INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL HEADLINES

***Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and his father Jorge have filed a "corrective payment" with the Spanish authorities amid allegations of tax fraud. The pair are alleged to have filed incorrect tax returns between 2006 and 2009 and a court located near Barcelona confirmed on Wednesday that a payment of just over €5million has been received.

***Atletico Madrid midfielder Mario Suarez is eager to play himself into contention for a place in Spain's squad for the FIFA World Cup.

***Real Madrid assistant coach Paul Clement has told the BBC that Gareth Bale is not guaranteed a starting place despite commanding a world-record fee. (ESPN)

***AC Milan youngster M'Baye Niang has missed out on a spot in the club's 25-man squad for its Champions League group stage due to a paper-work blunder by a club official.

***Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand believes the club is equipped to "win everything" this season, despite what is perceived to have been a frustrating summer transfer window for new boss David Moyes. (ESPN)

***Athletic Bilbao midfielder Ander Herrera has admitted he was flattered by interest from Manchester United, while suggesting the Premier League club have more questions to answer over their conduct when trying to complete the deal on transfer deadline day.

***Super Eagles and Liverpool loan-star Victor "holy" Moses insist he has joined the Anfield giant to save his career. Moses stated bluntly that the prospect of being largely a spectator with Chelsea could seriously harm his career. (The Mirror)

***Gareth Bale has described his protracted move from Tottenham to Real Madrid as a "very stressful" process. But, though Bale has admitted the lengthy negotiations were frustrating, he insists his faith in Real's ability to get the deal over the line never wavered.

***Scotland defender Russell Martin has hailed Belgium as potential World Cup winners as the two nations prepare to go head to head on Friday. Martin believes their opponents have the potential, not just to secure their place at Brazil next summer, but to go all the way in the tournament. (talkSPORT)

***England and Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick thinks the future is looking bright for England ahead of their World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine. The Manchester United midfielder believes there is plenty of talent coming through, and is excited by a possible international strike partnership between his club team-mate Danny Welbeck and Liverpool's Daniel Sturridge. (SkySports)

***Arsenal midfield youngster Jack Wilshere insists he is not feeling the strain of being English football’s great young hope. Wilshere, 21, is adamant the weight of expectation will sit easily on his young shoulders. (talkSPORT)

***Juventus have reportedly identified Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso as the perfect candidate to replace Andrea Pirlo. Juventus have already made plans if Pirlo does leave, with Alonso appearing to be their top target. (Tuttosport)

Good Morning Football Lovers. Wishing y'all a fabulous sing along Thursday

Source: Sports Radio Brila Fm

NABTEB releases May/June examination results

The National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB), has officially released the result of the May/June, 2013 NABTEB examinations.

The Registrar of the Board, Dr. Olatunde Aworanti announced the release of the results to newsmen and stakeholders in Benin.
He disclosed that out of the 103,753 candidates that sat for the examination, only 28,230, representing 27.2 percent obtained passes at the credit level in five subjects and above, including English language and mathematics.

He also said that, the overall indices show that out of the total number of candidates that sat for the examination, only 13, 347, representing 12.9 percent were certified as craftsmen. He lamented that in spite of concerted effort by government and other stakeholders to accord technical and vocational education the status it deserves, people’s attitude towards it falls short of expectation.

The Registrar appealed that for sustainable growth and national development, greater attention should be given to technical and vocational education. He therefore, called on the National and State Houses of Assembly to legislate on the establishment of modern and well equipped technical colleges in all local government areas in Nigeria.

Source: FMI*

INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL HEADLINES- Transfer Wrap

***Arsenal have smashed their transfer record in emphatic style with the £42.5m arrival of Mezus Ozil on transfer deadline day.

***Manchester United signed Marouane Fellaini, but only after some confusing goings-on concerning Ander Herrera, and a rumoured attempt to sign Sami Khedira. They also seem to have tried to sign Fabio Coentrao, but it looks like they've failed.

***Everton have signed Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea on a season's loan, and replaced Fellaini with Wigan's James McCarthy and Manchester City's Gareth Barry. And they kept Leighton Baines.

***West Brom have smashed their transfer record, possibly twice. Stephane Sessegnon and Nigeria international Victor Anichebe arrived from Sunderland and Everton respectively, with both deals potentially reaching £6m.

***Manchester United manager David Moyes has insisted that he is confident of Marouane Fellaini's success at Old Trafford. The 25-year-old Belgium international joined the Red Devils from Everton on transfer deadline day for £27.5m.

***Liverpool avoided the last-minute rush on transfer deadline day by earlier recruiting defenders Mamadou Sakho and Tiago Ilori for £25m while Nigerian international Victor Moses joined the Reds from Chelsea on loan.

***Newly signed Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho, 23, has disclosed his ambition to lead the club back to the Champions League. France international centre-back joined the Premier League outfit from Paris Saint-Germain on a long-term contract on Monday.

***Cardiff City also did early business on transfer deadline day as they signed Nigeria international Peter Odemwingie from West Brom on a two-year deal for £2.25m. Odemwingie becomes Cardiff's eighth new signing since their promotion to the Premier League.

