afam4eva: Are they that poor that they would have to sell their headquarters?
Me thinks it makes business sense for them to do so.
Nokia sells their HQ for a ballpark figure and then they lease it for only a fraction of that amount thereby saving money to invest in their core operations.
Super Eagles midfielder Mikel Obi has been described as one of the best players available to Chelsea by the team’s manager Roberto di Matteo. The Italian, who spoke in London on the eve of their UEFA Champions League match against FC Nordsjaelland of Denmark, said it was very unfortunate that fans had always misunderstood the role played by the Nigerian on the pitch for the Stamford Bridge team.
Mikel, whose contribution to the Eagles has also been a source of debate, was vilified by Chelsea fans when his error earned Juventus an equaliser a fortnight ago at Stamford Bridge. But on Monday, Di Matteo rose to the defence of his player.
Di Matteo told the London Evening Standard, “I don’t know why he’s underrated by the fans — he’s very rated by us in the group. It’s the kind of position where you’re a bit of an unsung hero, where you do the dirty work which isn’t recognised all the time because the goalscorers and the creative players get that recognition.
“He’s physically strong, breaks up the game and is getting better on the ball, setting the tempo of our team. We’re happy to have him.
“He takes responsibility as well when receiving the ball under pressure. He should get more credit for it.”
Mikel was forced to close down his Twitter account last week following fans hate messages sent to him. No matter how fans may judge the midfielder recruited by Jose Mourinho, his teammates also believe so much in his ability. Goalkeeper Petr Cech backed Di Matteo.
He said, “Everybody has their opinion, but ever since John Obi joined us, he’s been a player who has played a lot of games — all the important games.
“He’s never missing. If he’s available for selection, he plays. He’s very useful and part of our success in the last few years. He’s a massive player for us and we’re happy to have him in the team, no matter what other people think.”
Mikel’s days appeared numbered at Stamford Bridge under Andre Villas-Boas until the Portuguese was sacked in March. His fortunes and performances improved once Di Matteo took over and he played key roles in wins over Barcelona and Bayern Munich in the Champions League. He has continued to command a regular position this season also.
Mikel is making a return to the Nigerian team with the match in Calabar against Liberia on October 13.
Too many to mention but off the top of my head, I'll say
1. The Iron Lady (2011) 2. The Hunger Games (2012) 3. Drive (2011) 4. Black Swan (2010) 5. Wanted (2008). . .with Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie and James McVoy 6. Wanted (2009). . .Bollywood movie starring Salman Khan 7. The Bodyguard (2011). . .Bollywood movie starring Salman Khan 8. Ra.One (2011). . .very effed up movie. SRK fall my hand big time for this movie
In short, I don't put much stock on IMDB ratings of movie anymore cos I've been disappointed too many times.Nowadays I prefer reading the viewers opinions/comments on the movie download sites I download my movies from.
Jupp Heynckes' side has triumphed in all nine of its matches so far this season, and the Belarusian outfit is next in the line of fire.
BATE can be expected to make one change from the side that beat Neman Grodno 5-1 on Friday afternoon. Aliaksandr Hleb sat out the home victory, is fit to return, and will line up alongside Renan Bressan behind Vitali Rodionov, with Filip Rudzik dropping to the bench.
Elsewhere, however, the club should be able to field the same lineup for the visit of the Bavarian giant, which is making its first ever trip to Belarus.
Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes, meanwhile, left Mario Mandzukic and Javi Martinez out of the starting lineup for Saturday's 2-0 win over Werder Bremen in favor of Claudio Pizarro and Luiz Gustavo. However, both summer signings should return to the fold for the Champions League encounter.
Arjen Robben missed the trip to the Weserstadion with a muscular problem, but trained individually on Sunday. Whether he makes the trip to Belarus or not remains to be seen, but Thomas Muller and Toni Kroos should retain their places in attacking midfield.
