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The Plateau State Government has ordered the temporary closure of all public and private primary and secondary schools across the state over concerns about suspected diphtheria cases.

In a statement signed by Joyce Ramnap, the Plateau State Commissioner for Information and Communication and made available to journalists on Saturday in Jos said the directive takes effect from Monday and applies to schools that have already resumed academic activities.

‘Schools that have already resumed academic activities are also directed to close from Monday, September 7, 2026, and remain closed until further notice,’ the commissioner said.

‘School proprietors, administrators, teachers, parents and guardians are to comply fully with the directive and ensure that students and pupils remain safely at home throughout the period,’ she added.

The government said the closure was a preventive measure to contain the spread of diphtheria infection following suspected cases reported in parts of the state.

According to the statement, the affected areas include Jos North, Wase, Jos South and Bassa Local Government Areas.

The government appealed for the understanding and cooperation of all stakeholders, assuring residents that further information on the resumption of academic activities would be communicated in due course.

To understand the intrigues of Segun Odegbami’s life, you must first understand the absolute tyranny of his youth. When he was 17, he possessed the sensitive hands of an artist, destined for poetry, illustration, and the scenic flurry of a canvas. Then came football, swallowing him whole and turning him into a household name across Africa; a celebrity so colossal that a simple factory visit could shut down an entire corporate plant for a day.

Today, at 74, the stadium roars have faded into the quiet of a solitary existence.

Odegbami rarely replays old matches in his head, nor does he long for the multi-million-dollar European salaries of contemporary football. Instead, as his body ages, reminding him of his mortality, Odegbami looks forward with a striking, urgent clarity to a more fruitful, selfless twilight. From the profound lessons of unconditional fatherhood to his enduring, post-romance alliance with Oyindamola Adeyemi, Nigeria’s ultimate Number 7, aka ‘Mathematical Odegbami’ proves that his greatest victory isn’t a silver trophy, but his unshakeable grip on his own integrity.

You recently turned 74. When you look in the mirror today, who do you see, the footballer millions of Nigerians remember, or a completely different Segun Odegbami?

People remind me constantly about my relationship with football on a daily basis to the extent that I look at most of life through the prism of football. Even in maturing to the person that I am Today, football (as a part of sport) has been at the core of my life’s journey – my work, my pastime, my social engagements, my projects, most things around me.

You recently described this stage of your life as the ‘evening’ of your journey and every additional day as a bonus. Has turning 74 made you think differently about mortality, legacy and the things that truly matter?

As I get older, and refuse to acknowledge the increasing numbers in my age that stare at me, physically, my slowly ‘withering’ body makes me acknowledge mortality, the increasing aches and pains, the small health conditions, more aging and dying colleagues around. There is no ‘whole lifetime ahead’ any more, as I used to think in my younger days. Getting things done NOW, not prevaricating over issues, seeing the positives and opportunities in most things around me now, have become my response to the constant reminder of the inevitability of mortality.

What do you understand about life Today that you wish the 30-year-old Segun Odegbami had understood?

I spent too much time ‘enjoying’ life in the least important ways, instead of building a solid career early in a field of my passion. I should have been a fine artist, painting, writing poems and illustrating them. Those were my natural gifts till I was 17. Instead, following the reality of my life in and after football, I was led to follow a life related always to football. Everybody saw me as a footballer. It took me a while to discover that everything in life could actually be seen and experienced through sport. Since then, life has been well. I learned to chart a course in life through Sport!

You have been famous for almost half a century. What has fame given you and what has it taken away?

The only thing it took away from me is my privacy. I cannot hide to do anything. That’s why my life is an open book. Outside that, it has been very kind to me, very beneficial, opening doors of opportunities, to meet people, getting things done easier than usual, and so on.

Of all the matches you played for Nigeria, which one still plays in your head when you are alone?

I really don’t play old matches in my head. I don’t miss the game. I had my fill of it. When I watch football these days I just wonder how I survived the physicality, the pressures, the pains. I don’t want to relive them again.

