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For Soyinka, a moral question | By: Austin Tam-George

Prof. Wole Soyinka’s reaction to the scandal of the 82 Million Naira dinner held in his honour by the Rotimi Amaechi government in Rivers State is at once disappointing and depressing.

Soyinka has said he didn’t know about the cost of a party held in his name, in a State where 90 per cent of the people live in insufferable poverty. But now that official documents show the cost of his three-hour dinner, where is his moral outrage? Why does his statement not include a condemnation of such unconscionable misuse of public funds in his name?

In a country full of villainy, Soyinka is often held up as a moral titan. The Nobel Laureate cements this perception by conducting himself in the manner of someone who suffers from a god complex, someone who does no wrong. But Soyinka’s unbridled support for Rotimi Amaechi invites close moral scrutiny.

Rivers State is reeling from the catastrophic legacy of the Amaechi years. Despite receiving over 3 trillion naira in revenue in 8 years, Amaechi left the most abandoned projects in the history of Rivers State, since 1967. Thousands of workers went without their salaries for 4 months, aged pensioners faced starvation without their pensions for 8 months, and the salaries of thousands of teachers were not paid for nearly 12 months.
Everywhere you looked in Amaechi’s Rivers State; there was this stark, almost synonymic connection between poor governance, corruption and fiction.

A physical tour of the Greater Port Harcourt City in Rivers State on which Amaechi had spent over one hundred billion Naira, revealed only a putrid landscape of corruption, broken dreams and wasted resources. How could Wole Soyinka be indifferent to such atrocious legacy? During her 80th birthday in 2011, the American Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison had a hearty laugh over coffee with friends at her home in Ohio. No State dinner was held in her honour at tax payers’ expense by the State of Ohio.

Can Soyinka reasonably claim to be indifferent to the exemplary moral contrast provided by Toni Morrison? The 82 million Naira dinner for Soyinka is a financial crime against the people of Rivers State. Did the Nobel Laureate receive cash gifts during that bibulous night?
Will Soyinka condemn this pornography of waste and excess by Rotimi Amaechi?

That is the moral question.
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Entertainment, Sports

FIFA Presidency: Michel Platini withdraws bid.

Suspended UEFA boss, Michel Platini has given up his bid to become the next FIFA President.
“I will not present myself for the presidency of FIFA. I am withdrawing my candidature. I no longer have the time nor the means to go to the voters, to meet people, to fight against the other candidates. In withdrawing, I am dedicating myself to my defence”  He told the Association Press yesterday
Platini and Sepp Blatter were suspended from all football-related activities following an ethics committee investigation. They were found guilty of breaches surrounding a £1.3m ($2m) “disloyal payment” made to Platini in 2011.
The 60-year-old added that his ban has made it impossible for him to campaign for votes.
“It is a question of the calendar, but not only that. How can you win an election when you are prevented from campaigning?”
The remaining contenders are Asian football head Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa of Bahrain, South African politician and tycoon Tokyo Sexwale, former FIFA vice president Prince Ali bin al Hussein of Jordan, UEFA general-secretary Gianni Infantino and Jerome Champagne , a former FIFA assistant general secretary from France. The new FIFA president will be revealed on February 26. 
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Entertainment

Glo-CAF Awards 2015: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang crowned African Footballer of the Year.



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Borussia Dortmund player, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has emerged the 2015 Glo-CAF African Footballer of the Year. He is also the first ever Gabonese to scoop the prize. He was honoured in the 2015 edition of the Glo CAF Awards which held on 7th January in Abuja.

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The 26 year-old who scored 27 goals in all competitions this season had 143 points. Ivory Coast international, Yaya Toure who won the award 4 consecutive times came second with 136 points while Swansea city player, Andre Ayew garnered 112 points.


