₦airaland Forum

There are several software that you can use to merge workbooks but they usually cost about $10. Use the trial version I have linked below. It only works for a maximum of five spreadsheets. If it works, you can purchase it if you wish. If you don't like it, just type in "Merge Excel workbooks" into google and it will give you several software that can do it but they all cost about $10.00

http://merge-workbooks.download-242-23985.datapicks.com/

Yeah Mukina - I was just saying. They might as well be new cos they do not have national exposure.

Yawn . . . . 4Him and RichyBlack will argue dis ting till death do y'all part. Una no dey take break?

You gotta love Gabriele Marcotti and his insightful editorials:


[center]Deco regains his swagger[/center]

Gabriele Marcotti


You have to go back to his days at FC Porto to find the last time he was the main star (or as much of a star as any individual in a team managed by José Mourinho can be). Back then, Deco was the Jack of all trades who led Porto to an improbable Champions League crown and launched the Special One’s career.

Since then, he has always played second fiddle. With Portugal, first to Luis Figo (noblesse oblige) then to Cristiano Ronaldo. And, at Barcelona, the limelight went to Samuel Eto’o and Ronaldinho and later to Lionel Messi.

Indeed, in many ways, over the past two seasons he has slowly disappeared from view. Injuries played a small part – he missed two months last season but was relatively healthy throughout 2006-07 – as did off-the-pitch issues (his second marriage ended in divorce last March). Overall, with his performances steadily declining, he looked like the textbook case of a player whose career was heading south.

The focal point of Barcelona’s midfield became Xavi, a similarly built player, albeit one lacking Deco’s steel. The club let it be known in no uncertain terms (just as they had in the summer of 2007, when they found no takers) that they would listen to offers for him. At national team level, there were suggestions that João Moutinho, the rising star, would, once and for all, supplant him.

And yet, here he is. Portugal are among the bookmakers’ favourites to win Euro 2008, he is the glue linking the midfield and the front four and he is playing some of the best football of his career. Few players combine the vision and creativity of an attacking midfield player with the workrate and tackling ability of a holding midfield player. Deco makes highlight reels with his passing, dribbling and shooting, but his defensive prowess – he made more tackles than anyone at Euro 2004 – is just as important.

Back in the spring of 2004, before he was approached for the Chelsea job, I asked Mourinho to explain the way Porto played. He was effusive in his praise of Deco.

“We have a 4-4-2, with a holding midfielder and two midfielders who take turns getting forward,” he said. “And then there is Deco. He can play at the top of the diamond, he can make it a flat four in the middle, he can go wide and turn us into a 4-3-3. He controls our formation and makes it very difficult for the opponents.”

Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Portugal coach who will take over at Chelsea on July 1, now says that Deco is as close to “irreplaceable” as any of his men. How does this happen? How does a player whom many had written off suddenly wake up and regain the lost magic?

In fact, Deco’s renaissance probably began a few months ago. He put in one of his best performances of the past two years against Manchester United in the Champions League semi-final, prompting cynics to say that he was playing for a transfer and a new contract. They drew parallels with Patrick Vieira, who was anonymous for much of the 2005-06 season at Juventus only to reestablish himself as one of the best in the business at the 2006 World Cup.

We have a burning desire for answers and explanations and thus, to understand Deco’s decline, we naturally gravitate to some combination of the following: his injuries, his disintegrating marriage and the natural complacency that sets in when you have a long-term deal at a big club. It may well be that they all apply and serve to explain Deco’s plight.

It may also be that there is a certain randomness to football, a certain rhythm of peaks and troughs to players’ performances that has nothing to do with tangible or measurable factors. Sometimes things just happen.

Or maybe Deco realises the window of opportunity is closing. To quote Andrew Marvell: “At my back I always hear/ Time’s winged chariot hurrying near/ And yonder all before us lie/ Deserts of vast eternity.”

He’s won league titles and Champions League crowns, he’s a father and a millionaire many times over. On the eve of his 31st birthday – and with Moutinho “hurrying near” – this may be his last real chance to bring his adopted country (he was born in Brazil) their first international trophy.

