₦airaland Forum

How many of us, even though we don't want the drink, have consciously/unconsciously been in search of your name on a Coke bottle ? Yea, I'm sure majority would've embarked on this search.

The personalised bottle campaign rolled out by Coca-Cola is based upon the easiest principle in marketing and PR - INVOLVE YOUR CONSUMER! They successfully did this by giving their consumers a sense of ownership of the brand.

Although, an American coffee company, Starbucks, does something similar - the company's Baristas scribble on a cup of purchased coffee names obtained from the buyer -, but that's having your name hand-written on a cup.

The campaign did well to reconnect to lost consumers and introduce new ones. The personalisation has been a sheer act of brilliance by the red giant, for people who don't even drink Coke are still searching for their name! Even though the unhealthy stigma is attached to a 'fizzy drink' if I saw my name on a drink I would buy it for the sheer novelty value of it.

'Share a coke with' is a fantastic example of integrated marketing communications with the Facebook digital coke sharing, YouTube share a coke with video and the Share a Coke roadshow. Kids are found looking for their names on a bottle - it's pretty hard to turn down. It goes one step further with countless bottles being Instagrammed, uploaded to Facebook and tweeted, creating a bigger brand awareness, and to be honest, it's the way most people found out about the campaign - It went viral through Social Media!

Some consumers have spelled out “Will you be my prom date?” or “Marry Me” across multiple bottles. The creativity we’ve seen shows that ‘Share a Coke’ is about more than just names. Bravo Coca Cola!

But How Did It All Start
In 2011, Coca-Cola in Australia was facing a more aggressive and crowded market-place.

It briefed a number of agencies to come up with a new campaign idea that would increase consumption of Coca-Cola over the summer period and get people talking about Coke again particularly among a younger audience.

Advertising agency Ogilvy in Australia won the pitch with a simple idea. Their insight was to encourage people to reconnect again or start up a conversation with a friend or mate. This led them to place the names of past or current friends on the labels of Coke bottles for the first time in their brand’s history.This innovative moved to Great Britain and Ireland in 2013, United States and Canada in the same year, México, Colombia, Nigeria in 2014 and Brazil in 2015.

Global Statistics of "Share a Coke" campaign in 2014
-Over a thousand names on our bottles
-998 million impressions on Twitter
-235,000 tweets from 111,000 fans using the #ShareaCoke hashtag
-More than 150 million personalised bottles sold
-Over 730,000 glass bottles personalised via the e-commerce store
-17,000 virtual name bottles shared online across Europe
-65 experiential stops on the Share a Coke tour

4 key factors in the success of the Campaign:
-It was innovative for Coca-Cola
-The mass market appeal
-The high level of personalisation and
-The user-generated content.

Five things you didn't know about Share a Coke
1. During the planning phase, the campaign was known internally as ‘Project Connect’
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It is a fact today that individuals, not football clubs, in Nigeria are the ones who have football academies.

At his first press conference after being hired as the coach of the Super Eagles, Sunday Oliseh said the Eagles lacked outstanding and individually talented players who can be the reference or metronome of the team. He said the best strategy was to build a unit, a team built on hard work and collectivity.

A keen look at Nigerians playing home and abroad reveals there is a lack of high quality and talented players to lift the Eagles. One can count on one hand Nigerian players in top clubs of the top 5 leagues (EPL,la Liga, Ligue 1,Serie A,Bundesliga) in Europe. Even the few who make this grade are bench warmers - players not good enough to make the first eleven of their respective clubs.
There is a lack of hunger,drive and ambition among Nigerian players to compete and be among the elite of world football. Since the legendary squads of '94 - 96 and finally the squad that played to the final of Nigeria-Ghana 2000 AFCON, the Super Eagles have been on decline.

This is where the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has to step in. Our local league has recorded significant improvements - sponsorship, TV coverage, better welfare for players,clubs and officials. Yet there is more that needs to be done for the total revival of Nigerian football.

The NFF has to come up with a plan, a vision, a blue print with a long term framework (10 - 15 years) for Nigerian football. This writer proposes a plan to make football clubs especially the ones in the top division, central to grassroot football. It is a fact today that individuals, not football clubs, in Nigeria are the ones who have football academies.

This is not good for our football because the clubs should have academies. They are the ones with the structure, the platform and advantage to develop our football. Something is fundamentally wrong when clubs don't have academies. The NFF plan must insist that clubs across divisions in Nigerian football have academies. The NFF will provide incentives such as partial fuding and all other types of support to encourage ‎this.

Football club academies are more effective than individual/personal academies. The development of the players across all levels is better monitored and structured. There is more hope of the players getting to play in our league or making it abroad or even into our age grade national teams.

The curriculum can be structured, leagues and competitions can be created for the different age cadres to sustain the development of the players. This initiative will start bearing fruits for our‎ football in few years also help reduce age cheating in our football. It will be a conveyor belt for producing talents and quality players for Nigerian football across all age grades.