Full list of Winners

Club of the Year – TP Mazembe 
Fair Play Award – Allez Casa (Senegal Supporters group) 
Women’s National Team Of The Year – Cameroon 
Men’s National Team Of The Year – Cote D’Ivoire 
Youth Player Of The Year– Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen 
Most Promising Talent – Nigeria’s Oghenekaro Etebo 
Coach of The Year – Havre Renard 
Women’s National Team Of The Year – Cameroon 
Woman player of the year – Gabrielle Enganamouit 
Referee Of The Year – Ameshinda Bakari Wa Gambia Papa Gassama 
African Player Of The Year based in Africa – Mbwana Samatta 
Football Leader Of The Year – Abdiqani Said Arab Of Somalia 
African Player Of The Year – Pierre Emerick Aubameyang
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Entertainment, Sports

It's time for Ronaldo to know Zinedine is the boss – ex Real Madrid manager

Former Real Madrid boss, Vanderlei Luxemburgo is confident Zidane Zinedine will do well at the Santiago Bernabeu but warns that Cristiano Ronaldo shouldn’t prove obstructive to his success at the club.
He told Omnisport: “Zidane was a leader in the dressing room when he was a player, so Cristiano Ronaldo will have to understand that there will be a person with leadership and with great knowledge of football there. The dressing room belongs to the players up to a certain point. From then on it belongs to the coach. If Cristiano Ronaldo thinks he’s the coach it’s difficult. He has to understand he’s a player and not a coach. The coach is Zidane.

He continued, “If you can make those things clear it doesn’t matter if it’s Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi. Barcelona is giving a good example that Messi is just a player. He was a player with [Pep] Guardiola and is still a player with Luis Enrique. He’s a star but is still a player. That’s his limit.”

Luxemburgo who coached the club for 11 months in 2005 also added that Madrid president Florentino Perry should be allowed to preside over the affairs of the dressing room.
“If it was another president things would probably not have gone this wrong. Luis Enrique was questioned when he left Neymar on the bench. But he left him on the bench to adapt. At Real Madrid, if the coach leaves Ronaldo on the bench, Florentino Perez goes crazy.
“There’s a big difference between Real Madrid and Barcelona in that respect. The head coach at Barcelona is in charge. At Madrid, it’s not like that with Perez.”
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Entertainment

93 Days 'Ebola' Movie: Producers react to Dr Adedavoh's family claims

Few days ago, a report emanated from the family of late Stella Adedavoh, disapproving the 93 days Ebola film because some specific accounts were not correct and the producers didn’t seek their permission to use the late consultant’s image. name or likeness in the flick. Here’s an update. The Producers have reacted to the claims. Find their press release below.
“We hereby categorically and strongly deny all the allegations contained in the recent press statement released by one Dr Ama Adadevoh, who claims to be acting on behalf of the Cardoso and Adadevoh families. The said allegations are not only untrue they are malicious and scurrilous and a calculated attempt to sabotage our feature film, “93 Days”.   

 93 Days is not the biopic of any one individual and has never claimed to be the story of Doctor Stella Adadevoh. Whilst that in itself is a strong story, we found it more compelling to tell a story that celebrates many of the heroes of the fight against Ebola. These include the doctors, nurses and staff of First Consultant’s Hospital, the employees of the Lagos and Federal Ministries of Health, corporate and individual Nigerians who rose to the challenge of fighting the scourge as well as the WHO team that came in to help at the risk of personal injury and even death. 
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For us, this presented a more universal story of human courage, dedication and sacrifice that may inspire our great country and its people. Ours is a pride story that shows Nigeria at one of its finest hours and casts our country in a positive light around the world. To ensure the universal appeal of the film we enlisted, at great cost, Nigerian and International actors to feature in the film. Amongst these were Danny Glover, Keppy Ekpeyong and Bimbo Akintola.   
We want to state plainly that we do not require anyone’s consent to make the film as we have a constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of speech and expression. Besides, the matters portrayed in the film were derived from facts that are well within the public domain and those facts which were not already publicly known were provided to us by those privy to the said facts. For instance, we obtained additional information from interviews with the survivors of those who lost loved ones, volunteer doctors and nurses as well as officials of the Lagos State Ministry of Health. 
 
