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Commissioner warns against scrapping education colleges

The Kogi State commissioner for education, Sylvester
Onoja has called on the federal government to be careful with phasing
out Colleges of Education so as not to destroy the education sector.

Mr Onoja, who was the first northerner appointed
principal of the famous Kings College, Lagos said frequent changes of
policy have impacted negatively on the education sector as no fewer than
45 ministers had, since independence 50 years ago, headed the ministry
of education and introduced different policies.

The commissioner said these changes had all but
damaged the sector and called on the federal government to be careful in
matters of education.

While advising government not to scrap Colleges of
Education, Mr Onoja suggested that what is needed to improve teacher
education is an improvement in the quality of entrance requirement,
curriculum, teaching personnel and facilities as well as the quality of
decision making process.

Orphans

The commissioner lamented the absence of a regulatory
body for secondary schools in the country, as against other organs of
education and called on federal government to establish a commission for
secondary schools to regulate its curriculum and activities as,
according to him, “secondary schools in the country today is an orphan”.

Mr Onoja commended federal government’s plan to
establish more federal universities in the country, stressing that this
would further reduce the problem of admission been experienced in the
country.

The Minister of State for Education, Kenneth Gbagi
had, while inaugurating the technical committee on the establishment of
six new federal universities, hinted that the government was thinking of
either phasing out Colleges of Education or upgrading them to degree
awarding institutions.

Myanmar’s Suu Kyi calls for talks

Myanmar’s Suu Kyi calls for talks

World acclaimed
pro-democracy fighter, Aung San Suu Kyi, spent her first day of freedom
testing Myanmar’s political minefield with a vow to press ahead in her
decades-long fight for democracy and also calling for compromise with
other political parties and ruling military government.

Suu Kyi, who was
freed from house arrest Saturday after spending close to two decades in
jail, told journalists she faces a precarious position: manoeuvring
between the expectations of the country’s pro-democracy movement and the
realities of dealing with a clique of generals who have kept her locked
up for years. “I’ve always believed in compromise,” the Nobel Peace
laureate told reporters in the dilapidated offices of her party, the
National League for Democracy. “I am for national reconciliation. I am
for dialogue. Whatever authority I have, I will use it to that end … I
hope the people will support me.”

Myanmar, once known
as Burma, has been ruled by the military since 1962, leaving it isolated
from much of the international community and battered by poverty. The
junta has an abysmal human rights record, holding thousands of political
prisoners and waging brutal military campaigns against ethnic
minorities. The military annulled the last general election held in the
country, after the politicians it supported lost to Ms Suu Kyi’s NLD,
and the country has been placed under various sanctions by, mostly,
western nations. In recent years, though, it has also become an
increasingly important regional trading hub, and its natural gas
reserves and hydroelectric possibilities have brought it close to
energy-hungry China and India.

National reconciliation

Yesterday, Ms Suu
Kyi spoke to a rapturous crowd of as many as 10,000 people who jammed
the street in front of the office. While the speech was technically
illegal – any gathering of more than a handful of people needs
government permission in Myanmar – the authorities made no arrests.
Dozens of secret police officers were on hand Sunday to record her
comments and photograph those in attendance. “I believe in human rights
and I believe in the rule of law,” she said. “I will always fight for
these things. I want to work with all democratic forces and I need the
support of the people.” However, she also urged her followers to work
for national reconciliation. “If we want to get what we want, we have to
do it in the right way; otherwise we will not achieve our goal however
noble or correct it may be,” she said.

Africa is world’s second fastest loser of forests

Africa is world’s second fastest loser of forests

Indigenous forests
in Africa are being cut down at an ‘alarming’ rate of about 3.4 million
hectares per year, making the continent the region with the second
highest net annual loss of forests in 2000-2010, United Nation’s Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has said.

John Peacock,
manager of the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) –
Leventis Foundation Project said reforestation and education on the
benefits of conservation would help stop and reclaim Africa’s lost
forest and biodiversity, if necessary authorities could respond to its
safety.