If the Segun Odegbami of 1980 were playing today, with European salaries, endorsements and modern sports marketing, how big do you think ‘Mathematical’ would have become?

Ah, very big, I believe.

I could have approached my football career differently, not just as an object of passion and for national service, but as one that had the power to take care of me for the rest of my life! I would have given it my all deliberately, and played more intentionally, packaged and marketed myself better. I ‘sold’ my career too cheaply!

You belonged to a generation that became national heroes before football began producing Today’s extraordinary fortunes. When you see what present-day stars earn, do you ever think: I was born too early?

Not necessarily. I don’t spend any time longing for what is past. I was born at the right time. My popularity in Nigeria then was as much as I would have got were it to be now. I was a household name all over Africa. It was beyond whatever I could have imagined. We visited Guinness Nigeria Plc with three of my football colleagues after our 1980 success. The factory closed down that day due to the throng of fans in their plant in Ikeja.

If President Bola Tinubu handed you Nigerian football tomorrow and simply said, ‘Segun, fix it,’ what are the first three things you would change?

I will do exactly what he has started to do in the past week- clean the ‘dirty’ stable (the football association), reform and reset the buttons of administration of Football; and get quality persons from various fields to join me to empower Nigerian youths to hone their talent to take the game to the highest levels in the world, and to join the massive global sports industry for national development.

People know almost everything about Segun Odegbami the footballer, but surprisingly little about Segun Odegbami the husband, companion and lover. Was that deliberate?

No, that aspect of me is just a reflection of the life I lived after sports.

You were married to Jumoke Tejumola Odegbami. Looking back Today, what happened to that marriage, and what did its breakdown teach you about yourself?

I don’t like to look back at that period.

My young family moved abroad and started to live there. I did not move abroad with them. The time spent apart from family expanded to several years. It created irreversible damage. Living alone in Nigeria, with all the fame I had, created a gap that I could not fill as the years rolled by.

Let me ask you very simply: were you a good husband?

No, I was not.

I could not manage the situation I created for myself well enough.

Could you please clarify when your first marriage ended and when the divorce was officially finalised?

I married Jumoke Tejumola in February 1978. We were together for many years, but somewhere along the line, the marriage broke down and we started living apart. Eventually, I had to take the legal steps to formally bring that chapter of my life to a close. On June 21, 2012, the High Court in Ibadan granted the decree nisi for the dissolution of the marriage. It was a long and important chapter of my life, but sometimes relationships simply run their course. You accept it, learn from it and move on with your life.’

Football gave you extraordinary fame while you were still relatively young. Did fame make marriage and perhaps fidelity more difficult?

It was more the separation by distance that did the most damage. Not the game. I learned to live alone and by myself, and got used to it. That ‘freedom’ allowed me to endure all the hardships I encountered because I was by myself, accountable to no one. I had to pay a high price for that for the rest of my life.

You once publicly clarified that you are a monogamist and not a polygamist. Why was correcting that perception important to you?

Because, I was never a polygamist. There may be the perception out there in public that I have been married more than once. Since my divorce I have not remarried. I was going to try again, but it never happened.

Having experienced marriage and relationships, do you think you understand women better Today than you did 30 or 40 years ago?

No. I can’t claim such authority. Women are complex. My life is complicated too.

At 74, what does companionship mean to you? Do you still believe in marriage?

Companionship to me now is having a friend you can share good times with.

I do not see marriage in the picture. I cannot cope with the complexities of multiple relationships in the family. So, no marriage for me again.

Chief, let me take you somewhere a little more personal. For years, your name and that of businesswoman Oyin Adeyemi were romantically linked, with different accounts of exactly what the relationship was. So, let us hear it from Segun Odegbami himself: what exactly was Oyindamola Adeyemi to you?

My best friend. Then, when we first met, till now.

