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Opinion

Opinion: Rewarding labour beyond the monetary | By: Wole Aguda

“The following day on 5 May in Milwaukee Wisconsin, the state militia fired on a crowd of strikers killing seven, including a schoolboy and a man feeding chickens in his yard”.
Human freedom has historically come at a price, and more often than not, expensive. Today, the world celebrates the International Workers Day and while many take the opportunity to reflect on the immense contribution of the Labour Movement in fostering camaraderie amongst workers, I find it as an opportunity to draw attention to the need for Nigerians to begin to reward labour beyond the monetary.

Money is good for reward undoubtedly but it hardly measures up to requirements for proportionate compensation for labour, which is often determined though profitability assessments of an employer and transferred across different labour dimensions and relationships for reference.
What may be paid to replace lives lost in struggles or deaths occasioned by mismanagement? What is the acceptable cash reward for cases of outright withdrawal of entitlements of workers for long periods of time? The Nigerian case is a sordid tale of suffering and gross disrespect as workers are basically slaves to the men they refer to as ‘Governor’. Our culture of zoning in on money as the one-size-fits-all compensation has left workers gasping for breath to survive. All they have is that money and we know what money does to the Nigerian politician. The existence of other perks are simply paper decorations, a matter deserving urgent attention in my opinion.
I will propose that we begin to adopt a mix of the following for recognizing Labour:
– rewards to family members (scholarships, health insurance, etc)
– recognition for clean records as we are a society that have come to see almost no value in honesty
– recognition from traditional institutions who today have skewed recognition as an exclusive of the affluent
– recognition from our religious institutions especially those with commercial ventures such as schools and whose Honorary awards are focused on other classes of people
– recognition from social media which is today more focused on celebrities and entertainers
– recognition from financial institutions who most times only usually celebrate cases of integrity.
Our banks deploy use of manual labour through casual engagement of ‘labourers’, our churches and mosques have unskilled people manning them day and night, and so do we have labour offered to us in different dimensions on the go. Let us begin to recognize the dignity of labour beyond offers of devalued currencies and begin to adopt symbolic interaction that tells workers that we appreciate them for longer stretches of time.
As responsible citizens, let us celebrate our workers daily. It is the right thing to do.
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Sports

Bayern Munich win fifth consecutive Bundesliga title

Bayern Munich keep racking up victories with ease!
The German side are champions for the 5th consecutive time. The Ancelotti-led men thrashed Wolfsburg 6-0 to clinch the Bundesliga for a record fifth straight season. Ancelotti is now the first manager to win titles in four of Europe’s top five’ leagues, having won trophies with AC Milan, Chelsea, Paris St-Germain and now Bayern. Goals from David Alaba, Lewandowski, Arjen Robben, Thomas Muller and Joshua Kimmich added more glamour to the night.
No team in the Bundesliga has ever won 5 consecutive titles.

“I’m really happy. I’m lucky to be at this fantastic club with brilliant players and fans. I have such strong support from [Karl-Heinz] Rummenigge and all at the club. That is so important for a manager. I’m very lucky. I feel that this club is a family and I am in this family. The motivation was really high today. Of course the last two weeks were difficult but we used it as motivation. We can really enjoy this moment. We can do better. We could have been luckier in some situations in the Champions League and Pokal. We can learn from this and be better next season. Happy for my first Bundesliga. All thanks to my players, my staff, the club and the support of this fans. Very proud!” coach Ancelotti said

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Sports

"David Moyes on Sunderland's relegation. from the Premier League

After a 10-year stay, Sunderland have been relegated from the Premier League this season. David Moyes’ men’s run in the competition ended after Bournemouth scored a late winner by Joshua King at the final minutes of the game at the Stadium of Light, the club’s 23rd of the season. The Black Cats have won just five games all season and have been sent down for a joint-record fourth time in Moyes’ first season in charge.
On his commitment to the club, the Scot who has suffered the first relegation of his career said,  “I think it’s a question for two or three weeks’ time. I think we all need to reflect and just look at everything we’ve done and look at everything from top to bottom.”
Club Chairman, Ellis Short apologised to the club’s fans,
“We need to improve both on and off the field, and despite the bitter disappointment there is a strong determination to do so throughout the club. There is significant work to be done over the summer and when the season is concluded, we intend to share our plans to move forward with our supporters.”

 

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Sports

Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the all-time leading goalscorer in Europe’s top six leagues.

No slowing down for the soccer king!

