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Nigeria’s First Lady, Mrs Tinubu Hails NAOWA, Pledges To Enhance Status of Women—Wife of the President, Mrs Oluremi Tinubu, has promised to promote endeavors that would project and enhance the status of women in Nigeria.

The First Lady, who was represented by Prof. Nora Daduut, made the pledged at the public presentation of a book titled “Strengthening the NAOWA Narrative”, on Saturday in Abuja.

The book was authored by Mrs Salamatu Yahaya, the President of the Nigerian Army Officers’ Wives Association (NAOWA) and wife of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya.

Tinubu commended Mrs Yahaya for her resilience and wisdom in writing the book, saying it was another giant step in chronicling events of army officers’ wives.

She expressed delight that the work came from the women folk, saying it had increased the need for women to continue to document their journey, experiences and accomplishments.

According to her, the well researched book came at a time when a lot of people had almost lost interest in writing and paying attention to history.

“You have not just added to the body of knowledge in Nigeria, you have renewed our interest in writing and documentation.

“It is my own opinion that this will go a long way in enriching the lives of not only members of NAOWA, but lives of our young ones who will appreciate this piece of work as a good resource in shaping their decisions and choices that they make.

“I congratulate you, Mrs Salamatu Yahaya and your association.

“It is my prayer that you will continue to grow in strength, in wisdom and vision to the glory of our dear country.

“I want to assure you that my office would not relent in promoting endeavors that will project and enhance the status of women in Nigeria,” she said.

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya, commended his wife for putting the idea together while at the same time providing support for him in discharging his duties.

Yahaya said the activities of NAOWA were centered in human capital development, especially women, youth, children and venerable persons and groups in barracks and the larger society.

He said the book was also centered on NAOWA as an organisation gleaming from the past experiences with some practical aspect of leadership.

According to him, it highlights the experiences garnered by the writer as she rose to the various stages and levels of NOWA from unit to brigade to division level, and now leadership position as the president.

Yahaya said leadership was always a challenging task, especially in NAOWA that was also made-up of diverse mix of people with different backgrounds, competencies and experiences.

“I therefore commend the author for successful leadership of the association so far and also for putting her thoughts to paper, which could serve as a guide to many including upcoming members.

“I believe the book is an interesting read as it gives insights into the association, its focus, aims and objectives.

“Furthermore, the principle of successful leadership, as well as many other lesson highlighted in the book, would help propel the minds of leaders towards optimal performance and achievements of leadership goals on the whole,” he said.

The author of the book, Mrs Yahaya said she wrote the book to appreciate the efforts of past leaders of NAOWA, inspire the present members and lay an enduring foundation for the future leaders.

She said the desire to impart lives especially the youth was another motivating factor that encouraged her to pen down her thoughts.

According to her, reading is a must have skill for effective leadership, adding that the book was aimed at boosting reading culture.

“The desire to write this book started when I attended a workshop comprising of participants from all military officers wives associations and in the course of the workshop, we were asked during an icebreaker exercise to mention our heroes and role models.

“Surprisingly, all of us, including myself here, were calling names such as Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, Margaret Thatcher, and the rest of them.

“None of us mentioned any of the founding mothers of our various associations.

“That incident opened my eyes to the fact that the many heroic achievements and legacies of our founding mothers are not appreciated by many of us and therefore they have remained unsong heroines.

“Therefore, the book “Strengthening the NAOWA Narratives” is an attempt to recognise and celebrate NAOWA heroines who have made giant strides in the advancement of human capital and structural developments,” she said.

The Book Reviewer, Prof. Asabe Usman of Uthman Danfodio University Sokoto, described the book as a master piece and must read for all.

Usman said the book was written in simple language in spite of the author’s literary prowess with a view to communicate understanding to the readers.

She said the book was also borne out of the selfless nature of the author, adding that it was her desire to leave a legacy as a guide for her successor.

She said the pieces of advice packed in the book would be useful for both NAOWA and non-NAOWA members.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the book presentation had in attendance a number of prominent members of the society from government, business and military circles.

The Chief Launcher was the Alhaji Samad Rabiu while the former first lady and founder of NOAWA, Mrs Maryam Abacha, representative of States governors, past army chiefs and past presidents of NAOWA were in attendance.

Also, the Chief of Defence Staff and service chiefs as well as top serving and retired military officers graced the occasion.

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BREAKING: Harry Maguire 121st Minutes Header Send Manchester United To The UEFA Europa League Semis As Lyon Fumbled 2 Goals Lead

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Maguire 121st Minutes Header Send Manchester United To The UEFA

BREAKING: Harry Maguire 121st Minutes Header Send Manchester United To The UEFA Europa League Semis As Lyon Fumbled 2 Goals Lead—-Harry Maguire was the hero as Manchester United reached the Europa League semi-finals in astonishingly fashion, beating Lyon 5-4 on an unforgettable night at Old Trafford when both teams blew two-goal leads, advancing 7-6 on aggregate.

