Video - Stephen Keshi appointed Super Eagles coach for the third time

Stephen Keshi has been appointed Nigeria coach for the third time and signed a two-year contract on Tuesday.

In his first spell he won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations but the deal was not renewed after the 2014 World Cup.

He later returned on a match-by-match deal, which ended in November after failure to reach the 2015 Nations Cup.

"It's a fresh start. We need the support of our fans, media and every Nigerian to return the team to where we truly belong," Keshi told BBC Sport.

"As a coach and former player I was also hurt that we failed to qualify for the last Nations Cup.
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"To succeed we all need to come together as one because Nigeria belongs to us - this is not Stephen Keshi's team but our national team."

BBC Sport understands that Keshi has been set several targets and that his contract will be terminated if he does not meet them.

The 53-year-old was also required to sign a code of conduct and is expected to work with the Nigerian Football Federation technical committee.

However, the NFF's technical committee boss Felix Anyansi-Agwu said: "The NFF board is confident Stephen Keshi can take the Super Eagles to new heights.

"We want Nigerians to see this as a new beginning and to support the team and the NFF."

Keshi, who also won the Nations Cup as a player with Nigeria in 1994, declined to comment on the contract details or the exit of his long-term assistant Daniel Amokachi.

Former Nigeria striker Amokachi has left his role with immediate effect and been replaced by Salisu Yusuf.

Yusuf, who led Kano Pillars to the Nigerian title in 2008, has previously worked as assistant to former Nigeria coach Samson Siasia at both senior and U20 levels.

As caretaker coach, Keshi endured a turbulent 2014, in which he was sacked by the NFF and only reinstalled after intervention from Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan.

His last two home matches in Abuja and Akwa Ibom were marred by a negative reaction from the public and Keshi has pleaded for the home supporters to be positive during the 2017 Nations Cup qualifiers.

The Super Eagles have been drawn in one of the toughest-looking groups, alongside seven-time champions Egypt, Tanzania and Chad.

"I understand we still have some disappointed people out there but our dedicated players deserve our encouragement and support," added Keshi.

"It doesn't matter where they play, these boys always give everything and we need to stand by them and the coaching crew.

"I remain confident that this time around we will see an improvement, change in attitude and positive results."

BBC

South Africa closes consulate in Lagos, Nigeria after anti-xenophobia protests

Protests were held outside the consulate and at the South African High Commission in Abuja.

South African consul general in Nigeria, Sam Monaisa, said in an email to the South African business forum in that country that the closure would remain in force until Thursday.

The situation in Durban had calmed down, but he was concerned about the Nigerians that were being repatriated, he wrote.

He said Nigerians were using social media to blow an already tense situation in South Africa out of proportion and stoking emotions.

This was why Nigerians maintained that their compatriots were being killed daily in South Africa, he said.

South Africans becoming targets
He warned the forum’s members to stay alert and not move around unnecessarily. South African businesses and citizens became targets of threats and acts of retaliation whenever xenophobic attacks occurred in South Africa, he cautioned.

Meanwhile, in Zimbabwe 15 people who were part of a first group of Zimbabweans returning home in the wake of xenophobic attacks in Durban have “disappeared” in Musina, state media reported on Tuesday.

The Herald newspaper said in an online update: “Fifteen victims disappeared in Musina where they reportedly claimed feeling safe because there were no xenophobic attacks reported.” There were no further details.

Zimbabwe is repatriating up to 2000 of its citizens who have asked to be evacuated in the wake of the attacks.

The first six buses carrying 407 Zimbabweans left Durban on Sunday.

Mail&Guardian

Locally brewed gin suspected of causing 18 deaths in Nigeria

Ethanol poisoning from a locally brewed gin may have been responsible for the sudden death of 18 people last week, Nigerian health authorities said Monday.

"We strongly suspect ethanol poisoning and in view of this, we have ordered for another toxicology test for the surviving victims," Ondo state health commissioner Dayo Adeyanju told AFP.

Preliminary investigations ruled out viral or Ebola infection for the outbreak of the mysterious illness in the southwestern town of Ode-Irele on April 15.

"Our investigations revealed that five of the victims took local gin mixed with herbs. Three of them died while the other two have been put under close observation," Adeyanju said.

A total 23 people were affected, and 18 died.

The five others were referred to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital for further tests.

Adeyanju said the disease was not contagious, and that no new cases have been reported in the past four days.

"We will continue to monitor the situation. We are appealing to our people to report any case of sudden illness or death to the health authorities for immediate action," he said.

Experts from the World Health Organization were in Ode-Irele to investigate and contain the disease.

The WHO representative in Nigeria, Dr Rui Gama Vaz, told reporters in Abuja on Monday that his organisation would continue to provide technical support to health authorities to battle the disease.

The global health body had said on Sunday that pesticide poisoning was the likely cause of the mysterious deaths.

The victims, whose symptoms included headache, weight loss, blurred vision and loss of consciousness, all died within a day of falling ill.


AFP

Chimamanda Adichie makes Time magazine's 100 must influential people list

Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has been listed by Time magazine as one of the world's 100 most influential people. 

Three other Nigerians - Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, President-elect Muhammadu Buhari, and #BringBackOurGirls campaigner Obiageli Ezekwesil - also appear on the list.

Ms Adichie, 37, is hailed by the US magazine as a "creator of characters".

The four Nigerians appear with three other Africans on the annual list.

They include Sudanese aid worker Mustafa Hassan, Liberia's Ebola-fighting doctor Jerry Brown and Tunisia's President Beji Caid Essebsi.

Ms Adichie is described in the US magazine as "rare novelist who in the space of a year finds her words sampled by Beyonce, optioned by Lupita Nyong'o and honoured with the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction".

"With her viral TEDxEuston talk, We Should All Be Feminists, she found her voice as cultural critic," wrote Radhika Jones, a deputy managing editor of Time.

BBC

WAEC trains over 400 teachers to curb mass failure rate of Nigerian students

The West African Examination Council has organised a training for over 400 secondary school teachers from public schools in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.

The training was on how to improve teaching and learning in these schools.

Speaking at the opening of the training​, ​jointly organised by WAEC and the FCT Education Secretariat, the Head of National Office, WAEC, Charles Eguridu, said the council was concerned about the poor performance of candidates in West African Senior School Certificate Examination.

Mr. Eguridu said an in-depth research revealed a number of factors responsible for the worrisome trend.

The Deputy Registrar, Patrick Areghian, who represented Mr. Eguridu said there have been a gap in the interpretation of the curriculum with relation to the examination syllabus.

He explained that an inappropriate implementation of the syllabus was another reason why candidates performed woefully in the council’s examinations.

“Rarely do teachers cover the syllabus,” he said. “Whereas, the WAEC, for example, sets questions on all aspects of the syllabus. This, no doubt, puts candidates at a great disadvantage.”

Mr. Areghian said the training was designed to highlight the evil of examination malpractice. He noted that there was a need to avoid or curb it as well as maintain the validity and reliability of WAEC examinations and up-hold the integrity of certificates awarded.

He said the training was intended to correct the imbalance and enhance the quality of teaching and learning in schools and the performance of candidates.

He added that the council had also identified the gap between teacher-made tests and standardized tests, like WAEC tests. He noted that even when students exceled in the internal examination, they failed woefully in the external examination.

“The reason for this is not farfetched,” he said. “It is because they are not being exposed to the nature of standardized tests.”

He assured that the training would equip teachers with item-writing skills with a view to closing the gap between teacher-made tests and standardized tests.

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