FALLOUT OF LAGOS@50:
‘LAGOS State Speaker, Rt Honorable Mudashiru Obasa called me to Apologise for Oversight in Honorees’ List’-BASH Ali, Nigeria’s oldest boxing champion
*Confesses program was a privately-sponsored event
*Promised to under-write all my expenses from my destination to-and-fro Lagos
* ‘It was not done deliberately to spite me’
* ‘There is a HUGE picture of me under National Stadium bridge’
BY KUNLE AYORINDE/SPORTS REPORTER, LAGOS
NIGERIA’S OLDEST BOXING CHAMPION, Bash Ali recipient of the Order of the Niger (OON) highest national honor awarded to top Nigerian sports athlete has earlier taken matters up with the Lagos State Government on the rationale behind the conspicuous omission of his name from the best 50 Nigerians chosen as faces of Lagos@50. After the dust had settled, this Nigerian pugilist explained to us an apology offered by the Lagos State Speaker, Rt Honorable Mudashiru Obasa for oversight on the subject.
Bash earlier in a little piece titled ‘What is wrong with my country Nigeria’, he said (unedited): “I was born and raised in Lagos. I am a world boxing champion. I have contributed to the economic growth of Nigeria through sport and i was rewarded with the highest national honor ever given to a Nigerian athlete, Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON). American former world boxing champion, Evander Holyfield is in Lagos as a special guest of the government to celebrate Lagos at 50 and i am not invited. THE LABOR OF OUR HEROES PAST SHALL NEVER BE IN VAIN.”
When pressed further to know if he assumed he was not ‘rubbished’ by this act of ommission, Bash replied our correspondent: “LAGOS State Speaker, Rt Honorable Mudashiru Obasa called me today Tuesday May 24 around 11am first apologised for the oversight in the Honorees’ list. He informed me that it is a privately-sponsored event and that he will pay for all my expenses from my destination to Lagos state and back. Will I accept the offer? I am not sure. Together, we can again make Nigeria great. God bless us. God bless Nigeria.”
But going by the investigative news revealed by Bleacher Reports, a clear news outlet in sports reporting, it exposed Evander Holyfield as allegedly having financial troubles. It states that: “Evander Holyfield Completely Broke, Auctioning off Prized Posessions. Holyfield was forced to sell his mansion just outside of Atlanta for $7.5 million, but that sale was of minimal benefit, as the champ owed the bank double that amount, and more than $200,000 in back taxes. Now it seems that things have taken yet another turn for the worst, forcing Holyfield to sell his entire life possessions to come up with more money that he will likely use to clean up his debt…”
This means Lagos State Government may be offering a ‘financial-lifeline for Holyfield to bounce back into fortune using Lagos@50 as vehicle to attain it.
