June 16, 2014 – Jide Salu’s Diary

WORLD CUP: NIGERIA PLAYS A SOULLESS DRAW WITH IRAN..

Nigeria's Stephen Keshi — Nigeria’s Stephen Keshi

I honestly believe this is a setup by Keshi! I honestly think so.

I believe Keshi was out to kill the usual and hopeful expectations of every football loving Nigerian.

What was Keshi thinking of, playing Ramon Azeez ahead of Peter Odemwingie? The style of play today was totally alien to the players that have only been together for less than 60 days. It was full of long balls, no player was bold enough to take on the iranian defenders, who played to instructions packing the bus. European style of play, rather than the African style which is to hold, pass and take on players. Entertaining. The style the youthful eagles play.

The game was stressful to watch for all Nigerians. As expected, Social Media is abuzz and full of condemnation for the team as a whole. If the second game against Bosnia is anything but attractive with a win, then all those that advocated for a foreign technical assistant to be with Keshi, they all would have been justified.

Mikel Obi was laborious on the ball, making no penetrating moves, focused on passing the ball either sideways or backwards. Efe Ambrose of Celtic disappointed his manager who confirmed he couldn’t cross the ball. Azee looked lost. Shola Ameobi was not a regular at Newcastle, yet he was deemed good enough to be called up by Keshi. Its all very confusing.

The Nations Cup can not ahi any form or shape compared with the world cup, however, Nigeria played with a purposeful style that warmed the hearts of Nigeria. it seemed to me the Nigerian players selected conspired to mourn the non-selection of the 7 players that were asked to leave the team.

I don’t want to believe the players on display today are by a long shot the best Nigeria has to offer.

Keshi and his team should be worried and have a sleepless night thinking of what went wrong. A draw with Iran is nothing to celebrate. Keshi was right when he identified the danger man in the Iranian team – Portuguese Carlos Queiroz. His tactics were spot on and his boys nearly sneaked a win, but for a marvellous save by Vincent Enyeama, the Super Eagles keeper who had to be focused 100% due to the unpredictability of the game.

if you ask me, what to expect against Bosnia and Herzegovina, I would say a better game with Bosnia and Herzegovina been firm favourites to end Nigeria’s journey in Brazil.

Let me summarise the frustration of a Nigerian fan, his twitter feed read;

‘#BringBackOurGirls and take those ugly Nigerian players’.

CHOSEN KESHI BOYS

Player	Num	Position

John Obi Mikel	10	Midfielder
Emmanuel Emenike	9	Forward
Victor Moses	11	Midfielder
Vincent Enyeama	1	Goalkeeper
Peter Odemwingie	8	Forward
Joseph Yobo	2	Defender
Ahmed Musa	7	Forward
Ogenyi Onazi	17	Midfielder
Kenneth Omeruo	22	Defender
Shola Ameobi	23	Forward
Efe Ambrose	5	Defender
Godfrey Oboabona	14	Defender
Austin Ejide	16	Goalkeeper
Azubuike Egwueke	6	Defender
Chigozie Agbim	21	Goalkeeper
Ejike Uzoenyi	3	Midfielder
Michael Uchebo	20	Forward
Uche Nwofor	19	Forward
Reuben Gabriel	4	Midfielder
Ramon Azeez	15	Midfielder
Michel Babatunde	18	Midfielder
Juwon Oshaniwa	13	Defender
Kunle Odunlami	12	Defender

(VIDEO) – Samuel L. Jackson recites infamous Pulp Fiction ‘Ezekiel 25:17’ speech.

Actor recited the Bible passage word-for-word on chat show

When you read as many scripts as Samuel L Jackson does (Avengers: Age of Ultron will be his 117th film) you could be forgiven for not being able to remember exerts from those that came much earlier in your career, but during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show the actor showed that his infamous Pulp Fiction speech is very much lodged in his memory.

Jackson recited the Bible passage from the Quentin Tarantino film word-for-word on the chat show, perhaps not with the exact same intonation as in the original, but with plenty of menace all the same.

His perfect recitation shows just what an iconic film moment it was – I doubt Jackson could tell you a single line from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and he only made that a year ago.

The actor was joined on the sofa by Keira Knightley, was who suitably impressed by the speech.

Below is a clip of the recitation in ‘Pulp Fiction’.