She was very young and very innocent. She did not even know that I was famous, or anything like that. Because of my outdoor life style and because she was really a very private person, It took a long time for her to realize the implications of a serious relationship with me and to run away.

We became so close that we even had a family introduction ceremony that probably would have led to marriage. But it never did.

When our son came, it was like a wake-up call for her.

You know, she is a sure-footed person, strong-willed and very focused. She knew what she wanted in life and went after it. I was a distraction for her, away from where she was heading.

That’s why she is such a very successful woman succeeding so well in a man’s world. She has always been a deep thinker and scholar, very knowledgeable and very well-read academically. On top of that she is very beautiful.

So, we just became very good friends with some romance. A son came wonderfully into the picture.

We are not married. We will not be married. We settled that matter over a decade ago.

There were reports at one point that the relationship was heading towards marriage. How close did the two of you actually come to getting married?

It could have ended in marriage but obviously it would not have worked out well. We were better off at been just very good friends.

In a way, we complimented each other.

Opposite ‘poles’ attracting.

What was it about Oyindamola Adeyemi that first attracted you to her?

She was ( and still is) a very beautiful woman. Most men will salivate on seeing her. At the same time, she is very intelligent and very smart. Don’t listen to her talk on any subject because you will be enamored with the depth of her knowledge and intellect.

And she is a very very private person.

She blew my mind the first time I met her.

Two highly accomplished and strong-minded people can love each other deeply and still discover that building a life together is another matter entirely. Was that ultimately what happened between you and Oyindamola Adeyemi?

You can put it that way.

I understand her very well.

I don’t know if she understood me that well, but we complimented each other at the time because we were very different on almost all counts.

Yet, she is an amazing person.

Our wide age difference was also a hindrance, I think. She makes fun of me always with it!

Reports subsequently suggested that the relationship ended. Without intruding unnecessarily into her privacy, what happened between the two of you?

We just ended the romantic relationship a long time ago, well over 10 years now. But we kept our friendship. Nothing happened. It was as if we both knew that we had to give up the romance for the friendship to survive and with a son we both love deeply, in between.

Was losing that relationship painful for you?

Painful? We are still very good friends.

People naturally concentrate on what went wrong when relationships end. Let me turn that around: what went right between Segun Odegbami and Oyindamola Adeyemi? What beautiful memories remain?

It was a beautiful relationship. There is no romantic relationship between us anymore, but we are still the best of friends. That’s the kind of person she is. She is steely on the outside, but soft and tender inside. A great mother to our son.

Do you and Oyindamola still speak Today?

Of course. We are still very good friends.

If Oyindamola were sitting opposite you now-not the businesswoman, not the woman people wrote about, just Oyindamola and you had one completely private minute with her, what would you say?

Thank you for everything you have being to me, and done for me.

Did loving her change anything about your understanding of women, relationships or marriage?

Everybody is different. She is a different being completely. She does not fit the profile of the women that have I encountered in my life.

And perhaps the question that finally settles years of speculation: who occupies Segun Odegbami’s heart Today?

No one, romantically. My children!

Strip away ‘Mathematical,’ the national honours and the celebrity for a moment. What kind of father do your children say Segun Odegbami is?

The best father in the world. Every single one of them, bar none, would say that. We are all very close friends.

Is that different from the father you believe yourself to be?

No. My children are my best friends.

Is there anything you wish you had done differently when your children were younger?

I wish I had spent more time with them.

What has fatherhood taught you that football never could?

To love unconditionally. In football, you have to ‘hate’ your opponent a little to inflict the pain of defeat on them. And then you make up after. Unreal!

When people discuss Segun Odegbami, football inevitably dominates the conversation. Is there another part of your life you fear history may overlook?

My life is an open book.

The modern search engines in the information super highway will reveal things about me that I may not even realize are a part of my story. That’s how much the world has changed. Nothing is hidden any more.

If you were permitted to live your life again from the age of 18, knowing everything you know Today, the triumphs, mistakes, heartbreaks and consequences, would you still choose football?

