Nigerians Report Online

Friday, May 22, 2015

Lionel Messi is My Role Model - SS2 MVP Winner of 2015 Gtbank Principals Cup

Salisu Anuoluwapo, an SS2 student from Ikotun Senior Secondary School won the Most valuable Player (MVP) Award at the just concluded Season 6 Finals of the GTBank Lagos Principals Cup Competition held on Wednesday May 20, at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere.
The young girl led her school to victory, defeating Oriwu Senior Model College of Ikorodu by three goals to one. Salisu Anuoluwapo scored two of the three goals that made her school team champions for the second time in 3 years.
Captain of her team, Anuoluwapo said the famous Lionel Messi of Spanish club FC Barcelona and Captain of Argentina national team is her role model.

“I’m very happy to have helped my school lift GTBank Principal Cup 2015. I really appreciate my parents for standing by me when I started my football career as early as 7years.” The young lady who had a brace for the finals, appreciated her parents further in her words, “Thank you for standing by me for the past 8years while achieving my dreams. I pay raft attention to both my academics and football because I know in the nears future, I will be playing for super falcons which I believe will take me to next level in life as I look forward to playing like my role model, Lionel Messi.”

Source: http://totnaija.blogspot.com/2015/05/ikotun-senior-secondary-school-and.html

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Ikotun Girls, Birrel Boys Win GTBank Principals’ Cup Season 6

IKOTUN GIRLS, BIRREL BOYS WIN GTBANK PRINCIPALS’ CUP SEASON 6

The 2015 GTBank Lagos State Principals cup ended in a grand style at Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere, Lagos, with Ikotun Senior Secondary Schopol, Ikotun smashing Oriwu Model Senior College, Ikorodu in a 3-1 thriller in the female final match to make them champions for the second time in 3 years. The goals were scored by Chinemerem Anselm and Salisu Anuoluwapo (brace) for Ikotun Senior High School and Ikeduba Peace scored the only goal for Oriwu.

In the male category, first time finalist Birrel Avenue Senior Secondary School, Sabo defeated former champions Keke High School of Ijaye-Agege by 4-2 in the penalty shootout.after after both teams had played 1-1 at regulation time. The goals in regulation time were scored by Daniel Emmanuel for Birrel Avenue and Oseni Sodiq for Keke High. Akeem Oladunjoye of Birrel Avenue Senior Secondary School won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) for boys.

The GTBank Lagos State Principals Cup.

Triumphant Ikotun Senior Secondary Schopol, Ikotun.

Victorious Birrel Avenue Senior Secondary School, Sabo, Yaba.

Oriwu Model Senior College, Ikorodu with the second place prize.

Pupils from Keke Senior High School supporting their school team.

Pupils cheering the competing soccer teams.

From 615 teams drawn from secondary schools across 6 districts in Lagos state, Ikotun girls and Birrel boys have shown that they are unstoppable forces in Nigeria’s grass-root soccer.

The “Smash all Barriers” of the prestigious secondary school tournament is an annual football competition geared towards the development of grass roots football. The discovery of young football talents fostering camaraderie among secondary students as well as helping students actualize their dream of becoming professional footballers.

According to the GTBank CEO, Mr. Segun Agbaje, GTBank is out to create a passion for young ones. His words: “What we set out to achieve for young ones is to create a platform for them to compete, develop and create values and work out a passion for young ones, not necessarily to raise professional footballers. If you look at the attendance today, we are encouraged and we think it’s been a great success. We believe that one of the best places to learn the principles of hard work, competing values, is through sports and if they have those values, we are very sure, they will do well in life.”

For 6 years running, the competition has provided a developmental platform for young talents to be identified, nurtured and contribute immensely to the development of grassroots football.

GTBank MD/CEO, Mr. Segun Agbaje and other VIPs at the finals.

Mr. Segun Agbaje presenting medals to the winning female team Ikotun Senior Secondary Schopol, Ikotun.

