EPL Weekly Match Preview (Game-Week 7)

West Ham VS Middlesbrough
West Ham is in relegation zone sitting rather surprisingly in 18th place and Dimitri Payet failing to replicate anything close to last season’s awesome performance. The Hammers were taunted by Southampton supporters last weekend who sang ‘You should have remained at Boleyn Ground’ an apparent reference to the fact that they have yet to settle into the London Stadium, winning just a league game on home soil and all season.

Middlesbrough is not too far from their host on the Premier League table, despite a better start to the season. Aitor Karanka knows his team must begin to do better especially away from home. This particular fixtures represents one in which Boro could create an upset with Alvaro Negredo in particular an obvious source of worry for the lacklustre Hammers defence.

Manchester United VS Stoke City
Former United hero, Mark Hughes returns to Old Trafford and should not be expecting any favours as his battered Stoke City side confronts a resurgent Manchester United team in Sunday’s early kick-off. Manchester United dominated the entire proceedings in their last home game against the champions and it’s only natural to expect an even better performance against a lesser opposition on paper although Stoke City on their day could prove a tough nut to crack.

Paul Pogba gave a commanding display on Saturday while Daley Blind and Juan Mata weighed in with assists and goals. Wayne Rooney surely looks to continue on the bench as his continuous inclusion has altered the balance and rhythm of the side. Rumours have surfaced of Mark Hughes displeasure regarding the attitude and contributions of Wilfried Bony but 'Sparky' has quickly denied those insinuations insisting the Ivorian forward works well behind the scene. Perhaps a surgical change is needed in the Stoke City line-up if they are to mount any sustained pressure on Sunday.

Tottenham Hotspur VS Manchester City
A game involving the only teams yet to lose a game this season; first versus second, though Tottenham have dropped 4 points while the well-oiled Manchester City machine has won all games comfortably in the Premier League.  Often times last season, Tottenham was accused of going to sleep during the big games though they recorded a resounding victory over Manchester City at home under a different manager and system. The attack of Spurs might prove to be their greatest undoing in this encounter as Vincent Janssen hasn’t got the ball rolling in the likely absence of Harry Kane while Son Heung-Min for all his obvious talent and recent scoring form has consistently failed to deliver the goals in the big matches.

Sergio Aguero is on-fire at the moment netting twice on his return from suspension. The Argentine has a good scoring record against Spurs and with his current form and confidence nothing short of at least a goal should be expected from him. A real test for Pep Guardiola as he confronts another young, brilliant Spanish speaking manager in the last big Premier League encounter before the international break.

Leicester City VS Southampton
The champions are broken and just as predicted before the season started they are struggling to combine the pressure and demands of champions and playing mid-week in Europe. Claudio Ranieri has looked clueless at times this season as his team has been torn apart with reckless abandon. The defence has looked a shadow of itself from last season, leaking goals like it’s going out of fashion. Demarai Gray came on Saturday to net a fantastic goal from range and his performance was one of the bright spots as the young English man looks to finally push for a starting spot in the team.

Super Eagles vice-captain, Ahmed Musa’s lack of Premier League action must be a source of worry as he has failed to make the match day squad in the last few Premier League outings. Southampton is confident heading into this following a win on the road last weekend as Claude Puel finally has something to cheer about. The Saints have won 4 games consecutively in all competitions and they travel to the home of the champions with the intention of making that five wins in a row.

Burnley VS Arsenal
Burnley is gradually making their home ground a fortress following surprise and impressive performances in home wins against Liverpool and Watford this season. They press opponents from the front, showing good tactical organisation whenever they are not with the ball. Jeff Hendrick was instrumental to their Monday night victory and he will once again need the support of the other attacking cast.

Alex Iwobi has developed this season into Arsenal’s key man, gradually becoming the key man for assists and through which most of the Gunners productive attacks are initiated through. Alexis Sanchez has found his scoring form this season and his pace should be a good test for Michael Keane. Arsene Wenger will want to outwit Sean Dyche in this encounter to prove his 20 years in the top flight is no fluke against a relatively inexperienced opposition manager.

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LOVE: A TRIBUTE

What was it that ran through me? I really could not decipher; a cold shiver; a hot burning sensation or; a shrill lightening? It just all caught me in a moment. There I was, staring blankly at the picture on my phone’s screen. Moments passed before I came back to consciousness. What had happened? I have finally lost her, to regain her no more.

l started on April 27, 2013, when I met her at a post admission registration gathering, there in the University, both of us in a queue for submission of our final screening forms. Standing alone, enjoying the excitement created by the murmuring, chatting, boisterousness of the Alpha-Males and the coyness of the elegant females. These I was supping into my subconscious until my eyes caught her. Chatting away with another, she looked so beautiful. The naturalness of her beauty and simplicity of her look blew me away totally. Was I seeing an angel? Immediately I was drawn to her. Made a courageous step and tilted towards her position.