Deco is back to where he was in 2004. And that is what could make all the difference for Scolari’s Portugal.


gabriele.marcotti@thetimes.co.uk

Nateevs, can you believe that Bayer Leverkusen have signed Renato Augusto for next season?

Arsene may sign cheap players but IMO they are all good even if they are not well known. His problem is that he is too tied to a style of play that does not profit him.

What is up with Scolari and the constant chasing of obvious targets, even when their club refuses to sell? If Madrid do not want to sell, stop chasing the player indefinitely - you will only inflate the price to a ridiculous amount. To be honest, I would think twice before spending more than £25m on Robinho. There are many other options. This is why I like Arsene Wenger when it comes to transfers. No club can ever take the piss because he has five transfer targets for every position.

Sky Sports:


Robinho's agent has claimed that Chelsea have made a 'firm offer' of £31.75million for the Real Madrid forward.

The Blues have been linked with the Brazilian forward since Luiz Felipe Scolari was appointed as the new manager at Stamford Bridge earlier this summer.

Speculation also surfaced on Thursday suggesting that Barcelona were preparing to table a bid for the player, although the Catalan club quickly dismissed the reports.

Robinho's representative Wagner Ribeiro maintains that he has been contacted by Barca scout Pepe Costa, but he expects the 24-year-old to stay at the Bernabeu.

Ribeiro insists that Real president Ramon Calderon is determined to keep Robinho, and does not expect Chelsea to be successful with their opening bid.

"I don't have an offer from Barca," Ribeiro told Catalan radio station Onda FM.

"But a director from the club called me to see how things are going with the player.

"I told him that there was a firm offer from Chelsea for 40million euros (£31.75million) but that (Madrid president) Ramon Calderon didn't want to transfer him.

"I am a man and I don't lie and the director who called me is Pepe Costa.

"I think it is difficult for Robinho to move to Chelsea and even more so to Barcelona because of the rivalry that exists between the two clubs.

"I told (Madrid sporting director) Pedja Mijatovic that Barca called me but it's as if Real Madrid wanted to sign Leo Messi."

Jo will make a big impact. Luka Modric, Jose Bosingwa and Zoltan Gera will also make a good impact. Alex Song may make the greatest impact if he is trusted to take Flaminis position. Carlos Vela may also make some impact but more next season than this.

They should cut it down to 12 sef. I got really bored watching teams like Poland and Switzerland in the last one.

Turkey, I believe.

The land of Ur where Abraham originated is also in Turkey.

The original men in the Bible were centred around Turkey and Iraq.

Maka still got it. Since you guys said he was getting old, I have been watching him closely. Personally, I do not see much difference between then and now. I watched him in the Euros and he was one of the only players for France to keep his reputation intact. Infact, I was surprised at his level of fitness because he was running around a lot more than he does at Chelsea since France only play with two central midfielders. Misplaced passes - I disagree completely. Ituen is saying he can bet that he will misplace his pass everytime he sees him play. I do not think my response was an overreaction because that is an inflammatory assessment of my favourite player. Pace? He still has more than Mikel. He plays his position in such a way that he does not rely on his physical prowess that much. I had seen him playing for Chelsea till 37. As for Mikel, I support him when he plays for Naija - but my support for Nigeria and my support for Chelsea do not overlap each other. They are mutually independent. For example, I never supported Babayaro over Graeme Le Saux. Mikel needs to wait his turn. Infact, I still do not see him as a DM per se. I wish we could have utilised him in a different position. Besides, we need two DM's. Even if we are going to ease Maka into retirement and let Mikel take his shirt, I don't mind. But what happens when Mikel is injured? Do you trust Essien to play that position? I certainly don't.

As for Kaka, we need to forget that. It will turn out to be a disaster if we pay the kind of money they are talking about. I watched Renato Augusto playing for Flamengo yesterday and the boy was outstanding. IMO, he is the new Kaka. We need to worry about the next generation and forget about people whose prices are already overinflated.