Cristiano Ronaldo is now the all-time leading goalscorer in Europe’s top six leagues with 367 goals. The Portuguese acheived the feat at the 27th minute of Real Madrid’s clash with Valencia today. 

Ronaldo becomes Europe’s all-time top goalscorer. 367 goals. This is his 8th consecutive season of scoring 20+ league goals.

The 32 year-old  is now ahead of Tottenham legend, Jimmy Greaves, who previously held the record. Earlier this season, he became the first player to score 100 times in the Champions League

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Opinion

The Growing Problem of Untreated Dementia In Our Elders ~ By: Tony Ogunlowo

Just recently a picture of a half-naked elderly woman surrounded by a lynch mob appeared online in one of the many blogs under the caption: “Bird falls from sky and transforms into Woman”.

Now it beggars belief that in this day and age where everybody has a smartphone, with video recording capability, that nobody has been able to provide video footage of an actual bird changing into a woman. There’s footage of people being lynched, fights, accidents – even women giving birth on the road but never of a bird metamorphing into a witch. Why? Because it’s not true and its hearsay generated by illiterate gossips who need their mouths padlocked! (- I’m not saying witches don’t exist. To be quite honest I know quite a few!).
The poor old woman, and many others like her, is probably suffering from dementia.
Dementia is a mental disorder that affects older people.
A person suffering from dementia will start to go mad, see things that aren’t there, talk to themselves whilst at the same time suffer memory loss and lose the ability to function normally on a day-to-day basis. It’s worth noting at this point that there is no need to cart off a dementia sufferer to the nearest church for ‘spiritual healing’. There are no demons to cast out and any pastor will only make the problem worse.
There is no known cure for dementia, just like with Alzheimer’s disease, even though a healthy diet, being physically active all the time and counselling can help to minimize the condition.
Dementia is not just a ‘White mans’ disease, it can happen to anyone over the age of 65. Instead of stigmatizing the person or alienating them or locking them up at home (- or dumping them on the street to fend for themselves!) every help should be given. Remember it can happen to you! (Don’t say ‘God forbid bad thing O’). Dementia is caused by progressive brain cells dying which can happen to anyone.
People who have advanced stages of the disease will need to be put under 24-hour supervision so that they do not wander off (and risk being accused of being ‘witches’!) or harm themselves. Remember with their brain cells dying their reasoning diminishes making them regress back to acting like children, forgetting things and getting up to general mischief. They are not to be abused or scolded for half the time they are not aware of what they are doing.

In the absence of any official figures detailing how many sufferers there are it is difficult to say to how it has spread throughout the country. But nevertheless people need to be educated on what symptoms to look out for. Again it’s not something that was caused by drugs or curses as lots of people would like to believe. A person with dementia needs a lot of help and support on a day-to-day basis and in the absence of a comprehensive mental health programme this help will have to come from friends and family. Don’t believe in quacks, pastors or babalawos who claim to have cures for the ailment – there is no cure! (- they’ll only con you out of all your money pretending to cure them!). There are organisations like Dementia Nigeria who can offer help and advice and a quick Google search will throw up even more options.

So next time you see an old woman being accused of witchcraft by a lynch mob she might just be suffering from dementia and abandoned by her family.

As we are respectful of our elders the same should be accorded to someone who has dementia.

Try and imagine being in their shoes: your brain isn’t working properly so that you don’t even know who you are let alone the people around you. You don’t know what time of the day it is or even which day of the week. You can’t remember what you had for breakfast let alone lunch. You watch TV and don’t even know what you’re watching. These are some of the things dementia sufferers have to endure on a daily basis. It’s painful for them because they try to get their brains to work and nothing happens. It’s a bit like when your PC or laptop crashes. But your PC or laptop can go into ‘safemode’, restart and repair itself the brain of a dementia sufferer can’t.

All respect and support should be accorded to anyone who has dementia. Remember it can happen to anyone, nobody is immune – doctors, mechanics, teachers, politicians – anyone! As a prevention try and stay healthy: exercise as often as possible, try and eat a healthy diet and keep your brain busy reading, doing puzzles etc.

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

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Sports

2018 World Cup: FIFA Announces Commencement Of Use of Video Assistant Referee

 FIFA has confirmed that a video assistant referee will be used at the 2018 World Cup.

World football governing body, FIFA, has revealed its plan to commence the use of Video Assistant Referee, VAR at the 2018 World Cup. The announcement was made by FIFA President, Gianni Infantino on Wednesday. “We will use video refereeing at the 2018 World Cup because we’ve had nothing but positive feedback so far.” Infantino was quoted in a statement.