That’s all I really know, seeing the world through the lens of football. What I see is virgin territory of opportunities in a vast wilderness of football waiting to be discovered and exploited to make the world a better place for everyone.

If you could sit beside the young Segun Odegbami for five minutes before he became ‘Mathematical,’ what would you warn him about?

Fame is sweet, fleeting, and ephemeral. Education is the key and a security. The two are paradise.

When the final whistle eventually blows and hopefully many years from now, what would you like Nigerians to say Segun Odegbami stood for?

He stood for integrity and good name. He came, he saw, and he made the world around him a better place.

There is a lesson some Nigerians are learning the hardest way possible: when you cross a border, your cultural excuses do not cross with you.

In Nigeria, there are behaviours that are sometimes dismissed, minimised or quietly settled within families. Some people grow up watching men behave in ways that are excused with phrases such as ‘men are men,’ ‘boys will be boys,’ or ‘it is a family matter.’

But what happens when that same behaviour takes place in a country where the police investigate, victims are encouraged to report, CCTV can become evidence and a courtroom-not a family meeting-decides the consequences?

Recent cases involving some Nigerian men abroad should force us to have an uncomfortable conversation.

In July 2026, British Transport Police announced that Nigerian-born Obinwa Obichukwu, 45, was sentenced to two years in prison after being convicted of two sexual assaults involving a woman at London’s Euston station. He was also given a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years. His claim that the encounter was consensual was rejected by the jury.

Then there is the case of Anthony Sobogun, a Nigerian man who was sentenced in April 2026 to 28 years in prison after being convicted of 17 sexual offences involving two children over a period of more than 15 years. The Metropolitan Police said the offences included rape of a child and repeated sexual abuse.

These are not stories to use for national embarrassment or ammunition against Nigerian men.

They are warnings.

We must stop defending criminal behaviour simply because the person involved is ‘one of our own.’

When a Nigerian man is arrested abroad for a sexual offence, social media sometimes becomes a courtroom of its own. People immediately ask what the woman did, whether she misunderstood him, whether the man was framed, or why the foreign country is ‘after Nigerians.’

Of course, every accused person deserves due process. An allegation is not a conviction, and courts must determine guilt based on evidence.

But once a person has been convicted, defending the crime because the offender is Nigerian does nothing to protect Nigeria’s reputation.

It does the opposite.

The better question is: what can we teach our sons before they find themselves in court?

Buying a woman food does not mean she owe you sex.

A woman accepting money from you does not owe you sex.

A woman visiting your home does not mean she has agreed to sexual activity.

Being someone’s girlfriend does not give you unlimited access to her body.

Being someone’s husband does not remove her right to say no.

And no man should ever believe that physical strength, money, age, status or intimidation gives him permission to force himself on another person.

These should not be controversial statements.

They should be basic lessons taught to boys from childhood.

What happens when silence protects the wrong person?

The problem becomes even more serious when children are involved.

There are families where abuse is hidden because the accused is a husband, brother, son, uncle or someone financially important to the household.

A wife may discover that her husband has behaved sexually toward a child or domestic worker and remain silent because she fears losing her marriage, her financial security or her reputation.

Sometimes the victim is blamed.

Sometimes the family asks everyone to keep quiet.

Sometimes influential people intervene.

Sometimes the accused simply carries on with his life.

But silence does not erase abuse.

It only gives the person who caused harm another opportunity to hurt someone else.

And this is where parenting becomes crucial.

Our sons must be taught that masculinity is not measured by how many women they can sleep with, intimidate or boast about.

A responsible man understands restraint.

A responsible man understands boundaries.

A responsible man knows that another person’s body is not his possession.

*The internet must stop becoming a weapon against victims*

We also need to talk about social media.

When someone reports sexual abuse, thousands of strangers can suddenly become investigators, judges and attackers.

If the accused is popular, wealthy or influential, supporters may attack the person seeking justice.