If Essien recieves possession in the positions Maka does, he will lose it 3 times as much as Maka does. If Mikel does the same, he will lose the ball twice as much as Maka does. Then I am here hearing that Maka is losing possession too much. What nonsense!

@ Nateevs, I will believe this Kaka story when I see it. Until then, it just sounds like rubbish press speculation. Maybe The Guardian is turning into The Daily Star with this silly rumour.

What are you guys talking about misplaced passes? You need to go to specsavers. From when Maka came into the team in December, until the end of the season, we did not lose a single game. The only games we lost were Carling Cup and Barnsley game when he was benched. All the games we lost from then were lost while Essien was playing DM. Time to move on, my ass. Maka was not involved in any single loss last season except for Aston Villa and Arsenal games away.

Maka did not play against Barnsley, Essien did.

Maka did not play against Spurs in Carling Cup, Essien did.

I can go on . . . Go figure. I can already figure out that Scolari is planning to use Essien as DM. Essien is a woeful DM.

I am furious with Scolaris decision. Yes Maka should leave within the next year or two but right now we don't have an adequate replacement. Like Superstan said Maka is a footballers footballer. Misplaced ogini? Maka is one of the only players at Chelsea willing to recieve the ball in tight pressure situations in front of his box with three players around him and pass the ball out smoothly with little fuss. Essien can NEVER do that. Essien does not even want the ball in tight situations. Mikel can do it but he can't defend like Maka. When the game is hot like in CL final, that is when real commandos like Maka step up and are willing to put themselves on the line by controlling possession when under severe pressure. You guys statements make me question whether you ever played football to any decent level. Who controls possession in Chelsea midfield? Who controlled the ball against Man Utd in Champions League final?

Sanaa Lathan

nateevs:
SSN : Makalele o have medical at PSG tomorrow. .
What a loss!!!

Big mistake!

buchio7:
but armed struggle will further impoverish and cause pains to dese people mend claims dey are fighting for, what dey need is nt talk but real,hard core developement which when given to them by way of new/refurbished schools with trained teachers,new/refurbished roads/qualitative and quantitative health care systems, will go a long way in mellowing dere apprehension,

Look, let us forget about all this talk on development. Nigeria came together on the premise of 50% resource allocation - 50% to the state and 50% to the Federation  - until Gowon and successive miltary governments illegally amended the constitution. So if we ask Nigeria for development, they will not be able to afford it. Under rule of law, we are supposed to own 45% of Nigerias assets from the last 50 years. If we ask for development we are going to ask for our rights from the past, present and future. That is not what we are asking for. Asking for 'development' is an insult to us. Give us our stake and we will develop ourselves. If we knew that the contract upon which we agreed to Nigeria would be torn up, we would not have signed it in the first place. The constitution has lied against itself. We are now talking about security. There is no development without security and vice-versa. All we ask Nigeria to do is respect our constitution. We will even negotiate a lower percentage, but something substantial. After that, we will guard Nigerias pipelines and oil installations against any miscreants who still want to take up arms for private profit because we will now have a stake in the pipelines. Unfortunately, the North do not want Nigeria to return to a form of fiscal federalism because they produce nothing. Because the North is buffeted from the Igbo and other ethnic tribes, they do not feel the agitation of the other tribes. The day when the Yorubas let the North feel the heat, they will start to respect the fact that they live in a democratic and diverse nation. Until then, they will continue to ride roughshod over the rest of Nigeria. Asari-Dokubo has this week said that the NDPVF will start to launch attacks on Abuja if British warships head for the Niger Delta. Maybe Nigeria will sit up and take notice then.

doyin13:
As a general comment. , . . . .

It sure is quiet on the Chelsea front sha.

Only the ageing legs of Deco have been secured this season.

What say you Chelsea fans?

