₦airaland Forum

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4681285.stm



Zimbabwe sex row athlete jailed


https://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41302000/jpg/_41302857_sithole203.jpg


Samukeliso Sithole apologised for competing as a woman

A judge in Zimbabwe has sentenced a leading youth athlete to four years in prison for competing in female events, after being found to be a man.

Samukeliso Sithole, 18, won seven gold medals in women's competitions in 2004.

The athlete had claimed to be a hermaphrodite - with both male and female sex organs - but in court, admitted to being a man.

Six witnesses - including two doctors - said at last week's hearing, the athlete was a man.

"I am very sorry," Sithole told the court in the central town of Kwekwe.

Pregnancy fears

The athlete was charged with impersonation and causing psychological damage to fellow athletes.

Sithole was initially released while awaiting trial earlier this year because the court could not decide whether to remand the athlete in a men's or women's prison.

But in May, Sithole was found guilty of stealing from a boyfriend and sent to a male prison.

In February, the champion athlete claimed to have periods and feared becoming pregnant. Sithole said the male organs became enlarged after a traditional healer took revenge after not being paid for treatment last year.







also http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4249949.stm

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Embattled-track-star-Caster-Semenya-gets-new-coa?urn=oly,187999


https://l.yimg.com/a/i/ww/news/2009/09/08/semenya-pd.jpg

Gender-tested South African star Caster Semenya gets a whole new look for a magazine photo shoot.

[size=16pt]Embattled track star Caster Semenya gets new coach, new look[/size]

It's been a week of change for Caster Semenya, the South African runner at the center of a gender controversy at last month's world track championships.

First, one of her South African coaches quit the team in shame for not telling Semenya that she was being subjected to gender tests. (Semenya had thought she was taking a doping test.) Then, Semenya appeared on the cover of South Africa's You magazine with a complete makeover designed to silence critics who insist she is a man.

For the shoot Semenya sported a less ambiguous hair style, a designer black dress, jewelry, makeup and nail polish. Despite what you think about the whole situation, it's safe to say that this is the first time that Semenya has truly looked like an 18-year old woman.

She says she likes the look too. Semenya told the BBC:

"I'd like to dress up more often and wear dresses but I never get the chance.

I am who I am and I'm proud of myself."

Let's hope this is what she wants though.

Nothing Semenya has done in the past month has suggested that she likes to wear dresses, get manicures and let down her hair. After the controversy broke, she kept her cornrows, wore baggy clothes and pounded her chest in victory like a college football cornerback. When she returned to her hometown, she was dressed the same way. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. That seemed to be Semenya's natural inclination. This feels forced.

Hopefully I'm wrong. But if Semenya was pressured to do this to silence her critics, then this is a sad story rather than one of retribution. The opinions of a few jealous coaches shouldn't have an effect on how an 18-year old carries herself. If Semenya wants to wear dresses then she should. But if she wants to run around in track suits, what's the problem with that?

The coach who resigned wasn't Semenya's personal coach, but a middle distance supervisor on the South African team who was ashamed that Semenya was kept in the dark about the growing controversy. Wilfred Daniels said he was told the issue was supposed to stay private.


https://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/ept_sports_oly_experts__5/ept_sports_oly_experts-919832433-1252434755.jpg?ymDdD3BDb8gpVICQ

rasputinn:
[size=16pt]
Of the nearly one billion naira Globacom sponsorship package for the Nigeria premier league,how much does obaseki and his thieving friends actually give the winners of the league moving train my black ass [/size]

Glo Paid N838.53 Million for the 2008-2009 season and Bayelsa Utd who won the league received:

N10 Million - Season Grant
N1 Million - Super 4 appearance fee
N0.5 Million - 3rd place finish @ Super 4

N11.5 Million - TOTAL money from NPL season 2008-2009 for Bayelsa utd.

http://deadspin.com/5344551/hysteria-over-caster-semenya-has-only-just-begun


Hysteria Over Caster Semenya Has Only Just Begun



The latest is that Semenya, the 800-meter world champion, reportedly has high testosterone and a coach famous for stuffing East Germans full of steroids, and that her hero is WWE wrestler John Cena. Only one of these things actually matters.

The first two revelations come to us from the U.K. Telegraph and tell us little except that we're now in the midst of a full-blown international panic over a foot race:

A source close to the investigation into the 800 metres gold medallist has confirmed that tests carried out before the start of the World Championships indicated that the runner had three times the normal female level of testosterone in her body.

Telegraph Sport can also reveal that the head coach of the South African team is Dr Ekkart Arbeit, the former East German coach who was accused by a female athlete of giving her so many anabolic steroids that she was forced to undergo a sex-change operation and live the rest of her life as a man.

The Telegraph admits that it's not clear "how closely Arbeit has been working with Semenya." The implication, I guess, is that he's shot Semenya full of the same stuff that eventually turned Heidi Krieger into Andreas Krieger, even though by most accounts Semenya's androgyny has been a lifelong issue and not something that came recently at the tip of a syringe:

According to Eric Modiba, headmaster at the Nthema secondary school where Semenya was a star pupil, she was "unique" from the start.

"When she was a young girl Caster was stripped of a medal at an athletics meet after teachers complained she was a boy, but she was reinstated on my insistence as the winner," he said. "In fact it was commonplace for ‘toilet checks' for Caster whenever she competed in inter-school championships.

"I was caught out, too. Caster was always rough and played with the boys. She liked soccer and she wore trousers to school. She never wore a dress. It was only in grade II that I realised she was a girl myself."

[, ]

Unusually for a young woman perhaps, Semenya's main interest has been WWF wrestling, a sport notable for competitors with extraordinary physiques.

"Her obsession is wrestling," said Dorcus. "She has many wrestling posters, particularly WWF." Her favourite figure is John Cena, a bodybuilder who became a world wrestling champion.

So she's always been a little unusual, hormonally and otherwise. This shouldn't be a surprise. The girl won the 800 title by more than two seconds — of course she isn't normal. All great athletes have some sort of freak abnormality, something the hysterics would do well to remember here. Michael Phelps has short legs and double-jointed knees; Semenya has a lot of testosterone and five o'clock shadow. The difference is that her abnormality makes everyone say ewww.

Semenya's time is not even in the Top 10 All-Time and would not be good enough to win @ Beijing Olympics (won by Pamela Jelimo).

Jarmila Kratochvilova looks even more masculine.

[quote author=na_so link=topic=311312.msg4372705#msg4372705 date=1250590752]Nothing annoys me like this lazy manner political analyst in the country blame their failure/corruption purely on the military. This is not doing the country any good .

I beleive this excuse is outdated. 1999-2009 is 10years and one can hardly see development in any strata of our socio-economic life and people still blame the military. what a waste.

I am definitely not a believer in the statement that "the worst democratic government is better than the best military rule" at least not in nigeria.[/quote]The Military actually destroyed Nigeria.

You cannot blame the Military enough.

The unitary nature of the Military and the legacy it left on the country is what we are still battling to tackle from Fiscal Federalism to State Police.

Without Military intervention in Nigerian Politics we wont be debating about 13% or 40% derivation because in the 1st republic it was 50% and we wont have such a high number of unviable States waiting for Federal Allocation to take care of over 80% annual expenditure and the entire country is  nearly 90% dependent on Oil & Gas.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/08/14/cbn-sacks-5-banks-directors/comment-page-6/

*N1.1 trillion bad loans, Liquidity ratio below minimum, Over reliance on interbank and CBN borrowing[i][/i]


CBN sacks 5 banks’ CEOs, appoints acting MD/CEOs


The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday sacked with immediate effect the Managing Director/Chief Executives and Executive Directors of five banks namely, Afribank PLC, Finbank PLC, Intercontinental Bank Plc, Oceanic Bank Plc and Union Bank Plc.

The affected chief executives are Mr, Sebastin Adigwe (Afribank), Mr. Okey Nwosu (Finbank), Dr. Erastus Akingbola (Intercontinental Bank), Dr. (Mrs.) Cecilia Ibru (Oceanic Bank), and Dr. Bath Ebong.

The apex bank also announced the appointment of new acting chief executives for the five banks namely Mr. John Aboh – MD/CEO Oceanic International Bank Plc, Mr. Mahmud L. Alabi- MD/CEO Intercontinental Bank Plc, Mrs. Suzanne Iroche- MD/CEO Finbank Plc, Mrs. Funke Osibodu – MD/CEO Union Bank Plc

CBN Governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi said the banks’ officials were removed due to high level of non performing loans in the five banks which was attributable to poor corporate governance practices, lax credit administration processes and the absence or non-adherence to the banks’ credit risk management practices.