Mario Gomez is slowly working up his fitness after his preseason ankle surgery, as are David Alaba and Diego Contento, who both sustained broken feet before the campaign's start.
Match day two in Group G sees Tito Vilanova's men travel to Lisbon to take on the two-time European Champion.
Benfica will be without talismanic striker Oscar Cardozo, who has been ruled out of the Champions League encounter with a muscle injury. Manager Jorge Jesus will likely turn to Rodrigo Lima to feature in attack as the Brazilian bagged a brace against Pacos Ferreira at the weekend.
Also missing for the Portuguese side is Brazilian defender Luisao who is currently serving a two-month ban from football after pushing a referee in a preseason friendly match.
Barcelona has been rocked by the news this week that Thiago Alcantara will be out for two months after rupturing his knee ligaments in the 3-2 win over Sevilla on Saturday.
However, Tito Vilanova has received some good news heading into the vital group stage match on Tuesday. Carles Puyol, Andres Iniesta and Adriano have all been passed fit and took part in a full training session on Sunday. Gerard Pique will likely miss the match as he is still recovering from injury.
Manchester United could start with Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie in attack for the first time since the Dutchman's move to Old Trafford from Arsenal against CFR Cluj in Tuesday's Champions League clash.
Rooney is fit again after missing five matches with a gashed thigh and the England striker galvanised United in the second half against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, although they still lost 3-2.
"Probably the strongest part of the club will be in the striker department," manager Alex Ferguson told reporters before leaving for Romania.
Cluj impressed during a 2-0 win at Portuguese side Braga in their opening Group H match and the club's Portuguese captain Cadu believes they can produce another surprise against United and end a sequence of Champions League failures.
The Railwaymen have started all three of their Champions League campaigns with a victory but each time followed up by failing to win any more matches in their group and being eliminated.
"United are one of the best teams in the world, the strongest side ever to visit Cluj but we can produce a surprise as we did in Braga (last month) and in Rome (against AS Roma in 2008)," Cadu told local media on Monday.
"We will attack because we want to win. We have nothing to lose, we already have three points, the table looks very good at the moment and we hope to keep it in that way.
"It'll be totally different match than the one in Braga," added Cadu who would like to exchange shirts with his compatriot Nani after the game.
"English teams use more direct style of play with a lot of tackles but it'll be a unique experience for us. You don't have a chance to play against United every day."
The 30-year-old, who joined the Romanians from Boavista in 2006, was instrumental in helping Cluj win three league titles, three national cups and two Supercups.
United's experienced midfield trio Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick - whose goal helped beat Galatasaray 1-0 in their opening group match - were left out of the squad for the trip to the Balkan country.
Ferguson will also have to cope without injured Nemanja Vidic, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young.
Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans, who has recovered from a knock he took at the end of Saturday's defeat, are expected to play in the centre of defence.
United also faced Romanian opposition last season, beating Otelul Galati 2-0 home and away, although both were eliminated at the end of the group stage.
Roberto di Matteo says Chelsea cannot afford a repeat of the away-day slip-ups that almost derailed last season's Champions League campaign when they tackle debutants FC Nordsjaelland on Tuesday.
The London club may have finished the season as European champions for the first time, but in the group phase they amassed just two points from their matches at Valencia, Genk and Bayer Leverkusen.
Danish champions Nordsjaelland will be playing their first ever home game in the competition – albeit in Copenhagen, rather than at their usual home in Farum – and with Chelsea having drawn 2-2 against Juventus in their opening match, Di Matteo expects nothing less than victory.
"Tomorrow is probably the most important game in this group stage for us," said the Italian in Monday's pre-game press conference.
"We drew our first game at home so it's important we gain points away from home. For us, it's a crucial game tomorrow. I want the team to be focused."
Despite reports that Di Matteo could opt to rest striker Fernando Torres, who has started every game so far this season, the Chelsea coach said there would not be too many alterations to the team that won 2-1 at Arsenal at the weekend.
