₦airaland Forum

zipper003:
that was i mexico goal just dis-allowed, i need to know what the Off-side rules Are.

There has to be two players between you and the goal (including the goalkeeper). The Mexican forward was closer to the goal than the Goalkeeper and therefore with only 1 x defender between him and the goal, he was offside.


The Offside Rule and Offside Trap in Football(Soccer)

It is not an offence in itself to be in an offside position.

A player is in an offside position if:

    * he is nearer to his opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent

A player is not in an offside position if:

    * he is in his own half of the field of play
    * he is level with the second last opponent
    * he is level with the last two opponents

Commiting an Offside Offence
A player in an offside position is only penalised if, at the moment the ball touches or is played by one of his team, he is, in the opinion of the referee, involved in active play by:

    * interfering with play
    * interfering with an opponent
    * gaining an advantage by being in that position

No Offence
There is no offside offence if a player receives the ball directly from:

    * a goal kick
    * a throw-in
    * a corner kick

Infringements/Sanctions
For any offside offence, the referee awards an indirect free kick to the opposing team to be taken from the place where the infringement occurred.

https://www.offside-ref.co.uk/laws/11-offside-rule/offside-rule-trap-success.gif

Offside trap success - Fig. 1 This is offside because the red number 10 is in front of all of the defenders, leaving only the goalkeeper back which isn't enough players to play him onside. This position may have been forced by the defenders moving forward in what is called the offside trap.

https://www.offside-ref.co.uk/laws/11-offside-rule/offside-rule-trap-fail.gif

Offside trap fail - Fig. 2 Here we can see that the blue number 3 defender has fail to move up the field with rest of his defence and played the red number 9 onside. This is a classic example of where the offside trap fails

https://www.offside-ref.co.uk/laws/11-offside-rule/why-offside-rule-exists.gif

Why the offside rule exists - Fig. 3 The offside rule exists to stop goal hanging, where a player stands next to the opposing teams goal keeper in the hope that someone can get the ball to him (probably using a long ball), so he can get it past the goal keeper. Which would make for a very boring game.

https://www.offside-ref.co.uk/laws/11-offside-rule/offside-rule-two-players.gif

Two players needed - Fig. 4 The red number 9 isn't beyond the blue 4 defender but is offside because the goal keeper isn't back. This is one of those rare occasions where goal keeper is out of the goal (e.g. last minute of F.A. Cup final on a corner kick) and can't get back in time but if the attacking team play the ball as they normally would, then it would be offside because the offside rule requires two defenders to be in front the attacker and the goal keeper usually counts as a defender.

https://www.offside-ref.co.uk/laws/11-offside-rule/offside-rule-wrong.gif

Linesman gets it wrong - Fig. 5 Why are linesmen (assistant referees) always calling offside when it isn't? Well believe it or not its not really their fault (unless the decision goes against you or your team), it's all to do with angles and line of sight. In the picture the purple line represents the linesman's line of sight which as you can see is at a slight angle, this line should be parallel with the goal line. So even though the red number 10 is being played onside by the blue defender it will be called offside. This is unfortunate but does happen from time to time.

http://www.sport24.co.za/Soccer/WorldCup/NationalNews/Chinese-journalists-robbed-20100610


[size=16pt]Chinese journalists robbed[/size]


Johannesburg - An armed gang stole money and a camera from four Chinese journalists in South Africa to cover the World Cup, Chinese state media reported on Thursday.

Several men attacked the journalists when their car stopped on the side of the road as they returned to Johannesburg after an interview, the reports said.

The thieves made off with a small amount of cash and a camera worth about $1 500 (R11 600), the Beijing News said.

"When you go out, you have to be careful, put all your valuables in the boot and no matter what happens, don't open the windows," one of the journalists was quoted as saying.

Warning

The paper said it was also trying to confirm a report that a Beijing journalist was robbed in South Africa.

China's consulate in Johannesburg has issued a warning to Chinese nationals attending the World Cup to remain alert and refrain from carrying large sums of cash, the newspaper said.

On Wednesday, an armed gang stole electronic equipment from a team of Portuguese journalists during a robbery at their lodge near Johannesburg, police and one of the victims said.

The gang broke into the lodge at Magaliesburg, northwest of Johannesburg, while three journalists covering the Portuguese team were sleeping.

13/ 9/2001  Daejeon, KOR     South Korea   2 - 2  Nigeria
       [G: 2 C.Ndukwe; att: 40,000]

16/ 9/2001  Busan, KOR            South Korea   2 - 1 Nigeria
       [G: C.Ndukwe]

[Nigeria Goalscorers only]

http://www.sport24.co.za/Soccer/WorldCup/TournamentNews/FIFA-blames-SA-for-stampede-20100608

[size=16pt]FIFA blames SA for stampede[/size]

Johannesburg – FIFA have pointed the finger of blame squarely at South Africa for the stampede in a World Cup warm-up game at the weekend.

Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA, told journalists in Sandton on Monday that there will definitely not be a stampede during the tournament. He added that the host country is responsible for safety.

“FIFA as organisers also have to take steps to ensure a safe tournament, but football associations and FIFA don’t have a police force at their disposal. That is always in the hands of the country in which the game is being played,” said Blatter.

Sixteen people, including two police officers, were injured in a stampede at a warm-up game between Nigeria and North Korea at the Makhulong Stadium in Tembisa on the East Rand on Sunday.

FIFA secretary-general Jérôme Valcke said that police had informed them of the incident immediately.

“We are always in contact with the police. It was unnecessary for us to tell the police that they had to be better at World Cup stadiums than was the case yesterday (Sunday),” said Valcke.

He added that the organisation of the tournament is better than for the warm-up game.

The police said in a statement on Monday that the friendly match had been organised by a private company and that the teams apparently handed out tickets outside the gates.

“A number of fans wanted to enter the stadium without tickets. Police immediately initiated crowd control measures, but the people got out of hand and forced the gates open twice,” the statement read.

“Police did everything in their power to limit the injuries.”

A police officer was seriously injured and is in a stable condition. The other police officer sustained light injuries. Fourteen fans sustained light injuries.

National spokesperson Brig. Sally de Beer said that there should be collective responsibility for the incident.

Meanwhile, Valcke said that between 97 and 98% of the three million tickets for the 2010 tournament would be sold.

“We’re selling 5000 tickets per day. I’m not saying that all the tickets will be sold, but the attendance will be good.”

http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/competition/51/53/98/fifa_safety_regulations_en.pdf

Article 17 Security officer

1. Each confederation and association must appoint a security officer. This
person must have experience of working with public authorities and
the police services, as well as prior knowledge of match organisation
issues, spectator supervision and any other matters relating to ensuring
safety and order at an event.

3. The security officer shall be responsible for assessing and addressing
risks and for taking measures which are in coordination with those
being taken by the police, emergency services, public authorities and
any other entities involved in the management of the event. These
could include the following issues:
• Political tensions at national, local or club level;
• Terrorist threats;
• Historical enmity between clubs or their supporters;
• Supporters without tickets, counterfeit tickets or tickets allocated
for the opposing team’s supporters’ areas;
• Supporters with a history of using pyrotechnics or any other
dangerous objects, including lasers;
• The possibility of racist or aggressive language, banners or
behaviour.
This is best achieved through the preparation of written contingency
plans covering the range of possible incidents that may adversely affect
the safety of spectators or disrupt normal operations. These may be large
or small. Among the matters to which they may relate are the structure
of the venue, the safety equipment, crowd control and ticketing. In
some cases they may require the evacuation of the venue. The plans
should be tested and should be updated in the light of the outcome.

Article 18 Entry to the stadium, sale of tickets

1. On match days, only persons in possession of valid permits shall be
granted entry to the stadium. Valid permits include:
• Match tickets;
• Workers’ identity cards;
• Passes.

2. The identity cards of members of the security forces that allow them
to carry out operational tasks shall also be regarded as valid permits.

3. The permits shall, as far as possible, be forgery-proof and protected
against multiple usage.

5. Match tickets shall display the date of the match, and if possible, details
of the teams involved. On each match ticket, the exact sector, row and
seat number must be printed as well as a plan of the stadium on the
reverse side.

6. The sale of match tickets shall be subject to strict control. If possible,
the sale of match tickets shall be organised so that the fans of the
two opposing teams are allocated distinctly separate areas of the
stadium.

7. The organising committee for the respective event(s) shall pass decisions
regarding the number of tickets to be allocated to the participating
associations and host association. The decisions of these committees
are final and binding.

8. Each association shall take all reasonable measures for ensuring that its
allocation of tickets is only made available to its own supporters. The
association shall also ensure that specific details are recorded during
the sales process, such as the name and address of persons who have
been issued with tickets.

9. The tickets shall be protected against forgery by integrating security
features into the ticket. If there is the slightest suspicion that forged tickets
may be in circulation, the police must be informed immediately.