He said the CBN is also injecting N400 billion tier two capital into the five banks to salvage the financial condition banks.

He said, “As at June 4, 2009 when I assumed office as Governor of the CBN, the total amount outstanding at the Expanded Discount Window (EDW) was N256.571 billion most of which was owed by the five banks.

A review of the activity in the EDW showed that four banks had been almost permanently locked in as borrowers and were clearly unable to repay their obligations. A fifth bank had been a very frequent borrower when its profile ordinarily should have placed it among the net placers of funds in the market. Whereas the five banks were by no means the only ones to have benefited from the EDW, the persistence and frequency of their demand pointed to a deeper problem and the CBN identified them as probable source of financial instability, most likely suffering from deeper problems due to non-performing loans.

The impact of the situation of these banks was being felt by the market in different negative ways. Because of this strain in their balance sheets, the banks pushed up the interest rate paid to private sector deposits and their competitors had to follow suit. They also contributed to the destabilization of the inter-bank market as many of their competitors were unwilling to take an unsecured risk on them.
It was primarily because of these banks, or at least some of them, that the CBN took the step of guaranteeing the inter-bank market when it stopped granting new lines under the EDW. Without that guarantee, almost four banks would not have been able to borrow in the inter-bank and would probably have collapsed.

As you are aware, we guaranteed the inter-bank market to give us the time to conduct a thorough diagnostic of the banks and ensure that appropriate remedial action is taken. At least four of the banks in question have since the guarantee came into force either remained heavy users of funds at the EDW or drawn heavily from other banks under cover of the CBN guarantee to wind-down at this window. In all events, it is clear that they do not have the ability to meet their obligations to depositors and creditors as they are in a grave situation.

In view of the aforementioned circumstances, I instructed the Director of Banking Supervision of the CBN to carry out a Special Examination of the following five banks: Afribank Plc, FinbankPlc, Intercontinental Bank Plc, Oceanic Bank Plc and Union Bank Plc.The examination was conducted by a joint team of CBN and NDIC officials. The major findings on the five banks included:

1. Excessively high level of non-performing loans in the five banks which was attributable to poor corporate governance practices, lax credit administration processes and the absence or non-adherence to the bank’s credit risk management practices. Thus the percentage of non-performing loans to total loans ranged from 19% to 48%. The 5 banks will therefore need to make additional provision of N539.09 billion.

2. The total loan portfolio of these five banks was N2,801.92 billion. Margin loans amounted to N456.28 billion and exposure to Oil and Gas was N487.02 billion. Aggregate non-performing loans stood at Ml,143 billion representing 40.81%.3. From 1 and 2 above, it is evident that the five banks accounted for a disproportionate component of the total exposure to Capital Market and Oil and Gas, thus reflecting heavy concentration to high risk areas relative to other banks in the industry.

4. The huge provisioning requirements have led to significant capital impairment. Consequently, all the banks are undercapitalised for their current levels of operations and are required to increase their provisions for loan losses, which impacted negatively on their capital. Indeed one Is technically insolvent with a Capital Adequacy Ratio of (1.01%). Thus, a minimum capital injection of N204.94 billion will be required in the 5 banks to meet the minimum capital adequacy ratio of 10%.

5. The five banks were either perennial net-takers of funds in the inter-bank market or enjoyed liquidity support from the CBN for long periods of time, a clear evidence of liquidity. In other words, these banks were unable to meet their maturing obligations as they fall due without resorting to the CBN or the inter-bank market. As a matter of fact, the outstanding balance on the EDW of the five banks amounted to N 127.85 billion by end July 2009, representing 89.81% of the total industry exposure to the CBN on its discount window while their net guaranteed inter-bank takings stood at N253.30 billion as at August 02, 2009. Their Liquidity Ratios ranged from 17.65% to 24% as at May 31, 2009. (Regulatory minimum is 25%).

It is important to note that at least three of the banks are systemically important (accounting for more than 5% of Assets and Deposits in the Banking System) and together the five banks account for 39.93% of loans, 29.99% of deposits, and 31.47% of total assets as at May 31, 2009.

Given the extent of the asset quality problem leading to liquidity stresses, and the variety of stress points on the banks1 balance sheets, failure to act to secure the financial health of these banks will clearly place the system at risk. The Central Bank has a responsibility to act to protect all depositors and creditors and ensure that no one loses money due to bank failure. The Bank also needs to move decisively to remove this principal cause of financial instability and restore confidence in the Banking System.

Consequently, having reviewed all the reports of the examiners and the comments of the Directors and Deputy Governors, I am satisfied that these five institutions are in a grave situation and that their Management have acted in a manner detrimental to the interest of their depositors and creditors. Therefore, in exercise of my powers as contained in Sections 33 and 35 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 1991, as amended, and after securing the consent of the Board of Directors of the CBN,

I hereby remove the Managing Directors and the Executive Directors of the following banks from office with effect from Friday, August 14, 2009. Afribank Plc, Intercontinental Bank Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Oceanic International Bank Plc and Finbank Plc. These persons forthwith cease to be directors and officers of their respective banks.

The Board of the Central Bank of Nigeria has also appointed the following as the MD/CEOs of the affected banks: Mr. John Aboh – MD/CEO Oceanic International Bank Plc, Mr. Mahmud L. Alabi- MD/CEO Intercontinental Bank Plc, Mr. Nebolisa Arah – MD/CEO Afribank Plc, Mrs. Suzanne Iroche- MD/CEO Finbank Plc, Mrs. Funke Osibodu – MD/CEO Union Bank Plc

Each of the above will head a management team that will include Executive Directors and Chief Financial Officers to be appointed by the CBN. This team is tasked with continuing the businesses of the banks as a going concern. I therefore appeal to the Boards of the affected banks, in their own interest, to cooperate with the newly appointed Executive Management.

We are conscious of the fact that changing management alone will not resolve this problem. Consequently, the CBN is injecting a total of about N400 billion into these five banks with immediate effect in form of Tier 2 Capital to be repaid from proceeds of capitalization in the near future. This injection is sufficient to resolve and stabilize all the institutions and enable them continue normal business. The injection of fresh capital by the CBN is a temporary measure as government does not intend to hold the shares for long and shall divest its holdings as soon as new investors recapitalize these banks.

Let me also advise all debtors of Nigerian banks, that the CBN and all government agencies are united in our commitment to support the recovery efforts of the banks. Debtors who do not pay shall have their names published in National Newspapers in due course and we will solicit the support of law enforcement agencies in recovery.

Let me reassure especially the customers of the affected banks and all the banks in general that there is no cause for alarm. They should continue to transact their normal business in the banks where their accounts are domiciled as this exercise is meant to further strengthen the banking industry and recapitalize the affected banks.

I should also state at this point that the scope of the Special Examination was widened to cover all 24 banks. So far, we have concluded the audit of 10 banks including these five, the others being Diamond Bank, First Bank, United Bank for Africa, Guaranty Trust bank and Sterling Bank. We have also commenced the next batch of 11 banks and hope to conclude them by end of August. All in all, we expect to conclude the audit in mid-September.

The Central bank is requiring all banks to make appropriate provisioning for non-performing loans and disclose them. We hope that by the end of this quarter, all banks would have cleaned up their Balance Sheets. On the basis of the information available to us so far, we are confident that the banking system is safe and sound and we have dealt with the major sources of systemic risk.

I will conclude by restating that, going forward, the CBN will not waiver in its desire to ensure that public confidence in the Nigerian banking system is maintained through appropriate disclosures and the reinvigoration of its policy of zero tolerance on all professional and unethical conducts.

We will not allow any bank to fail. However, we will also ensure that officers of banks and debtors who contribute to bank failures are brought to book to the full extent of the law and that all proceeds of infraction are confiscated where legally feasible.”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/08/14/cbn-sacks-5-banks-directors/comment-page-6/

*N1.1 trillion bad loans, Liquidity ratio below minimum, Over reliance on interbank and CBN borrowing[i][/i]


CBN sacks 5 banks’ CEOs, appoints acting MD/CEOs


The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday sacked with immediate effect the Managing Director/Chief Executives and Executive Directors of five banks namely, Afribank PLC, Finbank PLC, Intercontinental Bank Plc, Oceanic Bank Plc and Union Bank Plc.

The affected chief executives are Mr, Sebastin Adigwe (Afribank), Mr. Okey Nwosu (Finbank), Dr. Erastus Akingbola (Intercontinental Bank), Dr. (Mrs.) Cecilia Ibru (Oceanic Bank), and Dr. Bath Ebong.