Mr. Peacock who
spoke during the 2010 Open Day held last week added that conservation of
Africa’s forest offers great benefits preserving Africa’s surviving
tropical forests and that planting new trees to replace those lost to
deforestation could help reduce the severity of climate change.

The 2010 Open Day
was marked with the planting of indigenous trees by IITA staff in Ibadan
to help mitigate the effects of climate change and losses in
biodiversity.

Nigeria’s loss

According to the
group, the tree planting came at a time when deforestation rate in
Nigeria has reached a disturbing rate of 3.5% per year, translating to a
loss of350,000-400,000 hectares of forest per year.

In 1976,Nigeria had
23 million hectares of forest but today only 9.6 million hectares
remain, less than 10% of Nigeria’s total land area.Mr. Peacock added
that planting trees is part of a new initiative to restore rainforests
in Nigeria. IITA is also contributing to the important UN-REDD (Reducing
Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) initiative in
Nigeria.

Through the
IITA-Leventis Project, the team, particularly Olukunle Olasupo and Deni
Bown, have raised over 15,000 seedlings of 33 different species since
February 2010 in preparation for planting next year.“We would like every
family, represented by staff members in IITA, to plant an indigenous
tree next year as part of IITA’s activities to increase the forest
area,” Mr. Peacock said.

Earlier this year,
IITA and partners made effort to raise awareness of the need to preserve
biodiversity-a term that describes the variety of living
organisms-especially in forests that are increasingly lost or
threatened.

Statistics indicate
that Nigeria’s Milicia excelsa (iroko) has become endangered, with about
$100 million worth of Iroko timber illegally poached from remaining
forests last year.

“The unfortunate thing is that these very valuable trees are not being replaced,” he said.

UI pledges improved learning environment

UI pledges improved learning environment

The University of Ibadan has pledged it continued effort in ensuring improved teaching and learning environment for its staff and students.Olufemi Bamiro, Vice chancellor of the institution, disclosed this at the weekend while presenting certificates to the first set of graduates for this year’s convocation programme of the university held at the Trenchard Hall.

The professor of Engineering noted that the university’s curricula is designed ‘to ensure that students acquire the capacity for deep inquiry, critical thinking and problem-solving, have the opportunities, as part of their classroom experience, to benefit from the research activities and findings of their teachers’.

He informed that introduction of post-UME examinations to the admission process has helped reduce incidence of withdrawal for poor academic performance, adding that the overall good performance recorded from this year’s graduands is a product of the efforts at weeding out the shaft from the grain through the post-UME.

The university graduated a total of 1,499 students at the weekend from faculties of Arts,Science, Basic Medical Sciences, Clinical Sciences, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Public Health, Technology and Law as it kick-started four-day 2010 graduation ceremonies.

Among these were 55 with First Class and 371 Second Class Upper Division Honours degrees, spread across faculties, while 77 others obtained Diploma Certificates from affiliated institutions.Mr.Bamiro, whose tenure as the UI vice chancellor end December 1, admonished the graduands to consider the certificates obtained from the university as a springboard and a call to greater challenges and aspirations in life.

The 2010 graduation ceremonies and founder’s day of the university, which commenced last week, continues today as graduands from some faculties will also receive their certificates at the Trenchard Hall.

Falling standards

Ade Adefuye, professor of History and ambassador of Nigeria to the United States of America, presented the convocation lectures last Thursday.

In the lecture, entitled, “Higher Education in Nigeria: Foreign Policy Dividend”,Mr. Adefuye said the falling standard of higher education in the country is a reflection of the challenges facing the nation.

He urged members of the academic community to seize the opportunity of the renewed interest of the federal government on the sector to play their own part in salvaging the situation.

He also beseeched the ex-students of the institution to find ways of repositioning the university to ‘continue flying its flags rather than expend precious time trying to defend its sliding rank among other universities’.