79-year-old former PDP Chairman, Bamanga Tukur Appointed Ambassador at Large; what exactly does that mean?

Former Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, has been appointed as Ambassador at Large by President Goodluck Jonathan.

In case you are baffled and as curious as we are, an Ambassador-at-Large is an Envoy who is assigned Special Duties, by the President reports ThisDay.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Public Communication Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Monday.

AT LAST! PayPal expands payment services to Nigeria; sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America markets.

(Reuters) – PayPal is entering 10 new countries this week, including Nigeria, providing online payment alternatives for consumers via mobile phones or PCs in markets often blighted by financial fraud.

Rupert Keeley, the executive in charge of the EMEA region of PayPal, the payments unit of eBay Inc, said in an interview on Monday the expansion would bring the number of countries it serves to 203.

Starting on Tuesday, consumers in Nigeria, which has 60 million users and has Africa’s largest population, along with nine other markets in sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America will be able to make payments through PayPal.

“PayPal has been going through a period of reinvention, refreshing many of its services to make them easier to use on mobile (phones), allowing us to expand into fast-developing markets,” Keeley said.

Once the services go live, customers in the 10 countries with access to the Web and a bank card authorized for Internet transactions will be able to register for a PayPal account and make payments to millions of sites worldwide.

Initially, PayPal is only offering “send money” services for consumers to pay for goods and services at PayPal-enabled merchant sites while safeguarding their financial details. This is free to consumers and covered by fees it charges merchants.

“We think we can give our sellers selling into this market a great deal of reassurance,” said Keeley, a former regional banking executive with Standard Chartered Plc and senior executive with payment card company Visa Inc.

PayPal does not yet cover peer-to-peer transactions, which allow consumers to send money to other consumers. It has not yet enabled local merchants in the new markets to receive payments, nor is it offering other forms of banking services, he said.

A 2013 survey of 200 UK ecommerce sites by Visa’s CyberSource unit estimated that 1.26 percent of online orders are fraudulent and that 85 percent of merchants expected fraud to increase or remain static last year.

CyberSource also estimated that suspicion of fraudulent transactions result in 8.2 percent of online orders in Latin America being rejected by merchants, compared with 5.5 percent in Europe and 2.7 percent in the United States and Canada.

Such fraud can include ID theft, social engineering, phishing and automated harvesting of customer financial data via botnets, or networks of computers controlled by hackers.

A total of 80 million Internet users stand to gain access to PayPal global services this week, including those in five European markets – Belarus, Macedonia, Moldova, Monaco and Montenegro, four in the African nations of Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, and Zimbabwe, as well as Paraguay. Internet usage figures are based on research by Euromonitor International.

PayPal counts 148 million active accounts worldwide.

Last week, MasterCard Inc, the world’s second-largest debit and credit card company, and a PayPal rival in payment processing, said it was working with the Nigerian government on a pilot to overlay payment technology on a new national identity card.

PayPal has operated in 190 markets since 2007 and added three countries – Egypt, Georgia and Serbia last year. Roughly a quarter of the $52 billion in payment volumes PayPal reported in the first quarter of 2014 were for cross-border transactions. PayPal reported $1.8 billion in revenue during the period.

(Reporting by Eric Auchard; editing by Jason Neely)

F1 legend Michael Schumacher ‘out of coma’ – GOOD NEWS!

Michael Schumacher had been skiing off piste when the accident happened

F1 champion Michael Schumacher has left hospital in Grenoble and is no longer in a coma, his family says.

According to reports monitored by the BBC, the 45-year-old German will continue his rehabilitation at an undisclosed location, they said in a statement.

Schumacher was placed in a medically induced coma after suffering a severe head injury in a skiing accident in the French Alps on 29 December.

His family thanked people who had sent messages of support, saying: “We are sure it helped him.”

They also praised the “excellent job” of medical staff at the hospital in Grenoble, in south-east France.

Doctors had kept the seven-time champion in a coma to help reduce swelling in his brain.

Classic Photo Of Robin Van Persie’s Flying Header Goal Against Spain.

what an RVB goalllllllllll — Classic World Cup goalllllllllll by RVP

Robin van Persie scored a remarkable diving header against Spain in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup.

Getty got this fantastic photo of the goal.

It’ll go down as a classic if Holland advances:

Click to view a larger size.

Video: Watch how an Absolute Idiot runs onto a track to race horses.