Mr. Segun Agbaje speaking to the press.

Agbaje explained that the GTBank Principals Cup game started slowly. His words: “We started the Principals Cups game slowly, and now we have one in Ogun and Port-Harcourt. In order to do things properly, we need take time to invest the right resources, so that many ultimately will see the game getting more interesting. Ogun State Principals Cup is as committed as that of Lagos State. I would like to thank the state governors of both states for their incredible support for the Principals Cup.”

On his part, the Chairman of the Lagos State Football Association and the 1st Vice-President, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), emphasized the importance of infusing a national policy to encourage football in youths. His words: “From the boys and girls, we observed the talents among them, but the issue is to harness these talents. The idea is to inaugurate these kind of tournaments and ensure they are infused into the national policy, so that we could have a pathway way which everyone will know and go through. There’s a difference between literate and illiterate footballers, and so we shouldn't be left behind, that’s why we are infusing and trying to balance up education and football.”

GTBank gave out prizes to winners and runners-up as promised, ranging from N1,000,000 (one million naira) for the winner, to N750,000 for the 1st runner up, N500,000 for the 2nd runner up and N250,000 for the 3rd runner up, accompanied by other offers such as immediate upgrade of sport facilities, including goalposts, balls, goalpost nets and corner flags in their various schools. However, for the girls, Ikotun High School, Oriwu Model College, Government Senior College and CMS Girls Senior Secondary School had these gifts respectively; while for the boys, Birrel College, Keke High School, Ikorodu Senior Grammar School and Ifako Comprehensive High School had these gifts.

Speaking at the event, Salisu Anu an SS2 student from Ikotun High School and Most Valuable Player (MVP) said, “I’m very happy to have helped my school lift GTBank Principals Cup 2015. I really appreciate my parents for standing by me when I started my football career as early as 7 years.”
The young lady who had a brace for the finals, appreciated her parents further in her words. “Thank you for standing by me for the past 8 years while achieving my dreams. I pay rapt attention to both my academics and football, because I know in the nears future, I will be playing for the Super Falcons which I believe will take me to the next level in life as I look forward to playing like my role model, Lionel Messi.”

Salisu Anu an SS2 student from Ikotun High School and Most Valuable Player (MVP).

The CEO, GTBank reiterated that they are happy, because the quality of football has been high, and there hasn't been any cheating so far in this year’s edition.

The bank also complements the Principals Cup tournaments with an annual residential coaching programme known as CAMP GTBANK which was designed to discover, sharpen and cultivate the skills of outstanding talents of the GTBank Lagos State Principals Cup and Master Cup, drawing on the experience of the top coaches from European clubs.

This grassroots career development in the country shows Guaranty Trust Bank Plc is one of the few Nigerian financial institutions that that have maintained a defined Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy since it's inception in 1990. The Bank actively supports in classroom and out of classroom educational programmes, infrastructure development, students scholarship and teachers training across Africa.

See more at: http://www.gtbank.com/csr/football/?update=grand-finale-of-the-principals-cup-lagos#sthash.TXqAR3f3.dpuf.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Ikotun Senior High School and Birrel Avenue Senior High School Lift 2015 GTBank Lagos Principals Cups

Ikotun Senior High School of Ikotun defeated Oriwu Senior Model College of Ikorodu by three goals to one to win the female category of the coveted GTBank Lagos Principals Cup on Wednesday May 20 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere and the captain of the team Anuoluwapo Salisu won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. In the male category, Birrel Avenue Senior High School of Sabo in Yaba defeated Keke High School of Ijaiye by penalty kicks to win the trophy and Birrel’s goalkeeper also won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.

The Principals Cup champions also won one million naira (N1,000,000) each while the 1st, 2nd, 3rd runners up won N750,000, N500,000 and N250,000.

The Principals Cup is a football competition amongst secondary schools, aimed at fostering camaraderie and identifying local football talent at grass-root level.