[size=16pt]10. On the day of the match, tickets may not be sold at the stadium but
only elsewhere at the venue with the approval of the police and/or
the relevant public authorities and in consultation with the visiting
association or club. Any limitation on the number of tickets to be sold
per purchaser must be determined in consultation with the police and/
or the relevant public authorities.[/size]

12. The correct determination of both the maximum permitted capacity and
the maximum times allowed for the entry, exit and emergency exit of
spectators is crucial for the event. It shall be undertaken by the public
authorities. The safe capacity shall be based on whichever is lower, the
capacity of the spectator accommodation or the number of spectators
who can safely use the entrances, exits or emergency exits within the
prescribed period, which will vary according to the design and structure
of the stadium. Experience has shown that all spectators should ideally
be able to enter a free-fl owing exit system within a maximum of eight
minutes. The capacity shall be reduced if either the physical condition
of the stadium or the safety management is inadequate.

tekajibril:
First of all @MakaJibbs, Nigeria doesnt earn $173.456 bil, we earn $341.572 bil every year.
And @Folem- U should research well, We earn more than the entire Gulf States except Saudi Arabia which earns $563.56 bil. We shouldnt justify our leaders.

Your source @ Wiki puts:

UAE - $179.321 Billion
Kuwait - $200.429 Billion
Qatar - $102.147 Billion

TOTAL - $481.897 Billion (3 Gulf Countries with total population less than 12 million)

makajibbz:
yo,folem,
just for you to know,we dont earn 173.456 billion dollars on oil
i am not talking of oil revenues or the cash we get from exporting oil
i am talking of Nigeria's general earning, agriculture and all,
get some real facts, and stop justifying our ''big men''

Oil exports account for over 80 per cent of Nigeria's  foreign exchange earnings and over 40 per cent of GDP.

http://www..com/ng/oils-reports-and-issues/2068-oil-still-accounts-for-40-percent-gdp-80-percent-foreign-exchange-federal-govt.html

http://allafrica.com/stories/201005040001.html

makajibbz:
do u know that the nigerian government earns more than the sum of uae,bahrain,qatar altogether, imagine, check out the pictures down!!!
   

Check out the Picture down for FACTS!!!

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/OPEC_Revenues/Factsheet.html

Mpele:
Why should our clubs compete in a such a badly run competitions in the dark continent. This is pointless, these people will never change. Why should the Nigerians change kickoff time, why are our players given bread!
That's why Bafana Bafana always go with their own chefs,when playing in Africa!

Bafana Bafana also compete in the "dark continent" for Africa Cup of Nations & FIFA World Cup qualifiers even when the prize money for CAN winners is less than US$500,000.00 and the CAF Champions League is a qualifying competition for FIFA Club World Cup, so if SA clubs want to compete competitively with the best in the world, they will have to surmount all obstacles in Africa first.

It is FIFA's World Cup not SA's


Senegalese Youssou N'Dour wrote and performed the official anthem of the 1998 FIFA World Cup France '98 with Belgian Axelle Red "La Cour des Grands".


[flash=450,350]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB7di2SPwWk[/flash]


Greek composer Vangelis created the 2002 FIFA World Cup Official Anthem.

[flash=450,350]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMF1M-rCEJE[/flash]

American Toni Braxton also recorded a song with the multinational operatic pop vocal group Il Divo titled "The Time of Our Lives" which was used as the official 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany 2006 anthem and was performed at the championship's opening & closing ceremonies.


[flash=450,350]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-_J303eqHM[/flash]

[img]http://forum.planet-rugby.com/index.php?t=getfile&id=21054&private=0[/img]

We still can't beat Nigeria  maybe our luck will change when we face you guy on the second round of the world cup

SA actually beat Nigeria @ 2009 AYC Group stages but Nigeria got revenge during the 3rd place match.

SA has also beaten Nigeria once each  during friendly matches @ Senior & U-23 levels.

olafolarin:
Source??


Punch's political news are always skewed and PDP-friendly.They don't see anything good in AC,PPA or any other opposition party.that's jungle journalism,

[quote author=mama-gee link=topic=409509.msg5675153#msg5675153 date=1268350736]Source or Link. . . [/quote]http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/articles-comments/49059-comment-punch-editor-s-bombshell-corruption-nigerian-media.html




[size=16pt]Corruption In The Nigerian Media - Case of Azubuike Ishiekwene [/size]


By Steve Ayorinde
March 1, 2010.


The Chairman, Punch Nigeria Limited,

Dear Sir, 

RE: My Resignation – Clarifications and Petition

I would like to bring a few important issues to your notice, exactly one week after I was advised to resign my appointment as Editor of The PUNCH by the Executive Director, Publications, Mr. Azubuike Ishiekwene, over, as I suspect, issues bordering on my supervision of the coverage of the political tussle between the Lagos State Government and the State’s House of Assembly.

I feel constrained to make a few clarifications, knowing that a clear injustice has been committed against my person and career through the harsh and unexpected decision to force me out of Punch. In my text message to you on the night of Sunday February 21, I had sought your understanding to be given a fair hearing, and had suggested that an Independent Panel be constituted to probe the event of Tuesday February 16 which, as I understand it, Mr. Ishiekwene used as a basis for demanding my resignation.

However, because I was unable to reach you before you travelled out, I have decided to write you a formal letter of petition and to seek your understanding in copying every member of the Board of Directors of Punch Nigeria Limited with a view to establishing that Mr. Ishiekwene’s action against me was informed largely by his alliance with the Lagos State Government as a Consultant who is strongly suspected to be on its pay-roll. Acting in a manner that he did against me suggested to me that he was duty bound to protect the interest of the Lagos State Government in the Punch titles.

It is my candid opinion, therefore, that the clarifications and the disclosures of consistent pattern of impropriety and corrupt practices by Mr. Ishiekwene that are contained in this petition may save the newspaper’s integrity from the pangs of one man who has mastered the art of using the system for his selfish, pecuniary interests.

A little background to the Lagos debacle:

Please allow me to offer a quick reminder on how the Lagos State story became so controversial and perceivably problematic. It was last November that The PUNCH broke the story of how the Lagos State House of Assembly was considering impeachment moves against Governor Babatunde Fashola over a number of listed allegations. Our report was a result of independent investigation by our correspondents, backed with documents and reported in a fair and balanced manner, with all parties to the story having their views reflected.

Sir, you will recall that on Management’s instruction, a front-page note stating that we stood by our story was published at that time, after Governor Fashola made insinuations to fault our story. Up till today, the Lagos State Government has not responded to the three questions we raised in standing by our report. The best that the Government did was to argue that there was no problem between the Governor and his predecessor, Ashiwaju Bola Tinubu. None of our reports ever said there was.

The need to be fair, balanced and accurate, before and after you called a management meeting over the issue, had always guided our operation in the newsroom, especially in January when we published the two-page advertorial by the True Face of Lagos. Apart from the fact the said advert went through the usual legal scrutiny and approval, as the Editor has no role, whatsoever, in determining how adverts are approved, a news story was prepared from the advertorial upon advice by the Managing Director/Editor- in-Chief, with a clear instruction that all the parties mentioned in the allegation be interviewed.

With the ED Publications (Mr. Ishiekwene) being aware of that development, as I was obliged to inform him of the copy flow for each day, especially stories that would be promoted on cover of the paper, we published both the advertorial and the news story on the allegations against not just the Governor, but also against Tinubu and members of the House of Assembly. This style, as you are aware sir, is the standard practice in Punch, whereby stories are expected to be sourced from advertorials that are of news value. As Editor, I met on ground the policy that encouraged the Advert department to always draw the attention of the Editor to advertorials that are of news value. This was how we sourced cover stories from such advert publications like the listing of prominent Bank Debtors by the Central Bank of Nigeria in August and October 2009.

Initial Indication of Discomfiture:

Beyond suspicion, it had come to my knowledge ever since we published the story about impeachment moves against the Governor that my boss (ED Publications) had an unusually close rapport with the Media Team of the Lagos State Government, which had often boasted subtly that “Senior Editors’ in the key papers were on its side. I must stress that each time we published a story they did not seem to like, like the story on how Lagos State Officials were changing official cars at will, which was published in October 2009 and the story about the Revocation of plots of land in Lekki Phase 1, which you asked us to do in January 2010, we had always been subtly reminded that the Lagos State Government had the ears of a particular Senior Editor in Punch. It was an open secret that the ED Publications regularly attended meetings of the media consultants to the Lagos State Government, made up of a few Senior Editors and Chairmen of Editorial Boards.

However, an obvious attempt to pander to the wishes of Lagos State Government by the ED Publications became evident at the beginning of February 2010 when he asked that I should redeploy Kemi Obasola from the Politics Desk to the Education and Science Division. He did not give any specific reason other than the need to remove her from the “Heat”. I complied.

Kemi, by the way, was the only accredited correspondent covering the House of Assembly, who had continued to cover the House even when she was initially re-deployed to the Education Desk. It was on the instruction of the ED Publications that Kemi was returned to the Politics Division again last December when the need to beef up the division became necessary. Then a few days later, the ED Publications instructed that I should suspend another correspondent on the Politics Desk, Mudiaga Affe, for missing the Joint Press Conference by Tinubu, Fashola and Chief Bisi Akande at Tinubu’s residence on February 3. In spite of the fact that no formal query was issued to Mudiaga and my explanation that the correspondent could not have known about the impromptu press conference having returned to the office at 2.30 pm (the conference held at 6pm), the ED, Publications insisted that he must go on suspension. I complied.

Obviously, those two acts, curious as they were, had sent panicky signals to the newsroom. I could not offer any plausible explanation to the Conference members – Assistant Editors – on why Obasola was redeployed and Mudiaga suspended for no just cause. The only explanation was to inform both the Politics and News desks to bring every copy on the Lagos controversy directly to me, for onward vetting by the ED Publications.
Please let me also add that our sources in the House of Assembly were reluctant to release the complete document of the committee that probed the proposed 2010 budget for the State because they feared that if the ED Publications had access to it, he would release it those he was consulting for in the Lagos State House, thereby endangering their lives. It was astounding hearing how Mr. Ishiekwene was alleged to be consulting for Lagos state.