Thrashed 4-1 at Newcastle United in the Premier League last time out, Ruben Amorim needed a positive reaction from his men – and it came quickly, Manuel Ugarte sweeping home on 10 minutes to complete a slick team move and notch his first Old Trafford goal.

Back between the sticks after being left out of the trip to Newcastle following his pair of costly mistakes in United’s 2-2 first-leg draw, Andre Onana made a point of celebrating his side’s opener in front of the travelling Lyon fans.

Diogo Dalot’s goal in stoppage time capped a hugely encouraging first half in which United showed great aggression to take the game to Lyon and go in two goals up at the break for the first time since November.

Man Utd remained well on top the first 25 minutes of the second half but, after Alejando Garnacho had missed a chance to make it 3-0 on the night, found themselves facing a nervy finale when Corentin Tolisso pulled a goal back for Lyon.

And when Nicolas Tagliafico bagged an equaliser seven minutes later, things became more than nervy.

Tolisso’s red card shortly before the end of normal time ought to have handed the initiative back to Man Utd, but the hosts appeared shellshocked from throwing away such a healthy-looking advantage.

Lyon came out all guns blazing at the start of extra time to go 4-2 up on the night and lead 6-4 on aggregate, Rayan Cherki putting his side ahead before former Arsenal forward Alexandre Lacazette’s penalty seemed to have put the tie to bed.

But the second half of extra time was to prove to be one of the most dramatic periods of football Old Trafford has witnessed in its long and glorious history.

A Bruno Fernandes penalty gave Man Utd hope, before substitute Kobbie Mainoo struck in the 120th minute to, seemingly, send the tie to penalties.

There was to be no need for the lottery of a shootout, though, as, barely one minute later, Maguire, pushed up front as an emergency centre-forward once again, sparked unadulterated pandemonium by meeting Casemiroqw’s cross to head home a winner which had seemed so far away barely six minutes earlier.

Man Utd’s progression keeps alive their hopes of sealing Champions League qualification as Europa League winners, an achievement which would go some way to mitigating what looks set to be their lowest league finish for 35 years.

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BREAKING: Chelsea Through To UEFA Conference League Semis Despite Shock Home Defeat To Legia Warsaw

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Chelsea Through To UEFA Conference League Semis

BREAKING: Chelsea Through To UEFA Conference League Semis Despite Shock Home Defeat To Legia Warsaw—-Chelsea reached their first European semi-final under their BlueCo ownership, though you would not have known it by the reaction at the full-time whistle.

Fans booed as confirmation came of this second-leg loss to a side sitting fifth in the Polish Ekstraklasa, despite Enzo Maresca turning to his A-listers for the visit of Legia Warsaw.

Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson took themselves to 15 and 12 games without scoring respectively, and there were further jeers from fans when they felt the football was too tedious.

Chelsea are overwhelming favourites to secure this trophy, but still need to win over their fanbase.

Those arriving at Stamford Bridge thought with such a comfortable lead from the first leg, Enzo Maresca would turn to the Cobham conveyor belt. They supposed wrong. Maresca’s substitutes’ bench was certainly chokka with academy kids, but his actual line-up was of Premier League strength, which was surprising with an important trip to Fulham less than 72 hours away.

Even Palmer started. He had not scored in any competition since January 14. He should have got a goal here after 84 seconds when one-on-one with Vladan Kovacevic but the out-of-form Englishman missed the target entirely.

When Christopher Nkunku was then denied by Kovacevic, Palmer rushed on to the rebound. He tried a diving header, but Legia’s goalkeeper recovered to produce a super save.

Legia’s first attack after 10 minutes led to them scoring as Chelsea goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen crashed into Tomas Pekhart to concede a penalty. Pekhart took it himself, scoring to make it 1-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate despite Jorgensen diving the right way.

Legia should have further reduced the deficit when Ryoya Morishita broke behind unmarked, but he dragged wide when facing down Jorgensen.

After 32 minutes, Jadon Sancho crossed low, Marc Cucurella tapped in, and Chelsea’s three-goal advantage on aggregate was restored. They had not scored in any of their last eight first halves but had now. Cucurella thought he had added another before the break, but VAR correctly disallowed it for an offside in the build-up.

At half-time, Maresca replaced Jackson with Tyrique George, the 19-year-old who went up top. After 50 minutes, another youngster in Josh Acheampong lost possession carelessly in midfield as Legia broke forward, with Jorgensen needed to stop Luquinhas from scoring.

The visitors won a corner from that move, and the out-swinger was volleyed towards goal by Claude Goncalves before being helped in by Steve Kapuadi for 2-1.

Chelsea’s fans were frustrated and as was the case in Sunday’s draw with Ipswich, they let it known by jeering as their team tried to pass their way out of the back. Legia’s away support responded by lighting dozens of flares.

Maresca’s side went in search of a leveller with Noni Madueke and George both denied by goal-line clearances. Jorgensen was relieved when another penalty was not awarded against him after colliding with Luquinhas, and George was frustrated when the offside flag denied him a goal.

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