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AFCON: Ghana Eager To End 35-Year Jinx

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Ghana will be eager to break a 35-year jinx as they look forward to securing a final berth at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tomorrow in Gabon.
The Ghana Black Stars face Central Africa’s Cameroon in the semi-finals of AFCON at the Stade de Franceville in Franceville Cameroon and Ghana are both four-time champions, but Cameroon last won 15 years ago and Ghana’s long wait to be champions of Africa again (now 35 years and counting) is becoming an African Cup folklore.
Cameroon beat favourites Senegal on penalties and now face Ghana as they attempt to secure a place in the AFCON final for the first time since 2008. Nine years ago, the Indomitable Lions were beaten by Egypt, also, a semi finalist in Gabon and will be hoping to go one better after a 15-year wait for the African title.
Ghana is in the last four for the sixth straight tournament. En route to the semi-finals, Jordan Ayew gave Ghana the lead and elder brother, Andre Ayew swept in a 78th-minute penalty for the winner to beat Congo at Stade d’Oyem Ghana lost out in penalty shootout to Ivory Coast in the deciding game at the last African Cup. The experience two years ago left Andre Ayew sobbing uncontrollably and inconsolable.
The painful memories will likely keep Ghanaian feet on the ground this year, even after getting past Congo, a tricky adversary.
The Black Stars are also sweating on the fitness of their top striker, Al Ahli’s Asamoah Gyan and also their reliable defender, Baba Rahman who plies his trade for Schalke 04 of Germany.
When Gyan limped off the pitch during Ghana’s narrow defeat to Egypt in their last group game, the Black Stars’ AFCON campaign “seemingly’’ looked gloomier.
Gyan, Ghana’s leader of the line for the best part of a decade, has a groin problem and his availability, or otherwise, for Sunday’s quarter-finals will have a bearing on morale. Gyan will feel as frustrated as anybody if he misses out of the semi-finals after watching from the bench during the team’s quarter-final victory over DR Congo.
Five times a semi-finalist at AFCON, and his country’s all-time leading scorer in the tournament, he has two runners-up medals and a bronze medal in the competition but has yet no first prize.
Ghana will be forgiven for thinking that this should be their year, given that so many heavyweight teams have fallen before and after the last-eight stage. However, they need vigilance and their entire arsenal at their disposal if they hope to get past a very compact Cameroonian side.
But the motivation to end the long wait for another continental trophy would surely ginger them to give everything they have against tough tackling Cameroon, who have shown that they mean business in Gabon.
The other semi-final encounter pits the Pharaohs of Egypt against the Stallions of Burkina Faso at the Stade d’Angondje in Angondjé on Febuary. 1.
The fallen giants of the AFCON are rising again as Egypt became the final team on Sunday to force its way into the semi-finals amid late drama.
The record seven-time champion, held back by years of political upheaval back home, returned to the last four for the first time since 2010 with an 87th-minute winner over Morocco in the last quarter-final in Gabon.

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Rivers Capable Of Delivering Massive Votes For Tinubu, Chinda, Others -Fubara …Charges APC, Rainbow Coalition To Embrace Team Work

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Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has declared that the  State is capable of delivering massive votes for President Bola Tinubu,  the  All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Rt. Hon. Kingsley Chinda and other candidates of the Rainbow Coalition in the 2027 general elections.

Fubara, who stated this yesterday at the inauguration of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in Port Harcourt, said the surest path to victory is for the  members of the Presidential Campaign Council drawn from the APC and the Rainbow Coalition to embrace the spirit of teamwork.

He said what the state was witnessing in the current political season is a repeat of the successful mobilization done in 2022 and 2023, when a large campaign council worked in unity to deliver victory for him and for President Tinubu.

He added that the present council is bigger, wider and better coordinated and should therefore achieve even better results.

He noted that the beauty of the new council is the fact that some persons who were in the opposition camp during the previous elections are now part of the team, saying their inclusion has made the task easier, provided everyone works as one team and with sincerity of purpose.

The governor thanked the  Coordinator of the Presidential Campaign Council for Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, and other leaders who worked tirelessly to bring the council to fruition, stressing that nothing  is impossible especially when people work together for a common purpose.

He expressed optimism that with seriousness and commitment, the state would record a higher number of votes than it recorded in 2023.