The apex bank also announced the appointment of new acting chief executives for the five banks namely Mr. John Aboh – MD/CEO Oceanic International Bank Plc, Mr. Mahmud L. Alabi- MD/CEO Intercontinental Bank Plc, Mrs. Suzanne Iroche- MD/CEO Finbank Plc, Mrs. Funke Osibodu – MD/CEO Union Bank Plc

CBN Governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi said the banks’ officials were removed due to high level of non performing loans in the five banks which was attributable to poor corporate governance practices, lax credit administration processes and the absence or non-adherence to the banks’ credit risk management practices.

He said the CBN is also injecting N400 billion tier two capital into the five banks to salvage the financial condition banks.

He said, “As at June 4, 2009 when I assumed office as Governor of the CBN, the total amount outstanding at the Expanded Discount Window (EDW) was N256.571 billion most of which was owed by the five banks.

A review of the activity in the EDW showed that four banks had been almost permanently locked in as borrowers and were clearly unable to repay their obligations. A fifth bank had been a very frequent borrower when its profile ordinarily should have placed it among the net placers of funds in the market. Whereas the five banks were by no means the only ones to have benefited from the EDW, the persistence and frequency of their demand pointed to a deeper problem and the CBN identified them as probable source of financial instability, most likely suffering from deeper problems due to non-performing loans.

The impact of the situation of these banks was being felt by the market in different negative ways. Because of this strain in their balance sheets, the banks pushed up the interest rate paid to private sector deposits and their competitors had to follow suit. They also contributed to the destabilization of the inter-bank market as many of their competitors were unwilling to take an unsecured risk on them.
It was primarily because of these banks, or at least some of them, that the CBN took the step of guaranteeing the inter-bank market when it stopped granting new lines under the EDW. Without that guarantee, almost four banks would not have been able to borrow in the inter-bank and would probably have collapsed.

As you are aware, we guaranteed the inter-bank market to give us the time to conduct a thorough diagnostic of the banks and ensure that appropriate remedial action is taken. At least four of the banks in question have since the guarantee came into force either remained heavy users of funds at the EDW or drawn heavily from other banks under cover of the CBN guarantee to wind-down at this window. In all events, it is clear that they do not have the ability to meet their obligations to depositors and creditors as they are in a grave situation.

In view of the aforementioned circumstances, I instructed the Director of Banking Supervision of the CBN to carry out a Special Examination of the following five banks: Afribank Plc, FinbankPlc, Intercontinental Bank Plc, Oceanic Bank Plc and Union Bank Plc.The examination was conducted by a joint team of CBN and NDIC officials. The major findings on the five banks included:

1. Excessively high level of non-performing loans in the five banks which was attributable to poor corporate governance practices, lax credit administration processes and the absence or non-adherence to the bank’s credit risk management practices. Thus the percentage of non-performing loans to total loans ranged from 19% to 48%. The 5 banks will therefore need to make additional provision of N539.09 billion.

2. The total loan portfolio of these five banks was N2,801.92 billion. Margin loans amounted to N456.28 billion and exposure to Oil and Gas was N487.02 billion. Aggregate non-performing loans stood at Ml,143 billion representing 40.81%.3. From 1 and 2 above, it is evident that the five banks accounted for a disproportionate component of the total exposure to Capital Market and Oil and Gas, thus reflecting heavy concentration to high risk areas relative to other banks in the industry.

4. The huge provisioning requirements have led to significant capital impairment. Consequently, all the banks are undercapitalised for their current levels of operations and are required to increase their provisions for loan losses, which impacted negatively on their capital. Indeed one Is technically insolvent with a Capital Adequacy Ratio of (1.01%). Thus, a minimum capital injection of N204.94 billion will be required in the 5 banks to meet the minimum capital adequacy ratio of 10%.

5. The five banks were either perennial net-takers of funds in the inter-bank market or enjoyed liquidity support from the CBN for long periods of time, a clear evidence of liquidity. In other words, these banks were unable to meet their maturing obligations as they fall due without resorting to the CBN or the inter-bank market. As a matter of fact, the outstanding balance on the EDW of the five banks amounted to N 127.85 billion by end July 2009, representing 89.81% of the total industry exposure to the CBN on its discount window while their net guaranteed inter-bank takings stood at N253.30 billion as at August 02, 2009. Their Liquidity Ratios ranged from 17.65% to 24% as at May 31, 2009. (Regulatory minimum is 25%).

It is important to note that at least three of the banks are systemically important (accounting for more than 5% of Assets and Deposits in the Banking System) and together the five banks account for 39.93% of loans, 29.99% of deposits, and 31.47% of total assets as at May 31, 2009.

Given the extent of the asset quality problem leading to liquidity stresses, and the variety of stress points on the banks1 balance sheets, failure to act to secure the financial health of these banks will clearly place the system at risk. The Central Bank has a responsibility to act to protect all depositors and creditors and ensure that no one loses money due to bank failure. The Bank also needs to move decisively to remove this principal cause of financial instability and restore confidence in the Banking System.

Consequently, having reviewed all the reports of the examiners and the comments of the Directors and Deputy Governors, I am satisfied that these five institutions are in a grave situation and that their Management have acted in a manner detrimental to the interest of their depositors and creditors. Therefore, in exercise of my powers as contained in Sections 33 and 35 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 1991, as amended, and after securing the consent of the Board of Directors of the CBN,

I hereby remove the Managing Directors and the Executive Directors of the following banks from office with effect from Friday, August 14, 2009. Afribank Plc, Intercontinental Bank Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Oceanic International Bank Plc and Finbank Plc. These persons forthwith cease to be directors and officers of their respective banks.

The Board of the Central Bank of Nigeria has also appointed the following as the MD/CEOs of the affected banks: Mr. John Aboh – MD/CEO Oceanic International Bank Plc, Mr. Mahmud L. Alabi- MD/CEO Intercontinental Bank Plc, Mr. Nebolisa Arah – MD/CEO Afribank Plc, Mrs. Suzanne Iroche- MD/CEO Finbank Plc, Mrs. Funke Osibodu – MD/CEO Union Bank Plc

Each of the above will head a management team that will include Executive Directors and Chief Financial Officers to be appointed by the CBN. This team is tasked with continuing the businesses of the banks as a going concern. I therefore appeal to the Boards of the affected banks, in their own interest, to cooperate with the newly appointed Executive Management.

We are conscious of the fact that changing management alone will not resolve this problem. Consequently, the CBN is injecting a total of about N400 billion into these five banks with immediate effect in form of Tier 2 Capital to be repaid from proceeds of capitalization in the near future. This injection is sufficient to resolve and stabilize all the institutions and enable them continue normal business. The injection of fresh capital by the CBN is a temporary measure as government does not intend to hold the shares for long and shall divest its holdings as soon as new investors recapitalize these banks.

Let me also advise all debtors of Nigerian banks, that the CBN and all government agencies are united in our commitment to support the recovery efforts of the banks. Debtors who do not pay shall have their names published in National Newspapers in due course and we will solicit the support of law enforcement agencies in recovery.

Let me reassure especially the customers of the affected banks and all the banks in general that there is no cause for alarm. They should continue to transact their normal business in the banks where their accounts are domiciled as this exercise is meant to further strengthen the banking industry and recapitalize the affected banks.

I should also state at this point that the scope of the Special Examination was widened to cover all 24 banks. So far, we have concluded the audit of 10 banks including these five, the others being Diamond Bank, First Bank, United Bank for Africa, Guaranty Trust bank and Sterling Bank. We have also commenced the next batch of 11 banks and hope to conclude them by end of August. All in all, we expect to conclude the audit in mid-September.

The Central bank is requiring all banks to make appropriate provisioning for non-performing loans and disclose them. We hope that by the end of this quarter, all banks would have cleaned up their Balance Sheets. On the basis of the information available to us so far, we are confident that the banking system is safe and sound and we have dealt with the major sources of systemic risk.

I will conclude by restating that, going forward, the CBN will not waiver in its desire to ensure that public confidence in the Nigerian banking system is maintained through appropriate disclosures and the reinvigoration of its policy of zero tolerance on all professional and unethical conducts.

We will not allow any bank to fail. However, we will also ensure that officers of banks and debtors who contribute to bank failures are brought to book to the full extent of the law and that all proceeds of infraction are confiscated where legally feasible.”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/08/14/cbn-sacks-5-banks-directors/comment-page-6/

*N1.1 trillion bad loans, Liquidity ratio below minimum, Over reliance on interbank and CBN borrowing[i][/i]


CBN sacks 5 banks’ CEOs, appoints acting MD/CEOs


The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday sacked with immediate effect the Managing Director/Chief Executives and Executive Directors of five banks namely, Afribank PLC, Finbank PLC, Intercontinental Bank Plc, Oceanic Bank Plc and Union Bank Plc.