More like James Bond, I deduced she would be attracted by a daring show. Went into acting superman straight up. I made myself noticeable to her. Then as if I knew the officers in charge of the registrations, walked in without apologies to no one. Thank my stars I was not embarrassed. This gave me another impression about her, it boosted my morale. After this fit, I went straight to her, who by now has her eyes on me. Told her she looked very much like a friend of mine and would like to also meet her. To cut the story short we became friends from onward.

To be continued...

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Courtois is worst keeper in the Premier League - Report

Thibaut Courtois appears to be the worst goalkeeper in the Premier League, according to statistics published by the Daily Mail.
Despite displacing Petr Cech as Chelsea’s first choice keeper, the Belgian is currently he worst in his position in the English top-flight according to the statistics.
Courtois began the season brightly, but everything appears to have unravelled after successive defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal.
According to the stat, he has a save percentage of 47.1 so far this season, meaning he is letting more opposition shots on target hit the back of his net than not.
The man whose place he took in the Chelsea starting line-up finds himself eighth in the league table, with a more than respectable save percentage of 70.8.
But leading the way at the top are Manchester City and Tottenham No 1’s Claudio Bravo and Hugo Lloris, who have stopped 77.8 per cent of shots on target each.
Bravo's position on the list may provide early vindication for Pep Guardiola's decision to replace Joe Hart in favour of the former Barcelona shot-stopper.
Surprisingly, it is Burnley goalkeeper Tom Heaton who follows those two in third place.
With a save percentage of 76.5 he is statistically the best English goalkeeper in the Premier League, despite earning just one senior cap so far in his career.
Trailing just behind is West Brom’s Ben Foster, on 75 per cent, though he has not played for England since the 2014 World Cup.
Last season's title-winning No 1 Kasper Schmeichel is sixth in the table with a save percentage of 72.7, ahead of Sunderland's Jordan Pickford and Cech.
David de Gea's place in the bottom-half of the table at 13th is a surprise, with the Manchester United No 1 saving only 65 per cent of shots on target.
He sits ahead of Liverpool's Simon Mignolet, who saves only just over half of shots on target at 55.6 per cent, though he has recently lost his place in the first-team to Loris Karius.
Alongside Courtois in the bottom three are Middlesbrough's summer signing Victor Valdes and England hopeful Fraser Forster of Southampton.

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Student military training uses bottles for balance

The Changsha Aeronautical Vocational and Technical College in central China’s Hunan Province initiated a tougher military training to its freshmen on Tuesday.

The students were asked to march in step with a water bottle on their head in order to train their sense of balance. During the training, students must keep the bottle upright if they want to pass the final review.

The students also needed to perform squats, standing up, and turns with the bottle staying on their heads.

Military training is usually a requirement for Chinese freshmen attending university, and aims to cultivate in students the spirit of teamwork both physically and mentally while in a new environment.

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Nigeria at 56: Anything to celebrate? by Ademola Orunbon

Can a man be a toddler at 56? This is the question confronting Nigerians from all walks of life as the nation marks 56 years of independence from British colonial rule tomorrow. Though this is the longest run of civil rule in the Country after the enthronement of democratic rule in May 1999, many ills still bedevil the sleeping giant of Africa 17 years on.
With an inept leadership, Nigeria, the seventh largest oil-producing nation in the world, massive corruption, insecurity, poor infrastructure (lacking of electricity, bad roads, and a moribund railway system for example), a dilapidating education and health system, have combined to leave Nigerians seeking redemption from their self-inflicted woes through several unorthodox means.
Indeed, assessing a country that has witnessed many military and civilian governments in her 56 years of existence cannot be a tea party. Nigeria has seen over 30 years of military regimes and a total of 26 years of civilian administrations. And while a total of eight soldiers had ruled the country, civilian administrations had produced only seven leaders. Interestingly, while the military rulers-General Aguiyi-Ironsi, Yakubu Gowon, Murtala Muhammad, Olusegun Obasanjo, Muhammad Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida, Sani Abacha and Abdul Salam Abubakar-were believed not have impacted much on the growth of the country because they were soldiers whose regimes in modern language were termed aberration, Nigerians have not ceased to bemoan the reality of their faring badly under democratic administrations.
Indeed, it has been canvassed over time that the problem of the nation lies at the doorstep of bad leadership. Perhaps, for the exception of Nigeria’s first generation leaders in the class of the late Dr Nnamdi Azikwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Sir Ahamdu Bello and their band of independence fighters, nearly all that had subsequently held leadership positions, especially in the political realm, had been found wanting.
As the nation gets set for her 56th independence anniversary, questions and more questions have cropped up. Has the country come of age? Is there need for celebration? Are there hopes of better tomorrow?
So as the 56th anniversary begins, Nigerians look forward to the actualization of the dreams and visions packaged by the founding fathers of this country. They also look forward to seeing a realistic improvement on the inherent inadequacies that have stood in the way of attaining peace, harmony, tranquility, progress and unity, in the first instance, and the accomplishments of all the tasks that will make room for true attainment of a Nigerian Nation