The time to start is now.

Super Eagles goal keeper, Vincent Enyeama, has been asked to appear before the disciplinary committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 or risk being sanctioned.

Enyeama was quoted to have made unfriendly remarks against the NFF’s choice of Ahmadu Stadium, Kaduna, for Eagles Afcon qualifier against Chad on June 13,2015.

“You will recall that you were queried by the Nigeria Football Federation for your uncomplimentary remarks with regards to safety and security in Kaduna State, host of the Nations Cup qualifying match between Nigeria and Chad Republic,” NFF Technical Committee member, Chris Green, wrote.

“You received the query letter on June 13th, 2015 and refused to reply to the query up till now, which is well over the 48 hours deadline given to you to reply to the query. Consequently, the NFF has referred the matter to the Disciplinary Committee for adjudication.

“You are by this, invited to appear before the Disciplinary Committee of Nigeria Football Federation sitting on Tuesday, 23rd June, 2015 at the Federation’s Secretariat in Abuja. The committee sitting will commence at 11am prompt.”

Also, Super Eagles defensive midfielder, Ogenyi Onazi, who was sent off against Les Sao has been issued a letter of reprimand, ordered to produce a written apology and fined the sum of $5,000.

Onazi was adjuged to have displayed gross indiscipline and unprofessionalism, thereby breaching of ethics for players as well as the Code of Conduct for players and officials.

Nigeria will face Tanzania in their next Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in September.

Four refineries in Nigeria will resume production in July, a spokesperson for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said – stating that it this will end fuel scarcity around the country.

While speaking on Thursday, Ohi Alegbe of the NNPC said; “The refineries at Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna will resume next month after a successful turn-around-maintenance (overhaul) of their facilities,”

“The turn-around-maintenance has been on for some time. We did not just want to make any noise about it. The refineries will start production as soon as they have delivery of crude oil for refining,” he said.

The NNPC has four refineries — two in Port Harcourt in the south, one in northern Kaduna and another in southern Warri, with a combined installed capacity of 445,000 barrels per day.

Last month, a crippling fuel shortage almost grounded Nigeria to a halt, as fuel importers and marketers shut their depots to protest some $1 billion (900 million euros) in unpaid reimbursements.

Black market and legitimate petrol vendors did a brisk trade, selling at around 300 naira a litre — well above the officially-set price of 87 naira.

In January 2012, the government tried to end the subsidies, causing petrol prices to more than double. It was ultimately forced to reinstate the payments after tens of thousands of people took to the streets in violent protests that left more than a dozen dead.

Alegbe said the resumption of refinery activity “will significantly improve the supply of petroleum products in the country.”

As the name implies, popcorn is derived from the word “pop” and “corn”. Popcorn is produced through the process of popping corn.

This happens due to the excessive heat infused on the raw corn which leads to an exciting explosion.

To achieve this exciting explosion of the corn, the raw corn must have enough moisture.

Everyone loves popcorn, it is an awesome snack for relaxation and movie time. As its an awesome snack for relaxation, so it is an awesome money yielding business investment.

Why start a popcorn business?

People of all ages enjoy the wonderful taste of popcorn at the movie theater, parties, amusement parks, sporting events and shopping malls.

Secondly, the unpopped corn is considered imperishable so you can store as much as you can without fear of losing.

Location? The right location to start this business are schools, amusement parks, streets, sport centers and even at parties.

Challenges?

Location is usually number one challenge to most small businesses, having the ability to avoid touts and learning to work in their presence is a great advantage.

Consistency also is a great challenge, producing 200 packs of popcorn daily without producing less any day is quite difficult.

It therefore takes a dedicated business man to plan and manage such a demanding business. Of course every business investment is a risk, you must have the ability to manage your business properly so as not to run at loss.

You must have a good marketing strategy for your business, when your business develops to the extent of having a team, train your team properly in the business strategy.

START UP COST

Recipe:

Corn (sweet corn to contain enough moisture) 2000 naira

Sugar 500 naira

Milk 900 naira

Total: 3,400 naira

Tools

Popcorn machine 62,000 naira

Sealing machine 10,000 naira

Branded nylon 5000 naira

Total: 77,000 naira

Daily: You make 200 packs at the cost of 100 each which equals 20,000 naira. Weekly, profit increases to 120,000 naira. In a month, you make 480,000 naira. Now you of course minus recipe and tools cost.

According to Sky News, embattled FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, is considering not resigning as earlier announced if a “convincing candidate” to take over does not emerge.

A report claims that they have spoken to a close advisor of the 79-year-old, who said two weeks ago he would step down from the role after news of the biggest corruption scandal in football history emerged.

Blatter is reported to have received support from both the Asian and African confederations to stay on in the role he has performed since 1998.