The affected chief executives are Mr, Sebastin Adigwe (Afribank), Mr. Okey Nwosu (Finbank), Dr. Erastus Akingbola (Intercontinental Bank), Dr. (Mrs.) Cecilia Ibru (Oceanic Bank), and Dr. Bath Ebong.

The apex bank also announced the appointment of new acting chief executives for the five banks namely Mr. John Aboh – MD/CEO Oceanic International Bank Plc, Mr. Mahmud L. Alabi- MD/CEO Intercontinental Bank Plc, Mrs. Suzanne Iroche- MD/CEO Finbank Plc, Mrs. Funke Osibodu – MD/CEO Union Bank Plc

CBN Governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi said the banks’ officials were removed due to high level of non performing loans in the five banks which was attributable to poor corporate governance practices, lax credit administration processes and the absence or non-adherence to the banks’ credit risk management practices.

He said the CBN is also injecting N400 billion tier two capital into the five banks to salvage the financial condition banks.

He said, “As at June 4, 2009 when I assumed office as Governor of the CBN, the total amount outstanding at the Expanded Discount Window (EDW) was N256.571 billion most of which was owed by the five banks.

A review of the activity in the EDW showed that four banks had been almost permanently locked in as borrowers and were clearly unable to repay their obligations. A fifth bank had been a very frequent borrower when its profile ordinarily should have placed it among the net placers of funds in the market. Whereas the five banks were by no means the only ones to have benefited from the EDW, the persistence and frequency of their demand pointed to a deeper problem and the CBN identified them as probable source of financial instability, most likely suffering from deeper problems due to non-performing loans.

The impact of the situation of these banks was being felt by the market in different negative ways. Because of this strain in their balance sheets, the banks pushed up the interest rate paid to private sector deposits and their competitors had to follow suit. They also contributed to the destabilization of the inter-bank market as many of their competitors were unwilling to take an unsecured risk on them.
It was primarily because of these banks, or at least some of them, that the CBN took the step of guaranteeing the inter-bank market when it stopped granting new lines under the EDW. Without that guarantee, almost four banks would not have been able to borrow in the inter-bank and would probably have collapsed.

As you are aware, we guaranteed the inter-bank market to give us the time to conduct a thorough diagnostic of the banks and ensure that appropriate remedial action is taken. At least four of the banks in question have since the guarantee came into force either remained heavy users of funds at the EDW or drawn heavily from other banks under cover of the CBN guarantee to wind-down at this window. In all events, it is clear that they do not have the ability to meet their obligations to depositors and creditors as they are in a grave situation.

In view of the aforementioned circumstances, I instructed the Director of Banking Supervision of the CBN to carry out a Special Examination of the following five banks: Afribank Plc, FinbankPlc, Intercontinental Bank Plc, Oceanic Bank Plc and Union Bank Plc.The examination was conducted by a joint team of CBN and NDIC officials. The major findings on the five banks included:

1. Excessively high level of non-performing loans in the five banks which was attributable to poor corporate governance practices, lax credit administration processes and the absence or non-adherence to the bank’s credit risk management practices. Thus the percentage of non-performing loans to total loans ranged from 19% to 48%. The 5 banks will therefore need to make additional provision of N539.09 billion.

2. The total loan portfolio of these five banks was N2,801.92 billion. Margin loans amounted to N456.28 billion and exposure to Oil and Gas was N487.02 billion. Aggregate non-performing loans stood at Ml,143 billion representing 40.81%.3. From 1 and 2 above, it is evident that the five banks accounted for a disproportionate component of the total exposure to Capital Market and Oil and Gas, thus reflecting heavy concentration to high risk areas relative to other banks in the industry.

4. The huge provisioning requirements have led to significant capital impairment. Consequently, all the banks are undercapitalised for their current levels of operations and are required to increase their provisions for loan losses, which impacted negatively on their capital. Indeed one Is technically insolvent with a Capital Adequacy Ratio of (1.01%). Thus, a minimum capital injection of N204.94 billion will be required in the 5 banks to meet the minimum capital adequacy ratio of 10%.

5. The five banks were either perennial net-takers of funds in the inter-bank market or enjoyed liquidity support from the CBN for long periods of time, a clear evidence of liquidity. In other words, these banks were unable to meet their maturing obligations as they fall due without resorting to the CBN or the inter-bank market. As a matter of fact, the outstanding balance on the EDW of the five banks amounted to N 127.85 billion by end July 2009, representing 89.81% of the total industry exposure to the CBN on its discount window while their net guaranteed inter-bank takings stood at N253.30 billion as at August 02, 2009. Their Liquidity Ratios ranged from 17.65% to 24% as at May 31, 2009. (Regulatory minimum is 25%).

It is important to note that at least three of the banks are systemically important (accounting for more than 5% of Assets and Deposits in the Banking System) and together the five banks account for 39.93% of loans, 29.99% of deposits, and 31.47% of total assets as at May 31, 2009.

Given the extent of the asset quality problem leading to liquidity stresses, and the variety of stress points on the banks1 balance sheets, failure to act to secure the financial health of these banks will clearly place the system at risk. The Central Bank has a responsibility to act to protect all depositors and creditors and ensure that no one loses money due to bank failure. The Bank also needs to move decisively to remove this principal cause of financial instability and restore confidence in the Banking System.

Consequently, having reviewed all the reports of the examiners and the comments of the Directors and Deputy Governors, I am satisfied that these five institutions are in a grave situation and that their Management have acted in a manner detrimental to the interest of their depositors and creditors. Therefore, in exercise of my powers as contained in Sections 33 and 35 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 1991, as amended, and after securing the consent of the Board of Directors of the CBN,

I hereby remove the Managing Directors and the Executive Directors of the following banks from office with effect from Friday, August 14, 2009. Afribank Plc, Intercontinental Bank Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Oceanic International Bank Plc and Finbank Plc. These persons forthwith cease to be directors and officers of their respective banks.

The Board of the Central Bank of Nigeria has also appointed the following as the MD/CEOs of the affected banks: Mr. John Aboh – MD/CEO Oceanic International Bank Plc, Mr. Mahmud L. Alabi- MD/CEO Intercontinental Bank Plc, Mr. Nebolisa Arah – MD/CEO Afribank Plc, Mrs. Suzanne Iroche- MD/CEO Finbank Plc, Mrs. Funke Osibodu – MD/CEO Union Bank Plc

Each of the above will head a management team that will include Executive Directors and Chief Financial Officers to be appointed by the CBN. This team is tasked with continuing the businesses of the banks as a going concern. I therefore appeal to the Boards of the affected banks, in their own interest, to cooperate with the newly appointed Executive Management.

We are conscious of the fact that changing management alone will not resolve this problem. Consequently, the CBN is injecting a total of about N400 billion into these five banks with immediate effect in form of Tier 2 Capital to be repaid from proceeds of capitalization in the near future. This injection is sufficient to resolve and stabilize all the institutions and enable them continue normal business. The injection of fresh capital by the CBN is a temporary measure as government does not intend to hold the shares for long and shall divest its holdings as soon as new investors recapitalize these banks.

Let me also advise all debtors of Nigerian banks, that the CBN and all government agencies are united in our commitment to support the recovery efforts of the banks. Debtors who do not pay shall have their names published in National Newspapers in due course and we will solicit the support of law enforcement agencies in recovery.

Let me reassure especially the customers of the affected banks and all the banks in general that there is no cause for alarm. They should continue to transact their normal business in the banks where their accounts are domiciled as this exercise is meant to further strengthen the banking industry and recapitalize the affected banks.

I should also state at this point that the scope of the Special Examination was widened to cover all 24 banks. So far, we have concluded the audit of 10 banks including these five, the others being Diamond Bank, First Bank, United Bank for Africa, Guaranty Trust bank and Sterling Bank. We have also commenced the next batch of 11 banks and hope to conclude them by end of August. All in all, we expect to conclude the audit in mid-September.

The Central bank is requiring all banks to make appropriate provisioning for non-performing loans and disclose them. We hope that by the end of this quarter, all banks would have cleaned up their Balance Sheets. On the basis of the information available to us so far, we are confident that the banking system is safe and sound and we have dealt with the major sources of systemic risk.

I will conclude by restating that, going forward, the CBN will not waiver in its desire to ensure that public confidence in the Nigerian banking system is maintained through appropriate disclosures and the reinvigoration of its policy of zero tolerance on all professional and unethical conducts.

