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"Some cycles begin while others end" Diego Costa Thanks Chelsea.

Former Chelsea striker, Diego Costa has sent a farewell message to Chelsea following his reunion with former club, Atletico Madrid. The 28 year-old who netted 20 league goals in 2014-15 and 2016-17 campaigns will return to the Laliga club in January after his €60million move from Stamford Bridge was finalized on Tuesday.
He thanked the club on his official Instagram page saying, “Some cycles begin while others end, “My cycle at Chelsea began three years ago – three remarkable years in all aspects – and I will never forget it. Two championship titles, a Community Shield, 120 matches, 59 goals and 24 assists later this cycle has ended.
“Not the way I would have wanted – far from it – but the best way possible.
“The wonderful fans of such equally admirable club and all team-mates, as well as all clinical, administrative and logistics staff will remain forever in my mind and in my heart.
“[I] will bring them with me with the certainty that I will always be by their side as well, and I’m sure they will understand the reason why this cycle of mine has now ended – because I could not lose faith in myself. Thank you Chelsea for everything!”
 

Ancelotti sacked by Bayern Munich

After only one full season at Allianz Arena, Bayern Munich have sacked manager Carlo Ancelotti following Wednesday’s 3-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, the club’s heaviest defeat in the Champions League group stages for 21 years. The German who replaced Pep Guardiola last summer, was sacked after a meeting of the club’s board on Thursday  5 months after winning the League.
Chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, said “The performance of our team since the start of the season did not meet the expectations we put on them. The game in Paris clearly showed that we had to draw consequences. Sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic and I had an open and serious discussion with Carlo today and informed him of our decision. “I would like to thank Carlo for his cooperation and regret what has happened. Carlo is my friend and will remain so, but we had to make a professional decision for the benefit of FC Bayern. I now expect the team to have a positive development and absolute performance, so we can reach our goals for this season.”
Jurgen Klopp,,Ancelotti’s assistant Willy Sagnol, former Borussia Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel and Hoffenheim’s Julian Nagelsmann are among the leading names to succeed him.

Check out our top reactions to the P-square split.

Nigerian singing duo, Peter and Paul Okoye, a.k.a Psquare have for the umpteenth time parted ways.

One half of the pop star group, Peter in a written letter to his lawyer, Festus Keyamo, cited threat to his life and that of his family and demanded for a termination of the Psquare contract. He also questioned his elder brother Jude’s role in the crisis, adding that he took sides with his twin brother.

Check out our top reactions on the subject.
 


https://twitter.com/onyekanwelue/status/912213901521162240


https://twitter.com/FifunmiRex/status/912295292392935424


 
 