His re-election came two days after seven Fifa members were arrested in Zurich on corruption charges, with the total number of current and former Fifa officials indicted as part of an FBI investigation into alleged widespread corruption up to 18.

Fifa confirmed this week that the election to vote in Blatter’s replacement will take place between December and February, and that the exact date will be confirmed on 20 July.

A medical expert, Dr Femi Olugbile, who also doubles as a Consultant Psychiatrist, has said that at least 20 per cent of Nigerians are prone to mental disorder.

While speaking in Lagos on Wednesday, Olugbile, who is a former Chief Medical Director, Lagos State University Teaching Hospial (LASUTH), stated that at least 20 per cent of the Nigerian population will at some time in their lives experience at least one episode of mental disorder; a feat which is due to high rate of poverty, lack of social welfare and high rate of endemic infectious diseases.

He said that at any point in time, two to five per cent of the 20 per cent population would manifest the symptoms of mental disorder at early stage. “These figures are universal, but the mental disorder can increase in times of social upheaval, such as war, terrorism and so on. “Also, security challenges including kidnappings and armed robbery can lead to increased stress, which increases the likelihood of nervous breakdown,’’ Olugbile added.

Speaking on the capacity of the country to handle mentally disordered people, he decried the few number of psychiatry hospitals in the country, saying that the facilities would not meet the number of people that need medical attention.

“There are eight Federal Government-owned neuro-psychiatric hospitals, and there are smaller units in the teaching hospitals and a few general hospitals handling mental cases.

“However, there is need to effectively use what is on the ground as mental healthcare should start from the Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs). “All PHCs should be primed to render basic mental healthcare in form of diagnosis and simple treatment, while referral, where necessary, should originate from here,’’ Olugbile said. He said that the private hospitals should also be integrated into the system to provide universal care.

Olugbile said integration of private hospitals would enable people to get care close to their homes, while the specialist hospitals would only deal with serious referral cases.

Banks are for the privileged. That’s the simple thesis driving the development of Abra, a startup that is taking out the middle man (the bank) when it comes to financial transactions. No more ATMs, no more physical bank locations — instead, Abra promises an all-mobile experience that involves person-to-person transfers, deposits, and withdrawals.

In a couple weeks, interested users in the U.S. and the Philippines will be able to try out the novel concept firsthand when it officially launches.

With Abra, all of your banking lives on your phone. You can withdraw funds, deposit cash and send money using the app.

The idea is that all banking should be as easy as sending a text message.

“In a hyper-connected world, it is astounding to me that you can’t pick up the phone and instantly send money to any other phone number in the world,” said Abra founder Bill Barhydt, a former software engineer for Goldman Sachs.

“Traditional banking is really good at serving the global 5% to 10% of consumers who reach a certain income level,” Barhydt said. “The reality is, the majority of the planet is a cash-based economy and banking doesn’t work for those people.”

Here’s how Abra works: Say you need N20 000, in cash. To get it, you would open the app and find a bank teller near you using your phone’s GPS. Bank tellers can be regular people, as well as businesses like convenience stores. If it’s a person, they’ve had a background check through Abra.

Once you find a teller, you would meet somewhere convenient to both of you. Each person then gets a QR code, which one person scans to validate the transaction. Once validated, the teller would give you N20 000.

A deposit works the same way, just in reverse.

Except, unlike your friend, the teller makes money by charging a fee, which can be any amount they choose. (Abra recommends they charge around 1.5%, depending on location and convenience.)

Abra charges 0.25% per transaction, which is the company’s only involvement in the actual exchange of currency.

Abra is just as anonymous as cash. Other than a phone number, no data is collected. (Unless you’re a teller.)

Abra is currently in beta, but is launching in the U.S. and the Philippines in a few weeks. Barhydt said the company has signed up tens of thousands of tellers in those countries, and it will be available around the world in the next year.

Barhydt’s only advice for those who sign up with Abra?

“Don’t lose your phone.”

Nigerians have voted the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) as the most visible reform of the banking sector.

This was gsathered via a weekly economic poll conducted by leading polling organisation, NOI Polls Limited.

The NOI said that the poll showed that majority of Nigerians (91 per cent) identified the introduction of the ATM as the most significant reform in the banking sector over the last decade.

According to the statement, other key changes brought about by the reforms in order of importance are the Nigerian Uniform Bank Account Number -NUBAN (44 per cent); Internet banking (42 per cent), Point of Sale-PoS (32 per cent) and Mobile Money Services (23 per cent). Further findings from the poll revealed that the ATM services are the most used form of electronic banking services as indicated by majority of the respondents (68 per cent). This is followed by 10 per cent of the respondents who indicated they use Mobile Money and this is mostly true for bank customers in the South-West (19 per cent) and South-South (17 per cent) zones.

