Nigeria Will Win The 2014 Fifa World Cup - Kanu Nwankwo

Former Arsenal and Nigeria legend Nwankwo Kanu spoke exclusively to Goal about Nigerian football and the future of the game in Africa

Goal: How highly do you rate the current Nigerian squad?

Kanu: We have a good squad that is competent enough to take us to the World Cup and make us shine on the world map.
Goal: What is your take on the coach Stephen Keshi?
Kanu: When he came in to the squad many people were very negative about him but he has proved that he is the best coach we ever had. He is a great guy and what is important is that he knows what he is doing with the players, as he is a former player as well.
Goal: How do you think he is coping with being a local coach, compared to Europeans who normally coach Africa's top nations?
Kanu: Fortunately, the players love and respect him a lot. As you know that he is a straight talker so the players know what is expected from them.

Kanu watches the Super Eagles
Goal: Speaking about players respecting him, it seems like Nigeria is trying out many new faces, and how are they shaping the squad going ahead?
Kanu: We want players that are hungry for success and players who will play for the country with pride and dignity. That is the main reason we have such a squad. Although we can still have experienced players, nobody owns a space, they all need to work hard.
Goal: What is your expectation for Nigeria's upcoming match against Malawi and qualifying for the World Cup?
Kanu: We are definitely going to the World Cup next year, and we want to win the Cup for Africa. About the Malawi match - we are ready for it and we will do our best.
Goal: Most critics argue that the current Nigeria team is not as good as your generation. Yet, they won the 2013 Afcon. What do you think has brought back the passion in the squad?

Kanu: We have a great coaching team behind them. And, that is what makes us the best in Africa.

Luiz Not For Sale - Mourinho

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says there are no circumstances that would move the Premier League club to consider an offer for defender David Luiz.
The 26-year-old Brazil centre-back has been linked with a move to Spanish champions Barcelona but Mourinho says there is no way he would be allowed to leave Stamford Bridge.
“No chance he is going to leave. He is a player we want to keep,” Mourinho told BT Sport. “He is a player with four years (on his) contract, he just signed a contract last year.
We like him. He is an important player for the club and the club is not ready to sell him for any price.”
Luiz joined Chelsea from Portuguese giants Benfica in 2011 and has won the FA Cup, the Champions League and the Europa League in his first two seasons at the club.

I Remain In PDP But My Associates Will Register A New Party - Atiku Reveals

A former Vice President and member of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has confirmed that some of his political associates are set to register a new party, the Peoples Democratic Movement, PDM.
The PDM, one of Nigeria’s oldest existing political movements was founded by Nigeria’s former deputy military leader, late Shehu Yar’Adua, and is currently headed by Mr. Abubakar.
While describing the PDM, Mr. Abubakar’s media aide, Garba Shehu, in a statement sent to journalists, said, “The PDM platform, which was founded by late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, provided the impetus for his impressive performance across the country during the September 1992 presidential primaries, which were later cancelled by the military regime.”
“The late Gen. Yar’Adua came close to becoming President, thanks to the formidable PDM structure. In 1999, the PDM was also in the forefront in the emergence of former President Obasanjo as PDP presidential candidate.
“Political observers also noted that the choice of Atiku Abubakar as running mate to Obasanjo in 1999 was a recognition of the active role of the PDM platform in his victory.”
The PDM is known to have top politicians across the county as members including former Katsina State Governor, Lawal Kaita; and former Minister and Lagos politician, Dapo Sarumi.
While the former vice president confirmed in the statement that some of his associates are in the process of registering the PDM as a political party, he however said he still remained a member of the Peoples Democatic Party, PDP.
Mr. Abubakar said while he remains a loyal PDP member, he doesn’t have the right or power to stop others from associating or seeking registration for new parties.
The former vice president, who said he had no powers to stop adults with common interests from coming together to form a party, said he would always welcome the expansion of the political space to accommodate all shades of opinions or political hue.
He also noted that many of his political associates are equally members of political parties other than the PDP

Notorious Fraudster, Fred Ajudua, ‘Rushed’ To Hospital

Alleged serial fraudster, Fred Ajudua, is currently on “emergency” admission at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).

