specific people?

ST: No it is for delegates from the 22 member countries of  Africa,  will come to Abuja. We will invite one delegate from each club. Some of the other people that will be coming, will come from Geneva which is the FIA headquarters, are people involved with motor rallying etc; we have to think and talk of ways to revamp the African Rallying Championships which is a regional rally championship which at the moment is lacking entries. We have to think of ways to make it a little bit better so it's going to be a big think-tank meeting. So the public will not be there and neither is it for the press but the press can be around at the sidelines for interviews probably during the dinner for the delegates so they can also ask questions from the President of the FIA and other top officials.

NCL: What are the things you intend to achieve with this congress? 

ST: Every year we all get together and discuss the various aspects of Motorsports in each individual country. To see what improvements have been made since the last time we met. So basically it's to encourage Motorsports throughout the continent. We have seen a lot progress in the last 10 years. Things have improved incredibly all over Africa, many countries like Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Ethiopia, Ethiopia never had Motorsports, now they have started karting, and other aspects of the sports like drifting. You know they are not allowed to rally again because of police restrictions on speeding cars. So various forms of Motorsports are discussed. Then another thing the President of the FIA has started is the grants programme whereby the FIA uses some of the money received from Formula 1 in giving the clubs some grants for development of Motorsports so there are certain aspects they can use money from the FIA to develop programmes like timing systems, safety developments in Motorsports events. The's also infrastructure development like we won't build your karting circuits for you but we can give you money for the planning, the architecture etc for the circuit but you have to find the money from your government to build the circuit. What the FIA is trying to do is to encourage Motorsports throughout the world. Many countries like Rwanda, Zambia, Botswana and South Africa have already applied for grants to get a karting programme going. So what they've done is that they've bought 12 karts and they also started a schools programme whereby they are inviting children from schools to come to the circuits and drive karts and if there is any outstanding talent that comes out of that endeavour, they come in and try to give him an opportunity to go further. You never know, you know in all these schools in Nigeria, there might be a Hamilton in one of those schools like Felipe Massa once said; "the best driver in the world might be a taxi driver in Brazil or any other country at the moment but we haven't found him yet". So talent has to be found.

NCL: It's been very nice speaking with you sir, what other words do you have for Nigerians?

ST: Nigerians have all the potentials to be the great sportsmen because we have seen their exploits in major sports activities like the Olympics, etc you guys do so well in sprints etc, so another thing is that all Africans have stamina. Look at the Ethiopians and Kenyans, they are marathon runners. You all have the stamina. What we have to do is to find or give a medium to that stamina to be used in the right direction in Motorsports and I'm sure you guys will excel. Nigerians should embrace Motorsports 'cos it's a fun sport and very exciting also with a very bright future. 10 years down the line, or even 5 years down the line, if somebody has the interest, it's to bring a Formula 1 race to Nigeria, but that is an expensive circuit to build and an expensive race to run because this is the pinnacle of motorsports. So if this can come to Nigeria, why not? Nothing is impossible.

NCL: Can you give an idea it can cost to build a Formula 1 circuit?

ST: The Formula 1 circuit that was built in Abu Dhabi cost about 350 million Dollars to build. But it was not only a circuit, it also involved a lot of other infrastructure around it which i think finally made the cost around 1 billion Dollars. But the circuit alone was about 350 million USD. 

NCL: In Nigeria, for one to do something big and succeed, you need to have some sort of government backing, endorsement or affiliation or partnership, from your interactions with the FRSC so far, do you think they are favourably disposed to supporting Motorsports in Nigeria?

ST: No. As of now no because they don't understand it yet. And you know, Motorsports, Formula 1 circuit for example, the biggest benefactor is not any individual, it is the country. Singapore had a Formula 1 race and people that never knew where Singapore is now know where it is. They saw incredible images of the country as never seen before. And they said; "my God, what a lovely city, I would love to visit this city as soon as possible", so this boosts the tourism potentials of any host country and infuse a lot of foreign exchange into the local economy, so the country benefits. It also gives you television coverage/audience comparable only to the Olympics. But a Formula 1 race gives you a a television audience that can boost tourism. For instance, if you have a Formula 1/street race in Lagos, can you imagine the beautiful images of Lagos that will be broadcast to the world? So what i'm saying is that at the moment, your government doesn't understand the benefits accruable from Motorsports or the impact something like this can create but hopefully, with time, things will turn around for good. 

NCL: We look forward to a better Nigeria interms of Motorsports. As you have come to Nigeria, have you eaten our food?

ST: Yeah, yeah, i have gone to 'point and fish'. 

NCL: Thanks so much sir for your time.

ST: You are most welcome; it's been nice meeting you. 

Culled from www.naijacarlovers.com

Kano musician jailed for releasing song without state censors board’s approval

A Kano-based musician, Sadiq Zazzabi has remanded in jail on the orders of the state censors board.

His offence was that he released a new song without necessary approval.

Premium Times reports that the chairman of the Kano State Censorship Board, Ismaila Afakallahu confirmed the arrest and said that Zazzabi would remain in detention until Friday when he would be re-arraigned in court.

‘Yes he actually brought the song for censorship and before we can grant him a certificate of approval, he went ahead to launch the song.

‘For doing that he has faulted the censors board rule and we are charging him for that.

‘Censoring a movie or song can take up to three weeks or more depending on the complexity of the song or film,’ he’s quoted as saying.

Recall that actress Rahama Sadau got ‘expelled’ by the Hausa film association for appearing in what they termed as ‘a romantic music video’.

On his part, Zazzabi insists that his arrest was politically motivated as he was loyal to the former governor of the state, Rabiu Kwankwaso, a claim that the current Kano state administration denies.

Watch below

Drama as ambassadorial nominee refused to recite National Anthem

There was mild drama at the floor of the Senate, on Wednesday, when an 82-year-old non-career ambassadorial nominee, Justice Sylvanus Nsofor (rtd.), refused to recite the National Anthem.

The refusal by the nominee to recite the anthem had shocked members of the committee.

Nsofor is one of the 46 on the ‘reviewed list’ for whom President Muhammadu Buhari was seeking legislative approval for their appointment.

The nominee was asked series of questions, which he responded to, but when Senator Gbenga Ashafa asked Nsofor to recite the anthem he declined to recite it, asking the lawmakers why he should do so.

Nsofor, after engaging the lawmakers in arguments, was eventually asked to take a bow and leave the venue.

The Sun