Tuesday February the 16th:

As far as the Lagos State controversy was concerned, all that we had planned to do on Tuesday February 16 for the Wednesday paper was to publish the response of Mr. Bamidele Aturu, lawyer to the journalist and activist, Richard Akinnola, who had gone to court to stop the probe of the Fashola Administration by the State House of Assembly. The decision to do this was arrived at by the ED Publications after speaking with you, I suppose, because we had published on that Tuesday the submission by Festus Keyamo, the lawyer to the House of Assembly, over why the probe should continue.

The Keyamo story, I should clarify, was used after the MD/E-I-C spoke with me about it on Monday 15th in the presence of the Saturday Editor, Mr. Joseph Adeyeye, (having first called the Judiciary Editor, Tony Amokeodo, about the development) to the effect that being a story that happened in the open court and had been reported on Television on Monday afternoon, we were obliged to report it. Should there be a query as to why the copy was used, the MD told me in the presence of Mr. Adeyeye, I should feel free to say that he approved the story.

However, later on Tuesday the 16th, the News Editor drew my attention to the arrival of a story from the House of Assembly about the fact that the people behind the True Face of Lagos had, for the first time, appeared in public at the House of Assembly. The Assistant Photo Editor, Segun Bakare, also brought to me printed photographs sent from the House of Assembly with the faces of those behind the allegations. I quickly asked the News editor to inquire from the Politics Editor, Semiu Okanlawon, if his division had the story. I was told that Semiu was not on seat. I then asked Kemi Obasola if she was aware and her response was positive, because the story was also sent to her email box.

Being the correspondent who was familiar with the story of the Lagos controversy and who was still the only accredited correspondent to the House of Assembly, I asked Kemi to make all the necessary checks and anchor the story with the Political desk, with a clear instruction that since she had been redeployed to the Education Desk, her name should not appear on the story. Instead, the by-line of either of the two new correspondents on Politics desk should be put on the story, as we had done when we sourced the story of the joint press conference at Tinubu’s house from other newspapers and the media aides of the three parties concerned.

I did express preference for the name of James Azania to be put on the story being the one that I had nominated to replace Obasola at the House of Assembly. My position was informed by the fact that if his by-line had become noticeable, his accreditation to cover the House would be a lot quicker. After the story had been re-rewritten from the copies we got from the House of Assembly and The Nation Newspaper, and additional information sourced directly by Kemi Obasola from the House of Assembly, I took the copy with James Azania’s by-line on it with the four photographs to the ED Publications for approval as usual.

But he advised that because the persons that appeared for the True Face of Lagos were not the same as those who signed the advertorial and the fact that they cleared the House of Assembly of any wrongdoing suggested that they were acting out a script. I had no reason to disagree with him, although I had thought, and I did explain to him that coming out in the public for the first time would work in Punch’s advantage as it would erase any doubt that might have arisen over the identities of those behind the advertorial that we published in January. Nevertheless, we dropped both the story and photographs and I continued with production for Wednesday.

Later the ED Publications called me to his office again to find out if our correspondent was in the House and if the visit of the True Face of Lagos group was listed in the order of the day. I explained all over again to him how we sourced the story and that our inquiries from the Assembly and other newspapers showed that the visit was not listed, but that the Speaker of the House met with them at the entrance of the Assembly, the same way he had met with the people that embarked on a rally to the Assembly in January. On my way home, however, the ED Publications sent a text message for me to see him in the office. I called him back immediately to inquire why he was still in the office at that time – around 11 pm. He said he needed to clarify a few things with me over the Lagos State story and that I should ask the Politics Editor to also return to the office.
It was close to midnight when I met with the ED Publications in his office where he handed over a hand-written memo to me to formally explain the source of the story that we had planned to use. He had done a similar memo to the Politics Editor who had absolutely next to nothing to do with the story. I repeated my explanation to him that the News Editor brought the story to me as was sent to us by both the House of Assembly and the Nation newspaper, and that he could see from the list of those copied in the mail that it was sent to all the newspapers. I added that I made my enquiries and Kemi Obasola also made hers to establish the authenticity of the story and after doing the story I asked that Azania’s name be put on the story for the reasons I had already stated.

Surprisingly, the ED Publications did not appear pleased, insisting that my response and that of the Politics Editor be sent to him in writing before 10 am the next day. It was already around midnight on Tuesday. I later learnt that he had called and sent text messages to Azania, Obasola and the News Editor, Emeka Madunagu, to also state everything that they knew about the story, which was never published.

Ambush Tactics for a Reason:

I had struggled within me to unravel why the ED Publications waited till late that Tuesday over a story whose source was obvious; a story that was not used and one which was published by practically all the other newspapers (with photographs) on Wednesday February 17th including This Day Newspaper which later published another set of allegations against the Lagos state government by the group Another Face of Lagos.
But having carefully considered the tone and inference of his allegations that I tried to plant a story in the paper, I sensed that it was not the independence and integrity of The PUNCH that he was concerned about, but his personal interests, both pecuniary and otherwise, in using a flimsy excuse of a story that he alleged was not properly sourced, but which was never published, to demand my exit from the company. I wish to remind you Sir, about some of the text messages that you got, one of which clearly revealed that the Newspaper houses that awarded the Man of the Year award to Governor Fashola either did so in return for N25million or got the said amount as reward for the honour bestowed on the Governor. The rumour was not unfounded Sir, and you can find out if the right investigation is carried out.

For certain other newspapers that were considered key, but which did not bestow such honours on the Governor, there was N15million largesse by way of contract to the Senior Editors, including, as I reliably learnt, Mr. Ishiekwene, who are consulting for the government. The need to watch the government’s back and either woo over or change unfriendly editors and journalists, where possible, was the charge to those senior editors. Please permit me to state, as we sometimes do in our defence of stories when government officials challenge them, that we are not obliged to supply proof beyond what has been stated or published when we are sure of our facts and sources, that knowing that my facts are correct, Mr. Ishiekwene demanded my exit because he concluded that I was not available to be used by his friends in the Lagos state government. The former Permanent Secretary and Special Adviser on Media to the Lagos state government, Mr. Segun Ayobolu, can corroborate this fact.

In any case, part of the allegations by the True Face of Lagos was the disbursement of about N183million over six months to certain editors. Sir, you may wish to know that the money that went as reward for the Man of the Year awards and consultancies for certain senior editors came from that pool. I wish to state boldly that if I had anything to hide as an editor, I would not have encouraged the publication of a story that demanded that journalists’ role, like that of state officials, also include public accountability. Nor, would I have I insisted at the Standing Committee meeting of the Nigerian Guild if Editors, of which I am the Assistant Secretary General, that the guild should make a categorical statement in its communiqué on the allegations against some of our members. I should state without equivocation that without being told, I knew that you would not have demanded anything less than fair and balance reporting considering the development over the revocation of your plot of land in Magodo GRA by Governor Fashola and the insinuations that The Punch tends to be favourably disposed to Tinubu.

Those two important facts consistently guided my supervision of every news copy that affected Lagos state, and to the best of my ability, we handled everything professionally. Therefore, I would like to stress that the ED Publications chose to hide on your plea for caution, merely to protect his interests and lay ambush for an editor who had tried his best in reporting the tussle in a strictly professional way.
My boss did not accuse me of incompetence or fraud; or of fabricating the story, but of planning to plant a story in the paper; the same paper that I edit. I do not think that allegation adds up. In any case, I have never been issued a warning or a query in reporting the Lagos tussle, nor has any of our reports been found to be false or fabricated. On what basis then did the ED Publication then asked for my ouster, not just as the Editor, but from the company?

The desperation and speed with which he executed the job should show clearly that the ED Publications was not interested in either issuing a warning, if he felt so disturbed, or release a formal guideline on how the Lagos controversy should be covered, as he had done last year on how general political stories should be covered. Rather, he was only interested in going for the jugular, by presenting a wrong and incomplete account of the situation to you, for a story that was not published; but which appeared in every other newspaper the following day. It was for these reasons and other facts in my disposal that I had sought an independent probe panel of what happened on Tuesday February 16, if only to defend myself and protect my reputation.

Consistent pattern of infractions by Mr. Ishiekwene:

I have chosen to merge a petition with the above clarifications with a view to establishing a consistent pattern of infractions by Mr. Azubuike Ishiekwene, while he was the Editor of The PUNCH and which has continued since he became the ED Publications. Suspecting that you may not be aware of this development that is at variance with your stand against corruption, I chose to chronicle a few of those infractions in order to intimate you with the ignoble development that using his position in Punch for pecuniary interest and to fight his private battles have become somewhat of a second nature to Mr. Ishiekwene, and taking a clearly biased position in the Lagos story was a deliberate act that was in sync with his previous, albeit surreptitious, unprofessional conducts.