We will not allow any bank to fail. However, we will also ensure that officers of banks and debtors who contribute to bank failures are brought to book to the full extent of the law and that all proceeds of infraction are confiscated where legally feasible.”

novaman:
@folem
i stand to be corrected i know for sure dat of the top 4 in EPL the Emirate and the city of Manchester stadium are a mixture of grass and artificial, even Barcelona and several others in the EPL, Emirate stadium save lots of money and the turf is green all season

Emirates stadium has real and artificial grass mix surface as well as City of Manchester stadium but they don't have athletics track.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desso_GrassMaster

Field events like shot put, hammer throw, discuss, javelin will damage the artificial turf @ many of the stadia.

Kaduna & Abuja still have natural grass surface.

novaman:
Kano
Enugu
Calabar
Warri-Delta
Ogun
Abuja
Lagos
Bauchi
Kaduna

With the completion of these stadium for the U-17 plus River State that will give you a total of 10 good artificial turf good enough for the best kind of football, all the NFL needs to do is to ask premier league teams to relocate to the nearest venue while their state is expected to also develop their own artificial turf within a year, I believe this is possible, the more Fifa pro turf we have the better for our league, I believe every state can develop at least one or two.

What happens to track & FIELD events?

[quote author=oyinda. link=topic=303114.msg4298105#msg4298105 date=1249400908]rotfl. i can't believe many of the comments on this topic either. nigeria is screwed. . . .but nigerians are even more screwed. lol

thank u fm4real2k6 jare.[/quote]You can see that it is Nigerians that need rebranding and re-orientation, Last year Nigeria was rated 4th but now 1st and the haters find it hard to take.

Bayelsa 1-2 Stade Malien CAF Confederation Cup

novaman:
We remember what happened to Gulder some years back, our league alone can have the - the OFFICIAL BEER - 500Million,

Nigeria is a Sharia country so cannot have a National Official Beer.

The fear of Boko Haram ,

http://soccertalknigeria.com/?p=95


Conversation With Oyuiki Obaseki


BY THE TIME you read this, the 2009 Nigeria Premier League Congress will be about rounding off in Makurdi, Benue State.

Somehow, the July 21-23, 2009 schedule escaped my attention until it was right upon me, otherwise I would have tried to bring this article forward. Perhaps I would even have found time to attend the congress as an observer, but all that is too late now.

However, I was lucky to have a “private telephone congress” with NPL chairman Chief Oyuiki Obaseki Tuesday this week just as he prepared to leave his Abuja office for Makurdi for the “real congress.” Last week in this column, I had raised the matter of the NFL’s alleged serial indebtedness which culminated in the locking up of its offices by the Environmental Protection Agency of the Federal Capital Territory, and I promised find out from Obaseki exactly why the NPL could not pay its bills, despite its huge in-flow of sponsorship funds.

My admiration for Obaseki’s crusading efforts on the Globacom Premier League is well documented in this column, but I am also the first to blow the whistle whenever I felt he was stepping out of line. I ‘stood’ in front of the “Moving Train” for 43 minutes and here is what transpired…

MUMINI ALAO: Good morning, Chief Obaseki.

OYUIKI OBASEKI: Good morning, my son, Mumini. How is your family?

We are fine. To start with, I will like to know whether you are back in your office in Abuja or you are operating from under a tree.
Your office was locked up last week because you couldn’t pay your bills.

I am back in my office. It is true that our office was sealed last week. But we have resolved the issue and we are back in business. It was a minor issue.

How come you couldn’t pay your bills in the first place? With the millions of Naira you are receiving from Globacom annually, you shouldn’t be getting locked up over a N200,000 levy.

I agree, but there was actually a communication gap between us and the agency. The total bill was N300,000 and I actually wanted to pay it in full last year. But I was told we could pay instalmentally so that we could direct our funds to more pressing needs. We paid N100,000 but instead of the agency giving us a notice to pay the balance, they came to seal our office. We were in Lagos for the Federation Cup final when this happened and, immediately on arrival back in Abuja, my secretary Alhassan Yakmut went straight to the agency to complain and they came to open the office. We have also paid the balance N200,000, so everything is okay.

Unfortunately for you, that episode has reinforced suspicions in football circles that the NPL is broke because you have mismanaged your sponsorship funds. How many months salary do you owe your staff?

Don’t listen to some of your colleagues, Mumini. Some of them are mischievous. God is my witness that we are we not owing any staff salaries as I speak to you. Today is July 21, and we have paid salary for June. Yes, it is possible that salary may be delayed occasionally for logistic reasons, but we still pay within reasonable time. In fact, the salary is paid directly into the bank accounts of staff, from the accountant down to the cleaners and security men. You may go ahead and conduct your own investigation.

For now, I will take your word, but what we hear is that you can’t pay salary because you claim you are doing capital projects. My question would be don’t you make different provisions for capital and recurrent expenditure?

Thank you. If after all my years in business and at my age, I don’t know the difference between capital and recurrent, then something is wrong with me. I told you already that we do not owe. However, what I can also add is that we are doing a staff audit and those we consider ineffective will be swept out. Maybe some of them are giving out false information to cause a distraction and scuttle the audit process, but they will not succeed.

How rich is the NPL? Apart from the title sponsorship money from GLOBACOM, your other sources of income appear to be shrouded in secrecy. For instance, how much is your television contract worth? Nobody seems to know

Thank you for asking me this question. I have been hearing all sorts of rumour on this television contract thing and now is the time for me to speak out. When I first got here in 2005, I spent my money to run this secretariat. I have never received One Kobo subvention from any government and I’m waiting for anyone to challenge me on that. Alhaji Sani Lulu (current NFF chairman), Amanze Uchegbulam (vice chairman), Ade Ojeikere and Aisha Falode were all members of my Interim Management Committee and they are alive to prove me right or wrong. We didn’t have enough money and we thought we could make some by selling the TV rights for the league.

NTA and AIT bidded for it and we demanded for N230 million. AIT brought N90m as first instalment but I rejected it because NTA promised to bring N130m. We also wanted more Nigerians to see the league and NTA had a larger network. But eventually, NTA kept postponing its payment until it finally reneged. I regretted rejecting the AIT cheque and I have apologized for not believing them because they didn’t have much equipment at the time. But see where they are today.

Anyway, it was after we lost AIT and NTA that our present consultants for the TV rights, Total Promotions, came in. They brought in DSTV to partner with them and that is the arrangement we still have on ground.

How much is the contract worth?

They paid N114 million for the first year in 2006. The contract is for four years with an annual increase of ten percent.

How much do you get from DSTV?

We don’t have a contract with DSTV. It was Total Promotions that brought in DSTV so they have their own arrangement between them. Total Promotions also brought in NTA at a time and they were paying the cost of NTA’s coverage so that more Nigerians could watch the league. So, instead of NTA paying rights fees to us, they were actually being paid to cover the matches.

So, you don’t get any money from NTA either.

Walahi, nothing. Olorun ngbo! (God can testify!)

How much of the money from Total Promotions do you give to the clubsides?

They don’t get any share.

Why not? It is the clubs that play the football, so why are they not getting any share of the TV money?

The truth is that the money is not big enough to share and we have an agreement with the clubs who are also members of the NPL board on this. The money is small and it is exhausted on organizing the league. But, beginning from the next (2009/2010) season, part of the proposals we have prepared for congress is to approve the payment of 40 per cent share of the TV money for distribution to the club sides. We can afford to do that now because things are becoming more comfortable for us as a whole.

So, what have you been doing for the clubs before from all your sponsorship money apart from paying your referees and match commissioners? The clubs don’t appear to be getting much from you.

They are receiving much and you can ask them. We give them N10 million each at the start of every season from the GLOBACOM fee and that is N200million for 20 clubs. We now pay the indemnities for match officials and that is a big load lifted off the necks of the clubs. We also assist them in many other ways. For example, when Jose Mourinho came to Nigeria recently, it was the NPL that paid the participation fee for all the 20 Premier League coaches that attended. We paid N150,000 per participant.

How much do you receive from GLOBACOM every year?

About N800,000 million. For next season, we are actually expecting around N900,000 million according to the yearly graduation in the contract.

That is a huge sum of money. Are you saying you spend all that on match indemnities and training?

Of course not. Even you mentioned early on that recurrent and capital expenditure are different. We have also spent a lot of money on capital projects. We now have our own secretariat building from where I am talking to you and we have acquired another piece of land which we are going to develop for commercial purposes. For instance, this secretariat cost us about N200.000million to buy and we have paid for it in full. When the FCDA (Federal Capital Development Authority) came to write a valuation report on it recently, they valued it at N430 million. That is the kind of legacy that I want to leave for the Premier League.

I am a business man and I know the value of investing. We can’t spend all our sponsorship money by sharing to clubs and paying indemnities. The additional piece of land we want to buy will cost us N19 million by the time all the processes and documentations are complete. But I am already getting offers from people who are ready to pay as much as N300,000 million because there’s rock on the land which they can blast and make money. But we are not planning to sell.