***In La Liga, Atletico Madrid signed Belgian defender Toby Alderweireld arrived for a reported €10million from Dutch champions Ajax, while Josuha Guilavogui made the switch to the Vicente Calderon from Saint-Etienne.

***In the Italian top flight, Kaka was undoubtedly the headline arrival, as he ended a disappointing three-year spell in La Liga with Real Madrid in order to return to Milan.

***Super Eagles and Inter Milan young midfielder Joel Obi will play his football for Parma this season, after agreeing a switch for the entirety of the 2013-14 campaign.

***Juventus and Sassuolo were in negotiations for much of the transfer deadline day, as midfielder Luca Marrone joined the latter on a co-ownership deal while young striker Domenico Berardi joined the Serie A champions though he will be loaned back immediately.

***Wales winger Gareth Bale says the lure of playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo was a 'massive factor' in his decision to join Real Madrid from Tottenham.

***In other news, Wesley Sneijder has made his return to the Netherlands squad in place of injured PSV midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum. Wijnaldum has withdrawn from the squad to face Estonia and Andorra in FIFA World Cup qualifiers due to an ankle complaint.

Good Morning Football Lovers. No more transfer rumours until January 2014. Wishing y'all a great and fantastic Tuesday

Source: Sports Radio Brila Fm

Mandela discharged from Hospital, returns home

Nelson Mandela, 95, was discharged from hospital yesterday while still in critical condition and was taken by ambulance to his Johannesburg home where he will receive intensive care, the office of South Africa’s president said.

On a sunny but cold morning, an ambulance took the anti-apartheid leader home from the hospital in the capital, Pretoria, about 31 miles away.

Mandela had been hospitalized for nearly three months, after being admitted on June 8 for what the government described as a recurring lung infection.

Mandela’s condition “is at times unstable,” said President Jacob Zuma’s statement yesterday.

“His home has been reconfigured to allow him to receive intensive care there,” the statement said.

“The health care personnel providing care at his home are the very same who provided care to him in hospital. If there are health conditions that warrant another admission to hospital in future, this will be done.”

The statement yesterday from Zuma’s office said during his stay in hospital Mandela “vacillated between serious to critical and at times unstable” and that “despite the difficulties imposed by his various illnesses, he, as always, displays immense grace and fortitude.”

Referring to Mandela by his clan name, the statement added: “Madiba has been treated by a large medical team from the military, academia, private sector and other public health spheres. We thank all the health professionals at the hospital for their dedication.”

The government has released few details about Mandela’s condition, citing patient confidentiality and appealing for Mandela’s privacy and dignity to be respected. But rumours and unconfirmed reports about Mandela’s health have persisted on social media and other forums, fuelled in part by a feud within the Mandela family.

In a court case stemming from a family dispute over burial sites, some members of Mandela’s extended family recently said in court documents that Mandela was being kept alive by a breathing machine and faces “impending death.” That account was disputed by Zuma’s office, which denied Mandela was “vegetative” but acknowledged his condition was grave.

Mandela has been particularly vulnerable to respiratory problems since contracting tuberculosis during his 27-year imprisonment. The bulk of that period was spent on Robben Island, a prison off the coast of Cape Town where Mandela and other apartheid-era prisoners spent part of the time toiling in a limestone quarry.

There has been an outpouring of concern in South Africa and around the world for the transformative figure who led the tense shift from apartheid’s white minority rule to democracy two decades ago in a spirit of reconciliation.

Zuma urged South Africans to accept that Mandela had grown old and frail, saying all they could do was pray for him.

Mandela, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is feted around the world as a towering figure of reconciliation.

Despite being jailed for his prominent role in opposing white racist rule, Mandela was seemingly free of rancor on his release in 1990, becoming the unifying leader who steered South Africa through a delicate transition to all-race elections that propelled him to the presidency four years later.

The United Nations has recognized Mandela’s birthday, July 18, as an international day to honour themes of activism, democracy and responsibility embodied by the former leader.

Source : #‎Leadership

Power supply drops by 400MW

The Management of Transmission Company of Nigeria said power supply dropped by 400 megawatts on Sunday (yesterday), as the Agip Okpai Power Station Delta State was shut for scheduled annual maintenance, which will last till September 4, 2013.

According to a statement made available to The PUNCH by the TCN on Sunday, the five-day maintenance exercise is carried out yearly to ensure equipment availability as well as improved grid performance and stability.

The statement said that as a result of the development, there would be nationwide load-shedding during the period.

The company, however, appealed to all electricity customers to show understanding as the maintenance “is critical and must be carried out to ensure that the station continues to contribute maximally to the nation’s generation capacity.

“The TCN also apologises for the inconveniences the planned load-shedding will cause its customers nationwide during this period and assures that it will continue to work hard to ensure power supply stability in the country,” the statement added.