I should establish from the beginning that what we sought to do with the Lagos story, in my opinion, was consistent with The PUNCH’s fearless foray into investigative journalism. One example was how in June 2009 we broke the story of impending doom that might befall many Nigerian banks. As you may recall sir, the story was very controversial, with insinuations that other banks were using us to destroy the so-called mega banks. But less than two months after the publication, the Central Bank of Nigeria confirmed our story with the removal of top five bank CEOs, with astounding allegations of fraud. The said story, I should inform you sir, won the story of the year for the stories published in all the PUNCH  titles in 2009, with the authors of the story – Ayo Olesin and Yemi Kolapo – being given cash reward by Management. Business correspondents that could have been sanctioned for rocking the boat ended up being celebrated for a courageous act of journalism brought to their attention directly by myself as the editor.


Power Probe report and Rockson Engineering

Another example, if you indulge me sir, was our series on the report of the Power Probe report by the House of Representatives. As you may recall, we exclusively got the report in August 2008 when the ED Publications was on vacation in the United States. We were the only newspaper that got the report and after your discussion on the telephone with the MD/E-in-C, we started publishing extracts from the report.
One of the companies prominently mentioned in the report as having won huge contracts buy had done nothing was Rockson Engineering, whose chairman is Chief Arumeni Johnson. I wish to state categorically that Mr. Ishiekwene is a consultant to Chief Johnson and has never hidden his determination to protect Rockson engineering’s interest in Punch.

Immediately after we started publishing the excerpts from the power probe, the ED Publications mounted an intense pressure on me from the US, calling me on the phone repeatedly to know who approved the publication of the report, how we got it and what determined the aspects of the report we decided to publish and why it should be promoted on cover. Apparently, the explanation that the instruction came directly from the Chairman served as some deterrent. But I did not miss the sign of desperation in him to have the impact reduced for Rockson Engineering. As soon as he returned from his vacation, he called a meeting of newspaper editors for a parley with Chief Johnson at Sheraton hotel in Lagos. I was reliably informed that Mr. Ishiekwene was the one who personally distributed money to the guests, ostensibly to have them protect Rockson’s interest in their papers. He needed not invite any editor from Punch, ostensibly, as he was there to protect the interest of his clients himself.

Rockson again:

Beyond his partisan interest in how Rockson Engineering is reported in The PUNCH, Mr. Ishiekwene would later in October (when we had relocated to Magboro) again demonstrated his unprofessional interest in Rockson Engineering when he requested that I should remove Chief Johnson’s name and that of Prof. Pat Utomi (who was the Chairman at his book launch) from the cover of the paper among those prominent debtors whose names were released by the CBN. I had explained to him after calling me repeatedly that it would be unethical to do so, because not only were the two names mentioned but also because the debt being owed by Rockson ranked among the biggest and should naturally put him among those whose photographs would appear on cover. The ED Publications insisted that both men were friends of the house whose interests should be protected.

Chief Arumeni Johnson and Arik’s special interests:

If there was any evidence of how Mr. Ishiekwene had used PUNCH to enrich himself and fight personal battles, it would be in how he had doggedly fought the cause of Arik Air, sometimes at the expense of Punch Nigeria Limited. I shall begin by stating the obvious that Chief Johnson is the Chairman of both Rockson and Arik Air. Mr. Ishiekwene and a friend of his who is also a senior editor in another newspaper, are both consultants to the business interests of Chief Johnson through their company, A&L. The ‘A’ in that company stands for Azubuike. It should be easy to trace the owners of the company through the Corporate Affairs Commission. In any case, an investigation of all the adverts placed by A&L in PUNCH should reveal the level of conflicting interests, double standards and unethical conduct involving the ED Publications as a result of his involvement with Arik Air as a consultant.

I list a few of such infractions below:

1) Running an advert agency
A&L which is jointly owned by Mr. Ishiekwene has been functioning as an agency for a while on all Arik adverts published in Punch. All commissions of course go directly to Mr. Ishiekwene. Knowing PUNCH’s position on advert placements and commissions by staff members, this conduct in my opinion constitute a clash of interest.

Similarly, I would also implore you to request an audit of all the adverts brought to Punch in 2006 by A&L. You will discover that all the adverts from the Ministry if Education on the reforms of Unity Schools were paid in by the Editor’s advert agency, A&L, with all the commission going to his pockets and that of his partner. The adverts came as a reward for his consultancy for Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, who was then the Minister of Education. The former Advert Manager, Grace, was the officer used in placing all the adverts.

2) Using PUNCH’s office and time for Arik:
The last advert campaign in November/December 2009 for Arik’s direct flight to the United States was largely executed in the ED Publications’ old office in Magboro. The choice of newspaper houses, placements, commissions etc were decided in his office, sometimes affecting his attention and concentration to PUNCH’s official duties. Evidently, what should have been done by A&L was brought to Punch premises.

3) Illegally reserving surcharge pages for Arik adverts:
For the same last campaign by Arik, Mr. Ishiekwene gave a standing instruction to the Advert Department to give Arik adverts access to Page 5, which is a colour and surcharge page, without Arik ever having to pay surcharge rates. It should be noted that surcharge pages could be released for use by the advert department only when the colour pages must have been exhausted. In that case, the advert manager would have to write the editor to release an early page for advertorial use, and the editor must sign the memo if he agrees that the early page, which is usually a news page, be released for adverts purposes. In such situation, the advertiser would not have to pay surcharge rate.

However, in the case of Arik, the intention was to put the adverts on early pages whenever page 5 was free without paying surcharge rates. This was discovered in December when the Executive Director, Corporate Services requested for an early page for Mr. Jaiye Aboderin’s remembrance advert. I was in the Pre-Press hall with the ED Corporate Services (Mrs. Shalewa Aderemi) and Deputy Manager, Prepress (Mrs. Lizzy Diolulu) when the Advert Manager (Mrs. Fatima Obagaye) informed me on the phone that Page 5 had gone to Arik. I demanded to know if Arik had paid surcharge rate but was informed that it had not because the instruction came from the ED, Publications.

We then agreed to move the Arik advert off page 5 in order to accommodate Jaiye’s advert. Yet, Arik was still published on page 11, an early news page because the advert department did not want to offend ED, Publications’ instruction to keep Arik on early pages at all costs, even though they were not paying special rates for it. At least on three other occasions when I inquired from either the Advert Manager or her executives if Arik had paid the surcharge rate any time I saw the advert on Page 5, I was always calmly reminded that they were acting on instruction.
I may not know if A&L would have collected a surcharge rate from Arik Air and was only using its leverage in PUNCH to pay the standard rate, but what is clear is that over time, Mr. Ishiekwene has fraudulently put Arik adverts in early pages without corresponding payments, thereby denying the company its due payment, at the same time denying the paper sufficient news pages.

I urge you sir to order that a comprehensive audit of the advert placements by Arik Air between November 2009 and January 2010 be carried out immediately with a view to determining how the company has been cheated and the complicity of Mr. Ishiekwene, through A&L agency, in all these.

4) Why Mr. Gbemiga Ogunleye left Arik:
Another dimension to Mr. Ishiekwene’s unethical romance with Arik Air was how a former Editor of The Punch, Mr. Gbemiga Ogunleye, (who was Mr. Ishiekwene’s predecessor as the editor) was frustrated out of Arik as its Head, Media Relations. In 2008 when Arik purchased one of its brand new aircraft in France, part of the arrangement for publicity drawn up by Mr. Ogunleye was to take aviation correspondents to France to witness the historic event.

But Mr. Ishiekwene would have none of that, as the media consultant to the Chairman of Arik, and as a Board member designate of the airline, as I am reliably informed, he overruled Mr. Ogunleye, instructing instead that a select the team of editors, with himself alone from Punch and personally handed over the allowance to them.
Of course he left a clear instruction for me that the photograph from the assignment in France should be used on cover, because, in his view, Arik was a major advertiser and a friend of the house. Needless to say that Mr. Ogunleye, who was not even selected to be part of the team that went to France, resigned his appointment immediately. If you are favourably disposed to finding out the truth about Mr. Ishiekwene’s involvement in Arik Air’s affairs at the expense of Punch Nigeria limited, and how he is now directly in charge of organising and coordinating events for Arik, I urge you to speak with Mr. Gbemiga Ogunleye.

5) Dr. Wale Babalakin’s connection:
For yet a fuller account of the infractions committed by Mr. Ishiekwene while using Punch to fight Arik’s battles, I will also urge you to speak with the Chairman of Bi-Courtney Limited, who is an old boy of the Government College, Ibadan (GCI) like your good self. Dr. Babalakin, I am aware, has a “dossier” on how Mr. Ishiekwene has used the PUNCH titles to fight Arik’s war with Bi-Courtney over the concessioning of the old domestic terminal. There were many instances when the ED Publications came to me to push Arik’s position and agenda on the tussle. There were several other times when he bypassed me and directly called the aviation reporter and the Business Editor, often harassing and threatening them and goading them to be sympathetic to Arik in their reporting.
However, matters got to a head sometimes in November when Dr. Babalakin called the ED Publications on phone to register his displeasure over the way he was using Punch to fight Arik’s battle. I know this for a fact because Mr. Ishiekwene later called me to his office, looking obviously ruffled, to inform me to take a good look at the stories that the aviation correspondent would file on the Bi-Courtney- Arik tussle over GAT in Lagos, as, according to him, Babalakin had just called to speak to him rudely.
Again, I urge you to speak with Dr. Babalakin on how Mr. Ishiekwene abused his position as the Director of Publications to force The Punch to take sides in a private matter because of his indebtedness as a consultant and Board Member designate to Arik Air.