A horseracing spectator has been banned from the sport for life after he jumped onto the track at Leicester and attempted to race the horses.

The incident occurred inside the final furlong of the Cream Gorse Handicap yesterday afternoon and how the idiot in question thought that running out onto a live racetrack was a good idea is beyond us reports Joe.ie.

According to Sky News the clerk of the course, Jimmy Stevenson, said, “We’ve never had anything like that before, and hopefully we’ll never have it happen again.

“It was a moment of madness by a lunatic. Racecourses aren’t football stadiums, they’re open-plan, and we try to run the racecourse in a relaxed manner.

“Security were on him straight away and obviously he’ll be banned for life.”

Keshi’s Dream Super Eagles Spirit…

Team Line up of Super Eagles - Nigeria vs USA. — Team Line up of Super Eagles – Nigeria vs USA.

Planet Football looked altogether different the last time Nigeria or Iran, who kick off their Group F adventure at Curitiba’s box-like Baixada Arena today, won a match at a World Cup.

Back then, in another millennium, Brazil were the reigning champions while Spain wondered whether their long record of failure would ever end.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter was a sprightly 60-something, Neymar only six and Lionel Messi a 10-year-old talent in the making.

Since France 1998, when Nigeria were a power to be reckoned with after beating Spain and Bulgaria to top their group, the Super Eagles have struggled to get off the ground in the tournament proper.

This time, however, they have every chance of making a flying start.

Today’s is a match both sides will see as a must-win if they are to have any chance of progressing from a group that includes Messi’s heavily-fancied Argentina and exciting debutants Bosnia.

Coach Stephen ‘Big Boss’ Keshi, who captained the 1994 Nigerian side that reached the second round as winners of a group that also included former champions Argentina, is hoping to rekindle some of that magic.

Then, as now, Nigeria arrive as the African champions and even if their current squad is unpredictable and lacking the charisma and firepower of old, they will still start as favourites.

“The 1994 squad was a beautiful squad. It is my dream to have that spirit in this present squad. To have the unity, the oneness, the commitment, the togetherness, that would be great,” Keshi said earlier this month. REUTERS

10 things you need to know this Monday morning, 16th June 2014.

1. No fewer than six persons were killed yesterday when attempt by some NDLEA officers to arrest some suspected drug dealers in Sabo area of Owode, Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State resulted into violence. During the clash, three National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, operatives and three suspected drug peddlers lost their lives.

2. The Nigerian Medical Association has issued a 14 day ultimatum for the federal government to meet all its 24-point demand or proceed on an indefinite strike starting from July 1. The NMA state Chairman, Dr. Francis Faduyile disclosed this to newsmen.

3. Despite the insults, allegations and counter allegations between President Obasanjo and Kashamu, Justice Valentine Ashi of the Abuja High Court has fixed July 28 for the hearing on the N20billion libel suit instituted against former President Olusegun Obasanjo by a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the South-West, Mr. Buruji Kashamu.

4. Petrol Station Workers, PSW, a branch of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, had declared during the weekend in Warri, Delta State that it will soon shutdown sales in all filling stations across the country due to government’s failure to address the crisis in the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, which they said was affecting them directly with regard to their job condition.

5.No fewer than six persons lost their lives during the weekend when a bus conveying students of Bells Secondary School, Ota, Ogun State, lost control after it had one of its tyres burst. The accident which occurred along Ife/Ibadan road left 2 students of the school dead.

6. There was panic in Imo state on Sunday as Police discovered 2 explosives from the entrance of the Winners Chapel in Owerri, the state capital. The discovery however forced the church to relocate to Heroes Square, around Concord Hotel. However, all bombs were detonated on time.

7. Some Boko Haram terrorists on sunday stormed a market in Daku village, Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno State. The terrorists were said to have stormed the market in the early hours of Sunday, armed with AK47 rifles, Improvised Explosive Devices and petrol bombs. While they killed at least 15 people in the attack, they also set some shops and other facilities on fire.

8. Police Affairs Minister, Abdul-Jelili Adesiyan has said that the need to gain global attention was the reason the Boko Haram sect abducted the schoolgirls of Chibok in Borno State. He said it was unfortunate that the opposition party was relying on the development to discredit President Jonathan even when they are aware that terrorism was a global phenomenon.