Mr Bamiro, in his speech at the lecture, had lamented the dearth of manpower in the institutions of higher learning across the country,describing it as one of the major roots of lack of development

Party threatens court action over amendment

Party threatens court action over amendment

The Action Congress
of Nigeria (ACN) at the weekend threatened to take federal lawmakers to
court if they amend parts of the electoral law to make themselves
automatic members of the National Executive Council (NEC) of political
parties.

Describing it as a
new manifestation of efforts by lawmakers to make laws in their interest
rather than in the national interest, the party’s National Publicity
Secretary, Lai Mohammed, said it was becoming clear that, as far as the
dominant PDP members of the National Assembly are concerned, the
interest of their party is the same as the interest of the nation.

The party however
called on other political parties to mount a legal challenge against
what it tagged, “the obnoxious, self-serving, greedy and
democracy-killing proposed insertion into the Electoral Act 2010.” The
party also called on labour, civil society organizations and political
parties to march on the National Assembly “to ensure such
anti-democratic law is not passed.” Mr Mohammed described the ongoing
amendment effort as the most expensive and anti people ever in Nigeria’s
history, saying it is time to stop federal lawmakers from ruining the
democracy that millions of Nigerians fought to entrench.

“Our legislators are the highest paid in the world, with those of Kenya a distant second,” he said. “Yet, they never consulted
us before padding their pay to such high levels. The widespread story
is that each of them earns a million naira per day, except on weekends
and public holidays! This is not far from the truth, since each one
smiles home with 45 million Naira per quarter, in a country where most
citizens live on less than US$1 a day, and the minimum wage being fought
for comes to US$4 per day! Add this to the fact that while it took 3%
of the national budget to service the National Assembly in the Second
Republic, the current National Assembly is gulping over 30% of the
national budget and one will get an idea of how these legislators are
draining the economy. If they dispute the figures quoted above, they
should tell Nigerians what they earn and what percentage of the national
budget is being used to service the National Assembly.”

Implications

The party said that
the proposed law offends the constitution, stifles the ability of the
parties to make their own constitutions and decide who attends their
executive councils and shows how those elected to serve the people
cannot differentiate between the interest of the PDP from the majority
in both chambers of the National Assembly, and the country.

“The proposed law will also make the lawmakers – in the case of the
PDP more than 300 National Assembly members’ gate crashing into the NEC
– the single biggest bloc in the NECs of the parties. Then, the
dictatorship of lawmakers would have been entrenched, with dangerous
consequences for all,” Mr. Mohammed said.

Party threatens court action over amendment

Party threatens court action over amendment

Implications

PERSONAL FINANCE: Does money buy happiness?

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PERSONAL FINANCE: Does money buy happiness?

Sadly in our consumption driven
society, many of us have come to believe that all our worries will be
solved if we have more money. Indeed, wealth has become the ultimate
measure of who we are, and we have become defined by it. When we chase
after money for its own sake, we can damage our value system and we pay
for it in time, health, and stress.

What does money mean to you?

Do you have a healthy relationship with
money? Do you worship it? Or do you use it as a tool to achieve your
goals? Does your life depend on it? What really matters to you? What
really does make you feel happy and fulfilled?

It is important to understand your own
money personality and to put it in the right perspective. The ways in
which we make money and how we spend it reveal a lot about our
personality. This relates to the emotional aspects of money such as
needs, values, relationship choices, feelings about earning and career
choices, spending, saving and investing. Issues of control, security,
self esteem, and sense of well-being are always evident when money
matters come up.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

What do we need? Abraham Maslow was an
American psychologist best known for establishing his theory of the
“hierarchy of needs” which he developed in the mid 1900’s.This model
served as a tool for understanding human motivation and development. He
identified five levels of human needs that must be satisfied by a
person’s environment in order for him or her to attain full potential.
Maslow’s pyramid illustrates human needs stacked in layers with
physiological needs at the base of the pyramid and self-actualisation
and fulfilment at the highest level.