A catalogue of greedy acquisitions:

To strengthen my assertion that Mr. Ishiekwene has always used his position, either as Editor or Director, to seek pecuniary benefits while pretending to be morally upright, I would like to list a few of the corrupt entanglements that clearly showed that Mr. Ishiekwene deliberately compromised his position.

1) Consistent lodgement of money from clients:
Right from when he was the Editor up till now, a good number of correspondents in the house stations, especially in Abuja, have Mr. Ishiekwene’s bank accounts through which they lodged money for him on a consistent basis. It is no secret to many people that his back page column on Tuesdays are always offered for a lumpy fee and all sorts of assistance to people in government and in the private sector. I urge you to invite for questioning two people in the Abuja office – Ifeanyi Onuba, one of our Business correspondents and Austin Okunbor, the clerk in the Abuja office, who have consistently paid in money into Mr. Ishiekwene’s accounts. They can offer useful information on the sources of the lodgements and may even provide bank slips with which the lodgements have been done over time.
I dare say that it was an open secret in Abuja in those days of Mr. Ishiekwene as the Editor that not only did many of the senior correspondents have his bank accounts for consistent lodgements, the Bureau Chief was practically obliged to inform dignitaries in the Nation’s Capital anytime he was in town as the Editor, and would usually buy about 10 yards of different fabrics for Mr. Ishiekwene as gifts from the bureau. That was a consistent practice for the entire period he spent as the Editor of the daily Punch.

2) A quarterly dedicated account with IBPlc:
Immediately after the consolidation era in the banking sector in 2005, Mr. Ishiekwene as the Editor became a PR consultant to one of the big banks – Intercontinental Bank Plc with a mandate to be giving the bank favourable and consistent mentions. His reward for that service was a quarterly lodgement of N1m (One million naira) into an account that was opened for him in IBPlc, which would later be transferred to his other accounts. The quarterly lodgements from IBPlc continued till the middle of 2006, a few months to his promotion as the Controller Publications, when the new Head of Corporate Affairs department of the bank stopped the corrupt lodgements with the explanation that since Mr. Ishiekwene was already the sole beneficiary of the commission on every advert placed in Punch by IBPlc, it was a monumental waste to the bank to continue to pay Mr. Ishiekwene as the Editor N4million a year just to watch the bank’s back. It was an open secret that part of the major problem that he had with the former Business editor, Chijama Ogbu, was his (Ogbu’s) reluctance to cooperate with Mr. Ishiekwene to milk the banks.

3) Curses and dramatic encounter with Tafa Balogun:
One of Mr. Ishiekwene’s biggest financial mentors while he was the editor was the former Inspector General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun. Through ASP Lakanu, IGP Balogun funded practically everything for Mr. Ishiekwene, including overseas vacation with his family, part of which he would have collected a refund from Punch as a senior manager.
However, after IGP Balogun’s travails with the EFCC and The Punch, like every other paper, consistently published the story of his fall from grace, it is an open secret that Balogun spoke badly about Mr. Ishiekwene, expressing amazement openly if “Azu was no longer in Punch”! He must have been shocked that the man on who he spent millions of naira could also dedicate his back page column to accuse him of corruption.
Yet, Balogun was not the only top police officer with whom Mr. Ishiekwene had a pecuniary alliance. Former Lagos state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Young Arabamen, was also his financial ally. Apart from the fact that he consistently assisted Mr. Ishiekwene financially, he was the one who supplied most of the gift items that were given to guests at the burial ceremony of Mr. Ishiekwene’s mother in Delta in 2003. I was there and saw it, because Arabamen took the glory for his action by branding all the gift items he supplied. But Arabamen was not the only one involved in the ‘unholy alliance’ during the said burial ceremony. Mr. Ishiekwene, as the Editor, printed a personal letterhead through which he wrote and solicited funds from governors, politicians, bankers and people of questionable wealth, including former Governor James Ibori of Delta State, who out of respect for his office obliged him.
Being reliably informed that the gate of Mr. Ishiekwene’s residence is bullet-proof, I have often wondered if the fact that the series of unholy alliance with people of questionable means was responsible for Mr. Ishiekwene’s choice of expensive security apparatus at home.

4) And there was Ayo Fayose:
Mr. Ishiekwene’s romance with politicians of doubtful characters is as legendary as his false moral crusade on anti-corruption. But his short romance with former governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti state had a twist of drama akin to that of Tafa Balogun. Fayose had never hid the fact that he gave Mr. Ishiekwene a cash gift of N1million in February 2005 when he celebrated his 40th birthday at his former residence in Omole estate and that Mr. Ishiekwene was a beneficiary of several contracts from his administration. However, their relationship went sour immediately Fayose was impeached and Mr. Ishiekwene lambasted him in one of his columns. Being loquacious, Fayose has said it to the hearing of many people that Mr. Ishiekwene was an ingrate and a false defender of the ethics of journalism.

5) Brand new Chevrolet as a gift:
In December 2007, Mr. Ishiekwene got a parting gift from the outgoing Comptroller General of Customs, Joseph Gyan, for being a good ally that gave him positive coverage in the media. The black car is one of the several in the garage of Mr. Ishiekwene who had openly described himself as a car freak. I should know because I was in the ED, Publications’ house on Friday February 19 for a surprise 45th birthday party organised for him by his wife. Being one of the last set to leave his house that Friday, oblivious of the desperation to force me out of Punch, I was there when a former staff of The Punch, Funso Aina, made a jocular remark that Mr. Ishiekwene’s house was more of an auto mart.
Sundry abuse of office, etc:

I thought I should not end this petition without detailing a couple of abuse of office and actions that qualify as ethical misconduct on the part of Mr. Ishiekwene, which, when verified, would reveal a deep-rooted disposition to using the system for personal gains on the one hand and refusing to own up when his decision was either wrong or did not go down well with you sir.

1) Yusuf Alli and the problematic headline of 2007:
Sometimes in late 2007 when Alhaji Yussuf Ali was still the editor, you were displeased with the lead headline about Obasanjo approving the transfer of Bakassi that was credited to the National Assembly. You had justifiably queried the choice of the headline because it was at variance with the import of the story. What you did not know sir, was the fact that the problematic headline, which as I understand it, ultimately contributed to the removal of Alhaji Alli as the editor was cast by Mr. Ishiekwene, who had demanded from Alli as the editor that he must see the news pages before they were submitted. I knew about that development as a Member of the Editorial Board then and like every other member of the Board had detected the error. But we heard reliably on the Board that not only was the headline cast by the ED Publications but that he also begged the Editor to protect him by not disclosing to you that he (Alli) did not cast the problematic headline.
If that error was used against Alhaji Alli, as many suspected it must have, then it must have been an unconscionable direct boss to the editor that would have been there with you sir, murderously silent when a subordinate was being punished for an error he did not commit. I can make an easy guess that Alhaji Ali would be willing to testify on that problematic headline as indeed the catalogue of infractions and corrupt practices perpetrated by Mr. Ishiekwene as the Editor and ED Publications, if he is invited.

2) Yomi Odunuga’s exit in 2006:
Unknown to you sir, a central figure somewhat connected to the allegations of bribery against Yomi Odunuga and a few staff members in 2006 was Mr. Ishiekwene as the Editor. All the senior correspondents that faced the panel in Lagos knew one thing or the other about Mr. Ishiekwene’s penchant for corrupt enrichment. On the day that the correspondents and Assistant Editors involved were being interrogated, Mr. Ishiekwene sent a text messages to a couple of them to shield him. The affected correspondents obliged him and chose to go down alone.

3) A spurious letter to the American embassy:
In the summer of 2008, Mr. Ishiekwene deliberately bypassed procedure by issuing two different sets of letters on Punch’s letterhead for two correspondents, Yemi Kolapo and Kemi Obasola, to assist them secure a referral letter from the Public Affairs Section of the American consulate and ultimately to obtain American visas. While it might not count for much that both the office of the Editor and the Admin department were bypassed in issuing the letters, Mr. Ishiekwene lied to the American consulate and nearly brought the company into disrepute by stating in the letter that Kemi Obasola was a correspondent covering politics, and that she was being sponsored by Punch Nigeria Limited to attend a course and would conduct interviews with known American politicians. None of those was true; so much so that when the officers of the Public Affairs Section of the consulate called me on phone as the Editor to inquire if I was aware of the letter from the office of the ED publications and if indeed the ladies were covering politics, I had to take a painful decision to protect the image of the company by not revealing the truth.
Mr. Ishiekwene knew that although Yemi Kolapo was going on vacation and had applied for a short course in the US in order to renew her visa, Kemi Obasola was only accompanying her on the trip for the funeral party of Yemi Kolapo’s mother who had passed on in April.
I know this to be true because the two ladies had earlier approached me on the real reason why they were going to the US and I had said it would be ethically wrong for me to approve a trip for an Obasola who on Chairman’s advice had then been redeployed from Politics Division to the Education and Science division (that was the first time she would be redeployed before the Lagos story controversy) and that it would be better if she could take a week’s leave from her next annual leave since the trip was a private affair.

Conclusion:

I hope you would understand that in being this painstaking, all I have tried to do is to present, on the one hand, my own side of the story on how the events of Tuesday February 16 constituted a flagrant use of ambush tactics and injustice against me by the ED Publications. And on the other hand, I have used this petition to show that with a long record of corrupt enrichment and double standard as well as an obvious clash of interest, Mr. Ishiekwene does not appear to have the moral justification to stand in judgement against me in a case in which he, obviously, is the one who has an abiding interest.