Do the club sides share in your vision? Are they satisfied with what you are giving out to them? Are they not grumbling for a bigger share of the sponsorship money?

Nobody has complained to me and I am sure many of them will read this interview. Just recently, on the morning of the Federation Cup final in Lagos, I met with all the 20 Premier League clubs with the NFF chairman, Alhaji Sani Lulu. I challenged anybody who had any grievance against me to speak up. Except for some people who felt that we didn’t give them three points and three goals in some protest cases, nobody accused me of any financial mismanagement. Some of the club owners call me a crazy man because I don’t take any rubbish, but none of them has ever called me a thief.

They call you a crazy man, but we (journalists) call you a “Moving Train.”

(Laughter).Thank you.

I will suggest that you repeat that open challenge to the clubs at the Congress in Makurdi when you will have a full house so that other football stakeholders and journalists can serve as witnesses. If you come out clean in everybody’s presence, there will less speculation in the press about your secretariat and management of funds.

I will do exactly as you have suggested. Trust me; I will do that unless I forget. You know, I am getting old.

Who are the other official sponsors of the League and what is the worth of their sponsosrship?

We have Carrier Insurance who are insuring all players in the league and they pay an annual fee of N20 million. Then we have an trial MoU with Lucozade Sport to supply 9,000 cartons of the drink for sharing to all the clubs every week. It is a sponsorship in kind, not in cash. But we will soon be meeting with them to see whether the MoU can become a permanent contract. If you come to our office now, the only drink we will serve you is Lucozade Sport.

Why were you reluctant to investigate the 9-0 match-fixing controversy of the final day of last season? Is it because the two clubs involved, Zamfara United and Kaduna United have their top officials as members of your board?

I will not lie to you, Mumini. But I was very embarrassed to learn that the clubs involved in this allegation have top officials in my board. And they, too, are very embarrassed. But it is not because of them that I was reluctant. It’s because the last time we conducted a similar investigation, I spent N6 million to fund the committee and nothing came out due to lack of evidence. I don’t want to pre-empt the findings of the present committee. We will receive their report before the congress begins in Makurdi so that we can present it before the whole house. But, ahead of next season, we have already proposed some amendments to the league rules that will make it unattractive for teams to manipulate results especially towards the end of the season. I don’t want to reveal those proposals now until they have been adopted by the congress. But I can assure you that the penalties for match-fixing are going to be very hefty indeed. Presently, there are no penalties at all in the rules, and even if a team is found guilty of match-fixing, no punishment is specified.

That is a serious oversight on the part of your League board or whoever wrote the rules.

I accept, my brother, I accept. But now, we are going to correct that.

I have a suggestion on how you can prove match-fixing without wasting money on any investigative committees and searching for evidence that cannot be found.

Please tell me about it.

Get your lawyers to draft rules on match result

Please tell me about it.

Get your lawyers to draft rules on match results and/or situations that will be classified as “totally unacceptable” or “seriously suspicious” especially in the last four weeks of the season. Suspicious results or circumstances will include outcomes that are glaringly inconsistent with a team’s overall performance during the rest of the season. And if such results and/or circumstances have any impact on who wins the title or goes on relegation, that will be enough “proof” of misdemeanor which is automatically punishable under the rules of the league without any recourse to any special investigation. Lawyers have a way of drafting such rules without leaving any loop-hole for fraudulent clubs to exploit. Maybe you want to brief your lawyers accordingly.

Thank you for that brilliant suggestion, Mumini. I will share it with my members and we will see what our lawyers can do about it. We will do everything to put a stop to these last day match-fixing scandals.

You said early on that you had to spend your personal fund to sustain the NPL at some point. I hope you have been fully refunded of all your money.

Yes, yes, I have got my money back. Except for just a few hundred thousand Naira, I can say that the NPL is not owing me any money again.

Thank you for your time, and I wish you a very successful Congress in Makurdi.

Thank you very much, my brother.


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


http://www.completesportsnigeria.com/details.php?category=news&id=9136



[size=16pt]Obaseki Survives Ouster![/size]


As Premier League Clubs Demand For N300m Sponsorship Pay Rise

The congress of the Nigeria Premier League board ended in Makurdi Benue State with club’s demanding for an enhanced share of the title sponsorship fee. The refusal by the NPL board nearly cost Chief Obaseki his position as the congress contemplated his removal.


Hitherto, each of the 20 Premier League clubs receive N10m from the Globacom Telecommunication title sponsorship money.


But the clubs insisted that in the realistic view of the global economic meltdown, there is salient need for the league board to raise the ceiling on their shares.


This demand caused a serious commotion following the hard stance of the NPL and the club owners not to shift ground.


But the situation was brought under control when the house adopted a motion by Davidson Owumi for a review panel to be set up to harmonise the two parties positions.


Complete Sports understands that, this led to the appointment of Mallam David Suleman, chairman of Niger Tornadoes and his Gateway of Aboekuta counterpart to work in tandem with the NPL secretariat to iron out the issue.


NPL had tabled a budget of over N1.1billion to the congress with Globacom’s graduated sponsorship fee of N900m top on the list of the income budget for the league body.


In a communique at the end of the Congress read by the chairman of the Media Committee, Honourable Joe Amene, the Congress approved the final league table for the 2008/2009 season and endorsed the winners and those relegated –– Nasarawa United, FC Abuja, Akwa United and JUTH.


Similarly, the Congress adopted September 19, 2009 as kick off date for the 2009/2010 season but subject to the ratification of the NFF AGM billed for Lokoja, Kogi State.


The NPL congress also endorsed the use of TV friendly stadia for the 2009/2010 season and commended Engineer Sani Ndanusa, Minister of Sports for accepting to release the Nigeria 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup facilities to the NPL for clubs use.


Finally, the Congress adopted the introduction of regular meetings between the NPL and the clubs, thus, approving three emergency meetings during each season, just as it expressed gratitude to the Benue State government for accepting the responsibility to host the congress.

9ijaprince:
Pls who knows the result of tp mazembe and heartland fc?

TP Mazembe 2 - 0 Heartland

fm4real2k6:
well the RULES ARE CLEAR, TRY TO READ THE caf RULES ON QUALIFICATION for Confederation cup, you will see that NFF did the right thing, and even if it's left for Enyimba to decide, then they'll want to go to the continent as a champion a way i think they're justified.

Plz which station dey show the CAF Champions leagues matches, e be like say NTA o dey show am, its urgent plz.
ty

In reality ENYIMBA has no say once NFF has given its decision, any other thing being said is just playing to the gallery.

NFF is the highest decision ruling body on football matters and the only body that can register clubs for CAF competitions.

If ENYIMBA had won the Premier League and was due to play in CAF Champions League, then and only then would the runner up in the Federation Cup be able to play in the CAF Confederation Cup and Nigeria will lose the 2nd spot available to it as a top 12 country.

NFF is right.

http://www.cafonline.com/userfiles/file/Regulation/confederatio-cup.pdf

Regulations of the CAF Confederation Cup

Lagos roads are deplorable but people still buy new cars to ply these bad roads.

Fashola's propaganda machine will soon be exposed.

The gorge on College Road, Ifako has been under repairs for more than 2 years and the traffic gridlock there is just pathetic.

ow11:
Good move but the fear is the abuse as talented U-17 players will be said to have failed the age test. All in all at least we expect to see players that will play in 5 world cups and the experience gathered will maybe even help us win it at some point.

If Okocha can play in 3 (4 if we qualified in 2006) then a gifted 17 year old Nigerian can play in 6.

Kanu was from our U-17 and he has played in 2 (France 98, Korea Japan 2002) but it could have been 4 and if we make it to SA 2010 maybe 5 (was not selected for USA 1994)

http://thepmnews.com/2009/07/13/soccer-madness





A mild drama played itself out yesterday at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, venue of the maiden edition of the Federation Cup final between Enyimba International of Aba and Sharks of Port Harcourt.

A fan of the People’s Elephant, as Enyimba are fondly called, stripped himself to his pants and dashed into the pitch at the end of the encounter, which saw his team lifting the maiden edition of the rechristened FA Cup on an away soil.

Immediately Enyimba got the curtain raiser, the crazy fan removed his shirt and trousers leaving only his pants and was about running into the field of play, but was denied access by the security operatives.

He had to go back to the stands where he had fun moving around in his pants.

However, five minutes to the end of the encounter; sensing that the security operatives had lost interest in him, he removed his pants and ran straight into the field of play stark naked.