The first and lowest level involves the
most basic needs; that is, what a person needs to stay alive, such as
air, water, food, sleep, warmth, shelter and hygiene. At the second
level, Maslow places safety, security, employment, money and financial
stability, and good health. By the fifth level the human being seeks
self-actualisation and fulfilment. He has the desire and ability to
grow; doing something that makes life complete such as, supporting a
cause, taking up a calling to realize personal potential, or seeking
personal growth.

Relationship between money and happiness

Why doesn’t the lucrative promotion or
the brand-new five-bedroom house keep us swathed in a permanent state
of happiness? We like to think that if we just had a little bit more
money, we would be happier but when we get there, something is still
missing. It appears that the more money you have, the more you want and
that buying the car, boat or bike of your dreams, brings you transient
joy rather than a deep lasting sense of fulfilment. We tend to
overestimate how much pleasure we will get from having more money.

Certainly, earning more makes you happy
in the short term, but you quickly adjust to your new lifestyle and all
it brings. Naturally there is that thrill of the shiny new car but soon
you get used to it and start wanting the newer, more powerful model.
Having made a special purchase, we immediately dream of acquiring the
better, “latest” version. Scientists call it ‘the hedonic treadmill’ –
and many people spend far too much time on it.

The Hedonic Treadmill

Professor Emeritus Richard Layard,
LSE’s Director of The Centre for Economic Performance, in “Happiness:
Lessons from the New Science” discusses the relationship between
happiness and rising standards of wealth. A critic of consumer society
and the all-consuming pursuit of money, he suggests that we eventually
get trapped on the “hedonic treadmill”. Our happiness begins to wane as
we start to take the new positive changes in our life for granted.

Money brings temporary happiness. A
dramatic change in wealth such as the move from abject poverty to
financial security can significantly increase happiness, but the
satisfaction will be transient; its effect will only last until the
beneficiary gets used to their new status. He argues that once poverty
and discomfort have been eliminated, extra income is much less
important than human relationships. So how do we step off the hedonic
treadmill?

What brings more lasting happiness?

Having spent several years interacting
with people with various levels of wealth, I am convinced that money
does not in itself create or sustain happiness. It certainly buys
things and improves the quality of life and a standard of living. Yes,
money is important, as it helps us to pay our bills, educate our
children, support our families, but if we rely on it as the key to
happiness, it can be illusory as it does not usually address the real
issues such as, concern for their families, problems in relationships,
and work related stress.

Money can buy food, shelter, education,
and pays for healthcare and day-to-day comforts. Of course if you don’t
have enough money to send your children to school, can’t provide for
your elderly parents, or can’t afford an expensive surgery that would
alleviate the pain from an old injury, it would be hard to be happy. In
that sense, money can buy happiness by eliminating some worries and
bringing quick relief to financial concerns.

Beyond that, longer-term happiness is
dependent upon one’s personality and how fortunate one is to have the
truly important things in life: a strong relationship with God, a
loving family, good reliable friends, good health for yourself and your
loved ones, a fulfilling and secure job, a safe environment, moral
values and freedom.

Happiness comes from giving

Having money is a great responsibility
because it enables one to do things. Material possessions eventually
lose their sparkle then beg to be replaced. Yet, one can make
transformational gifts by helping others and even shaping or saving
lives. It is through generosity that we attain the best relationship
with money. By deciding to make a difference in someone else’s life,
you give more meaning to your own. The joy that this brings is a
lasting form of happiness.

The constant message that is relayed in our society that money is
the most important thing in our lives and the constant desire for more
has far reaching consequences for our value system and morals. This
unending pursuit of money has damaged family relationships, our
environment and our country. If you earn your money in a healthy,
honest way, and spend it wisely, you have a better chance of being and
staying happy.

