He is a player admired in the English Premier League but who has failed woefully to translate club form to the national team.

His lazy pattern of playing always got me mad (that I can assure you) but his I don't care attitude when wearing the dear green white green left made me want to grab him by the neck. Only that he's big and I doubt if I could do that and get away with it.

Somehow he forced himself on Nigerians and kept getting called up to the national squad (How he kept both foreign and local coaches obedient is what I cannot tell) until the last FIFA World cup in South Africa.

Yakubu Aiyegbeni then did what few African footballers have ever done. He got himself in the records for the wrongest reasons (don't mind my grammar please). He bagged the award for the worst miss in World Cup history.

And after the miss what did he do? Did he hold his hands in his head in sorrow? Did he shed tears of anguish? Was he crestfallen? No, not at all. Our man simply looked around at the cameras, smiling sheepishly.

He must have thought himself a hero then. It was so annoying that the then Minister for Sports, Alhaji Bio could not restrain himself fro wondering aloud how a serious player could miss such a goal chance before the whole world in such a prestigious tournament as the world cup and still show no remorse.

It was only after that miss that the swede merchant and traveller Lars Lagerback had the guts to pull him out of the match.

And now what's the state of Yakubu since his infamous world cup miss?

He has virtually been confined to the bench at his club, Everton. He has scored only once for his club this season (and the season has gone past midway).

But the biggest sign that the former reliable premier league striker is really on a serious downward slide is the fact that championship side Leicester City wants to sign him. Now, for me, that is a serious fall from grace to grass.

Did I hear somebody say he brought it on himself? I can't tell but I am sure glad he will not be breaking our hearts in the Super Eagles for some while to come.

To Yak I say,'The downfall of a man is not the end of his playing career'

http://soccerfiesta..com

Manchester United's FA Cup one nil victory over Liverpool has sure raised some dust on whether Dimitar Berbatov dived for the penalty he got.
In the video from Snappedup does he deny diving?
http://soccerfiesta..com/2011/01/berbatov-diver-video.html

All the noise about Brazilian star Ronaldinho coming to the Premier League has been laid to rest as it is confirmed that the former World Footballer of the Year has signed a four year contract with brazilian club side Flamengo

Ronaldinho was last week given permission by AC Milan to seek a move home to Brazil after he failed to hold down his place with the Serie A team. On Saturday, the Italian club's vice-president Adriano Galliani said the two clubs had reached an agreement.

http://soccerfiesta..com

I agree

http://soccerfiesta..com

so so sad

It's good that elections are becoming tougher for these PDP guys. Let the wave of genuine competition start with Delta. I bet Uduaghan would be jittery now. He never knew the fight would be so tough. It can only make the winner a better governor.

Let the battle rage from Delta to Oyo to Enugu, Rivers etc. The massive voter turnout is a good sign.

Between Great and Uduaghan who goes? Deltans have chosen. We shall soon know.

we sit and look

the competition is good for democracy. Once these politicians get it into their thick skulls that votes will count and winning elections will depend on the people they will be forced to deliver democracy dividends when they get into elective positions.

Results released by INEC on the current Governorship rerun at around 4 am show that out of 16 LGA results so far the PDP is leading with 9 local governments won while Chief Great Ogboru's DPP has won in 7 Local Governments. Results are being awaited from remaining Local government areas in the state.

Rigging would be everly present but the magnitude may be reduced

The Psychology of giving when you want to take works in both business and personal dealings.

Several years ago while still new in college I read Dale Carnegie’s timeless work 'How to Win Friends and Influence People' but didn’t realize the importance of the lessons in personal life until almost a year later.


I needed money badly and wrote my uncle twice for money without success. I called on the phone and was told how difficult things were with his business. I suddenly had an idea and wrote him another letter. This time I didn’t mention my financial needs but instead asked detailed questions after his ICT business (I worked there on holidays so I knew a bit about the business) making some suggestions and closed the letter by wishing him well. The next day I got a bank deposit alert. He had sent the money.

I had connected emotionally and empathically with him. I, for once, had set aside my own selfish yearnings and tried to address his own problems. Only then did he feel the urge to help me out as well. Human nature no matter the twists have basic emotional paths.