For Guaranty Trust Bank, the value of sports as an aid to personal development cannot be over emphasized, hence this public-private partnership with the Lagos State Government in 2009 to revamp ‘The Principals Cup’, a state-sponsored football competition amongst public secondary schools, which fosters team work and identifies local football talent at the grassroots level.

In line with this sports loving organization’s vision of raising role models for the society as well as using sports as a tool to provoke academic excellence in secondary school, the Principals Cup has thus provided the platform to create football stars who will become Nigeria’s ambassadors to the international community and participate in the discovery, career development and economic empowerment of local football talents.

The phenomenon known as football has proven to be a tool used to foster camaraderie amongst youth, the Principals Cup no doubt has continued to identify local football talent at grass-root levels as well as promote healthy rivalry.

The Principals Cup is an annual football Competition which begins at the start of a new academic session in secondary schools and ends mid June of every year. This competition has been instrumental in bringing back otherwise drop-outs back to school and has now extended from Lagos where it started in 2009, to Ogun and Rivers States.

The Lagos State competition, called the GTBank-Lagos State Principals Cup is run with the Lagos State Ministry of Youth & Sports and the Ministry of Education. The Competition is now in its 4th Season with over 400 State owned schools participating.

The GTBank-Ogun State Principals Cup started in 2012. It is also run together with the State Ministry of Youth, Sports & Social Development and the Ministry of Education.

- See more at: http://www.gtbank.com/csr/football/?about_article=about-the-competitions&content_filter=principals-cup#sthash.yyFS1thl.dpuf

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

2015 Opens Optimistically for Consumers: Confidence Up in Nigeria, Down in Kenya and Ghana

CONFIDENCE UP IN NIGERIA, DOWN IN KENYA AND GHANA
Consumer confidence increased two index points in Nigeria in the first quarter to a score of 129—the highest score of the three countries measured in Nielsen's mobile survey for sub-Saharan Africa. Conversely, confidence decreased nine points in Kenya (104) and three points in Ghana (99) from fourth-quarter 2014.
The majority of respondents in the three countries (69% in Kenya, 67% in Ghana and 62% in Nigeria) said they did not have spare cash, a level that increased 10 percentage points in Kenya and one percentage point in Nigeria from fourth-quarter 2014. Among those who did claim discretionary funds, while saving continued to be a priority for the majority, intentions to put money into savings accounts declined 10 percentage points in Nigeria (76%), seven percentage points in Ghana (78%) and six percentage points in Kenya (83%) in the first quarter. Discretionary spending intentions for home improvement projects were the second-biggest priority among respondents in all three countries.

PRESS RELEASE

Yale Honours Okonjo-Iweala with an Honorary Doctorate Degree

Yale had in the past honored a handful of other Africans such as Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

NEW HAVEN, USA, May 19, 2015/ -- Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (http://www.fmf.gov.ng) has received an honorary Doctorate degree from Yale University (http://www.yale.edu), one of the United State of America’s most prestigious institutions of higher learning.
The Minister was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters at Yale’s 2015 Commencement Ceremony in New Haven, Connecticut Monday.

She will be only the second Nigerian in the university’s 314-year history to receive its highest honour after Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka who received an honorary Doctor of Letters in 1980.

Giving out the award, the President of the University Professor Peter Salovey described Okonjo-Iweala as “a brilliant reformer and dedicated public servant.”

He went on to state that the Minister “has spearheaded efforts to stabilize and grow Nigeria’s economy, battling widespread government corruption and creating greater fiscal transparency and discipline.”

Yale’s honorary doctorate degree is seen globally as a very important honour.
According to the institution “those who have received honorary degree are scholars, public servants, Nobel Prize winners and heads of states.

“Collectively, they represent the aspirations of this institution. Yale honorary degree recipients serve as models of excellence and service to our students, to our graduates, to our community and to the world,” the institution says.

As Finance Minister in 2004, Okonjo-Iweala and the economic team that she led helped Nigeria obtain debt relief, wiping out $30 billion of Paris club debt, leading to a tripling of the growth rates.