Video assistance was introduced to support referees with “game-changing” decisions. It was tried last December in Japan during the Fifa Club World Cup.
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Sports

After 7 years, Mascherano finally scores his first goal for Barcelona

Barcelona’s Javier Mascherano is trending right now. The Argentine has scored his first goal for Barca after 7 years at the club and 319 games. He achieved the ‘feat’ today during the Catalans’ 7-1 victory against Osasuna.

Watching Mascherano score his first goal

So a penalty came up during the game and Rakitić offered the penalty to Mascherano so that he could score his first goal for the club, his first league goal since 15th March 2008.
“It is an anecdote that a player like Mascherano had not scored a goal. Mascherano is a top player, his performance is beyond doubt, he is a born competitor who makes his team better.” Coach Luis Enrique stated.
Mascherano said, “The goal is more of a show of affection from the fans and the players than anything else. I’m not worried about not scoring but the insistence of everyone was hard to say no. It wasn’t planned.”

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Sports

3 year-old kidnapped by ISIS for being named after Lionel Messi

A 3 year-old Kurdish-Iraqi boy was kidnapped by ISIS in 2004 because his father named him after famous Argentine footballer, Lionel Messi. He was captured along with his mother and sister from their home in Sinjar, northern Iraq

His father told Kurdistan 24  that his wife was forced to change the infidel name to Hassan and they also demanded a ransom. The 5 year-old lad has since been rescued and resides at refugee camp in Dohuk, Iraqi Kurdistan.  According to reports, psychological pressures have almost rendered him speechless, he now brandishes a toy gun rather than the football he once preferred to play with. He shakes his head when referred to as Messi – apparently in fear of the militants.

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Sports

"I'm not alone in football." Joey Barton reacts to 18-month ban from football

Burnley’s Joey Barton has been banned from football for 18 months after admitting FA misconduct charge relating to betting.
A statement from the FA reads, “it was alleged that between 26 March, 2006 and 13 May, 2016, he placed 1,260 bets on the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of, or occurrence in, football matches or competitions in breach of FA Rule E8. Following the Independent Regulatory Commission hearing, the Burnley midfielder was also fined £30,000 and warned as to his future conduct.
Written reasons will follow in due course.”
Reacting to the ban, the former Manchester City midfielder says the ban will force him into an early retirement. Here is his full statement.
The FA have announced I am banned from all football for 18 months and fined £30,000 and costs for offences against The FA’s Betting Rules. I am very disappointed at the harshness of the sanction. The decision effectively forces me into an early retirement from playing football. To be clear from the outset here this is not match fixing and at no point in any of this is my integrity in question.

I accept that I broke the rules governing professional footballers, but I do feel the penalty is heavier than it might be for other less controversial players. I have fought addiction to gambling and provided the FA with a medical report about my problem. I’m disappointed it wasn’t taken into proper consideration. I think if the FA is truly serious about tackling the culture of gambling in football, it needs to look at its own dependence on the gambling companies, their role in football and in sports broadcasting, rather than just blaming the players who place a bet.