When seeking something from another person be it contract, sales, debt payment, favour etc remember to pause and access the unique problems of the other and make concerted efforts to help him with his troubles. You do that and you will not find it difficult to get what you want from the individual. Man has a sense of obligation to repay favours or good deeds rendered to him.

Self Improvement, Business Ideas @ http://masterpoint..com

I don't think the Enugu State House of assembly has the guts to do that unless Gov Sullivan is plotting to have them do that as a fight back against Aso Rock

It is a common mistake to ignore the fact that the more people who know you the better your chances of getting the job you desire and advancing in your career. It is even better when important people know you and you know them. It all boils down to networking.

But How does one began to network, to know and become known. If you must meet the right people who will help you up the success ladder in your career you shouldn’t be staying indoors, watching lots of movies or just doing that little job you’ve got. You have to decide to move around. Join people with like interests. When you begin to network it is important to do the following;

- Start Small and Free: It doesn’t matter if you are employee or businessman, we all need to network. And if you must impress people you will need to impress them in small matters. If you are skilled in offering a service one of the best way to grow a solid reputation is to offer your services free and over-deliver on your promises. Impressed people will gladly sing your praises and tell others. If you seek a career in telecoms, start to improve yourself and keep abreast of developments in that sector by joining relevant bodies, reading important publications and offering your little help anywhere

- Find Your Niche: While growing up we all struggled to find what it is that is our passion. Some succeed in locating their heart desires earlier, while most people still struggle to find their life’s purpose even into their fifties. You can never build a great career in anything if you scatter yourself everywhere. Today you are in software programming, tomorrow you say it’s no longer worthwhile and jump into the entertainment sector. Locate your priority area and begin to develop yourself to be the best there is .

- Volunteer: At first it will appear you are wasting your time but volunteering to do tasks for successful people in your target industry will buy you favour among the high and mighty. You’ll readily get endorsements especially when you impress.

courtesy: Ngjobsncareers Team

It is always the aim of any career person to get increased salaries and bonuses even if they come with more responsibilities. Here’s a little useful advice on how to position yourself to earn more and increase your worth in your organization

- Create the Image You Want: Everything in business and career is about perception. The musician that gets paid the highest fee may not actually have the best songs but has created an image that attracts crowds and increases his payday. Example Dbanj (just our opinion though). So you need to create an image of the most useful and most effective professional in your field, nurture and build that image. Your pocket will surely begin to grow with that image. If you have a larger than life image you most probably will earn larger than life wages.

- SWOT Analysis: Analyse your Strengths and Weaknesses. Improve on your strengths and work to eliminate your weaknesses. It is as simple as that. You will not grow bigger if you don’t do that. This is one of the main reasons most people remain rooted to a spot in their career.

- Know a Bit of All Things but Strive to be the Best in Your Area: In our modern world you just have to know a bit about many things but it is very important that you create a reputation as one of the very best in your field. This will help you command more value.

- Move with the Movers: This is another phrase for networking. If you learn everything you need to learn but you really do not cultivate necessary contacts your success may be slow in coming or might not even come at all. In today’s world your network is your net worth. If you don’t know anybody and nobody knows you and can vouch for how good you are you remain at the bottom of the ladder. That is the reality folks.

- Dress The Part, Act the Part: Your appearance matters. Strangers attach value to you based on your looks before ever they even hear you talk

- Finally when you are becoming very good write a book in your field. Writing a book does two things for you: It increase your income if you have a good strategy to sell it but more importantly it enhances your reputation and builds your value even more especially if your book has excellent content and packaging.

All professionals must have heard an ear full on networking so I am not going to talk about it. I am going to write on something more subtle that it could mean an additional million in revenue to the business person who implements it. I call it Reciprocal Ventureship

Broadly it is a way of doing mutually beneficial business deals with other professionals or business in a related but not competing field. I hope the definition is simple enough. I am going to leave your imagination to explore the possibilities.