This is dangerous.

Popularity is not evidence of innocence.

A large following is not a character certificate.

And being famous does not make someone incapable of committing a crime.

At the same time, social-media users must remember that accusations must also be treated responsibly. We should not convict people online without evidence or turn serious allegations into entertainment.

The proper response is neither blind defence nor mob justice.

It is evidence, investigation and due process.

Let us educate, not merely defend

Perhaps Nigerian men abroad need to understand one simple reality: the fact that you got away with something in Nigeria does not make it acceptable.

The law may eventually catch up with behaviour that society once ignored.

And technology makes hiding increasingly difficult. CCTV, phone records, digital messages and other evidence can become central to investigations.

The answer is not to teach Nigerian men how to avoid getting caught.

The answer is to teach them not to commit the offence in the first place.

We should be having conversations with boys about respect, boundaries, self-control and the consequences of sexual violence long before they leave Nigeria.

Parents, schools, religious institutions and community leaders all have a role to play.

And when someone is convicted abroad, our first instinct should not be to attack the victim or portray the offender as a victim of persecution.

We should ask ourselves what went wrong before the crime happened.

*What did we fail to teach?*

Because the strongest way to protect Nigerian men abroad is not to fight every foreign justice system on their behalf.

It is to raise men who understand that *no means no, silence is not permission, money is not consent, marriage is not ownership, and another person’s body is never yours simply because you desire it.*

That is not a foreign lesson.

It is a human one.

Author Bio

Tomilayo Imade is a Nigerian writer and project management professional based in England. Passionate about social justice and human-interest stories, she writes thought-provoking articles on culture, mental health, gender, and public affairs. Through her writing, she seeks to challenge harmful social norms, amplify everyday experiences, and inspire meaningful conversations that drive positive change.

Jama Onwubuariri is the managing director/Co-Founder of Trucks Transit Parks (TTP), a technology-driven logistics company in the maritime and industrial corridors. In this interview with Joseph Olaoluwa, he gives an overview of the technology deployed to improve congestion at the port, West African expansion plans, as well as other successes.

Ètò has been credited with helping to tackle the longstanding truck congestion around the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports. What was the central problem you set out to solve when you conceived the system, and what were the biggest obstacles to its implementation?

The central problem was not simply the number of trucks on the roads; it was the absence of a predictable, transparent and coordinated system for managing access to the ports.

Before Ètò, truck movement was largely fragmented, with long queues, significant human interference and uncertainty for transporters and cargo owners. Our objective was to move from a manual environment to a technology-enabled, first-come-first-served system where truck movements could be planned, scheduled and monitored.

The biggest obstacle was resistance to change. Truckers feared being excluded from port access, while others were reluctant to relinquish long-standing influence over the process. There was also scepticism about whether technology could be reliably enforced and deliver the promised results.

TTP says Ètò has processed more than 3.38 million port and non-port-bound truck movements in 57 months. What does this figure tell you about the scale of the logistics challenge around Nigeria’s ports, and how has the system changed the way truck traffic is managed?

The figure demonstrates the scale and complexity of the logistics ecosystem. Millions of truck movements represent millions of potential points of congestion, delay and operational failure if they are not properly coordinated.

Ètò has shifted the approach from simply asking, ‘How do we clear the traffic?’ to asking, ‘How do we plan and optimise the movement of every truck?’ Through structured scheduling, access control, visibility and data, stakeholders can make decisions based on actual movements rather than assumptions.

The impact has continued to grow, with TTP having processed more than 3.8 million movements over 64 months and average port-access and evacuation turnaround reduced to less than two days.

You have reported that Ètò reduced truck turnaround time from two to three weeks to about three to four days. What were the key interventions responsible for this dramatic improvement, and what further reduction is technically possible?

The improvement came from several interventions working together: digital scheduling, controlled access, terminal integration, electronic verification, better coordination of truck parks and pregates, real-time visibility and reduced human intervention.