Source: Punch Newspaper

FG partners private sector to revitalize oil palm industry

The Federal Government has said that it will work together with stakeholders in the oil palm value chain to grow and develop the oil palm industry in line with the Federal Government’s industrial revolution plan.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga said this during a meeting with the Plantation Owners Forum of Nigeria, National Palm Produce Association of Nigeria, and Vegetable and Edible Oil Processors Association of Nigeria, in Abuja.

The Minister said that the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment would work with all the stakeholders in the industry to develop a holistic and integrated policy that will fast-track the growth and development of the sector.

Aganga said, “No nation has developed from being a poor to a rich nation by relying heavily on producing and exporting its raw materials without a vibrant and robust industrial base and services sector. Our country is blessed with abundant human and natural resources to become a great nation in no time especially, given the ongoing transformation and reforms being carried out by President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.

“In order to diversify and grow our economy through industrialization, we have already developed and begun the implementation of the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan which has identified strategic areas where Nigeria has comparative advantage. One of such areas is agri-business. We will work together with all stakeholders in the oil palm industry to develop a holistic policy to grow and develop the sector.”

The Minister stressed that the NIRP placed high premium on converting raw materials into finished products through value addition, adding that the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment was partnering the manufacturing sector to remove barriers to increased productivity in order to increase the capacity utilization of the real sector in order to create jobs and generate wealth the country.

He said, “We are committed to providing environment to support the growth and development of the industrial sector. The meeting with the coalition of stakeholders in the oil palm industry value chain afforded us the opportunity to appraise the problems militating against achieving the full potentials of the sector, especially as it relates to increasing their capacity utilization and job creation. We are ready to partner all the stakeholders to resolve the issues, raised.”

While speaking during the meeting, the Executive Secretary, Plantation Owners Forum of Nigeria, Mr. Fatai Afolabi, solicited the assistance of the Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment for industrializing the sector, adding that stakeholders in the industry were ready to key into the Industrial Revolution Plan of the Federal Government in order to move the sector forward.

He said, “For the past 20 years, this is the first time for us to get the opportunity of meeting a sitting Minister in charge of industry despite all our efforts. We want to thank Mr. Olusegun Aganga for his passion and commitment towards industrializing the country.

“We are confident that if the present momentum is sustained and improved upon, local production and processing of oil palm in Nigeria will experience the desirable turnaround within the next three to five years.”

Source: FMI*

Information Minister promises foreign centres restoration to promote Nigeria’s image

Nigeria’s Information Minister, Labaran Maku has said that the ministry is reactivating its foreign offices to adequately project the image of Nigeria to the global community. He made this known in Abuja on Monday September 2, 2013 while speaking with journalists shortly after he met with staff and management of the Federal Ministry of Information.

Labaran Maku stated that the ministry has received presidential approval to that effect, adding that as soon as some of the logistical challenges are addressed, the foreign offices would become operational.

“Foreign posting has been approved. We need information officers in all the key embassies abroad. The question of promoting Nigeria’s image will be their daily task. They will reply to stories that are negative about Nigeria in those countries. They will write positive stories and post whatever we are doing in the nation. They would coordinate and expose us in those countries,” he reiterated.
He inferred that the officers would have to engage campaign about the opportunities for investment as well as reply to issues about Nigeria to set records right. The Minister emphasized that the foreign posting is not a luxury but crucial to the image of the country. Adding, the Federal Information Offices across the country have been revamped through the allocation of resources to enable them carry out publicity activities on the programmes and projects of government.

Talking on the Federal Government Printing Press, which is yet to become operational, Labaran Maku regretted that the funds allocated to the project last year could not be operated, assuring that the ministry would do whatever necessary in this year’s appropriation to get the printing press working. He added that for the purpose of capacity building and welfare, the sum of N100 million was expended on staff training last year.

According to Maku, unlike in the past where staff training was outsourced to consultants, under his leadership, funds for staff training have been channelled to the National Institute of Public Information (NIPI) which was statutorily established to train staff of the ministry. He further indicated that the ministry is presently according priority to staff training and development for optimal performance in service delivery.

The Minister stated that though not all the programmes relating to staff welfare have been addressed, the ministry has emphasized staff promotion so as to motivate workers to give their best in service to the nation. He said that every staff that sits for promotion examination and passes, deserves to be promoted to the next level without delay.

“With the information age in vogue, the ministry is exploring the Social Media to reach out to Nigerians in every part of the world. Resident Information Officers posted to ministries, departments and agencies should step up regular filing of reports to populate the Social Media with the activities and programmes of the Federal Government. Power supply has been stabilised in the ministry to ensure that the radio stations within the ministry operate without interruption,” the Minister explained.

He told the staff that funding has been a constraint on the implementation of some of the programmes designed by the ministry, but additional funds are being sourced from the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P) to address some of the challenges.

While reminding the staff about the Made-in-Nigeria products campaign, he instructed that in order keep up the earlier practise of wearing Nigerian fabrics on Fridays, prizes have been scheduled for the best dressed staff. He thanked the staff for the industrial harmony being enjoyed in the ministry and promised that more social activities especially sports would be promoted among staff.

Source: FMI*