"It'll be a strong team," he said.
"There might be a couple of changes, because we played a very intense game on Saturday. A win would certainly help, and that's what we're aiming for."
The contrast between Chelsea's star-laden squad and that of Tuesday's opponents Nordsjaelland could not be more stark.
The Danish minnows were only formed in 1991 following a merger of two clubs from the eastern town of Farum, and not a single member of their playing staff had previously sampled Champions League football prior to this season.
They have nonetheless acquired a reputation for playing expansive, possession-based football under highly rated coach Kasper Hjulmand, and impressed despite losing 2-0 at Shakhtar Donetsk in their Group E opener.
"Nordsjaelland have shown how good they are. They went to Shakhtar and had the majority of possession against a good team.
"They weren't afraid to play their football and it'll be difficult for us. On paper, we probably are the favourites, but we have to show this on the pitch."
Pension Fund Operators in the country have said that 60 per cent of the total pension fund assets have been borrowed by the Federal Government.
The borrowing, according to them, was done through the issuance of bonds having maturity dates of between three and 10 years.
Addressing journalists on the developments in the industry in Abuja, the Managing Director, Legacy Pensions Manager Limited, Mr. Misbahu Yola, said the borrowing, though huge, did not call for panic as the Federal Government had over the years demonstrated its ability to repay debts.
Present at the briefing were representatives of PFAs, such as Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, ARM Pensions, IEI Anchor Pension Manager and Sigma Pensions.
Yola said it was less risky to lend to the Federal Government than corporate organisations.
He said, “The total employees registered in the Contributory Retirement Savings as at August 2012 were 5.23 million and the assets under management in the Retirement Savings Account Funds as at May 2012 is N1.4tn.
“The FG has borrowed about 60 per cent of the pension fund assets through the bond market.
“The bonds range from three to 10 year bonds and these are long-term instruments. Since pension fund assets are long-term funds, lending to the Federal Government is one of the safest and less riskier way to preserve this fund because government bonds attract the highest returns on investment.”
A breakdown of the N1.41tn Retirement Savings Accounts Fund Investments as at May 31, 2012, included ordinary shares, N136.6bn; FGN securities, N1.009tn; state government securities N64.01bn; corporate debt securities N27.16bn; and money market securities N150.58bn.
Others were open/close-ended fund, N7.25bn; real estate, N386m; private equity, N2.48bn; and other assets, N16.99bn.
Earlier, the Head, Risk and Compliance, Mrs. Idu Okwuosa, called on employers to embrace the Contributory Pension Scheme by ensuring timely funding of RSAs.
She said since accumulated pension assets could be invested in infrastructure development, there was the need for the government to come up with effective policies that would drive the process.
Nigeria needs N7bn for 2016 Olympics — Abdullahi October 1, 2012 by Kazeem Busari
The Minister of Sports and Chairman National Sports Commission, Bolaji Abdullahi, has revealed that Team Nigeria will need N7bn to be at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Abdullahi, who decried Nigeria’s poor outing at the London 2012 Olympics, said that the money would be used, among other things, to source for and train quality athletes while also restructuring the various sports federations.
He added that President Goodluck Jonathan will host a special retreat on October 22 where plans for the 2016 Olympics would be discussed.
“The President believes Nigeria should win nothing less than five medals at the next Olympics and he is not leaving anything out to get our athletes ready,” Abdullahi said. “We’ll need about N7bn to prepare the team for the Games.
“Government alone cannot carry the burden; the corporate sector has to weigh in. The private organisations will not come in because they are nice people; they’ll only come in if we presented it as a business proposal, and they see it as a worthwhile investment otherwise we’re not going to make any impact. I believe all those issues can be tackled in no time,” he added.
Abdullahi had yet to overcome his disgust at seeing the national stadiums in Lagos and Abuja in sorry states, saying playing was on to have them managed by private organisations.