Money

Football academies as engines of development

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Football academies as engines of development

A few weeks before the commencement of the World Youth Soccer
Championship for U-17, Nigeria 2009, ex-Green Eagles winger, Adokiye Amiesimaka
caused quite a stir when he claimed that Nigeria’s team captain Fortune
Chukwudi was over-age.

Schools of thoughts came up with positions at variance on the
matter as to the timing, appropriateness or propriety of Amiesimaka’s action.
My reaction then and now is that the truth has only one version. Anytime it’s
told it remains the same. Amiesimaka was correct then, is still correct and will
always be correct, especially because of the negative impact of age-cheat on
our football.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) at the time stood facts on
its head and claimed Chukwudi was within the age limit. At the time, some said
bringing up such facts at that particular time was unpatriotic. For me
Amiesimaka did what he had to do to save our football from further decay and
rot. A little more introspection also reveals that the age-bending tactics has
superannuated our football and there is a strong need to return to grassroots
football development – the very essence of youth football as the conveyor belt
of the Super Eagles and the path to glory in world football.

In times past, Nigeria used to be able to ship her players in
droves to the big markets in Europe (England, Germany, Italy, Spain, France,
Holland and Belgium). Today we are unable to find Nigerian players commanding
good transfer fees. Austin Jay-Jay Okocha remains the highest Nigerian transfer
at $17 million. He has been beaten in Africa by Didier Drogba of Cote d’
Ivoire, Samuel Eto’o of Cameroun and Michael Essien of Ghana (the highest at
$32 million). No Nigerian has crossed $12 million in recent times and that is
because the talent pool is almost dried up.

Of thieving officials and
unscrupulous agents

There are many reasons for the decline. Unscrupulous player
agents, and thieving NFF officials, who are ready to sign-off grannies as U-17,
or U- 20 using “football age”. The “football age” of Nigerian players is at
least 6 years less than their real ages. This is not very good for their
playing careers as the peak age of a football player is 25-29 years, when they
can give value for money. By the time the average Nigerian is sold abroad for
the first time, he is already over 27 years with no chance of giving more than
two years before old age starts wreaking havoc on his career.

Europe is looking for young players that they can readily verify
their ages, and this search is slowing down on African players, where the issue
of overage players is the order of the day.

The way out of this problem is through the Academy system. This
is why European clubs are setting up partnerships with academies, in Asia and
Africa, so they can verify the ages of prospects and ensure optimal profit from
such players.

FIFA, the World football governing body, also encourages the
sale and transfer of players through the academies, as this is one sure way of
gaining on investment in youth football development.

The academies also offer a means of providing education for the
players, so it is not only their skills that are developed, but their intellect
as well. It becomes imperative for agencies, corporate organisations and
wealthy individuals to support and fund academies to be capable of nurturing
top rated football players, who can ply their trade in any part of the football
world beyond the tokenist support from near beggarly academies today.

The academies are sure to provide both academic and technical
education and skills in order to ensure a well rounded development of their
products and provide them the skills necessary for ensuring a well lived life
on and off the field of play, as well as when their active days are over.

I sign-off prescribing football Academies as the engines for
re-building Nigeria’s fortunes in football.

Next week I shall present my thoughts on the appointment of Samson Siasia as
the new Super Eagles Manager.

Sports

Battle for top spot in the derby Della Madonnina

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Battle for top spot in the derby Della Madonnina

Milan
are top of the Serie A despite boasting one of the oldest squads in
Italy and they will do all today to remain at the summit. They face
neighbours and rivals, Inter at the San Siro but will be without the
injured veteran striker, Fillipo Inzaghi.

Tests carried out on
Thursday showed Pippo Inzaghi will not just miss this weekend’s derby
but also Milan’s game against Fiorentina. The initial prognosis is worse
than first thought as latest reports also claim Inzaghi’s season could
even be at risk – owing to the fact that the injury has affected his
meniscus and the ligaments around his knee.