Fubara, while congratulating members who made the list, appealed to those whose names were omitted not to be discouraged, as there are still sub-committees to be constituted and the list can still be updated, even as he warned against double loyalty.

He said the state has gone past the stage of division and is now looking to the future and what God holds for Rivers people, expressing confidence that with the strategy already put in place, the APC and the Rainbow Coalition would come out victorious in 2027.

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and Coordinator of the Campaign Council, Chief Nyesom Wike, while  inaugurating the Council, lauded Fubara for finding time to attend the ceremony and other engagements of the Council in spite of his busy schedules.

Wike, who is also the National Leader of the PDP/ Rainbow Coalition, reminded members of the Council that they were chosen based on their capacity to participate  in the activities of the group and deliver positive results.

He charged them to work hard to win votes for the candidates of the APC and the Rainbow Coalition for the Presidential, Governorship, National Assembly as well as State House of Assembly elections next year.

He disclosed that apart from the Presidential Campaign Council and its sub-committees, the Local Government Campaign Councils will soon be inaugurated to ensure better coverage of the grassroots during the current campaign season.

 

 

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RSG Floats MNET Culture Content Promo

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The Rivers State Ministry of Culture and Tourism  has floated a culture content platform in collaboration with digital television group, Multichoice.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Mr. Freddy Ndigbara, disclosed this after a meeting with MultiChoice Head of Content Acquisition, Don Dotun Ojon, in Port Harcourt.

He assured that content entrepreneurs and film makers would enjoy the platform by promoting culture and other contents to sell the states tourism potentials.

He said MultiChoice M-net was now open to increase its patronage for content shots on locations in Rivers State, describing the State as one that has numerous potentials for film tourism.

“We were privileged to have Don Ojon with us at the Rivers International Film Festival (RIFF) at the weekend in Bonny and he saw, first hand, the numerous sites and opportunities that are open to creatives in the State. After that, we felt it was important to deepen the conversation and he obliged. This is a cheering news for the sector in the State,” he said.

Ndigbara stated that “Rivers State has many more untold stories to tell, many more contents to reel out and the assurances from the M-net Acquisition Manager is an indication that the industry in the state will soon enjoy a new lease of life”.

The Permanent Secretary thanked Ojon for the visit and assured that creatives in the State would grap this opportunity and show the world that Rivers State is a major hub for film tourism in Nigeria.

On his part, Ojon said the visit was to discuss on ways of promoting tourism in the State using creatives and film.

Ojon said although the company has recently been acquired by canal+ France and is undergoing restructuring, he would promote the chances of Rivers State to host the MultiChoice talent factory in the State.

With Asaba, capital of Delta State, being saturated, Ojon said the next port is Rivers  State, which he said is capable of building fresh crop of creatives, new locations, new story lines and concepts.

He, therefore, called for collaboration from stakeholders in the State.

Kevin Nengia

 

 

 

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APC Presidential Campaign Storms PH, ‘Morrow

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Barring last minute changes, the presidential campaign train of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will storm Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, tomorrow.

This is according to a campaign timetable released by the APC Campaign Council last month.

The Tide reports that the APC presidential campaign kicked off in Kaduna on October 24 with President Bola Tinubu in attendance.

The campaign train later moved to Cross River, Gombe, Nasarawa, and Ekiti on November 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively with the Vice President, Kashim Shettima representing the President at the rallies.

President Tinubu is personally scheduled to attend 12 states including Rivers, Kaduna, Plateau, Oyo, Borno, Enugu, Bauchi, Sokoto, Delta, Kano, Adamawa and Lagos.

The Rivers State rally, scheduled to hold at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt, is expected to witness a large crowd of party supporters drawn from a coalition of political parties in the State.

The party is expected to round off its presidential campaign in Lagos State on January 9, 2027.

The Tide reports that Tinubu has not visited Rivers State as President since he assumed office in May 2023. His last physical visit to the State was before his inauguration on Wednesday, May 3 – Thursday, May 4, 2023, when he was hosted by then Governor Nyesom Wike in Port Harcourt to commission the Rumuola/Rumuokwuta Flyover and the Magistrates’ Court Complex.

Tomorrow’s visit will be his first to the State since assuming office.

 

 

 

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