Some members of the Boys Scout tried to catch up with him but he overpowered them. He was later arrested by security operatives who covered him with a black cardigan, before leading him back to the stands, where he continued to dance.

When asked of his name, he said, ‘just call me Enyimba.’’

Asked why he stripped himself, he retorted: ‘How best can I express my joy? My darling team has won the Federation Cup, so I have to do it.’’

dayokanu:
Kanu should be over 22 when he finished Secondary school and Julius should be like 40 now

A Police inspector for that matter.

Na U dash Julius that Rank?

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-55467.32.html


@ All Rumour mongers!

Aghahowa was never a police sergeant, he only played for Police Machnine FC of Benin. He may probably be older than he claims just like most Nigeria footballers with a standard deviation of +/- 5 years.

Interview with Aghahowa: African Soccer magazine No.54 April 2000 pp 28-31


African Soccer: You were said to have joined the Nigerian police force, is this true?


Julius Aghahowa: No, that's not true. What actually happened was that, before joining Insurance FC, I played briefly for the Police Machine team. When I moved to Insurance, the fans, not knowing my name, started to call me a policeman. that was all it was. I was never a cop.

If Kanu was even 22, in 1991 the claims of 45, 50 are just jokes.

smile4kenn:
My uncle was Kanu's classmate in secondary school,

My uncle is 47 years old now

If your Uncle is 47 now, then he was born in 1962 and if he graduated alongside Kanu from Holy Ghost College Owerri in 1991 he would have been 29 years old then! certainly old enough to be Kanu's Uncle too

snowdrops:
Na wa o. This guy spent 3 yrs with nigerian police, 2 yrs with insurance, 3 yrs with esperance in tunisia, another 7 yrs with shakhtar, then 4 yrs combined with wigan and Kayserispor, yet he is still 27yrs.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/8141106.stm

Niger sef, until una become grandpapa at 20, or armpit hair begin plait dada; una no go talk true.

Aghahowa may not be "27" but he was "17" during Nigeria 1999 (10 years ago) FIFA World Youth Championship.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Aghahowa



[size=16pt]Julius Aghahowa[/size]

Personal information

Full name Julius Aghahowa
Date of birth 12 February 1982 (age 27)
Place of birth    Benin City, Nigeria
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 101⁄2 in)
Playing position Striker

Club information

Current club Shakhtar Donetsk
Number 77

Youth career

1993-1995 Police Machines
1995-1998 Bendel Insurance FC

Senior career

Years Club App (Gls)

1998-1999 Insurance
1999-2000 Espérance
2000-2007 Shakhtar Donetsk 87 (32)
2007-2008 Wigan Athletic 20 (0)
2008-2009 Kayserispor 23 (6)
2009- Shakhtar Donetsk

 
National team

1999- Nigeria 32 (14)

Ibime:
Kanu wey been no sabi speak English properly, you think say him finish school at 17/18?

What is your Guesstimate?

MrCrackles:
Itz all a fraud. . . . . . Aghahowa must be about 45 now. . . . .Kanu is approaching 50!
Nigeria and fraud? I dont know which one will kill which first. . . . .

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


Kanu may be older than his official age but to claim he is over 40 may be an exaggeration.

[Quote]

http://www.newswatchngr.com/editorial/allaccess/special/10823140939.htm

Born August 1, 1976, in Owerri, Imo State, Kanu is the third of four children. His father worked with the Imo State Ministry of Works while his mother is a businesswoman. They were strict Presbyterians who inculcated in their children the best of Christian values. All his siblings, apart from the first child, a girl, are professional football players. The youngest brother, Christopher Ogbonna Kanu, cut his footballing teeth with Iwuanyanwu Comets. He has played for the Flying Eagles and Super Eagles. Ogbonna is currently with Ajax Amsterdam's junior team in Holland. Godwin, the first son, was Uche Okechukwu's defensive partner in Iwuayanwu Nationale of Owerri, Imo State in the mid 80s. Kanu's love for the game was inspired in those days by seeing his big brother appearing in Nationale's colours. His love and passion for excellence at the game, blossomed at Holy Ghost College, Owerri, in 1990. The school, popularly called 'Arugo,' was renowned for having a strong football pedigree in the state. In no time, Kanu was an integral part of the school team. At the same time, he was playing for the Ministry of Works Football Team where his father was working.

[/Quote]

[Quote]

http://nigerianmasses.com/sports_details.asp?id=1107&stateid=+

A 1991 product of Holy Ghost College Owerri, all who saw Kanu horn his talent at Uzzi Primary School pitch and Township Stadium Owerri predicted he had a great future ahead but not many envisaged he would have all these laurels dangling on his fragile neck. On one occasion, a pair of boots was getting tighter on the rapidly growing Kanu and he could not afford a new pair. He tore the edge and while his toes sprawled out, he took to the pitch. Such was his passion for the beautiful game. So, from the single-rooms structure in Amakohia crept out a special one who has put smiles on the faces of football-crazy Nigerians. He was the tallest among his generation of Eagles and his stature really loomed large in accomplishments.

[/Quote]

The average Naija Secondary school leaver is about 17-18 (without repeating classes) and that will put Kanu plausibly 36.

mzansigirl:
yes chaps u were right, the hookers robbed the pharaohs.

http://www.sundayworld.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1028727


Oops, we boobed – sorry


Our June 21 story about five Egyptian players inviting prostitutes to their hotel room has come back to bite us in the bum.


Our well placed sources, who swore to provide evidence supporting their allegations, have since failed to stand by the information they gave us.

Our sources include highly placed soccer officials, a senior police officer, hotel staff and a politician.

Since publication of the story, we have been flooded with e-mails from Egyptian fans disputing the story and demanding an apology.

We took this long to act because, until now, we felt certain we had first-hand witnesses. It is not clear to us if they are scared to speak out, or if they simply lied to us. One even told us of video footage in the possession of a cabinet minister, which could not be released, but which he had seen.

But then, Sunday World is big enough to say we have boobed, when we have, and this time we say so.

We therefore apologise to the Egyptian team and the Egyptian people for the embarrassment the story might have caused them.

Obama has already visited Egypt so maybe he bypassed Ghana too.

RSA:
Did you know that during the Confederation cup and the British lion tour in South Africa,when prostitutes stole money from Egyptians players in in their hotel and couple of british fans where robbed,a captain of Bayelsa Football team was shot dead in Nigeria?
And during that time there was also armed robery in a hotel where some of your local team was staying.I will get you the links if you're interested.

http://www.sundayworld.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1028727


Oops, we boobed – sorry


Our June 21 story about five Egyptian players inviting prostitutes to their hotel room has come back to bite us in the bum.


Our well placed sources, who swore to provide evidence supporting their allegations, have since failed to stand by the information they gave us.

Our sources include highly placed soccer officials, a senior police officer, hotel staff and a politician.

Since publication of the story, we have been flooded with e-mails from Egyptian fans disputing the story and demanding an apology.

We took this long to act because, until now, we felt certain we had first-hand witnesses. It is not clear to us if they are scared to speak out, or if they simply lied to us. One even told us of video footage in the possession of a cabinet minister, which could not be released, but which he had seen.

But then, Sunday World is big enough to say we have boobed, when we have, and this time we say so.

We therefore apologise to the Egyptian team and the Egyptian people for the embarrassment the story might have caused them.

http://www.234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Opinion/Blogs/5433247-184/Much_Ado_about_a_shrine_.csp




"We had all the gold, all the diamonds, all the land. White people had all the Bibles. Now, white people got all the gold, all the diamonds, all the land. We got all the Bibles. Somebody got gamed." - Eddie Griffin



In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe wrote that a man telling his son where the boundary of the family land was would say to him, "I think it is there, but do not swear before a deity." Now, I think it was Things Fall Apart, but I will take the author's advice,

Photographs of a certain legislator from Ogun State were recently published showing him kneeling (sic) before a shrine. Naked. http://www.saharareporters.com/images/stories/alausa.jpg

Apparently, he was in the process of taking some kind of oath or other to be loyal to his godfather(s). Being fully aware of the fact that Nigerians tend to treat oaths sworn on the Bible or Quran with extreme levity, his benefactors decided to do things the traditional way.

Now, after the photos were released, the legislator received condemnation from several quarters, with some even going so far as to declare that he should resign his office. For those people, having taken his oath of office on the Bible, he had no business going before a shrine of any sort, being a Christian man and all. That he would "stoop" to such depths shows that he is a person of unsound character and therefore unworthy of his high office.

Now, before all these people get their knickers in a twist, I would like to point out one little detail - Traditional forms of worship are not illegal in Nigeria. At least, not yet. Before the coming of the white man and his Bible and his concept of One God, we African people had our own traditions. Our ancestors worshipped several gods, and made sacrifices to them.