Well, after a few years of making a lot of noise, it is nice to see Chelsea quieten down a bit and start to restore our reputation the proper way. No more stories of in-house fighting or Abramovic buying and coaching players and firing managers - that is a welcome development. We have started to do things incognito. We signed Scolari, Bosingwa and Deco incognito - the press didn't even know about it. Bridgey signed a new contract and the press didn't find out for a month. I hope this quiet style of business will become our modus operandi.

That said, we need two wingers because we have been lacking in that department for the last two years. When we get those wingers, we know our squad is finally complete. Even Drogba has stopped complaining. Malouda is keeping quiet. Carvalho is no longer at odds with us. Only Lampard left. I think the players are finally starting to see that we are trying to do things the right way.

Chelsea fan till I have heart attack whilst watching Chelsea play.

abdurrazaq:
Keep up the campaign strategies, you are improving by the day. Let me tell you: THAT MONSTER BABANGIDA WILL NEVER RULE THIS COUNTRY AGAIN - AMEN

lol

lol . . . the fact is that 98% of Nigerians (both male and female) do not know what is going on in Niger Delta.

Forget that thing. We are not even close to having a woman president cos all our politics is based on thuggery. The Northern Kingmakers no even want make woman comot for house - you think say dem go allow woman become President? The day I see a woman President is the day I know we have made a change for the better.

What you guys do not know is that Israel do not give a phock what Yankee think. Israel acts independently to secure their future and America later pretends that it OKayed Israels actions. So you guys should stop calling Israel Americas 'junior brother' cos Israel make their decisions independently. Even if Yankee do not agree with their course of actiion, they go ahead with it anyway and Yankee is left to pick up the diplomatic pieces.

Sky Blue:
@Ibime, and your point exactly is?

http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9298&Itemid=0


Quote:

HE is a militant leader with a difference; he does not believe in hostage taking , rather, he specializes in bombing oil pipelines to grind the economy to a halt, and he had no apologies for the countless oil installations he and his possessed men have blown up in the Niger-Delta over the years. Welcome to the trigger-pulling planet of Victor Ben, who is known in the militant world as General Boyloaf.

The Joint Task Force (JTF) on the Niger-Delta with headquarters at David Ejoor Barracks, Effurun, Delta State, in a classified report, last year, to the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), said he (Victor Ben) comes into sight as the “most organized militant boss in Bayelsa State and also the only militant boss in the state with solid credentials of being accredited to the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta (MEND).”


So like I said, you do not know any member of MEND. How can you judge what you do not know? No member of MEND has terrified local citizens of PH. All they are concerned with is the Niger Delta struggle. All the people wreaking havoc in the state are NOT members of MEND. Soboma George and Tom Ateke are NOT members of MEND. Asari-Dokubo claims to be a member of MEND but this has not been confirmed. Henry Okah and Victor Ben are the only known members of MEND - and when was the last time you heard that they attacked Nigerian citizens or heard their name connected to any internal disturbance in Rivers or Bayelsa? Yet, everytime you hear or an explosion of an oil installation, it is ALWAYS carried out by MEND. So who is the 'freedom fighter' and who is the 'profiteer'. MEND does not concern itself with PDP politics and feudalistic thuggery, rather the focus of their operations is strictly focused on foreign oil companies. They are a very highly organised underground group. My fathers friend, a Professor is their chief advisor, although I will not reveal his name. These are people who have a respect for their people and who are solely concerned with the struggle and their leaders are university graduates (including Victor Ben), not illiterate thugs.



What you guys do not know is that the Nigerian Government have already suggested my proposal ot MEND but they flatly refused because the proposal did not include a fairer deal for the Niger Delta people and they refused to be used as a tool of oppression against their own people. Their message is: Yes we will guard the pipelines but only after our people have a fairer deal.


Further Quotes:

He did not spare some of his colleagues for betraying the struggle. He castigated those who woke up overnight in the region because of nothing to do, and opened militant camps to make money, saying that it is those people that gave the struggle a bad name. He contended that the plan by the Federal Government to hire militants to protect oil pipelines in the region would end in disaster, as the life of any militant that acquiesced to such an arrangement is not safe. In all, Boyloaf came across to Sunday Vanguard, during our three-hour stay in his base, as an activist with a sense of reason and bearing in his self- chosen deadly assignment.