Our Depraved Society | By: Tony Ogunlowo

A few days ago a rather chilling and disturbing video emerged, online, of a young teenage girl cradling a recently decapitated human head. On her own admission she was going into the bush to bury it and she had already killed two people herself.
Considering her young age it would be otherwise be difficult to believe she was capable of committing such a heinous crime. But seeing her holding the head confirms her guilt.
Now  what sort of upbringing was she given by her parents or guardians that made her turn into a cold bloodied killer at such a young innocent age? How could a wicked person, like her, be in our midst and nobody saw what she was doing until it was too late? Presumable she didn’t go to Sunday or Koranic school where she would have been taught ‘thou shall not kill’ human beings. And how evil (- or what evil spirit lurks inside her) can a child like her be that would turn her into a cold-bloodied murderer? When I was her age even killing a chicken would be difficult for me let alone a human being.
And what is she killing for? Obviously it’s not for the fun of it, so either somebody paid her to do it or she herself wants to use the body parts for a ritual.
If a callous and evil person paid her to kill – and there’s no shortage of adults requiring ‘body parts’ – has the recruitment age for hired killers dropped so low that teenagers – even girls who barely have breasts – are now being recruited? I know there is widespread poverty, unemployment and lack of money to go to school and have three square meals but is killing a fellow human being, for ‘body parts’, for a few thousand Naira really the answer? Which ever way you look at it it’s murder punishable by a lengthy stay in prison or execution. It’s a good thing the security services caught this young serial killer before she went on to kill other people.
And if she wanted to use the ‘body parts’ herself was she planning on doing a money ritual? 95% of the time these money-making rituals don’t work and why is a young teenager doing such in the first place? What does she want to do with all that kind of money anyway? Since we live in a society where everybody wants to get rich quick, by whatever means possible, it’s not surprising – live fast die young! Whatever happened to working hard, speculating and accumulating? I suppose that is too tiring since every kid coming out of its mother’s womb today wants to be rich and famous tomorrow – minus any hard work.
Ritual killings have spiked in recent years and the way area boys, cultists, kidnappers, assassins and now this young female serial killer are killing people the country’s population will be decimated in no time, no need to worry about enforcing birth control!
Again the whole of society has to share the blame in creating these little monsters: a young person will think if an adult can get away with killing indiscriminately  why can’t they? How many murders are solved by the police and how many people are brought to justice?
Society doesn’t seem to be worried that a majority of these killers are getting younger by the day despite the fact it’s an epidemic in the making. Who put the idea into their heads that it’s alright to be a killer when they’re barely out of diapers? And shouldn’t so-called religious leaders being doing more to educate about the dangers and evil of taking a life? And what about the parents or guardians? They say charity begins at home. How could the parents of this teenage serial killer not know she was a murderer? Were they so busy with their lives that they didn’t know what she was getting up to? These sort of questions is what society needs to ask itself : how many parents know what their children really get up to? And if they do know, do they care? Having a son or daughter who’s a murderer is not fashionable, it brings shame upon the family. I’m not an advocate of ‘jungle justice’ but how would a parent feel if their wayward child is lynched in public? It’s time parents become a bit more responsible and took proper care of their children. If you don’t raise them properly, discipline them when necessary and teach them about the evils of this world – especially about messing about with cultism and occultism – they’ll turn out to be vagabonds and murderers.
And to all the cold-bloodied murderers, out there, young and old, if you shed the blood of an innocent person you’ll pay for it in this world and the next. There is no hiding place!
 


Tony blogs at  http://www.archangel641.blogspot.co.uk

Rooney Fined And Handed Driving Ban For Drink-Driving

Former England captain Wayne Rooney in a court hearing on Monday morning was banned from driving for two years and ordered to perform 100 hours of unpaid work as part of 12-month community order after being caught three times the legal alcohol limit.
The 31 year-old Everton striker who was also fined £170 will take part in a drink-driving rehabilitation course, which would reduce his driving ban by 24 weeks. He was stopped by police after a night out in a black Volkswagen Beetle in Wilmslow, Cheshire, at 2am on September 1. He was later arrested and bailed.
“Following today’s court hearing I want publicly to apologise for my unforgivable lack of judgment in driving while over the legal limit. It was completely wrong. I have already said sorry to my family, my manager and chairman and everyone at Everton FC. Now I want to apologise to all the fans and everyone else who has followed and supported me throughout my career. Of course I accept the sentence of the court and hope that I can make some amends through my community service.” Rooney said in a statement

Our top reactions from Nemar-Cavani penalty drama.

A little drama played out yesterday as PSG beat Lyon 2-0 to extend its perfect record in the French league to six matches. Moments before PSG’s penalty kick, star forwards Neymar and Edinson Cavani clashed over set-piece duties.

A few minutes before that, Cavani had tried to take a free kick but Dani Alves took the ball and gave it to the former Barcelona star, unfortunately, Cavani’s 79th minute strike was saved by Lyon’s Anthony Lopes.  Neymar’s action drew ire from football fans, with many claiming he was being disrespectful to a club legend, others applauded his move, adding that he is more valuable to the club and should not play the second fiddle.
Interestingly, Neymar reportedly unfollowed Cavani on instagram after the incident.
See our top reactions below.


https://twitter.com/indermethil/status/909627538212663297


https://twitter.com/PerryHayes15/status/909565444167790592


https://twitter.com/_ASakka/status/909520487973363721
https://twitter.com/BaguetteFC/status/909519317091446786
https://twitter.com/BaguetteFC/status/909519317091446786


https://twitter.com/o31qas/status/909517385836744706
https://twitter.com/ebuka_akara/status/909727942242193408


 
 
 

Nigeria – Now That The Recession Is Over, What Next? | By: Bukola Ogunyemi


On Tuesday, the National Bureau of Statistics gave a lot of Nigerians the news they desperately wished to hear – Nigeria is out of recession. After five consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth that started in Q1 2016, Nigeria’s economy grew by 0.55% in Q2 2017. Predictably, data once again became the hero and villain in a long-running social media battle of bias between the supporters of Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, and his critics.