9. THE Ijaw National Congress has advised the military that to win the war against Boko Haram, it must purge itself of fifth columnists and Boko Haram collaborators. The INC stated that it would be difficult to fight Boko Haram and triumph without a focus and a high level of patriotism among the Nigerian soldiers. The spokesman of the INC, Mr. Victor Borubo spoke on behalf of the group.

10. As the Super Eagles begins its World Cup campaign in an opening match against Iran today, the NFA Technical Committee Chairman, Mr Chris Green, who is in Curitiba with the team, alongside NFA President Aminu Maigari and other board members have pleaded with media organisations said it was disheartening to learn that some people were still hammering on the long settled issue of bonuses and appearance fees for the players. They have completely dismissed the report.

Culled from Daily Post

#BringBackOurGirls – Day 63 – ‘Many Are Weeping’….Retweet

Iran’s coach is their biggest weapon; we won’t take them lightly says Keshi.

The Brazilians did not forget Stephen Keshi and his Super Eagles after the men in green swooped down to South America’s biggest country for the FIFA Confederations Cup last year.

Though the team failed to go past the group stage that has world champions Spain and Copa America holders Uruguay, it did give a good account of itself and thrill the flair-obsessed locals. That was evident when the Nigerians arrived at the team hotel in Campinas, where innumerable animated fans were on hand to greet them. Here, in an interview with FIFA published in Daily Independent, Keshi reveals his surprise at that memorable welcome, discusses the way he believes football should be played, outlines what has let African sides down in the past, and weighs in on Iran, which Nigeria will commence its FIFA World Cup campaign against in Curitiba today.

You got such a great reception when you got to the team hotel. How pleased were you?

Very pleased. Very pleased because it was something that we were not expecting. And we came so late in the morning and they were still waiting for us just to give us a welcome back. It was good.

Are you satisfied with Nigeria’s level or can you still improve?

We can be much better. This squad is probably a year-plus old, it’s a new team. Most of the players are young. We’re still in the process of getting much better at what we do. In two years’ time we can be much better.

What can the team achieve under you?

I don’t know. My dream is to build a strong team for Nigerians and give these players a reason to be footballers. And to show the many players that are coming up behind that they can become somebody in football. That’s my dream and that’s it.

How important is the team’s unity?

It’s very important because I think that most of the teams that I played for in Europe, in Africa, always had this unity, this oneness. I think it’s a great weapon to have in your team because everyone is there, fighting for one another, playing for one another, which is a great thing. I’ve known this all my life as a football player, and now as a coach I’m experiencing the same thing. This is the way we got to qualify. Togo also qualified for the World Cup in 2006 because we were united. We had more spirit moving forward. It was the same thing in Mali when I was there as well. I think it’s working so I just keep on.

What’s Stephen Keshi’s football philosophy? What can we expect from a Stephen Keshi side?

I like attacking football. I don’t believe you need to sit back and load behind. You’ve got to be open and make the people come to the stadium. They spend so much money – they need to get value for it. Good, attacking football is what I like. Of course there must be purpose and discipline and togetherness to make the good football work.

Pele once said that an African side would win the World Cup by the end of the 20th century. Do you think African football is now on a par with Europe and South America?

I think so. If you look at most of the African players that are playing now for their countries– the five African teams that have qualified for the World Cup – most of them are playing in Europe, playing against the same players as European players, South American players. I think it’s the same thing. The only problem, the only difference I think is the lack of concentration and the lack of discipline on the field. Tactical discipline, that is. If we could pay attention to our game plan and concentrate, I think we could do it because this is the same team that we play against week in, week out in Europe. Nigeria haven’t won a World Cup game for a while. Why do you think that is? I mean, we’ve always had such great players. It’s because of a lack of tactical discipline and concentration.

You have a wealth of experience in the squad. How will this help you progress?

You can’t buy this sort of experience. I pray that Vincent Enyeama, [Joseph] Yobo, [John] Mikel Obi will bring all their experience. Youth is good, but if we can combine youth and experience that will be great for us.

First up for Nigeria is Iran, whose coach has a good deal of experience. What are your views on the Iranians?

I think an experienced coach is their biggest weapon, because he’s well experienced, he knows the game well. For the Iran game we have to be focused. We have to concentrate and do our job. We’re not going to take Iran lightly because they’re not going to take us lightly. So we have to go out with everything that we have. They have a very good coach and I’m sure they also have some quality players. We don’t know Iran very well, but we’ll see them today.