Yeah, he wants a private jet - just like Paul wanted a private boat when he was travelling around abi? Or just like Jesus wanted a private donkey for all his trekking through Israel - these conmen should be exposed for what they are. This is sickening.

Prof Frynas of Middlesen University says that any development to be carried out in the Niger Delta is "too little, too late."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4617658.stm

Quote:

This is supposed to use oil money to improve the region's infrastructure, such as schools and health clinics and to create jobs.

But Prof Frynas says it seems to be "too little, too late".

"A lot of the efforts have been bogged down in corruption and inefficiency. Still very little money has trickled down to the people."

Lemme ask you guys - who is the leader of MEND? Does anyone here know any member of MEND except for Henry Okah?

All the British care about is the rising price of oil, not the future of Nigeria.

Sky Blue:
@Ibime, Ijaw will not allow anyone else, so is Ijaw the only group in the Niger Delta? The premise you suggested was though open to abuse and could be seen as flawed, was initially interesting but as your posts progressed all that began to suffice was yet again tribalism. What message will the federal government be sending to everyone by negotiating with people who have been terrorising their own region? So the message would be what exactly, if you have a grouse to settle turn vigilante and you will get what you want? The irony of the situation is that if oil dissappears tomorrow no one will want to bring any business to the Niger Delta region because of the massive inseucrity that has been publicised around the whole world. Talk about bad marketing, imagine my shock when i saw Niger Delta issue making front page in "the independent" last week. What on earth would make MEND a trustworthy group to make such negotiations with? The word of MEND should just be taken? Personally i don't see any credibility in MEND, i would have if they worked to go after the former state governor in the name of Peter Odili and to seek redress for all he did. However, a group that was flirting with thesame government that robbed its people, stifled development, killed its people, etc, is the group that we should all be taking seriously? What was MEND doing when all this was happening? "Freedom fighters", oh please. I happen to see a better idea in @buchio7's suggestion which was an obvious route anyway if the government was serious. There is no need for another summit. Just do it already.

Guy, you are talking like this situation is in black and white. . . . MEND is corrupt. . . so is every other organisation in Nigeria. . . .the question is which group can get the job done? . . . .you are asking me why MEND did not go after Odili. . . well, Odili is the chief sponsor of Tom Ateke's Niger Delta Vigilante Force (who by the way are the source of 90% of the illegal militant activities attributed to MEND, including the burning down of my village). . . Ow11 mentioned that Soboma George was a member of MEND. . . . that just goes to show you the disinformation in Nigeria because Soboma George is a break-off of NDVF. . . . now, as a MEND strategist, is it in your best interests to get sidetracked by a bloody internal struggle with the NDVF or to concentrate on your main objectives which is the emancipation of your people? . . . . I will let you answer that one. . . .remember that NDVF is a creation of PDP and MEND have no business fighting them when there are more pressing issues.

Secondly, I am not for one moment suggesting that MEND should be given free rein to police the area . . . of course, I expect heavy regulation from the Nigerian Government to keep MEND in check . . . . in the same way that the Americans regulate the Iraqi police. . . Now check this out - there are several Warlords in Iraq (Mahdi army, tribal leaders etc). . . .they are all corrupt, all deadly. . . but the Americans have made alliances with some of them in order to keep the others in check. . . and the Americans regulate their actions. . . . this is the same thing I am suggesting for the Niger Delta.

When I say the people ARE MEND, I am not being tribalistic. My father recieves phone calls from his pals all the time and I tell you that every one of them is behind the MEND movement and they all say the Ijaw people are behind it. Even the Oyinbos know that the Ijaws are fully behind MEND . . . you can read this. . .

