NAIJAFEED

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Siasia lands Super Eagles job

Barring last minute hitches, the new leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation will announce the appointment of a new coach for the senior national team, the Super Eagles and the lucky man is no other person than the former U-23 chief coach, Samson Siasia.

Trustsports gathered exclusively yesterday that the former international was picked ahead of other coaches who showed interest in taking over from Lars Lagerback because he is the man Nigerians want for the job.

According to the NFF technical committee member who spoke on condition of anonymity, the Nigeria Football Federation is not bigger than the whole country and so if it is Siasia that the country wants for Eagles job, then the wish of Nigerians must be obeyed.

He said beside the wishes of Nigerians, the technical committee settled for Siasia because he has demonstrated the requisite ability to identify good players as he showed his stuff when he was in charge of the U-23 and later U20 national teams.

"We have settled for Siasia because he is the one that Nigerians want and since we are not bigger than the whole country, we have decided to do the wish of Nigerians. It is not a hidden fact that Siasia is loved by Nigerian football fans and there is no iota of doubt that he has what is needed to do this job.

"Moreover, we are embarking on a re-building process and the best man for the job is Siasia. He is known for discovering talent and this is the most reason why we have settled for him", he stated.

In addition, the NFF bigwig disclosed that Siasia has been contacted and is pleased with the offer as he has already expressed readiness to accept the offer.

He said: "We have been discussing with Siasia and he has agreed to coach Eagles. This is a rare opportunity and I am sure he will not have any reason to think twice before taking this offer. He is patriotic and this is a national call which he will surely be glad with".

In a related development, he revealed that Austin Eguaveon will be appointed the chief coach of the national U-23 team.

He said the former international has accepted the offer and is certainly pleased with it.

The member of NFF Executive Committee said a meeting will be held today between the technical committee and the two coaches to finalize discussions after which their appointments will be made public.

Daily Trust

President Goodluck Jonathan reverses Super Eagles suspension

President Goodluck Jonathan suspends Super Eagles

Monday, July 12, 2010

Nneka on growing up around violence

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Nneka talks to the BBC about winning the 2009 Best African Act

Nneka talks about moving across cultures

Singer Nneka Egbuna tells CNN how moving to Germany from Nigeria has shaped her music.

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Gunmen kidnap 3 local journalists

Gunmen kidnapped three Nigerian journalists and a driver traveling through the country's oil-rich, but volatile southern delta, a colleague said Monday, the latest troubling sign of insecurity in the West African nation.

The reporters had just left a conference in Akwa Ibom state Sunday when a speeding car filled with gunmen forced their bus to stop, said Mohammed Garba, president of the Nigeria Union of Journalists. The gunmen got on board and commandeered the bus, Garba said.

Garba said one of the journalists called him several hours later at the request of the gunmen. Garba said the kidnappers made a ransom demand of $1.67 million.

"We tried to negotiate," Garba said. "Unfortunately, the abductors have not been so friendly."

Attacks against journalists aren't uncommon in Nigeria, a country of 150 million where corruption pervades government and business. A political reporter and editor for a Nigerian newspaper was killed by gunmen at his home in September and beatings happen during elections and police actions.

But kidnappings of local journalists remain rare as many have low wages and must sell advertisements for their sections. Some rely on cash payments from interview subjects or "brown envelope" bribes slipped into briefing materials at news conferences.

In March, kidnappers seized three sports journalists from a South Africa-based satellite network. Gunmen later released the men.

"It was unbelievable to us. I never thought that journalists could be kidnapped," Garba said. "Journalists in Nigeria are poorly paid. If really these guys are looking for money, they have made the wrong move."

Militants and criminal gangs once targeted only foreign oil workers and contractors for six-figure ransoms in the Niger Delta, a region of swamps, mangrove fields and palm-tree-lined creeks about the size of Portugal. Now, with oil firms keeping their workers hidden behind razor wire and under paramilitary protection, gangs have increasingly targeted middle-class Nigerian families unable to afford that security.

The government offered an amnesty deal that calmed much of the militancy there, but groups have grown impatient with what they describe as a slow response to their demands.

This kidnapping "has further exposed the level of insecurity in that region and Nigeria as a whole," Garba said. "The government has to address this problem."

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Fifa was warned of Nigeria World Cup match-fixing fears

Fifa was warned before this year's World Cup of fears that Nigeria's team could be vulnerable to match-fixing, the BBC has learned.

An investigator for Uefa raised concerns, including suspicions over betting patterns.

Nigeria went out of the tournament in the first round, losing to Greece.

World governing body Fifa does not deny receiving a warning but say it has "no indication" of match-fixing in any World Cup matches.

BBC Newsnight understands an investigator working with Uefa first became suspicious during qualifying rounds of the World Cup.

It is alleged that certain Nigerian players came forward and said their team was vulnerable to manipulation.

On the morning of Nigeria's first match, he alerted Fifa's new Early Warning System, set up to look for signs of match-rigging, of his concerns.

After Newsnight was aired Fifa responded, saying no information provided by any informant relating to potential match-fixing at the tournament has had any substance.

A statement said: "Fifa and the Early Warning System (EWS) have a network of informants from which we receive information.

"Of course, as you may understand, we will not disclose the identity of the informants. What we can say is that at least until today no information provided by the informants to Fifa in relation to any potential match-fixing activities during the 2010 Fifa World Cup have proved to have any substance.

"Furthermore, we can also say that there is no indication whatsoever until today of any match-fixing situations during any of the matches of the 2010 Fifa World Cup."

German journalist Christian Bergmann also had a call just before the first Nigerian game of the tournament from a Uefa contact who said there were suggestions that "some players from the Nigerian team are actually involved in some form of manipulation".

In their second game of the tournament, Nigeria were strong favourites to beat Greece and took an early 1-0 lead.

But after just 33 minutes Nigeria had a man sent off and Greece subsequently scored their first ever World Cup goals to win 2-1.

After their elimination, Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan was so angry with the poor performances that he suspended the whole team from international competition. He later reversed that decision following a complaint from Fifa.

BBC

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