A Blessing in Disguise

 Egypt to miss one of their star players in today’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Nigeria. – Egypt coach Hector Cuper promises to give everything to win the game Veteran Egyptian goalkeeper, Essam El-Hadary has been ruled out of today’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Nigeria. The 42-year-old was called out of retirement by coach Hector Cuper for the crucial games, but suffered a gastrocnemius muscle injury in their first training session in Kaduna on Thursday evening, March 24. Cuper is now left with the option of either Zamalek’s Ahmed El-Shennaway or Petrojet’s Mohammed El-Shennawy in goal. PAY ATTENTION: Get the latest sports news on Naij Sports App Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Veteran Egyptian goalkeeper, Essam El-Hadary has been ruled out of today’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Nigeria Egypt currently lead Group G with six points, while Nigeria are in second place with four points and Cuper is eyeing maximum points when they take on the Eagles at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna “We can beat the Nigerian national team,” the former Inter Milan manager said during his interaction with the media before today’s game. “So, I promise we will give everything in this match, but I cannot promise a win outright.” GET for FREE: Get the latest sports news on Naij Sports The game kicks off by 5pm at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium.

# First Post in Year 2016.

here is a throw back pics of Neymar and Coutinho  

Wonders shall Never end!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Student's eggplant goes missing in UNIPORT (photos)

They say this happened in University of Port Harcourt yesterday. It's too weird so I'll let the person who sent it in explain to y'all. Read below...

A level 100 student of History and Diplomatic Studies early yesterday encountered an ordeal when he had a handshake with a level 400 student of medicine and surgery and immediately he felt incomplete and he checked to notice that his penis was missing and he raised an alarm immediately. All thanks to the Great Madelites in hostels that came to his rescue, but before any explanation from the penis taker, students had already descended on him and he later confessed he took the penis and pleaded that they should give him time to bring back the missing penis but the students were not patient and continued with the beating before the school security came to take up the matter which have been taken up now by the Nigerian Police Choba for further investigation.

Iniesta becomes the first play to produce an assist in 3 different Champions league final as Barcelona won Juventus at Berlin.

The Spain midfielder became the first player to provide an assist in three different Champions League finals when he played the pass that Ivan Rakitic hit past Gianluigi Buffon

So many teams have tried and failed, Juventus among them, but now the football world will expect Barcelona to do it - win the Champions League two years running

Not since 1991 have a team defended their European title. AC Milan did it then and their star forward, Marco van Basten, told Goal before the game that if Barcelona were to do it the key men would be Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta.

Juventus did a reasonable job of limiting Messi's influence on the game but they could not stop Iniesta, who became the first player to provide an assist in three different Champions League finals.

After three minutes and 22 seconds, the 31-year-old appeared in the left side of the penalty area. One instinctive, deadly pass gave Ivan Rakitic a clear sight of goal and the tightest defence in the competition was breached.



Rakitic scored and became the fifth Croatian to win the Champions League. Juventus might be forgiven for having been looking the other way - it was the Barcelona’s first goal-assist combination that did not involve Messi, Neymar or Luis Suarez since February 28.

By the time Iniesta left the pitch in the 78th minute he had made more forward passes (52) than any of his team-mates. He had dictated much of the play, in tempo and terms of forward momentum.

Van Basten had said Iniesta was the key, not just Messi. Now he becomes the outright leader on the pitch and off, as Xavi heads for Qatar.

He is, said the great Dutch striker, “the brains of the team”. Milan had Frank Rijkaard and Roberto Donadoni running their midfield in their glory days but Iniesta is special and if Barcelona are to become back-to-back champions he will be integral.

Iniesta's consistency and excellence shone through in Berlin. Another season of the same and his team will make history.

More Nigerians Indicted in the Halliburton bribe scandal.