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Don advises campus journalists

A senior lecturer at Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo (RUGIPO) in Ondo State, Mr Sunday Afolayan, has advised campus journalists to ensure the development of their writing skills and to be very inquisitive in sourcing for news.
He said this while delivering a lecture as a guest speaker during the inauguration of a new set of executives of The Press Council (an offshoot of Nigerian Union of Campus Journalists), RUGIPO chapter,.
The event held at the 800-seater lecture theatre of the Institution last Friday.
Speaking on the theme: “Access to Information and Fundamental Freedoms: This is your right”, Afolayan stressed the need for journalists to mirror themselves as the conveyor and transmitter of information who see their job as a herculean task and work assiduously to dig out information that are classified.
He further explained that society cannot live without information. Therefore, campus journalists should resist all forms of oppression, bribery, information mismanagement and ultimately, write for the benefit the polytechnic community and beyond.
In his speech, the out-going chairman and Editor-in-Chief of the Press Council, Eniola Olurankinse Samuels, thanked the Acting Rector of the institution and other members of the management team for their support during their one-year tenure. Giving an account of his stewardship, Eniola said he led the council to begin a weekly newspaper.
“The Council has been able to eradicate the culture of pasting press release around the wall of the institution which was replaced with weekly newspaper. Though, funding has been our major challenge but we were able to scale through with the help of the management team.
“Our weekly publications which carry various news stories and several articles that astonish the polytechnic community, importantly, our editorials have been the selling point as well as setting agenda for the Students’ Union Government,” said Eniola, a National Diploma (ND) student of Mass Communication.
The event also featured a dinner/award presentation for outstanding reporters as well as presentation of certificates to the outgoing members of the Council.
Franklin Akintomide replaces Eniola as chairman. Others are: Fidelis David (Editor); Ayobami Ore, Deputy Editor; Angela Samson, General Secretary; Vincent Olagodo, Production Manager; Gbemisola Abeni Advert Manager; among others.
In his acceptance speech, Akintomide promised to keep the flag of the council and the NUCJ flying, and sustain the weekly publication.

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Iheanacho battles Iwobi, Rashford for Golden Boy award

Nigerian duo of Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Iwobi are among a 40-man shortlist for the 2016 Golden Boy Award.
The annual award was established in 2003 by Italian newspaper Tuttosport to reward the exploits of youngsters under the age of 21 who have excelled in a calendar year.
The winner will be picked after votes by a panel of journalists from around the continent.
Iheanacho and Iwobi will battle the likes of Dele Alli (Tottenham), Gabriel Barbosa (Inter Milan), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) and Renato Sanches (Bayern Munich) amongst others for the coveted prize.
Manchester United forward Anthony Martial is the current holder of the award while past winners include Wayne Rooney (2004), Lionel Messi (2005), Paul Pogba (2013), and Raheem Sterling (2014).

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NJC sacks 3 judges

Three judges have been sacked by the National Judicial Council
– The decision to sack the judges was taken after the council’s seventy eighth meeting which held on Thursday , September 29

Three Nigerian judges have been sacked for various offences by the National Judicial council.
The judges – Ladan Tsamiya, the presiding justice, Court of Appeal, Illorin division; I. A. Umezulike, the chief judge of Enugu state and Kabiru Auta of the Federal High Court in Kano state – were sacked on Friday, September 30.
The NJC in a statement signed by the acting director of information Soji Oye, said Tsamiya and Umezulike has been compulsorily retired from service while Auta is dismissed completely with immediate effect.
The council said the decision to sack the judges came after its 78th meeting which was held on Thursday, September 29.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the NJC Mahmud Mohammed has also said that three judges involved in giving the conflicting rulings that caused the crisis among the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is currently under investigation.