The statement also revealed that respondents identified PoS (6 per cent), Internet banking (6 per cent), and Credit Card (2 percent) as other electronic banking services mainly used by customers. However, according to the findings, 18 per cent of bank customers do not use any of these services.

The Banking Sector Reform was launched in 2004 with the aim of having a more efficient and reliable banking sector to enable better security of customer’s monies and strengthen growth potential in banks business operations. As part of the reforms, the cashless policy was introduced in 2012 to reduce the high risks attached to currency management in the country and also to intensify the national payments system.

Despite scoring only 8 goals for Arsenal last season, starting 27 matches in total, Danny Welbeck has been valued between £23.55m-£25.9m more than team-mates Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere, Barcelona defender Gerard Pique, Manchester United’s Juan Mata and Borussia Dortmund forward Marco Reus.

The values have been worked out on six criteria; age, position, contract, international status, experience and performance.

Welbeck is worth almost £10million more than what Arsene Wenger paid for him in August.

Wenger spent £16m to bring the striker to the Emirates from Manchester United at the start of the year and although he initially performed well, as soon as Olivier Giroud returned to fitness he struggled to make the starting XI.

Welbeck started 27 matches in total last season, but 15 of those came when Giroud was out between the end of August and the start of December. He eventually scored eight goals in all competitions.

Giroud, who scored 19 goals for Arsenal last season, is ranked 26 places below Welbeck, valued between £18.64m-£20.47m.

According to CIES Football Observatory, Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling is the most valuable English player, worth around £60m. Eden Hazard is the top Premier League player, second only behind Lionel Messi.

A medical experiment taking place at Massachusetts General Hospital whose findings were released this week says that there are possibilities growing artificial limbs and producinh regenerative medicine.

The MGH team announced this week that they had made the first steps towards the development of bioartificial replacement limbs suitable for transplantation. The limb in question, a strange looking rat appendage replete with muscle, bone, and ligaments.

If you haven’t been following the field of regenerative medicine, it’s been experiencing something of a boom since the 2006 discovery by a Japanese researcher that normal somatic cells in humans could be induced to become pluripotent cells. From this state, the cells can go onto to become tissues of almost any organ in the body. The Japanese discovery circumvented the difficulty regarding limb or organ rejection by the host, since the regenerated tissues would belong to the patient themselves and therefore not set off any alarm bells in the immune system. It also sidestepped the political football concerning harvesting stem cells from unborn fetuses.

But there is another hurdle holding regenerative medicine back, and this one relates to the advances made by the MGH team. It turns out that cultivating the right tissue isn’t enough for limb or organ regeneration, that tissue needs a biological matrix to form and grow around. Even organs lacking bone support, like the liver, contain a matrix of cells that forms the scaffolding over which the liver grows. In the case of an entire limb, the complications get even thicker, with numerous types of tissues involved as well as bone and scaffolding.

To circumvent the scaffolding issue, the scientists at MGH used a process called decellularization. Decellularization works by flushing a detergent solution through the vasculature of a limb or organ, in this case, the amputated arm of a deceased rate (at least we hope it was deceased). This solution strips away all the cells belonging to the dead rat and leaves only the matrix behind. The matrix of the rat arm is then bathed in a nutrient solution where the progenerator cells of another rat (the client/recipient) were injected into the scaffolding.

In a moment straight out of Frankenstein, the bioreactor containing the rat arm was stimulated with electrical charges and low and behold, new muscles, nerves, and sinews commenced to grow. After two weeks, the arm was deemed complete and removed for examination. Much to the researchers’ glee, the new rat arm appeared to have developed nerves and tissue in all the correct places, and when stimulated with electricity, contracted to 80 percent of what would be expected in a newborn.

While there are still some issues to tweak with the process, the MGH team sees no reason why the same technique cannot be applied to growing human limbs. Creepy or not, we can fully expect such experiments to be taking place in the near future. With the prospect of growing human arms in a bioreactor, it seems the 21st century is going to be every bit as weird as some of us hoped it would be.

Super Eagles goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama, has said that he will retire from the national team after the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.

Enyeama, who was speaking in Abuja on Monday said that it was important for him to give room for upcoming goalkeepers to develop themselves.

The national team captain said; “I can’t keep doing the same thing forever; there is going to be a time I have to stop and give it up to some other persons. I am the only face here since 2002, but 2017 Nations Cup finals will be my last game. I just said my target, anything can happen after,” he added.

Enyeama revealed that he had planned retiring after the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup ofr Nations, but was prevented by the immediate past governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, as well as his wife and pastor.

“I actually wanted to stop, it wasn’t a rumour. Nigeria is blessed with great goalkeepers, just that we need to give them confidence.

“Nobody gave me a chance when I started, I was a rookie also; I belt it up, I worked hard for it and became the big person that nobody wants to lose.”