 The optics of sneaking out of a 15-month recession apart, a 0.55% year-on-year GDP growth is hardly anything to cheer for Africa’s biggest economy. But as the NBS data reveals, the Q2 2017 growth is an improvement, even if marginal, on the GDP performance recorded in the preceding quarter (-0.91%) and the corresponding quarter of 2016 (-1.49%). Beyond the numbers, however, questions persist about the long-term economic recovery prospects of the nation. Questions that demand that all post-recession celebrations be suspended until further notice.

27 months into the Buhari administration, the patience of the Nigerian masses on the state of the economy and general standard of living is wearing thin, and understandably so. Inflation rate dropped for the fifth consecutive month in July, but the prices of goods and consumables which skyrocketed during the recession remain exorbitantly high. In reality, the recession persists for the economically dis-advantaged demographic of Nigeria’s 170 million population.
Nigeria’s path out of recession is lined with commendable efforts in improving the ease of doing business through the Presidential Enabling Business Council (PEBEC). Chaired by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo. the Council implemented a 60-day National Action Plan on Ease of Doing Business and was able to tackle some of the critical bottlenecks and bureaucratic constraints that had hitherto defined the ordeal of doing business in Nigeria.
Osinbajo, who assumed the role of Acting President while President Buhari was away in the United Kingdom on medical leave, issued executive orders on port operations heralding a much-needed improvement in the operational efficiency of the nation’s airports and seaports. He also signed two critical bills on improving access to credit, a major stumbling block for businesses in Nigeria. As the NBS data released yesterday show, Nigeria came out of recession the same quarter the implementation of these reforms started.

The recession has also proved pivotal to Nigeria’s drive for revenue diversification and a rebalancing of the economy’s over-reliance on the oil sector. The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) for example recently revealed it generated N2.11 trillion as revenue in the first six months of 2017 and is on course to meet the N4.94 trillion revenue projection for the year. Similarly, the Nigerian Customs Service generated N486 billion as revenue in the first half of the year, surpassing the N385 billion generated for the same period in 2016.
On the part of the Nigerian Ports Authority, reforms like the implementation of a Revenue and Invoice Management System has gone a long way in blocking revenue leakages and improving ports operations through the exclusion of unnecessary human interface in doing business at the ports. As a result of this and other reforms, the agency was able to surpass the N16 billion revenue projection for the first quarter of 2017, raking in N118 billion.
Progressive reforms in the monetary policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, notably the introduction in April of a special foreign exchange window for investors and exporters have been instrumental in the journey out of recession and its sustenance is important for further economic recovery. The special forex window grossed about $2.2 billion of trade in the first six weeks of its introduction and its impact on the market capitalization of Nigerian Stock Exchange – which jumped from N8.748 trillion in April to N11.463 trillion in July – is undeniable.
All these notwithstanding, the perennial issues of corruption, public sector bureaucracy and the high cost of running government remains. The duplicitous arrangement of line items in Nigeria’s 2017 budget berates hope of its ability to shape any lasting change in the life of the common man. Businesses still face the hurdle of multiple taxations coupled with the obdurate challenges of power and bad roads.
A good number of Nigeria’s 36 states are broke, largely dependent on monthly revenue hand-outs from the federal government. The bulk of these monthly federal allocations, in turn, go into servicing the salaries of civil servants with little or nothing left for the execution of capital projects and provision of social amenities. Yet some of these states offered subsidies for religious pilgrimages this year alone up to the tune of N50 billion.
President Muhammadu Buhari, whose campaign was built around his anti-corruption stance, has set about recovering funds looted under past administrations with resounding success. Critics, however, berate the former dictator for unlooking the corruption going on within his own administration. It took some weeks longer than necessary for President Buhari to suspend a high-ranking member of his government after he had been indicted for tampering with funds allotted for the care of those displaced by Boko Haram insurgency.
With the negative impression of an economy in a recession now dispensed with, the Nigerian government must keep its focus on providing an enabling environment to attract more investment and for businesses to thrive. Talks, for example, of reviving the defunct national airline, should take into consideration the huge drain on public revenue that South Africa’s romance with the same venture has been.