The NJC chairman said this during the swearing in of the new senior advocates of Nigeria in Abuja.
Read the full statement from NJC below:
The National Judicial Council, under the Chairmanship of the Hon. Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Mahmud Mohammed, GCON, at its 78th meeting which was held on 29th September, 2016 recommended compulsory retirement from office of Hon. Justice Mohammed Ladan Tsamiya, Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, Ilorin Division, Hon. Justice I. A. Umezulike, OFR, Chief Judge, Enugu State and the dismissal from service of Hon. Justice Kabiru M. Auta of the High Court of Justice, Kano state with immediate effect.

In the case of Hon. Justice Kabiru M. Auta, he is to be handed over to the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 1, Kano, for prosecution.
Hon. Justice Mohammed Ladan Tsamiya of the Court of Appeal was recommended for compulsory retirement from Office to President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, pursuant to the ‘Findings’ by the Council in the petition written by Nnamdi Iro Oji against him and Hon. Justices Husseini Muktar, F. O. Akinbami and J. Y. Tukur, all Justices of Court of Appeal who sat on Election Appeal Panel in the Owerri Division of the Court during the 2015 General Elections. The Petition contains the following allegations, among others.
Corruption, malice and vindictiveness; and giving perverse and conflicting decisions on the same issue in similar matters in Appeal CA/OW/EPT/SN/50/2015: Chief Dr. David Ogba Onuoha Bourdex Vs Hon. Mao Onuabunwa & Anor;
CA/OW/EPT/SN/47/2015; Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu & Anor Vs Hon. Mao Ohuabunwa & Ors; and CA/OW/EPT/HR/61/2015: Nnamdi Iro Oji Vs Nkole Uko Ndukwe & 16 Ors.
During deliberations, Council found as follows:-
That there was evidence that the Petitioner met with Hon. Justice Mohammed Ladan Tsamiya thrice, in his residence in Sokoto, Gwarinpa, Abuja and Owerri where on each occasion, he demanded from him the sum of N200,000.000 (Two Hundred Million Naira) to influence the Court of Appeal Panel in Owerri or risk losing the case;
That the allegations of giving two conflicting judgements on the same matter was not true as the two judgements were in respect of two different appeals: one was in respect of House of Representative Seat, a Federal Constituency, while the other was in respect of a Senate Seat which covered one third of the state.
That there was no allegation and no evidence that the Petitioner ever met or discussed with Hon. Justices Husseini Mukhtar (JCA), F. O. Akinbami (JCA) and J. Y. Tukur(JCA) in respect of the appeal before them.
In the Light of the foregoing that Hon. Justices Husseini Mukhtar (JCA), F. O. Akinbami(JCA) and J. Y. Tukur (JCA), were exonerated.

Hon. Justice I. A. Umezulike, OFR, Chief Judge, Enugu state was recommended to the Governor of Enugu State, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, for compulsory retirement sequel to the findings by the Council on the following allegations levelled against him by Barrister Peter Eze.
That the Hon. Chief Judge failed to deliver Judgement in Suit No E/13/2008: Ajogwu V Nigerian Bottling Company Limited in which final Addresses were adopted on 23rd October, 2014. The judgement was however delivered on 9th March, 2015, about 126 days after addresses were adopted, contrary to constitutional provisions that judgement should be delivered within a period of 90 days.
That Hon. Justice Umezulike, OFR, in Suit No E/159M/2014, Ezeuko Vs Probate Registrar, High Court of Enugu State and 3 Ors ordered the arrest of Mr. Peter Eze by police and be brought before his Court after the matter was amicably resolved and judgement entered on terms of Settlement.
That the Hon. Chief Judge in a speech delivered by him to the Eastern Bar Forum on Friday 4th March, 2016, openly made uncomplimentary remarks containing vulgar language against the Petitioner, contrary to Rule 1.3 of the National Judicial Council Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers.
That at the time of the book launch of the Hon. Chief Judge, donation of N10 million was made by Prince Arthur Eze during the pendency of the two cases in His Lordship’s Court, both of which Prince Arthur Eze has vested interest.
That there have been many instances of abuse of Judicial powers, by the Chief Judge, particularly against the two defendants in Suits Nos. E/6/2013 and E/88/2016. The Chief Judge clung to these two suits to remain in his court, despite all genuine efforts made by the defendants to get the suits transferred to another court.