The second time around as Finance Minister in 2011, Okonjo-Iweala has focused on building solid foundations and institutions critical for the survival and sustenance of the economy. She bravely fought corruption in governance with fierce dedication and unflagging energy.

Okonjo-Iweala was honored alongside the Chair of the Board of Governors of US Federal Reserve System Janet Yellen, world renowned Beninoise Singer and songwriter Angelique Kidjo, University Professor and founding member of the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society at Columbia University Gayatari Chakravorty Spivak, Professor and Director of the Starr Center for Human Genetics at Rockefeller University Jeffrey Michael Friedman, Inventors and Entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Dean Kamen, etc.

Yale had in the past honored a handful of other Africans such as Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Distributed by APO (African Press Organization) on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Nigeria.

Issued by:
Constance Ikokwu
Media Adviser to the Minister of Finance, Nigeria

SOURCE
Federal Ministry of Finance, Nigeria

Majority Of Nigerians Are Intellectually Retarded

Majority of Nigerians Are Intellectually Retarded

Majority of Nigerians are actually intellectually retarded even though many people may disagree and they include many of the students and graduates of Nigerian colleges, polytechnics and universities. When even majority of Nigerians cannot read and write, then don't be surprised that majority of Nigerians are intellectually retarded.

A simple survey of the environment is enough to show you that majority of Nigerians are intellectually slow and the tragedy of it all is that they gloat in their predicament in willful rebellion against conventional wisdom of rational human behaviour; which is the cause of their own corruption and destruction. Ironically, majority of them live in denial of the facts of life and prefer pointing accusing fingers at corrupt politicians when they are the same people who breed the contagious corruption plaguing the nation.

The most intellectually retarded people in Nigeria are the majority of the Hausa Muslims who are the most intolerant of other tribes with different cultures and religions. The fact that majority of the intolerant Hausa Muslims are disciples of the same clerics of the Hausa Muslims who claim to be educated, but have never stopped the intolerant groups among their population from violent acts shows the fallacy and hypocrisy of their clerics and leaders, because they all worship at the same mosques and would have been able to have a consensus against the ethnic-religious bigotry of their larger Hausa Muslims population. In fact, the Hausa Muslims in tertiary institutions have also displayed irrational human behaviour in their intolerant acts against non-Muslims.

Majority of the Hausa Muslims are not as intellectual and tolerant as the majority of the non-Hausa Muslims and other tribes in the south of Nigeria who supported and voted for the Hausa Muslim Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) in the 2015 presidential election, because they will never support and vote for a non-Hausa Christian presidential candidate. Why? They are intellectually retarded and don’t have the ratiocination for rational thinking, because they are ruled by their herd mentality. Only intellectually retarded people are ruled by herd mentality; as can be seen in the recurrent ethnic-religious conflicts in the Middle Belt and northern states of Nigeria. Many of them are still living like primitive uncivilized people in dark ages of history centuries ago when we are now in the digital age of modern civilization.

When you are not capable of ratiocination and rational thinking in behavour and lifestyle, you are intellectually retarded, because you have failed to use your intellectual capacity for rational human behaviour. And Nigerian politicians of the greedy ruling class exploit the intellectual illiteracy of the majority of Nigerians by using them as mere expendable pawns in their political power struggle. They are the political thugs, political assassins and bigoted voters who constitute the majority of the electorate in Nigerian politics. That is why Nigerians have been having incompetent political office holders and public officials since 1960 to date. They are products of the same negative thinking.