I have tried to stay within the facts of the matter as much as possible and where possible suggested names of those who could be contacted for verification, or indeed be invited for interrogation, being convinced that for the values of fairness and justice that the PUNCH Managements holds dear, it would only be proper to investigate the allegations raised in this petition.
Although they are germane and could be helpful in establishing the true nature of Mr. Ishiekwene, I did not include other well-known allegations of how former Lagos State governor, supplied the cement for the building of his first house in Alagbado area of Lagos or how Alhaji Aliko Dangote, former governor Victor Attah of Akwa Ibom state and Chief Arumemi Johnson were key financiers of his new home in Magodo. Nor did I include the part of security scare at the airport when Mr. Ishiekwene as the Editor went to receive bags of money sent to him from the National Assembly in Abuja, preparatory to the burial of his mother; or the open secret that he has already acquired a printing press in Lagos; or even the fact that in spite of his crusade against Michael Aondoakaa, Mr. Ishiekwene had at least once received bribe in dollars from the former Attorney General of the Federation through one of Aondoakaa’s contacts.

All I seek is to offer my own side of the story on the Lagos state controversy, in which I have no special interest whatsoever and had never expressed an opinion through my back page column. While I hope that you would consider it welcoming that a probe of all the issues raised be carried out, I shall leave to the judgement of yourself and the good members of the Board to determine if the heavily tainted profile of Mr. Ishiekwene, on the Lagos issues and other matters, fits into the ideals that PUNCH would accept as being representative of good ethics, professionalism, justice and accountability.


Thank You.


Sincerely,


Steve Ayorinde

Rabah Saadane The Algerian coach is also African.

He also led Algeria to 1986 World Cup.

This is 1 of the reasons why Bafana Bafana became pathetic.

SA depends on its league for international players just like Egypt & Tunisia but the later have seasoned players who have years of international club experience which comes in handy @ CAN.

The SA PSL is currently in 12th position in CAF rankings and will sooner rather than later lose this spot which makes it to qualify for 2 slots in Pan African competitions.

Compare the furore which the 2nd CAF confederations cup slot generated in Nigeria which has an all-Europe based international squad and the apathy that the 2nd CAF slot is generating in SA and you will realise that SAFA, PSL, the SA media and the fans do not realise the predicament that SA football is in.

Yamoussoukro, the Capital City of Ivory Coast is not Coastal too.

honeric01:
I can't argue,

see for yourself,
http://www.nigeria-2009.com/

That site was never updated. You can check the date that info was posted. That site also have wrong capacity for all the other stadia except Abuja Stadium.

The information on the updated capacity for Nigeria 2009 of 24,325 was given by Lagos State Commissioner for Youth Sports and Social Development, Prince Ademola Adeniji-Adele at the FIFA Media Briefing Room of the Teslim Balogun Stadium when all the facilities were completed.

You can believe what you like though if the news about the ticket sales did not convince you.

honeric01:
This was before FIFA asked them to upgrade the seats, it's now 30,000 capacity seats.

[size=32pt]No[/size] Sir!

But what has happened to members of our winning squads? There are only two so far that have stood out professionally- Mikel Obi of Chelsea in England and Chinedu Obasi of Hoffenhein in Germany.

Winners in bold.

Current SE players in green

1985
Akpoborie
Ugbade
Bazuaye

1987
Enegwae
O. Lawal
Nwosu

1989
Monye
Akwuegbu
Okpara
Ikpeba
Zaki

1993
Oruma
N. Kanu
Ojigwe
C. Babayaro
Oparaku


1995
Obiora
K. Amunike
Onwuzuruike

1997 (meridian cup)
Ikedia
Aliyu
Afolabi
Lawal
Okunnowo
Dosunmu
Igbinadolor
O. Kanu
Udeze

1999 (meridian cup)
Etafia
Odiah
Enakharire

2001
Eromoigbe
Opabunmi
Bassey

2003
Okoronkwo
Obasi
Mikel

2005
Echiejile
Oladapo

2007
Udoh
Haruna

http://thepmnews.com/2009/05/18/teslim-balogun-to-host-principal’s-cup


The Lagos State government has concluded plans to test run facilities at the Teslim Balogun Stadium by staging the finals of the 2009 Principal’s Cup and Oba Cup at the venue.

The finals, scheduled to hold on 23 May, will be used to test the preparedness of the state to host the South West Sub-Seat of the 2009 FIFA Under-17 World Cup holding in October.

Commissioner for Youth Sports and Social Development, Prince Ademola Adeniji-Adele disclosed this at the FIFA Media Briefing Room of the Teslim Balogun Stadium.

He said the state government decided to use the stadium as venue of the finals because it would not like to be caught off guard when the tournament proper kicks off.

According to him: “The finals of the Principal’s Cup and Oba Cup will hold at the mainbowl of the Teslim Balogun Stadium; we are using the venue because we want to be sure that if Lagos State is given the right to host any of the FIFA U-17 World Cup matches, we will know what we need to put in place before the tournament proper.”

He added that with the facilities on ground, he is convinced that Lagos will definitely host a successful tournament.

“With a FIFA Star Two artificial turf, FIFA Grade seats with back rest, a seating capacity of [size=24pt]24,325[/size], a 70KVA electricity generating set for the digital scoreboard, state of art changing room for athletes and officials, security gadgets with CCTV cameras, a 1,000KVA and 500KVA generating sets and other standard facilities, I know we are set to host a successful championship,” the commissioner said.

Apart from the aforementioned, Adeniji-Adele stated that there won’t be any cause to worry as regards security. He assured that security will be number one priority before, during after the World Cup.



=======================================================================================================


http://www.africansoccerunion.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=104637:u-17-wcup-lagos-govt-pays-n32m-to-buy-seats-for-spectators&catid=136&Itemid=200208


U-17 W/Cup: Lagos govt pays N32m to buy seats for spectators
OFFICIALS of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup, Nigeria 2009, say the Lagos State government has paid N32 million to buy seats at the Teslim Balogun Stadium for the tournament.

The stadium will host matches up until the semi-final of the championships and the state government has moved to ensure that there will be few empty seats to be seen.

“The Lagos State government has paid N32 million for 15,000 seats and the simple implication is that all the matches at the Lagos sub-seats would be jam-packed. This is what I expect other sub-seat to do.

“The 5,000 seats left in Lagos sub-seat would be sold on the streets and in Fifa’s rating, Lagos is already a success story even before the matches are played,” LOC Marketing Officer, Mike Itemuagbor, said.

He also added that the Eyo masquerade has been approved as the official composite logo for Lagos sub-seat by FIFA. FIFA has also endorsed the supply of 1,500 uniforms to be used by volunteers during the matches of the cadet World Cup scheduled to begin from October 24. And the 1,500 uniforms would be re-distributed to the eight hosting sub-seats from this week.

FIFA has also ruled that only the two captains would be escorted into the playing pitch before matches unlike in previous competitions where all the 22 players are escorted to the field before the commencement of matches.

From http://www.punchng.com


[size=16pt]Chukwudi is not U-17, Adokiye insists[/size]


A former Green Eagles star, Adokiye Amiesimaka, has insisted that Golden Eaglets captain Fortune Chukwudi is over the 17 year age limit for the ongoing FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Chukwudi‘s date of birth is given as November 18, 1992 on the FIFA website, but Amiesimaka says the defender cannot be less than 25 years old.

The Nigeria Football Federation has maintained that its players are truly under-17, citing the Magnetic Resonance Imaging tests as proof of the boys‘ ages.

Amiesimaka said, “I‘m absolutely sure that this Fortune guy is at least 25. I groomed him seven years ago and he was one of the best players in my feeder team. The feeder team was like my baby and I knew Fortune quite well back then.

”The team had players who were between 18 and 20 and he told me then he was 18. We had no way of testing their ages, but we asked them about their education backgrounds and we made some checks to know if they were young.

”He even had a knee injury at a point and when he recovered he tried to register with Ocean Boys. He played for the Sharks feeder team in early 2003 against the Flying Eagles in a friendly. It was at the Liberation Stadium (Port Harcourt) and the Flying Eagles won 4-2. What more proof do they want that I know the guy very well? He told me he was 18 then and he can‘t be less than 25 now.”

Amiesimaka, who was the Chairman of Sharks back in 2002 and coached the feeder team, said Chukwudi was not the only player whose age was doubtful in the Eaglets.

He said, ”One of the other players, Olanrewaju Kayode, cannot also be under-17. He wanted to play for Sharks feeders in 2002 and he said he had finished secondary school back then. How then can he still be under-17? There might still be others but, as a lawyer, I don‘t want to speculate.”

Nigeria Football Federation officials have labelled Amiesimaka an unpatriotic person who might have a hidden agenda for his claims, but the ex-international insists that he loves his country and is not eyeing anybody‘s job.

He said, ”Patriotism is wanting the best for your country all the time and that‘s exactly what I want. We have the potential to be the best in this country and we cannot realise that potential by cheating.

”When I write, I don‘t just criticise, I also make suggestions on how things can be better. I served this country when I was young. I played for Nigeria when I was in the university and the law school and I always gave my best. How many of these guys can claim to be more patriotic?”