He said, “It’s a shame and I’m embarrassed that these huge monuments of our sports could be left to decay over the years. The question is, when the National Stadium in Abuja was constructed nine years ago, what was the maintenance plan for the facility? Is there any maintenance plan? If there was, what happened to it?
“You can’t put in place this kind of infrastructure and hope that it would take care of itself. At the London 2012 Olympics, the organisers were clear about what they are going to do with the facilities after the Games.
“At the time of building the stadium in the name of Nigeria 1999, what plan did we have? There wasn’t any plan on ground, that’s why we’re where we are today. Routine maintenance cannot help hence we’re talking about giving the stadiums out on concession. We’re trying to get organisations that can manage the stadiums, especially in Abuja and Lagos .
“The President has set up a small committee headed by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to look at what we can do with some of the infrastructures.
“But why I’m angry is that while we’re working on this long-term plan, what does it cost us to keep the stadiums clean and trim the grass. It’s embarrassing (especially) when someone in my Commission is the Director of Facilities.”
The Minister also told The PUNCH that the planned reformation for the Nigeria Institute of Sports would not mean the loss of jobs at the institute.
“We’re starting with a fact-finding mission to determine what is wrong with the institute,” he said.
“The traditional role of the NIS is to train sports workers – coaches, athletes and so on. But we want it to play a greater role like the English Institute for Sports which was vital in turning sports around in Great Britain .
“I wouldn’t say we’ll relieve anyone of his position; this is not about individuals, it’s about the institute.”
Justin Bieber fans got a little more than what they bargained for this weekend when the pop star vomited twice on stage during a concert in Glendale, Ariz.
Video of the incident made its way around Twitter and YouTube following the concert on Saturday at the Jobing.com Arena, which was the first stop on his highly anticipated “Believe” tour. Luckily for the more than 18,000 fans in attendance, Bieber returned to the stage and the show went on without a hitch. The teen pop star even did an encore for fans.
The first instance came when he was singing “Out of Town Girl.” Bieber, 18, turned his back to the crowd, hunched over and puked on stage before quickly exiting.
After the second incident, Bieber returned to the stage and told the crowd, “It’s hard for me, you know, not feeling great and throwing up in front of a bunch of people,” according to USA Today. Bieber asked the crowd, “Will you love me even though I’m throwing up on stage? OK, I wanted to give you my best show ever, so do you mind if I finish it?”
After the show, Bieber tweeted “Great show. Getting better for tomorrow’s show!!!! Love u.”
“And …. Milk was a bad choice!” he added in another tweet — a nod to the Will Ferrell comedy “Anchorman.”
Bieber’s 45-city “Believe” tour continued Sunday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
A new study by advertising company Solve Media indicates that one out of 10 hits on any given website is a bot or automated script. No matter how you look at it, that's a lot of robo-clicks.
"Bots" aren't actual robots sitting at a computer, of course. They're a kind of specialized software that can do anything from clicking an ad thousands of times to commenting or registering for an account. They're everywhere; Facebook recently revealed that it has over 83 million fake users, many of which are certainly bots. There are also friendly bots, like the ones Google uses to index sites, but they generally try to stay out sight and not cause trouble.
Solve Media works in the CAPTCHA world — those "type what you see" tests that purport to check that you're human — so it has had many occasions to study bots' behavior. Its 10 percent number is based on looking at more than 100 million unique visitors a month across its ad network for over a year, applying hundreds of what they call "attack vectors" to identify bots.
Solve Media's CEO told AdWeek that as the same bots get encountered again and again, the company gets get "more and more reputation data and a valuable understanding of who they are and what they are." In other words, they don't just count the bots, they get to know them.
Most bots are based in the U.S., they said, but U.S. websites aren't actually the highest in bot activity, with around 16 percent off traffic attributable to them. In Singapore and Taiwan, Solve Media found bot rates of more than 50 percent. And it's rising: the company says "aberrant traffic" rose 400 percent during the 18-month study.