As the demand for large importers of rice increases, Nigeria is expected to take delivery of over 3,500,000 million metric tons this year.

In the last five years, Nigeria has imported about 14.7 million metric tons of milled rice valued at N1.15 trillion ($5,768,400,000). In 2010, Nigeria took delivery of 2,400,000 million tons of milled rice from Asian countries and America; 2011 – 3,200,000 million tons; 2012 – 2,800,000 million tons; 2013 – 2,800,000 million tons and 2014 – 3,500,000.

With the current global price per ton at $392.41, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) anticipates an average per capital rice consumption in 2015-16 to around 57 kilogrammes, as there has been a renewed demand by traditional large importers – Nigeria, Bangladeshi, China, the Philippines and Cote d’ Ivoire.

Also, FAO has forecast 2015-16 global milled rice productions at around 500.5 million tons, a rise of 1.3 per cent from an estimated 484.2 million tons in 2014-15. The May 2015 forecast was 500.1 million tons. FAO attributed the increase in global rice production to more buoyant prospect in China, Nigeria and other West African nations.

It expects large production from Thailand. The FAO had put 2015- 16 global rice utilisation at 508.6 million tons, up by 1.8 per cent, from an estimated 499.7 million tons in 2014-15. It estimates the 2015-16 global stocks at around 168.8 million tons, down by about 4.5 per cent, from an estimated 181 million tons last year and slightly down from last month’s forecast of around 168.2 million tons.

The UN agency expects most of the decline in India, Thailand Bangladeshi, Myanmar and Indonesia. FAO estimates 2016 global rice trade at around 42.5 million tons, up by about 2.4 per cent from an estimate of 41.5 million tons in 2015 and slightly up from last month’s forecast of around 42.4 million tons.

Following Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s decision to leave French Champions, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), Arsenal are being linked with securing the Sweden international.

The 33-year-old has grown unhappy with life in Paris and will seek a move away from the club this summer. It’s claimed that the Sweden captain would prefer a move back to his former club AC Milan, but a number of Premier League clubs have been alerted to his availability.

With just a year remaining on his contract, Ibrahimovic would be available for as little as £11m, and the Gunners have been joined by both Liverpool and Chelsea in expressing an interest in his signature.

Arsenal are believed to be in the hunt for a new striker to provide further competition for Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott, although whether manager Arsene Wenger would want to bring in a player of Ibrahimovic’s character remains to be seen.

Wenger has already missed out on Ibrahimovic once, when a then 19-year-old Ibrahimovic turned down the chance to join the club because Wenger wanted him to go through a trial in 2000.

Speaking in 2012, Ibrahimovic said: “Arsene gave me the famous red and white jersey – the No 9 shirt with Ibrahimovic on it and I was so pleased I even posed for a picture wearing it.

“It was a fantastic moment for me. Arsenal had a great team then and here was an Arsenal shirt made just for me.

“So then I waited for him to convince me that I should join Arsenal. But he didn’t even try.

Ibrahimovic joined PSG from Milan in 2012, and has gone on to score 106 goals in 126 matches to help secure three straight Ligue 1 titles as well as two French Cups and two Coupe de la Ligue triumphs.

However, his mainstay through the middle has seen Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani forced out wide and is said to have caused a fractured relationship with the former Napoli man, and at 33 it appears PSG may be looking at their future beyond Ibrahimovic – who has also had spells with the likes of Juventus, Inter Milan and Barcelona but is yet to join a Premier League club.

Nigerians will begin to enjoy Wi-Fi services at all national airports in the country, as the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has partnered Nigeria’s multinational telecommunications company, Globacom Ltd.

The facility will enable passengers waiting at airports and other airport users to connect to the internet through their smart phones, tablets, laptops and other smart devices.

Speaking on the development, the Managing Director of FAAN, Mr. Saleh Dunoma, said the launch was a realization of the Aviation Ministry’s commitment to improve passenger experience in the country.

Dunoma, who was speaking at the launch of the facility at the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, said that one of the numerous complaints the authority had encountered was lack of internet connectivity at the airports and urged Globacom to extend the Wi-Fi coverage of to the new buildings under construction at the airport any time they are ready.

Also speaking on the development, Glo’s coordinator, business solutions, Mr. Ike Oraekwuotu, expressed the company’s delight to “bring Nigeria up to speed with one of the best trends in the aviation industry worldwide by introducing ultra high speed Wi-Fi data experience for travellers and other users of our airports, beginning with Nigeria’s flagship airport.”

He further revealed that the facility, which would be available at both the domestic and the international wings of the Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt airports was made possible by the great vision and passion demonstrated by the ministry of aviation and FAAN “working diligently with Globacom.”

He disclosed that the second phase of the project would cover 12 airports across the country adding that “Globacom is working hard to ensure that this is delivered in the next 10 weeks.”