Movie Review: My Wife And I | By: Jerry Chiemeke

Movie Title: MY WIFE AND I
Year of Release: 2017
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Cast: Ramsey Nouah, Omoni Oboli, Dorcas Shola Fapson, Jemima Osunde, Sambasa Nzeribe, Seyi Law, Rachel Oniga, Ngozi Nwosu
Director: Bunmi Ajakaiye

“My Wife And I” is the story of a couple who have been married for seventeen years, but whose union is on the brink of collapse, amidst incessant arguments. Toyosi (Nouah) is calm, cool-headed and spends more time with the kids, a situation made easier after he quit his job at Haliburton to start up a farm. Ebere (Oboli), a thriving oil executive, is feisty, temperamental and frequently spoiling for a fight.
In a last-ditch effort to save their marriage, they reluctantly agree to visit Pastor Theophilus (Seyi Law) for counselling, only to wake up the following morning in each other’s bodies, apparently owing to the pastor’s prayer for them to “understand each other”. They have to adapt to each other’s traditional roles at home and at work, while fighting to keep the complex situation under wraps, only bringing the body swap to the knowledge of Toyosi’s assistant Jumoke (Fapson) and Ebere’s brother Emeka (Nzeribe). They also have to work out their complicated relationship with their children, who are almost resigned to fate in terms of an impending divorce.

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For all its speculation, this story is nothing new; we have seen it in Hollywood with “Freaky Friday” (starring Lindsay Lohan) and “The Hot Chick” (starring Rachel McAdams), but the crew in this movie did a pretty decent job with adaptation. Omoni Oboli often attracts divided opinion with her acting, but she pulls this one off; it’s not easy to interprete two different roles with outstanding personalities, ask John Travolta from “Face-Off”. Nouah rises to the occasion, Fapson and Nzeribe do not have much to do but fare pretty alright, and Osunde aces her role as Ireti, the couple’s rebellious teenage daughter, even where she is a tad overdramatic. Seyi Law’s performance is not exactly remarkable, but he is not a piss poor actor either.
Credit has to be given to the lead actors for scenes where they had to walk in each other’s shoes, literally on some occasions. Living in each other’s bodies makes for a totally awkward mess, but it is the awkwardness that defines the movie, and it is well executed, even though there are points where they seem too comfortable. It’s fun watching Ramsey Nouah sway his hips, and Omoni swing a “manly” punch.
Beyond family and marriage, the movie also subtly explores other themes, like fidelity, career and the question of female breadwinners. The movie slows down in pace towards the end however, and ultimately fades into cliches like following dreams and the ultimate power of love. For all the action, the dialogue could have been better too.
Ultimately, “My Wife and I” is a passable effort at experimentation. It is not perfect, but it is good, and it deserves an extended run in cinemas.
Rating: 6.4/10
 


Jerry Chiemeke is a lawyer and freelance writer who lives in Lagos. An amateur photographer and sports enthusiast as well, Jerry’s works have appeared on Blanck Digital, Elsieisy, Oshodi.tv, The Kalahari Review and Brittle Paper. He is the author of ‘The Colours In These Leaves’. Get the book Here 
You can follow him on Twitter @J_Chiemeke, and also check out his craft on his blog at pensofchi.com

South Africa-Senegal World Cup qualifier to be replayed in November

FIFA have confirmed that the World Cup qualification match between Bafana Bafana of South Africa & Senegal will be replayed in November 2017. The decision to replay the game comes after the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the lifetime ban of Ghanaian referee, Joseph Lamptey   for match manipulation. Below is a statement from the governing body
The Bureau for the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers ordered a replay of the qualification match between South Africa and Senegal held on 12 November 2016. This decision follows the confirmation of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to uphold the lifetime ban of match referee, Jospeh Lamptey, for match manipulation, the ruling imposed by the FIFA Disciplinary and Appeal Committees. The match will be replayed within the November 2017 international window, with the exact date to be confirmed in due course.