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/West_Africa/BehindMask_NigerDelta.html

I do not know about the affiliations of the other ethnic groups in Niger-Delta so do not accuse me of being tribalistic. Ijaw IS MEND. I stated that I wanted Niger Delta to remain part of Nigeria and I stand by that.

Now, you say that Buchio7's suggestion is the best option . . . really?. . . Any economist would tell you that there is no amount of 'development' which would provide an adequate trade-off for a quick N10m gained from a kidnapping job or an oil bunker. Just 4 weeks ago, my friends father was kidnapped and the militants asked for N200m. He bargained it down to N15m and they released his pops on payment of N10m. Unfortunately, the militants have developed a taste for these quick gains and cannot be weaned off it by any level of 'development' that Nigeria has to offer. Even a First-World country would struggle to provide the kind of development that would disincentivise militancy. Devlopment is not the immediate priority but security. There is NO security to be guaranteed from a military invasion of the Niger Delta. That will only lead to insecurity and National poverty. Therefore Buchio7's suggestion is a no-no from the jump. It would have worked 13 years ago during Saro-Wiwas time but not now.

As I said, the Nigerian Government IS negotiating with MEND (maybe thanks to US and UK intervention). My brother in-laws friend was a lawyer for Asari-Dokubo and he reported having several meetings with Obasanjo and Odili. So, the Government also believes that there is no solution without negotiation. QED.

I quote from a website: The militants’ cause has also been hijacked by criminal gangs who kidnap the wives and infant children of civilian officials. Being tainted and associated with such elements makes the militants appear like bandits.

This statement applies wholly to MEND. Yes MEND do blow up oil installations, yes they kidnap oil workers - but they do not kidnap civilians - that is press misinformation.

Anyway, like I said, MEND is the only relatively forthright group in the Niger Delta and if the Nigerian Government want to come to a resolution, negotiations with MEND are the best way forward. I know many educated Professionals who are fully behind MEND and who contribute to their cause. A lot of them are friends of my father - and MEND do not take action without consultation with these guys.

So ask yourself this question. Who is causing all this insecurity in Rivers and Bayelsa. Is it:

a.) MEND

b.) NDVF (Illiterate thugs hired to secure Okrika LGA for PDP in 2003 elections)

c.) Unafiliated militant gangs

d.) Nigerian Government aka PDP who sponsored the NDVF

When Soboma George was wreaking havoc in PH last year, they blamed it all on cultists because he is a cultist. What they conveniently failed to mention was that he was a PDP hired gun. They also failed to mention that the whole of Rivers State House of Assembly (all PDP) are Vikings. Unfortunately, people drew the conclusion that MEND was the cause of the problems because it is the only well known militant group. infact, the Nigerian Government contributed wholeheartedly to the rise of militancy and illegal profiteering in the region.

NDVF was created by the Nigerian Government to cause confusion and distract the peoples of the Niger Delta from their cause. We never heard of kidnappings of civilians and violence against our own people till they came on the scene. Like I told you, they burnt down my village simple because of Odilis antipathy toward Rufus Ada-George who is my townsman. They have painted the Niger Delta in a bad light and reduced the place to a hot mess. Many militant groups have sprung up since then due to the rich pickings on offer and everything is blamed on MEND.

Unfortunately, this is not new. In 1995, to distract the Ogoni from their struggle, the Government created an artificial war between the Ogoni and Okrika due to disputes over land rights. Okrika was armed by the Government and easily defeated Ogoni in that war. This is a common tactic of the Nigerian Government - to throw confusion into the mix - just like they did with the NDVF.

That is the last I will say on this matter. I hope you have a better picture of what is really happening because it is easy to label everyboy as ragtag militants and profiteers without knowing the local politics, the interests and intentions of all the political subgroups.

Alex Song will slot into DM easily and will be talked about as a World Class DM on the level of Mascherano and Makalele within a year or two. Of that, I have no doubt. Infact, I want to see him at Chelsea more than anything.

Nateevs,

Check out Aiden McGeady:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21xmzSgwpPo&feature=related

Definitely better than David Bentley.