Reciprocal Ventureship is a very creative and flexible thing. The most basic steps are;

a) Get one or two complementary businesses; eg a marketing consultant can enter into a reciprocal marketing venture with a commercial lawyer and his law firm.

b) Approach them with a mouth watering symbiotic deal. There are no limits to what you can come up with;

- Direct 200 persons to my business, I’ll do the same for you
- Offer a commission for every referral
And so on

source: http://themasterpoint..com

He still has not affected other sectors such as education, youth empowerment but he's trying all the same

Yesterday, the prestigious TIME magazine released its choice for the TIME Person of the Year accolade – Mark Zuckerberg. You better know the name of this man, as there’s a one-twelfth chance that you might be using his product. We’re of course talking about Facebook – the social networking mega-site that seeks to connect people over the internet. The article talks about Zuckerburg’s journey from being a 19 year old college student at the Harvard University, where he started it as a pet-project, to the current success of Facebook. The recently released movie ‘The Social Network’ captures the same story of Mark Zuckerberg.

As of today, Facebook has 550 million registered users. One out of every twelve people on the planet has a Facebook account. It’s a double-whammy moment for Mark, who not only has a personal recognition but it is also reported side-by-side that Facebook is named as the “best place to work”. A part of this is encompassed in the TIME’s write-up where it states that there aren’t any special offices for people higher-up in the company; there aren’t any cubicles as well.

Attahiru Jega, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday said over 15,000 Direct Data Capture Machines have arrived the country in readiness for the 2011 elections.

Speaking at a national dialogue organised by Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre in collaboration with INEC, with support of MacArthur Foundation, the INEC boss urged Nigerians to ensure that they register for the coming voter registration starting from January 29. He warned that anybody who fails to register within the stipulated time may not vote in the elections next year.

He promised to tackle the flaws that were recorded in the 2007 elections, such as failure to capture people adequately with the biometric system and also failure to issue voter cards on time.

He also said that voters will get temporary voter cards within seven minutes of registering at registration centres across the country.

Poor security network

On the issue of the stolen DCC machines, he lamented the porous security in the nation’s airports, and described the act as unfortunate. He warned that electoral offences will not be tolerated any longer, regardless of who is involved.

Mr. Jega disclosed that the Electoral Act now permits INEC to arrest and prosecute offenders, as was done in Enugu during the bye-elections where a man was caught with 80,000 voter cards.

The representative of the MacArthur Foundation, Godwin Odoh, urged Nigerians to protect their votes during the 2011 elections.

He lamented that in spite of the enormous potentials the country has in human and natural resources, corruption and absence of free and fair elections have denied the country the status of the giant of Africa that she lay claims to.

Students’ vote

The INEC chairman said the current voting process put in place by INEC, which mandates voters to vote only at their points of registration, could hinder students’ participation, since tertiary institutions are usually shut down during elections.

“Unfortunately, if the calendars are not reliable, it will be difficult for us. If the calendar stabilises, it will be possible for us to know when to arrange the registrations and elections to coincide with when the students are away. Right now, whatever we do, we will not be able to accommodate the interests of most of the students,” Mr. Jega said.

Facing difficulties

The chairman said that the issue of students’ votes is one of the challenges which INEC does not think will be resolved before the April elections.

“It is the same problems we are facing with the Nigerians in Diaspora. The exigencies of the times constrain us. We have to take each of the problems one after the other. Maybe after the April elections, we can do everything possible to resolve these issues. For now, it is actually impossible logistically,” he said.

While making no promises, Mr. Jega, a former vice chancellor of Bayero University, Kano, said he is still in talks with his former colleagues on a possible way out of the situation.

“We have been discussing with the NUC (National Universities Commission) and some of the vice chancellors on what we can do. It is a difficult thing. Through consultations, it may be possible to allow one week for the students to go home during the registrations. But it is also going to be expensive and that will have to be repeated during the elections. Who is going to fund that?” Mr. Jega complained.

The event had the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Muhammadu Uwais, as chairman.

Arsenal are suddenly pressing but lack the bite. And rooney failing to win the game with a penalty piles more pressure on Man utd.

Can Arsenal Measure Up to the Reds
http://supersportsnigeria.com