Below is the full article which started it all ,

From http://www.punchng.com

Published 11/1/2009 3:00:00 AM

[size=16pt]Once again, we have let our children down (1)[/size]



IN the context of age-grade tournaments, especially the on-going FIFA U-17 World Cup that we are hosting, what is in the best interest of Nigeria? Believe me, as I sat down to write this piece last Friday, after our 2-1 victory over Argentina, I pondered this question for more than a moment. And it was not easy to decide that if we do not want to continue to fool ourselves that all is well, or that we are even making any reasonable effort to get our act together, then we must never sweep the accumulating dirt under the carpet. We must keep on reminding ourselves of its unhealthy presence until we are forced to take the bold step of sweeping it away.

You see, the team that is representing us in this tournament is a good one. In fact, so far, it is one of the outstanding teams. In our first match against Germany on October 24, it showed the courage and resilience that was, ironically, typically attributed to Germany. Since then, it has grown from strength to strength, beating Honduras and much-feared Argentina in quick succession. Team coach John Obuh has done a marvellous job in building a team for a global event in less than two months. Remember the Magnetic Resonance Imaging test that disqualified a greater percentage of players in our previous team as overage, thereby decimating that team?

I am optimistic that this team can go all the way and possibly win the cup a record fourth time, and in that case make Nigeria the first defending champion to clinch it. But to do so the team may need to be more efficient in front of goal. As I noted in a previous article, the secret is not to let the usually frenetic activity in the goal area make you lose focus and composure. Then, just before making contact with the ball, choose the spot in goal where you wish to send the ball. Critically, at the moment of impact, keep your eyes on the ball.

The fact that we are able to produce a team that can hold its own in such a short time shows what an unassailable status we can attain if only we will pay painstaking attention to detail over time to prepare our teams. I have always believed that we have comparative advantage that is probably embedded in anthropology and genetics to excel in sports. But what happens is that because of our complacence we only show the enormity of our potential without fully realising it, even in victory. We have consistently underutilised our capacity and so always underachieved.

We won the maiden edition of this tournament in China in 1985. We won again in Japan in 1993, and yet again in South Korea in 2007. Brazil is the only other country that has won it so many times. But do we feel fulfilled? No! How is it that after wearing the crown as world champion three times in an age-grade event, we are still not implementing a comprehensive youth development program? How, then, have we ‘‘excelled‘‘ in this category?

We all know the answer. Much as we have the potential to excel, we have preferred to cheat. And that is why even if we win again we still won‘t feel fulfilled. Neither will we get the respect that we crave from the rest of the world. Yes, we are still cheating. By our education system, all the players in our U-17 team should either still be in secondary school or just passing out. Of course, they may also be attached to professional teams as apprentices, as is done in other parts. But we have never fully tapped the synergy of the education and sports sectors to respectably unleash our might on the global stage.

I know as a matter of fact that our team is not Under-17. It is for this reason that I feel like a hypocrite to congratulate this team for its performance so far.

In 2002/2003, I was Chairman of Sharks of Port-Harcourt. I decided to have a feeder team of fresh school leavers not older than 20 years. As the feeder team concept was relatively new and because I had my ideas about how a team at that level should be handled, I also doubled as its coach. And we had remarkable results in that period. I am sure that fans in Rivers State still remember how we played friendly matches with teams with much older players all over the state and regularly won by wide margins.

One of my key players then is the current captain of our so-called U-17 team. By his own admission at that time, that is, seven years ago, he was 18 years old. Please do the arithmetic yourself. MRI test or not, his football history is common knowledge. If we are not utterly irresponsible how can he be eligible for this tournament when he is not less than 25 years old now? There is another player with very interesting facial features that has been likened to a top senior team player in Argentina. Well, let me just say that looks can be deceptive and leave it at that.

I really wonder whether the MRI test was done on each and every one of our players. If, indeed, a ‘‘thorough‘‘ exercise was conducted, then FIFA must review the procedure. For the avoidance of doubt, it is not only Nigeria that should be the focus of FIFA‘s attention, but every participating country in the tournament should also be carefully scrutinised.

This is a very serious matter and my stand on it should not be trivialised as ‘‘holier-than-thou‘‘‘. I am not looking at it only from a moral perspective. I only happen to know that our penchant for cutting corners is self-limiting and counter-productive in the long run. And in this regard, I have the support of none other than the Honourable Minister of Sports and Chairman of the NSC, Sani Ndanusa, himself.

I must admit that I like this guy, even though I do not recall ever meeting him. Listening to his comments on sports and reading his interesting column, ‘‘NIGERIA 2009: FROM THE MINISTER‘S DESK WITH Sani Ndanusa‘‘, in THE NATION, he comes across as unassuming and your regular next-door buddy that is aware of the ephemeral nature of his power and does not have a sense of grandeur about him. Even more importantly, he sounds like a minister who means well for sports and knows where the priority for sports development should be.

Last Thursday, in an article with the heading ‘For a greater tomorrow‘, he wrote, ‘‘I have always been an advocate of youth. When one fails to build bridges from one generation to another, the future of a sport is endangered in the long term. To secure the future of a sport, there should be a programme of succession between generations. There should be a regular supply of talents and a conscious effort to groom and graduate these talents from one phase to the other. Most importantly, there should be machinery in place to discover and hone budding talents. If the latter is neglected, the freshness of the supply reduces. If the supplies are not fresh, what is left is sour. Any nation that negates the importance of youth and freshness in sports, gambles with its future.‘‘

Now, one of the most important reasons for the introduction of age-grade competitions by FIFA is to stimulate the process of discovering and honing budding talents so that they can graduate to the next level as well groomed players to secure the future of football as a high quality entertainment sport. Ironically, by not having an honest official policy of strictly observing age limits in a tournament like this one, we are doing the exact opposite of what FIFA and the sports minister are saying. And the minister‘s further statement suggests that he is probably not accurately briefed on ‘‘the series of MRI scans on this team‘‘, as he put it. ‘‘I can confidently say we have a crop of genuinely U-17 players. By the time this vision runs its course, these boys would be around 26, 27 years. That is the peak of every footballer. If we have a generation of talented players who are like a family and attain their peak together, we can harbour hopes of ruling the world by 2018 or 2022 World Cup.‘‘

Unfortunately, this is mere wishful thinking, my dear honourable minister. Your team captain is already at his peak at ‘‘U-17‘‘ and in all probability so too are many of his teammates.

To be continued

http://allafrica.com/stories/200910280699.html

Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has been working tirelessly to fix the sabotaged Chanomi Creek pipleline wich connects crude oil to both the Warri and Kaduna refineries.

Two refineries in Port Harcourt are currently in operation with a capacity of around 210,000 barrels per day, according to NNPC.

Warri Refinery has installed capacity of 125,000 bpd while Kaduna Refinery has a capacity of 110,000 bpd. Both refineries are fed by Chanomi Creek crude oil pipeline from Escravos oil fields.

Nigeria's refineries have a total nameplate capacity of 445,000 bpd but have never operated at full capacity. Even if they did, they would produce only 18 million litres of petrol out of estimated average peak daily demand of 32 million litres.



http://www.businessdayonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3203:nigerian-refineries-history-problems-and-possible-solutions-1&catid=67:oil&Itemid=307


Nigerian Refineries: History, problems and possible solutions (1)


"Two oil marketing companies in Nigeria , Shell and British Petroleum, BP, formed a 50/50 joint venture refining company in Nigeria , the Nigerian Petroleum Refining (NPRC) in 1960. 
The NPRC built a 38,000b/d petroleum refinery at Alesa-Eleme, near Port Harcourt to refine local crude oil into five petroleum fuel products. Construction of the refinery commenced in 1963 and production started two years later, in 1965."

"The refinery was de-bottlenecked in 1973, in order to increase its crude oil processing capacity from 38,000b/d to 60,000b/d. The domestic demand for petroleum products which steadily increased was satisfied by the NPRC refinery for about 8 to 10 years."

"The acute and prolonged nationwide shortage of refinery products, especially petrol, started between 1973 and 1974. These shortages resulted from several factors but were generally due to the sudden sharp increases in demand. The main reasons for the high demand were attributed to a considerable increase in the economic activities following the end of the Nigerian Civil war." 

"Purchase of all types of vehicles, especially ‘tokunbo’ cars, electrical and electronic household goods sky-rocketed. The domestic demand for petrol more than doubled. Electrical power consumption also sharply increased nationwide.
Feasibility studies were first undertaken by BEICIP, an international oil and gas consulting firm from Paris , in 1974 for the Federal Government. The objectives were to establish the demand and consumption patterns of petroleum products. These studies were also used to determine the size of a new refinery to be constructed. Following a tendering exercise involving international engineering contractors, a contract was awarded to Snamprogetti Spa of Milan , Italy , in 1975. The contract was for the design, procurement and construction of a new grassroots petroleum refinery in Warri. The design capacity of the refinery was 100,000 b/d, and the lump sum cost was $478 million, for project duration of 30 months."


"A second new refinery was planned for the production of lubricating oil products, waxes and asphalt (for the road projects). This refinery which was located in Kaduna consisted of two refining streams, (50,000 b/d fuels units) and (50,000 b/d lubes, waxes Asphalt plants). The contract for the construction of the Kaduna Refinery was awarded in 1976 to Chiyoda Engineering and Construction Company of Japan, at the cost $525 million, for a project completion period of 36 months. The refinery was completed on schedule and was commissioned in later 1979. The existing products pipeline linking Warri Refinery to Kaduna was converted to pump crude oils for supply to the new Kaduna Refinery."