That the Chief Judge sitting at a vantage position of Senior Judicial Officer and Head of Court for that matter, should not have allowed his emotions to dictate his judicial functions to the detriment of the defendants in both suits.
In the case of Hon. Justice Kabiru Auta of the High Court of Justice, Kano State, he was recommended to the Kano State Governor, Alhaji Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, for dismissal and be handed over to the police for prosecution following the findings of the Council on the allegations levelled against him by Alhaji Kabiru Yakassai as follows:-
That the Petitioner paid the sum of N125, 000.000.00 (One Hundred and Twenty-five Million Naira) into an account approved by the Hon. Judge.
The Petitioner also made cash payment of N72,000,000.00 (Seventy-five Million Naira) to Hon. Justice Auta in several instalments through his Personal Assistant, Abdullahi Bello, ostensibly for the purpose of assisting a former Chief Justice of Nigeria who had just been appointed to secure accommodation and for the Petitioner to be in turn rewarded by the award of some contracts by the said Hon. Chief Justice of Nigeria.
That Hon. Justice Auta facilitated telephone communications in his house between the Petitioner and purportedly the former Hon. Chief Justice of Nigeria on the other end.
That Hon. Justice Auta facilitated meetings between the Petitioner and a lady who introduced herself as the purported Hon. Chief Justice of Nigeria in a Prado Jeep, escorted by armed Police Officer in a hotel in Kaduna.
That after the Petitioner suspected foul play and reported the matter to the police, Hon. Justice Auta agreed to pay the Petitioner the sum of N95, 000.000.00 (Ninety-five Million Naira) as part of his claim while Abubakar Mahdi was to pay the sum of N125, 000.000.00 (One Hundred and Twenty-five Million Naira) to the petitioner.
That pursuant to the agreement, Hon. Justice Auta made a part payment of $11, 000.00 (Eleven Thousand U. S. Dollars) and N16,000.000.00 (Sixteen Million Naira) cash to the Petitioner and undertook to pay the balance before the commencement of the Fact Finding Committee set up by the National Judicial Council to investigate the allegations.

That Hon. Justice Kabiru Auta admitted accepting to pay the money as agreed in AIG’s Office in Kano according to him “having suffered humiliation, and incarceration and had nowhere to go for help and in order to protect my image and the image of the judiciary”. He however, said that the settlement was for him to pay N35 million and not N95 million and that to that effect, he paid N20 million so far including the $11,000.00; and
That Hon. Justice Kabiru stated in his evidence, that the purpose of the petitioner visiting his house at times was that as a friend, he used to seek favours for his people who had matters before him, a conduct that is in itself self-indicting and a serious abuse of Judicial Oath.
The above allegations against the three Judicial Officers constitute misconduct contrary to Section 292 (1) (b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended and Rules 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 2.1, 3.2, 3.7, 4.1, 4.2, 8.4a, 13.1, 15.2 of the 2016 Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the National Judicial Council, in the exercise of its disciplinary powers under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, has suspended Hon. Justice Mohammed Ladan Tsamiya, Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin Division, Hon. Justice I. A. Umezulike, OFR, Chief Judge of Enugu State and Hon. Justice Kabiru Auta of Kano State High Court from Office with immediate effect, pending the approval of the recommendations of the Council for their compulsory retirement and dismissal respectively, from office by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR; Governor Lawrence Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State and Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, OFR, of Kano State, respectively.
Soji Oye, Esq.
Ag. Director (Information)

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See the drone made by a physics student of ABU

Nigerians are talented and brilliant. People keep coming up with one invention or the other. This is coming at the right time considering the things going on in the country.

Nigerians are starting to rise to the occasion; there are a number of things going on in this country. The government has serious issues to focus on since we are either facing one crisis or the other.
People have come to realize that the time has come for them to make their own contributions. As much as the government is trying to make people comfortable, we also have our own obligations to fulfill as citizens.

The Chibok girls are still missing, innocent souls are being killed by terrorists and the exchange rate is depressing. As torn up as we are, it is imperative for us to stay focused in order to proffer solutions to some of the problems we have.

A physics student of Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, has built a drone in Zaria. He did this as his final year project and named it ‘Hope For Chibok Girls’. It is touching to know that this student kept the problem of the country at heart while working on his final year project.
He has contributed his own quota by making something that could help in the search of the missing girls. This drone was tested in a stadium where it worked to the delight of those present.

Hopefully, the young man’s effort will not be laid to waste. It will be good for his invention to be used in the rescue of these girls.

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