Stan Wawrinka won the French Open by beating No. 1-seeded Novak Djokovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in the final Sunday, thwarting Djokovic’s bid to complete a career Grand Slam.

The eighth-seeded Wawrinka collected his second major title after last year’s Australian Open.

In doing so, Wawrinka put a stop to Djokovic’s 28-match winning streak and left the 28-year-old Serb ruing another close call at Roland Garros. This was the third time in the last four years that Djokovic lost in the final at the clay-court tournament, the only major title he has never won.

Wawrinka, who earned 1.8 million euros (about $2 million), was making his 11th French Open appearance, equaling Federer and Andre Agassi for most attempts before winning it.

This was also Djokovic’s 11th French Open, and he has so far been unable to clutch the trophy he so dearly desires. He has won eight Grand Slam titles, with five at the Australian Open, two at Wimbledon and one at the U.S. Open.

No company in the world spends as much money on sports sponsorships as Nike, which has spent a staggering total of $8 billion since 2002 alone, according to a CNNMoney analysis.

Nike spent nearly $1 billion on endorsements in the last 12 months which ended in May. And spending for the next year will probably surpass $1 billion. Nike’s endorsement spending generally increases by more than 10% a year, slightly faster than the company’s sales have grown.

“For as long as Nike been around, the face of the organization has been these high profile athletes. It’s part of their DNA,” said David Carter, executive director of USC’s Sports Business Group.

Lots of money went to superstar athletes such as LeBron James, Tiger Woods and of course Michael Jordan. But Nike also spends a lot on teams, leagues and college athletic programs.

Nike (NKE) does not break down how much of its endorsement dollars go to individuals, teams or leagues.

Carter said the spending will probably rise as Nike is increasingly forced to compete for the best sponsorship deals with companies like Adidas (ADDDF) and Under Armour (UA).

The Premier League will ditch its title sponsor after next season, giving it a “clean brand” that the clubs believe will play better internationally as they compete with America’s NFL and NBA for the broadcast millions of emergent markets.

The decision was made at the end of season Premier League shareholders’ meeting, bringing the curtain down a 15 year association with Barclays whose current deal has one more season to run.

The brutal truth is that with their £5.136bn domestic broadcasting deal, the league could afford to give up the £40m they would earn annually from a title sponsor.

In a statement the Premier League said it would explore the possibility of lower profile commercial deals.

A Supreme Court on Friday has ordered the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of Nigeria Limited to pay a compensation of N30,288,681 to four communities in Delta State, over oil spillage incidents.

The four communities – Obotobo, Sokebolo, Ofogbene (Ezon Burutu) and Ekeremor Zion (Ezon Asa) – had, through some of their leaders, instituted separate suits against the oil company before the then Bendel State High Court in 1983.

A High Court in the then Bendel State had in a judgment on May 27, 1997, asked Shell to pay the sum of N4,095,085 to Obotobo; N13,278,306 to Sokebolo; N7,392,589 to Ofogbene (Ezon Burutu) and N5,522,701 to Ekeremor Zion (Ezon Asa). But Shell were dissatisfied with the judgement and took the case to the court of Appeal.

On May 22, 2000, the Court of Appeal in Benin City dismissed Shell’s appeal and affirmed the judgment of the trial court.
Once again, a dissatisfied Shell, further appealed to the Supreme Court.

The Justice John Fabiyi-led panel of the Apex Court dismissed the appeal filed by Shell on Friday holding that the appeal lacked merit, awarded N500,000 cost against Shell and in favour of each of the communities.

Justice Kumai Akaahs, who read the lead judgment, also held that the damages awarded in favour of the communities were not baseless.

Other members of the panel – Justice John Fabiyi, Clara Ogunbiyi, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun and Chima Nweze – agreed with the lead judgment.

Barcelona won their 4th UEFA Champions league title in 10 years, as they defeated Juventus 3-1 at the Olympiastadion Berlin Stadium in Germany.

It took Barcelona only four minutes to open scoring through Ivan Rakitić, from an Iniesta assist. Juventus however got into the game 10 minutes into the second half, thanks to a strike by Álvaro Morata in the 55th minute.

After drawing level, Juventus turned the heat on the Spanish Champions and had a penalty appeal for an alleged foul by Dani Alves on Paul Pogba, but the referee was not interested.

But it wasn’t to be a treble for Juventus as Luiz Suarez put the Spanish side 2-1 up with only 20 minutes to go. Another strike from Neymar ensured that Barcelona ended the 2014/2015 season with a treble having won the La Liga, Copa Del Rey and now the Champions League.

For winning the Champions League, Barcelona will not only be returning home with the Trophy but with a prize money of $11.6 Million, while the total cash prize for the competition is a possible $41.5m.

Following corruption allegations leveled against FIFA over the years, and most recently, Sepp Blatter on Tuesday announced his resignation as the president of the world football governing body.