Though the San Siro
is home to both teams, Inter will boast more fans in the stadium today
as this is a home tie for the Nerrazurri. Inter have gone on a backward
slide in the last three weeks with three draws from matches where they
had the lion share of possession and new coach, Rafael Benitez must be
feeling the shadow of Jose Mourinho more and more.

Last season,
erstwhile coach, Mourinho blew away the Rossoneri on the two occasions
they met in the league without conceding any goal.

Sneidjer promises a win

Inter midfielder
Wesley Sneidjer has told his teammates to forget their former coach,
Mourinho and concentrate on doing well with new tactician, Rafael
Benitez.

“Mourinho is in the
past,” Sneijder wrote on his Twitter account. “We must think about the
present and no longer in the past. We will get over these moments of
fatigue, and I will be at my best soon. This rest has helped me to relax
and reflect.

“We might be in some
trouble, but there are explanations for this. We come from a fantastic
season that will be difficult to forget. The real fans will never jeer
their own players, especially when they are going through a tough
period.

“I don’t want to
lose the derby because it was my debut match last season. I will never
forget it. I am getting better and need help from the fans and Benitez.

He is a great coach just like Mourinho,” he concluded.

Inter players,
Esteban Cambiasso, Julio Cesar, Maicon, MacDonald Mariga, Thiago Motta
and Sulley Muntari were put through individual sessions on Friday
morning to check on their fitness ahead of Sunday’s derby. They were
joined by Lucio and Dejan Stankovic, who did light training. All eight
players were supervised by rehabilitation coaches Eduardo Parra and
Stefano Rapetti, and physiotherapists Marco Dellacasa, Alberto Galbiati
and Luigi Sessolo.

The stakes are high
in this derby with Inter keen to return to the summit of the league,
despite notable absentees. Walter Samuel is supposed to be out until
February and Maicon will need more time to recover from a back injury.

This will also be
the first time that former Nerrazurri striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovich will
be playing against his former colleagues.

Derby origin

This rivalry started
in 1908 as a group of AC Milan players broke off to form their own
club, Inter Milan. In another parallel, Inter became associated with the
city’s middle classes while AC continued to identify themselves with
workers and migrants. Although these associations no longer exist within
the clubs – AC Milan is now owned by Italy’s Prime Minister – the
rivalry between the two sets of fans is as fierce as ever, and
culminated in a game in 2005 which saw Inter fined 200,000 euro and
ordered to play their Champions’ League games behind closed doors after
fans threw flares onto the pitch, one of which hit Milan goalkeeper
Dida, forcing him out of the game, which was soon abandoned.

Arsenal will hope for last season’s result

Historically,
Everton have normally had the upper hand on the Gunners at Goodison
Park. Everton coach, David Moyes will be hoping to add a fourth home win
to the four defeats and two draws he has witnessed against this
afternoon’s visitors during his tenure.

There was a rude
shock for Everton in the first match of the 2009/10 season when Arsenal
destroyed history by giving them a 6-1 bashing. The Blues of Everton
recovered a bit of pride in the return leg when they got a creditable
2-2 draw. They were leading 2-1 with a Steven Pienaar break-away goal
till the dying minutes of that encounter but in the second minute of
stoppage-time Tomas Rosicky curled home the equaliser to salvage a point
for the home side.

Everton are
undefeated in five consecutive games and Moyes has just been named as
Manager of the month for October. This will be the incentive to keep
their good home record that has seen them draw 3-3 with Manchester
United even though they were losing the match 1-3 in the 90th minute.

Marouane Chamakh
scored two goals against Wolves, on the day that acclaimed forward,
Robin Van Persie returned to action. That has already generated a debate
about how Arsene Wenger will accommodate both players in his starting
line-up.

The other Marouane, big-hair Fellaini, will miss the match on account of a red card in his first match back from injury.

Jermaine Beckford is
the new hero at Goodison. He scored the injury-time equaliser against
Bolton and proving to fans that he can finish.