"By 1980, with the old Port Harcourt , Warri and Kaduna refineries in operation, there was still an appreciable level of importation of petroleum products to augment domestic production from the three refineries. A review of the old study was conducted to update the demand and the pattern of consumption to cover the next period of 10 years.
This was also to determine the optimum size and location for an export oriented refinery, which would also supply the domestic market as required. The several options considered included, new refineries and/or expansion of existing plants. The Federal Government decided to expand the capacities of the fuels units in the existing refineries at Warri and Kaduna by “de-bottlenecking.”
The de-bottlenecking route was quicker by capacity increases were moderate. The de-bottlenecking projects were completed in 1985. The new capacities at Warri Refinery and Kaduna Refinery became 125,000b/d and 110,000b/d respectively. In addition, a new grassroots refinery with a capacity of 150,000 b/d would be constructed adjacent to the existing refinery at Port Harcourt . The total additional refining capacity added from the result of the new study became 185, 000 b/d. this would bring the total refining capacity in Nigeria on completion of the projects in 1989 to 445,000b/d, which is still the current total installed refining capacity in Nigeria.
The new Port Harcourt refinery with a capacity of 150,000b/d was designed to include facilities to export products in excess of domestic demand. The contract for the design and construction was awarded to a consortium of JGC Corporation/Marubeni Corporation both of Japan and Spibatignolles of France in October 1985 at a total cost equivalent of US$850 million. The construction was completed and the refinery was successfully commissioned in October 1989."

http://www.punchng.com

[size=16pt]Chukwudi is not U-17, Adokiye insists[/size]


A former Green Eagles star, Adokiye Amiesimaka, has insisted that Golden Eaglets captain Fortune Chukwudi is over the 17 year age limit for the ongoing FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Chukwudi‘s date of birth is given as November 18, 1992 on the FIFA website, but Amiesimaka says the defender cannot be less than 25 years old.

The Nigeria Football Federation has maintained that its players are truly under-17, citing the Magnetic Resonance Imaging tests as proof of the boys‘ ages.

Amiesimaka said, “I‘m absolutely sure that this Fortune guy is at least 25. I groomed him seven years ago and he was one of the best players in my feeder team. The feeder team was like my baby and I knew Fortune quite well back then.

”The team had players who were between 18 and 20 and he told me then he was 18. We had no way of testing their ages, but we asked them about their education backgrounds and we made some checks to know if they were young.

”He even had a knee injury at a point and when he recovered he tried to register with Ocean Boys. He played for the Sharks feeder team in early 2003 against the Flying Eagles in a friendly. It was at the Liberation Stadium (Port Harcourt) and the Flying Eagles won 4-2. What more proof do they want that I know the guy very well? He told me he was 18 then and he can‘t be less than 25 now.”

Amiesimaka, who was the Chairman of Sharks back in 2002 and coached the feeder team, said Chukwudi was not the only player whose age was doubtful in the Eaglets.

He said, ”One of the other players, Olanrewaju Kayode, cannot also be under-17. He wanted to play for Sharks feeders in 2002 and he said he had finished secondary school back then. How then can he still be under-17? There might still be others but, as a lawyer, I don‘t want to speculate.”

Nigeria Football Federation officials have labelled Amiesimaka an unpatriotic person who might have a hidden agenda for his claims, but the ex-international insists that he loves his country and is not eyeing anybody‘s job.

He said, ”Patriotism is wanting the best for your country all the time and that‘s exactly what I want. We have the potential to be the best in this country and we cannot realise that potential by cheating.

”When I write, I don‘t just criticise, I also make suggestions on how things can be better. I served this country when I was young. I played for Nigeria when I was in the university and the law school and I always gave my best. How many of these guys can claim to be more patriotic?”

Adokie also claims Olanrewaju Kayode is also overage.

Dow we have any U-17 in our team?

chosen04:
From HNIC
Truth was spoken, but timing was wrong!


================================================================
You are wrong! No time is wrong to tell the Truth

Better Late Than Never!

[size=16pt]No[/size]


http://www.pattayapeople.com/default.asp?Folder=1956&IdArticle=4988


Bone Cleansing


Fifth Cemetery Clean Up Programme

https://www.pattayapeople.com/archive/144/Ceme%20_tery_clean.jpg


A Cemetery Clean Up Programme that started on 24th March  until now has been very successful since many people have shown interest and wish to volunteer in the event.

The merit making religious ceremony arranged by the Sawang Boriboon Foundation and Volunteers involves the collection and cleaning of bones from overcrowded cemeteries, particularly of unidentified bodies that have no family or relatives to honour them.  The bones are then ceremoniously cremated and the ashes are interred at the various temples.  This clean up will carry on until 11th May.


http://www.pattayapeople.com/default.asp?Folder=16&IdArticle=5536


Cemetery Clean Up


Fifth Cemetery Clean Up Still Ongoing

https://www.pattayapeople.com/archive/144/Fifth%20Cemetery%20Clean%20Up%20Still%20Ongoing.jpg

A ceremony was held at the Sawang Boriboon Foundation in the morning of 29th April. Governor of Chonburi Mr. Pracha Terat and Assistant Industry Minister,

Doctor Prayot Nuangjamnong, officiated at the ceremony together with many residents that attended to perform the religious practice, which is another ceremony included in the 5th cemetery clean up of unidentified bodies without relatives.

Collected bones were piled up and paid respect to before being burnt in the belief that this will release the spirits of the deceased.

There were performances of dancing, playing musical instruments, and a lot of food was offered to all to celebrate this religious ceremony.


http://www.pattayapeople.com/default.asp?Folder=16&IdArticle=5028


Cemetery Clean Up


Atmosphere of Cemetery Clean Up

https://www.pattayapeople.com/archive/144/Atmosphere_Cemetery01.jpg


The second day of Cemetery Clean up ceremony was made on 29th March where over 200 Sawang rescuers and over 100 residents went to the cemetery in

Soi Siam Country Club to dig up unidentified corpses and of those who have no relatives and clean them up for cremation.

Even though the weather was extremely hot that day but everyone that went had smiles on their faces since that was a kind of making merit. No one complaint and helped each other from their hearts to send their spirits and set their body free.

The first body taken out was very decomposed since it has been buried for 5 years but was ceremonially cleaned up for the cremation ceremony.

All together 15 corpses were exhumed and on the next day the Sawang Boriboon Foundation prepared the bodies for the ceremony. Pattaya People Media Group will keep you updated with the news and proceedings of this weird yet fascinating merit making ceremony.

http://thepmnews.com/2009/11/02/u-17-world-cup-shocker-eaglets-skipper-25-years-old

https://thepmnews.com/files/2009/11/eaglets-skipper-fortune.jpg
•Golden Eaglets’ captain, Fortune Chukwudi


U-17 World Cup Shocker: Eaglets Skipper 25 Years Old


A stunning revelation has been made by former Green Eagles winger, Adokiye Amiesimaka, who claimed that the Golden Eaglets’ captain, Fortune Chukwudi is about 25 years old.

Adokiye, a lawyer and former Rivers State Commissioner for Justice, alleged that Chukwudi is at least nine years older than he says he is, saying the player has no business playing in the current FIFA U-17 World Cup.

The Barrister, who wrote in his Sunday column for a national daily newspaper, The Punch, titled: ‘Once again, we have let our children down,’ claims that Chukwudi played for his Sharks’ youth team as far back as 2002/2003 football season.


The revelation, which was reported by a website, kickoff.com late yesterday, picked a hole in the ages of the players featuring in the cadet championship.

“In the 2002/2003 season, I was chairman of Sharks Football Club of Port Harcourt,” Adokiye wrote in the Punch. “I decided to have a feeder team of fresh school leavers not older than 20 years.

“As the feeder team concept was relatively new and because I had my own ideas about how a team at that level should be handled, I also doubled as its coach.

“One of my key players then is the current captain of our so-called Under 17 Golden Eaglets. By his own admission at that time, that is seven years ago, he was 18 years old.

“Remember the Magnetic Resonance Imaging, MRI, test that disqualified a greater percentage of players in our previous team as overaged, thereby decimating that team? MRI or not, his football history is common knowledge.

“If we are not utterly irresponsible, how can he be eligible for this tournament when he is not less than 25 years old now?” Adokiye revealed.

The former Nigerian player continued: “I really wonder whether the MRI test was done on each and every one of the players. If, indeed, a thorough exercise was conducted, then FIFA must review the procedure.

“For the avoidance of doubt, it is not only Nigeria that should be the focus of FIFA’s attention, but every participating country in the tournament should also be carefully scrutinised.”

When our reporter cornered Chukwudi after the Eaglets’ training at the Old Parade Ground, Abuja early today, the skipper did not react to Adokiye’s allegation.

Rather, Chukwudi, told our man to ask him questions relating to Nigeria’s round of 16 match against New Zealand on Thursday. “I don’t want to be distracted, I just want to concentrate on our next match which is a knockout and please, please, please, no distraction, okay,” the Eaglets skipper reacted.

Eaglets’ Coach, John Obuh also declined comments on the alleged fielding of overaged players in the Nigerian team. The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF is yet to make an official statement on the allegation.

Meanwhile, FIFA Vice President, Jack Warner said at a press conference in Abuja this afternoon that the body is still going on with the MRI test and that the players featuring in the U-17 World Cup are being tested at random for doping.