It is very easy to define and identify an incompetent government from the local government level to the central government by looking at the environment from the street to the State House.
A dirty and filthy environment is the evidence of an incompetent government.
The state of an environment shows you the state of the human development in every community.
No competent government will tolerate a dirty and filthy environment.
Only intellectually retarded people have dirty and filthy environments as can be seen from Lagos to Abuja and from the Niger Delta to Lake Chad. Majority of Nigerians are dirty and living in filthy environments. Visit the campuses of the tertiary institutions and their environments are enough to show you the irrational human behaviour of the students and lecturers who later end up as political office holders and carry over their abnormal characteristics to the government.
Majority of Nigerians are annoyingly dirty.
They can be so comfortable dining and wining in the midst of stinking heaps of refuse and stinking toilets. Of course, only sick people will feel comfortable living and working in a nauseating environment which is common in majority of private and public workplaces in Nigeria.
Every filthy environment is caused by an incompetent management of the community or company.
Most people will call it indiscipline. But the educated ones among them will not admit that they are guilty of indiscipline.
How can authorities of an intellectual institution have a filthy environment if they not incompetent?
Majority of the intellectual or academic institutions have filthy environments and they still contest for bragging rights as the breeding grounds of future leaders of the nation. No wonder they have been breeding such corrupt leaders messing up the country by their mismanagement of the government.

The intellectual minority in Nigeria are at the mercy of the intellectually retarded majority.
The intellectual minority can be compared to a dozen of wise people besieged by legions of criminals, idiots, prostitutes and parasites and these legions have messed up the country and turned the Nigerian Dream into the Nigerian nightmare.

Can the herd mentality of the intellectually retarded majority be changed in the new dispensation of a new government?
Behaviour change does not happen overnight, therefore the new government must know how to use the National Orientation Agency (NOA) working with other government ministries; especially Ministry of Education to develop models based on proven behavioural change theories for the teaching of Nigerians of all cultures on strict adherence and obedience to rational behaviour in living and working together in the nation building of a New Nigeria for the common good of all Nigerians.
The government must search and seek out mischievous clerics, ministers and leaders wherever they are in Nigeria; whether in the schools, mosques, churches and other places and address their insecurities at the earliest signs of intolerance and irrational intentions to prevent them from misinforming and misleading their believers and followers. A stitch in time saves nine.
The fringe elements of tribal bigotry and religious intolerance don’t turn into legions of blood thirsty terrorists overnight. It all starts with misinformation.
There will be no positive change without positive thinking.
Without positive thinking for positive behaviour change in the psyche of majority of intellectually retarded Nigerians, the vicious circle of the Nigerian crisis will continue until Armageddon.

~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, author of "Children of Heaven", "Song of Patriotism", "Sleepless Night", "Scarlet Tears of London", "Bye, Bye Zimbabwe", "In the House of Dog"s, "The Prophet Lied", "Diary of the Memory Keeper", co-author of "Na-ked Beauty", editor of "The Language of True Love" and Publisher/Editor of the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® series. His new book on the 2015 elections, "The Victory of Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian Dream" will be released worldwide on May 29, 2015. His books are distributed by Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Tower Books, Lulu, Glendora and other booksellers.

Monday, May 18, 2015

All Set for GTBank Principals Cup finals and Rise of Youth Soccer

All Set for GTBank Principals Cup finals and Rise of Youth Soccer

Youth soccer development in Nigeria is set to rise as the stage is all set for the most anticipated finals of the 2015 Principals cup kicks off at Teslim Balogun Stadium on Wednesday in Lagos.

GTBank has also restated its commitment to investing in grassroots and youth soccer development, as a vital step in helping Nigeria emerge a global power house in soccer.

Speaking in the run up to the finals, Lola Odedina, the GTBank Communications General Manager noted that Nigeria cannot emerge a global soccer giant by wishful thinking. "It requires concerted efforts, long range planning, continuous investment and most importantly talent identification and development at the youth level. The need to catch them young and train them well has never been greater.

Emirates Expands its Mobile Footprint & Launches An Android App

On the heels of the successful launch of its Apple Watch app, Emirates announced today the debut of the Emirates App for Android, the world’s largest mobile platform. With more than one hundred thousand monthly users of its iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch apps, Emirates is ramping up its efforts to enhance its passengers’ travel experience through mobile technologies.