The Independent UK reviews the scandal which has engulfed FIFA in recent years.

December 2010 – Russia is awarded the 2018 World Cup and Qatar gets the 2022 hosting rights, days after the BBC broadcasts a Panorama expose of FIFA.

February 2011 – FIFA’s ethics committee upheld three-year and one-year bans imposed respectively upon executive committee members Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii for breaches of FIFA’s code of ethics following a Sunday Times investigation into wrongdoing during the World Cup 2018 and 2022 bidding campaigns.

May 2011 – FIFA suspends presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam and vice-president Jack Warner pending an investigation into claims they offered financial incentives to members of the Caribbean Football Union. It drops a complaint against Blatter.

The Qatar 2022 team deny any wrongdoing with their winning bid, saying their name has been “dragged through the mud for no reason”.

June 2011 – Bin Hammam is found guilty of bribery and banned from all international and national football activity for life. Warner escapes investigation after resigning from his position.

July 2012 – FIFA commissions a report into allegations of corruption in world football which is led by former US attorney and newly appointed head of FIFA’S ethics committee Michael Garcia.

June 2014 – The Sunday Times reports it has received “hundreds of millions” of documents which it claims reveal that disgraced former FIFA executive committee member Bin Hammam had made payments to football officials in return for votes for Qatar.

September 2014 – Garcia completes his 430-page report into corruption allegations and sends it to FIFA.

November 2014 – Hans-Joachim Eckert, chairman of the adjudicatory chamber of FIFA’s independent ethics committee, publishes a 42-page summary of Garcia’s investigation, effectively confirming Russia and Qatar as World Cup hosts after finding breaches by them were “of very limited scope”.

FIFA lodges a criminal complaint with the Swiss attorney general over “possible misconduct” by individuals but insists the investigation into the bidding process for the two World Cups is concluded. Garcia calls the summary “incomplete and erroneous” and launches an appeal against it.

December 2014 – Garcia loses his appeal against Eckert’s review of his report and resigns as FIFA’s independent ethics investigator, criticising FIFA’s “lack of leadership” and saying he cannot change the culture of the world governing body.

FIFA executives agree to publish a “legally appropriate version” of the report. This has yet to happen.

May 2015 – Seven FIFA officials are arrested in dawn raids at a hotel in Zurich. They are later charged by US authorities along with two other FIFA officials and five corporate executives over allegations of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies spanning 24 years. They are accused of breeding decades of “rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted” corruption within FIFA by the US justice department.

The Swiss authorities raid FIFA headquarters, gathering data and documents for their separate investigation into allegations of criminal mismanagement and money laundering in connection with the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids.

A bomb threat is made at FIFA’s congress in Zurich, while two pro-Palestine demonstrators are ejected.

The Serious Fraud Office says it is actively assessing “material in its possession” relating to the FIFA corruption allegations revealed by the FBI.

Blatter is re-elected as FIFA president for a fifth term after his challenger, Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, withdraws during a second round of voting.

Football Association vice-chairman David Gill rejects a place on FIFA’s executive committee under Blatter. Independent FA director Heather Rabbatts later resigns from FIFA’s anti-discrimination task force.

June 2, 2015 – A letter seen by Press Association Sport reveals the South African FA asked FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke to authorise a 10million dollar payment to Warner to support football in the Caribbean.

Blatter announces he is to resign as FIFA president.

Liverpool’s hopes of signing Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette this summer have taken a major blow, after the French club’s president said that the Reds “could not afford” Ligue 1’s top scorer from last season.

French international Lacazette, who struck 27 goals in the French top flight last term, has been linked with a move to Anfield this summer.

The Lyon president Jean Michel Aulas has responded to a post on Twitter linking Lacazette with Liverpool by writing:

“Liverpool have never called, and as they are not playing in the Champions League, they don’t have the money, nor would they be able to interest him.”

Last September, the 24-year-old signed a contract extension with Lyon, who finished second in Ligue 1 but the highly-rated striker has constantly been linked with a move away.

Lacazette has been at Lyon for his whole career, and made his professional debut for the club back in 2010.

He has made six appearances for the French national team, scoring one goal.

Liverpool have also been linked with a move for Danny Ings this summer, the striker will be a free agent this summer with his Burnley contract expiring on 30 June.

The transfer window re-opens on 1 July.

A report released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) reveals that a total of 51,464,799 telecommunication lines ( a dormancy rate of 26.13 per cent) across Nigeria, are dormant.

The statistics which was disclosed in Abuja on Monday showed that as of April 30, 2015, the number of connected lines stood at 196,941,125 while the number of active lines stood at 145,476,326.

One year ago, the churn rate stood at 27.03 per cent although in absolute numbers, fewer lines were dormant.