“Anyone who has
watched Leeds United over the last few seasons will tell you he can
score an array of goals. It was a fantastic finish, it really was. We
needed something; it was probably the last 10 or 15 seconds of the
game,” Moyes said on Everton FC website.

“I think that is
what Jermaine has got but there is a lot he will have to learn in being a
Premier League player. I put him in a bit earlier than I should have
done. My idea was always to bring him off the bench in games where we
needed a goal.

Going into today’s match, Moyes has Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Loius Saha and now Beckford to choose from.

Victor Anichebe is recuperating from a knee injury and Leon Osman on the sidelines.

Arsenal will be
without Abou Diaby and Thomas Vermaelen while the game may come too soon
for Manuel Almunia. Victory this afternoon for Everton at Goodison will
make it a 98th victory in all competitions, while an Arsenal win will
be their 31st at the stadium.

Chelsea chase another home victory

Stamford Bridge has
been turned into a fortress in the 2010/11 season with six matches
played and six won. Petr Cech has not conceded any goal in that run. The
last time Sunderland won at Stamford Bridge was 2001 when they won 4-2
but last season’s 7-1 hammering is still fresh in the memory.

Chelsea have lost
their assistant coach, Ray Wilkins. His contract was terminated with
immediate effect on Thursday after a 32-year liaison with the club, both
as a player and coach.

As a former Chelsea
captain and coach – he had worked under Gianluca Vialli. Wilkins also
served under Felipe Scolari, Guus Hiddink and Ancelotti, and he would
address press conferences on occasion, to take the pressure off the
manager, most notably when things began to go wrong for Scolari.

Michael Essien will
also be missing as his red card takes effect but Frank Lampard is
supposed to make his come-back from hernia operation that has seen him
miss about 11 weeks – the longest that he has been injured in his
career.

Carlo Ancelotti said Lampard may play on Sunday but surely not for 90 minutes.

“I think he’ll be okay for Sunday. He started to train two days ago with the team.

“He doesn’t have a
problem, (and) is showing confidence. I hope he will be ready, not
necessarily to play for 90 minutes but just to be involved in the squad.
If he’s okay, he can start. I don’t think he will be able to play 90
minutes, but he can play part of the game – he can do that.”

But on Friday,
Lampard got injured with an adductor muscle injury which has set back
his appearance by another three weeks.. He will likely be replaced by
Ramires.

Sunderland’s record
signing, Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan has scored four goals in his last three
matches and will be a threat as Darren Bent continues to be sidelined
with a knee injury. Chelsea’s Didier Drogba should have fully recovered
from the Malaria fever that laid him low last week while Nicolas Anelka
is only likely to be fit enough for the substitutes’ bench.

LA LIGA

Mourinho keen to continue winning

Jose Mourinho and
his Real Madrid side warmed up for the trip to Gijon with a 5-1
demolition of Segunda Division B side, Real Murcia at the Santiago
Bernabeau on Wednesday. There were fears Madrid could have suffered
another embarrassing defeat at the last-32 stage, having been knocked
out in this round by other third-tier outfits Alcorcon and Real Union in
the last two years but goals from Esteban Granero, Gonzalo Higuain,
Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema (penalty) and Xabi Alonso put paid to
Murcia’s ambitions.

It is now 12 wins out of 16 matches for Mourinho and Madrid are yet to taste defeat in the 2010/11 season.

Meanwhile, French
striker, Karim Benzema has promised to repay Mourinho’s faith by scoring
goals for the Blaugrana before their Copa Del Rey match against Murcia.

“I want to score
goals against Murcia to thank [Jose] Mourinho for what he has done for
me. His actions and words help me. He is always here to help me to
become better,” Benzema said before scoring a goal from the penalty spot
against Murcia.

“He says things like, ‘You’ve played well, and you have to continue.’ I want to restore the trust that he has given me.”

Mourinho will expect to be repaid if the striker gets to play against Gijon today.

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Muson Jazz Festival