Previously, trucks could spend days or weeks waiting because there was no reliable mechanism for coordinating when they should proceed to the port. Ètò introduced that predictability, moving turnaround from weeks to days and, subsequently, to less than two days in some operations.

Further improvement is technically possible, but it cannot come from Ètò alone. It requires improvements in terminal operations, cargo documentation, port infrastructure, road conditions and cargo-release processes. Our ambition is to make unnecessary waiting time approach zero.

TTP also says the system has reduced cargo transportation costs to and from Lagos ports by more than 65 per cent. How exactly have these savings been achieved, and to what extent are they being reflected in the final cost of goods to Nigerian consumers?

The savings come primarily from eliminating the inefficiencies associated with prolonged truck waiting and unpredictable port access. When a truck spends two or three weeks waiting, fuel, driver time, maintenance, accommodation, demurrage and opportunity costs accumulate.

By reducing turnaround to days, improving truck utilisation and cutting informal costs and unnecessary journeys, haulage costs have fallen substantially. In 2025, costs on some movements reportedly fell from as high as about N1.4 million to roughly N350,000-N500,000.

We cannot say every naira saved in logistics automatically translates into a lower retail price because consumer prices have many other drivers. But efficient logistics removes a high cost from the supply chain and improves the competitiveness of Nigerian businesses.

Despite the progress made with Ètò, port access roads and truck congestion remain major concerns for importers, exporters, manufacturers and freight forwarders. What are the remaining bottlenecks outside TTP’s control that government must urgently address?

The first is infrastructure. Technology cannot substitute for inadequate or poorly maintained roads. Port access roads, bridges, drainage and traffic corridors must be treated as critical economic infrastructure.

We also need greater coordination among government agencies and private-sector stakeholders involved in cargo clearance. Delays in documentation, terminal processes, Customs procedures or cargo release affect the entire supply chain.

Consistent enforcement is equally important, alongside investment in terminal capacity, truck holding facilities, road networks and alternative access routes. Ètò provides the digital layer, bringing structure, visibility, scheduling and control to truck movement, but the wider physical ecosystem must be capable of supporting that efficiency.

There have been concerns in the past over transparency, preferential access and the allocation of truck slots under electronic call-up systems. How does Ètò guarantee fairness, transparency and equal access for truck operators, particularly small and independent transporters?

Fairness, transparency and equal access are fundamental to Ètò. Access is determined by defined standard operating procedures and verifiable data, not personal connections, influence or the ability to manipulate the process.

Booking, batching and scheduling are system-driven and automated, creating an auditable transaction trail and reducing opportunities for arbitrary allocation, preferential treatment and unnecessary human interference.

We have also deliberately designed the ecosystem to include independent transporters and smaller operators. A small transporter who meets the required standards should have the same opportunity to participate. Ultimately, access should be earned through compliance and verified requirements, not connections or influence.

Technology systems are increasingly becoming targets for cyberattacks and fraud. You mentioned the introduction of multi-factor authentication and booking-code randomisation. What other measures has TTP put in place to protect Ètò from cyber threats, manipulation and fraudulent bookings?

Cybersecurity is a core operational requirement for us. Beyond multi-factor authentication and booking-code randomisation, we use layered access controls, continuous monitoring, audit trails, validation mechanisms and transaction controls.

We also continuously review vulnerabilities and update security protocols as the threat landscape evolves. No single security mechanism is sufficient, so we use multiple layers of verification to make unauthorised access and manipulation significantly more difficult.

We are also strengthening vehicle and identity verification through technologies such as electronic tags, which can link a truck’s digital identity to its physical movement and reduce opportunities for impersonation, number-plate manipulation and fraudulent bookings.

TTP has integrated the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Nigeria Export Proceeds (NXP) system into Ètò. What was the rationale behind this integration, and how can technology help improve Nigeria’s export logistics and reduce the cost and delays associated with moving export cargo through the ports?