Mr. Ajudua, who had been battling a kidney-related ailment, was “rushed” to LUTH from the clinic at Kirikiri Maximum Prisons where he had been remanded, Allens Agbaka, his lawyer said.
Mr. Ajudua, 52, and Charles Orie are accused by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of duping Remy Cina and Pierre Vijgen, two Dutch businessmen, of $1.69 million (N270 million).
“He has been a serious kidney patient and has been living on one kidney for a long time,” Mr. Agbaka said.
“What happened was that the kidney started to malfunction, he did not pass sufficient urine for a while and so the prison doctor attempted to pass a pipe through his manhood,” Mr. Agbaka said.
“In the course of doing that, he started to bleed and he had to be rushed to LUTH at exactly 2 p.m. on August 3,” he added.
When contacted, LUTH declined to confirm his admission at the hospital.
“It is not to my knowledge, I’m not in the hospital right now,” said Hope Nwawolo, LUTH’s Spokesperson.
Also, the EFCC refused to state if they were aware of the development.
Wilson Uwujaren, the commission’s Spokesperson, said that Mr. Ajudua was “not in EFCC custody.”
“We are talking about somebody who said that he is ill. He is not with us here,” Mr. Uwujaren said.
Mr. Ajudua was first arraigned in 2003 before a Lagos High Court in Ikeja.
In 2005, after he had been granted bail to seek medical attention in India over his kidney-related ailment, Mr. Ajudua absconded, according to the EFCC.
The trial of the duo resumed in June after Mr. Ajudua “voluntarily decided” to attend trial proceedings.
This time, Olubunmi Oyewole, the trial judge, refused to grant him bail despite claims of ill health.
His plea to be granted leave to be treated as an outpatient at LUTH was also turned down by the judge.
The trial was, however, discontinued after Mr. Ajudua filed a petition seeking to transfer the case to another judge.
Mr. Agbaka said that there was no latest development since the trial was brought to a temporary end.
“For now, we have not taken any further step. He must be alive to face the trial. For now, we are battling with his health,” Mr. Agbaka added.

We Demanded N87bn, Not N92bn – ASUU

The Academic Staff Union of Universities on Wednesday faulted the statement credited to the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, that the union demanded for N92bn, describing the claim as false.
ASUU said it never demanded such amount as earned allowances in the 2009 agreement it reached with the Federal Government.
Okonjo-Iweala had on Wednesday in Minna, said  the Federal Government couldn’t meet the N92bn allowances as demanded by ASUU.
The univerisity lecturers, in a statement by the University of Ibadan  branch chairman, Dr. Olusegun Ajiboye, described the amount mentioned by the minister as “a the imagination of the minister.”
Ajiboye explained that the earned allowances, the union and the governemnt calculated in the 2009 agreement, amounted to N87b, which covered allowances for three and half years for the lecturers in the nation’s universities.
He said, the N87bn was a compromise made by ASUU to scale down from N127bn.
He added that the N87bn was computed based on 15 per cent of the yearly recurrent expenditures of some nation’s universities.
The statement stated, “I want Nigerians to ask the minister where she got her figure of N92bn from. There was never a time that ASUU made a demand that is up to N92bn. I think the N92bn is just the imagination of the minister.                        
“But that is not to say that this government did not enter into an agreement with us. This is a government that signed an agreement with us on January 24, 2012 to the effect that they would inject N100bn as funding into the universities in the first one  month and that before the end of 2012, they would inject another N300bn.’’

Al-Mustapha’s Acquittal: Supreme Court Our Last Opportunity for Justice – Late Abiola’s Family

 

The family of late Kudirat Abiola has praised the Lagos State government for approaching the Supreme Court to appeal the discharge and acquittal of Hamza Al-Mustapha and Lateef Sofolahan.

Messrs Al-Mustapha and Sofolahan were sentenced to death by hanging by a Lagos State High Court for the murder of Mrs. Abiola, wife of the acclaimed winner of June 12, 1993.

The duo was, however, set free last month after the appellate court overturned the death sentence.

Abiola’s family made a statement on August 14, 2013, Wednesday, said that the Supreme Court is the last opportunity for them to get justice within Nigeria’s system.

“As the Attorney General files an appeal to the Supreme Court, I am reminded of Martin Luther King’s admonition that when evil men plot, good men must plan,” said Hafsat Abiola-Costello, who spoke on behalf of the Abiola family.

“In 1996, an unarmed woman was assassinated in cold blood. The gunman later confessed and identified those that sent him to commit the crime.

“17years later, within the democratic system that the woman fought to realize with her last breath, the mastermind of the assassination was set free.