As stated in the FIFA World Cup regulations, this decision shall come into effect immediately but shall be subject to confirmation by the Organising Committee for FIFA Competitions at its next meeting, scheduled for 14 September.

When Churches’ become fetish ritual dens ~ By: Tony Ogunlowo

In the past year or so there has been an alarming increase in the number of ‘churches’ that double-up as fetish ritual dens.

Corpses are being discovered buried in the foundation of churches and several so-called pastors have been caught making human sacrifices.

A church is a place of worship and the priest or pastor is supposed to be the person who ministers to the people about the Bible and Christianity.

Churches are sprouting up almost on a daily basis as people seek miraculous cures and fortunes more than the Word of God. As there is no way to check most pastors qualifications or track records, you’re at their mercy. Everyone is busy trying to find more powerful pastors to help them fulfil their dreams and most rely on word-of-mouth or recommendation.

Everything in life is supply and demand: people want things to happen in their lives miraculously and crooked pastors are only willing to supply the demand. It’s very easy for a babalawo or fetish spiritualist to dress up as a pastor, complete with cassock and dog collar!

The only question is where do they get their ‘power’ from? Certainly not from God.

It’s very easy for a fetish priest to hide behind the façade of an innocent looking church which becomes a prop that hides their true purpose. There will be candles, Bibles and prayer books. Hymns will be sung, prayers said and a sermon read. All in all it looks like an innocent church ceremony.

But behind the scenes what is the pastor really doing to produce his ‘miracles’ or ‘prophecies’ on demand? Churches are not factories that mass produce miracles – it’s simply not possible!

A lot of pastors get their ‘power’ from a number of questionable sources : some go deep into the forest to consult the spirits of the trees and rocks, others seek ‘power’ from the entities of the deep ocean whilst others use human sacrifices.

Human sacrifice is as old as the human race and certain ‘gods’ and spirits will demand an offering to grant the user certain ‘powers’. By burying a sacrificed human being in the foundations of a ‘church’ not only is the victims’ soul trapped within the vicinity it’ll also be used to draw people in and for no reason they’ll feel compelled to go to that particular church like moths are drawn towards light. Over time more and more sacrifices will be demanded and one by one members of the congregation will begin to die mysteriously, their souls captured and used.

It’s not easy to spot such wayward ‘pastors’ as audibly they’ll be reciting texts from the Bible like they are saints, for the benefit of the congregation, but in their minds they’ll be chanting invocations to invoke the ‘gods’ they are really using.

But the people themselves are to blame: ‘miracles’ don’t happen everyday in a real church but rather once in a blue moon hence the reason they are called ‘miracles’.

After some people die and go to the afterlife they’ll have a heart attack ( – if it’s possible!) when they won’t find themselves where they expect to be after a lifetime of going to ‘church’; many will argue that they were ‘blessed’, ‘baptised’, ‘anointed’ and prayed for in ‘church’. The sad truth is a lot of people would have unwittingly sold their souls to whatever their ‘pastors’ was really worshipping. When you start asking your pastor for miracle-this and miracle –that, he or she will never tell you, honestly, what the conditions are for what you’re receiving or what you ask for  – and most people, ignormous, won’t ask! You hand over your thick wad of Naira and you are told to come back in 7 days time to collect your soap, anointing oil or ‘holy water’. What’s in it you don’t know and you don’t ask.

And what’s to say your ‘pastor’ hasn’t got you in his sights for his next sacrifice to replenish the one buried under his church? How many people go missing in Nigeria every day and are never seen again?

Again I’m not saying all pastors are rogues and have dead bodies buried underneath their churches ; there are genuine pastors out there who have genuine places to worship and pray; it’s up to the  worshipper to be more discerning. If there’s too many weird ‘miracles’ happening in a church there’s something else going on – either trickery or the ‘pastor’ has got a fetish temple hidden behind the altar! But yet again if you’re looking for this sort of ‘miracles’ or you want some of the pastors’ ‘power’ you only have yourself to blame for whatever you get yourself mixed up in.


Tony blogs at http://www.archangel641. blogspot.co.uk

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