As of April 30, 2014, 47,938,269 lines were dormant with the number of connected lines at 177,329,661 while the number of active lines stood at 129,391,392.

The statistics also showed that the networks added a total of 16,084,934 lines within the one year period, which reflects a growth rate of 12.38 per cent.

Segmenting the active lines according to technology showed that GSM operators had the largest chunk of lines as GSM lines accounted for 143,057,234. Mobile Code Division Multiple Access operators accounted for 2,234,302 lines. Fixed operators accounted for 184,790 lines.

Some of the reasons given for the high rate of inactivity in lines provided by digital mobile network operators include the poor services which have characterised the networks in recent times.

Many subscribers who have been frustrated by the poor quality of services rendered by the operators find it more convenient to abandon their lines rather than carry phones that do not work when they need service desperately. They could switch to another service provider.

Another reason for the high rate of dormant lines in the networks is the high rate of promotions targeted at attracting new subscribers. Occasionally, these promotions produce many lines which the subscribers do not really need.

The introduction of Mobile Number Portability in May 2013 was expected to stem the tide of high churn rate as subscribers could still retain their number when they move to another network they dim to be more efficient.

Number portability is an application that enables subscribers to migrate from one service provider to another without losing their numbers. It was introduced in by NCC as a means to keep operators on their toes in terms of rendering quality services.

However, the churn rate has remained high. As of May 2013 when MNP was introduced, the number of active lines stood at 117,765,609 as against 150,888,100 connected mobile lines. This gives a dormancy rate of 33,122,491 or 21.95 per cent as against the 26.13 per cent recorded as of April 2015.

A senior Uefa official has suggested that the only way to stop corruption in FIFA is by boycotting the 2018 World Cup finals and setting up a rival tournament.

Allan Hansen, 66, a retired Danish police detective who sits on Uefa’s executive committee, told The Independent that democracy had not always served Fifa well – with the majority of the 209 member associations loyal to Mr Blatter returning the Swiss president for a fifth term last week.

Mr Hansen’s plan is that instead of playing the 2018 tournament, Uefa’s nations would withdraw from Fifa and play another European championship, inviting some of the biggest South American nations to compete as well.

There was a preliminary meeting before Friday’s Fifa election in Zurich, where Mr Hansen made the proposal to the 54 Uefa nations.

A further meeting will take place in Berlin this coming Friday ahead of the Champions League final there.

The belief is that Mr Blatter would not be able to withstand a mass boycott by the leading European nations, both in terms of the prestige of the tournament and the effect it would have on television and commercial rights which earn Fifa around £3bn from each World Cup finals.

A final decision on a boycott would be made at the Uefa conference in Malta on 17 September. Mr Hansen described a boycott and rival tournament as “the most radical option” in changing Fifa.

He said: “I have been in this world now for 20 years. I am really in favour of a fair and democratic process. I have to realise it is not possible because there are so many associations who don’t want to change. It’s a case of the old proverb, ‘you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink’.

“If we [Uefa] break out and run our own business, I am sure that these countries that don’t want change will realise they can’t miss Europe. I know it is not democratic but if we want in the future to have a Fifa as we know today [a global organisation] then we have to do some radical things.”

It is estimated that around 10 to 15 Uefa nations ignored the confederation’s prior agreement to vote for Blatter’s rival Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan on Friday. Spain and France were among the European countries to cast their ballot for Mr Blatter. This presents a major challenge to the reforming European nations, including the English FA led by Greg Dyke, who would like to unseat the 79-year-old Fifa president.

The FA’s independent director Heather Rabbatts announced she was quitting Fifa, tendering her resignation from the organisation’s anti-discrimination task force. She said that it was “unacceptable” that so little had been done to change Fifa and that the last week had been “disastrous” for its reputation, in a resignation letter to general secretary Jerome Valcke.

Hollywood movie, “San Andreas”, has registered an estimated $53.2 million in its U.S. debut on the box office Richter scale.

The disaster film starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson took the top spot for the weekend and is roughly $13 million more than what most box office analysts were expecting.

“After the weak debut of ‘Tomorrowland’ last weekend, the market was definitely wide open for a breakout,” said Phil Contrino, chief box office analyst at BoxOffice.com.

For Johnson, “San Andreas” is the biggest opening of the actor’s career for a film in which he played the leading role.

With films grossing over $5 billion worldwide, Johnson has proven to be a major draw at the box office. However, a good chunk of that number belongs to the “Fast and the Furious” series where Johnson played a supporting part.

The solid opening of “San Andreas” shows that the actor can add a boost to already established franchises like “Furious” and can also stand on his own as one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood.

“[Johnson] is respected and admired by all audiences because he brings not only a pure physical power to his roles, but also charm & humor and that gives him an irresistible appeal to people around the world,” said Paul Dergarabedian, a box office analyst.

The film — which is distributed by Warner Bros, a company owned by Time Warner.