I am not alone in football in having a problem with gambling. I grew up in an environment where betting was and still is part of the culture. From as early as I can remember my family let me have my own pools coupon, and older members of the family would place bets for me on big races like the Grand National. To this day, I rarely compete at anything without there being something at stake. Whether that’s a round of golf with friends for a few pounds, or a game of darts in the training ground for who makes the tea, I love competing. I love winning. I am also addicted to that. It is also the case that professional football has long had a betting culture, and I have been in the sport all my adult life. 
Given the money in the game, and the explosion in betting on sport, I understand why the rules have been strengthened, and I also accept that I have been in breach of them. I accept too that the FA has to be seen to lead on this issue. But surely they need to accept there is a huge clash between their rules and the culture that surrounds the modern game, where anyone who watches follows football on TV or in the stadia is bombarded by marketing, advertising and sponsorship by betting companies, and where much of the coverage now, on Sky for example, is intertwined with the broadcasters’ own gambling interests.
That all means this is not an easy environment in which to try to stop gambling, or even to encourage people within the sport that betting is wrong. It is like asking a recovering alcoholic to spend all his time in a pub or a brewery. If the FA is serious about tackling gambling I would urge it to reconsider its own dependence on the gambling industry. I say that knowing that every time I pull on my team’s shirt, I am advertising a betting company.
I say none of this to justify myself. But I do want to explain that sometimes these issues are more complicated than they seem.
As for the scale of my football betting, since 2004, on a Betfair account held in my own name, registered at my home address and verified by my own passport, with full transparency, I have placed over 15,000 bets across a whole range of sports. Just over 1,200 were placed on football and subject to the charges against me. The average bet was just over £150, many were for only a few pounds. 
For the modern footballer, downtime and rest are important and I spend much of my time away from training in front of a TV screen, channel hopping across a range of sports, and betting on the outcome of games. I like watching sports and predicting the outcome. Set alongside what we are privileged to earn as footballers, my betting stakes are relatively small. Betting for me, is less about how much money I win or lose, and more about whether I can correctly predict the outcome of the game I’m watching. I hate losing more than I like winning, and this mindset has helped prevent me from placing big bets, for fear of losing big.
Raised at the hearing was that between 2004 and 2011 I placed a handful of bets on my own team to lose matches. I accept of course that this is against the rules, for the obvious reason that a player with an additional financial stake in the game might seek to change the course of it for his own personal gain. However I’d like to offer some context. 
First, in every game I have played, I have given everything. I’m confident that anyone who has ever seen me play, or played with or against me, will confirm that to be the case. I am more aware than anyone that I have character issues that I struggle with, and my addictive personality is one of them, but I am a devoted and dedicated professional who has always given my all on the pitch. 
Second, on the few occasions where I placed a bet on my own team to lose, I was not involved in the match day squad for any of those games. I did not play. I was not even on the bench. I had no more ability to influence the outcome than had I been betting on darts, snooker, or a cricket match in the West Indies. I should add that on some of those occasions, my placing of the bet on my own team to lose was an expression of my anger and frustration at not being picked or being unable to play. I understand people will think that is childish and selfish and I cannot disagree with that.
Third, I should point out that the last of these bets against my own team was six years ago (and in a reserve game), when I was going through a particularly troubled period, and when the FA were not nearly as hard on gambling as they are now.
One thing I can state with absolute certainty – I have never placed a bet against my own team when in a position to influence the game, and I am pleased that in all of the interviews with the FA, and at the hearing, my integrity on that point has never been in question. I could not live with myself, nor face my team-mates or the fans of the clubs I played for, if they seriously thought I would bet on my team to lose a game whose outcome I could influence. 
The Commission that heard my case made clear in their reasons on a number of occasions that “there was no suggestion [I] was involved in match fixing” and I am publishing a list of my bets because I want the full facts of my case to be known.
A ban of 18 months is longer than several bans handed to players who played in matches where they bet for their team to lose and – unlike me – were found to have had an ability to influence the games. The only players to be banned for 12 months or longer bet against their own teams and played in the matches in which they placed those bets. Players who did not play in the matches they placed the bets in have never been banned for longer than 6 months. I feel the ban is excessive in this context.
Throughout my career I am someone who has made mistakes and owned up to those mistakes and tried to learn from them. I intend to do that here. I accept that this is one more mess I got into because of my own behaviour. This episode has brought home to me that just as I had to face up to the need to get help to deal with alcohol abuse, and with anger, so now I need to get help for my issues with gambling, and I will do so.
I want to thank the Burnley FC board, management, players and staff for their faith and understanding, and their belief that I would play for them, and play well, even with this hanging over me, and I want to thank the Burnley fans for the support they have given me throughout. They have been brilliant.
 Having consulted with my friends and lawyers, I have decided I will be appealing against the length of the ban. I hope that I shall be afforded a fair hearing by an independent Appeal Panel. If I am, we are confident that the sanction will be reduced to a fair one that both reflects the offences as well as the mitigating factors and the fact that there was nothing untoward or suspicious about the bets I made.
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Africa, Sports

NFF announces N2.5bn partnership deal with AITECO Group.

The Nigeria Football Federation have announced AITECO Group, a frontline integrated energy solutions company as its latest corporate sponsor. According to  NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, the partnership which is worth N2.5bn starts on May 1, 2017 and will last five years with an initial option of a one-year extension.

The firm becomes the official optimum partner of the federation and will pay salaries of all National team coaches for the next five years. The statement issued after the signing of the agreement, “it will improve the technical preparation and enhance the performance of Nigerian national teams involved in tournaments.”

Shehu Dikko, chairman of the League Management Company Limited (LMC) added, “We have opened our books at the NFF to Aiteo to inspect at any time to show our financial transparency”

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