According to Premium Times report, new files obtained from HSBC, a huge global bank based in London, by the French newspaper Le Monde and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, ICIJ, show ties between Tesler and some high-ranking Nigerians raising the possibility of renewed questions about Nigeria’s handling of the affair.
The Halliburton bribery scandal, which dates back to 1994 when the Nigerian government launched ambitious plans to build the Bonny Island Natural Liquefied Gas Project, had revealed a network of secretive banks and offshore tax havens used to funnel $182 million in bribes to Nigerian officials in exchange for $6 billion in engineering and construction work for an international consortium of companies that included a then Halliburton subsidiary.
An investigation conducted into the scandal in 2010 had seen former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, who was CEO of Halliburton before he was elected, indicted by Nigeria.

British Lawyer, Jeffry Tesler. Photo Credit: Premium Times

Though Cheney was later clear when Halliburton worked out a $35 million settlement.
Earlier investigations had revealed that Tesler began planning the bribe payments in 1994 and transferred small amounts of money through Switzerland in July 1996. But by 2003, his role had escalated.
According to an official Nigerian report, Tesler had in 2010 in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, directed the drop-off of a travel bag stuffed with $1 million in $100 bills in the foyer of a luxury hotel where the per-night cost of a suite can exceed the nation’s average annual income of $3,000.

Advertisement

It was reported that it was one of at least 20 money transfers that Tesler made or directed.
The cash was reportedly destined for Nigeria’s ruling party via the state-owned oil and gas company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
However, the new files obtained by Le Monde and ICIJ show that nine people, including members of the Tesler family and Nigerian nationals, held a variety of roles with accounts  at HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) between 1990 and 2003 — months before the completion of the gas plant.
Nine of the 12 accounts instructed HSBC to keep all correspondence under lock and key in a bank safe.
The leaked files also reveal that Tesler had financial ties to two former Nigerian officials: now-retired Major General Chris Garuba, chief of staff to former Nigerian president Abdulsalami Abubakar who himself allegedly received bribes as president; and Andrew Agom, a senior government official who was killed in an attack on a motorcade.
Garuba, a former governor of Northeastern Bauchi state, is now chairman of Obekpa Petroleum, a Nigerian oil company. Before his death, Agom was a board member of the Peoples Democratic Party, which controlled the government when this affair unfolded.

The HSBC files identify Chris Garuba and his wife Rita as HSBC clients; their names are listed along with Tesler’s in an account named Bridlington Enterprises Limited, for which Tesler acted as an attorney.
The files show that the account was opened the year before Tesler sent his first bribe payment to Switzerland, although the files do not show that Tesler transferred money into the Bridlington account, which held as much as $367,547 in 2006 or 2007.
Meanwhile, Tesler, now 66, has served his sentence and returned to England, where he told authorities he would “spend the last few years, which God may graciously grant me, to seek forgiveness.”
In Nigeria, anti-corruption campaigners continue to call on authorities to identify and prosecute Nigerian citizens involved in the scandal. While never publicly released, a 2010 Nigerian government document reportedly included three Nigerian presidents, a vice-president, a minister, intelligence chiefs and corporate titans in a list of bribery beneficiaries. The report did not name Garuba or Agom.
While speaking on the Halliburton bribery scandal in a recent interview with ICIJ, Dauda Garuba, Nigeria coordinator at the Natural Resource Governance Institute, said: “In terms of the personalities and the amount of money involved it is probably the biggest scandal in Nigeria’s history.
“Although we’ve seen the indictment and conviction of foreign companies and their top executives in Europe and America, Nigeria’s own government has not taken action in the very country in which the

Latest findings on the controversial Halliburton Bribery Scandal has linked Jeffrey Tesler, a British lawyer who pleaded guilty for his role in the bribery scandal, and some high-ranking Nigerians not previously named in connection with the scandal. READ MORE: 

 

Source:http://www.naij.com/383052-halliburton-bribery-scandal-indicts-more-nigerians.html

Haliburton case to be re-opened.