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To honor those protagonists of the Ebola story it was essential for us that the film be, as much as possible, an accurate, genuine and sincere record of the facts relating to the country’s efforts to fight the disease. In fact, that was the only way of doing justice to those brave individuals (and foreigners) who had given so much in the service of the country.    
 To this end and contrary to the allegations contained in the press statement released by Dr Ama Adadevoh, we enlisted the help of the Adadevoh and Cardoso families from day one. They gave their comments on the script and their amendments were incorporated into the final script. Further, the late Stella Adadevoh’s son, Bankole Cardoso, consented to the making of the film and to being portrayed in the film. Not only did he consent, he was kind enough to provide us with information concerning his late mother’s actions during those trying times. The facts provided by him proved useful in the development of the script and we have his interview on film should anyone require further proof. In essence, the story of Dr Stella Adadevoh depicted in the film was obtained partly from facts provided to us by the Adadevoh and Cardoso families and more importantly by her son, Bankole Cardoso.      
  We are aware that Dr Ama Adadevoh and certain elements within the family are involved in another film project on the Ebola story and are attempting to derail our film in the misguided belief that to do so would ensure the success of their film. It is plainly wrong for these people to try and monopolize the Ebola story exclusively for themselves by trying to prevent the making and release of a film that so many of the people concerned have supported and contributed to. 
 Our film features many of the people who were in the vanguard of the fight against the terrible disease.  Many of these people lost loved ones and made other sacrifices still unknown to a majority of Nigerians. They have supported the film and want their story told and it is only fair that their stories are told. 

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 In light of this, we fully intend to tell their story! In doing so we refuse to be bullied or cowed by empty, petty and ridiculous threats based on false and trumped up allegations.  
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Entertainment, Sports

Suarez faces action over tunnel bust-up

Awww, to think that we were celebrating him turning a new leaf in Spain. Barcelona star, Luis Suarez may find himself in a little trouble following his bust-up with Espanyol players after a 4-1 Copa del Rey victory at the Nou Camp last night.

The visitors received 8 yellow cards, 2 red cards in the match. One of the players, Pape Diop was dismissed for insulting Suarez’s mum. Apparently still angry about the incident, after the game, the Uruguayan reportedly waited for their opponents at the tunnel and shouted. “I’m waiting for you, come here, you’re a waste of space”.

Below is a post-match report by referee report by Martinez Munuera.

“At the end of the game, once in the tunnel, Barça’s No.9, Suarez, Luis, while the Espanyol players were coming up the stairs, waited for them and shouted at them on various occasions. He said: ‘I’m waiting for you, come here! You’re a waste of space. It provoked a confrontation between players of both clubs and the present security guards had to get involved, as did coaches of both teams.”

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Entertainment

Drogba denies retirement claims.

Chelsea legend,  Didier Drogba has dismissed claims that he has retired and planning to join Chelsea’s coaching staff. Recall that he was spotted with Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich shortly after Jose Mourinho was sacked fuelling speculations that he would join the team’s technical staff. He however debunked the rumours on his official Twitter page yesterday.

“Lovely to receive these messages but I have not yet announced my retirement & am still in discussion with @impactmontreal about my future.” The Ivorian wrote.

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Entertainment, Sports

Madrid insane to appoint Zinedine Zidane – Hitzfeld

Madrid mad to appoint Zidane, says Hitzfeld

Former Bayern Munich coach, Ottmar Hitzfeld has described Real Madrid’s decision to appoint Zinedine Zidane as the club’s new manager as madness. Speaking in an interview with Swiss daily, Blick, Hitzfeld said the ex France international is only living off his illustrious name as a player.

“For him (Zidane) it is like winning the lottery jackpot. It is madness. Zidane has proved nothing as a coach and he is now in charge of the biggest stars in the world. It is an incredibly difficult task although I hope it goes well for him,” the 66 year-old said.
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Entertainment

Samuel Eto'o's managerial role ends

Samuel Eto’o’s managerial role came to an end today following the announcement of Jose Morais – Jose Mourinho’s former assistant at Chelsea,as new coach of Russian side, Antalyaspor.

The striker took up the job in December after former manager, Yusuf Simsek’s contract was terminated. 

Eto’o recorded two losses, two wins and a draw. 
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Entertainment, Sports

Top 10 most valuable players in the world

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The CIES Football Observatory has unveiled it’s
list of the most valuable players in the world. Criteria included the
performances of the players and their clubs, as well as characteristics, like
age, position and contract situation.
Top 10 most valuable players in the world.
1.   
Lionel Messi
2.   
Neymar
3.   
Eden Hazard
4.   
Cristiano Ronaldo
5.   
Harry Kane
6.   
Raheem Sterling
7.   
Antoine Griezmann
8.   
Luis Suárez,
9.   
Alexis Sanchez

10.
Sergio Agüero 
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