If you had to take an oath, you did it before a shrine, and you were fully aware of the consequences of breaking that oath. Unlike the white man's God, our gods didn't waste time before seeking retribution. Having by and large accepted the white man's idea of religion, complete with the concept of turning the other cheek, he proceeded to take our land, our crops, our resources, and our freedom. In exchange, he gave us the Bible. We were told "one man, one wife", our gods were denounced as "false", our traditions and customs, indeed, our very way of life, labeled "barbaric".

Now, some will jump in here to point out that the custom of killing twins in Calabar was indeed barbaric, and I make no argument against that. However, my people didn't kill twins, so what were we guilty of? Taking two or three wives?

You see, even among a society of cannibals, murder was a crime. One member of the tribe couldn't just kill and eat another. Granted, they didn't extend such rules to outsiders, but that's life. Afterall, didn't the white man burn women as witches? Wasn't Galileo denounced by the church for daring to challenge the conventional wisdom which dictated that the world was flat? You won't see any white historians labeling those actions as "barbaric".

Our hapless legislator failed to help his cause by mumbling about being forced to participate in the ceremony and so on. He claimed that before being allowed to contest any office, one had to take a traditional oath of allegiance to Governor Gbenga Daniel. He even said the Governor had shrines in his homes! My, my, what a stunning revelation! Had he yelled, "Wetin concern una? I swear for shrine and so? I kill pesin?!" the matter would have since been forgotten. The man apparently lacks the stones to own up to his own actions, he lacks character and should resign his office.

Seeing as our public officers are apparently more terrified of traditional deities than they are of Jehovah or Allah, I propose that some changes be made to the administration of the Oath of Office in Nigeria. First of all, the ceremony should be moved to a moonless midnight. The Justice who administers the oath should be replaced by a suitably attired Chief Priest of some deity. Then, the Bible and Quran should be replaced by a suitably sharpened and buffed cutlass. The potential office holder will then be asked to name his deity, intone "I swear by Amadioha, etc, " and bite the cutlass while dead chickens drip in the background.

I believe we will see a dramatic improvement in public administration thereafter.

yoruba:
British & Irish lions supporters came to South Africa in thousands not even one of them experienced any sort of crime. But imagine, if the world cup is played outside of Joburg Ill bet you it'll be a 100% safe event.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_east/8120493.stm

Rugby fan's warning after mugging in Bloemfontein


http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/British-And-Irish-Lions-Four-British-Fans-Robbed-In-Johannesburg-Ahead-Of-South-Africa-Fixture/Article/200906315313045?lpos=World_News_Top_Stories_Header_4&lid=ARTICLE_15313045_British_And_Irish_Lions%3A_Four_British_Fans_Robbed_In_Johannesburg_Ahead_Of_South_Africa_Fixture

Lions Fans Robbed Ahead Of Africa Clash

The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking

What counts towards the ranking?

The results of all international “A” matches contested by FIFA member associations are taken into account in the world ranking. The matches of an association’s youth teams or other representative sides have no influence. The FIFA Women’s World Ranking uses a separate system to determine the relative standings of women’s national teams.

Win, draw or defeat

The method of calculation places central importance on the result of each match by using the following customary points system:

Win 3 points Draw 1 point Defeat 0 points

To ensure that the formula is not only fair but also simple, matches that are decided by a penalty shoot-out
(which are considered draws under normal rules) result in the winning team receiving two points and the losing team one point.

Status of match

While World Cup matches carry a greater weighting than friendly fixtures to reflect their importance, it is important to acknowledge the importance of friendlies (and small regional tournaments) because they make up
50% of all the matches evaluated (during the 2002-2005 period, 25% of fixtures were World Cup qualifiers,
16% continental championship qualifiers, 7% continental championship final competitions and 2% World Cup final competitions).

The status of matches in different competitions is reflected by the following weighting multipliers:

Friendly match: 1.0; World Cup and continental championship qualifier: 2.5; continental final competition and
FIFA Confederations Cup: 3.0; World Cup final competition: 4.0

Strength of opponent

The opponents’ ranking is taken into account using the following formula: “[200 – ranking position]/ 100”. Only the team at the top of the ranking will be assigned the value 2.00 (teams ranked 150th and below are assigned the minimum weighting of 0.50).

Examples: team in 30th position in the ranking: [200 – 30] / 100 = 1.70; team ranked 85th: [200 -85] / 100 =
1.15; team ranked 122nd: [200 – 122] / 100 = 0.78

Regional strength

Assigning a weighting to take account of the comparative strengths of the different confederations is an essential element of the calculation of the ranking, because approximately 85% of all the international matches played are contested by two teams from the same confederations (2002-2005 figures).

Regional strength is calculated on the basis of the number of victories the teams representing the respective confederation have recorded in the last three final competitions of the FIFA World Cup™. For statistical reasons, the lowest possible weighting is 0.85 (weakest confederation) and the highest is 1.0 (strongest confederation). Confederations from which no teams have qualified for the World Cup finals (OFC) will be assigned the weighting of the weakest confederation.


Period assessed

Matches played during the last four years (48 months) are taken into account in the ranking. The considerable reduction in value of less recent matches ensures that a team’s latest successes have a much greater influence than earlier matches and the ranking therefore always reflects the latest developments in world football. Results during the last 12 months count in full, those from the previous year count half, while games played up to three and four years earlier have much less significant (100% - 50% - 30% - 20%).

Multiplication factor

To ensure that ranking points are always whole numbers, the final ranking points figure is always multiplied by
100.

biolabee:
RSA very big of you to acknowledge the respect that we have for you and your country

your team played very well and if they get their act right (getting a decent striker and one or two squad players) south africa may be the next revelation of the world cup going in the tradition of africans before (Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal & Ghana) respectively

However this is not to say there were no hitches

Issues noted

1. Hotel incidents with the Egypt and Brazil teams
2. Tramliners getting to match venues late and pple stranded at the stadia

However security seemed to be top notch and no other incidents were of note. I am sure this can be settled before next year.

My prayer for u guys is that Pienaar and Tshabalala have a nice season next year and dontget injured so they can give their best as your creative MFs.
quick one which city do u stay?


Be nice, they were worthy adversaries 


Anyone watching Murray V Warinka?

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2009/07/south_african_safety.html


South African Safety

Clifton Broumand has attended every World Cup since 1982, a total of 82 matches over eight tournaments. As a fan who has navigated countless stadiums, taken late-night trains and rushed around unfamiliar cities, he has never had a major safety concern. But as the 2010 event in South Africa approaches, Broumand offers this cautionary tale from his experience at the recent Confederations Cup.

"On the evening of the final in Johannesburg, my friend and I were walking back to our car and three males attempted to rob us at knife point," said Broumand, 51, who has lived in the Washington area for 27 years and serves as a referee in local amateur leagues. "We got out of that by yelling. Later that morning while I was sleeping at my B&B, my bungalow was broken into and I was assaulted, tied up, gagged and all of my possessions were stolen."

Confronted by intruders with a gun and knife, he said he lost a laptop computer, camera, two cell phones, cash, passport, shoes and all of his clothes -- except for the item used to cover his mouth. The incident occurred in an area well north of Johannesburg, seemingly safe for tourists, he said.

You'll want to keep reading this thread,

He said numerous police officers arrived at the scene, in large part, according to the B&B owner, because he was a foreigner who had been victimized. South African citizens were eager to assist him in a time of need.

"I had no other problems before or after the other [six] games that I attended. The people are extraordinarily nice. They offered me money and said, 'Take it! Take it! We are so sorry.' It's a great place, a great country. I will go back. It's just there is a small amount of people who will take advantage of the situation" with the World Cup and hundreds of thousands of visitors in the country.

Broumand borrowed money from a friend to buy new clothes and received an emergency passport before returning home to Washington this week.

"People need to know what to expect," he said. "I now have first-hand experience. I might've been the only victim of a violent crime the whole tournament, but that doesn't make me feel any better."

His message to those thousands of supporters who will be joining him in South Africa next year: "This will be the most challenging [of any World Cup] in regard to safety and security. You have to be exceptionally cautious."

hayo:
And I think he has a very thick skin.
Till date; he has not responded to the allegations against him concerning the ABUJA land allocations. I find that very strange.
And if you must know, he returned to his turf today by writing about the FG/Niger Delta amnesty.
O ga gan ni. If u are waiting to hear from Abati on this, you might be like the proverbial man waiting on the shores of a river - trying to capture the breathings of a crab.

Topics like that (also Corruption, Electoral malpractices e.t.c) are usually safe, unlike critiques of Sports, Music, Film which may get reaction from people who are not politicians.