That's bad news for advertisers who have spent their money on display ads. If half the visitors to a site are fake, that's half their money wasted! Solve Media, naturally enough, recommends its own platform for controlling such fraudulent activity, but if even a top-shelf website like Facebook has trouble doing it, the problem may be getting out of control.
I remember At First Sight starring Val Kilmer & Mira Sorvino; The Saint with Val Kilmer & Elizabeth Shue; Entrapment starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
As per Naija movie, I remember King of my Country. Saw it on AIT on one of those Public Holidays and it was awesome.
[quote author=Sisi_Kill]Amazing!! All the men on this thread can talk about is sexxxxx.
No talks about her qualifications or the game. I swear I had to scroll up to make sure this was on the sports section and not the romance section.
After now they will say all women know is Romance. I tell ya, the time is coming when y'all will be the ones talking about body cream and butt tightening exercises while schlepping plantain in hot oil and we would be sitting in the living room with our feet up. . ..sipping wine.
Yes siree Bob! That time is coming. [/quote]But I did mention her qualifications. Scroll up again. . . . .
Shaw007: Jeezz!! C hOw hot she is!!! . . .they have just succeded in killing d team. . .cos i can't imagine myself juggling d ball with some hotie walking around!! Oh Lordy Lord!! . . .i want 2 jOin that team
and 2 say she's in her 20's so fresh,hot,in shape. . . Damn!!!
Abuja – As part of the activities marking Nigeria’s 52nd Independence Anniversary, President Goodluck Jonathan is to address the nation on Monday.
A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati stated that the broadcast would be aired at 7.00 am.
Abati urged all television stations to hook on to the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) for clean feed, while radio stations should hook on to the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN).
He said the president would also watch a ceremonial Change of Guards by the Nigerian Army’s Brigade of Guards, at the State House, Abuja.
Abati said the ceremony would be witnessed by Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo, Senate President, Sen. David Mark, Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal and Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mukhtar.
He said former heads of state, members of the diplomatic corps, top political leaders and government officials would also witness the ceremony.
Abati said the event would be transmitted live, from 9.30 am on the NTA and FRCN networks.(NAN)
The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) has shut the 28-inch Bomu –Bonny Trunk line after discovering a fire on it early Sunday morning.
The raging inferno is assumed to have been caused by a burning vessel which is alleged to have vandalised the trunk line to steal crude oil.
A statement signed by Shell’s Corporate Media Relations Manager, Tony Okonedo, alleged that “a burning vessel, thought to be involved in the theft of crude oil from the line, was sighted near the incident site, close to Okololunch community in the Eastern Niger Delta.”
According to the oil giant, the Bomu–Bonny Trunk line conveys crude oil to Bonny Terminal and some 150,000 barrels of oil per day is deferred due to the incident.
The Bomu – Bonny trunk line is part of the Trans Niger Pipeline, “which itself has been repeatedly targeted by crude thieves” the statement added.
The burning vessel seen in the picture is currently engulfed in raging flames and thick smoke.
Shell’s Vice President for Health, Safety, Environment and Corporate Affairs, Sub-Saharan Africa, Tony Attah, stated that “this incident clearly demonstrates the scale of the oil theft problem which, alongside the hundreds of illegal refineries in the Delta, is having such a profound effect on the people, communities and the environment.”
Lamenting the unabated level of oil theft in the creeks of the Niger Delta and the resultant devastation to the environment, Mr Attah warned that “until these activities are brought to a halt there will be no improvement in the environmental situation”
The statement claimed SPDC is “mobilising to fight the fire, investigate the cause and carry out repairs.”
“Last year, sabotage and crude oil theft were also the cause of 11,806 barrels spilled from SPDC facilities in 118 incidents.”
Foreign Affairs › Re: United States Presidential Debate: Mitt Romney Vs. Barack Obama by semid4lyfe(m): 2:58am On Oct 04, 2012