A security source close told Saturday Tribune that the U.S. government had threatened that unless those culpable in the case were brought to book, about $140 million of the bribery recovered and still in the coffers of the US government, won’t be repatriated to Nigeria.
“Following this development, President Buhari has directed the investigation committee made up of representatives of all security agencies to dust off the file and complete the investigations and charge those indicted to court,” the source said.
The case was investigated four years ago by a security panel headed by retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, Ahmadu Ali, who charged a former personal aide to a former president to court at the end of the case but the case was later thrown out by the court due to lack of diligent prosecution.
One  of the culprits in the case, American citizen, Jeffry Tesler, who was the middle-man in the payment of the bribes paid to secure the contract for the final phase of the National Liquefied Natural Gas project was sentenced to 21 months in prison and forfeited $148.964 million from his Swiss accounts to the United States government. Tesler has however served out his prison sentence.
A report on the Halliburton bribery scandal by the US government had indicted three former Nigerian leaders, a former vice president, a minister, some intelligence chiefs and a few corporate entities as beneficiaries of the bribes.
One of the companies later opted for plea bargaining and paid the sum of $25 million to the government.
READ ALSO: Halliburton Bribery Scandal Indicts More Nigerians
The security source said further, “the case file would soon be reopened and all those who were invited during the investigation will soon appear again.”
“My brother, this is a serious case now because the government of the day is very eager to prosecute anybody indicted in it so as to serve as a deterrent to others”, the source added.
Just last week, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers made Halliburton to stop its operations in Nigeria because of its move to sack some of its workers.

Source:naij.com

Pesident Buhari move to slash down his allowance and that of his vice.

President Muhammadu Buhari

It was gathered that the president expects his vice and all other political appointees to do like wise.
According to Punch, the president would have made his decision public but chose to consult with his close associates on how best to approach the issue without being seen as dictatorial.
President Buhari according to the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission,  will earn a monthly salary of N3, 514, 705, his allowance N1,757,350.50( 50% of his salary).
There is no information yet as to what percentage of the president’s salary will be reduced. But sources say that the president will reduce the State House budget.
The president also plans to slash the appointment of aides and possibly implement the report of the Stephen Oronsaye-led Presidential Committee on the Rationalisation and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies.
President Buhari who in his inaugural speech, said that Nigeria’s economy was in deep trouble, might not increase the number of special advisers from 15 as part of the measures he his taking to cut down the cost of governance.
A top chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC), said that the president had concluded plans to submit some bills to the National Assembly for the implementation of some cost-saving measures.

 Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, a polical associate of the president told Punch that an area likely to be affected is the Presidential Air fleet which is said to have about 10 air crafts. He said the cost of maintaining these air crafts may get the president’s attention.
Adding that President Buhari who has experienced governance is not one to do things without consultation.


It would be recalled that former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration made a provision of N348, 342,741 as honorarium and sitting allowance for the State House in the 2015 budget.
The provision made for travel and transport showed that the president will be spending N1, 306,834,350 on local travels and transport and N621, 067,913 on international travel and transport.
In 2014 the travel bill of the president was higher than the provision made. The budget made a provision of N2, 378,862,017 for the office of the president for local and international travels.
For food supplies, a provision of N142, 472,537 was made for the office of the president.
The State House received a lesser provision of N122, 855,267 for fuel and lubricants.

The 2015 budget proposal included a provision of N131, 911,315 for fuel and lubricants for the State House. The breakdown showed that plant/generator fuel will consume N35, 344,855; motor vehicle fuel will consume N85, 843,802 while cooking gas/fuel will consume N10, 102,858.
In 2014 the provision of N60, 847,647 was made for the office of the president for advertisement and publicity.
For the State House, N287,514,283 provision was made for welfare packages; N174,537,975 for refreshment and meals; N215, 635,715 for food stuff and catering services; N31,582,475 for medical expenses; and N35,495,233 for publicity and advertisement. These provisions are likely to be reduced.
Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, a close associate of the president in his inaugural speech, announced a fifty per cent cut in his salary and that of his deputy till when the economy of the state was better.
Source:http://www.naij.com/454219-buhari-plans-to-cut-his-own-salary-and-allowances.html.