“To date, no-one has been convicted for the crime. The woman was 44-years-old,” Mrs. Abiola-Castello added.

It would be recalled that Mrs. Kudirat Abiola left behind a husband, who was in prison at the time for treason and seven children, the youngest of which was 7-years-old, according to Mrs. Abiola-Costello.

“On behalf of my siblings and entire family, let me thank the Attorney General and the legal team working with him for their steadfast dedication to this case,” Mrs. Abiola-Costello said.

“Whichever way the appeal goes, there is victory in the fact that today in Lagos, good men and women are planning,” she added.

Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart ‘Will Probaby’ Start Dating Again?

Thu, August 15, 2013 2:49pm EDT by Chloe Melas6 Comments

Fameflynet

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Put the Kleenex box back, because Rob and Kristen might be headed for a reunion! A new exciting report gives hope to Twi-hards and we’re so happy.

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart may become Robsten once again.

Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart Getting Back Together?

It’s never really over, is it? The couple reportedly had an intense conversation when they hung out at her house in Aug. 4 and it turns out they might be getting back together.

“They will probably pick up where they left off,” the insider tells Us Weekly. “Rob is obsessed with her. She’s still heartbroken and she can’t seem to get over him.”

This is so exciting and we can’t wait for them to give it another go. Sometimes space is exactly what a couple needs to realize what they needed was right there in front of them all along!

Why Rob Will Always Love Kristen

We told you that HollywoodLife.com spoke to a friend of Rob’s who told us that when he dated Kristen, she made him feel so good about himself and pushed him to do things he wouldn’t normally do!

The thing that Rob loved and admired so much about Kristen is her ability to be absolutely herself and not care what others think. She is fearless, and this is what has always captivated Rob. She always encouraged him to be fearless. To follow his own path. To believe in himself. To take risks. To do something every day that scared him.

We just want these two to stop being silly and move back in together! 

Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart ‘Will Probaby’ Start Dating Again?

Thu, August 15, 2013 2:49pm EDT by Chloe Melas6 Comments

Fameflynet

View Gallery 
12 Photos

0

Put the Kleenex box back, because Rob and Kristen might be headed for a reunion! A new exciting report gives hope to Twi-hards and we’re so happy.

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart may become Robsten once again.

Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart Getting Back Together?

It’s never really over, is it? The couple reportedly had an intense conversation when they hung out at her house in Aug. 4 and it turns out they might be getting back together.

“They will probably pick up where they left off,” the insider tells Us Weekly. “Rob is obsessed with her. She’s still heartbroken and she can’t seem to get over him.”

This is so exciting and we can’t wait for them to give it another go. Sometimes space is exactly what a couple needs to realize what they needed was right there in front of them all along!

Why Rob Will Always Love Kristen

We told you that HollywoodLife.com spoke to a friend of Rob’s who told us that when he dated Kristen, she made him feel so good about himself and pushed him to do things he wouldn’t normally do!

The thing that Rob loved and admired so much about Kristen is her ability to be absolutely herself and not care what others think. She is fearless, and this is what has always captivated Rob. She always encouraged him to be fearless. To follow his own path. To believe in himself. To take risks. To do something every day that scared him.

We just want these two to stop being silly and move back in together! 

Amanda Seyfried and Justin Long are latest Hollywood couple

Lovelace star Amanda Seyfried is reportedly dating actor Justin Long. Picture: AP

HOLLYWOOD'S newest romance is heating up with Amanda Seyfried said to be dating actor Justin Long.

To date, the pair has remained low-key about their relationship, butLong attended a recent event for Seyfried’s latest film Lovelace(about the life of porn star Linda Lovelace) where they were said to be "inseparable".

Long also proclaimed his admiration for Seyfried via Twitter, writing, "Adjectives don't do justice to Amanda Seyfried’s fearless + transformative perf in Lovelace."

Seyfried has previously been linked to Dexter actor Desmond Harrington but that quickly fizzled. Prior to Harrington, Seyfried dated British actor Dominic Cooper for more than three years before splitting in 2010, a breakup that initially devastated the actress. Now, however, the pair still remain close friends.

"He’ll always be in my life regardless of what his girlfriends or future wife think. I’m never going to be with a guy that can’t deal with my friendship with him," she told Ellemagazine in a recent interview.

Long, meanwhile, was most recently linked to House of Cards star Kate Mara. Prior to that Long was in an on/off relationship with Drew Barrymore between 2007 and 2010.